Title and original price:
Sale good through November 29; that’s today. Source: Crave
And here’s the ad.
An updated version of HandBrake, the best DVD ripping software, is out: 0.9.4. Thanks to the x264 project encoding is smaller, has better quality and faster. HandBrake 0.9.4 is 64-bit so you’ll need the 64-bit version of VLC (v1.0.2) if you want to rip. Source: HandBrake via Daring Fireball
Nissan‘s anti-scratch paint technology, Scratch Shield, protects automotive paint by using a highly flexible resin used as a clearcoat that heals 80% of surface scratches, taking as long as a week or just overnight. Now, Nissan has agreed to license the technology to NTT’s DoCoMo for “mobile phone applications”. I’m guessing future mobile phones from DoCoMo will be more scratch-proof than before. Since Scratch Shield is transparent, maybe a clearcoat can be integrated into displays such as LCDs and plasmas, in addition to the main chassis. Source: Nissan via Autoblog, Engadget
AU Optronics (AUO), the top LCD manufacturer in Taiwan so far, estimates global ebook reader shipments to top 10 million units in 2010. C.T. Liu, VP of AUO and Chairman of SiPix, is quite optimistic as most estimates are currently around 6 to 7 million units. SiPix will do its share: ramp its second production line of electronic paper displays (EPDs) to around 100K-200K units per month starting February 2010. AUO also has an agreement with Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) to manufacture plastic-substrate-based flexible displays. Source: DIGITIMES
iRiver via E-Reader-info.com: iRiver’s 6-inch E Ink-based ebook reader, Story, is now available in the UK for £230 (about US$380) and in the US at Amazon for US$400. Other specs include: full QWERTY keyboard, 2GB of internal memory, SD slot, voice memo capability, accelerometer (auto portrait/landscape reorientation), support for ePub, PDF, Microsoft Office documents, etc. iRiver has three ads (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) on YouTube.
ZDNet’s David Morgenstern wrote an article titled “Apple Store fails the Nordstrom test“. The main thesis of his argument rests on an Apple Store refusing to replace a nonworking Snow Leopard DVD because it was purchased from his local university bookstore. Nordstrom, on the other hand, takes returns for its products and purchase location isn’t a factor. I can’t agree more with David, but Apple is not Nordstrom in more ways than that.
A while ago my iPhone slid out my hands and did a face-plant on concrete, cracking the front cover. Thankfully the LCD was intact and the iPhone was still functioning. At the time broken iPhones were selling on eBay for about US$200. For a second I thought of selling mine. Then I thought of the Apple Store and thought maybe I could get lucky. I had heard of wonderful stories online and from friends who experienced Nordstrom-like service where they were able to get a replacement for a damaged iPhone. A lady in blue simply looked at my iPhone and gave me the price: $200, for Apple to fix it. That was a bit too expensive for me. (more…)
Dell is historically strong in the enterprise market. The enterprise market is historically weak in the fourth quarter. IDC expects Dell’s notebook PC sales to continue its drop in the fourth quarter. Other reasons include competition from Lenovo for China’s enterprise customers. In other geographic regions Acer and Samsung‘s offerings have seen strong shipments to the enterprise market.
Dell is historically weak in the consumer market. The consumer market is historically strong in the fourth quarter. Asus and Toshiba overtook Dell in consumer notebook shipments in the third quarter. Dell is now ranked #5 in the world. In the fourth quarter Dell is expected to continue to lose ground.
What should Dell do? I say make the brand mean something. Dell PCs aren’t the cheapest. They aren’t the best designed. Not the most powerful. Not full blown business nor consumer. Most reliable? Certainly not. Will over-the-top products like the company’s Adamo XPS help? I don’t think so; it just confuses the customer as to what Dell is about. Source: DIGITIMES
AU Optronics (AUO), Prime View International (PVI) and Delta Electronics all plan to introduce color epaper. PVI expects to ramp production of its 6-inch and 9.7-inch flexible electronic paper displays (EPDs) in the first half of 2010. Color EPDs will follow in the second half. PVI will limit the size of its EPD offerings to 14 inches. VP of AUO and Chairman of SiPix, C.T. Liu urged Taiwan companies to focus on developing applications for ebook readers. AUO plans to offer flexible EPD samples in 2010 while Delta is planning to launch color EPDs in the second quarter of 2010. For reading books color is not necessary. The only important function that flexibility can offer in an ebook reader is ruggedness. Do you really need to be able to bend the display? I guess foldable EPDs might come in handy. Color would be useful for larger EPDs geared toward reading magazines, brochures, comic books and maybe some newspapers. Source: DIGITIMES
Acer‘s Gemstone AS8940G-BR101 is an 18.4-inch 1080p notebook PC sporting Intel’s latest i7 CPU running at 1.6GHz (720QM). The AS8940G looks to be a handsome unit but the offset keyboard and trackpad can be a turnoff for some. The multimedia controls on the right can be handy. Other specs include: 4GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTS 250M with 1GB VRAM, Blu-ray optical drive, HDMI out, etc. The AS8940G is a heavyweight at 4.6 kg (10.1 pounds!). Battery life is a decent 3.5 hours. The Gemstone from Acer will be available in December for ¥199,800 (about US$2300). Source: Akihabara News
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