BlackBerry 9000 internal docs show off new UI

Someone, or something, has leaked a BlackBerry’s 9000 internal spec sheet to BGR . (These controlled “leaks” are part of how RIM does business, you know.) It’s more or less a complete overview of the newly designed user interface. Pictured here, a few shots of some of the new themes. Church.

The BlackBerry 9000 is supposed to be RIM’s “answer” to the iPhone, hence the new UI, much improved Web browser (consumers love the Web!), built-in Wi-Fi and camera, improved multimedia capabilities, etc. No touchscreen, but the keyboard is partly what makes a BlackBerry a BlackBerry.

via CrunchGear

Spammer sentenced to 21 years

Where there is crime, there is a victim, or so the adage goes, and in this case, you’re likely one of the victims yourself. Eddie Davidson was the spam king of Louisville until he was caught in 2007, and he was sentenced today to 21 months in a federal PMITA prison.

Davidson sent out millions of spams, from fake rolexes to junk stocks. He was convicted on tax charges and for falsifying header information in emails. Oh, and fined almost three-quarters of a million bucks.

via CrunchGear

Sharp AQUOS X TVs to Come With Wireless WHDI Connection

When we showed you those Sharp X-series ultra-thin LCD TVs recently, we mentioned how Sharp had achieved the slimming down: by putting most of the electronics in a separate box, connected by a single cable. Well, now there's news that Sharp has teamed up with AMIMON to do away with that cable and transmit the HDTV signal wirelessly to the display from the tuner box. The "WHDI" technology has a range of 100 feet, a latency of less than a millisecond and can transmit through multiple walls. So while the 37-, 42- and 46-inch TVs will now have an optional wireless video transmitter with AMIMON's tech inside, there's no info on the price yet. Read on for the full press release.
More @ Gizmodo»

SlingPlayer Mobile Gets Updated For Windows Mobile and Symbian

Sling's just rolled out new versions of their SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Mobile (both versions) and Symbian S60. It's a free upgrade for current users and adds support for new handsets (Nokia N95, Samsung i760, Treo 500v, etc.) and improves streaming quality (Sprint Mogul) on others. We went to a car wash this weekend and had 10 minutes of downtime. TEN MINUTES! This should ensure that never happens again. [Sling]

via Gizmodo

How Big is Your Monitor?

We already asked about the size of your TV, so it is only fitting that we do a follow-up focusing on computer monitors. The choices after the break offer a basic range that should accommodate owners of most laptops, LCDs and CRTs. Just pick the number that is closest to the measurement of your viewable area (rounding up if necessary). That having been said, if you own a CRT, keep in mind that the two types of monitors are measured differently. Make sure your figure does not include the screen frame. UPDATE: TV monitor option added.

More »

Alienware "Fastest Ever" 17-Inch Area-51 m17x Gaming Notebook

Alienware's latest community effort is AlienNetwork, a "digital channel" which debuted today. To kick off the show with a bang, they revealed that their "fastest ever" 17-inch Area-51 m17x gaming notebook shown back in November is launching today at 5PM (right now, give or take). Versus the m15x, it's got a higher res 1920x1200 screen, NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX SLI graphic cards, up to a Core 2 Extreme CPU and the option for two hard drives set up in RAID. It's in all black and if we might say so, just a bit sexier than the m15x.

via Gizmodo
Update: Here's the product page.

Final Specs for Lenovo IdeaPad U110 Notebooks, On Sale Tomorrow

Get ready, ultraportable fans -- here's the dirty details you've been demanding. Lenovo's IdeaPad U110, which becomes available in the US tomorrow in black and red -- is all set to start at $1,899 directly from Lenovo. Wondering what that'll net you? Here goes:

• Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 CPU (1.6GHz, 4MB, 800MHz)
• Windows Vista Home Premium
• 11.1-inch widescreen WXGA (1,366 x 768) LED-backlit panel
• Intel's GMA X3100 graphics set
• 120GB 4,200RPM hard drive
• 2GB of RAM
  
• dual-layer DVD writer (external)
• 1.3-megapixel camera
• 10/100 Ethernet, WiFi and optional Bluetooth
• 2.4-pounds with 4-cell battery
• Dimensions: 10.8- x 7.7- x 0.72- through 0.88-inches

You'll also get a 1-year warranty, a trio of USB 2.0 ports, FireWire / VGA sockets, a 6-in-1 multicard reader, Mini-PCIe / ExpressCard slots, audio in / out and a pair of stereo speakers. It should be noted that the 4-cell battery is only rated for 2-hours of use, while the rig can withstand up to 8-hours if the 7-cell Li-ion expansion pack is utilized, too. You may also notice a slew of retailers carrying a $1,999 model starting in mid-May -- those come stocked with 3GB of RAM versus the standard 2GB on the $1,899 model.

via Engadget

Unlocked Blackberry 9000 spotted

This unlocked Blackberry 9000 was spotted on eBay just before the auction mysteriously ended. The seller says the phone is unlocked and will "Not be released until August 2007" -- we'll guess he / she is a little unclear as to what year it is. However, said seller promises that this particular unlocked phone is actually in stock now and ready to ship for the lucky winner. Listed features (according to this auction) include: 3G, Edge, WiFi, and Bluetooth, as we've seen elsewhere. There's no telling how legit this is, and the seller clearly pulled the auction for some unknown reason, but there do seem to be at least a few of these floating around. Peep the pictures in the gallery below for some photographic evidence.

via Engadget

Hans Tan's LED clock spells out time in text

Those tried-and-true hands definitely get the job done, but glancing over to find out what time of the day it is should be an adventure. Singaporean Hans Tan has crafted quite the atypical timepiece with his Idea of a Clock (revision 2), which utilizes a LED bulletin board to spell out the time in text rather than using symbols, numbers or long sticks. Best of all, those interested in making the act of watching time go by somewhat enjoyable can order one from the artist himself, but considering the limited edition nature of the piece, we wouldn't waste too much time waffling over pulling the trigger.

[Via technabob]

• Read
• via Engadget
  

Netgear offers up 6-bay ReadyNAS Pro

Four months is just too long to go without an all new ReadyNAS, so we suppose that's why Netgear is kicking out an all new 6-bay unit (6TB RNDP6610; 3TB RNDP6310; 1.5TB RNDP6350) for those obsessed with storage. The box can handle up to 6TB of HDD space and features an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM (up to 4GB supported), 128MB of embedded flash for the OS, a pair of gigabit Ethernet ports, three USB 2.0 sockets and support for RAID 0/1/5/6 and Auto-Expandable X-RAID2. As expected, Windows / Mac / Linux clients can all tap in, and the unit streams all sorts of media on the side. Of course, acquiring the industry's first 6-bay small-form-factor NAS drive won't come cheap, with the ReadyNAS Pro starting at around two large.

via Engadget

Acer Aspire 8920G preview

Reviewed by: Rory Reid

Approximately six months ago, Acer debuted its Gemstone series -- a range of laptops that was co-designed by BMW. They were excellent products, spoiled only -- we believe -- by the questionable styling. Today, Acer has unveiled the latest evolution of the series, known as the Gemstone Blue. Not only are these more stylish than the previous models, but they're the first laptops to feature either 16-inch or 18.4-inch displays that offer true 16:9 aspect ratios. Starting at £899, the Aspire 8920G isn't available until later this week, but we've had the pleasure of testing a pre-production sample of this 18.4-inch desktop replacement.

Outlook
The Aspire 8920G is a very promising machine, and one which may set standards in years to come. The 18.4-inch display in particular is a marvel -- mainly because it has a true 16:9, 1080p resolution. We'll reserve judgement until we see a final sample, but early indications are that Acer is on to a winner.

For more: Upsides and Downsides
Video: Here
via: Crave@Cnet

PS3 Laptop charity auction EBay BIDDING!

It's time to pull out your pocketbooks because the charity auction you've been waiting for is going down right now. Up for grabs: the absurdly rare, one of a kind, hand-made PS3 Laptop, built by Ben Heckendorn for Engadget. 100% of the proceeds of this auction will go to National Cancer Coalition, most or all of which should be tax-deductible by the winner. And to sweeten the deal that much more, we'll even pay shipping, and have Ben Heck himself autograph the thing (if you want). The rules are below, read them carefully.

• Real bids only people, this is for charity!
• Let us repeat that: only leave a bid if you're prepared to pony up that amount of money. Especially because we might come a knocking if for some reason we can't get in touch with the top bidder.
• Auction is over Friday, April 25th. We'll contact the winner by email.
• Payment will go directly to National Cancer Coalition, and will be expected to be made within one day of the auction's close. We will confirm with the charity that the payment has been made.
• A US winner will get free FedEx air shipping.
• We will also ship internationally, but auction winner will likely have to pay customs.
• Product is sold as-is, with no warranty by Ben Heck, Engadget, and certainly not by Sony.

Just in case you need a refresher, here are pics and video of what you're bidding on. Good luck -- and for those that don't win, please don't let that stop you from donating to the NCC or another charity of your choice!

Update: We're postponing the auction. A few people can't be mature enough to bid properly on something for charity; others believe we should be posting the auction to eBay (despite the fact that the last time we did a charity eBay auction we got scammed). We'll get back to you, thanks.

By popular request we posted it to eBay. If we get fake bids again, though, we're likely not to do anything like this again in the future -- so be good.

Bid!

via Engadget

Motorola's 2008 Cellphones Leaked

If you were hoping Motorola's 2008 cellphone lineup was going to turn around their "slump", we've got good news and bad news for you. The bad news is most of their phones are pretty much retreads of old devices, and there aren't any great new form factors—not even an iPhone clone—to speak of. The good news is that the upcoming ZN5 actually does look halfway decent with its 5-megapixel camera, Xenon flash, 2.4-inch display, 500MHz Freescale processor and Montavista Linux. It's somewhat sad when the best of your lineup is a Linux phone, but we weren't really expecting much from Motorola at this point anyway. [IT168 via JAMPB via Uber Phones]

Apple TV is Not a Hit

The analysts are finally confirming what we've known all along. Apple TV isn't a big deal. Market research firm Forrester reports that they estimate Apple will be lucky to sell 800,000 units by the end of this year, or 200,000 short of Forrester's 1 million unit estimation. So do they blame the marketing? No, plenty of internet-using adults know about the product (around 50%), but only 5% of those people know what it does.

What's the problem? Forrester actually blames iTunes video for failing the hardware. A software platform that hasn't taken over at the level of music, Forrester thinks that you have to get the consumers watching iTunes movies before Apple can sell the hardware intended to streamline their playback.

I think that the device is just too niche in a consumer's entertainment workflow to swallow. "So wait, I have to buy this just to watch my movie on my TV? Why don't I just watch a DVD then? Or you know, the non-Apple variety of television." If everyone has heard of your product but no one knows what it does, you have to wonder how important its function is to consumers.

But as Jobs himself said, Apple TV is just a "hobby." [pcworld]