Users who want a Windows 7-based notebook that looks like an Apple Macbook should check out the Envy. This well-constructed 13-incher from HP is slim and can get the job done thanks to its powerful hardware. However, its high price tag may put off some users, especially now that there are notebooks with similar specifications selling for a fraction of its price.
Mendelson Tiu
ACMA Urges Re-registering Of Do Not Call Numbers
The ACMA has urged people who signed up for the Do Not Call Register in 2007 to re-register to avoid getting unwanted telemarketing calls.
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According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, registrations for the Do Not Call Register are valid for three years. Anyone who signed up when the service was launched in May 2007 should re-register now to maintain protection from unwanted marketing calls.
The Chairman of the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Chris Chapman said, “It’s now time to re-register your numbers if you want to make sure you don’t receive telemarketing calls. Any numbers not re-registered by their three-year expiry deadline will be automatically removed from the register. So the best way to protect yourself from the days when you’d sit down to dinner and the telemarketing calls would start is to re-register your numbers now.”
There are currently more than 4.3 million home, mobile and VoIP numbers on the Do Not Call Register, with 93 per cent of people who registered noticing a reduction of telemarketing calls.
‘It’s fast, free and easy – simply call 1300 792 958 or go to www.donotcall.gov.au, where you can learn more and re-register,’ concluded Chapman.
Internet Explorer 6 Like Old Milk Says Microsoft
Microsoft Australia has released an online advisory that urges users to upgrade their Internet Explorer to the latest version. The company has compared Internet Explorer 6 to nine-year-old milk that you would not drink.
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“When Internet Explorer 6 was launched in 2001, it offered cutting edge security for the time. Since then, the Internet has evolved and the security features of Internet Explorer 6 have become outdated. With the latest state-of-the-art security features, Internet Explorer 8 is designed to cope with today’s modern cyber crime. In fact, research studies prove it,” continued the company.
In order to convince users to move to IE8, the company showed that the browser was able to detect socially engineered malware 85 percent of the time (according to NSS Labs), has more benefits (such as built-in Cross-site Script Filter (XSS), anti-malware protection, malware detection on download) than older versions, and “offers new features designed to protect your privacy.”
Various online reports say that Microsoft’s share of the browser market is now below 60 percent, while Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome browsers are starting to gain market share.
LaCie Rugged Drive With USB 3.0
LaCie has rolled out a rugged external hard drive that uses USB 3.0 for fast file transfer.
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The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 claims to provide speeds of up to 110 MB/s – three times the speed of USB 2.0.
“This speed enhancement allows you to transfer one HD movie in less than 3 minutes (versus more than 8 minutes in USB 2.0). It offers improved power efficiency, so you only need one cable to be assured optimal performance,” added the company.
If your computer does not have USB 3.0 ports, then a user can purchase a LaCie USB 3.0 PCI Express Card or USB 3.0 Express card.
The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 is backward compatible with USB 2.0. This means it will work with any computer or notebook that has a USB connection – offering instant usability no matter what version of USB.
The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 500GB drive is available for $259.
Lenovo Introduces Green Business Notebooks
Lenovo announced a new series of ThinkPad aimed at large businesses, the education sector, as well as government customers.The ThinkPad L412 and L512 feature the latest Intel processors, military tough durability, and strong web conferencing capabilities. The L412 and L512 also integrate the highest amounts of post consumer recycled content.
According to the company, the L412 and L512 have the enterprise features business and IT administrators require such as global availability, image stability, eight hour battery life and docking.
“The L Series laptops pass the tough test for withstanding the wear and tear of the office, giving users long term value. They meet eight different military specification tests for high and low temperatures, vibration, altitude, dust and more,” said the company.
Lenovo Australia’s Product and Marketing Director, Chris Kelly said, “Today customers are looking to get more out of their PC technology. We designed the new L Series to provide users with superior performance, capable of boosting productivity. The L Series features cutting-edge processing performance, long battery life and a VoIP -optimised design without sacrificing the reliability and durability the ThinkPad is known for.”
The laptops use up to 30 percent post consumer content from plastic office water jugs and used IT equipment parts such as the LCD cover, palm rests and top/bottom case. The L512 laptop contains 18 percent post consumer content (PCC), making it the industry’s highest amount of PCC in a laptop. As part of the lifecycle design process, the laptops meet Energy Star 5.0 for high energy efficiency and are rated EPEAT Gold in the U.S. for their environmental attributes.
The L Series laptops are tailored for an excellent voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) experience and offer the full range of connectivity options, from Ethernet and Bluetooth to 3G. Lenovo has equipped the laptops with two megapixel cameras, digital-array microphones with echo cancellation, and speakers that are located underneath the screen and above the keyboard.
The ThinkPad L412 and L512 laptops are available in mid-May through Lenovo business partners. Pricing starts at approximately $1349 for the L412 and $1199 for the L512.
First Review: World’s Slimmest LED Monitor
The BenQ V2420 is a Full HD monitor with LED backlighting. It not only offers excellent images, but can also save you money with its Eco Mode.
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The glossy black finish of the monitor gives it a classic look. The unit measure 15mm at its thinnest point and the circular base is connected to the body by a thin neck. It comes with a D-Sub, HDMI, and DVI port at the rear, allowing users to connect it to analogue and digital sources.
The V2420H does not have any speakers, although BenQ has included a 3.5mm jack to allow users to connect their headphones or speaker system.
The V2420 has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080, allowing us to enjoy Blu-ray movies in Full HD. Various dark scenes on Close Encounters of the Third Kind looked good, with the monitor being able to display darkly lit areas (found on the last few scenes of the movie) and grey hues without problems. Fast moving scenes were rendered quite well, with the V2420H minimising ghosting.
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In order to get the perfect picture quality, users would have to manually adjust the settings. If you do not want to fiddle with the settings, BenQ has six proprietary technologies to calibrate picture quality. The Senseye 3 offers six pre-set modes (Standard, Movie, Game, Photo, sRGB, and Eco) that aim to render images that ‘fully accommodates the capabilities of the human eye.’
The Senseye 3 settings work well if you adjust it prior as we encountered instances where text documents were blurry only to find that it was set to ‘Photo’ mode.
Saving energy is another highlight of the V2420H. According to BenQ, this LED screen reduced power consumption by up to 44 per cent compared to CCFL-backlit models. When placed in Eco Mode, the company claims that it reduces power consumption by 71.8 per cent. This makes it the perfect monitor for those who want to save on electricity costs.
Overall, the BenQ V2420H is an LED monitor that not only delivers, but can also save you money. It is available now for $479.
Lenovo X100e For Business Travellers
Aimed at business users, the Lenovo ThinkPad X100 is an ultraportable and affordable notebook that has more grunt than your average netbook.
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This 11.6-inch notebook weighs 1.5kg and fits easily inside a small bag. The X100e makes do without an optical drive but comes with three USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader, D-Sub out, Ethernet, and microphone/headphone combo jack.
In terms of specification, it utilises AMD’s Athlon Neo Processor MV-40 (1.6Ghz), ATI’s Radeon HD 3200 video card (500MHz), has 2GB of RAM, and 250GB of storage. It comes pre-installed with Windows 7 Professional (32-bit), Lenovo’s ThinkVantage Tools and Online Data Backup, Microsoft Office 60-day trial, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Configuration Tools.
Opening the lid reveals a full-sized and spill-resistant ‘island-style’ keyboard that has well-separated and curved keys. Lenovo has also included its TrackPoint pointing device and a multi-touch touchpad that allows you to zoom, scroll, and rotate. As the touchpad’s buttons are located along the edge of the notebook, it can accidentally be pulled upwards, especially while opening the lid. The unit also comes with a low-light-sensitive camera that can be used for both normal and poor lighted areas.
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Like the ThinkPad Edge, the X100e comes with Power Manager 3 that changes power settings (High Performance – High Energy Savings), adjust power plans, check battery life, and show battery status. The Access Connections toolbar is located on the Windows Taskbar and shows you the wireless network’s signal strength as well as help you connect to available networks. Finally, it also comes with the ThinkVantage Toolbox that shows you the overall health of the notebook.
The 11.6-inch HD display has a native resolution of 1366×768 and can get very bright. The speakers are located at the bottom of the notebook and could get loud without sounding tinny. During our video playback test, the X100e lasted 167 minutes, which is surprisingly short for a notebook with a 6-cell battery. Lowering the brightness and using the headphone jack can extend the battery life. The unit charges from 0 to 100 per cent in about one hour 40 minutes.
The Lenovo X100e is the perfect netbook alternative, thanks to its noteworthy specifications, big HD screen, battery-saving features, and in-built hardware/software support. It is available now for $999.
HTC Desire Available Today
Telstra announced that the HTC Desire is now available to its customers. According to the company, it is released a week ahead of schedule due to strong consumer interest.
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The Desire runs on Google’s latest Android operating system and will utilise Telstra’s Next G network. Read our full review of the Desire here.
Telstra’s Executive Director of Mobility Products, Ross Fielding said, “In response to massive interest from Australian consumers, Telstra has moved the launch of HTC Desire forward by almost a week to today. The accelerated launch means Australians will be the first in Asia-Pacific to experience this breakthrough smartphone.”
“Telstra’s flagship [T]life stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth will be the first to stock the new smartphone with Telstra stores across Australia receiving deliveries by the end of the week,” added Fielding.
Customers can also purchase the smartphone immediately online at Telstra.com.au, while those who pre-registered their interest in HTC Desire were contacted to ensure that they are amongst the first to be offered the smartphone.
“We are also pleased to announce that HTC Desire will now be exclusive to Telstra for six months – a three month extension on our previous arrangement,” continued Fielding.
HTC Desire will be available to purchase online from today or initially from three [T]Life stores:
· [T]Life Sydney – 400 George Street Sydney, NSW, 2000.
· [T]Life Melbourne – 246 Bourke Street (Cnr Swanston & Bourke) Melbourne, VIC, 3000.
· [T]Life Perth – 667-669 Hay Street Mall, Perth, WA, 6000.
Telstra stores and dealers across Australia will receive deliveries of the HTC Desire progressively through the week with most stores expected to have stock by Friday ahead of the long weekend.
HTC Desire will be available on a range of plans including for $0 on Telstra’s $60 consumer Phone Plan for 24 months (minimum total price $1440) or $0 upfront on a $85 Ultimate plan for 24 months including 150 MB data (minimum cost $2040), or can be purchased outright with a RRP of $779.
Flat Third Quarter Sales For Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman announced that total sales for the nine months ended 31 March 2010 rose 2.2 per cent to $4.64 billion. However, the company has also recorded flat total sales, with like-for-like sales rising only 1.2 per cent in Australia.
According to the 3rd quarter sales document submitted to the Australian Securities Exchange, sales from the franchised “Harvey Norman” complexes, commercial divisions and other sales outlets in Australia, New Zealand, Slovenia and Ireland (excluding Singapore) totalled $4.64 billion for the nine months ended 31 March 2010.
When compared to sales for the period 1 July 2008 to 31 March 2009, the increase was 2.2 per cent. Like for like sales when compared to the same period ended 31 March 2009, increased by 1.4 per cent.
The company said that its sales data has been affected by the weakened global currencies.
“It should be noted that the above sales data has been negatively affected by a 2.9 per cent deterioration in the NZ$, a 13.6 per cent deterioration in the Euro and a 21.6 per cent deterioration in the UK Pound,” said the company.
Shares in Harvey Norman were down 4.76 per cent this morning and is now at $3.40.
Efficient HP SMB Printers Launched
Hewlett-Packard unveiled a new line of SMB printers and solutions that aim to drive productivity and increase efficiency.
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HP has revealed Smart Install, a quick and easy way for users to begin printing in as little as two minutes by simply connecting a netbook, notebook or desktop PC to the printer with a USB cable.
New monochrome printers featuring HP Smart Install include the HP LaserJet Pro P1100 Printer series -the HP LaserJet Pro M1130/M1210 Multifunction Printer (MFP) series and the HP LaserJet Pro P1566/P1606dn Printer series.
In addition, the company has also announced an Auto-On/Auto-Off technology that uses up to three times less energy than a device’s normal sleep mode. The company has also showed a new patented Optical Watermark technology called EzStampGuard that creates an authentication watermark stamp that can only be viewed with unique film keys.
Finally, the company also said that SMBs can enjoy improved cost control, greater energy savings and reduced waste with EzPrintSaver, a cost management solution based on printer and user-based rules such as forced duplex printing.
HP South Pacific’s Vice President Imaging and Printing, Richard Bailey said, “Today’s SMBs need to use their resources wisely, working smarter and faster to maintain their competitive edge as the economy recovers. HP, the long-time leader in LaserJet technology, offers SMBs an unrivaled opportunity to accelerate their growth through industry-first printing technologies and products that actually pay you back.”
HP IPG’s new printer line-up include:
- HP Color LaserJet Pro CP5225dn Printer – HP’s affordable A3 colour printer. (Starting from $2,899)
- HP Scanjet Professional 1000 Mobile Scanner – HP’s portable scanner. (Starting from $295)
- HP LaserJet Pro P1566 Printer – Fast mono printing that uses less energy with Instant-on and HP Auto-On/Auto-Off Technology. (Starting from $329)
- HP LaserJet Pro P1102 Printer (Starting from $149)
- HP LaserJet Pro P1102w Printer (Starting from $189)
- HP LaserJet M1132 MFP – HP’s affordable 3-in-1laser multifunction printer (MFP) – smart, multifunctional, compact and easy to install. (Starting from $249)
- HP LaserJet M1212nf MFP (Starting from $399)
- HP Officejet 4500 All-in-One Series – HP’s most affordable flatbed inkjet all-in-one series for your business or home office needs. (Starting from $129)