Blast from the past as Apricot returns

Apricot, one of the most famous names in British computing history, has returned to the market, having disappeared at the end of the 20th century.

The company debuted its first new product in almost 10 years last night, a 8.9in netbook called the PicoBook Pro. The device sports a 1024x600 display, a 60GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, integrated 802.11 a, b and g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 1.3 megapixel web cam. At the centre, lies a VIA C7-M 1.2GHz x86 compatible processor.

Apricot is claiming a battery life of up to four hours with a standard battery along with a boot time of less than 30 seconds.

The PicoBook will ship in two versions, a £279 inc VAT model pre-installed with Suse Linux, and a £329 inc VAT model running Windows XP Home. Hardware is the same across both versions.

The company, founded in 1965 as ACT, became Apricot Computers in the early 1980s and set the standard for innovation, development and manufacturing of computers in the UK at sites in Birmingham and Scotland. It was bought in the early 1990s by Mitsubishi, which enjoyed some success with the brand in the UK and Japan before eventually winding down the business in late 1999.

“We are very excited about the launch of the PicoBook,” Apricot chief executive Shahid Sultan told IT PRO. “The product delivers a great deal of functionality and value for money in the netbook market.”

Our first impressions of the Picobook Pro are positive, with a sturdy plastic design, 270 degree screen hinge, a hard-wearing track pad and a decent size keyboard. The demo unit we looked at ran Windows XP and in basic operation ran well with the VIA processor, displaying no obvious signs of sluggish application loading or switching.

We hope to bring you a full review of the PicoBook Pro in the coming weeks.

Nokia Siemens starts shipping out 4G tech

The communications provider declares it is the first vendor to begin shipping out next-generation 4G technology

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has started delivering technology for emerging high-speed wireless networks.

NSN said it was the first vendor to do so, and it would deliver fourth-generation-ready (4G) mobile network hardware to more than 10 major operators by end of 2008. Rival Ericsson was not immediately available for comment.

The gear can be upgraded into much faster Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology with just new software - meaning lower costs for operators - starting from latter half of 2009, promising a smoother transition than third generation, which required steep investments and took years to gain popularity.

LTE promises to make everything from mobile video sharing to music downloads speedier, but it may not show a visible boost in sales for the network equipment industry any time soon, as the first networks are not expected for two years and many operators will wait longer until the technology matures.

Nortel sees LTE as the most likely upgrade path for about 80 per cent of the world's existing mobile phone providers, with others going for an alternative technology known as WiMax.

Nokia Siemens said it expects to see commercial LTE network rollouts from 2010.

HTC Touch Pro

Competition in the smartphone space is fiercer than ever. Is HTC's Touch Pro as good as we initially hoped?

This year has seen quite an explosion in the smartphone space, with very decent handsets appearing on a regular basis. Inevitably, the iPhone 3G has attracted the most attention, but almost everyone has fought back in some form or another.

Nokia brought us the impressive E71, and has finally gone down the touch screen route with the 5800 XpressMusic, while RIM impressed mightily with its Blackberry Bold. Meanwhile HTC has offered up the Touch Diamond, which purported to be the mythical, ‘iPhone killer’.

Naturally it wasn’t - it actually turned out to be rush released iPhone spoiler, complete with sluggish interface and bugs. The Touch Pro appeared a good couple of months later, so hopes were high that it had managed to sort out the problems that let the Diamond down.

If you saw my video review of the Touch Pro, you’ll know that I certainly thought HTC had managed to do this. However, these initial impressions were formed after a short time with the device, but having used the Touch Pro for a good while, the various foibles of the device have come to the fore.

As I mentioned in my video review though, it’s certainly true that HTC has improved the build quality of the Pro over the rather Fisher-Price feel to the Diamond. In addition the edges have been rounded and it has a matt rather than gloss finish and a better feel to it in the hand. Inevitably it's a chunkier monkey than the Diamond, but at 18mm thick it fails the suit jacket pocket test. The 165g weight though is not too though.

Feature wise, HTC has crammed in the same amount of features that it did in the Diamond, and even with the extra girth of the keyboard that’s still impressive. Features wise it’s all here. The 2.8in display is an impressive 480 x 640 resolution, and looks cracking – it makes a big difference when web browsing. There’s an accelerometer in it too so it can do the flip to landscape mode when you turn it round. Unfortunately, this isn’t as responsive as I would have liked, due to the delay in re-rendering the page. It isn’t an issue with the accelerometer being sensitive enough as it works a treat with the bundled ‘Teeter’ game, that involves rolling a ball round an obstacle course.

The camera on the rear is a decent 3.2 megapixels, but the LED next to it is just a light, not a flash and results are adequate rather than spectacular. A camera is present on the front too, for those oh-so-popular video calls. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and present and correct as it assisted GPS, which works nicely with the preloaded Google Maps.

apple`s new look mac-pro

Apple has given both the MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops a much needed design overhaul.

Both are now made using the same aluminium manufacturing process as is used for the MacBook Air. Instead of pressing sheet aluminium, the core pieces are carved from a single block of aluminium, which is then anodised. The result is a shell that is far stronger than the plastic MacBook casing of old, and far harder-wearing than the dent-prone older MacBook Pro and Powerbook designs.

IT PRO is among the first publications to get its hands on the new MacBook Pro, which is currently undergoing benchmark testing. Ahead of our full review, take a look at our first photos and unboxing.

Sim free mobile phones: Choice is purely yours

s drastic changes have occurred in many fields in this modern world, there is no exception for the technology field. From then, the mobile manufacturing companies have started launching mobile phones with multiple features. But, the modern mobile users are not satisfied with these features. To satisfy the demands of these users, now the latest mobile phones are introduced in the market with all the world class features, functionalities besides stylish and elegant looks.

The present day mobile market is offering different types of mobile phones to the users such as contract, pay as you go and Sim free etc. Each and every one of these has its own advantages and disadvantages. Among these phones, most of the users all over the world are showing great interest in maintaining the Sim free mobile phones. Sim is a kind of a chip that connects the mobile handset and phone network. The devices that are available without Sim are simply handset without having a deal with any type of mobile network. These gadgets allow the users to select the mobile phone of their own choice.

The main advantage of these mobile phones is that they offer great flexibility to their users in selecting the best network that suits their needs and priorities. The users of these gadgets are not required to stick to a particular network connection. They can change Sim card whenever they want. The Sim free mobile phones or unlocked mobile phones allow the users to switch over the mobile networks according to their comfort and preferences. Why most of the users are going for these mobile phones is the present day market is flooded with numerous types of offers and discounts that are offered by the network providers and retailers. The users can enjoy with all these discounts by just changing the network connection of his mobile phone. This is possible only with the gadgets that come with Sim free.

Some of the best and leading network providers in the UK market are Vodafone, Virgin, O2, Orange and 3. All these are offering latest tariffs and plans to grab the attention of the users. To attract the mobile users as well to develop their business, most of the providers are offering free gifts like MP3 player, gaming consoles, camera, games and CDs etc to the users, who go for the unlocked mobile phones.

Almost all the successful mobile phones manufacturing companies like Nokia, Motorola, Blackberry, LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are offering Sim free mobile phones with amazing and high-end features. Some of the advanced technology features of these mobile phones are GPRS, EDGE, HSCSD, 3G, WLAN, Infrared port, Bluetooth connectivity and USB support besides messaging and browsing services. To offer all the world class entertainment features to the users, these mobile phones also come with multimedia features like high resolution camera, digital clarity music player, video player, FM radio with RDS technology and Java games.

If you want to enjoy the freedom of selection your favourite network without compromising the latest features, without any second thought you can go for the Sim free mobile phones. If you want to find all the mobile phones at one place, the best way is visiting online shopping portals over the Internet. This helps you to have a good deal on purchasing a mobile phone.

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Buy cheap mobile phone deals with latest mobile phones from leading mobile network providers. Online mobile phone shop offers cheap deals with best offers.

LG officially unveils new Prada phone with a slide-out QWERTY keypad

LG has officially announced its second Prada phone featuring a new slide- out QWERTY keyboard. Apart from its slide-out full metallic silver QWERTY keyboard, it is almost similar to the earlier one.

The new Prada phone equips a 3-inch 400×240 touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with a Schneider-Kreuznach lens, 3G capabilities, microSD card-based storage, 7.2Mbps HSDPA for connectivity, Wi-Fi support and a full HTML browser. It comes with on-screen call and hang-up buttons.

It supports media formats including MPEG-4, H.263, and H.264 formats and music in AAC, MP3, WMA, and RealAudio.

The new Prada mobile will be available at a starting price of €600 (approx Rs. 39,488) though major mobile dealers in Italy, UK, Spain, France, Germany and Netherlands during 4Q of 2008.

Shiro SQ-S PMP Unveiled

Singapore-based company Shiro Corporation has showcased its latest Shiro SQ-S media player at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair Autumn Edition.

The features of the Shiro SQ-S are a 1.8-inch 65K colors LCD display, FM tuner with recording capabilities, music playback function that supports a host of music formats, including MP3/ WMA/ WAV/ FLAC/ APE/ OGG).

It also offers video playback, photo viewing, text viewer and voice recording functions. The player sports an internal storage space of up to 16GB, allowing users to store all their required contents.

The media player is also eco-friendly as it features a solar cell to charge the Shiro SQ-S media player. It can also be charged through the USB port.

The Shiro SQ-S PMP is available in silver, red and blue

Olympus Mju 1050 digital camera adorns 98 Swarovski Cryatals

Olympus introduces its new Mju 1050 digital camera that is embedded with 98 Swarovski crystals. This stylish looking camera is not just about looks but also features a 10 megapixel sensor.

The camera equips a 2.7-inch HyperCrystal LCD Viewer. It also bundles up Face recognition technology (up to 16 faces), 3x optical zoom, intelligent Auto mode, Digital Image Stabilization and TruePic III image processor.

The Olympus Mju 1050 digital camera carries a price tag worth £175 (approx Rs. 14,838).

SanDisk Sansa slotMusic Player introduced

SanDisk unveiled its new Sansa slotMusic Player, the plug and play MP3 has been specially designed for use with the new slotMusic cards in the US. It claims to be the easiest MP3 player for loading as well as listening to music on the go. This portable device measures 2.75″ W x 1.4375″ H x 1.4375″ D.

In addition SanDisk has also created personalized slotMusic players for popular artists like Robin Thicke and ABBA. These slotMusic Players are shipping today to the US stores including Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

The Player can play slotMusic card albums or self-loaded microSD card. It effortless plays without the requirement of a PC, Internet or any time spent managing music. You have to simply choose your slotMusic or music-filled microSD card

Sherwood BDP-5003 Blu-ray DVD Player

Sherwood America introduces its first Blu-ray DVD player BDP-5003 that offers optimum performance at an affordable price.

This entry-level Blu-ray DVD player is aimed all those who have been waiting for high-definition discs at an affordable price. The BDP-5003 features BD Bonus View (Profile 1.1), 1080p video playback at 60 Hz or 24 Hz, lossless audio from both Dolby and DTS and an HDMI output. It offers compatibility with the latest HDMI 1.3 and virtually plays almost all of today’s disc formats.

“This is a very exciting time for consumers. We are thrilled to be able to offer an advanced player that not only supports Blu-ray 1080p video output but also has built-in decoding for the latest lossless audio formats from Dolby TrueHD

Nokia’s Wooden Concept Phone

With the increase in the number of eco-friendly phones. Nokia comes up with an amazing concept phone. Nokia goes green with its eco-friendly wooden phone concept. The outer casing of the phone will be made of wood.

Apparently, it is said to feature an 8 megapixel camera and Bluetooth. It is also said to run on Symbian S60 Operating System.

This wooden concept phone has been designed by Nokia’s eco-team.

We wonder if this phone will be successful in making its way into the market.