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We played with the Samsung OMNIA in Europe and it is a great hardware platform. The software is pretty cool too, even if it’s no iphone software. Well, at least MMS is working and copy/paste, but hey the truth is: most people don’t care about these. Back to the good news: CDMA (Verizon, Sprint) folks who have been wanting a good touch phone now have a chance of getting something substantial. Phones that look OMNIA-like have been spotted at the FCC, which means that they should hit the market soon. The Samsung instinct is interesting, but OMNIA is the real deal.

(Read the full post about ‘Samsung Omnia probably available on Verizon first’…)

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There has been a growing concern that the growth in Internet traffic could outgrow the Internet’s capacity. According to TeleGeography, there was a 53% growth in international Internet traffic between mid-2007 and mid-2008, but the traffic is still down from 61% the preceding year. That being said, there was still an increase of traffic of 47% on internet backbones between major cities.

The good news for Internet providers is that Internet capacity grew faster than traffic for a second year internationally. Average utilization levels have dropped from 31% to 29% between 2007 and 2008.

(Read the full post about ‘Internet bandwidth good internationally, not in U.S.’…)

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Intel just launched Dunnington, the anticipated 6-core XEON CPU for the enterprise market. It comes with more cores, a bigger cache, and the latest hardware that speeds up virtualization, a popular trend in the IT industry: they can sell more services with less hardware, and it’s easier to manage. Who’s going to complain? The commercial name is Intel Xeon 7400, and it will be available on September 15th. Consumers will be more interested by iCore 7 (codenamed Nehalem), which is coming later this year or early next year. (Read the full post about ‘Intel launches “Dunnington” 6-core CPUs aimed at servers’…)

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I love artistic innovation: the world would be a much more boring place had people like John Lennon, Frida Kahlo or Andy Warhol never been born. Having said that, I don’t always understand where artists/innovators are coming from, and that’s the case with this design… Francesca Lanzavecchia has designed something called the LightMate. According to her website, “LightMates are soft anthropomorphic pillows and warming lamps. Their different sizes answer to everyone’s need of heat; a mate to hug or a huge companion you can lay on.” (Read the full post about ‘LightMate: the new lighting solution (or, um, companion)’…)

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Apple’s multi-touch system definitely revolutionized the world of touch screen displays, but the fruity company has recently filed a patent for a multi-touch system that incorporates both voice and visual data into the control system itself. Apple figured out that there are some actions which will perform better using other senses instead of plain old touch, which will probably be the next logical improvement for the Nintendo DS Lite that already has a microphone, although the use of it in games are rather limited and not exactly essential to date for most titles. It is interesting to note that the proposed technology is supposedly smart enough to intelligently recognize the user’s intentions thanks to cameras. (Read the full post about ‘Apple Multi-Touch Fusion System’…)

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Miss the slots? Get ‘em on your iPhone. Griffin’s latest iTunes app, Double Bonus Slots, - takes off from their initial two offerings, Lucky 7 Slots and the poker app 5-Card Touch, which were hugely popular (compatible with iPhone and ipod touch). Double Bonus Slots tracks winnings and starts each person off with 1,000 credits. Gamers place their bets then tap the screen to set the reels rolling. Griffin added “wilds and variables” to double the chances of winning big. Double Bonus Slots Features: Easy to play slots simulator Fast animation and graphics Large, wide-screen view in landscape mode Keeps track of your winnings won and lost Compatible with iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod touch Requires iphone 2.0 Software Update $1.99 at iTunes. (Read the full post about ‘Vegas on your iPhone — Double Bonus Slots game’…)

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FROM GAMERTELL - Starting September 5, 2008, Microsoft will drop the prices on all versions of the Xbox 360. The Arcade price will be $199, $299 for the Pro console, and $399 for the Elite… MORE » Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - Subscribe to our feed → (Read the full post about ‘Microsoft confirms Xbox 360 price drops’…)

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The rumors were true — for the most part. Dell released its much anticipated mini notebook Thursday — just a day before bloggers predicted. Other than being a little off about the release date, rumor mongers also got the name wrong: Rather than being dubbed the Inspiron 910, it’s actually called the Inspiron Mini 9. Not a big deal, because most of the leaked information was spot on. The specifications are as follows: 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Processor  8.9-inch glossy LCD panel  Up to 1GB of RAM Up to 16GB capacity solid state drive 802.11G Wi-Fi card Operating System options: Windows XP or Mini OS powered by Ubuntu Starting prices range from $349 to $504, depending on the options you choose. (Read the full post about ‘Dell’s Mini Notebook Is Real, And It’s Here’…)

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Dell’s long awaited entry into the netbook market has finally been made official, and based on the leaks it seems that it comes with little surprise, both in terms of pricing but also overall specs. The netbook has been officially dubbed the Inspiron Mini 9 and its available today with an estimated shipping date of September 16. The Mini 9 offers a few configurations and will be available in either Obsidian Black or Alpine White, of course the Alpine White comes as a $25 premium. (Read the full post about ‘Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 netbook officially unveiled’…)

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CEDIA is the platform of choice for Panasonic to release its new SA-BX500 AV receiver, featuring the following :- 7 x 130-Watt amplification HDMI connectivity (3 inputs, 1 output) HDMI-CEC in VIERA Link form Support for Dobly TrueHD and DTS-HD MA Ability to simulate 7.1-channels of surround in 5.1-channel systems The Panasonic SA-BX500 AV receiver will be out this October for $799. (Read the full post about ‘Panasonic SA-BX500 AV Receiver’…)

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