Google, the search engine giant has joined a consortium planning to build a new 6,200 mile submarine fiber-optic cable connecting Japan and the West Coast of the United States.

Google will join Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, KDDI Corporation, Pacnet and SingTel to form the “Unity Bandwidth Consortium”. The cable which will be known as “Unity” will be constructed at a cost of approximately $300 million.

The “Unity” cable will support up to eight pairs, with the three pairs being left ‘dark’ until damage or an increase in utilisation prompts their requirement. The Five remaining pairs of the cables will be utilized and they will have a capability of transferring data at a rate of 4.8 Terabits per second (4.8TBps).

The move marks the first time an Internet company has invested in an ocean-spanning cable.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Lenovo has officially launched the much-anticipated ThinkPad X300 ultraportable, challenging the Macbook Air as the thinnest and lightest notebook available in the market today.

The ThinkPad X300 laptop is as thin as 0.73 inches and has a weight of 2.9 pounds. It is equipped with a 13.3-inch LED backlit display, 64GB SSD, Intel Core 2 Duo 1.2GHz processor, up to 4GB RAM, fingerprint reader, webcam, and your choice of Windows XP or Vista operating system.

The X300 may not have the sexy design of the Macbook Air but it offers more features compared to Macbook Air. Lenovo X300 features different connectivity options like WiMAX, WLAN, GB Ethernet connectivity and GPS capabilities. Moreover, the X300 has a DVD burner, 3 USB ports and a user removable battery that could last up to 10 hours making it more ideal to use in mobile environment.

The unit price is $2,799 (including the 64GB SSD) and can be purchased from Lenovo’s website and retail partners.

Popularity: 1% [?]

While the current quad-core and Octo-core might be the next-generation CPU for desktops and servers, Intel seems to add a new CPU in-between the two. Some Intel slideware leaked the “Dunnington” version of Xeon arriving in the second half of this year. It is a six-core Xeon processor built on its 45nm Penryn architecture.

The Dunnington is intended to be an enterprise-class chip and will feature 3MB of shared L2 cache per pair of cores, and shared 16MB L3 cache. According to the leaked slides, it will rely on a front side bus (1066MHz FSB).

Popularity: 1% [?]

Sony Corporation has announced the latest addition to their high-zoom camera line, the 9.1-megapixel Cyber-shot(R) DSC-H50 digital camera. It is the ideal choice for people looking for high zoom, high-resolution and speed.

The DSC-H50 camera utilizes a powerful Carl Zeiss(R) 15x optical zoom lens with Super SteadyShot(R) optical image stabilization to capture action at a distance. the camera features a 3-inch tilting LCD screen so you can shoot comfortably from nearly any position at low and high angles. Its scratch-resistant, UV hard-coat finish adds a premium look and feel that mirrors the performance of the model. The camera’s main feature is its advanced sports shooting mode that increases the shutter speed up to 1/4000 of a second.

Sony also uses a long distance flash on the H50 that can illuminate subjects over 55 feet away when using ISO 3200 and wide angle. A NightShot mode of the camera allows image to be taken in nearly lightless conditions.

The DSC-H50 is expected to be available in May at about $400.

Popularity: 1% [?]

The LG Voyager has a cutting-edge design and brilliant touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard. The phone offers tremendous features set including EV-DO support, V Cast Mobile TV Bluetooth, a Web browser and an integrated GPS application. The LG Voyager has an excellent 2.0 Megapixel camera which can be used to suit your video and photo needs.

Unfortunately, The LG Voyager’s camera lacks such extra options as a flash and Wi-Fi and the phone operates on CDMA 800/1900 only.

LG Voyager Features:

Large External Touch Screen

• QWERTY Keyboard
• V CAST Mobile TV
• HTML Web Browsing
• 2.0 Megapixel Camera & Camcorder
• Music Player
• Bluetooth® Capable
• microSD™ Memory Port

DESIGN

• Stylish and Functional Design with Dual Screens
• Large 2.81″ External Touch Screen
• VibeTouch™ Technology for Tactile Feedback
• Touch Protection – prevents unwanted key actions
• QWERTY Keyboard with Large, Widely-Spaced Keys for Easy Messaging
• 3 Keys on External Flip (Send, Clear, Power/End)
• Soft-Feel Coating for Comfortable Grip

V CAST MOBILE TV*

• Watch Full-Length Broadcast Quality Shows with Phone Open or Closed
• Wide Screens for Optimal TV Viewing
• Retractable TV Antenna for Enhanced TV Reception
• Channel Surf with No Buffering
• Easy-to-Use Program Guide

*V CAST Mobile TV only available in the V CAST Mobile TV coverage area. Visit www.verizonwireless.com/mobiletv for details. Additional fees may apply.

MUSIC

• Music Player for MP3, WMA, AAC, & AAC+
• V CAST Music & Video
• Sync Music from PC to Phone via V CAST Music Manager*
• USB Cable & V CAST Music Manager CD Included Create & Manage Playlists
• Music Library – songs are auto organized by artist, genre, and album
• Music Only Mode (RF off except Bluetooth)
• Dual Speakers for Stereo Sound
• microSD™ Memory Port with 8GB Support***

*Requires USB cable. V CAST Music will only work with V CAST Music Manager, Windows Media Player 10 (or higher) on the Windows XP (or higher) operating system. Mac OS is not supported.

**Not all downloaded content may be moved to the microSD card (sold separately).

BLUETOOTH (V1.2)

• Supported Profiles: headset, hands-free,* dial-up networking, advanced audio distribution (stereo), phone book access, basic printing, object push for vCard and vCalendar,** file transfer, basic imaging, human interface
• Save up to 20 Bluetooth Pairings
• Bluetooth Stereo Support for Listening to Music***
• Send Calendar Events & All Contacts via Bluetooth
• Print & Send User-Generated Pictures via Bluetooth

*For Bluetooth vehicle/accessory compatibility, go to www.verizonwireless.com/bluetoothchart.

**Phone does not support all Bluetooth OBEX profiles.
***Accessories sold separately.

CAMERA/VIDEO

• 2.0 Megapixel Autofocus Camera & Camcorder
• Landscape Viewfinder Usage for Real Camera Feel
• Turn on the External Display for Self-Portraits via Camera Options
• Camera Resolutions: 1600×1200 (default), 1280×960, 640×480, 320×240 Pixels
• Image Editor – zoom, rotate, crop
• Zoom: Up to 2.5x*
• Customizable Brightness,** White Balance,** Shutter Sound, Color Effects,** Night Mode, Photometry, Self-Timer, Autofocus
• Video Resolutions: 320×240, 176×144 (default) Pixels
• Video Recording Time: 30 Sec. (for sending) or up to 1 Hr. (for saving)***
• Video Player for WMV, MP4, 3GP, 3G2 Formats
• Set Videos (under 5MB) as Wallpaper

* Varies by image size. Camera setting of 1600×1200 pixels does not support zoom function.
** Available in both video and camera modes.
***Depends on available memory.

MOBILE MEDIA

• Full HTML Web Browsing with Touch Navigation* & Bookmarks
• Call & Messaging Restrictions
• Text/Picture/Video Messaging
• Get It Now® Capable
• Mobile E-mail, Instant Messaging & Account Info†

*Touch navigation is only available from the external screen.

VOICE/AUDIO

• One-Touch Speakerphone (via internal keyboard)
• Speaker-Independent Voice Commands
• Text to Speech
• Voice Recording – 1 min. or 1 hr.* (standby) or 5 min. (during a call)
• Music Ringer Support (clips from hit songs)
• 26 Unique Ringtones + Vibrate & Silent Modes
• TTY/TDD Support
• Hearing Aid Compatible (M3-Rating)

*Depends on available memory.

TOOLS & DATA

• USB Mass Storage – transfer files between microSD card* and PC
• VZ NavigatorSM Preloaded – voice-prompted turn-by-turn directions
• Tools: Calculator, Calendar, Alarm Clock, Stopwatch, World Clock, Notepad, Ez Tip Calc
• Function Key for Quick Access to 10 Shortcuts
• Phone Book with 1,000 Contacts – each stores 5 numbers, 2 e-mail addresses, and a picture ID**
• Speed Dial (95 entries + 4 pre-programmed for voicemail, #BAL, #MIN, #PMT)
• Emergency Contacts – enter 3 contacts & personal info

*microSD card sold separately.
**Dependent on photos stored in your album (My Pictures).

GENERAL

• USB Charging via Computer
• Flash User Interface for Clear Images/Text & Fun Animations
• Simultaneous GPS for Enhanced Location Accuracy
• Standalone Mode (RF Off)

Popularity: 1% [?]

Fujitsu announced its MHZ2 BT conventional hard drives which include 400GB and 500GB capacities and are scheduled to begin shipping in May. Fujitsu’s MHZ2 BT drives will target desktop PCs, notebooks, digital video recorders and external hard drives. The MHZ2 BT drives will be available in SATA and SATA II interfaces with an 8MB buffer. The drives’ rotational speed clock is 4200RPM, the average seek time while writing is 14ms and the average read seek times clock in at 12ms. The drives consume only 1.8W of power during read/write operations in a SATA 3.0Gb/sec setup, and 0.5W and 0.13W in idle and standby modes respectively.

Fujitsu fits three 166GB platters in its MHZ2 BT drives making their dimensions conform to the standard 9.5mm drive height which fits all notebook computers compared to the 12.5mm drive height of Hitachi’s 5K500 and E5K500 series drives.

Popularity: 1% [?]