According to the eMercedesBenz website, Mercedes has acknowledged Apple's current (and in all probability future) dominance in the mobile arena, so much so that they have unveiled a new cradle specifically for the device.  Available now for the Mercedes-Benz C-, E-, CLK-, ?CLS-, S-, CL-, SL-, M- and R-Class (as well as the in the future for the forthcoming GLK-Class), the Apple iPhone cradle allows seamless integration between your device's music and telephone functions and your vehicle's architecture. Once the cradle is installed, you can control iPhone’s music and phone functions with the help of multifunction steering wheel controls, while the vehicles display is used to indicate the phone status. The iPhone cradle is available now for ordering and will cost you € 249 through local dealer.

Samsung announced on Friday that Samsung’s Soul designer phone sold over one million units in its first 30 days on market. Soul’s sales were limited to European countries only and have proved to be one of the most popular phones in Europe. iPhone when launched last year took 74 days to reach one million mark, it was only sold in US for first five months. iPhone launch was considered to be one of the most successful handset launch ever. The Soul sold 280,000 phones in UK making it one of the highest selling phone in one month in UK. Sales in Germany were also high at 150,000. Samsung will start selling the phone in Asian market this month and that should increase the sales. Apple will launch the iPhone 3G on July 11th in 22 countries and it will be interesting to see how many days or hours it takes the iPhone 3G to reach one million mark.

In April Psystar a small networking equipment manufacturer started selling computers that came preinstalled with Mac OS X. The legality of selling computer with Mac OS X preinstalled is questionable, but Apple has not taken any action against the company till now. Not satisfied with Apple’s silence, Psystar has added an Xserve clone to it product lineup. The server is called OpenServ 1100 and it comes with four front drive bays, two gigabit Ethernet ports, integrated graphics, up to 16GB DDR2 memory, and option of choosing Mac OS X 10.5 client or Mac OS X 10.5 server preinstalled on the system. There are other OS options like CentOS, Windows Server and Ubuntu Server 8.04 also available. The starting price of the OpenServ 1100 is $1,599 and with Mac OS X Server (10 Client) installed it becomes $2,125. The OpenServ is available now through the companies website.

A Mac anti-spyware and anti-virus maker Secure Mac is reporting that a new Trojan Horse designed to allow a malicious user complete remote access to a Mac OS X system has been discovered in the wild. The Trojan Horse dubbed ‘Applescript.THT Trojan’ disguises as an application bundle called ‘ASth_v06’ of size 3.1MB. The malware originated via a hacker website and is disturbed through the website, Limewire and iChat. If you let the package install on your computer, the malicious script can reportedly log keystrokes, take pictures with the iSight camera, take screenshots of the computer and turn on file sharing to let the hacker download files to and from the computer. As always the basics of Internet security are don’t download anything from unknown source and don’t allow installation of a program that you didn’t download intentionally. No malware can install on your computer unless you allow it by clicking the agree/allow tab. If you are still unsure the company, Macscan advises using anti-virus software like Macscan 2.5.2 with the latest spyware definitions (2008011).

Engadget posted photos of Dell new mini PC called Studio Hybrid today. The mini PC looks very similar to bamboo encased mini PC show by Dell in April. In place of bamboo, Dell uses an orange Plexiglas shell for casing. The system will have a Intel Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, WiFi, DVD burner, five USB ports and memory card reader. The Studio Hybrid has HDMI, DVI and S/PDIF for audio/video output. According to Engadget, Dell is planning to offer the system for around $500 to $700 later this year.

A report from Oppenheimer’s Yair Reiner claims that AT&T would pay Apple $325 in subsidies on each iPhone 3G. Reiner says that the amount is quiet higher than the normal $200 subsidy paid by carriers to other smartphone makers. This increased subsidy will result in Apple getting just as much revenue from subsidies as it did from revenue sharing previously. According to the analysts AT&T is giving lot of cash to Apple for being the exclusive iPhone provider. But the high subsidies will be worth if iPhone 3G sales brings new subscribers to AT&T. It was believed that almost 50 percent of the first generation iPhone subscribers were new to AT&T wireless service.

NVIDIA didn’t liked that everyone was talking about Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 cards and hence dropped their GeForce 9800 GTX+ bomb today. The new card uses the 55nm refresh of G92 processor resulting in 738MHz core clock, 1836MHz Shader clock and 1000MHz memory clock. That is a considerable bump over current generation GeForce 9800 GTX card. The card will ship in mid-July for just $229 only.

Chinese notebook forum 51nb has posted new photos and specification details about the upcoming Lenovo X200 notebook. The 12.1” notebook with 1280 x 800 resolution screen will be based on Intel Centrino 2 + VPro platform. It will have Core 2 Duo processor with Clock speed up to 2.4 GHz, DDR2 (667MHz) or DDR3 (1067MHz) memory, 64GB SSD or up to 320GB hard drive and 1.3 megapixel webcam. The Laptop will be built using Magnesium alloy and its weight will start at 2.9 pounds. The ports included on the laptop are 3 USB 2.0, Express Card, Video out and multi card reader. For communication the Laptop will have WiFi a/g/n, Bluetooth, Optional 3G, Optional WiMax and Optional GPS. The laptop will be able to achieve 9 hours battery life by using the optional 9-cell battery. Lenovo plans to release the X200 in mid-July, no word on pricing yet.

Sony today announced their new HD HandyCam that records 1080i AVCHD video. The HDR-CX12 has a new Smile Shutter technology that triggers a still shot when people are smiling, even during video shots. The camcorder can take smile shutter stills in standby mode also. The HandyCam has a 10-megapixel ClearVid CMOS sensor with image stabilized Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T 12x optical zoom lens. The camera can record 5.1 surround sound with the built-in microphone that zooms along with the lens. The camcorder is controlled via the 2.7” touchscreen and comes with BIONZ image processor for superior image quality. The HDR-CX12 captures video and stills directly to the Memory Stick Pro Duo card and Sony will include a 4GB card with the camcorder to get you started. The HandyCam will ship in August for $900.

Till now Intel has increased performance of the computer by increasing number of cores, Cache size and clock speed. But now the company plans to integrate DRAM into the CPU, which could potentially increase performance by 10X. A small research team at Intel has succeeded in reducing the size of DRAM cells to just two transistors and completely removing the capacitors. Intel said that it was able to design DRAM with 2GHz speed that offered 128 GB/s bandwidth. Compared to 18-20 GB/s bandwidth offered by today’s processors. If Intel succeeds in bring the clock speed of DRAM to the level of QX9770 processor they will get a bandwidth of 204.8 GB/s effectively increasing the bandwidth 10 times what it is today. Researchers believe they could match and exceed Intel’s existing clock speed by using the 45nm High-K technology. According to Intel researchers, the potential bandwidth would quickly introduce us to the era of Terascale computing.
[Via TG Daily]

According to a report by Commercial Times newspaper, Taiwanese component suppliers for the iPhone 3G will see their revenues strengthen substantially starting the third quarter of this year. The paper quoted sources at component suppliers saying that, as the new iPhone 3G will be available simultaneously in 22 countries on July 11, they expect shipment of iPhone 3G to top 10 million units for third quarter alone. The paper also quoted Morgan Stanley’s estimate that Apple will sell 27 million iPhone units in 2009. Apple will start selling iPhone 3G in more than 70 countries by end of 2008. If Apple were able to sell just 100 thousand iPhones in each of these countries, they would have sold 7 million iPhone by end of 2008. We know for sure that in some countries Apple will sell more than ten times that number. So it is everyone’s guess what will be the number at the end of 2008.
[Via DigiTimes]

Apple announced today that iTunes Store has sold over five billion songs. It took iTunes almost three years to sell the first billion songs, but it took only three month and twenty-four days for Apple to sell its latest billion songs. Apple had announced on 26th February 2008 that it has reached the 4 billion mark. Apple also said that users are now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies everyday, resulting in over 1.5 million movies every month. According to NPD Group iTunes is the No. one online music retailer in the World and World’s most popular online movie store as well. The big four music labels should see these numbers and start selling DRM free music through iTunes as soon as possible. As their unwillingness to sell DRM free music is not at all affecting iTunes growth. It is just making the customers more frustrated with music industry.

Mozilla was trying to set a world record for maximum number of downloads in 24 hours for its new Firefox 3 browser. More than 8 million copies of Firefox 3 were downloaded in first 24 hours and Mozilla is waiting for the Guinness Book of World Records to review the result before announcing the world record. On Tuesday, the download rate reached a peak of 14,000 download per minute and the download rate is still strong at around 6,000 per minute. As of Wednesday evening more than 9.4 million copies of Firefox have been downloaded. You can check the download counter here. Another good news for Mozilla is that Firefox 3 usage is significant at more than 4 percent browser market share in just 24 hours, according to Net Applications. By all means Firefox 3 launch has been a huge success for Mozilla.

Philips has released three new miniscule MP3 players the SA2840, SA2825 and SA2820. These square GoGear MP3 players have a 128 x 60 OLED screen, Voice recording, built-in EQ and USB 2.0 connectivity. The players support MP3, WAV and WMA playback. The SA2820 and SA2825 have 2GB flash memory whereas SA2840 has 4GB memory. Additionally SA2825 features an FM tuner. The devices are available in UK for around £34.99 to £44.99 depending on memory size.

According to a study done by iSHARE, 91 percent of Japanese adults say they have no plans to buy the iPhone 3G when it is launched on July 11th.  Remaining 9 percent plan to buy the device as soon as it is available. Almost half of these are users already signed up for SoftBank the carrier picked for the initial Japanese iPhone launch. Rest of the users planning to buy iPhone will switch from other carriers. Around 62.2 percent people on the survey are seriously considering the device but have no plans to buy it. iPhone will be available in Japan through SoftBank the third largest carrier in the country. Of the people surveyed only 22.9 percent were using SoftBank network, 39.8 percent were using NTT DoCoMo and 26.9 percent were using KDDI. Traditionally Japanese have resisted adopting non-native mobile phones, but if Apple captures 9 percent market share in Japan (as indicated by survey) with iPhone, it will be a great achievement for Apple.

NEC today announced EA261WM, a new 26” LCD display with 92 percent of the NTSC color gamut and 1,000:1 contrast ratio. The display has a response time of 5ms and supports full HD resolution. The black bezel of the display hides downward firing stereo speakers. The ports on the display include DVI with HDCP encryption, VGA for most other video and four USB 2.0 for peripherals. The display is aimed at professional, who need higher color accuracy and sharper contrast ratio. It will ship in august for $680.

Panasonic unveiled two new HD camcorders with 3MOS technology to improve low light shooting. The HS100 model comes with 60GB hard drive and SDHC card slot, whereas the SD100 comes with SDHC card slot and no onboard memory. Both the cameras use a new sensor technology called 3MOS that substitutes CMOS sensors in place of 3CCD arrangement allowing the camcorder to get twice as much light as CCD gets. The camcorders will record in full HD resolution using AVCHD (H.264) format and one hour video will require around 8GB space. Both the camcorders use 12x optically stabilized Dicomar lens from Leica and new HD Advanced Pure Color Engine for better image and contrast. The HS100 will sell for $1,100 and the SD100 will go for $1,300 with 8GB SDHC card.

Version today announced that it would upgrade its FIOS service nationwide. This update will give same speeds that were previously reserved only for the most competitive areas. The upgrade will bring 50Mbps download and 20Mbps upload speeds to its customers in 16 states where FIOS is available. The 50Mbps speeds will be available to it top tier users for $140 per month ($90 for New York and Virginia). Verizon will update it other FIOS plans also. The $43 plan will now get 10Mbps download and 2Mbps upload, the $53 plan will now get 20Mbps download and 5Mbps upload and the $65 plan will have 20Mbps download and 20Mbps upload. According to Verizon they are running successful trials of 100Mbps speeds and plans to upgrade the complete network with 100Mbps speeds very soon.

Skype will release the first beta built of Skype 4.0, this Wednesday, for Windows. According to Skype, pervious versions of software were focused on voice chat and VoIP, the latest update will focus more on Video chats. The Skype 4.0 beta will have many visual and organizational changes; basically the company has redesigned the complete user interface. The new update brings four or five functions in the main window making it easier to use other features and not just voice chat. Not every function in this first beta is live, features like automatic redial, call transfer, video presentations and integration with Outlook contacts are scheduled for roll-out in later builds. Mike Bartlett, the Windows product manager for Skype said that the company will monitor users response to the new features in beta build and continue to fine tune the features based on the responses. The company has not give any deadline for when they will launch the final version of Skype 4.0.
[Via Skype]

According to industry sources, Asustek will manufacture Garmin’s highly anticipated Nuvifone. Roger Jollis, Garmin’s director of OEM and mobile marketing said Garmin had placed strong emphasis on its own vertical integration and had never outsourced its products. But as the handset required lot of validation and RF technology expertise Garmin partnered with a Taiwanese cellphone maker to complete the development in time. Even though he didn’t identify the manufacturing partner, but industrial sources points out Asustek, as the company has been working on a secret project with Garmin for past two years. Roger also added that Nuvifone would not be Garmin’s only handset as the company plans to announce more handsets in 2010. The Nuvifone will be released in 4th quarter of 2008.
[Via DigiTimes]

Sony Ericsson announced five new handset C905, K330, J132, S302 and F305. The first in the lineup is top of the line Cybershot C905 with 8.1-megapixel camera, tri-band UMTS/HSPA, Quad-band GSM, 2.4” QVGA screen, AGPS, Bluetooth, TV-Out, WiFi and 2GB Memory Stick included. The second handset K330 is a low-cost model that includes 1.7” display, VGA camera, GSM, Bluetooth and talk time of 9 hours. The J132 is also a low cost handset with basic functions like talk, text and FM radio.  The fourth handset S302 is part of Sony’s new Snapshot series. The device comes with 2-megapixel camera, LED flash, 20MB on board memory, Memory stick slot, Bluetooth, USB, FM radio and Quad-band GSM/EDGE. The last in the lineup F305 is part of the new portable gaming series from Sony. The Quad-band GSM/EDGE handset comes with built-in accelerometer and three pre-installed games. Some of the games can be played in multiplayer mode using Bluetooth. All the handset will be launched before end of 2008.

AMD is also jumping of ultraportable bandwagon and is developing a 1GHz single core chip. The new chip will have 64-bit instruction set, DDR2 400 support, HyperTransport and 8W TDP. There will be 128KB L1 cache and 256KB L2 cache on the chip. It looks like AMD finally decided to develop an ultra low voltage chip. Nonetheless, it would be really difficult for AMD to get any traction, as the 1GHz Intel Atom processor has a TDP of just 2.5W.

Intel has released more details about the upcoming Nehalem processors. The Intel’s next generation chips will have QuickPath data transfer technology and DDR3 integrated memory controller delivering 25 gigabytes per second socket-to-socket bandwidth and 32 gigabytes per second socket to memory bandwidth. The Nehalem processors will use modular approach making all the main components work in a decoupled fashion. Such that frequencies and voltages can all be set independently for various components like CPU, memory system or Input/Output. The Chips frequency adapts to power supply voltage resulting in better power efficiency. The processors will have 8MB level 3 cache and a TDP of 130 watts. Intel will release processor based on Nehalem architecture in fourth quarter of 2008.

Mozilla today released the final version of Firefox 3 browser that has been in development for around 2 years. According to Mozilla the new browser will offer significant speed gains, better security and increased reliability. Firefox 3 is available for Mac OS X, Windows (XP and Vista) and Linux in 49 languages. The browser uses the user interface elements of the operating system for more integrated look and feel. Mozilla has done major code overhaul to make the browser faster and more stable. Firefox 3 has the updated Gecko 1.9 engine that improves page load time. Firefox also uses SpiderMonkey for faster JavaScript performance on web 2.0 sites like Yahoo Mail, Google Docs and others. Mozilla is trying to set the Guinness World Record for most downloaded software in 24 hours and to help them you can download the Firefox 3 browser here.

AMD will update its desktop CPU lineup by adding low-power triple-core and quad-core processors. The processors will have a TDP of 65W and will be available in 3rd and 4th quarter this year.  There will be two new triple-core CPUs, Phenom X3 8250e and 8450e with 1.9GHz and 2.1GHz clock speeds respectively. The processors will have 1.5MB L2 cache and 2MB L3 cache and both will be released in August. AMD will also launch low power quad core processor Phenom X4 9350e in 4th quarter.
AMD will add two quad-core processors Phenom X4 9850 (2.5Ghz) and 9950 (2.6GHz) to it lineup in fourth quarter. Processors based on 45nm manufacturing technology will be launched in first quarter of 2009, targeting core frequencies between 2.3GHz and 2.8GHz.

According to the latest data from Evans Data Corporation only 8 percent develops will write applications for Windows Vista in 2008. Windows Vista has been on the market for around 18 months and still developers are shying away from Vista. The worst part of the data is that 49 percent of developers are or will write applications for seven-year-old Windows XP in 2008. It is normally said that interest in Microsoft’s products increases after the first update, but the Vista service pack one update didn’t ignite any sparks in the developer community. The numbers for 2009 are also not that good, 24 percent developers plan to write applications for Vista, again less the XP (29 percent). It is not just Windows XP that is hurting Vista, Mac OS also saw an increase of 380 percent in applications development for the platform. Right now it looks like developers have decided to develop applications directing for Windows 7 rather than wasting time on Vista.
[Via Cnet]

The price for NAND flash memory chip continued to go down. The 8Gb (Gigabit) NAND flash price dropped to $2.35, the lowest till now this year. As a result of the continued weak demand for electronic products it is very likely that the price of 16Gb Flash chips will fall below $4 very soon. Even though the rapid decline in price is not a good news for NAND flash chip manufacturers, it is good for consumers as price for products like SSDs or USB memory drives will come down sooner than expected. 
[Via Digitimes]

AMD’s ATI division today announced the Firestream 9250 professional graphics card based on the upcoming RV770 GPU. According to AMD the new GPU can deliver more than 1TFlops, to be precise 1.2TFlops per RV770 GPU. Ten years back if you want to get 1TFlops performance from your computer you would have needed 5000 Pentium pro processors. The power consumption of the new 9250 models has increased from 150W required by 8170 GPU model to 170 watts. By using 4x Crossfire X configuration one can almost get 5TFlops out of one computer alone. AMD has not announced any price or released day for the Firestream 9250 card.