OLPC Announces Give One Get One Sale On $100 Laptop

Boston (dbTechno) - One Laptop Per Child has opened the flood gates to orders from private consumers with a Give One Get One laptop sale for their $100 laptop.

The production is now off and running and for the two weeks beginning November 12th, you can purchase one of their green and white laptops for a tax-deductible price of $399. If you do this, a second laptop will be given to a a child in need somewhere in the world.

The laptops are portable, solar powered, have a bright screen and are also open sourced.

The laptop was supposed to originally be the $100 laptop but with price increases is now the $188 laptop. That hasn’t stopped OLPC from trying to market this as a huge tool to help people around the world.

Nicholas Negroponte of OLPC stated that “I had a handshake agreement with the leaders of three countries, Thailand, Nigeria, and Brazil, all agreeing to buy a million laptops. That got it going. But between a handshake and a closed deal is a world of difference. Everybody has a pit in their stomach when it comes to going first.”

He is referring to how hard it is to getting countries to commit to this piece of technology. This Give One Get One deal from OLPC may spark things quickly though.

Apple Warns Against Unlocking The iPhone

Boston (dbTechno) - Apple put out a warning on Monday to its customers stating that if customers try to unlock the Apple iPhone from the AT&T wireless service, Apple is not responsible for anything that occurs to it.

Apple stated that they strong believe that these software programs which have come out claiming to unlock the iPhone making it available to work on other networks may actually damage the device.

They stated that the company, Apple, is going to be putting out updated software which may disable the iPhones permanently if they are found to have this illegal software installed.

Apple stated that hacking the iPhone is a violation of customers’ software license agreement and not covered under the warranty. So basically Apple is stating that if you want to mess with your iPhone, go right ahead, but anything that happens and any damage we may cause to disable it is not our fault.

Back in August a teen from New Jersey was the first to unlock the iPhone. Many hackers have stated that they have software-based responses all set up to respond to any attempt by Apple to relock the modified iPhones.

Steve Jobs stated that it is a “constant cat and mouse game we play” talking about the unlocking of the iPhone.

Now Even Sleep Can Kill You

Boston (dBTechno) - According to a new study, too much, or too little sleep can increase your risk of death.

Researchers from the University of Warwick in London examined more than 10,000 people aged 35-55 from 1985 and 1992-1993. They found that people who reduced their sleep time from 7 hours a night to just under 5 hours were 1.7 times more likely to die by the year 2004.

In comparison, people who increased their sleep to more than 8 hours a night were twice as likely to die by 2004, the researchers said.

Researchers looked into several possible factors for the increase including, sex, marital status, employment grade, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption, self-rated health, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, and other possible physical ailments.

Lead author Francesco Cappuccio said that previous studies have linked a lack of sleep to Type 2 diabetes, weight gain and high blood pressure. Researchers are not sure if more sleep causes any significant health problems. Read more

Starbucks Giving Away Free iTunes Songs

Boston (dbTechno) - Starbucks Corp. has announced that they are planning to give away 50 million free digital songs over the Apple iTunes service to customers of their coffee houses.

The idea to to promote the new wireless iTunes music service which is set to debut from Apple. Users can now download songs via WiFi from the iTunes service.

The promotion will run from October 2nd to October 7th and will include over 10,000 U.S. stores. They are going to be handing out 1.5 million Song of the Day cards every single day. These cards can be redeemed at Apple’s online iTunes Store.

The first song is going to be Joker Man from Bob Dylan.

Starbucks is also going to offer limited-edition reloadable purchasing cards which will have 2 free iTunes downloads when they register the cards online.

The promotion will be in Seattle and New York Starbucks locations starting October 2nd. 600 locations will kick off the promotion with many more to follow across the country.

This comes after Starbucks and iTunes have made the announcement which would allow iPod Touch and iPhone users to download songs playing in a Starbucks shop directly to their iPod Touch or iPhone.

Microsoft Allows Vista Users To Downgrade To XP

Boston (dbTechno) - Microsoft is beginning to change their tune on Vista as they are allowing vendors to  stop putting Vista on new machines and allowing alternatives such as Microsoft XP.

The Vista operating system has not been receiving the best hype as of late as it is not yet supported by many programs and also requires a very powerful computer to run at peak performance.

Microsoft is going to allow manufacturers such as Dell and HP to downgrade computers from Vista back to Windows XP. They can do this upon the request of the client or include a Windows XP recovery disc with the purchase of the computer.

The downgrade is only going to be available to those who purchased Vista Business or Vista Ultimate editions. Microsoft originally stated that all vendors needed to stop using XP as of January 31, 2008. This appears to be going out the window though as this is the first sign that Microsoft may not want to put full support behind Vista just yet.

If Microsoft kills off that deadline that they had set it may be bye bye to Vista and hello to another new Microsoft operating system.

Sony PSP Outsells Nintendo DS In Japan

Tokyo (dbTechno) - Nintendo is beginning to lose some ground in Japan with their Nintendo DS as the Sony PlayStation Portable managed to outsell the DS last week.

The Sony PSP had an extremely strong week in sales thanks to the launch of the exclusive game Crisis Core: FInal Fantasy VII. The Sony PSP outsold every single console last week in Japan which is almost unheard of.

Also available in Japan is the PSP Slim and Lite Crisis Core bundle package which is being sold and has sold extremely well.

Nintendo has been riding the wave of success from the Nintendo Wii but may want to check twice in the handheld market after this news breaks to them. The Nintendo DS has consistently been beating the Sony PSP since it launched in Japan. It appears though that the tide may be turning a bit.

China Building 4th Space Launch Center

Beijing (dbTechno) - China is working on building its 4th satellite launching center in the Hainan Province.

China is quickly becoming a space giant in the world with its rapidly evolving space program. China is hoping to expand and tap into the global satellite launch market as they try to steal customers and profits away from India as well as Western countries.

The new launching center will be placed in Wenchang which is 60km from the capital of the Hainan province, Haikou.

The new site is going to be used to launch synchronous satellites, as well as large space stations, deep space probe satellites, and heavy satellities.

The site will be 20 aquare kilometers and will have a launching port, space theme specific park, rocket assembling plant, command center, and a rocket launching base.

China stated they chose the location due to its low-latitude. This increases the capacity of the rocket, cutting costs. It also extends the life of the satellites. The low-latitude means a larger centrifugal force and lowers the cost of launching.

Tokyo Game Show 2007 Proves Popular for Gamers

Tokyo (dbTechno) - The Tokyo Game Show was bigger and better than ever this year as it wrapped up what could go down as one of the greatest gaming shows ever. It was a dream for gamers.

Japan is an absolutely huge market for video games and continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The Nintendo DS has proven to be more than a phenomenon as it is basically a culture in the country at this point.

This year Nintendo reigned supreme again with the Wii in full display along with many third party companies showing off upcoming games for it along with the Nintendo DS.

Other big games included Devil May Cry 4 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 as well as Metal Gear Solid 4 from legend Hideo Kojima, also a PS3 exclusive.

The Metal Gear Solid 4 demo was actually playable for the first time ever on the PS3. This was the first time any gamers have been able to get their hands on the most highly talked about and anticipated game which isn’t called Halo 3.

It was also confirmed that metal Gear Solid 4 would be shipping in March 2008 in all territories. TGS was amazing to say the least, and it should be great to see how much bigger it can get from here. With E3 now gone, TGS has evolved into the premier gaming event of the year.

Halo 3 Launching To Rave Reviews From Critics

Boston (dbTechno) - This week will celebrate the biggest release in any form of entertainment for the entire year when Halo 3 launches for the Microsoft Xbox 360 console, and thus far, it has been receiving rave reviews.

Halo 3 is the highly anticipated first-person shooter for the Xbox 360. Game reviewers have been saying nothing but amazing things in regards to the final chapter of the Halo trilogy.

Halo began back in 2001 on the original Xbox and managed to solidify Microsoft’s place in the gaming market by itself. It sold millions of consoles and created a fanbase like none other. Microsoft is expecting the demand for Halo 3 to surpass that of Halo 2 which has 125 million in its first 24 hours. Microsoft fully expects Halo 3 to easily top $200 million within 24 hours.

Game critics such as GameSpy have stated “Halo 3 is the reason the Xbox 360 exists.” Other publications such as Electronic Gaming Monthly rated it a perfect 10.

It seems that Microsoft will be able to ride the tsunami of a wave that is Halo 3 right into a successful holiday season.

Are You Ready For Halo 3?

Toronto (dBTechno) - In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past several weeks, the highly anticipated Halo 3 hits retail stores this week.

Although the game is officially released on Tuesday Sept 25, many stores here in Canada, and across the U.S., plan to have a midnight madness, allowing gamers to pick up the new game at midnight on the 24th.

“i’m going to be going to head over to EB Games after supper on the 24th,” said Jim Blair, an eager young Halo fan speaking to dBTechno. “I reserved the game over a month ago, but i just want to make sure i get my copy.”

When asked what makes Halo so special, Blair simply said “It’s just so awesome.”

Halo debuted in 2001, creating the best selling game franchise of all time.

Halo 2 earned almost as much revenue as Spider-Man 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3, reported The Sun.

Industry expert Simon Munk, of games-digest.com, added: “Halo’s basically the biggest game in the world right now. Its star Master Chief is the Lara Croft of this decade - an instantly recognisable icon even to those who’ve never picked up a joypad. And so far the games have delivered more epic set-pieces and all-out action than any other series in the last few years. That said, if they can’t do a decent ending this time round, there’s going to be a lot of angry fans!”

The release of Halo 3 has been compared to the final episode of the Sopranos.

Bungie Studios, the makers of Halo, says the franchise will end with a bang.

“You can take this one to the bank. In Halo 3 we take all the gunpowder in our armoury and throw a match on it. It’s the closing chapter in the trilogy. We’re leaving no stone unturned,” Frank O’Conner, who worked on the initial story script for Halo 3, told the Herald last month.

« Previous Page — Next Page »