Toshiba on Tuesday launched a new ultraportable laptop that it claims is the world’s lightest, putting it in contention with vendors including Apple and Lenovo. The company said the full-featured Portégé R500-S5007V weighs just 2.4 pounds (1.08 kilograms), compared to Apple’s MacBook Air, which weighs 3 pounds, and Lenovo’s Thinkpad X300, which weighs around 2.93 pounds. The laptop measures 0.77 inches at its thinnest point, according to Toshiba. The company also claimed that the new laptop was the first to include a 128G-byte solid-state drive (SSD) to replace the hard drive. Laptops to date have had 64G bytes of storage, though both Lenovo and Apple provide 128G bytes of storage through two 64G-byte modules.

Battery life is also preserved by the laptop’s transreflective 12.1-inch screen, which can shut down the LED (light-emitting diode) backlighting by reflecting the sun’s rays to illuminate the screen, according to Toshiba. For US$2,999, users can get a laptop powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo U7700 processor at 1.33GHz, with 2M bytes of cache and 2G bytes of RAM. It will come with Windows Vista Business OS, which is also downgradable to Windows XP Professional. The laptop includes a SuperMulti optical drive that can read and rewrite DVD and CD media, wired and wireless 802.11 a/g/n networking, Bluetooth 2.0 support and built-in safety features to protect laptop data during falls. The Portégé R500-S5007V is a standard configuration, however, Toshiba offers similar configurations with a hard drive option, a company spokesperson said.

Source: NY Times

After several beta releases and a planned bid for the Guinness Book of World Records, Firefox 3.0 has arrived. As of 1pm EDT Tuesday, users can download the latest version of the open-source browser, which includes an improved book marking system and drop-down search returns in the URL bar, among other features. Aesthetically, the browser is not drastically different from its predecessor. The forward and back buttons have been altered, while the browser buttons and window frames have also been redesigned to conform to the look of a user’s operating system, but not much else has changed. On the features front, the drop-down URL bar—dubbed the Awesome Bar—offers suggestions of possible Web sites as you type your search query.

Version three offers a three-tier bookmarking system: bookmark stars allow for one-click favorites; bookmark tags allow you to add details to your favorites; and bookmark folders are saved searches that update when you add new items matching that search to your bookmarks, according to Mozilla. Download manager has also been revamped and now includes the ability to pause and resume downloads, search through downloaded files, obtain more detailed file information, and revisit the original download page. Firefox 3.0 also boasts improved color profiles, font and text rendering, and zooming capabilities, as well as malware and phishing protection, Mozilla said.

Version 3.0 is three years in the making. Mozilla released the first beta version of Firefox 3.0 in November 2007, with version two debuting a month later. Beta 3.0 version 3 arrived in February with major code rewrites of the page layout, graphics, and font engines and over 350 plugged memory leaks. Most recently, Mozilla on June 5 unveiled the second release candidate for Firefox 3 with several localization updates. That came a little over two weeks after RC1 was made available. When the download goes live on Tuesday, the clock will start ticking on Mozilla’s bid to break a Guinness world record for most downloads in a single day. Mozilla said last week on its blog that it has already received at least one million pledges from users who say they will download Firefox 3 on release day.

- Andrew

Sony will soon add a Google Internet search feature as part of a software update for the PlayStation Portable. On the PSP blog Monday, Sony said the new upgrade, v4.00, “replicates the Google Internet search experience. PSP users will need to be connected to the Web via Wi-Fi. The move represents Sony’s continued efforts to expand the Internet features of the handheld. Of course, what users really want is an easy way to download movies off the Web.

Nonetheless, the company continues to force users to buy the much rejected Universal Media Discs (UMD), the mini DVDs that Sony built especially for the PSP, or hack the device with video converters. Sony said the upgrade will also give users the ability to change speeds on playback of video stored on Memory Stick PRO Duo. This allows the viewer to scan quickly through a movie or slow it down.

Source: Cnet

The majority of South Koreans rate their broadband services as ‘ordinary’ despite having the world’s fastest internet connections, according to a recent survey. Korean broadband providers typically offer speeds of 100Mbps. However, the government-sponsored Korean Communications Commission (KCC) found that no service provider consistently provides this level of service. The fastest ‘100Mbps’ service was delivered by LG Powercomm with an average speed of 91Mbps, the KCC found. The average speed of all 100Mbps service providers is just 46Mbps, but this compares to typical average broadband speeds of well below 10Mbps in most other countries.

Seven service providers offer high-speed broadband services in Korea to more than 15 million subscribers. Korea Telecom controls 44.2 per cent of the market, followed by Hanarotelecom with 24 per cent and LG Powercomm with 12.2 per cent. “By giving quality information to internet users, we expect customers to have more information when they choose products,” said KCC representative Lee Eun-hee, according to the Joongang Daily. “This encourages service providers to compete against one another to improve the overall quality of such products.” Kim Young-wan of Korea Telecom added: “The rate at which high-speed internet customers are increasing has slowed down a lot. “That is why internet service providers are looking for new revenue sources such as internet telephony and IPTV services.”

Source: Vnunet

Mozilla has set June 17 as the official release day for Firefox 3. The introduction of the new browser marks the beginning of a race for the title of the fastest browser on the market. With more than one million people already pledged to download Firefox 3 on the first day of its release, Firefox 3 could set a Guinness World Record as the most downloaded software with the first 24 hours of launch. Mozilla has set next Tuesday, June 17, as the official release day for the upgraded Firefox 3 browser, following months of beta testing and release candidates that have been publicly available to users over the past few weeks. Firefox 3 will be shipped for both Mac and Windows on the same day.

Firefox 3 has already won critical acclaim for its reliability and noticeable performance improvements. It Besides code optimization, Firefox 3 brings numerous new features, including one-click bookmarking and tag support in bookmarks, smart location bar, the ability to save and restore browser sessions, smart zoom that enlarges all web page content (not just text) and significantly improved protection against phishing attacks and malware. Mozilla claims that Firefox 3 has 15,000 tweaks and enhancements when compared to Firefox 2. The official release of Firefox appears to be also launching the beginning the battle for the fastest browser on the market. The JavaScript engine seems to be the primary battlefield for now, as the scripting interpreter optimization directly translates to user-visible speed gains in Web 2.0 sites and Web applications that run faster and show more a responsive user interface.

Source: TG Daily

Apple surprised many today when it announced it would be previewing the next version of the operating system that runs on its Mac line of desktops and notebooks, Mac OS X 10.6, aka “Snow Leopard”. Despite questionable name choice, in its early stages it shows a lot of potential as an even more stable operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, featuring better 64-bit computing (a theoretical 16 TB, yes terabyte, of RAM is to be supported), full Microsoft Exchange support in its Address Book and Mail applications, improved multicore support through what Apple calls “Grand Central”, and a technology called OpenCL that puts more processing to the graphics processing unit. Apple also promises an improved media experience through QuickTime X.

“We have delivered more than a thousand new features to OS X in just seven years and Snow Leopard lays the foundation for thousands more,” said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “In our continued effort to deliver the best user experience, we hit the pause button on new features to focus on perfecting the world’s most advanced operating system.” More details available at official Snow Leopard promo website.

- Andrew

Source: Neowin

Ever wanted to be involved in breaking a world record? But didn’t fancy becoming the world’s fattest man or clipping an un-holy amount of clothes pegs to your face?

Well the guys at Mozilla can help you out. For the launch of Firefox 3 they are trying to enter the record books for the most number of software downloads in one day. You can head on over to the site and make a pledge to download the latest version of Firefox on “Download day”. Mozilla already have over 800,000 pledges from all across the globe. And that number is still rising.

The exact date of this Download day hasn’t been set yet but if you make a pledge be sure to give them your email address and they will send you a reminder. And next time you’re flicking through your copy of the Guinness World Records, you can laugh at the world’s hairiest man knowing you’re in there for just clicking your mouse.

So get along to http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/ and make your pledge to download on release day!

Thanks

- Jason

Thanks for visiting Another Blog, we have just started out on our journey to become one of the larger more successful tech blogs around.

Whats going on at this moment in time?

Well the designers (Andrew & Ryan) are working on a bespoke design for the blog whilst Alex works on his series about the iPod Touch / iPhone Jailbreak. Also Andrew is working on transferring some of the posts from the Pryde Design Blog to here and forwarding the links.

When is the podcast starting?

We are going to be starting the podcast after our summer exams are finnished so not for about a month this also applies to the VLog as well.

Well thanks for reading, make sure you subscribe to get updates on our progress.

- The Another Blog Team

The importance of the target audience is often under estimated when designing websites. I was having a discussion with a high level IT services manager over dinner recently and we both agreed that companies and designers have lost sight of the end goal of most websites. They are cramming ever flashier designs with far too much content into sites that don’t need it.

For instance if you want to get the phone number of a restaurant to make a reservation you want it prominent on the page so you don’t have to spend time looking for it. This is in the interest of the restaurant because they want you to reserve and come and eat so they can function as a profitable business. If on the same page there is around 500 other numbers from everyone from the restaurants cleaner to the suppliers of fine wines then finding that number will be a challenge. If there is another restaurant on the same street which serves food just as good as that restaurant and you are unable to find the number for your first choice you are likely to go on the competitors? site and reserve a table there. This will therefore mean that the company has lost the business that they were planning to give the company simply because the information was not forthcoming on the website.

This is obviously an extreme example but when building sites we should all keep functionality in mind. Of course the visual aspect of the site will make it eye catching but the site is there for a reason and mostly with commercial sites are there for the purpose of making their companies money. If they are unable to do so then they are unfit for purpose no matter how good they look and how many lines of code you have used to create it.

When planning a site there is certain things you need to think about

1. Target audience
2. Accessibility
3. Colour scheme

There are many subsections of each and they are all interconnected. I will use an example to explain. Ok, say for instance you are designing a site for people who have limited vision. Say you are selling corrective contact lenses. There will be two main targeted audiences for the site. The first target audience being people who have a problem with there sight and the second target audience being people buying the contacts for them. So you are going to need two settings; one for the first target audience and one for the second. The people with a sight problem will need larger text for them to be able to read it and the people with “normal” sight will want it set out normally. Now you have to think about which setting should be default. It would depend on which market you were mainly targeting and for this example I am going to say that people with sight problems would like to stay moderately independent so they would want to do it themselves so the text should be set larger by default.

Now you have worked out what the target audience is and the size of the text will have to be for accessibility. Now we have to think about colour scheme. This is very much connected to the target audience. You would not have a flashy chrome and black website for the audience because the majority of people who have sight problems (not all) are more elderly. Therefore they are more partial to soft pastel colours such as light blues, greens and greys.

Now at this point we have worked out the audience, accessibility and the colour scheme. Now we have to work out how the person is going to purchase the item. Can your grandma use email? I know mine can’t so it would be more appropriate to display a phone number that they can call to talk to your company.

This example could go on forever through my process of constant evaluation and targeting but you get the idea. Think about the site don’t just splash some colours and the required text on the page in a way that you find attractive because it does not matter what you think it?s not representing you its representing somebody else.

To do this process you need to be in constant consolation with your customer making sure what you are doing really what they want because it is not your site it?s theirs you are simply there tool for making it. Your professional input will be valued by most customers but at the end of the day the customer knows best and that?s final.

I hope this has given you a good overview of the procedure that I recommend you go through when creating a commercial website.

Andrew Pryde