Acer Liquid Android Smartphone.!

Acer has officially announced the Acer Liquid, which is claimed as the world’s first Android 1.6 high definition smartphone that uses Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The handset is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU with a high-definition WVGA capacitive touchscreen, a new user interface with easy access to entertainment and web bookmarks, and an optimized camera with geo-tagging and auto focus. In addition, the Acer Liquid also provides smart integration of Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Picasa and Flickr in the address book with realtime notification of status or content updates. [Press Release]

Samsung B3310 Released In India!

Samsung has decided to release the B3310 in India as part of the Corby family. Dubbed as the Samsung Corby Mate, the phone features a sliding QWERTY keyboard, a 2-inch QVGA display, a Quad-band GSM connectivity, easy access to social networking sites, email, Bluetooth 2.1, an FM radio, a music player, a 2MP shooter, a 40MB of internal memory and a microSD card support. No info on pricing so far. [Samsung]

Sony intros multi-touch, quad-core VAIO L all-in-one!

Sony at an event tonight launched a trio of new systems, starting with its first touchscreen PC. The VAIO L supports Windows 7's own multi-touch elements for scrolling and zooming through content without needing special software. Like Gateway and HP, Sony has its own custom touch portal, here called Media Gallery, that lets users rely on touch to edit photos and videos.
This sexy all-in-one features Windows 7 support and also has its own multitouch capability for scrolling and zooming through content without any additional software. Sony’s custom touch portal, Media Gallery, lets you use touch to edit photos and videos.

The L begins at $1,300 with a 24-inch 1080p display, a 2.7GHz Pentium dual-core and 4GB of RAM, with a 320GB hard drive and a DVD writer for storage. It relies on a GeForce G210M integrated chipset for 3D and HD video decoding tasks. Higher-end models scale up to a 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad, 6GB of RAM, 1TB of disk space, a Blu-ray drive and a GeForce GT 240M to better decode HD video.

Pre-orders start today and will ship sometime in November.

The Zune HD!

When Microsoft first launched the Zune, the player was something of a kludge. The hardware design had been licensed wholesale from Toshiba, and the fact that it had WiFi and could "squirt" songs was little advantage in a world where few people bought the device. (Several years after its launch, I have yet to run across another person "in the wild" who owns a Zune.) As Microsoft's first product that was meant to derail the iPod juggernaut, it served instead only as a sacrificial victim that the juggernaut overran without pity.
But with the second attempt, Microsoft went from competent to very good. Even today, these second-generation devices are a pleasure to use and feature a few neat tricks like WiFi sync. Industrial design was hugely improved versus the first generation, though plastic was still much in evidence, and Microsoft rolled out both flash and hard drive models along with its Zune Originals engraving program. With Zune 1's “squirting” both useless and widely mocked, the company found new a way to capitalize on the second-gen Zune’s WiFi by providing access to streaming music directly from the Zune music store. Users who paid for the $14.99 monthly subscription could access millions of tracks, then stream or download them to the Zune player, all without hooking the device up to a computer.
For its third hardware redesign, Microsoft has given up on the value segment of the market altogether. Instead, the company is rolling out a single flash-based model in 16GB ($220) and 32GB ($290) varieties and loading it up with a few premium features: a 3.3 inch OLED 480x272 screen, support for HD radio, the NVIDIA Tegra HD video playback engine, a touch screen, real metal on the front and back, downloadable apps, and a Web browser. While updated firmware is available for older Zunes as well, the decision to focus on a single model and end-of-life the other Zunes is a chance for Microsoft to reset the Zune line, focus on a single well-made machine with some new capabilities, and see if there is any traction to be had in the market.
Can it succeed? That depends on whether users buy into the Microsoft way of doing things—a way that includes paying for a monthly music subscription. Those who take the bait will find themselves hooked (in both senses) by one of the best portable music discovery experiences yet created. The full subscription experience on the Zune is now unbelievably compelling, offering something that feels like more than the sum of its parts—but consumers have so far shown little interest in subscription music services.
For everyone else, the new Zune HD is “merely” an excellent media player with a gorgeous screen, HD radio, and 720p output over an HDMI connection.

The Razer Naga MMO mouse! Offspring of a mouse and a phone?

Razer has a history of making hardware designed for gamers, but the company's newest offering does something new; the product is a mixture of both software and hardware set up to make your raids a little more pleasant. While the Razer Naga mouse may simply look like a piece of gaming hardware with a number pad fused into it, the truth is actually much more intriguing.
No software is worth it if the hardware is not up to snuff, and luckily the Razer Naga is a sexy mouse. Yes, it lights up and the blue logo pulses in the dark—very impressive at LAN parties—but more importantly, the mouse features a 5,600dpi sensor, 1ms response rate, and a scroll wheel with 24 click positions. That's a lot of numbers that all mean that the mouse is ultra-precise and smooth in action.

The mouse itself feels good in your hand, although if you're a fan of larger, heavier mice you're out of luck here. I have moderately sized hands and was able to cup the entirety of the mouse very easily, and the hardware is light and easy to move. These are preferences more than issues or strengths with the product, but worth pointing out. The Naga is molded with places for your index, middle, and ring finger, and frankly this mouse is a joy to put your hands on. Even the cord hasn't escaped the notice of the designers; it's made from a braided material, not simple plastic. This would be an impressive mouse on its own merits, but the things that set it apart for MMO fans are noteworthy.

The pad on the side of the mouse features 12 buttons, with a selector switch on the belly of the mouse that maps them to either the top number buttons on the keyboard or the number pad on the side. It's interesting to see my laptop recognize the mouse as a keyboard, and then be able to use the number pads instantly. My wife—who is an accountant—found the idea of actually crunching numbers this way rather ghastly.
The real magic happens when you mix these buttons with Razer's software, called AddOns, which allows you to map these buttons to different actions inside your MMO game with ease. You can set up the buttons to operate like a phone keypad, or arrange them horizontally as they would be as the mouse sits on your desk. You can set it up so that your bindings on the Naga only impact certain characters. You can map the keys so that hitting them while holding the control button controls your pet. Here is a video from Razer showing how flexible the software is in World of WarCraft.

Blaze ‘Wiimote’ for PS3.!

Sony might want to pull the lead out with European video game accessory maker, Blaze, announcing its very own motion-sensing controller for the PS3. The Blaze PS3 Motion Freedom Controller sports more than a passing resemblance to a Wiimote and promises to bring Wii-like motion sensing capabilities to any PS3.

It boasts most of the controls found on a regular PS3 controller, including a directional D-pad, analogue stick and the full complement of buttons. Blaze says its controller employs, “the latest motion sensing technology,” but not having read my latest Motion Sensing Technology Weekly it’s unclear whether that means accelerometers, infrared bars, or some other method.

It’s also unclear how the Blaze controller will integrate with PS3 games, but the company claims it will “allow you to interact and become one with the hottest PS3 sporting and action title’” such as Sega Tennis and Tiger Woods Golf.

Blaze says its controller has been “ergonomically designed from the ground up,” but it’s hard not to think the design process involved a few sessions in front of a Wii given the appearance of the device. Still, they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery so, presumably, Nintendo is taking the design of the Blaze controller as a complement.

There’s no news on a release date or pricing for the Blaze PS3 Motion Freedom Controller, but there’s every chance it will be before the planned second quarter 2010 date Sony has penned in for the release of its own motion sensitive PS3 controller.

Blaze

One ZX Series all-in-one PCs with multi-touch!

With Windows 7 just around the corner, Gateway has introduced a new line of all-in-one desktop PC’s that take advantage of the multi–touch capabilities of the highly anticipated operating system. The competitively priced One ZX Series combines stylish design with impressive features aimed at both the serious and more casual user.

Initially available in two variations, the ZX6800 and ZX4800, Gateway plans to release both with its TouchPortal interface, which sits atop Windows 7. Allowing the user to manage a suite of Gateway multi-touch applications, and give quick access to music, photos, social networking and the like, the TouchPortal interface can be “peeled back” at the swipe of a finger once the user is finished. Gateway believes the space-saving design of the One ZX Series is further enhanced by many applications doing away with the keyboard altogether.

Although the higher end ZX6800-01 is being aimed at more demanding users including “serious gamers” and the ZX4800-02 is touted as offering suitability for students and casual users, both systems will feature wireless keyboard and mouse, integrated HD web cam and microphone, six USB ports, Super Multi optical drive and multi card reader.

The ZX6800-01 packs a 23 inch HD Ultrabright widescreen display with 1920x1080 resolution, and is powered by an Intel Core 2 Q8200S 2.33GHz CPU and Intel GM45 Express chip set. Visuals come care of a 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4670 GPU. Other specs include 8GB of DDR3 memory, 1TB HDD and 64GB solid state drive, along with 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, a Hybrid TV tuner and eSATA port.

Meanwhile its lower end sibling, the ZX4800-02, features an Intel Pentium Dual Core processor and Intel GMA X4500 HD integrated graphics. Along with 4GB DDR2 RAM and a 750GB SATA HDD, the unit also incorporates 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi and a slightly smaller 20 inch HD display with 1600x900 resolution.

Both models will ship with Windows 7, while a third high performance unit, the FX6810-01, is expected to be released later in the year.

The Gateway One ZX6810-01 and ZX4800-02 will be released around the start of November and are priced from US$1399.99 and US$749.99, respectively. More information can be found at the Gateway website.