Hasta La Gadget!

Why on earth didn’t we think of this before? According to the Sydney Morning Herald, netbooks are ideal for schoolkids.

Over in Oz, netbooks now account for 10% of PC sales, and that includes both laptops and desktops. In the week before kids returned to school, retail chain Dick Smith (please, no sniggering) shifted 4500 netbooks. This is partly because they are so cheap and partly because Aussie parents can collect a government grant, the Rudd Government’s Education Tax Refund, which gives out either $375 (US$250) or $750 (US$500) depending on the age of the child — clearly enough to cover the cost of a netbook.

But the report fails to notice something else which makes a netbook child-friendly, or at least what makes children netbook-friendly: tiny fingers. One of the biggest hurdles to getting any real work done on a netbook is the small keyboard. And children – even fit, sporty, healthy Australian children – have digits small enough not to bash down two keys at a time.

Netbooks hit right spot for schoolchildren [Sydney Morning Herald]
Photo: geognerd/Flickr

Apple has squeezed out the latest software update for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, v2.2.1. As always with Apple updates, the release notes are maddeningly sparse:

This update contains bug fixes and improvements, including the following:
– Improved general stability of Safari
– Fixed issue where some images saved from Mail do not display correctly in the Camera Roll
– Fixed issue that caused some Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio files to skip during playback.

What Apple fails to mention is that the update break Yellosn0w, the hack which unlocks the iPhone from the official carrier and lets you slip in any SIM card. If you’re a dirty, jailbreakin’, unlockin’ hacker, you’re used to holding off updates anyway, and this time should be no different.

yellowsn0w WARNING [iPhone Dev Team/Twitter]

See Also:

• iPhone 3G Carrier Unlock Released and Working Fine
• Video: iPhone 3G SIM Unlock
• Hackers Successfully Unlock the iPhone 3G

Japan’s younger generations tends to look at nihonshu (what we think of as Japanese sake) as “oyaji-kusai,” which translates in the nicest way possible as “reminiscent of a middle aged man.” According to a survey on Nikkei Net, 75% of young women aged 20-30 hardly ever drink nihonshu and of course the Sake Brewer’s Association would like to fix this.

One long-standing sake manufacturer, Nihon Sakari, has created two new “entry-level” products intended to win over new drinkers.

The first is “Japan Taste Sweet and Sour Sake” and aims to attract women with a “refreshing” sweet flavor. The second, called “Japan Taste Samurai Rock,” promises a nihonshu that doesn’t taste very much like nihonshu at all (and no, we don’t understand the name either). Instead, an addition of lime juice gives the beverage more of a cocktail feel, masking that distinct sake taste.

Both are available from February 24th for ¥340 per 200ml bottle. Note that the bottle is an entry-level size too, as the drink is more commonly sold in wine bottle-sized containers.

You know that low-power Geode processor that powered a-many of OLPC XOs? Better stock up now, ’cause AMD isn’t planning a proper successor. In the words of spokesman Phil Hughes: “There are no plans for a follow-on product to today’s available AMD Geode LX products, but we expect to make this very successful processor available to customers as long as the market demands.” Pretty straightforward if we should say so ourselves, but it’ll be kind of weird with just VIA and Intel holding down the low-power CPU fort. According to Dean McCarron, president for Mercury Research, the Geode was “a nice niche market for [AMD],” but considering the current market, the chip maker is being forced to focus its efforts on fewer devices. It’s been real, Geode — way to go out on top.

[Via HotHardware]

Filed under: Laptops

AMD has no plans for Geode successor, retirement party originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Good news: The world’s thinnest and first commercially available OLED television — the Sony XEL-1 — is on sale in the UK today.

Bad news: It’ll cost Brits £3,489 (about $4,944) — that’s more than twice the price of the same set sold in the US.

Look, we knew the European price hikes were coming from Sony in 2009, but we weren’t expecting this. Then again, if you’re the type who thinks dropping a couple of thousand Quid on an 11-inch television makes sense, well, you probably won’t even notice.

[Via OLED-Display]

Filed under: Displays

Sony XEL-1 OLED TV lands in the UK, now twice the price originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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