Hasta La Gadget!

It would seem that the humble netbook owner’s Windows 7 options just keep improving as the grand new OS comes closer to release. After plans to limit netbooks to running three apps at a time were thankfully scrapped, Microsoft has now confirmed with us that it is going to allow OEMs to splash any version of Windows 7 they desire onto their Atom-powered miniature laptops. That’s right, you can totally rock Windows 7 Ultimate and Aero visualizations on a machine that can handle neither. Joking aside, it’s pleasing to see the Redmond brain trust steer clear of arbitrary limitations on customer choice.

[Via GadgetMix]

Filed under: Laptops, Software

Windows 7 coming to netbooks in all its myriad flavors originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Starting in November, use of your cellphone’s GPS navigation capabilities will be illegal for drivers on New Zealand roadways — dedicated SatNav devices without voice capability are still ok. In fact, use of your modern cellphone as an in-vehicle MP3 player, compass, etc. will all be illegal under Road User Amendment Rule 2009. Here’s how it reads currently:

“A driver must not, while driving a vehicle, create, send, or read a text message on a mobile phone or make, receive, or terminate a telephone call on a mobile phone or use a mobile phone in any other way.“

A law this broad would also make your car’s integrated cellphone entertainment system illegal. There are exceptions of course, one of which allows drivers to use a mobile phone to make, receive, or terminate a telephone call if the phone is mounted in the vehicle and the driver “manipulates the phone infrequently and briefly,” even though studies have already concluded that hands-free solutions are still distracting and thus, dangerous. Yeah, the whole thing sounds arbitrary, over-reaching, and completely unenforceable to us as well.

Update: Put down the pitchforks and torches, it looks like the law is already en route for amendment to allow cellphone “satellite navigation or music functions.”

[Via Stuff, image courtesy of joannapapa5100]

Filed under: Transportation

New Zealand making drivers with cellphone navigation criminals, hugs ok for now (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While the iPhone got an official announce for China last month, its retail pricing and delivery date have remained a mystery. That’s going to change later today when China Unicom is expected to announce an October 1st launch for Cupertino’s darling. Eight service packages ranging in price from 126 yuan (about $18) to 886 yuan (about $130) per month will be available to Unicom’s 141 million subscribers from a pool of 700 million cellphone toting Chinese. How much will it cost? 5,000 yuan or a steep $733 green retail. Subsidies of about 893 yuan (about $131) to 4,253 yuan (about $623) will be offered for those signing to long-term plans on Unicom’s fledgling 3G network. Looks like somebody’s standard of living is on the rise.

Filed under: Cellphones

China Unicom prices iPhone for October 1st launch originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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True, Panasonic’s 103-inch 3D television is more desirable, but Panny’s new 50-incher will be more affordable when it comes time to buy your first 3D set. The 1080p TV requires viewers to wear special specs, naturally, in this case, Panasonic’s active “shutter” glasses. As the name implies, the lenses switch in sync with the TV so that the right image is seen by the right eye and the left image is seen by the left eye. All that quick image swapping requires new PDP materials and chips to maintain screen brightness. The new prototype will be on display at Ceatec show in Tokyo next week with plans for commercialization in 2010. You know, assuming anyone wants it.

Filed under: Displays

Panasonic’s 50-inch 3D plasma announced, seeks fine family home originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on April 19, 2007 by CyberNet.

Tutorial Thursday

I love testing out new software, but I like to use virtual machines to see what the software is like before I go installing it on my actual system. A virtual machine is a virtual computer environment which allows you to run one operating system form within your current operating system. This gives a lot of benefits with the biggest one being that you can run multiple operating systems (both Linux and Windows) on your computer without ever having to restart it. The next big benefit that I mentioned is that you can test out software and other things before installing it on your main system.

Microsoft offers a Virtual PC program that runs only on Windows and supports the installation of many different versions of Windows. This is the best choice for most people because it is easy-to-use and is actually free.

Probably the most popular solution for using virtual machines is VMware Workstation. This supports a very long list of operating systems but costs $189…which is well out of the range for most consumers. However, VMware currently has a Beta program going on to test the next milestone release of their software, and you can obtain a valid serial number at no cost to you without any restrictions! Despite having the “Beta” label, I would say that the software is extremely stable from my experiences, and works very well with Vista as both the host (your main operating system) and guest (the operating system installed on the virtual machine).

One thing that is frustrating about the virtual machines is that the graphical capabilities are normally pretty limited because they have to be shared with your host operating system. This can definitely have an effect on anyone trying to run Vista in a virtual machine because you won’t receive any of the Aero glass effects, even if your computer completely supports it. There is, however, a workaround to get Aero to work.

Note: This does require your virtual machine to have access to your network, and the host machine has to be running Aero for this to work.

1. Install Vista on a virtual machine and run it. Make sure to enable remote connections on the virtual machine in the Remote Settings located in the Control Panel under System Properties.
   
2. Your virtual machine should be running Vista without the Aero glass. You now need to find out the IP address of the virtual machine. To do this open up the Start Menu, type “cmd” without the quotes, and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to run the program as an administrator.
   
3. At the prompt type ipconfig and press Enter. You are looking for the IP address in the output which should look something like this:
   
4. On your host computer start the Remote Desktop client and expand the Options. On the Experience tab, make sure all of the boxes are checked, and on the Display tab make sure the color is set to 32–bit. Then go back to the General tab and enter in the IP address that you found in the previous step.
   
5. Enter in the username/password if prompted and now you will have successfully connected to your virtual machine using remote desktop. The only difference is that the host machine is processing the graphics instead of the virtual machine so you can enable Aero on Vista!
   

I wish there was some other way to enable Aero in a virtual PC, but this is the only way that I have seen. You’re probably wondering why it would even matter whether Aero was running if I just wanted to quickly test out software? There is a lot of new software being developed that takes advantage of Aero’s capabilities, and if I want to test what it really has to offer, I need to have Aero running.

Eventually a better solution may emerge, but until then I think this is the only workaround that’s available.

Source: MSDN Blog

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