Voodoo Envy 133 is Expensive, but Gorgeous

Big notebooks are out and small notebooks are in. I personally didn't realize how great smaller notebooks could be until I first took a look at a Hypersonic offering back in May, then proceeded by an ASUS offering which shared the same form-factor. I don't recall a time when my opinion on things has ever shifted so fast. I am now such a fan of smaller notebooks, I almost scoff at anything larger!

With the smaller size, however, higher prices will be seen. Although the ASUS and Hypersonic I took a look at before hover around $1,500, "luxury" models exist that cost much more. Take Lenovo's X300, for example, or the MacBook AIR, which retail for over $2,500. But then we have the Voodoo Envy 133, which easily becomes the best-looking 'small' notebook on the market, and comes in at 13.3".

The prices are not that subtle either, with most of the best models sitting at over $3,000. The basic model which includes a 1.6GHz Intel SP7500 CPU and 80GB HDD retails for $2,099, which isn't too bad, given the gorgeous design. The $3,399 model will bump up the processors speed, give you some software to deal with and also give you a 64GB SSD. Expensive, but wow, is it easy to look at.

Developed by the HP Voodoo Business Unit, the Voodoo Envy 133 delivers critical features such as wireless(2) and Ethernet connectivity, USB and HDMI ports, and a 13.3-inch diagonal backlit LED display. All of the features are wrapped in a visually stunning package that consumers can customize via a full pallet of Voodoo Allure paint finishes.

Source: Voodoo Envy 133

Hasselblad's Kodak CCD-equipped H3DII-50 Offers 50 Megapixels

No matter the technology, people enjoy seeing higher numbers. Faster processors, more memory, more horsepower and of course, more megapixels. The company to reign supreme in that arena for a while has been Hasselblad, who are now offering the H3DII-50, a 50 megapixel monster, utilizing Kodak's latest highest-end 36.8x49.1mm sensor.

The camera's price is not yet known, but considering the 'smaller' H3DII-39 retails for just under $34,000, then you could expect the latest iteration to score upwards of $40,000. But what kind of resolution avails you with a 50 megapixel CCD? How does 6132x8176 sound? As incredible as that may appear, it sure doesn't seem that much more impressive over the 39 megapixels 5412x7212. But as simple math will prove, the higher we go in megapixels, the slower the overall resolution will increase to our eye.

But still, 50,000,000 pixels from a single image is simply incredible. To put it into perspective, a 1680x1050 monitor comes close to 1.8 million pixels, while the current monster, 2560x1600, sits at a comfortable 4.2 million pixels. That's not the most impressive part, though. Each image taken with the H3DII-50 will weigh in at around 70MB a piece. Not only is the camera itself expensive, but the computer you'd need to handle the images would also have to be.

To fit more pixels on the same chip, Kodak had to perform some voodoo shrinkage on them; they're 6 microns, compared with 6.8 for the KAF-39000. Kodak claims that the chip has increased data throughput, which seems odd since the specs (which are admittedly stamped "preliminary") indicate a maximum throughput of 18MHz vs. 24MHz for the 39-megapixel CCD.

Source: C|Net Crave

Hans Reiser Leads Authorities to Wifes Body

We haven't covered the Hans Reiser trial to any great degree, due to it not being something of particular interest to most of our readers, but it's a twisted tail regarding what used to be a very popular software developer. Hans was first accused of murdering his wife in late 2006, and since then the entire legal process and trial has taken well over a year and a half to conclude. When it did, he was found guilty, though no body was ever recovered.

That led many to believe that Hans could have still been innocent, but his sketchy demeanor worked to hurt more than help him. News is out today, however, that he led authorities straight to Nina's body, proving that he was indeed the creep behind this horrible crime. His cooperation means he will be eligible for parole after 15 years, rather than the original 25.

What this means for ReiserFS is probably certain doom. Many of the largest Linux distributions gave up on the file system long ago, including SUSE, and it even seems to be getting weened out of the Linux kernel itself. We'll have to wait and see, I guess. I do recommend reading the Ars Technica quickie article on this, though, if you happen to love play on words, like the one in the quote below.

Our postmortem analysis of the ReiserFS mailing list, however, seems to indicate that the project is already beginning to fall apart. Ongoing development has been relocated to kernel.org, but the effort could be doomed to bitrot because developers don't seem particularly interested in taking a stab at maintaining the code.

Source: Ars Technica

Outside the US, iPhone Plan Prices are Asinine

With the iPhone 3G right around the corner, are you getting ready to make the 11th a fun-filled day? Many aren't, and unless you have been living under a BlackBerry, you'd know that most people outside of the US are getting the roughest end of the deal.

The Canadian side of things has appeared on sites all over North America, but in actuality, Canucks aren't seeing prices that come even close to other parts of the world. Don't get me wrong, Rogers is using their monopoly to the fullest degree, but picture the poor folk in New Zealand, who have a 1GB / 600m plan that will run them $250 per month! The smallest plan, at $80, offers 250MB / 120m.

It's also been found out that even though the AT&T plan pricing is relatively sane, the rock-bottom $199 price for the 3G will apply to new customers only. So if you are already in a plan with the previous iPhone, you can expect to pay around the same as you did for the first iPhone. Who knew when the iPhone first came out how much of a money-sucker it would be, and not even by Apple!

Another interesting point: all of us expecting to waltz into AT&T stores and pick up an iPhone for $199 will be sadly surprised. The $199 price is for new contract-holders only. If you’re an AT&T subscriber you’ll be paying $399 and $499 for your iPhone - about $100 less than the non-contract price.

Source: TechCrunch

July 8th Tech Roundup

• XFX nForce 790i Ultra 3-Way SLI & Zotac nForce 790i-Supreme - Digit-Life
• AMD Phenom 9950 X4 Quad-Core - TechwareLabs

• AMD Radeon HD 4850 - Gaming Nexus
• Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB - Elite Bastards

• Eagle Consus D-Series External Enclosure - GideonTech
• Tagan IB-390 Hard Drive Enclosure -
• Rosewill R2-RAID - techPowerUp
• Thecus N5200BR NAS - HotHardware

• Roccat Sense Gaming Mouse Pad - Tech-Reviews
• LapLogic G800 Aerogel Extreme LapDesk - TechwareLabs

• Orbiter Hard Drive Cooler - FusionMods
• Silenx Ixtrema Fan - Overclockers Club

• Silverstone Zeus ZU1200M 1200W - JonnyGURU
• Tuniq Miniplant 950W - HardwareLogic
• Antec Three Hundred - Bjorn3D
• Thermaltake Armor+ MX - ThinkComputers

• Cyber Snipa Contest - Overclockers Online
• ASUS M70S Notebook - Digital Trends
• ASUS EEE PC 901 - Neoseeker
• Samsung SC HMX10A Solid State HD Camcorder - ModSynergy