¡Vacaciones, vacaciones!

Si estas pensando en tomarte unas vacaciones… España es una buena opción dónde podrás encontrar lugares maravillosos como Blanes.

Blanes un municipio español de Cataluña, España. Situado en la costa de la provincia de Girona (Gerona). Se considera el primer pueblo de la Costa Brava, por lo que es conocido como el “Portal de la Costa Brava”.

Cuenta con un gran número de campings y hoteles donde podrás alojarte a un precio low cost (muy bajo) y visitar sus playas o algunos monumentos historicos como el Jardín botánico Mar i Murtra y Pinya de Rosa o varias ermitas, e iglesias en las que destacan la ermita de l’Antiga, la de los Padres i la iglesia,(Parròquia) de Santa Maria o el conocido Castillo de San Juan.

Puedes reservar cualquier tipo de hoteles en blanes, que van desde las mejores ofertas de precios en los hoteles de lujo Blanes a los hostales y hoteles de Blanes. Cuando realices tu búsqueda en el hotel Blanes te mostraremos la lista de hoteles que se puede ordenar por nombre, categoría, precio aproximado en Blanes o de acuerdo con las calificaciones de nuestros clientes.

En el listado de hoteles baratos en Blanes te mostramos un resumen de las características del hotel, donde también podrás ver las fotos del hotel. Si pulsas en “Ver más información” podrás ver toda la información del hotel , así como un mapa de la zona de Blanes donde está situado el hotel, si tiene parking, piscina, bar, wifi (WI-FI), etc. El listado de hoteles en Blanes te permite las reservas online de tus ofertas de hoteles en Blanes de forma cómoda.

Pos financiado.

Fake antivirus peddlers helped by Microsoft, IRS redirect glitches

Just weeks after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission shut down two companies accused of selling fake antivirus software, a new player has moved into the market, aided by glitches in the Microsoft and U.S. Internal Revenue Service Web sites.

Over the past four days the scammers have used so-called redirector links on Web sites belonging to magazines, universities and, most remarkably, the Microsoft.com and IRS.gov domains, said Gary Warner, director of research in computer forensics with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who first reported the activity on his blog Tuesday.

Many Web sites use redirector links to take visitors away from the site, although the Web site operators try to stop them from being misused by scammers. For example, the Google URL http://www.google.com/search?q=idg&btnI=3564 uses Google's "I'm feeling lucky" feature to send Web surfers to IDG.com.

If criminals can use a redirector on a major Web site like Microsoft.com or IRS.gov, however, they can make their malicious links pop up very high in Google search results, Warner said in an interview.

"Microsoft is a super-powerful site as far as search engine weight is concerned," he said.

The bad guys have tricked search engines into returning their malicious links to tens of thousands of search terms, Warner said. They've done this by using special software to add these redirector links to "tens of thousands of blog comments, guestbook entries, and imaginary blog stories all around the Internet," Warner said in his blog posting.

You can see the results of this activity. A Google search for the term "Microsoft Office 2002 download" yields a Microsoft.com redirection link as its first result. That link had been redirecting visitors to a malicious Web site, which launched Web-based attack code against victims and tried to trick them into downloading fake antivirus software, Warner said. By Tuesday evening, Microsoft had fixed the problem, so the Microsoft.com link that pops up in the google search results was no longer taking surfers to the malicious Web site.

The IRS has now addressed the issue too, but about 20 other sites remain a problem Warner said.

The fake antivirus software, also called "scareware," installs a keylogger on the victim's computer, presumably to steal login names and passwords, and also launches fake warning popups on every Web page that the victim visits telling him he needs to buy antivirus software, called System Security. The price for the fake product? A believable-sounding $51.45.

The FTC estimates that 1 million consumers were taken in by other fake antivirus products which go by names such as WinFixer, WinAntivirus, DriveCleaner, ErrorSafe and XP Antivirus. On Dec. 10 a federal court ordered two companies, Innovative Marketing and ByteHosting Internet Services, to stop promoting these products.

Warner doesn't know who is behind System Security, but he believes that the scammers behind this latest operation may be connected to the earlier scams. "It's similar enough that it's got to be somebody who has a relationship with the last group," he said.

Review: Kanguru eSATA flash drive provides blazing speed

Last month, Kanguru Solutions announced the first USB flash drive that also offers External Serial ATA (eSATA) connectivity. This month, OCZ Technology Inc. also announced an eSATA-enabled flash drive with up to 32GB capacity, as did Advanced Media Inc.'s Ridata-brand.

So it seems this is a trend. The question is, why? Kanguru's answer is that you can have blazing fast data transfer on your home system, then pocket the device and plug it in anywhere using the USB port. Kanguru's eFlash drive, with its eSATA 3Gbit/sec. throughput, potentially offers five to six times the speed of USB 2.0, which is 480Mbit/sec. The key word here is, potentially.

Kanguru's 32GB e-Flash drive

Dave Bresnick, senior product manager of the Kanguru e-Flash drive, said the drive would realistically offer read speeds of 75MB/sec. compared to USB 2.0's 30MB/sec. and write speeds of 25MB/sec., up from USB's 20MB/sec. He wasn't kidding.

I tested the Kanguru drive using Simpli Software's HD Tach 3.0 and by transferring 4GB of data from my hard drive. Because my ThinkPad laptop doesn't have a native eSATA port, as all but the latest computers today do not, I was forced to use a 34mm ExpressCard adapter.

Kanguru's e-Flash drive comes in a 16GB version for $84.95, with the 32GB model selling for $119.95; I tested the 32GB version. It's really not very expensive considering the capacity. The company expects to release a 64GB model in the next three months.

Kanguru's eSATA flash drive is a nice shape and size, about the same dimensions as a pack of gum, but only half as thick. It also has a sleek black finish. One cool feature is that when transferring data to or from the drive, the eSATA connector emits a red band of light and the USB side glows blue.

The one thing that immediately turned me off about the drive was the end caps covering the eSATA and USB connectors. I found them flimsy, and the eSATA cap has a lanyard protruding through it, which I guess keeps you from losing one of the caps, but also makes it somewhat awkward when trying to plug it into the laptop. Kanguru, however, assured me that they are correcting that "design flaw" and will be removing the lanyard from the cap and body and reinforcing the cap as well.

My first test of the drive involved transferring a big, ugly 4GB folder consisting of 1,653 files with 85 JPEG photos and a dozen short videos. The data transfer using the eSATA port took 10 minutes, 4 seconds; using the USB port, it took exactly 15 minutes.

Visual Studio, Ruby improvements slated

Microsoft Windows platform developers and Ruby application builders both should gain functionality improvements as a result of separate efforts afoot at Microsoft Corp. and the Object Management Group (OMG).

With the planned Visual Studio 2010 software development platform, Microsoft is emphasizing "code-focused development" investments and features, said S. "Soma" Somaseger, senior vice president of the Microsoft Developer Division, in a blog post on Friday evening.

Somasegar cited Highlight References as a code-focused development feature. "Highlight References is a simple but easy way to quickly understand a scoped piece of code and navigate to references," Somasegar said.

Another enhancement, Quick Search, offers a lightweight way to do increment searches, filter searches and get search heuristics like substring, he said.

Visual Studio 2010 improves the call browser experience in C++ and features a call hierarchy tool for C# and Visual Basic. "These features let you easily navigate all callers and 'callees' of a method," said Somagar.

Also, Visual Studio 2010 makes it easier to do "consume-first development," Somasegar said.

"Many features in Visual Studio, such as IntelliSense and Quick Info, work best when an API that a user is consuming is already defined," Somasegar said. "We recognize, though, there are times you need to code against an API that has yet to be defined completely. For example, in test-driven development, we see the test-first pattern. So, in VS 2010, we're making it easier to do consume-first development."

The consume-first mode for IntelliSense allows for toggling the commit behavior. Developers can hit Ctrl+Alt+Space to toggle on this mode. "In Visual Studio today, you may have had the experience of having the IDE auto-complete an identifier you didn't want because it didn't yet exist (think generic method return types)," Somasegar said.

The Visual Studio 2010 platform is set to feature such capabilities as an editor based on the company's Windows Presentation Foundation technology and enabling the Silverlight rich Internet application platform and the Windows 7 client operating system. Based on previous two-year product cycles for Visual Studio, the 2010 release could arrive late next year.

In the Ruby realm, the Ruby CORBA Language Mapping proposal would provide a standard way for Ruby developers to use CORBA; they gain a standardized mapping to make Ruby programs that use CORBA portable amongst different Ruby implementations, the OMG said. The proposal proves that CORBA is "alive and well," according to the OMG.

The proposal is being promoted by Remedy IT. "With the language mapping, Ruby programmers can implement CORBA clients and servers with Ruby," said Johnny Willemsen, technical manager for Remedy IT and an OMG Platform member.

Remedy IT's R2CORBA enables these implementations. "When it was ready, we decided to standardize the language mapping through the OMG," Willemsen said. The OMG proposal is being recommended for adoption, with the final version slated to be available in June, he said.

"A formal adoption would make it possible for other CORBA vendors to also implement and deliver a Ruby language binding for their products. Developers will then be able to implement CORBA clients and servers with Ruby," Willemsen said.

The OMG is seeking comments on the proposal.

iPhone trounces BlackBerry Storm in satisfaction rating

First reactions from buyers of Research In Motion Ltd.'s newest BlackBerry Storm smart phone have been "lukewarm," and nowhere near the satisfaction ratings of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, a market research analyst said today.

"It's not that the BlackBerry Storm is a bad phone," said Paul Carton, research director at ChangeWave Research. "It's just that the initial launch has glitches which have resulted in a mediocre satisfaction rating, while consumers are already trained to expect the very highest standards from their BlackBerries."

In its most recent consumer smart phone survey, ChangeWave found that the Storm's satisfaction rating was more akin to a midtier handset and significantly below that of people who own Apple's iPhone. Just 33% of new Storm owners, for example, said they were "very satisfied" with the touch-screen smart phone, compared to 77% of iPhone owners who said the same thing in a July 2008 survey ChangeWave conducted less than a month after Apple launched the iPhone 3G.

Likewise, 14% of Storm owners said they were "unsatisfied" with their new BlackBerry, compared with 5% of iPhone buyers who gave that response in July.

But the Storm is not all RIM has to offer, Carton said, as he argued that the Waterloo, Ontario-based company is in a strong position leading into 2009.

"For the first time in a year, RIM's next 90 days are looking very, very strong," said Carton, "even in relation to Apple. Overall, BlackBerry represents the top of the line. And although Storm started off looking like a midtier smart phone in terms of its initial consumer reaction, that's not the end of the story."

According to the survey ChangeWave conducted earlier this month to measure future purchasing plans, 39% of the consumers who said they would buy a smart phone in the next 90 days pegged a BlackBerry as their chosen handset. That number was up from 30% in September, which in turn was an increase over June's 23%.

Apple's iPhone, meanwhile, captured just 30% of the planned smart phone purchases in the most recent survey, down from 34% in September and off dramatically from the whopping 56% in June, more than a month before Apple actually launched the iPhone 3G but after it had disclosed many of its details.

The downturn in stated plans to buy an iPhone is understandable, said Carton, who characterized it as a "settling down" of consumer interest in Apple's device. "Yes, the industry is driven by new product releases, but the place that Apple is in now, that's a wonderful place to be," he said. "They'll have a great quarter [in iPhone sales], even in the midst of an unbelievably bad economy."

India's PC Market Flat Despite Growth in Notebooks

India's PC market saw almost no growth in the third quarter and is likely to stay that way through next year, according to research firm IDC India.

Unit sales of PCs grew in the third quarter by only 1.7 percent over the same period last year, to 2.27 million units, with inventories piling up in the channel, IDC India said on Wednesday. In the third quarter last year the country's PC market grew by 25 percent to 1.8 million units.

Fourth quarter buying is also subdued as the global economic downturn has affected local demand, said Kapil Dev Singh, country manager at IDC India. "This subdued growth is likely to continue through next year," he added.

While desktop PC shipments fell 8.9 percent in the third quarter, notebook PC shipments grew 37.8 percent, according to IDC.

Hewlett-Packard was the largest seller of both desktops and notebooks, with a 19.7 percent share, followed by India's HCL Infosystems with 9.8 percent, and Dell a close third with 9.6 percent.

Dell, which has stepped up its sales and marketing in India, eased out Lenovo, which held the third spot in the third quarter last year.

The higher growth rate for notebook PCs has been a trend for over a year, as users shift from buying desktops. The price differential between desktops and notebooks PCs has fallen, making notebooks more attractive to users, Singh said.

Unit sales of desktops, at about 1.6 million, were still higher than the 705,000 units for notebook PCs in the third quarter.

The first signs of a slowdown in the Indian PC market came in the first quarter, when PC sales grew by about 10 percent to 2.1 million units. That was far lower than last year, when PC sales grew by 20 percent to 6.5 million units.

Center for Moblin Linux Opens in Taipei

A new center aimed at speeding the development of mobile computing devices around the Linux-based Moblin OS opened in Taipei on Tuesday.

The idea is for Taiwanese companies to use the center as a testing ground for new netbooks and mobile Internet devices (MIDs), as well as develop more applications around Moblin.

The Taiwan government teamed up on the center with U.S. chip maker Intel, which developed Moblin. Intel plans to support the new center by further development of Moblin, which includes open source software with an OS, a user interface, a browser, developer tools and other software. Intel created Moblin software to run on devices that use its Atom microprocessors.

Most netbooks today use a variety of Linux-based OSs, such as Linpus Linux Lite, or Microsoft's Windows XP.

Intel and the Taiwan government came up with the idea to establish a Moblin center in Taipei because so many companies are creating netbooks and, increasingly, MIDs. These devices are built for people who want a mobile device to surf the Internet that's bigger than a smartphone but more portable than a laptop.

Asustek Computer, for example, launched the commercial netbook craze with its popular Eee PC family of netbooks. Acer, the world's third largest PC vendor, jumped aboard the netbook money train in June with its Aspire One netbook. Currently, around a dozen Taiwanese companies have developed or are developing netbook products.

The new development center has been named the Moblin Enabling Center.

Toshiba Plans Big Production Jump for Fast Charging Battery

Toshiba is planning a big increase in production of a new type of Lithium Ion battery that can charge to 90 percent of its capacity in a few minutes and is highly-resistant to short circuits.

The Super Charge Ion Battery (SCIB) is a Lithium Ion battery based on proprietary technology developed by the company and is targeted at both industrial and electric vehicle applications and consumer laptop computer use.

Production of the battery, which has been in development for several years, has already begun for the industrial market at the relatively low volume of 150,000 cells per month.

Toshiba will increase that to several tens of millions of cells per month at a new factory it plans to build in Kashiwazaki in Niigata prefecture in north west Japan, it said Wednesday. Construction of the factory will begin in late 2009 and production is scheduled to begin a year later, said Hiroko Mochida, a Toshiba spokeswoman.

Initial production at the factory, which represents an investment of several tens of billions of yen (several hundred million US dollars), will likely be aimed at the industrial and electric vehicle markets although the same lines will be able to make SCIBs for laptop computers, she said.

At September's Ceatec show in Japan Toshiba demonstrated a laptop running on an SCIB. The battery will keep its performance through up to 6,000 recharges -- more than ten times that of typical Lithium Ion batteries -- meaning a laptop should be able to run its lifetime on the SCIB without need to replace the battery. Due to its design it is also much less likely to catch fire or short circuit if crushed or damaged.

Each SCIB cell offers a nominal voltage of 2.4 volts and a capacity of 4.2 ampere hours. Ten of them are typical combined to make a battery for industrial use and less would be required for a laptop battery.

Kashiwazaki along with the neighboring city of Kariwa is perhaps best known as site of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, which is the largest nuclear power plant in the world by output. The plant is currently idle after a magnitude 6.6 earthquake took it off line in July 2007.

Toshiba said it chose Kashiwazaki because of the city's promotion of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles and associated businesses. As part of that promotion Toshiba will receive certain subsidies from the city.

Laptop Shipments Surpass 70% of Japan PC Market

Driven on by the popularity of low-cost netbook computers, shipments of laptops have surpassed 70 percent of the Japanese PC market for the first time.

In November 457,000 laptops were shipped in Japan against 185,000 desktop computers, according to data released Wednesday by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA). That split the market 71.1 percent in favor of laptops and 28.9 percent to desktops.

Total shipments for the month were down about 7 percent on November 2007 due to the poor economy but laptop shipments were up 3 percent on the year while desktop shipments dropped 25 percent, said JEITA.

The total value of PC shipments was down 17 percent at ¥72 billion (US$795 million). The larger percentage drop in value than unit shipments indicates the average price of PCs is dropping. In the laptop space the value of shipments fell 12 percent despite the greater unit volume.

The JEITA data is based on shipment figures received from 13 major PC vendors including Apple, Sony, Sharp, NEC, Lenovo, Fujitsu and Toshiba.

Llegaron las vacaciones

Cuando mires este articulo te preguntaras que tiene que ver con el tema general del blog. Pues nada........... simplemente es tiempo de vacaciones y quiero compartir con ustedes lo que esta causando revuelo no en el ámbito tecnológico sino en el de turismo........... cuando estés muy estresado de tantos ordenadores y tanta tecnologia y quieras unas vacaciones, te dejo una buena opción.

La Comunidad de Madrid es un destino y millones de detalles. Un punto de encuentro desde hace siglos. Una multitud de propuestas culturales, de ocio y entretenimiento, para complacer a los millones de personas que la visitan cada año.

Su capital, la ciudad de Madrid, de aire cosmopolita y con un creciente número de turistas que la visitan durante todo el año, continúa siendo la ciudad abierta de siempre y su famosa actividad nocturna no ha perdido un ápice de vitalidad. Este aire de modernidad contrasta armónicamente con su importante casco antiguo y sus tradiciones culturales.

Con una amplia red de transportes que facilitan los desplazamientos a cualquier lugar, y con la mejor y más exclusiva red hotelera. Tradición y vanguardia conviven en armonía, abriendo sus puertas a una sociedad dinámica y moderna. La Comunidad de Madrid se convierte en destino obligado para conocer la cultura española.

Destinia.com, nos ofrece un excelente buscador de Hoteles en Madrid. Lo he estado probando y realmente, me parece una muy buena herramienta. Además de tener una fácil navegación, esta web, con su buscador de hoteles, nos ofrece una amplia variedad de diversos hoteles; que aparecen clasificados tanto por estrellas como por servicios ofrecidos. Además de la disponibilidad de habitaciones que en general es un hándicap a la hora de hacer tus reservas.

Realizamos la búsqueda partiendo de varias opciones, lo que facilita muchísimo nuestra tarea, y no perdemos tiempo llamando a mil hoteles…

Quizá una de las cosas más positivas a destacar de esta web (en general), es que aparecen precios y que la llamada “letra pequeña” está a nuestro alcance (y eso no siempre sucede).

Si tienes planeado viajar en estas vacaciones, y aun nos has preparado todo para tu viaje , esta web es tu mejor opción, compuebalo por ti mismo.

Has tu reserva de vuelos baratos, ya.

Pos finaciado.

Microsoft iPhone app ships broken and proprietary. Expectations met.

Microsoft certainly isn't making it difficult for its detractors to criticize their foray into iPhone Apps. The company's first product, which shipped this weekend and is dubbed Seadragon Mobile, is fundamentally broken – or so they say in the iTunes description and on the company's website.

A very important feature – the ability to browse Photosynth libraries – doesn't work:

The 'Browse Photosynth' functionality broke right after we submitted the app to the AppStore. Hopefully we'll get a new version with this fixed submitted to Apple in the next few days. Photosynth search and adding a user to view their Synths still works. Sorry!

There is a fix if you want to be able to use this functionality. I'd try it except I don't want to waste 5 minutes entering in a huge URL that I'll probably mess up. Supposedly the app will be updated in a week.

All of that being said, it is a pretty cool app for what it does, and that is zooming in on incredibly large image files over and over again. And it is pretty quick. I'd say about on par with zooming in on a Google Map. Speaking of Maps, it does GPS functionality on map overlays which mimicks the Google Earth/Maps functionality somewhat.

Of the other examples given, I am a huge fan of the Library of Congress maps and documents. Any history buff will enjoy having these available on their iPhone.

The application itself is a pretty big event for the two companies. Microsoft Live Labs seems to have some admiration for Apple's iPhone. Alex Daley, group product manager for Microsoft Live Labs, gave the iPhone high praise:

"The iPhone is the most widely distributed phone with a [graphics processing unit]. Most phones out today don’t have accelerated graphics in them. The iPhone does and so it enabled us to do something that has been previously difficult to do. I couldn’t just pick up a BlackBerry or a Nokia off the shelf and build Seadragon for it without GPU support."

The thing that I don't like about Seadragon and Photosynth in general is the way that Microsoft uses a proprietary file format for its images and basically locks any interoperability with other companies' products.

If I upload my pictures, I can never have them back in a format of my choice. If I want to look at them, I need the Photosynth browser (unless I misunderstand the way this application works). It also doesn't work on my Mac. So the barrier for me to enter this ecosystem fully is too high.

But I guess this is just Microsoft being Microsoft.

Microsoft reverses course, becomes more open to open-source community

When Microsoft Corp. bought Powerset Inc. in July, it acquired more than just search engine technology. It also became the owner of open-source code that was -- and still is -- being contributed to the Apache Software Foundation's Hadoop project.

Having open-source technology in a product was a first for Microsoft, said Robert Duffner, a senior director in the company's platform strategy group. Also in July, Microsoft began providing internally developed code to an open-source project called ADOdb, which produces a database abstraction library for the PHP and Python scripting languages.

Via such moves, the platform strategy unit is pushing the software vendor not only to accept that its products need to interoperate with open-source technology, but also to view the latter as beneficial to its business goals.

That's a far cry from the "us vs. them" stance that Microsoft long took toward open source -- as epitomized by the company's May 2007 claim that open-source technologies were infringing on 235 of its patents.

"It's been quite a while since we've heard much saber rattling," said Jay Lyman, an open-source analyst at The 451 Group. "It's indicative that there is true change going on over there."

The changes aren't complete, though. "There are some groups [where] it's taking longer for the message to filter down," acknowledged Peter Galli, the platform strategy unit's senior open-source community manager.

And Microsoft still thinks that its software is superior and that it costs less to run Windows Server than it does to use Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Duffner said.

Lyman said it makes sense for Microsoft to differentiate between attacking open-source vendors and criticizing open source as an ideology. The latter, he said, has proved to be a battle that Microsoft can't win.

This version of this article originally appeared in Computerworld's print edition.

Support for multiple-page documents (at last) and lots of improvements make this a worthy upgrade.

It's been one of the eternal mysteries of graphics software: How could a drawing package as potent as Adobe Illustrator lack the ability to create multipage documents? With Illustrator CS4, Adobe finally renders the question moot. And it does so with a vengeance, thanks to a new feature called Artboards. (Illustrator's update remains pricey: It lists at $599 to buy, or $199 to upgrade.)

Each Artboard--an Illustrator file can contain up to a hundred of them--is a page. But Artboards can do things that mere multiple-page documents can't. Each one can be a different size, which lets you bundle together related graphics such as an ad layout that comes in different formats. You can view any or all of your Artboards at once, shuffle them around on-screen, and even overlap them. You can also choose for the drawings on a board to travel with it as it moves or to stay put.

Also new and cool is a drawing tool with the wacky name Blob Brush, which lets you quickly create simple drawings without most of the complexity of Illustrator's other drawing implements. For instance, if the lines you create with the Blob Brush overlap, Illustrator automatically merges them into one object rather than treating them as separate, unrelated elements.

Beyond those major new features, most of CS4's improvements are tweaks that speed working with existing features, but there are plenty of them. Just as in a Web browser, for instance, multiple documents now show up as tabs, making it a lot easier to hop between them. And you now apply gradient effects directly to objects in a fully interactive fashion that instantly shows the results you'll get. It's a feature that CorelDraw has had for years, but it's still nice to see it here.

Speaking of CorelDraw, it still has a simpler interface and more tools for creating business graphics, and it's $170 cheaper. But Illustrator is the superior tool for creative pros--particularly those who also use Adobe's Photoshop--and this new version offers more than enough enhancements to justify the upgrade.

Cyberlink's burning suite is easier to use and almost as powerful as the competing offerings from Nero and Roxio.

Look out, Nero and Roxio: Cyberlink's DVD Suite 7--a media and disc-burning suite--is now a force to be reckoned with. Not only does it sport a consistent, easy-to-learn, animated interface suite-wide, that puts the ones in Nero 9 and Roxio Creator 2009 to shame, but it also assembles a competitive feature set. Like the Nero and Roxio suites, it sometimes provides the same functionality in more than one module, but not to the same confusing degree.

Seen news about this product? Send us a link.

DVD Suite 7 includes Cyberlink's industry-leading PowerDVD 8 software movieplayer (Blu-ray and HD DVD included), its highly rated PowerDirector movie editor/creator, its MediaShow slide-show creator, its PowerProducer movie disc creator, and its Power2Go disc-burning app. Each of the modules is at least as easy to intuit and use as the competition's.

New features in version 7 include PowerProducer's ability to import both h.264 and AAC (the Ultra Suite edition exports h.264 only), and PowerDirector's ability to export directly to iPod, iPhone, and PSP.

The updated PowerDVD now decodes AAC audio tracks, too, and it has new library functions that allow you to keep track of the videos on your system more easily.

Other elements of DVD Suite 7 are PowerBackup, a convenient file-based backup utility whose only shortcoming is that it can't back up open files; Power DVD Copy, which can duplicate non-copy-protected discs of most types; Label Printer, an uncomplicated label creator; the InstaBurn packet-writing application for use with rewritable CD and DVD media; and access to Cyberlink's new online content and community. If you feel constrained by the limited quantity of included DVD menu templates or other content--as I did--you can head online and look for more; the offering I found there were all free and seemed to be of a high quality.

DVD Suite 7 performs just about every disc-related task that the competition can handle--and does so extremely well. Include it in your comparisons with Roxio and Nero when you shop; it's that good.

The design of HP's aptly named Envy turns heads, but the overpriced hardware inside this ultraportable prompts double-takes.

Admit it: You've said to your boss that you need an ultraportable laptop because it would give you easy and instant access to your work data. But the truth is, the main reason anyone buys a sleek, slim ultraportable is to turn heads. The HP Voodoo Envy 133 is one such shiny new toy, with just enough features to legitimize it as a slick business box as well. Like the Apple MacBook Air, the Envy 133 sports enough interesting design choices for it to be a genuine attention-getter. Unfortunately, however, it also shares the Air's anemic guts and high price tag.

Whereas Apple's thin-and-light is slightly curvy and well-rounded, the Envy 133 is boxy--yet with its glossy sheen, it's still sexy. This Voodoo laptop measures 12.7 by 9 by 0.8 inches (closely matching the Air), and it weighs 3.5 pounds without its incredibly unique power brick, which I'll go into more detail about soon.

What I need to address first, though, are the system's less-than-speedy components.

For starters, the NV4040NA model we tested (a configuration that HP says is suitable for the road warrior) comes equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6-GHz CPU (SP7500), 2GB of RAM, and a poky 80GB hard drive that spins at 4200 rpm. You probably won't be shocked to learn that the system didn't exactly sail through WorldBench 6. It received an overall score of 64, and it ran single-digit slide shows in Doom 3 (7 frames per second at 1024-by-768-pixel resolution). Nobody will mistake this Voodoo box for a game machine.

And while the Envy 133 doesn't have the worst battery life, its results in our tests were far from the best: Lasting 2 hours, 39 minutes, it ran a little longer than the MacBook Air but fell way behind almost everything else we've seen. (By comparison, the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 rules the roost, having lasted a staggering 8 hours, 54 minutes. And the sexy Samsung X360 hung on for 7 hours, 36 minutes.) On average, laptops we test can run approximately 4.5 hours.

Innovative Design Choices

So, with those performance knocks against the HP Voodoo Envy 133, why would anyone in their right mind consider dropping roughly $2349 for it? Let's take a look at some aspects of its design.

This ultraportable incorporates a number of genuinely unique ideas--stuff that I'd never seen before--and I applaud a few of them. The slim, sealed case doesn't allow much room, so don't try looking for a lot of inputs. The Envy 133 has one headphone jack and one USB port, and it makes a couple of nods to the high end with an HDMI-out and a shared eSATA/USB port. One interesting choice: The slot-loading external optical drive that sells with this unit plugs in with an eSATA cable.

No ethernet port on this machine? No worries. In a first-of-its-kind move, the Envy 133 parks the ethernet jack in the power brick. Okay, technically it's a wireless access point built into the brick, but it works. And it makes a ton of sense. Leave the power supply at your desk, and it serves as a miniature docking station, providing both power and network access to the Envy.

I also love the HDMI-to-VGA connector that accompanied our review unit. It could've been a simple dongle, but it's a whole lot more. Once you plug the HDMI converter in, it instantly optimizes the image for the VGA output and adjusts the laptop's settings appropriately for giving a presentation. No extra buttons to press!

I will say one thing for the Envy 133: The lid is secure. The hinges stand firm, and the thick protective bezel encasing the screen isn't too distracting. The glossy lid is smooth to the touch; and upon opening, it reveals a decent 13.3-inch screen. (That's the 133 in its name, get it?) In your standard-issue office--or most indoor locations, for that matter--the screen is crisp and easily viewable, thanks to its 1280-by-800-pixel native resolution. Since the screen is glossy, however, outdoors you must factor in sunlight, which makes the display a little harder to see. You know the drill by now. I think Samsung did better with the sharp screens on its X360 and X460, which are viewable anywhere you set up shop.

Slight Imperfections

At first, I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about the keyboard. It doesn't have any multimedia shortcuts (instead, they're all tasked to function-button combinations). It also sandwiches the power and Wi-Fi buttons into a corner, flanking the Delete key. To be honest, I was expecting to make many typos--and thinking I might turn off the laptop accidentally more than once. Using it actually wasn't bad, though. For one thing, you need to hold down the power button for a couple seconds before it will do anything.

The key spacing and key travel felt substantial and of high quality, enough that I could comfortably type this review without stumbling over the keys. (Even so, the Envy 133 won't unseat any of Lenovo's ThinkPads anytime soon; Lenovo remains the champ of creating laptops with keyboards that feel lush to the touch and have a satisfying amount of give.)

I wish I were as high on the touchpad, which sits below the keys in the wrist rest. Or, at least, I think that's where it is. You see, in an effort to be supercool, the Envy 133 has just a large area with divots that denotes the active mousing space. A tiny sliver of a plastic bar serves as your left and right mouse click, all in one. And I hate it.

I get how the touchpad stylistically matches the two speaker vents on either side of the keyboard. It just doesn't give me enough of a sensation that I'm in a different area than the wrist rest. While I was typing, a stray finger or my wrist more than once grazed the pad, and I unintentionally highlighted text or moved the mouse pointer. And, more often than not, I'd trigger one of the multitouch functions. The HP Voodoo designers need to do a better job of indicating the boundaries separating the keyboard, wrist rest, and touchpad.

Another problem with the mousing surface that's easily spotted: fingerprints. You'd think it was a smudgy, greasy crime scene. The shiny plastics that make this thing look so sweet end up attracting fingerprints instantly. And God help you if you're trying to eat cheese puffs while using the Envy 133. Oh, yeah, the case gets hot, too. While the end result isn't skin-scorching, the two side vents don't expel enough heat, so if you rest your wrists on the machine long enough, you'll notice it. I did.

The speakers' sound quality was a pleasant surprise. You get some surprisingly clear and crisp audio from this ultraportable. Of course, you won't hear much in the way of bass out of the two tiny side-mounted speakers (there's no subwoofer to be found), but the sound is certainly good enough if you want to watch videos or play a few tunes while working.

The included software isn't as much of a big deal as is the Linux shell wrapped around Windows, dubbed Voodoo IOS. Upon starting up the Envy 133, pressing Function-F2 lets you opt to do a couple other things before booting into Windows. These shortcuts allow you to use your laptop for Web browsing, photo viewing, MP3 playback, IM chats (with support for everything from AIM to Yahoo Messenger), and Skype. It's a nice added feature--one that just so happens to work in the same manner that Asus's Express Gate software does.

In price, performance, and specs, it's more than fair to compare the HP Voodoo Envy 133 with the MacBook Air and Samsung's X360. All have their share of design pros and cons. However, a number of less sexy but more functional laptops have fared well in our tests, and cost less. If you haven't already, take a look at Lenovo's ThinkPad X200 or, if you're more a cost-conscious fashionista, check out the Asus U6V.

Apple takes a few steps forward with the MacBook's excellent redesign, but the new model costs more as a result.

In the two-and-a-half years since the first MacBook model appeared, Apple has tweaked and improved its consumer-level laptop line three times. But compared to the baby steps of the earlier updates, the latest (fourth) version is a giant leap for the MacBook. Design improvements (both inside and out) help make the MacBook a lot more like a MacBook Pro mini.

The third-generation MacBook was available in three models, with the white base model starting at $1099, and the high-end black model topping out at $1499. The new MacBooks raise the price of entry to $1299, and the maximum price jumps to $1599. (Apple is still selling its previous low-end white MacBook, but the price of that model has dropped to $999 since its March release. Also, that model now comes with a SuperDrive instead of a Combo Drive.)

Apple ditched the MacBook's white (or black) polycarbonate case in favor of one composed of precision-crafted aluminum--the same unibody design used in the MacBook Air and the new MacBook Pro. The result is a sleeker, more rounded design; when closed, it looks very svelte, despite being only 0.13 inch thinner than its predecessor (the very thin top of the MacBook resembles the Air's. It also shaves half a pound off the earlier MacBook's 5-pound weight. Even though the case is made of metal, the 2.4-GHz unit that I tested never got hot, nor did its fans ever kick in.

Though the new MacBook has the same 13.3-inch size screen and 1,280-by-800-pixel resolution as previous models, it is the first MacBook to use a backlit LED (light-emitting diode) display. The new screen is thinner, brighter, and more power-efficient than its LCD predecessors.

Resting over the face of the display and replacing the bezel of old is a fingerprint-resistant piece of glass with approximately a 0.75-inch-thick black mask to protect the screen. (The overall black-and-silver color scheme gives the MacBook a strong kinship with the iMac.)

The updated MacBook's trackpad is a piece of glass, coated with a textured material to match the look of the laptop's aluminum body. My fingers glided easily across the trackpad, which had enough texture to give me some traction. Whereas the older MacBooks came with a button below the trackpad area, on the new model the entire trackpad acts as a button: You can feel the trackpad depress as you push your finger on it to click. The new trackpad is larger than its predecessor overall. I appreciated the tactile feedback when I pressed down to click.

The new trackpad also supports Multi-Touch, which permits you to navigate by using multifinger gestures. You can also designate the bottom left or right corner as a right-click. Once you learn and get used to the gestures involved, they can save you time and cursor movement.

The keyboard is similar to the ones on previous MacBooks. The keys are easy to type on and have a nice, springy response. The high-end MacBook even includes a backlit keyboard, a first for the MacBook line.

Apple moved the MacBook's battery indicator lights from the case bottom to the front left side, so you don't have to flip the MacBook over to see how much juice you have left. Initial findings by the Macworld Test Center indicate that the new MacBook's battery lasts 2 hours, 33 minutes--almost 30 minutes shorter than the previous MacBook we reviewed.

Apple also moved the stereo speakers--to a spot underneath the keyboard. I expected the sound to suffer, but music played in iTunes was surprisingly loud and clear.

One of the biggest upgrades involves the new nVidia GeForce 9400M graphics processor on the motherboard. It replaces the integrated Intel GMA X3100 graphics used in previous MacBooks and delivers a game-worthy picture. Like the X3100, the 9400M doesn't have its own memory, and so must borrow main system RAM. But the MacBook now uses fast DDR3 SDRAM, and the GPU gets 256MB of RAM, a boost from the X3100's 144MB.

We haven't yet obtained results for the new MacBooks on our WorldBench 6 test suite, but Macworld's tests show significant gains. A few results within Mac OSX: In a Quake 4 test (running at 1024 by 768 pixels), both the high-end and the low-end versions of the aluminum MacBook managed about 39 frames per second, versus 6.1 fps on the previous-generation 2.4-GHz MacBook. And in tests involving the graphics-intensive Call of Duty 4, they pumped out better than 35 fps, while the older high-end MacBook managed only 10 fps. Results at higher screen resolutions were impressive as well; for complete game testing in Mac OSX, see Macworld's benchmark.

Another advantage of the new graphics subsystem is its improved ability to connect to external displays. (Apple doesn't include any cables in the box for connecting to such displays, however.) Coupled with Apple's new Mini DisplayPort, the MacBook can now drive a 30-inch external monitor at 2560 by 1600 pixels (the previous model maxed out at 1920 by 1200 pixels, meaning that a connected display could not exceed 24 inches). It works with Apple's new 24-inch LED Cinema Display as well.

The latest MacBooks use the same Intel Core 2 Duo (Penryn) processors with 3MB of shared L2 cache as the previous MacBooks. CPU speeds are essentially the same as before: 2.1 GHz or 2.4 GHz now versus 2.0 GHz or 2.4 GHz in the past. Other architectural advances account for the small improvement in COU performance, including a frontside bus upgrade from 800 MHz to 1066 MHz, and a RAM bounce from 667-MHz DDR2 to 1066-MHz DDR3.

As before, the new MacBook versions come with 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) wireless networking. The 2.0-GHz model has a 160GB, 5400-rpm SATA hard drive, while the 2.4-GHz model includes a 250GB drive at the same speed. But now you can opt for a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD) for $700 extra on the 2.0-GHz model, or for $600 extra on the 2.4-GHz model. Both models come with an 8X slot-loading SuperDrive.

The left side of the MacBook has a MagSafe power port, a gigabit ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports, a Mini DisplayPort, analog and digital audio input and output ports, and a Kensington lock slot. Absent, however, is a FireWire port. The MacBook joins the MacBook Air as the only Mac models without a FireWire port--a source of concern for some users.

The latest versions of the MacBook significantly improve on their predecessors--as long as you can live without a FireWire port. If not, or you must have a matte screen, the MacBook Pro might be your best bet. Otherwise, the sleek new case design, major graphics improvements, power-sipping LED display, and Multi-Touch glass trackpad make the new MacBook a very strong upgrade.

How Should I Prepare a New Computer?

C17SSgt asked the Forum for the steps in getting a new PC ready for use.

I'm going to assume you know how to remove the PC from the box, plug everything in, connect to your home network (that would be a whole other article), and turn it on. In other words, I assume you have the computer running, and that the operating system it's running is Windows Vista.

Now follow these steps:

1) Remove the pre-installed junk software. How do you know what's junk software? Simple. If it's there, and you don't want it, don't know what it is, or already own something that does the same job, it's junk. And it's junk if you're going to have to pay to keep using it.

If that's too complicated, try this: If it came with your PC, and it's not part of Windows, it's junk.

How? Try the free PC De-Crapifier. It's built just for this job. If the De-Crapifier misses something, use the portable, free version of Revo Uninstaller to remove it.

2) Set up your user accounts. Click Start, then Control Panel, then the User Accounts icon. Create an account for everyone who will be using the computer, but be careful who you give Administrator privileges to.

3) Install your software. Now that you've gotten rid of the software you don't want, you can put on the stuff you do. Start with your security programs, and update them immediately. For your main applications, unless you have a very good reason to do otherwise, stick to the versions you know and love rather than the latest and greatest. That way, the new computer may really perform faster than the old one.

4) Back up your environment. Your PC came with a recovery tool--probably a hidden partition--for restoring your hard drive to its factory condition--including all that junk you got rid of in Step 1. Why not make your own recovery tool, that can recovery Windows the way you want it? An image backup tool should be just the thing.

If you have Vista Business or Ultimate, you've already got an image backup program. To use it, click Start, type backup, select Backup Status and Configuration, and press ENTER. Click Complete PC Backup, then Create a backup now. Otherwise, I'd recommend Runtime Software's free DriveImage XML.

5) Transfer your stuff from the old PC. With both the old and new PC on your network, go to the new PC and select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Windows Easy Transfer. Just follow the direction. And if you don't have a network, you can use an external hard drive.

Read the original forum discussion at http://forums.pcworld.com/message/160852#160852.

Add your comments to this article below. If you have other tech questions, email them to me at answer@pcworld.com, or post them to a community of helpful folks on the PCW Answer Line forum.

Netbooks Now More Popular Than iPhone

Have we entered the era of the netbook? For those not paying attention a netbook is an ultraportable notebook. It's also an ultra-affordable notebook most often priced below $500 (See PC World's Top 5 Netbooks). In recent months the form factor has become so popular sales figures are rivaling Apple's iPhone, according to sales data.

According to the latest smartphone sales numbes from Gartner and DisplaySearch's neetbook sales numbers, 4.7 million iPhones were shipped in Q3 2008 while a whopping 5.6 million netbooks were sold in the same period.

Actually, debates sparkled a couple of months ago about Apple releasing a small notebook computer, in the form of a netbook. But Steve Jobs seemed to think that iPhones can do the same things as netbooks, even going on saying that "not a lot of them (netbooks) getting sold."

In comparison, netbooks don't totally intersect with iPhone's market. Many people who don't need a fully fledged laptop are going for netbooks to serve their websurfing needs. On the other hand, many buy iPhones for the multimedia capabilities combined with a phone and for mobile email and browsing the web - things that netbooks do quite well also.

However, with netbooks selling well (Q4 figures are expected to be strong also), we might just see an Apple netbook sometime next year. Apple doesn't usually rush products to the market, and if we will see Apple's netbook, it definitely won't be cheap.

HP ships 300GB, 2.5-in. SAS drives

Hewlett-Packard Co. said it began shipping 300GB 2.5-in. drives to worldwide resellers this week. The new drives offer double the capacity of its previous 2.5-in. serial-attached SCSI (SAS) hard disk drives. HP said the new drives, which it produced with Seagate Technology LLC, use 75% less power and 70% less space than its high-end 3.5-in., 15,000-rpm drives.

The new 300GB drives spin at 10,000 rpm and are designed for data center applications. Currently, HP's highest capacity 3.5-in. enterprise-class drive holds 450GB of data. HP said the drives are priced at $689.

Mark Ross, associate director of computer operations with the technology services unit at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, said he's excited about using the new 300GB drives in his eight HP Proliant DL380 G5 servers and his single MSA 2000 modular storage array. "I'm thrilled to death to see smaller form factor drives as fast as the previous enterprise-class SCSI drives we were using," he said. "They use less power and put out less heat. And you can fit more in the same space. That's cool."

Ross, who currently uses 146GB SAS drives, said he's particularly looking forward to installing the smaller drives in his storage array. The array was using 12 3.5-in. serial ATA drives, but it can now handle up to 24 2.5-inch SAS drives in a 2U (3.5-in.) rack.

"Suddenly, we can get 6TB in a single shelf. And the drives are fast," he said.

Jimmy Daley, product marketing manager in HP's Industry Standard Servers group, said as SAS interface speeds increase next year to 6Gbit/sec. and feature more volume pricing, he expects a transition from Fibre Channel drives at the high end. "Midrange and high-end storage vendors are all putting together plans to adopt small-form factor drives. But, we certainly have to get to 6Gbit/sec. SAS first," he said.

HP has been pushing its smaller drives to resellers. Currently, 2.5-in. drives make up 80% of its shipments to enterprise-class server vendors, Dailey said, adding that adoption of the drives is about to take off in external storage systems that would be used in storage-area networks and network-attached storage.

"We do see adoption of these in our MSA [mid-range disk arrays] next year," he said.

Dell: We're not charging more for XP downgrades

Dell Inc. today denied that it has boosted the price of what it charges customers for "downgrading" to Windows XP from Vista when they purchase new desktops and laptops in the company's popular Inspiron consumer line.

"We have not increased the pricing, nor are we charging $150 for Windows XP," said Dell spokesman David Frink, reacting to a Computerworld story published yesterday. "For customers who order a system with Windows XP Professional via the downgrade rights program, Dell charges $20 to ... pre-install Windows XP Pro with all drivers on the system, include a reinstall CD and include a Vista Business install DVD, plus a CD with Vista drivers."

The $130 difference between the $20 that Dell charges for the downgrade and the $150 price the company advertises on its Web site is what it costs buyers to upgrade Vista from the standard Home Premium edition and the Business edition, said Frink.

"Microsoft mandates that customers who want to downgrade to XP must purchase the license to Vista Business or Vista Ultimate," Frink said. "[That's] typically about a $130 premium, though some retail outlets charge more."

Some, in fact, charge less. Newegg.com, for example, prices the "system builder" versions of Vista Home Premium at $99.99 and Vista Business at $139.99, a $40 difference. The online retailer prices the full "retail" editions, meanwhile, at $222.99 for Home Premium and $278.99 for Business, a $56 difference.

Price differences between Vista Home Premium and Vista Business on other e-tailers are similar to Newegg's. On Amazon.com, for example, the difference between system builder versions of the two editions is just $30, while the difference between full retail prices is $47.

As Frink noted, Vista Business and Vista Ultimate are the only generally-available editions that allow downgrades, and they can be downgraded only to Windows XP Professional. Under Microsoft's licensing terms, the less-expensive XP Home can't be installed as a downgrade, nor can downgrades be applied from Vista Home Basic or Vista Home Premium.

Frink declined to get specific when asked why Dell expanded its XP downgrade program to include Inspiron laptops and desktops, which it did in August. Last June, the company said it would not offer the option on Inspiron-branded models, claiming that Microsoft set the categories of machines that it was allowed to sell with XP preinstalled.

"We're simply providing a wide range of options," Frink said today. He confirmed that Dell had asked Microsoft for its okay to expand the downgrade program to Inspiron PCs.

Frink also declined to say whether more of Dell's customers are asking for XP, and if that was why it had added the option to the Inspiron 1525 notebook and 530 and 530s desktops. "The overwhelming majority of our customers are getting their systems shipped with Vista," he said. "We don't provide specific breakouts on sales or attach-rate figures."

Sony to axe 8,000 jobs, close factories

Sony plans to cut 8,000 jobs, close factories and reduce electronics investment by nearly a third in response to the current economic conditions, it said Tuesday.

The global restructuring plan will be most felt in the company's core electronics business, which accounts for more than half of Sony's sales. As it has done in the past, Sony will downsize or withdraw from unprofitable or noncore businesses.

Five or six of Sony's 57 manufacturing plants will be closed. Only one factory, Sony Dax Technology Center in France, was named on Tuesday, but another factory outside of Japan will be axed along with several others in Japan, said Naofumi Hara, senior vice president of Sony.

The job cuts, which represent about 5% of the company's global workforce, will be worldwide and will be matched by a comparable reduction in the company's seasonal and temporary workforce. Sony didn't go into any further detail on where those cuts would be.

Sony will also delay planned expansions, such as at its Nitra LCD television factory in Slovakia, and it plans to outsource production of some parts, including CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) image sensors for cell phones.

The company, which is one of Japan's major exporters, has been dealt a double blow: a recession gripping many of its biggest markets and a strong yen, which makes its products more expensive overseas.

For example, an electronics part that cost the company 100 yen, or $1, to make added 92 cents to the parts bill of a product three months ago. Today, that same part adds $1.08, a jump of about 15% in three months. Against the euro, the jump is higher. In the competitive electronics market, it's difficult for companies to raise prices, so Sony has been making less profit.

Looking ahead, Sony could raise prices in January in response to the yen's strength, said Hara.

Together, Sony hopes the measures will save $1 billion in its next fiscal year, which runs from April 2009 to March 2010.

Survey: One in four IT jobs moving offshore

Large companies are accelerating their use of offshore outsourcing and as many as a quarter of IT jobs at Global 1000 firms may be moved offshore by 2010, according to The Hackett Group, a Miami-based consulting firm whose clients include many multinational firms.

According to its research, these large firms -- companies with revenues of at least $5 billion -- will move about 350,000 corporate jobs offshore over the next two years. Over half of those jobs will be in IT, with the remainder in finance, human resources and procurement

The data "is a confirmation of a mega-trend" similar to what happened in the manufacturing sector several decades ago, said Michel Janssen, Hackett's chief research officer. And while 25% of the IT jobs may head overseas in the next two years, over the longer term that figure could hit 60%. In some firms, it could reach 80%.

An earlier study that looked at the impact of offshore outsourcing on IT, based on data collected from 10,000 people, estimated that as many 8% of all IT workers have been affected by offshore outsourcing.

The Hackett Group surveyed 200 firms in October, 40% of which have headquarters in the U.S. with a similar percentage in Europe. The IT headcount in each of these companies is about 1,600.

This big shift in jobs to low-cost offshore locations may be accelerating, in part, because companies are more experienced -- and comfortable -- with offshoring and have developed standardized practices, according to Erik Dorr, Hackett's senior IT research director. The survey was completed in October and he is uncertain how economic conditions influenced responses.

"What is clear, though is they are certainly not slowing (offshoring) as a result of economic crisis," said Dorr. "If anything, they are going to be more aggressive."

The typical company is currently realizing about $16 million in annual savings from offshoring, with more than half of that in IT cost savings. That savings will grow to $30 million by 2010 as offshoring increases -- a figure that still only represents a third of what these firms could eventually save.

Despite the growth in offshoring, the overall economy has seen a net gain of IT jobs in recent years; Whether that trend will hold, given the current downturn, is unclear, said Dorr.

The study did find that in finance and IT, about 50% of all companies surveyed are freezing hiring, cutting staff or doing both.

Janssen said that in today's world companies have to use global delivery models if they want to grow and create new jobs.

"If you are sourcing all of your labor from high cost countries, you are not going to be in business -- period," said Janssen.

Acer tops Asus in fast-growing netbook market

The market for netbooks -- small notebook PCs with even tinier prices -- exploded in the third quarter of this year, according to market researcher DisplaySearch LLC, as vendors aimed their wares at students during the back-to-school season.

The global market for netbooks, also known as mini-notebooks, was 5.61 million in the third quarter, up 160% from the second quarter, according to a statement today from DisplaySearch, an Austin-based research firm.

Acer Inc. displaced Asustek Computer Inc. (Asus) as the netbook market leader for the first time during the quarter, taking 38.3% of the market, compared to 30.3% for Asus.

DisplaySearch expects sales of netbooks, which are lighter-weight, lower-powered and generally cheaper than regular notebook PCs, to hit 14 million by the end of the year. That's a sharp rise from 2007, when just 1 million were sold.

"Worldwide demand for these products is forecast to grow rapidly over the next few years, with demand from a variety of sources, including early adopters, consumer and enterprise PC customers seeking a smaller or secondary notebook PC, as well as new PC customers in emerging markets," DisplaySearch analyst John F. Jacobs wrote in a report. "We expect the mini-note PC market to settle at approximately 16% share of the notebook PC market by 2011."

Like Gartner Inc., DisplaySearch sees Netbooks as the one bright spot in the overall laptop PC market, which has shown signs of slipping.

DisplaySearch is revising down its growth forecasts for this year and 2009 because of "the challenging economic climate," Jacobs wrote, adding, "Even enterprises that are maintaining or growing are likely to stretch their PC replacement cycles out as long as possible."

In the overall laptop market, Hewlett-Packard Co. leads with a 19.7% share, followed by Acer with 17.1%. Acer also sells notebook PCs under the Gateway and Packard Bell brands. Its sales were up 65% year over year.

Dell Inc. was third with 13% of the overall notebook market, followed by Toshiba and Asus, each with 8.6%. Apple Inc., which does not sell netbooks but has seen strong laptop sales growth in North America, ranked seventh worldwide in notebooks, with a 4.1% share. Apple's sales were up 24% year over year, and some analysts have speculated that the company will release its own netbook in 2009.

Asus, which was a marginal laptop player before introducing its $400 Eee Netbook PC last October, saw its notebook revenue, which includes netbook sales, grow 189% year over year.

Asus had taken lead in the netbook market by releasing variations on its original Eee in different sizes, at different prices and with different operating systems (both Windows and Linux). But Acer, driven by strong sales of its popular Aspire One, overtook Asus, shipping 2.15 million netbooks in the third quarter.

HP held third place, with 5.8% of the market. Its main netbook model is the Mini-Note 2133. In fourth place was Taiwan's Micro-Star International (MSI), whose Wind Nettop model held 5.7% of the market.

In fifth place was Dell, with 2.8% of the market, followed by the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child organization, which shipped 130,000 of its low-cost PCs in the third quarter for 2.3% of the market.

Looking further down the list, Lenovo was in ninth place, shipping just 40,000 units, followed by Toshiba.

Taiwanese makers such as Acer, Asus and MSI hold three quarters of the netbook market today. However, DisplaySearch said that it expects "the dominant PC brands [to] continue to gain share in the [mini-notebook] PC market due to brand power and recognition, and lower cost structure."

Review: Apple's LED Cinema Display a boon for Mac laptop users

To most people, Apple Inc.'s new 24-in. LED Cinema Display looks like a stylish aluminum-and-glass monitor featuring a bright, sharp screen saturated with vivid colors. But this environmentally friendly monitor is also a modern take on a docking station for Apple's newest generation of equally stylish laptops.

In fact, that's how Apple has positioned the $899 LED display, which was announced in mid-October at the same time the company unveiled two new "unibody" MacBooks and two new 15-in. MacBook Pro models. Those new laptops -- and the revamped MacBook Air -- were redesigned with this LED display in mind: They all feature a Mini DisplayPort, Apple's version of the new industry standard DisplayPort, which feeds video from the laptop to an external monitor.

I'll explain more about the new Mini DisplayPort and how it works with Apple's newest laptops in a bit. First, let's look at the display itself. It replaces the now-discontinued 23-in. Cinema Display, which offered the same screen resolution in a slightly smaller size and did not use LED backlighting.

A stunning display

The 24-in. display Apple sent over for review purposes last week is, in a word, stunning. If you like the LED displays Apple has in its laptop lineup now, you're going to swoon when that same brightness, color saturation and razor-sharp text rendering is blown up on a 24-in. screen. Of course, you're paying something of a premium for that big-screen perfection; other 24-in. displays sell in the $500 to $600 range, a lot less than the $899 Apple wants for the Cinema Display. But they aren't LED-backlit, nor are they anywhere as stylish. And since they aren't LED-based, they can't make the environment-friendly claims Apple can.

The 21-pound Cinema Display looks a lot like Apple's 24-in. iMac without the extra "chin" below the screen. Like the iMac, it's adjustable up and down, but doesn't swivel from side to side. The viewing angle is great: 178 degrees along both the vertical and horizontal planes.

The main chassis -- constituting the back and sides of the display -- comes from a single chunk of aluminum, just like the new unibody laptops. The glass panel in front is surrounded by a shiny black bezel, again like the screen used in the new MacBooks and MacBook Pro. And while the measured brightness is down a bit from Apple's other displays -- 330 instead of 400 nits -- the new glass allows for better contrast. The instant-on LED display has a contrast ratio of 1000-to-1, instead of the 700-to-1 ratio its siblings offer. The upshot is a screen with exceptional brightness and contrast, even in a bright office setting with sunlight-drenched windows.

The glossy screen does reflect a bit, but I didn't find that to be a problem. It goes with the territory: Glossy screens, while offering reflections in bright settings such as fluorescent office lights, compensate with brighter whites, deeper blacks and saturated colors. I'll take the trade-off.

IDC: Economic crisis will kill off some PC makers

With credit in a tight squeeze and the economy in free fall, the next few years should see the collapse of some small PC makers and a restructuring of the rest of the industry, according to an industry research firm.

Richard Shim, personal computing research manager at IDC, told Computerworld that he expects a consolidation of the market. However, he doesn't think that the big PC players, like Hewlett-Packard Co., Dell Inc. and Acer Inc., will gobble up smaller hardware vendors. Instead, he said those smaller players will simply fold up shop as the faltering economy keeps companies and individuals from buying new computers.

"It won't be so much about acquisition but the smaller players will just go away," said Shim, adding that he thinks the industry could lose fewer than 10 companies. "The big players are feeling the hurt as well. Right now, everybody is beating each other up in price. If some are going to die off anyway, what's the sense in buying them?"

Just yesterday, IDC reported it is projecting that worldwide PC sales will quickly drop off because the sagging economy is causing people to hold onto their savings while credit is unavailable. IDC noted that it expects PC shipments to inch upward by 3.8% in all of 2009, but added that the values of those shipments will drop by 5.3%. In the U.S., expectations are bleaker as IDC predicts that shipments here will decline by almost 3% in 2009 with low single-digit increases in the next few years.

Shim noted that he thinks MPC Corp. kicked off the consolidation early in November when the PC maker filed for bankruptcy. In mid 2001, the business was sold by parent company Micron Technology, and later changed its name from Micron Electronics to MPC. A little more than a year ago, MPC bought Gateway Inc.'s professional business division.

And MPC won't be the only mid- to low-tier PC maker to fall, according to Shim. He said 2009, 2010 and maybe even 2011 will be tough years for the industry.

Just a few weeks ago, iSuppli Corp. slashed its 2009 growth forecast for worldwide PC shipments by nearly two-thirds because of the deteriorating economy. The analyst firm is now projecting that worldwide PC shipments will rise by 4.3% in 2009, down from its previous forecast of 11.9% growth. ISuppli also adjusted its expectations for 2010, dropping its initial prediction of 9.4% growth to 7.1%.

ISuppli's adjustment to its PC forecast came on the heels of the firm downgrading its estimates for global semiconductor revenue for the year. The researcher projected that 2008 semiconductor sales will decline by 2% to $266.6 billion, from about $272 billion in 2007. In October, ISuppli had predicted that 2008 semiconductor sales would grow by 3.5% over last year's. The researcher also predicted that the negative momentum will continue into the fourth quarter of this year, with the overall market expected to drop by 10.9% compared with the same quarter last year.

Shim noted in an interview on Thursday that the economic crisis likely will reset many vendors' business models.

"If you change selling prices, you need to find new ways to do business, like skimping on quality or coming out with new models," he explained. "A lot depends on how drastic the situation gets."

De Beers tries to force spoof news Web site offline over fake ad

A provision in the federal Communications Decency Act (CDA) protects domain name registrars and Web hosting providers from being held legally liable in most cases for the content that clients post on their Web sites. But that hasn't stopped some companies from trying to pressure Internet intermediaries into disabling Web sites that contain what they consider to be objectionable material.

The most recent example involves South Africa-based diamond conglomerate De Beers, which is trying to get domain name registrar Joker.com to take down a spoof of the Web site of The New York Times. The spoof site includes a fake De Beers ad that takes a satirical shot at the company, saying that diamond purchases would enable De Beers "to donate a prosthetic for an African whose hand was lost in diamond conflicts."

The Web site includes an online version of a 14-page knockoff of the Times that was published on Nov. 12 and distributed for free to commuters in New York. The paper, which is datelined July 4, 2009, includes made-up stories about the end of the Iraq war, the indictment of President Bush on war crimes charges and the passing of a maximum wage law by Congress, along with other satirical ads in addition to the De Beers one.

The spoof is believed to have been the work of a group called the The Yes Men, which is known for such satirical work. However, the nytimes-se.com domain name is registered with Switzerland-based Joker.com under an apparent pseudonym: Harold Schweppes, who is listed as living in a fictitious town called Son of Triumph, Pa.

In a letter that was sent Nov. 19 to EIS AG, which owns Joker.com, Brian McGinley, a Kansas City, Mo.-based attorney at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal LLP who is representing De Beers, demanded that the registrar "immediately disable" the spoof site.

McGinley wrote that his firm's attempts to locate Schweppes had proved futile and that both Schweppes and the address listed for him appear "to be entirely made up." Because whoever registered the domain name had provided false information to Joker.com, it was the registrar's duty to disable the site, the lawyer added. Computerworld obtained a copy of his letter from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which says it is representing the person behind the Schweppes name.

McGinley contended that the fake De Beers ad wasn't a parody and instead contained "offensive, disparaging, damaging and inaccurate statements" about the company. He warned that if Joker.com didn't disable the spoofed site, the registrar itself would be considered a primary infringer by De Beers and would be subject to any legal action that the company decided to take to protect its "valuable name and goodwill."

Neither De Beers officials nor McGinley have responded to requests for comment on the matter. Officials at Joker.com also couldn't be reached for comment, but the fake Times site hadn't been taken down as of this afternoon.

Windows users indifferent to Microsoft patch alarm, says researcher

When Microsoft Corp. issued an emergency patch for a critical Windows bug six weeks ago, it warned that attacks were in progress and told users to patch immediately.

The message didn't sink in, a security company claimed today.

Based on scans of between 200,000 and 300,000 Windows PCs owned by its customers, Qualys Inc. concluded that the patching pace for the October update -- which Microsoft released out of cycle, or outside its normal monthly schedule -- was similar to the rate at which users fixed flaws that the company disclosed several weeks later on its usual "Patch Tuesday."

"When Microsoft releases a patch out of cycle, we tend to think, 'Wow, why are they doing this? There must be a reason,'" said Wolfgang Kandek, Qualys' chief technology officer. "But it doesn't look like people pick up on that."

Over a six-week span, Qualys tallied the machines vulnerable to the MS08-067 vulnerability Microsoft patched off-schedule in October and counted the PCs vulnerable to a pair of patches released on Nov. 11, tagged MS08-068 and MS08-069. "We counted them, and normalized them against the scan numbers," said Kandek.

The result was surprising. "While we saw reductions in the number of [vulnerability] occurrence found every week, they are fairly even and in line with normal patching distributions we have seen before," said Kandek.

Only in the past week or so did Qualys' data show a sudden drop in the number of machines not yet patched with MS08-067.

Kandek had a ready explanation. "We saw it move [down] when Microsoft and Symantec and Trend Micro said last week, 'We found a worm, here it is and it's spreading,'" he said, referring to the reports this week and last week of a worm, dubbed Conficker.a by Microsoft and Downadup by Symantec, that was aggressively exploiting the MS08-067 vulnerability.

Monday, Trend Micro's researchers said that the worm was a key component in the buildup of a massive botnet and had already hijacked half a million machines.

So even though Microsoft hit the alarm button for MS08-067, it wasn't until news broke about the Conficker.a worm that users began applying the patch at a higher-than-usual rate, Kandek concluded.

Six weeks after it released the emergency fix, Qualys' data indicated that the number of unpatched PCs had been reduced by about 70%. "The number [of unpatched systems] is down, but 70% -- that's still bad," said Kandek, considering that Microsoft tagged the update as so critical it departed from its usual schedule, something it has not done since April 2007.

"We [wanted] to see how Microsoft customers apply these patches and if they pay special attention to the highly critical out-of-band vulnerabilities," Kandek said. "Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case."

MS08-067, which patches a bug in the service Windows uses to connect to file and print servers, can be downloaded via Windows Update, Microsoft's default update service.

Telstra Readies 21M Bps Mobile Broadband Service

Telstra will boost data speeds in its Next G mobile network to 21M bps (bits per second) early next year, and will conduct tests of the faster service this month, equipment vendor Ericsson said Friday. However, customers may have to wait longer for the arrival of compatible phones, which haven't yet caught up with prevous improvements to network performance.

The technology that will make the higher speeds possible is High Speed Packet Access Evolution, also known as HSPA+ or Evolved HSPA.

The move to HSPA Evolution from the HSPA systems in use today requires a software upgrade to base stations, whereas LTE will require new base stations, said Jeanette Fridberg, director of marketing for radio access networks at Ericsson.

Subscribers, on the other hand, will need new hardware to take advantage of the higher speeds. Telstra is working with Sierra Wireless, Qualcomm and Ericsson to develop devices, it said in October.

Ericsson is now offering the first version of HSPA Evolution, but next year speeds will double to 42M bps downstream and 11M bps upstream, according to Fridberg.

The HSPA technology used in existing 3G (third generation) mobile networks tops out at around 14.4M bps, but there are only five operators which have that speed in service. About another 40 operators are offering download speeds at 7.2M bps (which is also what the fastest phones currently available can handle), according to data from industry organization GSM Association.

For example, Telstra and StarHub in Singapore are on the list of operators offering 14.4M bps service. StarHub is also moving to HSPA Evolution, but with equipment from Huawei. The upgrade should be done by the second quarter of next year, according to Huawei.

Vodafone is also considering making the move to HSPA Evolution, according to a spokesman. In February the company announced a trial with Ericsson, Huawei and Qualcomm. That trial is still under way, and Vodafone wants to make sure the technology can deliver what it promises before making the final decision, the spokesman said.

Most large operators will go to HSPA Evolution in anticipation of the next technology upgrade, LTE (Long Term Evolution), especially in countries where mobile broadband has already taken off in a big way, said Fridberg.

For Richard Webb, directing analyst at Infonetics Research, though, operators will use HSPA Evolution to put off the upgrade to LTE, while operators who have already set their sights on LTE will let nothing deflect them from that.

Hands on With HP Mini, Lenovo S10, BenQ U101

With netbooks selling well in the run up to the holidays, I took a look at three of the latest entries into the fray, Hewlett-Packard's Mini 1000, Lenovo's IdeaPad S10 and BenQ's Joybook Lite U101.

The reason for putting these three devices all together in one "Hand's on" story is because newer netbooks are starting to look a lot like what's already out there. This generation of Intel Atom-based netbooks has reached a certain maturity, with similar components, functions and size, as well as similar prices. The best bet for anyone considering buying one is to figure out as close as you can, what you want to do with it and what functions you want the most. Then find the best price.

Netbooks are the computer industry's answer to the desire for more mobility in devices. Asustek Computer started the netbook craze with its Eee PC line of devices, which deservedly won a product of the year award from Forbes Magazine. The company's netbooks continue to be best sellers according to Amazon.com's rankings, which also include Acer's Aspire One and Samsung Electronics' NC10 among top-selling computing devices.

The standard netbook today weighs around 1 kilogram, comes with a screen between 8.9 inches and 10.2 inches across the diagonal, and has a Web cam, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor, 1G byte of DDR2 (double data rate, second generation) DRAM, USB and Ethernet ports and slots for memory cards and more. It typically has a variety of wireless technologies including Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth, runs either Microsoft Windows XP or a Linux OS, and has either a hard disk drive (HDD) up to 160G bytes in capacity or a solid state drive (SSD) with 8G bytes or more of flash memory.

HP Mini 1000

HP has made marked improvements with its second netbook, but the price tag may still be high considering the large number of rival devices with similar functions. I tested an HP Mini 1000 with an 8.9-inch screen, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom microprocessor, Microsoft Windows XP, 512M bytes of DRAM and a 60G byte HDD that ran at 4200 rpm (revolutions per minute).

The company actually offers a variety of component options on the HP Mini 1000, including a 10.2-inch screen and SSDs for storage.

One thing that really stood out about the HP Mini 1000 was the high definition audio, especially the sound quality of the onboard speakers. Songs play well, as does the sound on videos. Speakers may not be that important to some people considering netbooks are often used in coffee shops or other public places where headphones are more appropriate, but good audio is a nice touch on a device otherwise very similar to what's already on the market.

Typing on the Mini 1000, another major consideration because netbooks are much smaller than regular laptop PCs, is great. The Mini 1000 has a keyboard 92 percent the size of one on a normal laptop. Keys are spaced out to make typing comfortable. One area I wasn't as impressed with was the trackpad. HP opted to use a trackpad similar to Acer's Aspire one, with the left and right mouse buttons at the sides of the trackpad instead of below. It's workable on a small device, but it's not as comfortable as having them below the trackpad.

Battery life is one of the top considerations in a netbook. Some people may choose a 3-cell battery because it will make the overall device slightly lighter and less expensive, while others will prefer the extended life of a heavier 6-cell battery. For me, the cost and weight differences are far less important than being able to use the device for hours on end without needing a battery recharge.

The 3-cell battery in the device I used ran for just over 2 hours of typing and Internet use, about standard. But the HP Mini 1000 apparently doesn't yet offer the option of a 6-cell battery, and so does not even come close to rivals in battery life.

HP-Taiwan told me there will be a 6-cell version available that will raise battery life to 5 hours to 6 hours, but the company was not able to say when that product might be out. According to HP's Web site, it's still not available.

Price is also an issue on the Mini 1000. HP's Web site lists the basic configuration, with an 8.9-inch screen, for US$399.99, while the recommended model is $504.99. On Amazon.com, the lowest price for an HP Mini 1000 was $549.78. That's a lot more expensive than the Acer Aspire One's on Amazon.com, which carry similar components, for $384.99.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10

Lenovo was late to the netbook market, but its first offering is a solid star. Its components are nearly identical to the standardized netbooks already on the market. I used an S10 with a 10.2-inch screen, a 1.6GHz Atom microprocessor, 1G byte of DRAM, a 160G byte HDD, and Microsoft Windows XP. The rest of its components are standard fare.

The IdeaPad S10 booted in 36 seconds, exactly the same as the HP Mini 1000 I used and fairly standard for most netbooks using Windows XP. One thing about the Asustek Eee PC and Acer Aspire One I tried is both companies added embedded Linux OSs that open in about 8 seconds with full access to the Internet, e-mail, messengers, songs and other data. Windows XP opens in the background while you're already off surfing the Web. Asustek uses an embedded OS called Express Gate, while Acer uses one from Linpus.

The typing pad on the IdeaPad S10 also works well with comfortable, well-spaced keys. The trackpad was a bonus, with the left and right mouse buttons at the bottom like in a normal laptop. One nifty trick on the trackpad was a way to enlarge and reduce text and pictures on the screen using gestures. Touching the trackpad with your thumb and forefinger, and then spreading them apart, you can enlarge text on the screen. Draw your thumb and finger together and the text shrinks again.

The S10 I used was lightweight for a 10.2-inch screen model, just 1.1 kg, but that may be because it only had a 3-cell battery. Lenovo devices with 6-cell batteries aren't available yet, I'm told.

Overall the IdeaPad S10 is a very standard device with a decent price on Amazon.com of $449.99.

BenQ Joybook Lite U101

Few reviews have been written about this device from BenQ in part because they're not easy to find. The company announced them just a few months ago and they aren't available in most markets.

I used one with a 10.1-inch screen that was on sale in Taipei for NT$14,999 (US$447.35). It had Windows XP, a 1.6GHz Atom microprocessor, 512M bytes of DRAM (though I was offered a free upgrade to 2G bytes) and a 160G byte HDD.

The only really standout feature I found on the U101 was the display screen. The picture was among the best I've seen on a netbook, at 1024x576 pixel resolution with 16:9 aspect ratio. I watched a movie on the device via an attached DVD drive (no netbook so far comes with a DVD drive onboard because netbooks are so small).

The keypad on the Joybook Lite was good and while BenQ placed the mouse buttons below the trackpad, it was one solid button instead of two. Two are better than one.

BenQ does offer Joybook Lite U101s with 6-cell batteries, but the above price is for a device with a 3-cell battery.