Based on the latest, Dell is now officially supporting Ubuntu 8.0.4 on consumer machines, and I can prove it. They are offering a handful of systems with Hardy Heron pre-installed and all of the hardware works. The time it took between when 8.0.4 was available and these Dells came out is explained by the hardware, so these new systems support the in-built cameras, fingerprint scanning, and everything else out of the box. Pretty sweet. Prices for desktops start at US$459 and lappies at US$549. There’s even an XPS model in there starting at US$949.

written by Tyler Regas

Kerio has announced that it has updated MailServer 6, the companies complete replacement for Microsoft’s Exchange server which already supports Windows, Linux, and Mac clients, to fully support Apple’s iPhone 2.0 software. The update, which is a free patch, adds full ActiveSync support to the platform-loving server, and they’re claiming it offers real push as opposed to “fake” push mail, as well as all of the other features of the iPhone’s domain integration capabilities. Woot!

written by Tyler Regas

I’ve seen some large lappies before, but these new Acer Aspire GemStone Blue models take the cake. As you can see here, they feature 18″ displays. What the shameless self-promotion doesn’t talk about is the humongous case and its meaty 9 pound heft. Sure, it sports a Core 2 Duo CPU, up to 4GBs of RAM, space for two hard drives with the max configuration offering twin 320GB units, an nVidia GeForce 9500M or 9650M GS with up to 1280MB of TurboCache (meaning 512MBs of dedicated VRAM and up to 768MBs of shared system RAM), and a plethora of other features generally expected on modern lappies. Prices start at US$3,000, but you can bet that the fully loaded models are quite a bit more.

written by Tyler Regas

Toshiba says the their new 400GB 2.5″ SATA 5400RPM drives will be ready to ship in September. If you’re looking for a 7200RPM drive for your lappy, those will be out next month in 80-320GB capacities. Sorry kids, no pricing, but expect around or under $200 and less for everything, especially if Toshiba intends to remain competitive.

written by Tyler Regas

I am absolutely thrilled! Diddlebug hasn’t been updated in nearly four years, which is amazing. This classic Palm application is one of the single most useful applications ever made for mobile devices ever, and I’m not overstating the facts. The funny thing is that Diddlebug is really nothing more than a drawing program with an alarm system built in. Just draw a picture or write yourself a note, set a countdown timer or a future date and time, and go about your business. When the time comes, it lets you know it. Its also free. Now, how can you beat that!

written by Tyler Regas

I’m still on the fence about the Envy 133 from Voodoo. The biggest killers for me are Vista and its MacBook like specs with MacBook Pro pricing. The one cool thing is that the Envy 133 features an implementation of the Splashtop’s instant-on mode, dubbed the Voodoo IOS. Apparently, you can boot into the IOS in five seconds and from there access trim versions of Skype, Firefox, Pidgin IM, and view your pictures, listen to music, and watch videos and DVDs. If you get tired of the lack of functionality you can take a lunch break to load Windows Vista. Laptop Magazine has complete coverage of this feature, including a video of it in operation.

written by Tyler Regas

Ok. This is just plain sick/kewl/nerd to the extreme. This is a screenshot of Windows 3.1 running in DOSBox on a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet. No, this is not me. I’m honestly not this cool, though I may try to do it some day. There were a couple of interesting bits in the comments on PicasaWeb, the source for the following image. One, there was a lot of interest in this and two, there was a guy whose handle is DosFreak. Wow.

written by Tyler Regas

It seems that when smart people do stupid things, the stupidity of the stupid thing increases in the volumetric value of its stupidness. I like to consider myself a smart person, but I might have to downgrade myself based on what I did this weekend. Of course, since this is teh intarwebs, I’m going to share the extent of my stupidity in the hopes that others might not delve where I’ve gone. So, what did I do on Saturday afternoon which warrants so much personal loathing and this discourse for the public good?

I almost killed my MacBook Pro. Continue reading »

written by Tyler Regas

One of the hottest of the micronic lappies going around is Dell’s hot E, which has been referred to as the Inspiron Mini. Engadget is elucidating that the E will eviscerate the Eee in every eventual market, and with less letters. If the US$299 E ships as indicated, it could have a chilling effect on the rest of the Netbook market, due solely to Dell’s sheer size in the world markets and their marketing power. Personally, I’m looking forward to the device, especially if it does come ship in that slick package and offer a WWAN option which sits alongside Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Lets just say that my mourning period for the snuffed-before-its-prime Palm Foleo will have ended handily.

written by Tyler Regas