First Look: Acer Aspire Gemstone Blue laptops

Unlike Acer's previous beige and black Gemstone laptops, these new Gemstone Blue models have an understated silver and black design. Both the 6920G and 8920G will have a touch-sensitive panel of buttons for controlling video and music playback. The buttons on the pre-production model we saw were responsive and resembled the computer interfaces seen on Star Trek.

The 8920G's 18.3in screen will have a resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels - ideal for displaying 1080p high definition video. A Blu-ray drive is included as standard, although the pre-production model we saw only had a read-only drive and not a Blu-ray writer. The 8920G will also have five discrete speakers built-in for 5.1 surround sound on the go, but we were unable to judge its sound quality at Acer's noisy London launch venue.

The smaller 16in 6920G models won't have the discrete 5.1 surround sound speakers. The most expensive version will have a display resolution of 1920x1080, while cheaper models will be limited to displaying 720p video. The cheapest £700 inc VAT model won't have a Blu-ray drive either.

All Gemstone Blue models will have one of Nvidia' new GeForce 9000M-series graphics chips. Optional extras include remote controls and integrated TV tuners. The Gemstone Blue series will be available in the UK from mid-April.

Source: PCpro

New all-metal design for Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro imminent

There are whispers on the web that some of Apple's longest-standing designs, the MacBook and MacBook Pro will be getting redesigns.

Apple Insider is reporting that the new MacBook will dump its plastic enclosure in favour of a more eco-friendly (apparently) aluminium enclosure. That means the long-predicted end for Apple's white enclosures (though the new Time Capsule backup device is, weirdly, in white).

The MacBook Pro will likely feature the low-profile keyboard used on the iMac keyboard and Macbook Air. It's likely it'll be slimmed down, too, but not to the extent that the Air has been (ie it'll still be full powered... we hope!).

And not before time, I reckon. The MacBook Air's biggest appeal is the way it looks (it's so lovely that I took the plunge and bought one last week when my PowerBook G4 finally flopped its final giga - yes, I'm a superficial fool). But the MacBook is really a repackaged iBook and the MacBook Pro is the Powerbook's twin.

Both redesigned laptops are expected to arrive in the middle of the year. Maybe they'll even get names that don't make them sound like MacDonald's sandwiches. But I doubt it.

Source: Stuff

The demise of HD-DVD

In a high definition rerun of the VHS/Betamax conflict of the 1970s and 1980s, the two rival formats have slugged it out over the last two years in a battle for our hearts, minds and wallets.

Japanese manufacturer Toshiba launched HD-DVD, confident that the format, which was based on existing DVD technology, would be perfectly placed to take advantage of the rise in sales of high definition TVs.

After all, they reasoned, even though HD-DVDs were not able to store quite as much data as a Blu-ray disc, the discs and players were cheaper to produce than Sony's format, and the pictures and sounds were just as good.

HD-DVD was also, just, first out of the traps and initially had strong support from Hollywood. But the expected sales never materialised, just one million in total, as consumer indifference and confusion set in.

And of course, there was Sony's trump card. The Blu-ray playing Playstation3 may have underperformed commercially as a gaming console, but in the past 18 months they have managed to get six million of them into our living rooms.

More and more movie studios got behind Sony's format, and Warner Brothers' announcement at the beginning of the year that it would exclusively support Blu-Ray effectively signalled HD-DVD's demise.

The final nail was hammered into the format's coffin earlier this month, when the worlds largest retailer, Wal-Mart, threw its considerable weight behind Blu-ray.

So, Toshiba and its partners will now cease producing HD-DVD hardware and Blu-ray is left with a clear run at the high definition market.

To find out how this happened, and what it means for the consumer, we spoke to Screen Digest's Helen Davis-Jayalath.

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Digital Polaroid photo frame concept brings it all rushing back

Polaroid film may be gone, but for some of us with fond memories of the format -- for no discernible reason, Polaroids were slow, blurry and expensive -- this digital picture frame concept seems a fitting tribute. There's a dry erase portion on the bottom, and the frame can stand on its own or be pinned to a cork board for added realism. "Standard" mode emulates a regular digital frame, while "Classic" mode slowly fades the picture into view. Yeah, maybe a little too cute for its own good, but maybe we like it that way.

Engadet