Cheaper E reader from Asustek

Asustek has come out with a new e reader which is much more affordable at USD228 although still not affordable for us Malaysians.

Asustek unveils low-cost Eee Note e-reader, notepad

IDG News Service - Asustek Computer on Monday unveiled the Eee Note EA-800, an e-reader with a stylus for taking notes on its 8-inch touchscreen. The device will be available in Taiwan later this week for the suggested retail price of NT$6,999 (US$228), Asustek executives said.

Asus already sells the Eee Reader DR-900, which has a 9-inch digital ink screen and is on sale in Taiwan for NT$11,988 (US$391).

The main difference between the two e-readers, and the cause for the price discrepancy, is the Eee Note's cheaper screen. It uses a monochrome LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 1024 by 768, while the Eee Reader uses an e-paper screen made by Sipix Imaging, a rival to E Ink Corporation's popular screens.

"The entire cost structure of the Eee Reader is more expensive," said Samson Hu, vice president and general manager of Asustek's Eee system business unit. The Eee Note is made with standard PC parts, making it less expensive than the Eee Reader, he explained.

Aside from price, the other significant difference in the technologies is battery life. The Eee Note will last only about 13.5 hours when in constant use, while the Eee Reader will run for up to two weeks without needing a recharge. LCD screens typically need power to maintain the image, while e-paper displays only require power to change the image.

The Eee Note runs Linux and comes with software for reading e-books, writing notes, drawing, recording lectures, taking photos with the 2-megapixel camera on board, listening to music or lectures with the 3.5mm headphone jack and more.

The device also connects to the Internet via Wi-Fi and will be bundled with content from local partners in every country in which it is sold. In Taiwan, the local partner is UDN.com, the website of the island's United Daily News group.

The Eee Note is available this week in Taiwan and shortly thereafter in Hong Kong, according to Asustek. The device will reach several European countries, including Germany, Italy and Russia, around the end of this year or early next year, while it will go on sale in China in the first quarter of next year. Asustek will launch the Eee Note in the U.S. in the first quarter of next year.

The Eee Reader was announced in March. Like the Eee Note, it has Wi-Fi and can be recharged or synced to a computer with a micro-USB port.

The Eee Note has 4GB of flash memory for storage internally, while the Eee Reader has 2GB of internal flash memory. Both have a Micro SD slot for additional storage.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9198239/Asustek_unveils_low_cost_Eee_Note_e_reader_notepad

Cheap calls back to Malaysia while roaming

Whenever someone goes overseas, getting connected always while in another country can be quite expensive.

You always get charged while receiving a phone call or sms overseas although that is how telcos are making money.

The worst part is that you will get charged at least two to ten times the phone call charges when you call back Malaysia.

Well. Celcom has come up with something for those of us who are roaming in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Indonesia from 1 November 2010 till 28 February 2011 for their postpaid users.

Save More When Roaming Abroad

Dear Celcom postpaid customers, you are set to enjoy great savings on phone roaming charges when you travel abroad between 1 November and 28 February 2011. Roam with our selected partners in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Cambodia and enjoy local roaming rates. Simple to use, no hidden costs - just stay in touch for much much less. Get all the details below.

Partners, destinations and rates

Call Type Dialog (Sri Lanka) XL (Indonesia) Robi (Bangladesh) Hello (Cambodia) Celcom Roamers call BACK to Malaysia* (Direct Dial) 0.88 0.35 0.30 3.50 Celcom Roamers call BACK to Malaysia (via Roam Saver *120*) 0.96 0.79 0.68 1.07 Daily Unlimited Data Roaming Plan 38/day 38/day 38/day 38/day

* Call charges to special or premium service phone number remain the same as per current roaming rates - All rates are in RM - Customers shall select the network to be connected to the participating network operators in order to enjoy the promotion.

So if you're travelling around this time of year, remember to take advantage of these special year-end savings from Celcom, and have a safe trip! http://www.celcom.com.my/exec/promotions/roamfreely.php

Umobile launching 42mbps

I found some information on the umobile broadband site that they are going to release a 42 mbps network next year but there are no exact dates for their release but it seems that you can reserve the 42 mbps modem from umobile.

The links for further information

http://www.u.com.my/faqs/42mbps-mobile-broadband-service

http://www.u.com.my/broadband/42mbps

Hopefully we can see cheaper and faster internet from umobile soon.

RM5 Handphone!!!

If you think this post was a joke, think again, UK cellular phone companies are now selling a handphone at 99pence (RM5 at current rate) with a condition that you have to buy a £10 (RM50) top up.
It may be good news to our Malaysian counterparts in UK if they wanted to get a second phone.

99p phone at The Carphone Warehouse

Cheap and cheerful

At a time when smartphone sales are soaring, The Carphone Warehouse is selling a 99p PAYG handset.

The Alcatel OT-209 is just 99p when purchased with a £10 PAYG Virgin top-up at the phone shop and may be perfect for older people who just want a phone for emergencies...or for Christmas grinches intent on disappointing their children/partner/parents who really wanted an iPhone.

The handset was previously on sale for £4.95 and The Carphone Warehouse describes it as: "a sleek, handy mobile that will fit comfortably in your hand and in your pocket."

While ‘sleek' may be a bit of stretch, the handset does have a colour screen, simple UI, large separated keys and an FM radio tuner. Bizarrely, it also boasts a fake incoming call function.

More usefully, the OT-209 offers 5 hours of talk time (although that might cost a bit on PAYG) a hefty 400 hours of standby power and weighs just 65g.

While not the hottest handset on the high street, it does appear to be the cheapest. Customers desperate to be on T-Mobile can splash £1.95 on the mobile, while it costs £2.95 on Orange and both require a £10 top up to be purchased at the same time as the handset.

Here's an image of the Alcatel handset.

http://channel.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=27365

300,000 1Malaysia Netbooks to be given next month

Due to the popularity of the 1Malaysia netbook,
our government is planing to give away more netbooks to us Malaysians starting next month. Hopefully, it would make the overall population more tech-savvy and gain information quickly.

300,000 Lagi Netbook 1Malaysia Diagih Bulan Depan

CYBERJAYA, 8 Nov (Bernama) -- Sebanyak 300,000 unit Netbook 1Malaysia akan diedar kepada golongan yang layak bulan depan dalam fasa kedua program pemberian komputer riba itu secara percuma oleh kerajaan.

Agihan netbook itu akan dibuat bagi tempoh tiga bulan, kata Pemangku Pengarah Kanan Bahagian Peruntukan Perkhidmatan Sejagat (USP), Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (SKMM) Zulkarnain Mohd Yassin kepada pemberita selepas majlis taklimat media mengenai pengurusan USP di sini Isnin. Yang turut hadir Pengerusi SKMM Tan Sri Khalid Ramli.

Dalam fasa pertama, sebanyak 123,000 unit netbook telah diagih-agihkan kepada kumpulan sasar terdiri daripada isi rumah berpendapatan bawah RM3,000 bagi kawasan luar bandar dan bawah RM5,000 bagi kawasan bandar.

Sebanyak 65 peratus komputer itu diagihkan kepada pelajar manakala 35 peratus lagi dibahagikan kepada golongan berpendapatan rendah yang tinggal di kawasan kurang liputan serta kawasan yang mempunyai perkhidmatan itu dengan sasaran pengagihan meliputi kampung tradisi, kampung baru dan pusat penempatan masyarakat setempat di seluruh negara.

Zulkarnain berkata pemberian Netbook 1Malaysia dengan kos RM1 bilion itu merupakan antara projek di bawah USP membabitkan kos keseluruhan RM4.79 bilion.

Katanya antara projek lain ialah penyediaan telefon asas (RM629 juta), menara telekomunikasi bagi peluasan liputan selular (RM1.87 bilion) dan pusat jalur lebar komuniti (RM573.7 juta).

Zulkarnain berkata program pemberian netbook itu dijangka dapat menyumbang sebanyak 9 hingga 10 peratus kepada kadar penembusan jalur lebar negara.

Beliau juga berkata SKMM akan membelanjakan RM3.3 bilion bagi projek-projek di bawah USP fasa kedua bagi tempoh 2009-2011.

Selain projek pemberian netbook, ia turut membabitkan Kampung WiFi dengan kos (RM520 juta), Pusat Jalur Lebar Komuniti Mini (RM10 juta) dan Pusat Jalur Lebar Komuniti ke Rumah (RM150 juta), katanya.



-- BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/bm/newsgeneral.php?id=541544