Sony (NYSE: SNE)  is giving Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG)  fledging Chrome browser a boost by installing it as the primary browser on Vaio-brand computers sold in the United States and Europe.
The Sony(sony pcga-bp71a) devices continue to provide Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT)   Internet Explorer — the world’s most widely used Web — allowing users to have a choice between the two. However, many users stick with the browser that is preset as the default, meaning they are likely to experience Chrome as their primary — perhaps only — gateway to the Web.

Google as a Software Company
Sony(pcga-bp71a sony) is the first PC(Sony Vaio) maker to sell computers with Chrome pre-installed. Sony said Wednesday it has been doing so on Vaio computers in the U.S. and Europe since May.

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is the most widely used Web browser in the world; the distant No. 2, Mozilla’s  Firefox, is gaining in popularity. Google’s Web browser launched in 2008 and commands only a sliver of the browser market.

Distribution deals such as this could help Google win over consumers who think of the Mountain View, Calif.-based company only in terms of its Web search dominance. Google has also built a smartphone operating system and is now working on a free PC system to challenge Microsoft’s Windows.

Testing a Channel
“Users’ response to Google Chrome has been outstanding, and we’re continuing to explore ways to make Chrome accessible to even more people,” Google spokesperson Eitan Bencuya said in an e-mailed statement. “We are in the process of testing one such channel with Sony(sony pcga-bp71a battery).”

It’s not clear how much this particular deal with Sony can help improve Google’s standing. Sony’s PC business is too small to be counted on lists by industry research groups IDC and Gartner (NYSE: IT)  of the top five computer makers by unit shipments.

The company doesn’t disclose breakdown of sales  figures, but said that it expects to sell 6.2 million PCs globally in the fiscal year through March 2010.

Brand new replacement canon nb-5l battery!This rechargeable , 3.7V canon Li-ion digital camera battery is tested throughout the manufacturing process to match original nb-5l battery specifications for form and workmanship.High capacity(1150mAh) means long battery life so you will never miss a precious moment with this nb-5l battery pack.

Specifications:

• Chemistry : Li-ion
• Voltage : 3.7V
• Capacity : 1150mAh
• Dimension : 50.8 x 25.4 x 12.7
• Color : Grey
• Brand : Canon Digital Camcera Battery

This high quality battery is compatible with original canon nb-5l digital camera battery and deliver more power than the OEM one.

Which battery part  canon nb-5l battery  can replace?

OEM CANON NB-5L

This lithium-ion canon nb-5l can work with the following camera models:

CANON Digital IXUS 800IS,Digital IXUS 850 IS,Digital IXUS 90 IS,Digital IXUS 900 Ti,Ixus 800,IXUS 980 IS,IXY DIGITAL 1000,IXY Digital 800 IS,IXY DIGITAL 900 IS,Powershot SD700,PowerShot SD700 IS,PowerShot SD790 IS,PowerShot SD800 IS,PowerShot SD850 IS,PowerShot SD870 IS,PowerShot SD900,PowerShot SD950 IS

Input Devices:

The keyboard can be used pleasantly. It sits absolutely durably in the chassis and does not at all wobble or flex.
In addition it is characterised by clarity due to a good layout.

The keys exhibit a clear but pleasant pressure point and remain silent even with fast writing.

The Touchpad possesses a somewhat rough surface, but nevertheles responds well.

Display:

Fortunately the Dell Inspiron 6400 is equipped with a not reflecting 15.4 inch WXGA display. The colours and the contrast seem subjectively well.
Also the measurements confirmed the positive impression of the display with an maximum illuminating of good 159.5 cd/m² and a brightness of 83.5%.

The color representation diagram shows like so often a clear deviation of the blue curve and therefore a warm colour representation of the image.

With achieved level 5 in the Pixperan readability test no particular susceptibility for the creation of streaks could be determined.

The stability of the viewing angles is good in the horizontal range, in the vertical range from above occurs a somewhat strong clarification and with a view position from below a darkening takes place.

Performance:

 Inspiron 6400‘s T2300 core duo processor with 1.6 Ghz supplies quite acceptable values. So there is sufficient power for average office applications.

Battery Runtime:

calculated with the observed inspiron 6400 battery load conditions, then the runtime sums up to 2h under load and more than 4h during minimum load.

current consumption

minimum (all off or at minimum): 15.2 Watts
idle (max. brightness): 22.5 Watts
maximum (full load inkl. WLAN): 40.4 Watts

The T40 tips the scales at just 4.9 pounds and measures just 15 x 10 x 1 inch.  That 1 inch thickness makes this unit easy to carry around the office or home.  Tucking it under the arm to carry around is even doable.  When configured so that it is powered by a 1.6 GHz Intel Pentium M processor, 256 MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM memory and a 32 MB ATI Mobility RADEON 7500 graphics chipset, the ThinkPad T40 can efficiently run most standard mobile tasks.  If you want to do the 3-D gaming and high end multimedia tasks then you might want to consider a high-end model Thinkpad, but for the typical users of the world the T40 will do the trick with just about any of your everyday software applications.

Screen

The Thinkpad T40 screen is TFT and includes a 14.1-inch viewing area. The nicest factor in regards to the display is its maximum resolution – 1,400×1,050 (this is the high-end option, you can also opt for the cheaper 1,024×768).  This offers a very detailed look at your applications.  The display viewing angle is decent, although you might find that the brightness dims a bit as your view moves away from the center — for some reason the viewing angle doesn’t seem as good as even some previous IBM models such as the T21 and T22.  I can’t forget to add that this model includes the ThinkLight, an LED that illuminates the keyboard in the dark, this is a great feature.

Keyboard & Navigation

The Thinkpad T40 includes a full-size keyboard and the handy ThinkPad UltraNav pointing device using the oh so familiar red cover that is characteristic of IBM Thinkpad notebooks.  I love the feel of the Thinkpad keyboards.  The keys don’t clunk whatsoever, they are quite springy but still give enough feedback to let you know they’ve actually been hit.  Often times I’ll find with notebooks I use that the keys either clunk when hit or you just can’t even tell that you’ve hit the key because the travel (distance the key travels when pushed) on the key is not far enough.

Ports and Slot Options

The T40 includes the latest high-speed USB 2.0 ports for fast interaction with plug and play peripherals such as external drives and digital cameras, and support for separately available port replicators and docking stations. Connectivity options include a low-speed 56K fax/modem, an RJ-45 Ethernet connector for high-speed Internet, email and network access, and facilities for wireless Wi-Fi equipment.  Unfortunately the T40 lacks an IEEE 1394 port so this makes more challenging to work with digital camcorders or devices such as the Apple iPod.  To round out the expansion slots and ports you’ll also get two Type II PC Card slots, headphone and microphone jacks, S-Video out and of course a parallel port on the back edge of the machine.

Processor

The major news is that the T40 is amazingly fast, this is all thanks to Intel’s latest generation of thin-laptop processors. Faster but cooler-running than earlier laptop chips, the Pentium M lets vendors squeeze notebooks into smaller cases. As mentioned before the unit I have contains a 1.6-GHz Pentium M chip, this chip contains secondary cache of 1MB, this is a very generous amount and aids the T40 in attaining it’s incredible speed. It performs at least 25 percent faster than the Dell Inspiron 8200 machine that I have.  

Battery

With a blazingly fast processor and decently bright screen you might assume the T40 drains the battery pretty fast.  Not necessarily so.  In fact, using a new 9-cell power pack (10.8V, 6,600mAh) the life on the battery ran up to almost 6.4 hours.  The 9-cell pack is more expensive than the regular 6-cell (10.8V, 4,400mAh), but you won’t get over 6 hours with the 6-cell and thinkpad t40 battery life is so key that I can’t imagine why you would want to cut your spending dollars on this aspect of the notebook.  If you’ve got the 9-cell pack then taking the cross country flight from NYC to LA is no problem power wise for the T40.  Want to watch a couple of 2 hour DVD movies on the flight?  No problem.

Sound

The audio in this thin machine seems compromised — sounds kind of muffled, even though fairly loud. IBM still provides great buttons at the top of the keyboard for controlling the volume.

Wireless 

The T40 has the built-in antennas to talk three different wireless protocols: 802.11b and 802.11a Wi-Fi standards along with Bluetooth.  The standard IrDA for exchange of files and communication with nearby laptops is of course included.

Summary

The ThinkPad T40 is expensive, but as usual, you get what you pay for.  The quality of the notebook build and warranty are second-to-none.  Whereas cheaper laptops ship with a one-year parts-and-labor warranty, the T40 comes standard with a three-year warranty. This includes around-the-clock, toll-free phone support throughout the warranty.  The battery performance is fantastic at 6.5 hours and the processor performance although not the best out there is very good.  The screen is great, not as nice as some of the UXGA offerings from Dell, but in general it is adequate for whatever you’d need to use it for in the way of business or productivity applications.  Overall my thumb is up for a buy on the IBM Thinkpad T40, get all the latest pricing from our price search engine and see the specs for the T40 below.

ThinkPad T40 Specifications

Reference notebookreview.com

 The company said it’s targeting Chrome OS at netbooks, a market that it’s set to enter, thanks to its Android mobile OS; Acer(acer travelmate 6000) is already preparing an Android netbook and analysts are predicting the OS could do well in the low-end of the netbook market.

According to analysts, it’s part of a strategy that will see Google closing in on the market with a pincer movement — with Android set to compete in the low end and Chrome OS squaring up to Windows 7 at the fancier, bells-and-whistles end.

Annette Jump, research director at analyst house Gartner, reckons even with Chrome OS in the pipeline, Android is still well suited to the smallest, cheapest netbooks: devices she describes as “7, even 6-inch screen devices with very limited PC(travelmate 6000 pc) functionality, more oriented towards web browsing”.

Jump added that netbook makers are “very willing” to look for alternatives to Windows as margins in this market are small and, with Windows 7 coming along, Microsoft is only likely to ramp up its OS fee.

“That will lead to an overall increased price point for those devices and increased share of wallet for Microsoft in those devices which is not in the interest of any PC vendors so they will be quite willing to talk to Google if they offer something for free — or for $5 versus much higher prices from Microsoft,” she told silicon.com.

Needless to say, Microsoft currently has something of a stranglehold on the netbook market. While Linux initially did well in the netbook space thanks to the likes of the Asus Eee PC(Eee PC battery), it soon lost out to Windows XP — and, according to Jump, Microsoft now takes 85 to 90 per cent share in mature markets.

However Laurent Lachal, senior analyst at Ovum, reckoned Google’s twin-pronged OS play could help revitalise Linux.

“[Google is] piggybacking on the momentum of Linux and also building that momentum so it’s a nice win-win situation here,” he said, adding: “In the netbook-as-a-would-be-laptop space here, Google [Chrome OS] allows/gives Linux an opportunity to bounce back.”

While having a two-pronged OS strategy might seem a lot of effort for Google when the company already has a lightweight OS out there in the form of Android, Gartner’s Jump said Chrome OS is needed if the company wants to go after the “more standard PC(acer travelmat 6000 series) market”.

Android was specifically designed for smaller devices and screens and therefore has limited scope for different applications, hardware and device compatibility, she added.

“Even Microsoft doesn’t have one OS which actually stretches across all devices,” said Jump.

Nevertheless, with both OSes likely to be coming to netbooks in the near future, a degree of overlap is inevitable. It needn’t be a problem, however, according to Ovum’s Lachal.

“Obviously there is some overlap between the two operating systems and actually Google acknowledges this overlap and is perfectly comfortable with it. Because these are open source technologies it is up to whoever uses them to twist them and adapt them to whatever they want them to do,” he said.

Asked whether Google’s Chrome OS has a chance to make a serious impression in the netbook market, Gartner’s Jump said it depends on pricing, how consumer-friendly the UI is and compatibility with hardware and applications.

“At the moment we haven’t seen anything because the OS will be out in another 12 months’ time. There is obviously a chance — I’m sure PC vendors will consider them but they need to tick those three boxes to get there,” she concluded.

VIA[zdnet.com]

This article was originally posted on silicon.com.

Via tomshardware us by Marcus Yam

Netbook or notebook? Some people don’t know.

Tom’s Hardware readers know what netbooks are and also know what netbooks aren’t. It seems, however, that the rest of the buying public doesn’t possess the same sort of knowledge.

According to a study by the NPD Group, 60-percent of consumers who purchased a netbook believed that their machines are the same as notebooks.

While the lines between netbooks and notebooks(notebook battery pcga-bp71) are blurring, there is still a distinguishing line in the performance differences between the two. Even the fastest Atom processor is still modest compared to the entry-level Intel Celeron CPU, and so netbooks are by nature less powerful.

The confusion between the differences between what a netbook and notebook are capable of may have triggered some consumer dissatisfaction. NPD figured that only 58 percent of consumers who bought a netbook (but were shopping for a notebook) said they were very satisfied with their purchase. In contrast, 70-percent of consumers who planned on buying a netbook(sony pcga-bp71 notebook battery) from the start were ultimately satisfied with their purchase.

Among 18- to 24-year-olds, one of the main target markets for netbook makers, 65-percent said they bought their netbooks expecting better performance, and only 27-percent said their netbooks performed better than expected, reported the NPD.

“We need to make sure consumers are buying a PC intended for what they plan to do with it,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD. “There is a serious risk of cannibalization in the notebook market that could cause a real threat to netbooks’ success. Retailers and manufacturers can’t put too much emphasis on PC-like capabilities and general features that could convince consumers that a netbook is a replacement for a notebook. Instead, they should be marketing mobility, portability, and the need for a companion PC(pc battery pcga-bp71) to ensure consumers know what they are buying and are more satisfied with their purchases.”

Portability seems to be a key feature that netbook buyers already understand from looking at the product. 60-percent of netbook buyers cited portability as the main reason why they purchased the product, but interestingly, 60-percent of netbook owners admitted to have never taken their computers out of their homes.

full specifications:

How To take care sony pcga-bp2e batteries?

This SONY PCGA-BP2E Laptop Battery Replaces the Following Battery Part Numbers:

Sony 175619881

Sony HL-SYVGR-LI

Sony PCGA-BP2E

This sony pcga-bp2e  is compatible with models:
SONY VAIO GR100 SERIES
SONY VAIO GR200 SERIES
SONY VAIO GR300 SERIES
SONY VAIO PCG-GR3 SERIES
SONY VAIO PCG-GR5 SERIES
SONY VAIO PCG-GR9 SERIES
SONY VAIO PCG-GR90 SERIES

Resolution (L) 3072 x 2304, (M1) 2592 x 1944, (M2) 2048 x 1536, (M3) 1600 x 1200, (S) 640 x 480, (W) 3072 x 1728, (Postcard Date Imprint) 1600 x 1200
 
File Formats JPEG
 
Sensitivity AUTO, High ISO Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
 
White Balance Settings Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
 
ExposureCompensation +/- 2 EV, 1/3-stop increments
 
Viewfinder Optical
 
Flash Modes  Auto, Manual Flash On / Off, Red-eye Reduction
 
Flash Range   4M
 
Shooting Modes  Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids & Pets, Indoor, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Aquarium, Underwater
 
Maximum Movie Resolution  640 x 480 pixels
 
Maximum Movie Frames Per Second   60
 
Maximum Movie Duration   4GB or 1 hour
 
Macro Focus 3cms
 
Metering Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Spot (centre or linked to Face Detection AF frame)
 
ManualControls  None
 
Image Stabilisation  Yes
 
Lens Converters  No
 
Self Timer 2 or 10 sec. or Custom
 
Video Out (TV Playback) Yes
 
Computer Connection Yes
 
Batteries  Lithium-ion Rechargeable Canon NB-5L
 
Dimensions 89.5 x 58.0 x 25.1mm
 
Weight 150g

Design
The 7-megapixel camera’s tiny body is shiny, curvy, and very attractive. But it may be just a bit too stylish for its own good. For instance, the power button is a tiny, illuminated half-oval built flush into the top panel; without actually pressing it, you might easily mistake it for an indicator light or a design flaw.

The Canon IXUS 850 IS’s mode dial curves slightly outward, flowing into the design of the camera, making a comfortable resting spot for your thumb. But it feels slightly slippery when switching camera modes.

Beyond those quirks, though, the IXUS 850 IS is a standard, straightforwardly designed Canon(canon nb-5l) shooter, with a four-way navigation switch, additional buttons, and the shutter-release/zoom-rocker mechanism we’ve grown used to. The small, all-metal body weighs slightly more than 170g, and at an inch thick, is just the right size for most pockets. Though small, the camera still has enough room on its body to hold both a 2.5-inch LCD and an optical viewfinder, a rare and welcome feature on an ultracompact.

Features
The 850 IS’s most prominent feature is its image-stabilized, F2.8-to-F5.8, 28mm-to-105mm-equivalent lens. The 3.8x zoom range offers the flexibility of wide-angle focal lengths, while still providing a bit more zoom power than the average 3x point-and-shoot lens. Though the IXUS 800 IS had a 4x zoom lens, the IXUS 850 IS’s 28mm-equivalent wide shot more than makes up for the slightly smaller telephoto factor.

In addition to the flexible lens, the IXUS 850 IS has some handy snapshot features. The camera’s sensor can be boosted to as high as ISO 1,600 for low-light or high-movement shots, though you’ll want to keep it at ISO 800 or lower because of image noise. You can shoot 30fps VGA video, or bump it up to 60fps QVGA (320 x 240) to capture action footage for half-speed playback. If you’re looking for manual controls, however, look elsewhere; like the IXUS 800 IS, the 850 IS’s aperture and shutter settings can’t be changed at all, its focus modes are all automatic, and the camera’s manual mode allows only exposure compensation, color correction, metering, and white-balance adjustments.

Full Specs: 

Max resolution   3072 x 2304
 Low resolution  2592 x 1944, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480
 Image ratio w:h   4:3, 3:2
 Effective pixels  7.1 million
 Sensor photo detectors      7.1 million
 Sensor size      1/2.5 ” (5.75 x 4.31 mm, 0.24 cm²)
 Pixel density      29 MP/cm²
 Sensor type      CCD
 Sensor manufacturer      Unknown
 ISO rating      Auto, 80 ,100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
 Zoom wide (W)      35 mm
 Zoom tele (T)      105 mm (3 x)
 Digital zoom      Yes, 4 x
 Image stabilization      No
 Auto Focus      AiAF TTL 9-point (with face detection)
 Manual Focus      No
 Normal focus range       
 Macro focus range      5 cm
 White balance override      5 positions plus manual
 Aperture range      F2.8 – F4.9
 Min shutter      15 sec
 Max shutter      1/1500 sec
 Built-in Flash      Yes
 Flash range      3.5 m
 External flash      No
 Flash modes      Auto, On, Off, Slow, Manual (Red Eye On/Off)
 Exposure compensation      -2 to +2 EV in 1/3 EV steps
 Metering      Evaluative, Center Weighted, Spot
 Aperture priority      No
 Shutter priority      No
 Focal length multiplier       
 Lens thread      No
 Continuous Drive      Yes, 1.7 fps, unlimited
 Movie Clips      Yes, 640 x 480 @ 30/15 fps, 320 x 240 @ 60/30/15 fps, 160 x 120 @ 15 fps
 Remote control      No
 Self-timer      Yes, 2 or 10 sec
 Timelapse recording      No
 Orientation sensor      Yes
 Storage types      SD/SDHC card
 Storage included      32 MB SD card
 Uncompressed format      No
 Quality Levels      Super-Fine, Fine, Normal
 Viewfinder      Optical (Tunnel)
 LCD      2.5 “
 LCD Dots      230,000
 Live View      No
 USB      USB 2.0 (480Mbit/sec)
 HDMI      No
 Wireless      No
 Environmentally sealed      No
 Battery      Lithium-Ion NB-4L battery & charger
 Weight (inc. batteries)      175 g (6.2 oz)
 Dimensions      86 x 54 x 19 mm (3.4 x 2.1 x 0.7 in)