Mini-Notebooks Are All The Rage

Many folks have asked me for a recommendation of a second laptop for use by their kids or spouse. Basically, the criteria is something inexpensive for web surfing and checking email. With that in mind mini-notebooks also called net-books are all the rage. These are small inexpensive laptops that fit the bill perfectly. Most manufacturers have been tripping over themselves to get their version of this small device to market. Of all the choices, I recommend giving the Dell Mini a close look. The starting price currently ranges from $349 to $449. You can choose either Ubuntu Linux or Windows XP as an operating system. All configurations come with solid state drives, wireless networking, and decent battery life. Color choices are Obsidian Black or Alpine White.

Obama-Biden Tax Calculator

The Obama-Biden ticket has posted an on-line calculator which will show you how much you'll save under their proposed tax plan. Don't vote against your own financial interests. This is interesting if you're making under a quarter of a million dollars a year. Which is probably just one or two of you ;-)

Check it out at:

http://taxcutfacts.org

Apple Refreshes iPods & Updates iPhone Software

This week Steve Jobs announced a refreshed iPod line and the release of version 2.1 of the iPhone software:

iPod Nano

• Square design abandoned in favor of the elongated design of its second generation
• Curved design made of aluminum and glass.
• An accelerometer has been added to flip the screen when tilted
• Accelerometer places the device in shuffle mode when shaken
• A genius list feature similar to Pandora has been added
• It comes in nine "nano-chromatic" colors... according to Apple
• Prices are 8GB for $149 and 16GB for $199

iPod Touch

• Slightly slimmer and lighter
• New volume control buttons
• Built-in loudspeaker
• Prices are 8GB for $229, 16GB for $299, and 32GB for $399

iPhone 2.1 Software Update

• Decreases dropped calls
• Improved battery life
• Reduce backup time
• Improved email readability and retrieval
• Fixes bugs causing hangs and crashes with 3rd party apps
• Faster App Store installs
• Faster loading and searching of contacts
• Improved accuracy of 3G signal strength display
• Repeat alert for incoming messages
• Option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation

Easy Access to Online Applications with Google Chrome

Google Chrome makes it easier to access online applications such as Gmail, Google Docs, Reader, and more by allowing you to create shortcuts locally on your system. Simply go to the online application to which you would like to create a shortcut. Once there, click on the page icon in the upper right side of the browser. Select "Create application shortcuts" and you will be presented with a dialogue box asking where to save the shortcut. The options include Desktop, Start Menu, or Quick Launch Bar. Make your selection and the shortcut appears. When you click on the shortcut the application opens in a streamlined Chrome browser window. When used with Google Gears enabled sites this feature makes online applications behave more like traditional desktop applications. Once more Google is making the browser ubiquitous and is seemingly heading towards making the browser the only application anyone will need to install on to their system.

Additional Note:

Mac and Linux users should keep an eye out for a version of Chrome for their operating systems. Word has it that Google has added Mac and Linux developers to the Chrome team and a version of the browser for those platforms should be appearing soon.

Thumbs Up on Google Chrome

The reviews are coming in on Google's new browser Chrome. It seems to be passing the test of early scrutiny. According to the search giant, Google Chrome is a browser that combines minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier. Google sees their latest offering as a result of rethinking current browser design. It was built from scratch and designed to render rich interactive applications. It is meant to be a modern platform for web pages and applications. It was designed to handle the beefed up internet of today and not the static web of yesterday.

Some features of Google Chrome include a blazing fast rendering engine built around the same engine used in Safari, Webkit. Google Chrome has an incognito mode for private browsing. In this mode, no traces of your surfing are left behind. Chrome also sports an intelligent start page which lists thumbnails of frequently visited web pages. Each tab within Chrome is handled by a separate process so if a site crashes one tab, the other tabs are not effected. The built in task manager also lets you see the amount of resources, such as CPU and memory, a web site is consuming. Finally, Chrome lets you drag a tab into its own window and an individual window into its own tab.

All in all Google Chrome looks to present another viable browser choice which should serve to make all players in the market that much stronger.