The Zone

Once upon a time to set up a hotspot you'd need a wireless access point or router, some network cables, an Internet connection and a computer with all the networking know-how required to set up such a thing. We recently managed to get our hands on a mobile 3G hotspot device that makes a hotspot using your HSDPA 3G or 3.5G USB modem. All you need to do is plug and play! For a full review check it out in our latest issue of HWM.

For those looking for an easy way to stream media files from their PC to the PlayStation 3 console, here's a freeware media server application to do just that. Currently at v1.00, the java-based PS3 Media Server is all ready-to-use as long as both your PC and PS3 are within the same network. While the application does come preloaded with several transcoding engines, experienced users may opt for the CoreAVC codec to gain better performance on their multi-cored setup. You can download the latest release from here. Take note that Java 1.6 is required for PS3 Media Server to work. Have fun!

AMD's latest 45nm 'Deneb' chips or the Phenom II series has just come in. After our brief foray with Intel's Core i7 which raised the performance bar, AMD is looking to up the ante by offering quad cores that can overclock even better. With an overclock speed of 6.3GHz (only achievable with Liquid Nitrogen) and a tougher internal architecture (that can withstand and be more stable with that level of overclocking) the Phenom II processors are set to become major players on the enthusiast scene. Will it be enough to compete against the i7? How will this overclocking performance translate to normal performance? Find out with our indepth review of the Phenom II in the latest issue of HWM. Check out a little view of its standard non-OC PCMark05 Score below:

Coming to us in the not so far future is an umbrella thatnot only lights up when it rains but is also powered directly by the rain droplets that hit its surface. The Lightdrops umbrella designed by Sang-Kyun Park uses a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) fabric which transforms the kinetic energy of the rain drops into electricity which powers LEDs on the underside of the umbrella. Previous piezoelectric fabrics couldn't cut it since they weren't waterproof but the new PVDF fabric promises us the heavier the rain, the brighter the light to shine our way.

It's that time of the year again, and with the advent of Christmas, PIKOM's PC Fair proved to be another hunting ground for computer users looking forward to great bargains on tech products as well as computer components. The highlight of this edition of the Fair would definitely be the digital camera bargains as well as really affordable memory and storage products on offers. Antivirus companies were duking it out too in an effort to boost sales with licences going as low as RM40 per year! Check out more happenings and also our booth babe coverage after the jump!

Owners of the US or UK edition of Fallout 3 will be in for a surprise when they next boot up the game on their PlayStation 3 as the version 1.1 patch is now live! Aside from adding 51 trophies to the game, the 24MB patch will also fix several issues that plague the original release, such as freezing during the GOAT test and pausing whenever the XMB notifications occurs.

While the recently released Nintendo DSi was able to effectively block the current batch of DS flashcarts, the same cannot be said for the newly announced Akecard 2i flashcart from the Akecard Team.

The Akecard 2i is the first flashcart to successfully bypass the DSi's anti-piracy measure and enables running of homebrew games and software on the DSi. Will it be a matter of time before Nintendo releases a firmware update to lock out the Akecard 2i and the upcoming batch of flashcarts? Stay tuned for further development.

We managed to get our hands on HP's yet to be released 2nd gen netbook, the HP Mini 1000. HP's first netbook, the HP Mini-note 2133 was one of the top netbooks in the market, owing especially to its business netbook-like nature and extremely comfortable keyboard. HP's Mini 1000 retains the keyboard but makes the netbook slimmer, lighter, more energy efficient and more powerful. It looks even better than before with its glossy black imprint lid. For a more detailed run-down of the Mini 1000's better attributes (and better pics) check out our latest issue of HWM (December 2008).