The Zone

(Ignore the "new" word. These are not the new iMacs) 

Rumors are abound that Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) from 11th to 15th June will see the long awaited debut of the new iMacs. Some say that we'll see them fitted with the new Santa Rosa chipset and receive a brushed aluminum treatment (not unlike the G5s).

Some even say that they will sport a "new industrial design that will leave onlookers and competitors smitten." But on the other hand,  the same source is reporting that it could be just wishful thinking. They don't believe that Apple will introduce a new iMac during the WWDC. Instead, the event will focus more on the upcoming OS X Leopard and third party development on the iPhone.

Well, if the new iMac is a no show, at least you guys still have the new Santa Rosa MacBook Pro to cheer about. Coming with faster Core 2 Duos (2.2GHz - 15" 1440x900 LED, 2.4GHz - 15" 1440x900 LED and 2.4GHz 17" 1680x1050 LCD) and more RAM, they are the among the fastest Intel-based notebooks anyone can have (see here and here). By the way, the 15-inchers are using the new mercury-free and power-saving LED-backlit displays.  

More often than not, Taiwanese products are acknowledged as "affordable and bang-for-the-buck" alternatives in the world of IT, though sometimes their "design philosphopies" are rather questionable. Case in point, the Amigo R622AG Wi-Fi Router spotted at the recently concluded Computex Fair in Taipei, Taiwan. Looks familiar, doesn't it? 

Well, you don't get a prize if you guessed that it looked like Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. If Microsoft didn't come up with the Xbox 360 first, we'd say that this router looks dashing and rather sleek, although we're not so sure about the, uhm, large Xbox-ish size.

Like most Wi-Fi routers nowadays, the Amigo R622AG supports 802.11a/b/g and has four Ethernet ports for wired connections. It also has an additional two USB ports for connecting USB devices to the network. If you need to boost the range of the wireless connectivity, you can even stick a high-gain antennae on the back as well.

If you're interested in one, too bad. It's not on sale in Malaysia, yet. From the official website, www.amigo.com.tw, we think it's probably only available in Taiwan and the US for now.  

One question. If the thing breaks down, will it get the dreaded 3 Red Rings of Death just like the Xbox 360 too?

I shudder to think what the Computex 2007 mascots actually are, especially with the giant arrows pointing to their crotches. Click the jump for more pics.

You can now get rid of the Safari skin you got on your IE or Firefox because Apple just released the public Beta of Safari 3. Like any decent web browser today, it sports features like tabbed browsing, pop-up blocker, RSS and tougher security features. But Apple being Apple, there has to something inherently better with Safari than any other web browsers out there. And Apple's salvo is that it claims that Safari is "blazing fast" with HTML and JavaScript pages. Firefox 2, Opera 9 and IE 7 can't be even close enough to smell the trail of dust it leaves behind (okay, we might be exagerrating a little but you get the idea).

Don't just take our word for it. Go download it now from here and take it for a test drive. We're downloading ours as we type.

Proton moving out of the car business and into displays instead? Nah. Just a HD  TVs manufacturing company sharing the same name...though the logo design looks suspiciously similar to the older Malaysian Proton logo. 

(And for anyone thinking that they're a new company ripping off Proton's name, they claim they were established in 1982)

Click the jump for more pics!

Pretec's novelty USB flash drives engineering samples look yummy enough to gobble up. More pictures of the 3rd and final day of our trip to Computex 2007 after the jump.

Just a friendly reminder that tomorrow will see the start of Transformers RobotCon 2007. What's Transformers RobotCon 2007? Well if you love  the Transformers toys, cartoon, games and (soon-to-be-released) movie, you can't afford to miss out on this mega Transformer event at Cineleisure Damansara tomorrow. Autobots, roll out!

A Dell product launch event? In Malaysia? Yeap, it's true. For the first time, Dell has decided to do something different with their new line of Inspiron and XPS notebooks, staging a product 'fashion show' at Cineleisure Damansara yesterday to highlight the bright and bold display colors that their new notebooks sport. More pics of the show after the jump!

Notebooks that you can actually game on? Asus says 'Why not?' and promptly came out with the Asus G1 and G2 notebooks. Now Asus has come up with a refresh of the G1 notebook series, the G1S, which comes with spanking new NVIDIA 8600M GT discrete graphics.

Starting prices? RM6988 for the 15.4" while the 17" model goes for a cool RM7988. Expensive? Terribly so. Highly desirable? Oh yes indeed. Click the jump for more wanton pics of the new G1S notebook in the flesh, along with Asus' Ultra Mobile U1F notebook and the oh-so-sexy Asus Lamborghini VX2.

Blasting down a go-kart track after work is fun, especially when you get to bump your bosses around *evil laugh*

Moar pictures after the jump!! 

iZZi just launched their new wireless broadband service today, and to demonstrate how effective their connections were, the media were treated to a trip to The Eye On Malaysia wheel at Tasik Titiwangsa. Needless to say, the view at the wheel was incredibly scenic, which I managed to capture a few snapshots. Click the jump to view more!

This morning the media was invited to a special Media Machinimasia workshop organized by Intel and Machinimasia, where we were briefed on some tips on making our own short movies through captured footage from games and basic film-making techniques. It was kinda interesting, though I wished they had prepared the presentation earlier so we could have more time to play around with the game and movie-making application. 

The good news is that the workshop is also open to the general public but only for today (Friday) at 5 p.m. and tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 a.m. So if you have an interest in making your own short movie clip of your favorite video game, go check it out! It's totally free of charge, and you might pick up some useful tips in the meantime.

Venue:
Horus Surfer iCafé
No.4, Jalan SS 2/61,
47300, Petaling Jaya.

Time:
Fri, 13 Jul, 5pm to 7.30pm
Sat, 14 Jul, 10am to 12.30pm

Hey guys, next month its that time of the crazy bargains and all-out buying fun as PIKOM's PC Fair (II) 2007 comes along! we have some real great promotions in store for you!

More after the jump! 

For the August issue of HWM, we'll be reviewing two polar opposites of the standard notebook. One is the Toshiba Qosmio G40, a desktop replacement notebook that's absolutely ginormous in multimedia entertainment. The other is the petite Fujitsu U1010 UMPC, which is the smallest tablet PC we've ever reviewed. Click the jump for a preview of the two notebooks that we'll writing about next month!