1. iPad buyer remorse: prices slashed, but refunds offered
iPad holdouts can now buy the first version for more than 30 per cent cheaper as Apple slashes its prices while existing owners jump on eBay to offload in preparation for the iPad 2.
Apple Australia has confirmed that those who bought an iPad 1 from one of its own retail stores within 14 calendar days of the iPad 2 announcement are entitled to a refund of the difference between the price paid and the current selling price.
But existing owners who are planning to trade in for an iPad 2 would have done well to sell their iPad before the successor's launch on Thursday last week, as second-hand prices on eBay are crashing fast. A search for iPad in the computer category of eBay.com.au reveals over 600 listings, excluding accessories.
Apple has slashed prices on all existing iPad models by up to $210 and is offering refurbished models for even less.
Apple's 16GB, 32GB and 64GB iPad Wi-Fi models have been reduced to $449 (from $629), $579 (from $759) and $689 (from $879), respectively.
For those who want an iPad WiFi + 3G model, prices for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models have dropped to $598 (from $799), $729 ($928) and $839 ($1049), respectively.
Apple is also selling refurbished models that are second-hand but include a new battery and outer shell and come with a one-year warranty.
If you want a refurbished iPad you can knock up to about $80 off the price of a new model, which some bloggers have said is not a big enough discount to entice people to buy a used product.
Retailer Big W has slashed its iPad prices by even more than Apple, with the 16GB model offered for $50 cheaper than Apple's price, Australian Business Traveller reported.
Online gadget-buyer Gazelle, which takes second-hand gadgets off people's hands and then sells them on eBay, said that, within an hour after the iPad 2 was announced, it had bought more than 2000 used iPads.
The company pays the seller a certain amount depending on the condition of the product and other factors such as whether the seller still has the relevant cables and charger.
A similar company, NextWorth, said in the three days following the iPad 2 launch it received almost three times the number of iPads it had been sent in the whole of February.
The iPad 2 will go on sale in Australia from March 25. Prices have yet to be announced but Telstra has already said it will offer iPad 2 plans.
The new iPad 2 is lighter (590 grams versus 680 grams) and thinner (from 13.4mm to 8.8mm) than its predecessor and boasts significant upgrades such as a new A5 dual-core processor, more internal memory, faster graphics and dual front and rear-facing cameras.
2. Chrome 10: More About Speed Than Security
Search giant Google released its latest Chrome browser Thursday with less emphasis on security, instead touting the new version's increased speed and JavaScript performance. "With today's stable release, even your most complex Web apps will run more quickly and responsively in the browser," Google software engineer Tim Steele posted on the company blog. "We realize that speed isn't just about pure brawn -- it's also about saving time with simple interfaces." Chrome's updated interfaces, Steele explained, are designed to end the digging for ways to import bookmarks, change a homepage, find new settings or manipulate links.
3. Waxing Nostalgic About Old-School Linux
Sometimes there's nothing like a walk down memory lane to remind us of how far we've come, and that's just what a recent blog post over at TechRepublic has afforded. "10 Things I Miss About Old School Linux" was the title of the post, in which blogger Jack Wallen waxes nostalgic over some of the key, old-school aspects of Linux he'd like to bring back. Top of Wallen's list? None other than linuxconf. "Of all the admin tools I have used on Linux, the one I thought was the best of the best was linuxconf," he wrote.
4. GnoTime: A Marvelously Manic Time Tracker
If your work routine at all resembles mine, you probably have little or no time to squeeze in new appointments or run unscheduled errands. That is where the GnoTime Tracking Tool can save your work day and probably much of your night time as well. The Gnome Time Tracker comes close to doing it all. It works as your to-do list. It can serve as your diary or work journal. Even better, it can track how much time you spend on projects. If those functions do not qualify GnoTime as the Linux killer app of the year, then maybe its ability to generate invoices based on that time log will.
5. Tablet Wars Begin in Earnest
The iPad 2 has made its entrance, and by next week it'll go up for grabs. There's been a lot of anticipation for what Apple would do with its next tablet now that rivals have showed up with their own tablets that beat the original iPad's specs -- granted, they were mostly demo units. Steve Jobs himself showed up to kick off the proceedings. They opened with a reference to iBooks and how Apple just signed on Random House as a participating publisher. Could be a bid to reassure customers who are worried that its strict purchasing rules will squeeze Kindle out of the App Store.
6. Uh-oh. Greenland and Antarctica melting faster than expected
The rate of melting by the ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica may throw existing projections for sea level rise out the window. Unfortunately for Maldivians and other idyllic, but altitude-challenged islands, the ice sheets are melting faster than anyone expected.
Sea levels have been rising nearly unabated since the late 19th century, but rates have been increasing in recent years. The bulk of the change has been attributed to water expanding due to rising ocean temperatures, while melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica was considered to contribute a relatively small amount. But a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters reports the ice sheets may be contributing to sea level rise at a rate three times that which was previously suspected. The result? Sea levels could reach predicted heights 50 years earlier than experts thought, and total sea level rise may exceed previous estimates.
7. AMD launches a dual-GPU, 350W monster card
AMD has taken the wraps off its newest high-end graphics solution, the AMD HD 6990. The new 6990 is a monster of a card—it's basically a small system all in itself, which you can cram inside your PC if you've got the room for it.
The reason behind the size—it takes up two slots and is almost a foot long—is that it has two high-end, AMD 6970 GPUs sandwiched onto a single card. The card also hosts 4GB of GDDR5 (2GB per GPU), and you'll need a power supply that can support a whopping 375 watts of power draw from the card. AMD has also included a switch that essentially overlocks the card, in which case it needs 450W. At this point, we're getting into home appliance territory.
If you're just dying to draw even more power, the HD 6990 can drive up to five monitors simultaneously, so you can go the Eyefinity route with just a single card.
Tech Report has a thorough review of the new card, and it's now comfortably at the top of the single-card performance heap. It's beaten only by NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580 SLI solution (which was used in this stunning real-time 3D demo at last week's GDC).
At $699.99, this card costs more than many people's PCs. But if you've got the cash for it, it's now the best way to blow seven bills on a graphics card.
iPad holdouts can now buy the first version for more than 30 per cent cheaper as Apple slashes its prices while existing owners jump on eBay to offload in preparation for the iPad 2.
Apple Australia has confirmed that those who bought an iPad 1 from one of its own retail stores within 14 calendar days of the iPad 2 announcement are entitled to a refund of the difference between the price paid and the current selling price.
But existing owners who are planning to trade in for an iPad 2 would have done well to sell their iPad before the successor's launch on Thursday last week, as second-hand prices on eBay are crashing fast. A search for iPad in the computer category of eBay.com.au reveals over 600 listings, excluding accessories.
Apple has slashed prices on all existing iPad models by up to $210 and is offering refurbished models for even less.
Apple's 16GB, 32GB and 64GB iPad Wi-Fi models have been reduced to $449 (from $629), $579 (from $759) and $689 (from $879), respectively.
For those who want an iPad WiFi + 3G model, prices for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models have dropped to $598 (from $799), $729 ($928) and $839 ($1049), respectively.
Apple is also selling refurbished models that are second-hand but include a new battery and outer shell and come with a one-year warranty.
If you want a refurbished iPad you can knock up to about $80 off the price of a new model, which some bloggers have said is not a big enough discount to entice people to buy a used product.
Retailer Big W has slashed its iPad prices by even more than Apple, with the 16GB model offered for $50 cheaper than Apple's price, Australian Business Traveller reported.
Online gadget-buyer Gazelle, which takes second-hand gadgets off people's hands and then sells them on eBay, said that, within an hour after the iPad 2 was announced, it had bought more than 2000 used iPads.
The company pays the seller a certain amount depending on the condition of the product and other factors such as whether the seller still has the relevant cables and charger.
A similar company, NextWorth, said in the three days following the iPad 2 launch it received almost three times the number of iPads it had been sent in the whole of February.
The iPad 2 will go on sale in Australia from March 25. Prices have yet to be announced but Telstra has already said it will offer iPad 2 plans.
The new iPad 2 is lighter (590 grams versus 680 grams) and thinner (from 13.4mm to 8.8mm) than its predecessor and boasts significant upgrades such as a new A5 dual-core processor, more internal memory, faster graphics and dual front and rear-facing cameras.
2. Chrome 10: More About Speed Than Security
Search giant Google released its latest Chrome browser Thursday with less emphasis on security, instead touting the new version's increased speed and JavaScript performance. "With today's stable release, even your most complex Web apps will run more quickly and responsively in the browser," Google software engineer Tim Steele posted on the company blog. "We realize that speed isn't just about pure brawn -- it's also about saving time with simple interfaces." Chrome's updated interfaces, Steele explained, are designed to end the digging for ways to import bookmarks, change a homepage, find new settings or manipulate links.
3. Waxing Nostalgic About Old-School Linux
Sometimes there's nothing like a walk down memory lane to remind us of how far we've come, and that's just what a recent blog post over at TechRepublic has afforded. "10 Things I Miss About Old School Linux" was the title of the post, in which blogger Jack Wallen waxes nostalgic over some of the key, old-school aspects of Linux he'd like to bring back. Top of Wallen's list? None other than linuxconf. "Of all the admin tools I have used on Linux, the one I thought was the best of the best was linuxconf," he wrote.
4. GnoTime: A Marvelously Manic Time Tracker
If your work routine at all resembles mine, you probably have little or no time to squeeze in new appointments or run unscheduled errands. That is where the GnoTime Tracking Tool can save your work day and probably much of your night time as well. The Gnome Time Tracker comes close to doing it all. It works as your to-do list. It can serve as your diary or work journal. Even better, it can track how much time you spend on projects. If those functions do not qualify GnoTime as the Linux killer app of the year, then maybe its ability to generate invoices based on that time log will.
5. Tablet Wars Begin in Earnest
The iPad 2 has made its entrance, and by next week it'll go up for grabs. There's been a lot of anticipation for what Apple would do with its next tablet now that rivals have showed up with their own tablets that beat the original iPad's specs -- granted, they were mostly demo units. Steve Jobs himself showed up to kick off the proceedings. They opened with a reference to iBooks and how Apple just signed on Random House as a participating publisher. Could be a bid to reassure customers who are worried that its strict purchasing rules will squeeze Kindle out of the App Store.
6. Uh-oh. Greenland and Antarctica melting faster than expected
The rate of melting by the ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica may throw existing projections for sea level rise out the window. Unfortunately for Maldivians and other idyllic, but altitude-challenged islands, the ice sheets are melting faster than anyone expected.
Sea levels have been rising nearly unabated since the late 19th century, but rates have been increasing in recent years. The bulk of the change has been attributed to water expanding due to rising ocean temperatures, while melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica was considered to contribute a relatively small amount. But a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters reports the ice sheets may be contributing to sea level rise at a rate three times that which was previously suspected. The result? Sea levels could reach predicted heights 50 years earlier than experts thought, and total sea level rise may exceed previous estimates.
7. AMD launches a dual-GPU, 350W monster card
AMD has taken the wraps off its newest high-end graphics solution, the AMD HD 6990. The new 6990 is a monster of a card—it's basically a small system all in itself, which you can cram inside your PC if you've got the room for it.
The reason behind the size—it takes up two slots and is almost a foot long—is that it has two high-end, AMD 6970 GPUs sandwiched onto a single card. The card also hosts 4GB of GDDR5 (2GB per GPU), and you'll need a power supply that can support a whopping 375 watts of power draw from the card. AMD has also included a switch that essentially overlocks the card, in which case it needs 450W. At this point, we're getting into home appliance territory.
If you're just dying to draw even more power, the HD 6990 can drive up to five monitors simultaneously, so you can go the Eyefinity route with just a single card.
Tech Report has a thorough review of the new card, and it's now comfortably at the top of the single-card performance heap. It's beaten only by NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580 SLI solution (which was used in this stunning real-time 3D demo at last week's GDC).
At $699.99, this card costs more than many people's PCs. But if you've got the cash for it, it's now the best way to blow seven bills on a graphics card.
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