It's been a quiet CES for Motorola compared to the big Milestone and Dext announcements from last year. The Backflip is the handset maker's big thing this year, and it's looking pretty good.
The Backflip gets its name from it's hinged screen, allowing it to sit on a desktop for accessing your calendar, or watching videos or your Twitter feed. There's a discrete touchscreen on the back so that your fingers don't obscure your view of the screen and It even doubles up as an alarm clock.
Much like the Nokia N97, there's a full QWERTY slider tucked under the screen too.
That screen is a 3.1 inch HVGA offering, with a MotoBlur skinned vresion of Android under the hood. There's also 3G and Wi-Fi options, as well as a 5MP camera.
Ion launch the iType full QWERTY keyboard add-on for the iPhone
What is it with peripheral manufacturers turning perfectly portable devices into hulking behemoths with their (often unneeded) accessories?
Enter the iType, Ion's full size QWERTY iPhone add-on.
Still there's a use for this one I suppose. Laying your iPhone inside landscape wise, the iType doubles up as a charger and will be useful for those who Tweet or SMS a lot from the handset, or even use their iPhone to blog on.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Office 2010 Beta Draws 2 Million Downloads
Microsoft is looking forward to strong sales of Office 2010 when the productivity suite ships later this year, based on what the company called "record interest" in the beta version of the product. Users have downloaded more than 2 million trial copies of the software in just seven weeks, according to Microsoft Office general manager Rachel Bondi. "The Office 2010 beta is generating record interest and use, surpassing the previous Office 2007 beta download rate," said Bondi, in a blog post Tuesday. "It's a rate of 40,000 downloads per day," said Bondi.
Microsoft Office sales could use a boost. Sales of the product to consumers plunged 34% in the most recent quarter, while enterprise sales dropped 4% as some companies opted for less expensive offerings from Google and other competitors.
Microsoft on Tuesday also released a detailed pricing plan for Office 2010, which includes popular applications like Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
For 2010, Office will be available in four editions.
The standard Office Home and Student version is priced at $149 for packaged software, or $119 for those who wish to download the software and activate it with a key card.
For home office workers and small businesses, Office Home and Business is available for $279 boxed, or $199 for a key card. Office 2010 Professional, which includes a number of tools geared toward enterprise environments, is $499 boxed, or $349 for a key card.
College students and professors can get a price break by purchasing Office Professional Academic. It's priced at $99 and will be available at campus bookstores and other selected retailers.
All versions of Office 2010 will include access to Office Web, which is a pared down, Internet-based version of the software. Microsoft also plans to make Office Web available for free to the public through its Windows Live portal. The software, however, lacks all the bells and whistles of the pricey desktop versions.Microsoft last month confirmed that Office 2010 will be available sometime in the middle of this year, but did not provide a more specific timeframe.
Among Office 2010's enhancements over previous editions are beefed up video and image processing tools that let users edit photos and videos from within their Office documents. New collaboration capabilities, meanwhile, will allow multiple users to access and edit a single document over the Internet.
AMD's ATI Radeon HD 5670
In a discourteous endeavor to dominate every segment in the DX11 market ATI is covering all the bases with very strong products in the high-end and mid-range segment. The slowest DX11 card one can buy is in fact the Radeon HD 5750 and good gosh man, that card oozes performance. It's therefore not exactly a surprise or even secret that there is a gap left in the now very wide range of ATI DX11 card lineup. Yes my fellow Guru's today we are going second base in the upper budget segment. Cards that typically can be found in a 75 EUR / 95 USD price range often offering a somewhat below average gaming experience. However with the right monitor resolution and settings, one is almost always getting most bang for buck.
Today ATI releases thus the Radeon series 5600. Actually Radeon HD 5650 and 5670 today to be specific -- we'll be looking at a couple of these cards. These cards offer a wide variety in functionality, but even in the new budget products, ATI put in enough transistors to allow you to play modern games well -- if you give them the right circumstances that is. The card we'll be testing today is lined up directly against NVIDIA's GeForce GT 240 products, with the Radeon HD 5670 being slightly faster, DX11 compatible and sure .. ATI threw in Eyefinity as well. But wait -- there's more though. Obviously we will all agree that a new trend that has been up and coming over the past two to three years are HTPCs. And that's exactly an area where the Radeon HD 5670 will rise and shine hard, as it has more than enough shader power to post process your high-definition content and it's armed with the very best in image quality outputs with the digital HDMI and DisplayPort even supporting 7.1 audio and Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio as well. Overall features? Much like the rest of the Radeon HD 5000 family ATI has been focusing on three primary features, and key selling points for the series 5000 products. First off, the new graphics adapters are of course DirectX 11 ready. With Windows 7 and Vista being DX11 ready, all we need are some games to take advantage of DirectCompute, multi-threading, Hardware Tessellation and new shader 5.0 extensions. DX11 is going to be good.
Another big feature of the product that you already learned about is Eyefinity, the ability to connect one to up-to six monitors (depending on AIC/AIB choices in outputs) to your videocard and use it in a desktop environment, or to create an incredibly wide monitor resolution to play games in. It's nice, it is niche and yes... certainly not an option many of you will use... but really it is breathtaking as well. Though really too little power to do so, the card does support Eyefinity up-to 4 monitors. Though ATI's Series 5000 cards have been hard to get, due to yield issues at TSMC's 40nm node, things seem to be slowly picking up now and as such that was a good for AMD to cease the moment and add a new product series to their already extensive DX11 lineup.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
New iPhone to have Magic Mouse-style touch sensitive casing
Apple’s next iPhone will take some influence from the Magic Mouse’s touch-sensitive smarts to add a gesture sensitive casing, according to the latest raft of rumours winging around the web. Plus we’re told to expect a Google Nexus One battling 5MP camera.
Bloomberg claims sources have told it that the new iPhone will have a touch-sensitive casing using similar technology to the Apple Magic Mouse. That sounds cool but we can’t quite work out what the benefit would be of gesturing on the back of the phone when the touchscreen UI is already pretty intuitive.
A more down-to-earth rumour suggests that the new iPhone will pack a 5MP camera and head to manufacturing in April in time for a release in June. That seems likely as the iPhone’s camera is in need of an upgrade and new iPhones usually arrive in the summer.
It’s also suggested (and it seems likely) that the iPhone OS will be updated at the same time as the new iPhone launches. That slightly contradicts yesterday’s rumours that the Apple Tablet has delayed an iPhone OS update.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Intel to tap 32-nanometer chips for 2010 growth
Intel CEO Paul Otellini
(Credit: Intel)
Intel's plan for growth in 2010 can be summed up in one esoteric term: 32 nanometer. That's where Intel's chips are going across the board--laptops, servers, and even new markets like smartphones, according to chief executive Paul Otellini and chief financial officer Stacy Smith, who spoke during the company's fourth-quarter earnings conference call Thursday afternoon.
Intel reported earnings Thursday that were unusually strong, blowing past even upbeat Wall Street forecasts.
And what's the secret of Intel's success? Process technology. Intel is in the midst of moving the bulk of its chips from a 45-nanometer manufacturing process to an industry-leading 32-nanometer process. Generally, the smaller the geometries, the faster and more power efficient the chip. Intel is better at executing these critical process transitions than any chipmaker on the planet.
"What we're doing...is moving 32 nanometer into the mainstream more quickly than we did with 45 (nanometer)," Otellini said during the earnings conference call. "Looking ahead over the next three months, we are planning to refresh our entire server product line with new 32-nanometer Xeon (processors)."
CFO Smith echoed this sentiment, saying that "mainstream and value versions" of 32-nanometer chips will appear later in the year, thereby completing an across-the-board transition to this new technology.
And Intel telegraphed this transition at the Consumer Electronics Show last week when it rolled out dozens of new processors based on 32-nanometer technology. These new chips include the latest versions of the Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors. The mobile version of the 32-nanometer Core i5 has already made it into new laptops from Hewlett-Packard and Dell and is expected to make an appearance in new MacBook Pros from Apple.
What else is hot at Intel? Atom. This processor powers Netbooks and Intel's very large but mundane "embedded" chip business. "Atom design momentum is very strong with our new 'Pine Trail' platform in over 80 Netbook designs. In the embedded space, we now have over 600 Atom-based design wins," Otellini said.
In 2009, Atom and Netbooks became a $1.4 billion business for Intel, Smith said.
Eventually, 32-nanometer chips will also drive Intel's push into smartphones. "At CES we demonstrated progress with handhelds...built around Atom cores. We demonstrated for the first time the LG GW990 (smartphone) built with our yet-released Atom 'Moorestown' platform," Otellini said.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
New Sony W350 14.1MP Camera Is Available For Pre-order
The New Sony W350 premiered at CES 2010. It features the professional-quality Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 4x optical zoom lens which can bring distant images closer for great outdoors, sports, and travel shots. It has a 2.7-inch (230K pixels) Clear Photo LCD display which features sharp, natural color that makes it easy to compose shots, read menus, and view photos even in bright sunlight.
A powerful 14.1-megapixed, ½.3-inch Super HAD CCD image sensor helps you capture gorgeous images with superb contrast and clarity down to the finest detail. With 14.1 megapixels, you can create stunning, photo-quality print up to A3+ (13x19-inch) size, or crop your images and still come away with high resolution shots. The W350 also features a Sweep Panorama mode which allows for wonderful panoramic shoots that you stitch together to make one stunning picture.
The Sony W350 features iAuto mode which allows for adjustments of settings in different situations and Intelligent Scene Recognition (iSCN) Mode which automatically detects different types of scenes and within seconds selects appropriate camera setting for several possible choices. It also has Optical SteadyShot image stabilization which uses a built-in gyro sensor to detect camera shake and automatically shifts the lens to help prevent blur without sacrificing the picture.
HP laptop available with USB 3.0
HP Envy 15 is now shipping with USB 3.0 ports
Packard has begun shipping some Envy 15 laptop configurations with USB 3.0 technology, becoming one of the first PC makers to do so. The new "SuperSpeed USB" 3.0 standard is touted as achieving up to 10X the data transfer rate of USB 2.0, the standard that has been shipping on laptops for the last eight years or so.
HP spokeswoman Sheila Watson said Tuesday that the company is shipping certain Envy 15 configurations with the USB 3.0 ports. "HP Direct (our online store) does now sell the Envy 15 with the USB 3.0 along with the new ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 Graphics (DX11)," she said in response to an e-mail query Tuesday, referring to the mobile Radeon graphics chip from Advanced Micro Devices' ATI unit. Watson said consumers can get an Envy with USB 3.0 "if you configure it with the new ATI 5830 graphics and quad-core i7 processor." And USB 3.0 will be available on EliteBook--HP's high-end business laptop line--8540p and 8540w models "in a couple of weeks," according to Watson.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Introducing iphone 3G s
The Fastest iPhone Ever
The first thing you’ll notice about iPhone 3GS is how quickly you can launch applications. Web pages render in a fraction of the time, and you can view email attachments faster. Improved performance and updated 3D graphics deliver an incredible gaming experience, too.
3-Megapixel Camera
The new 3-megapixel camera takes great still photos, too, thanks to built-in autofocus and a handy new feature that lets you tap the display to focus on anything (or anyone) you want.
Voice Control
Voice Control recognizes the names in your Contacts and knows the music on your iPod. So if you want to place a call or play a song, all you have to do is ask.
Cut, Copy & Paste , Landscape Keyboard
Cut, copy, and paste words and photos, even between applications. Copy and paste images and content from the web, too.Want more room to type on the intelligent software keyboard? Rotate iPhone to landscape to use a larger keyboard in Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
HP and Microsoft Tablet revealed at CES
We’ve all been hearing all about Apple’s new iSlate for a while and perhaps we’ve forgotten that there are other companies out there who might produce a tablet or two.
Take Microsoft and Hewlett Packard for example, it seems they may have been attempting to steal a little bit of Apple’s thunder by revealing details of their own version of the slate computer at the CES.
“It’s a beautiful little product” said Steve Ballmer from Microsoft who had demonstrated the Windows 7 Touch Screen device in front of thousands of eager techie enthusiasts and geeks at the event.
He of course was also bragging about Windows 7 stating that it was “The biggest hit of the year” and that “Windows 7 is by far the fastest selling operating system in history”.
Anyway, we were talking about the tablet and apparently the Hewlett Packard tablet will be available for sale sometime later this year.
Not everyone was particularly enamoured with it though.
“What we saw confirmed my worst suspicions that this is your standard Microsoft software in slate form” said Paul Miller to BBC news.
For those who don’t know, Paul Miller is the Senior Associate editor of the technology website Engadget.
“It’s an interesting product in itself but Microsoft could have gone further. It’s not anything new in terms of software and that is what you really need to make a device like this make people want to buy it.”
So do we want to buy it?
Well I suppose we don’t know until we see what the Apple Tablet is like, I mean we’ve all been waiting for that new device and anything that tries to make an appearance before that might just not get as much attention as it deserves.
There’s always the feeling that Apple might come up with something better so we’d better not get too excited until we’ve seen what they have to offer, even though so far they’ve not even acknowledged that they’re producing a new tablet.
“Apple tends to change the game and this Microsoft/HP tablet didn’t blow them out of the water” said Dean Takahashi of tech blog VentureBeat.com
“How successful it will be is up in the air, but HP is the biggest technology company in the world and can certainly put a lot of muscle behind the device” Takahashi told BBC News.
Yep things are definitely hotting up; we were expecting 2010 to be the year of the tablet so we’re really getting off to a flying start.
What makes your town an incredible place to live? Show your civic pride (and maybe win a prize) by creating a 3D portrait of your community and sharing it with the world. You have the power to get your town on the map – and there's no bigger map than Google Earth. See what other towns have done (Google Earth file)
The Google Model Your Town Competition is open to people from all over the world. All you have to do is build 3D models of the buildings in your community. Model whichever structures you think are necessary to show the planet what's special about your town.
Be recognized by your community for doing something great. Having a 3D model of your town in Google Earth helps residents and visitors understand it in a way that flat maps and photographs can't. You can be a local hero by making a contribution to your town's future.
Getting started is easy. You can enter on your own or recruit up to five of your fellow citizens to help you form a team, and the software tools you need are free. Get started today
Hear we ordered some populated games in 2009 and hope you guys also accept this. Hear we describe some features of those games.
The types of games that pack the most appeal will naturally be different for each of us. For example, Nate is too young to remember Punch-Out!!, but when I get the Wii version of the game, I am going to tear open the shrink-wrap with my teeth.
We also tried to constrain this list to games that will actually come out this year. So no Alan Wake, no God of War III and certainly no Duke Nukem Forever.
With these factors in mind, we present the 11 most anticipated games of 2009. Time to sharpen your incisors.
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned (Xbox 360)
I’m sick of hanging out with Niko Bellic. I mean, I know he had a rough adolescence in Serbia and all, but that can only excuse so much murderous, sociopathic behavior. But man, oh man, I sure do miss kicking it in Liberty City. What a place! The sights, the sounds, the insane stunt jumps and plentiful rocket launchers! I’m itching for the chance to visit again, this time in the company of grizzled biker Johnny Klebitz.
The new Xbox 360 downloadable expansion to GTA IV offers a lengthy new narrative, and upgrades my favorite virtual metropolis with new weapons, missions, vehicles and multiplayer modes. What’s that you say? Klebitz is probably a murderous sociopath just like Niko? Yeah, well … as long as he doesn’t have an annoying cousin that’s always phoning him, I think I can put up with that.
Resident Evil 5 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Until we zombie purists convince George Romero to open a game development studio, Capcom Entertainment is our best substitute in the pixelized fight against the undead. Metal Gear Solid 4-level visual polish, a nicely modified strain of the Resident Evil 4 control scheme, online co-operative multiplayer and the woefully underrepresented setting of the African Savannah all indicate that Resident Evil 5 almost has to be something special.
Honestly, I’m just giddy for a chance to pop off heavy munitions into the brains of some undead foes. At the end of a long workday, nothing is more satisfying than the wholesale slaughter of shambling hordes. — Earnest Cavalli
Dark Void (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows)
Gears of War’s cover system is getting a bit tired these days, so when I heard at E3 that Capcom’s upcoming shooter Dark Void lifts it, I had to stop myself from yawning. But then the developer giving the demo twisted the camera angle to reveal that we weren’t walking down some dark hallway blasting enemies — we were flying up the side of a tower, leaping from cover point to cover point courtesy of a very Rocketeer-ish jetpack.
Moments later, the protagonist leaped off the side of the tower, cutting a beeline toward a wildly maneuvering metal disc. Try as it might, the disc couldn’t get out of his path, and when he alighted on top of the frame, a familiar sequence of button presses popped up just as they might in God of War. Triangle, X, Square and the craft’s pilot had been beaten soundly and thrown from the disc — only to have his ride hijacked, Grand Theft Auto-style, by our hero. Three minutes of gameplay and Dark Void had cemented itself in my mind as the sleeper hit of 2009
Holden Special Vehicles to launch two new models in Q1 2010
Photo: Holden Special Vehicles GXP.
Holden Special Vehicles have confirmed the debut of two new models in the HSV line-up for 2010 based on the Pontiac G8 GXP program.
According to HSV Managing Director Phil Harding the HSV ClubSport GXP and HSV Maloo GXP represent an outstanding opportunity for HSV to complement its existing line-up with a limited edition entry level vehicle.
“We receive lots of enquiries about introducing a model to sit as an entry level to our brand and the GXP program provides us this opportunity.”
“I have always said that in order for a car to wear the HSV badge it needs to satisfy three criteria - Performance, Handling and Design.”
“Clearly these cars tick all three boxes.”
The ClubSport GXP and Maloo GXP receive key performance and styling treatments;
- Suspension (ClubSport GXP uses the unique GXP suspension tune,Maloo GXP has a unique HSV suspension tune),
- Brembo brake package unique to the GXP program,
- ClubSport GXP receives a unique rear fascia,
- E Series 2 daylight running lamps,
- E Series 2 front fascia and hood,
- E series 2 fender vent,
- E series 2 ClubSport R8 interior with sports cloth seats.
The ClubSport GXP has a recommended retail price of $59,990 (m), and the Maloo GXP has a recommended retail price of $53,990 (m) [1]. Auto variants attract a $2000 premium.
HSV will build 400 ClubSport GXPs and 350 Maloo GXPs with production taking place in February 2010, hitting dealerships in March. HSV will also export the two models to New Zealand.
Customers who order a ClubSport GXP or Maloo GXP before December 31 may qualify for the Federal Government’s 50% investment allowance. [2]
[1] Maximum recommended retail price only. Subject to state taxes and delivery charges.
[2] Customers should check with their financial advisor for further information on the rules and regulations regarding the Federal Government’s 50% Investment Allowance for small business
Introducing The Computer of 2010
silicon, with its talent for carrying electrons, has been the mainstay of computing. But for a variety of reasons (see "The Coming Light Years"), we're rapidly approaching the day when electrons will no longer cut it. Within 10 years, in fact, silicon will fall to the computer scientist's triple curse: "It's bulky, it's slow, and it runs too hot." At this point, computers will need a new architecture, one that depends less on electrons and more on... well...what else? Optics.
With the assistance of award-winning firm frogdesign (the geniuses behind the look of the early Apple and many of today's supercomputers and workstations), Forbes ASAP has designed and built (virtually, of course) the computer of 2010.
Whenever possible, our newly designed computer replaces stodgy old electrons with shiny, cool-running particles of light--photons. Electrons remain, doing everything they do best (switching), while photons do what they do best (traveling very, very fast). In other words, we've brought the speed and bandwidth of optical communications inside the computer itself. This mix is called optoelectronics, another buzzword we encourage you to start using immediately.
The result is a computer that is far more reliable, cheaper, and more compact--the entire thing, believe it or not, is about the size of a Frisbee--than the all-electronic solution. But above all, optoelectronic computing is faster than what's available today. How fast? In a decade, we believe, you will be able to buy at your local computer shop the equivalent of today's supercomputers.
How likely is it that this computer will be built? Some of its components are slightly pie-in-the-sky. But many others have already been developed or are being developed by some of the best scientific minds in the country. Sooner or later, and probably sooner, an optoelectronic computer will exist...and it will probably look a lot like ours.
Okay, so we've built a revolutionary new optical computer just in time for 2010. What do we do with it now?
Everything. Because it's small (about the size of a Frisbee) and because it has the power of today's supercomputer, the 2010 PC will become the repository of information covering every aspect of our daily life. Our computer, untethered and unfettered by wires and electrical outlets, becomes something of a key that unlocks the safety deposit box of our lives.
When we plug our 2010 PC into the wall of our home, our house will become smart, anticipating our every desire. At work, we'll plug it into our desk, which will become a gigantic interactive screen. When it communicates wirelessly with a small mobile device, we'll have a personal digital assistant--on steroids
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
New LT21 Netbook Promises 10 Hours of Battery Life
Today Gateway introduces their new LT21 Series netbook, which offers up to 10 hours of battery life thanks to the new Intel Pineview N450 Atom processor. The Gateway LT21 netbook models with the 6-cell Lithium-ion Extended battery (5600mAh) are the ones that promise to deliver double-digit battery life, and when combined with an 802.11N Wi-Fi wireless connection should help boost productivty as well.
Additional Gateway LT21 models are available with the standard 6-cell Li-Ion battery (4400mAh) and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and provide up to eight hours of battery life. The new design of the LT21 is sleeker and more modern looking than previous Gateway ultraportables. Weighing only 2.76 pounds and measuring only about an inch thin, the Gateway LT21 netbook is easy to carry by hand or in a book bag or purse, so customers will have it handy to connect to the Internet, stay in touch, and access social networks like Facebook and YouTube.
The new design of the Gateway LT21 netbook features a 10.1-inch LED-backlit TFT display that delivers a 22.2 percent power savings compared to traditional netbook displays. The 10.1-inch widescreen display has a 1024x600 resolution. The keybaord is a new larger model that is 93 percent of the size of a full-sized keyboard. Also, the 6-cell-batteries were designed to prop the netbook up slightly for a more convenient typing experience.
The LT21 also features a multi-gesture touchpad, 1GB of memory and either 160GB or 250GB of hard drive space. If connectivity is your concern then you'll be happy to know the LT21 has three USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet and VGA as well as a multi-in-one digital card reader.
Advanced aerospace vehicles are key to national security, transportation, mobility, freedom, and our quality of life. The answer to ensuring the continued viability of aviation is not through evolutionary or near-term approaches alone, but through careful development of revolutionary, long-term approaches utilizing emerging technologies. The significant advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information technology are opening the door to a new era in aircraft development resulting in designs that will be radically different from today's aircraft.
Aircraft of the future will not be built of traditional, multiple, mechanically connected parts and systems. Instead, aircraft wing construction will employ fully integrated, embedded "smart" materials and actuators that will enable aircraft wings with unprecedented levels of aerodynamic efficiencies and aircraft control.
Able to respond to the constantly varying conditions of flight, sensors will act like the "nerves" in a bird's wing and will measure the pressure over the entire surface of the wing. The response to these measurements will direct actuators, which will function like the bird's wing "muscles." Just as a bird instinctively uses different feathers on its wings to control its flight, the actuators will change the shape of the aircraft's wings to continually optimize flying conditions. Active flow control effectors will help mitigate adverse aircraft motions when turbulent air conditions are encountered.
Intelligent systems composed of these sensors, actuators, microprocessors, and adaptive controls will provide an effective "central nervous system" for stimulating the structure to effect an adaptive "physical response." The central nervous system will provide many advantages over current technologies. Proposed 21st Century Aerospace Vehicles will be able to monitor their own performance, environment, and even their operators in order to improve safety and fuel efficiency, and minimize airframe noise. They will also have systems that will allow for safe takeoffs and landings from short airfields enabling access to this country's more than 5,400 rural/regional airports.
Researchers at NASA Langley Research Center are taking the lead to explore these advanced vehicle concepts and revolutionary new technologies. New analysis methodologies are being formulated to model and predict the best locations for sensors and actuators. Cooperative ventures with industry and other government agencies will be key to the project. Specific technology areas of study include ground-to-flight scaling, reliability-based design, adaptive flow control, robust controls, and autonomic vehicle functions.
Image above depicts an artisit's rendering of new aircraft in flight.
NASA's incorporation of these new technologies, research methods and the human creative and exploratory spirit are rapidly changing the way we think about air transportation and will continue to expand the horizon of an already exciting future.
Samaraweera, Perera take Sri Lanka to second successive win
Thilan Samaraweera smashed 11 fours en route to his second ODI century
Rarely does a centurion get overshadowed in a match of middling scores. But though Thilan Samaraweera finished with an accomplished unbeaten 105, the headlines were stolen by Thissara Perera, who celebrated his third cap with a power-packed 15-ball 36. From needing 54 off 39 balls when he arrived at the crease, Sri Lanka romped home with two overs to spare, as India's quest for yorkers merely resulted in one too many no-balls and full tosses. Chanaka Welegedara's five-wicket haul had killed India's batting momentum at crucial times, and with the dew playing such a factor in the evening, 279 was not quite enough.
After taking Zaheer Khan through cover to get off the mark, Perera transformed the game in Ashish Nehra's seventh over. He had been India's best bowler, but Perera pierced the off-side cordon, flicked behind square and then nonchalantly hoicked the free hit for six in the same direction. Samaraweera got to his hundred straight after, but was then more than content to watch the fun from the other end.
Zaheer was then carved through the covers twice, as he made light of being struck in the ribs, and a meaty club through wide long-on finished off matters well ahead of time. Sri Lanka had been given a brisk start by the new opening pair of Upul Tharanga and Lahiru Thirimanne, the debutant who replaced Tillakaratne Dilshan, but once India conceded just 16 in the five overs of bowling Powerplay, the onus was very much on the old hands to see it home.
It's been a quiet CES for Motorola compared to the big Milestone and Dext announcements from last year. The Backflip is the handset maker's big thing this year, and it's looking pretty good.
With the assistance of award-winning firm frogdesign (the geniuses behind the look of the early Apple and many of today's supercomputers and workstations), Forbes ASAP has designed and built (virtually, of course) the computer of 2010. 
