Samsung SGH-F250: Stylish and cheap

The market for electronics and gadgets has known an increased desire for style for a few years now. And the manufacturers of such products are trying to come forward with better looking devices every time. The glossy or shiny "toys" are a trend that doesn't seem to go away. Not like I'm complaining. I personally love them.

It seems like more and more people are discarding their old dull looking devices for the new eye-candy ones. One problem with these is that they're a little on the expensive side. Well, it seems good news are on the way, as Samsung prepares to release a new model in their mobile phone collection. The new SGH-F250 is intended to be a relatively cheap model, with nice looks and good functionality. According to Idealo News, it "should cost under £150 and be geared towards mobile phone users with average demands. Anyone who doesn’t want to pay too much, but still places a high value on a chic design as well as modern technology, will appreciate this model . Both the high value workmanship with shining chrome edges and the mirrored surface design have been imported from pricier models".

That sound pretty good I think. It's about time the average people could afford a nice mobile phone, that both works and is in trend. And as we are already used to, the new things are always the most expensive when they are released. So after a while this mobile phone will become even cheaper. And of course, others will release their own cheap and stylish models. It's the kind of trend I'm looking for. Nothing brings out the best of companies as the fear of competition.

Google AdSense updates Terms and Conditions

On the official Google AdSense blog it has been announced, for those that are interested, that the "Terms and Conditions" that govern over the program, have been updated.

The blog post states that the changes are there to anticipate future products, blah, blah. The things that seemed a little more interesting were the following two statements:

1. "... we've re-worded some portions of the terms to make them applicable across a broader array of media and formats ..."
2. "... According to this policy, publishers must notify their users of the use of cookies and/or web beacons to collect data in the ad serving process."

Although the first one sounds pretty good to me, the second one, even if it is morally correct, seems almost useless. These days, almost every website you visit collects data about you. It's not something new and the data collected is mostly useless. But then again, who am I to judge one's privacy limits.

The full post can be read on the Inside AdSense blog here.

Nokia Morph - mobile phone concept

I've seen it on Gizmodo and then I went over to Unwired View for the original article, and I simply had to write about it. Nokia proves again that they are one of the greatest names in the industry. I, personally, am a huge fan of Nokia's mobile phones. Any of them. Since the standby time is one of the key factors I take into consideration when I see a phone, Nokia beats the competition by the mile. That's my little narrow point of view.

And with this new phone, they're going to set new limits that others can't reach. From what I understand, the phone is not yet planned for mass production so we can't expect it to be available in retail stores any time soon. But then again, even if it would be, I don't believe there will be many people so eager to purchase it. Seeing as the Apple iPhone made such a big hype around it, another ground breaking mobile phone might not be properly appreciated so soon. It's not like we're made of money. Well, most of us aren't anyway. And speaking of costs, if it will reach the masses that is, let's take a little look at the technology it involves. According to Unwired View, the concept phone is made possible with the help of nanotechnology based flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. That makes the phone flexible, stretchy and thus the user might be able to give it different shapes. I can just imagine future implications of this technology. The commercials might sound a little like:

Tired of the mobile phone giving you an uncomfortable feeling when you sit down? Tired of that pain in your thigh? Well rest assured, the new Nokia Morph will bend to your every desire!

OK, so that was corny. I guess that's why I don't work in marketing or advertisement. But you probably got the general idea.

In the end, let's take a look at that beautiful green piece of ... something. Look at the shapes, look at the infinite possibilities, just look.

Civilization: Revolutions for consoles

Ahh, I can still remember the good old days when I first saw and played Civilization. That was the first game that managed to keep me up all night in the continuous attempt to conquer the world. The real strategy game in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I love StarCraft and WarCraft as much as any other guy, but the idea of crashing a nuclear powered and defended city and the possibility of causing the end of the world through a rain of nuclear missiles has something special to it. And let's not forget that you could defeat all sort of tanks with a large number of spearmen or swordsmen by shear number itself. Those were the good old days.


Civilization 4 has brought a lot of improvements in my opinion, but I can't help being a little bit disappointed that it didn't run well on my PC. And now I still can't enjoy the new release 2K Games bring to the gaming environment. The main reason for that is that it's for consoles and I'm not really into all that stuff. I'm a PC kind of guy all the way. Or at least until I can put some money aside to purchase a console.

The concept of the game stays the same: start from the beginning of human civilization as we know it and advance into the future, defeating all the enemies on the way. Take control of the world and become the strongest civilization the world has ever seen. But several things have been changed. Unlike the PC version, it is not the leaders that have various attributes. Rather the civilizations themselves have superpowers, one for each age and another overall one. And they all seem like game winners, which makes choosing a civilization a hard thing to do. Also each tile produces only one of the resources (food, commerce or production) so players will need to manage cities closely. Ruin structures have been introduced on the strategic map, and they are designed to grant bonuses to the civilization that discovers them, if they can overcome the barbarian defenders. The first civilization to discover each technology also gets a nice bonus. The victory conditions have also been modified a bit and there are now more incentives to go for research, diplomatic and economic victories, rather than stamp your enemies relying on sheer military power.

The game seems to stand by its heritage and will prove once again what a real strategy game should be like. Developed by Firaxis, the release date is announced to be June 3rd, 2008 and the platforms will be Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and PlayStation 3. I hope all you console guys out there enjoy it.

Official Homepage: CivilizationRevolution.com
Screenshots of Civilization:Revolutions at IGN

Sony launches the Bravia F series

It appears that today will be a "display day", since I already posted about LCDs replacing CRTs. And on top of that, it seems like the giant Japanese company, Sony, doesn't take not even a brake. After they have defeated the HD-DVD format and winning supremacy in the high definition world through the Blu-Ray format, Sony launches a jaw dropping series of LCD TVs. Since consumers are pretty picky these days, the new Bravia F series has no intentions of disappointing. And let's face it, they look great. But how do they perform and what do they have that others don't? Well, you can judge that for yourself.

The TV comes in 3 different sizes: 46 (Full HD), 40 (Full HD) and 32 (WXGA) inches, slim frame and glossy look. All of them have a 3000:1 contrast ratio. Apparently there is also an Ethernet port to access the "Application cast" TV specific content ranging from weather to traffic to shopping information. The speakers deliver an output of 10W x 2Ch, the 46 inch model comes with a sub woofer delivering 20 watts. The remote control is rather powerful and works on the 2.4 Ghz band so it does not require line of sight and can be operated from almost any angle even in a large room.

And now the not so good news: the Bravia F series goes on sale in Japan from March 25 with the KDL-32F1 - 32 inch selling for 200,000 Yen ($1850), KDL-40F1 - 42 inch selling for 290,000 Yen ($2680) and KDL-46F1 - 46 inch selling for 460,000 Yen ($4257). So it anyone is interested, you'll have to wait just a little longer.

Sony is sure starting to dominate the media market. Products like the Playstation and the Blu-Ray technology are starting to find their place in more and more houses. We may be witnessing the birth of the next monopolistic corporation. Like we don't have enough of those. Well, at least this one comes through media and entertainment. You can't beat that.

CRT displays are replaced by LCD

This shouldn't surprise us at all, and it's in no form a news flash, but it appears that finally the LCD displays are reaching affordable prices for a great quality. We can only look back on the days when LCD displays had a small visibility angle or a lousy refresh rate or a crappy resolution and contract. Although the last do make for a great argument in choosing what type of display to purchase, I've always considered the angle factor something somewhat useless. I'm not used to watch my monitor from a 60 degrees angle, so I don't care. I, and probably many others, like to stare at the monitor straight on. I guess It's only necessary when you gather around with the family and look at holiday photos or who knows what else, just like the Windows setup shows up. And probably for presentations.

Anyway, following this article from Extremetech.com we can conclude that the LCD displays have achieved what they were meant to do: replace the CRT displays. Sales on LCD displays and plasma TV's have grown to such an extent that they have overtaken the classic CRT. We can only assume that from now on, things will go on this way and very soon, the old desktop "space takers" will eventually disappear.

Until the next big thing in display technology is discovered/invented we have the sleek looking LCD to glare at. Although I'm a great fan of the old CRT's and still haven't purchased a LCD, it seems like I will be forced to do so. My eyes are starting to impose it on me. It's a good thing they lasted for this long.

Blu-Ray wins over HD-DVD

Toshiba has fought hard to promote their HD-DVD products and the war with Blu-Ray has been one with a highly awaited result. As with the previous battles between media formats, like the one between the VHS and Betamax format, this too has been one that had a real impact on the consumers. Whenever two large companies clash, they tend to create better and cheaper products and we can only rejoice at that though.

What really happened?

On February 19, 2008, after major content manufacturers and key retailers began to withdraw their support of the format, Toshiba made an official announcement to no longer develop, manufacture and market HD-DVD players and recorders, effectively ending the high definition optical disc format war.

This move leaves the high-definition market to its main rival: Sony's Blu-ray format. The two formats had been fighting for dominance in the high-definition home video market. But in recent weeks, HD-DVD had been abandoned on both the retail and content sides.

Toshiba's announcement is going to be a relief to consumers who have had a tough time over the past couple of years choosing between the two formats. If someone needed to upgrade from the now old DVD format, the decition between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD would have been a tough one.

There are also good news. If you made the bad call and chose HD-DVD, don't worry. There are methods for you to keep your videos in the markets leading high-definition format. One good "How To" can be found on Wired.com but I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of them popping up all over the Internet now.

Mind controlled games are almost here

It's not the first time we see things that we thought impossible to achieve become reality over night. Some of them have even become obsolete. I remember those old movies in which the characters in spandex would connect to a huge computer and perform different activities within the "cyberspace". For a while, those looked like stupid ideas to many people. But as technology advances, new things become available to the masses and this is just the next big thing.

According to Engadget, Emotiv Systems is planning to launch the first mind-controlled gaming platform by this Christmas. The Emotiv EPOC uses a set of sensors to tune into electric signals naturally produced by the brain to detect player thoughts, feelings and expression. It connects wirelessly with all game platforms from consoles to PCs. The Emotiv neuroheadset makes it possible for games to be controlled and influenced by the player's mind. Based on the latest developments in neuro-technology, Emotiv has developed a new personal interface for human-computer interaction.

Now let's just wait and see what will happen. The first games available for this headset might not be leading edge and they will have a lot to improve on it. But we have to take into account that this is the creation of new technology. Or at least the application of it in gaming entertainment.

About Fresh IT News

This is "Fresh IT News", a project that I have delayed for a pretty long time. I have planned on starting it, but never got the chance to do so, either because of lack of time or lack of self motivation. But now, I have put my mind on it, and I will begin to construct what I hope to become at least a source of information for a few people

Who am I?

Well my name is Stelian Andrei and that will just have to do. I'm from Iasi, Romania and I get bored very fast. That's probably one of the reasons I don't manage to finish what I begin. I'll just hope that this will not be one of those cases. Oh yeah, I also have another blog, The Yoboo, my first blog ever. I still don't know what it's about so I'll just refer to it as a place of "pointless ramblings". Being my first born, I don't plan on abandoning it.

So what is this?

This is a new project I want to develop. As the title already says, it's a blog for news. IT news, technological news, gadgets and who knows what else I'll try to fit in here. Although I'll try to always find the hottest information available, that might not be the case in many situations. Most of the info will probably be gathered from official companies blogs or forums, news aggregators and various other sources. The posts here are aimed to cover any domain that is somewhat related with IT or technology. Anything that seems to be impossible or Sci-Fi will most likely find a nice home in the pages of this blog. And what else can I say? Let the Fresh IT News roll in.

That's it?

Well, what did you expect. I don't have neither the financial potential of the large news companies, neither the time people that earn a living online have. I'll try to be as fast as I can with the information, but I'm sure that more than once, it will seem like I'm the last to know about it. I'll just have to deal with it and try better next time.