Archive for February, 2007

Aw c’mon Microsoft, why you always gotta ruin our fun? We were perfectly content to push around vague rumors of a Windows Vista followup in late 2009 and whatever features it may or may not have, dangling all our hopes and dreams off of a thin and potentially out-of-context quote from Ben Fathi, and now you’ve gotta come along and disown the guy. According to Kevin Kutz, Director of Windows Client: “The launch of Windows Vista was an incredibly exciting moment for our customers and partners around the world, and the company is focused on the value Windows Vista will bring to people today. We are not giving official guidance to the public yet about the next version of Windows, other than that we’re working on it. When we are ready, we will provide updates.” Ars Technica conjectures that the original story might’ve even gotten Ben wrong, and the 2.5 years might be how long it takes for for Vienna to make it out the door after the Fiji service pack. Of course, the word from Mr. Fathi was evidently not “official guidance,” so who knows. What we can be certain of is that there are two mistakes Microsoft doesn’t want to repeat with this OS: taking forever to release, and drumming up false hopes of any sort of launch date earlier than the actual one.

[Thanks, Mike]

Popularity: 7% [?]

You can add Japan’s prolific Elecom to the growing number of companies providing varying levels of protection for the countless theft-attracting iPods being toted about, with the company bringing some familiar security measures to bear on the problem. Available for both 5G iPods and 1st and 2nd gen iPod nanos, and in your choice of black or white, the locks will add a bit of heft to your otherwise portable device but should keep any would-be thieves from running off with it, not to mention yourself when you forget the combination. Those of you with better memories than us, however, can sang either model now for 5,040 Yen, or just over forty bucks.

[Via Crave]

Popularity: 6% [?]

Just like its buddies over at Kingmax, Sandisk has just announced a 4GB microSD card for use in that spiffy new multimedia-centric phone of yours. That’s right — no need to carry around that 4GB USB key if you’ve got 4GB residing in your phone — right? Well, anyway, Sandisk’s new SDHC (SD High Capacity) card — announced at 3GSM just a little while ago — has no official launch details at the moment outside of Sandisk’s testing with OEMs to ensure phones don’t freak out over such large memory cards being stuffed behind those batteries and in those side slots.

Popularity: 4% [?]