High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC) has come out with yet another offering in India. The Indian market clocked the second highest growth in the world after China and ranks 3rd in the number of mobile phones after USA and China.
The HTC P3350 is a touchscreen phone which is pretty slim and compact. The phone has great entertainment features which we shall get into later on. Apart from these it runs on Windows mobile operating system. The phone has data connectivity features like GPRS, EDGE , Bleutooth v2.0 and Wi-Fi.
The HTC India manager Ajay Sharma was confident that the phone will do well in India saying, "“The launch of the HTC P3350 is line with our efforts of offering a device that combines and supports data capabilities along with a platform to provide and support music and entertainment experience for users while on the move. We are positive that this device will be a big hit among music enthusiasts.".
The price of HTC P3350 Touchscreen phone is going to be Rs. 18,490. So being a sub Rs.20,000 is a good thing!
This is a decent handset , but what HTC really needs is a good phone with multi touch technology to get into grove with competiting directly with the big boys like Apple (iPhone), LG (Prada), Nokia (Tube) and ofcourse the new Blacberry Thunder!
The next media monster after the Dell M2010 is going to be the A2010. You can bet your bottom dollar than the new 20inch+ gaming laptop/desktop is going to be great from Dell. Just hope it comes with a nice 8800 GT Nvidia card with 512 mb graphics cards or maybe even more.
The Core 2 Duo of the top configuration would definitely be the 2.66 Ghz Santa Rosa processor with a minimum of 4GB RAM. This will surely cost you over $4,000 but you will never have to wait for anything to happen on this beauty of a config. Things are just going to fly from here and nothing else.
Well, it's official now. The much awaited XBox 360 will now be available in India too. The price of the xbox 360 will be between Rs.20,000 and 24,000. Microsoft's marketing directors in India have selected youthful brand ambassadors from the Hollywood industry and the Cricketing world. Akshay kumar and Yuvraj Singh will lead the promotional ads in India.
The majority of the Indian public will not be able to afford this but it is mainly for the upper class people as each game will be costing anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 rupees. They have also decided to launch the game 'Yuvraj Singh International Cricket 2007', lets hope that does his batting form some good too!
Atari announced that they are planning to launch a revamped version of the hit games Ninja N. The new pepped up version will be called N+. The SilverBirch studios who have developed this game along with Atari will be launching it for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP hand helds.
The N+ offers great gameplay with fast action and much better graphics. The game comes with a build-in level editor along with multi player options. You can now easily play multi-player using the wireless capabilities of the Nintendo DS.
Nowadays, HD camcorder is a buzz word. And if the handycam is from Sony it appeals more to us. Yes, I am talking about diminutive and compact Sony HDR-TG1 camcorder, which records video in full HD resolution (in 1080i video mode). This high-definition capability influences the choice of vacationers, who don’t want to “travel heavy.” Another advantage for any traveler is the hanycam’s durable titanium body, which makes it highly resistant to scratches.
The hanycam is embedded with advanced video and audio technologies with simple and intuitive operations. Sony HDR-TG1 is equipped with a high-quality Carl Zeiss10x optical zoom lens and 2-megapixel CMOS sensor, engineered to minimize picture noise. Audio signals are captured in Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound. And the in-built zoom microphone feature senses signal for clear recordings along with the video.
The Kodak Easyshare Z1012 is going to be the next flagholder for the Kodak special and high end cameras. The camera comes with a 10 megapixel resolution with a 12 x optical zoom.
Samsung India division has launched a new phone - Samsung M150 in the Indian market. This phone was launched mid last year in Germany and was meant for emerging markets and other European countries.
The phone is 12.7mm in thickness with a 1.7inch display. It has a VGA camera with video recording capabilities. In addition to all this it comes with 20MB of internal memory, beluetooth, GPS, speakerphone and FM radio.
The price is still not out yet on this one, but we expect it to be in the sub - Rupees 4000 range.
Samsung has launched its windows mobile Running on 6.1 OS.
In a new announcement, Samsung has launched its windows mobile Running on 6.1 OS. Coming, Samsung i900 Omnia is available in 3.2-inch screen with 240 x 400 pixel resolution. Other additional features include GPS, Wifi, FM Radio with RDS, 5-megapixel camera, USB 2.0, and Bluetooth.
Samsung i900 is available in either 8 GB and/or 16 GB built-in memory; it also provides a support for microSDHC slot to enhance the memory storage. More importantly, Samsung i900 boasts HSDPA connectivity. Overall, this smart phone is a beast of handsets, as comparison with the current high-end offerings from Nokia and Sony Ericsson. Not a bad choice at all. No idea, when it’s coming up.
Give yourself freedom to move with wireless mouse. This can be a truth with High Definition Optical mouse from Microsoft, which delivers smoother tracking and is highly responsive for precise movements. With a longer battery life, it can work for 6+ months without any interruption.
Microsoft provides 3 years warranty for this compact and comfortable product designed for notebooks and laptops. You can enjoy smooth and intelligent performance with this on the go optical mouse. The ambidextrous design makes it comfortable to use this mouse with left or right hand.
The advanced feature automatically turns off the moose and saves the battery life. It works in operating environments like Windows Vista, Windows 98/2000/XP/Pro/Home/Media Center Edition/Tablet PC Edition.
The Holy trinity of LG Handsets have been released yesterday. These are pure entertainment devices and are sure to attract music and video lovers. These are definite entertainment devices.
The phones are going to be launched first with Verizon and the company is very happy to be associated with the new LG handsets which they believe are going to be a big hit in the fortcoming months. The CMO of Verizon, Mike Lanman looked very excited and said, "These summer phones join our other popular LG phones — the enV, the Voyager and the Venus– to offer our customers an array of applications, downloadable games, music and other content that is unparalleled in its variety and ability to enhance customers’ lifestyles.".
A brief intro to all the phones for our readers -
1. LG Dare - A slim phone with 3G V-Cast, V-CAST music and VZ Navigator. Along with this will come a 3.2 megapixel camera which can do photo as well as video recording. A photo editing tool will also come default with the phone.
2. LG Decoy - This one is one for the loud-speaker users. The phone comes with a integrated headset on it at the back of the device. Also comes with 3G V-Cast, V-CAST music and VZ Navigator. This phone has a slider form factor.
3. LG Chocolate 3 - This one is also a slider phone with FM transmitter, MP3 player, and 1GB of internal memory for your music. The phone has a microSD card slot with which you can expand the memory to 9GB (8GB+1GB). 3G V-Cast, V-CAST music and VZ Navigator are included by Verizon.
Spice Mobile has launched their new offering in the Indian market, the Spice S-525 comes with quite a few entertainment options at a low price. Spice is currently focussed on selling handsets to the masses in India and have launched over 5 different models this year. The phone comes with FM recording capabilities. You can do this while listening to the songs on radio itself.
The phone comes with a mobile tracker which can help you find your phone if stolen. It offers a service of sending an automatic SMS to the original owner with the new mobile number that is using the phone. This along with a blacklist option in the phone makes it handy.
The Spice S-525 has a good display with 65k colors and weighs around 77 grams measuring 103.1 x 43.4 x 17.8mm. The phone is priced at a low - Rs. 2,100 with years of manufacture warranty.
The LG Flatron M228WD was spotted recently on many sites so why not we take a look at it ourselves too. The LCD TV is a 22 inch one very similar to the LG M228WA with just a letter difference. The good thing about this one is that it comes with the HDMI port instead of the DVI one with an integrated digital TV tuner.
The LG Flatron M228WD has a resolution of 1680 x 1050, with 300 cd/m2 brightness with 5ms response time. The TV does have a slightly low contrast ratio of 3000:1.
Price is rumored to be around $400 so its not that pricey.
The IdeaPad U110 has been launched keeping the stylish people in mind. The design of the laptop is pretty neat to say the least. It is appealing to the eye and the laptop comes in various colors.
The laptop weighs around 1.05 kgs. The U110 is about 18.4mm thick and comes with a LED screen which is brighter than the screens you get these days.
Amar Babu, the MD of Lenovo India looked very confident on the launch of the laptop. "Customers end up compromising either looks for technology or technology for looks. This no-compromise ultra portable notebook from Lenovo offers both. We're confident the much-anticipated IdeaPad U110 ultra portable notebook will excite customers and give them a unique and rewarding computing experience." he said.
Other features of the laptop include -
- 120 GB HDD - Up to 3 GB RAM - Built-in web cam - WLAN, Ethernet and Bluetooth connectivity* - External DVD burner - Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium OS
You can also go ahead and get an additional battery to extend your battery life of the laptop. The laptop comes with face recognition software for automatic login and harddrive protection from damage.
The price of this is very high to say the least, at around Rs. 98,000 this one could be missed.
This is the first time Motorola has officially spoken about the new MOTOZINE series of handsets. Till now we have been used to getting the word from spies in the company and all types of leaks from here and there.
The word is out now from the company and the MOTOZINE will make its debut in China and then move to other parts of Asia and then finally Europe. The phone comes with a 5-megapixel camera in association with Kodak. The camera has features like autofocus, a xenon flash, and an on the fly integration with Kodak Gallery.
The phone works with Quad-band GSM and has EDGE connectivity. The price of the handset has not be revealed yet, we shall be on the task to find that out for you guys soon enough.
The Dell Studio 1536 is no more a secret and the word is out from Dell. The surprise behind this line of Dell laptops is that it comes with 'Permanent Pictaflex' prints by Mike Ming on the hand rest (just below the keyboard). The laptop also comes in multiple colors like orange, blue, green, pink and red. We are pretty sure that a few fashion people might fancy these laptops.
The Studio 15 and 17 are the two varieties in 15inch and 17inch displays. The configuration is pretty much the same when compared to other Dell machines like the Inspiron and XPS series.
The Dell Studio 1536 comes with a WWAN option for Mobile usage, and a Nvidia 8600M GT graphics card. Other features include a Core 2 Duo processor, upto 4GB Ram, 320 Gig of HDD space and 8-in-1 card reader. If you have the extra cash to throw around you can opt for a Blu-ray drive as well. We definitely recommend the 9-cell batteries for the extra bit, as Dell batts usually are not great to say the least.
See pics below to get a good idea what these look like..
It offers the latest gen BCO3 chip set with special noise cancellation technology and echo removal software. This is a 5th generation device and has an award winning design to it. A special feature of flip-to-connect is also included.
The Motorola H700 is smaller in size compared to the HS850 and you can wear it on any ear. It has a very stylish look and has the best sound clarity that bluetooth devices have to offer.
This is compatible with all Bluetooth 1.1 devices including all mobile phones and PDA sets. It has two preset profiles of headset and handsfree.
Dale Larson, the first person in the iPhone 3G line at the Apple store in San Francisco, deals with activation headaches Friday morning.
Apple's singular ability to whip up consumer frenzy might be in trouble after the debacle that was Friday's iPhone 3G launch.
Server problems turned this year's iPhone 3G launch into an exercise in patience for Apple fans and employees, as eager buyers faced waits of up to two hours to get their iPhone 3Gs activated in Apple stores, and many left with iPhone 3Gs in hand but the activation process incomplete. The same problems affected original iPhone owners trying to install the iPhone 2.0 software, turning their handsets into "iBricks."
The company had promised customers the iPhone 3G activation process would take around 10 minutes to 15 minutes, but only a lucky few spent that little time in stores in both New York and San Francisco. The entire system ground to a halt around 8:30 a.m. PDT, as Apple's iTunes servers went down in what appeared to be a massive flood of traffic.
Despite it all, the lines in New York and San Francisco--numbering several hundred strong--were well-behaved and patient as they inched along the sidewalk, although CNET's Josh Lowensohn reported that a fight broke out at an AT&T store in Emeryville, Calif. After all, most of these people are Apple's biggest fans, and were standing in line not just because they loved the product, but for the camaraderie of their fellow geeks.
But a large part of Apple's marketing strategy depends on these early adopters spreading the gospel to their friends and family about the wonderful products and services offered by Apple. No one is complaining about the product, but the service left a lot to be desired, and some of Apple's best customers left its stores fuming this morning after their experience.
Apple employees mill about as they wait for the iTunes servers to come back online.
Time out So, what exactly happened? The issue appeared to involve the huge stress placed on the iTunes infrastructure as countries around the world attempted to activate new iPhones or upgrade old iPhones.
The launch appeared to go smoothly in New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, but as the sun traveled across the earth, the issues began to emerge. O2, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.K., ran into huge problems activating iPhones through iTunes. Macworld U.K. reported that O2's Web activation process requires Windows and Internet Explorer: which is obviously a problem when trying to activate an iPhone in an Apple store.
The problems multiplied as people in the U.S. woke up and began purchasing their iPhone 3Gs and downloading the iPhone 2.0 software. The process was slow, but moving in New York as the launch got under way. However, there were early signs that things were just as bad in the U.S. as they were in the U.K.: the first person to emerge with an iPhone 3G at the Fifth Avenue Apple store in New York was actually 75th in line to start the day.
By the time San Francisco hit the 8 a.m. hour, the launch process had ground to a halt. The first customers let into the downtown San Francisco Apple store were initially told that AT&T's activation process had failed for about 30 minutes between 8 and 8:30 a.m. PDT, which AT&T later denied, pointing the finger squarely at Apple.
"To the best of my knowledge AT&&T servers did not crash," said Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman. "The issue was that when customers got to the last step in the activation process, which was to sync the phone with iTunes, the Apple servers were so overwhelmed that we couldn't complete the last step in the process in the stores. "So we started telling customers to go home and try syncing their iPhones from home."
Apple store employees acknowledged that iTunes was the main source of the problems: "This is really frustrating," said one employee inside the Apple store, as she tried to activate an iPhone over and over. Apple did not respond to multiple requests for comment on what exactly happened to the iTunes infrastructure, and an Apple public relations representative outside the San Francisco store did not answer repeated questions about what was causing the delay.
Damage control Apple quickly started to try and make amends. Dale Larson, the first person in line in San Francisco, was given a free 16GB iPhone 3G after he waited two and a half hours (which, to be fair, was caused in part by the San Francisco police asking him to move his tent) for his iPhone 3G to activate. He said Apple store employees spent two hours on the phone with executives at Apple headquarters in Cupertino trying to figure out what to do.
Some customers were sent e-mails from the company, which one Crave reader reproduced in our comments. "Due to network congestion on the iTunes server, you may not be able to update or restore the software on your iPhone. Once the congestion has decreased the software should be available for you to update. It would be advisable to attempt the update later on today."
Apple found itself fending off sharp criticism from bloggers and fans normally in love with the company. Gizmodo won headline of the day contest with "It's the iPocalypse," while others on the Web and through microblogging sites like Twitter and FriendFeed vented their frustration for the world to see.
On CNET, decameron9 left this comment: "Server crashes, bandwidth problems...acceptable if this was a sudden, unforeseeable demand on resources. Not in this case - or in any case with a product launch. I doubt Jobs just woke up this morning and announced the 3G or (the) 2,0 upgrade....it's been in the works for months."
A long line stretches away from the Apple store at 11 a.m., three hours after the doors first opened.
Fallout Apple has made a fortune over the past several years with a two-pronged approach to consumer technology. First, make a product that's easy to use and understand. Second, make that product into a phenomenon--a status symbol that evokes an elevated level of technology sophistication and class--through clever marketing and superior customer service.
A large part of that second step has involved meticulously planned and perfectly executed events that make people feel like they are experiencing history, not just a product launch. Last year's iPhone launch event was perhaps the pinnacle of that strategy, as several million people came to a virtual standstill on June 29, 2007, to watch a company launch a phone. Unfortunately for Apple, several million people came to a standstill again this year: in line waiting for the iPhone 3G, or at home trying to activate their original iPhone.
On Friday, Apple lost some of the luster that has adorned its star since the iPod turned into an icon. It will always have a dedicated group of supporters who believe in what the company is trying to do, and who have been with Apple through thick and thin. Most people, however, are much more fickle. And after today, they'll think twice before waiting for hours to be the first one to snap up an Apple product.
That doesn't at all suggest that the company's long-term prospects are diminished: sales of the Mac, iPod, and iPhone will continue to grow, especially among the younger demographic. And Apple's servers had already started to recover by Friday afternoon, meaning that iPhone sales should proceed once the people who weren't going to wait in line anyway start buying.
But Apple disappointed a huge, influential chunk of its customers today with its performance during the iPhone 3G launch, and proved it's just as fallible as any other company. That might take more than a $100 store credit to fix.
Games firm Nintendo has come bottom of a ranking of the world's most eco-friendly electronics firms.
The quarterly Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics ranks 18 electronics firms by how green their production processes and products are.
In the latest guide most firms have seen their ranking plummet as the charity introduced new, stricter guidelines for evaluating companies.
Nintendo said its scored low because it had not provided data for the survey.
"Greenpeace chose to conduct a survey and produce a report, which graded companies upon the voluntary submission of information," the firm said in a statement.
"Nintendo decided not to take part in the survey and were therefore 'ungraded' in the resulting report.
But Greenpeace countered the company's statement and insisted it had been graded.
"There is no choice," Iza Kruszewska, toxics campaigner for Greenpeace, told BBC News.
She said the charity had regularly contacted the games firm since 2007 but had not had any response. The charity had been forced to use information from Nintendo's website, she said.
""They've decided not to engage," she said.
Strict standards
The guide was first started in August 2006 and is now in its eighth edition. Bill Gates Microsoft were second from bottom in the latest list
It ranks the top market leaders of the mobile phone, computer, TV and games console markets according to their policies and practices on toxic chemicals and recycling.
The charity said that the guide has already led to a reduction in the amount of toxic chemicals being used in the electronics industry.
"We know that brands are putting pressure on their suppliers to meet our commitments," said Ms Kruszewska.
The latest guide also includes new stricter guidelines.
"For this edition we tightened the e-waste and chemical criteria and we also added a new energy requirement," said Ms Kruszewska.
The new energy guidelines score a company for disclosing their greenhouse gas emissions, their commitment to absolute cuts in their own emissions and support for mandatory global emissions reductions.
In particular, Greenpeace has asked companies to state support for a "strong post Kyoto agreement" on their international websites.
"We see companies scoring zero on all energy criteria," added Ms Kruszewska.
"Clearly it is going to take companies some time to improve on our demands,"
The latest guide also assessed the energy efficiency of a selection of each company's products to see if they meet or exceed the US Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star rating.
This sets minimum standards for energy efficiency for many types of electronic products.
"Not only should all their products meet these standards, but 30% should exceed it to score full marks," said Ms Kruszewska.
In the latest version Sony and Sony Ericsson were the only companies to score more than five out of 10.
Nintendo came bottom of the list with a score of less than one.
Earlier this year, Nintendo was criticised by Greenpeace for its "non-existent" environmental policy.
Microsoft came second from bottom; a position that reflected its "low score on climate criteria".
A spokesperson for the firm said: "Microsoft is committed to environmental sustainability and has many programs and policies in place to lessen our footprint.
"In our consumer electronics business, we comply with and exceed all environmental guidelines and regulations.
We are committed to making ongoing progress on environmental issues while maintaining product durability, safety and performance."
This week, as most of you already know, the Santa Clara-based chip manufacturer, NVIDIA, has decided to get official with its latest graphics card lineup. What followed was a series of benchmarks and reviews that shared some light on the performance level of NVIDIA's GT200-series. But because these cards have been extremely anticipated, everybody had high hopes regarding their performance level. And fortunately for NVIDIA most of the ongoing benchmarks and reviews revealed that both the GTX 260 and GTX 280 provide an improvement in graphics performance, as compared to anything else that is now available on the market.
The innovation
Technical sheet of NVIDIA's latest GeForce graphics cards Before you start reading, be sure to check out this specification list of NVIDIA’s top GeForce graphics cards, so you can better understand how they have evolved. The performance level of these cards is undoubtedly high, but then again this was to be expected from the current leading manufacturer of computer graphics. What is really interesting is that unlike NVIDIA’s previous GeForce series, these new GT200-based cards have came out with two new technologies that are meant to boost their overall performance. I’m talking here about PhysX and Cuda.
A PhysX ready product has been expected from NVIDIA since the green company acquired Ageia. But users who want to benefit from NVIDIA’s physics technology will require one of its PhysX-ready cards and its PhysX drivers, which it hasn’t made available yet. The PhysX factor in NVIDIA’s latest GPUs is meant to deal with a number of hardware demanding physical gaming environments that can enhance a user’s overall gaming experience.
But if the PhysX technology has been designed to enhance visual experience for gamers, when it comes to CUDA, we’re talking about a totally different thing here. CUDA is meant to improve the overall performance of a computer system by unlocking the GPU processing power to accelerate the most demanding system tasks. This is why the technology has been touted to bring an end to the CPU, as a single CUDA-enabled GPU could perform better on both general computing and graphics performance. Still, nobody rushes to claim that NVIDIA’s new GT200-series will be everything a computer user will need (leaving out the need for a standard CPU), but it will sure bring better graphics (than previously available) for desktop computers.
NVIDIA's GT200 GPU Also take into account that NVIDIA’s cards are not only your everyday gaming toy, they provide large amounts of power, which has been put into practice in more than one way. I am talking about FASTRA, the desktop supercomputer built by researchers at the University of Antwerp, which used four GeForce 9800 GX2 cards, for medical applications. This project should help you form an idea about what NVIDIA’s GeForce cards are really capable of.
The truth
The question is: Who really needs a $650 graphics card? I tend to think it won’t be gaming users, as they will probably find their necessary graphics power by searching for more affordable alternatives. And I also tend to believe that NVIDIA thinks that gamers will search for lower priced cards, which is why they will bring two new cards to the market, but as part of their GeForce 9000 series.
NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 280 cards in SLI By now, most people believe that AMD’s ‘yet-to-get the official treatment’ HD 4870 will no be able to provide the same graphics power as NVIDIA’s current flagship model. But it will come pretty close at a better price tag, which will make it more appealing to gaming users who want to upgrade their gaming rigs. This is exactly where the GeForce 9800 GTX+ (plus) and GeForce 9800 GT come into play. These two cards are part of NVIDIA’s GeForce 9000 lineup, but will be different than any other card NVIDIA currently offers. The cards will be built using the same manufacturing process as on AMD’s HD 4000 series, the 55nm.
The 9800 GTX+, a 55nm overclocked version of NVIDIA’s 9800 GTX, is going to provide more power at a lower price tag (somewhere in the $220 area). If the card is released, NVIDIA will most probably also lower the price tag for its GeForce 8800 Ultra and 9800 GTX. This also means that those who have already acquired one of NVIDIA’s 9800 GTX cards would have spent more money on a card with a performance level below the "plus" edition.
With the 9800GT NVIDIA hopes to provide users with an affordable alternative to AMD’s Radeon HD 4850. This card is also going to benefit from a 55nm fabrication process but will come with lower performance than the 9800 GTX+ model.
At this point, no one can tell for sure when these two new G92-based cards are going to hit the store shelves, but speculations indicate August as a potential timeframe.
Conclusion
NVIDIA did a great job at marketing its new products, but then again this is one thing that the Santa-Clara chip manufacturer does best. And considering all the recent reviews that have put the cards in the spotlight, NVIDIA will most probably continue its reign over AMD as the leading manufacturer of high-end graphics cards. And with the new GeForce 9000 products, they will also have a more that smooth ride on the mainstream market, a place where AMD is at its best.
Next week AMD will have the scene, as the company is expected to finally release their new Radeon HD 4000 series cards.
Without a single doubt, hardware manufacturers are taking the question of the future of storage very seriously. To put it differently, nowadays everybody seems to be concerned with developing, manufacturing and releasing SSD storage solutions. And this is precisely why major companies, such as Intel, SanDisk, TDK or Samsung, have already announced and released flash-based storage devices. On that note, it appears that another major manufacturer is planning to roll out its own SSD solution – and it actually aims to do so by the end of this year.
The manufacturer in question is the US-based Kingston, from which we should expect a flash-based storage product sometime in Q3 this year. At a press event held in Bucharest, Romania, one of our colleagues was able to find out a possible release date for Kingston's Solid-State Drives. During a face-to-face talk on the company's financial achievements and product lineup, Mr. Pawel Smigielski, Kingston's Regional Manager for Eastern Europe, stated that we should be seeing the company's SSD products in Q3.
Mr. Pawel refused to comment any further on the subject and didn't give out any details regarding the price tag or even the storage capacities of such products. But the news is important nonetheless as several other manufacturers, including Seagate, have already announced their plans regarding the future of SSDs. This also proves, once more, that 2009 will be a big year for the storage market, since we will be seeing more affordable SSDs rolled out for the large consumer market. Furthermore, the cost of business SSD solutions is expected to drop, as the demand keeps increasing and technology advancements allow for a more cost effective manufacturing process.
As most of you already know, flash-based storage products have certain advantages over the traditional HDDs. But, unfortunately, they can't be considered a reliable alternative to today's current storage standard yet, mainly because of their high price tags and limited write cycles.
File Block Functionality is a little known security feature implemented into version 2003 and 2007 of the Microsoft Office System. The Redmond Company wanted to fix the notoriety aspect on May 21, concomitantly with announcing the availability of the Microsoft Office Isolated Conversion Environment. File Block Functionality was designed to deliver an extra barrier of protection to Office 2003 and Office 2007 users when handling potentially malicious documents.
Unlike MOICE's additional mitigation technologies associated with the file format converters between the 2007 and 2003 editions of the Office productivity suite, File Block is a mechanism offering control over the usage of Office file types. Specific documents can be blocked from being executed.
"The File Block Functionality for Microsoft Office 2003 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system allows administrators to restrict via registry and Group Policy specific Office file types that can or cannot be opened when using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Blocking specific Office file types allows administrators to temporarily deny users the ability to open certain files, such as when a threat of attack from a given Office file type exists," Microsoft revealed.
Microsoft has made available a total of three Knowledge Base articles dealing with the File Block Functionality. 922849, 922848 and 922847 will reveal the actions that users need to take in order to resolve error messages that have been generated due to File Block. Office 2003 and 2007 users which no longer have the ability to open Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents will be able to find out how to recuperate their files.
The impossibility to execute Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents in the context of error messages pointing to issues related to the registry policy setting, is connected to File Block. Just access the Microsoft KB articles in order to understand how to modify the Windows registry in order to fix the problem.
