LaptopBlog2Go

Should I have waited for this LED monitor, or should I be happy with what I got.

Kind of looks like the XL2370′s more “square” cousin.

(Credit: Samsung)

LAS VEGAS-Anyone who has paid any attention to my recent monitor reviews knows I have a certain affinity for theSamsung SyncMaster XL2370.

So you can probably imagine my delight when on Wednesday Samsung announced what seems to be a followup to the XL2370, the PX2370.

At first glance the PX2370 looks similar to the PX2370, albeit with what may be a thicker profile. I’ll be able to confirm this on Thursday when I get a good up close and personal look at it from the show floor.

One of the most unique features is the proximity sensor which automatically turns the monitor off when no one is near it. Kind of creepy, but cool.

Some of the other key specs of the PX2370.

• 18mm design
• 5,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio (Static Contrast Ratio 1000:1)
• 2ms (GTG) video response time
• Analog RGB/DVI/HDMI inputs
• 1920×1080 resolution

The PX2370 will be available in April from Samsung

… Read the full post at CNET’s CES 2010 blog

For those needing a controller for the first of the USB 3.0 Drives that have started to come out.

The VIA VL810 SuperSpeed Hub Controller

(Credit: VIA

When USB 3.0 was demonstrated by Intel last year, I was really excited. Now the wait is really over.

The VIA group unveiled Monday the world’s first USB 3.0 Hub Controller, the VIA VL810 SuperSpeed. This is the industry’s first integrated single-chip solution that supports the higher transfer rates of the new USB 3.0 specification.

And here’s the reason why I’ve been so excited: USB 3.0 (aka SuperSpeed USB, as opposed to the HighSpeed USB or USB 2.0) allows for a maximum data transfer rate of up to 5Gbps, which is 10 times the throughput available to USB 2.0-based devices, making it the fastest connection to date for computer peripheral. In order to support this, the USB 3.0 cable is substantially thicker than that of USB 2.0 and contains six wires rather than two.

USB 3.0 is also full duplex, meaning it can upload and download simultaneously at the same speed (USB 2.0 …Read the full post at CNET’s CES 2010 blog

These look cool, a great way to add better sound to the very tinny one that normally comes as the price of a Notebooks portablity.

As more consumers use their laptops as a secondary (and sometimes, primary) home entertainment center where they listen to music, play games, and watch TV and movies, they’re often lacking one thing: a quality sound system. The average set of laptop speakers isn’t designed to amplify home-theater-quality audio and some machines make it almost impossible to watch video without headphones. If you’ve ever tried watching Hulu on a MacBook, you know exactly what we’re talking about.

The new $80 Logitech Lapdesk N700 wants to break through that sound barrier. In addition to a cooling fan and cushiony undercarriage for comfort, it also includes two speakers embedded into the top surface. The lapdesk connects to your computer via USB and is powered by your machine; no need for batteries or any additional wires to keep the thing going.

Of course, that means you run the risk of draining your laptop faster (which should be OK, since this is primarily designed for home use). Logitech says the desk is “plug and … Read the full post at CNET’s CES 2010 blog

Taken from CES news, interesting to see Sony finally coming back to NVIDIA based notebooks.

(Credit: Sony)

Fighting the urge to go bigger with 17- and 18-inch laptops, Sony’s latest Blu-ray multimedia machine is a 16-inch system, called the Vaio F.

It features a 16.4-inch 1080p display, and is one of the only laptops to offer an optional Blu-ray recordable drive, as opposed to the usual play-only drives. Graphics come from Nvidia’s GeForce GT300M chip, and the CPU on the three preconfigured builds we saw was the very high-end Intel Core i7 720QM.

Sony always trumpets its custom media creation and playback software as an alternative to similar apps such as Windows Media Player or iTunes. The latest version of Sony’s Media Gallery software offers features such as taking imported photos, video, and music and automatically stitching them together into a movie. Also new is an “assist” button on the system tray, automatically connecting to the system’s built-in Vaio Care troubleshooting software.

Perhaps the most interesting development is the inclusion of Sony’s new Transfer Jet technology. This promising component allows you to transfer photos … Read the full post at CNET’s CES 2010 blog

All Platforms
[r33999] Fixed an issue which caused html5 audio/video content to not load. (Issue: 25859)
[r34122] Fixed a bug where content scripts would get run twice in some cases. (Issue: 29644)

Windows
See all platforms

Mac
IMPORTANT: Use this build to switch back to the Dev channel. If you were running Chrome Dev builds before you must manually install this build to get back on the Dev channel. Previous 4.0.249.x builds are on the Beta channel and will not auto update to new Dev channel releases.
Extensions are enabled
Bookmark sync is enabled. Please note issue 31015 below.
[r34585] Add Learn more link to “Aw Snap” crash page. (Issue: 27212)
[r34942] Add Esc as another keyboard shortcut for “stop page load.” (Issue: 20916)
[r34757] Don’t show location bar in devtools and other popup windows. (Issues: 13148, 20244, 26757, 29103)
[r34762] Implement “Pin Tab” tab context menu item

Linux
Scrollbars in GTK theme mode now use some of the GTK colors.
[r34915] Fix a hang on many sites using custom fonts. (Issue: 29861)
[r34222] OOM killer should now kill runaway tabs before it kills the browser. (Issue: 29752)
[r34234] Accelerator tweaks: in particular, GTK-configured Emacs keybindings in web content should now work. (Issues: 26131, 26054, 28839, 24479)
[r35390] New optimized drawing path — please let us know about any new drawing glitches! (Issue: 31301)
Many bugs fixed particularly around extension handling.

Known Issues
Issue 31015 [OS-MAC] Crash on adding new folder when bookmarks sync is enabled

Google Chrome BETA 4.0.288.1

Mozilla Firefox 3 3.5.7

What’s New in Firefox 3.5.7
Firefox 3.5.7 fixes the following issues:

Fixed a common stability issue.
Fixed a problem with how updates were being presented to users.
Please see the complete list of changes in this version. You may also be interested in the Firefox 3.5.6 release notes for a list of changes in the previous version.