Coming as a rather surprise, Toshiba digs out with a rare Innovative two screen Tablet. Christened as “Libretto W100″, the gadget did manage turn the necks of the tech enthusiasts generating some contrast reviews.

The latest from Toshiba comes in the form of a traditional Clamshell design, a default for the laptops and Netbooks. But the slight twist here is despite the presence of two panels, the device goes away with the mechanical device. The gadget brings in touch to both the screens with the option to customize the second screen as a touch sensitive QWERTY keyboard layout, giving its users the same experience as that of a Laptop or a conventional Netbook. The most important feature of the device though is its ability to use both the screens independently. Which means you can browse on one screen and at the same time read an E-book or watch a movie on the other without much interference, now that is multitasking in real sense. Since the complete Gadget is touch-centric, it comes in pre-installed with Windows 7 Home premium rather unsurprisingly.

Coming on to its core features; the device encases a 1.2GHz Intel U5400 processor, and is clubbed with 2GB DDR3 RAM, and a 62GB Hard drive. As far as connectivity is concerned, the device supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1, which are default these days. The Device does show a micro SD card slot but comes in with just one-USB 2.0 ports which just might not go well with the users. The gadget is also bundled with an accelerometer, enabling both Portrait and Landscape view.

The device for now is being sold by Toshiba as a concept design and the price is yet to be revealed. To what extent the device the manages to create its segment, might only be cleared when the users actually start exploiting it, and how well it does in peeping through Apple’s iPad, which shall be its biggest competitors, depends on how the users finally receive it.

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The Swedish carmaker Volvo who are famous for their safety technology, so said ‘boring’  cars which seem to be becoming overtly interesting these days, and recently Chinese Ownership, have joined the long bandwagon that the recallers are recently. They have recalled the C30 hatch, S40 saloon and the V50 estate for a minor glitch with the gearbox. 

      This recall goes for the 2010-11 model year C30 car and the 2010 S40 and V50 cars and is only for those vehicles with a 6 speed manual transmission. The fault with the gearbox is a loose gearshift lever stud assembly which may not have been properly tightened at the factory. This might cause the stud or the gearshift lever cable to come off thus causing inability to shift gears or even engage or disengage them. 

Only 536 vehicles have been recalled as the sales of manual versions of these cars haven’t been like those of hot dogs. Thankfully, no accidents or cases have been reported. Volvo also recently faced a similar embarrassment when their emergency braking systems show went wrong when the S60 sedan being demonstrated hit the obstacle in front of it when it was supposed to actually slow down and stop. Volvo assured the problem would be a one-off. However it’s critical that manufacturers check their quality assurance strategies in these ‘troubled’ times!

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At an earlier press conference, Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo was known to have confirmed some really interesting news. There seems to be some spectacular surprise for all tifosi at the upcoming Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance to be held in California this August. 

The much loved 599 is going to lose its top as a convertible version is being worked on according to Luca and that the car might be showcased at Pebble Beach. No further reports have been confirmed as to the car being a soft-top, hard top or shall be a mix match like the  575 Super America. Rumours suggest a concept similar to the electric roof on the 575 Super America. No reports are known about any changes to the mechanicals though. The car might feature a romantic name, according to Luca.

Luca also confirmed that Ferrari will be going in for hybridization to keep the V12 alive for future fezzas. To make the cars more fuel efficient and ‘green’, they might feature downsized V12 engines and the much tested and tamed Hy-KERS system. Other models of Ferrari might also feature smaller turbo charged engines as earlier reported. Luca also suggested an extensive model line up coming our way once they figure out production variants of this new drive train in a couple of years. A lot is there to expect from the famed factory at Maranello in the times to come then!

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Mac mini considered to be the smallest offering from Apple in the Mac section has just got even smaller.  Apple recently has launched the new slimmer mac, which is just 1.4 inch thick, a good 0.6inch gain from the previous version with more enhancements and hardware upgrades.

      The New Mac mini offers 2.4 GHz Intel core 2 Duo processors which sports a 3MB shared L2 cache. The device comes in with 320GB SATA HDD at 5400RPM and 2GB DDR3 Ram, with an option to upgrade it up to 8GB. Apple has made a good upgrade onto the new NVidia GeForce 320M integrated graphics chip, which inhibits 48 stream processors replacing the earlier 9400chip. The New upgraded device is Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled as expected. Just to add to its capabilities the device comes in with HDMI port and an SD card slot, a first for the Mac mini-series, these new added features are commendable considering the reduction in size and weight. The device also comes bundled with 4 USB 2.0 ports and a slot load 8x SuperDrive.

      All these upgrades are definite to give an edge to the cheapest Mac, perhaps a core i-series processor might have taken it to an all new platform.  But we are definitely not complaining on the device that measures just 7.7inches square. Apple launched the product the same day has the International bookings for iPhone 4 opened. The new launch from Apple with HDMI capable is seen has Apple’s reply Google TV.  As the current Hardware enables live HD streaming by just plugging a USB video card. Many are terming this move as a step forward in the concept of Apple TV, which is buzzing quite a lot these days.

      With all these advanced features a price tag of US $699 is certainly a best buy, considering the fact that you will have a half bitten Apple on your device to add to your style quotient.

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After raining I’s from Apple, thanks to recently concluded WWDC 2010, its now the turn of Microsoft to be in the news. With recent leaks, and  then the reveals of awaited Microsoft products like Xbox-slim and Project "Natal", Microsoft has taken all the limelight for a couple of days now in the Tech-world.

In what may bring delight to all the sport-cum-Gaming lovers, Microsoft has announced the streaming of Live Sports on Xbox-360. Microsoft would bring this service to its users in collaboration with ESPN. Meanwhile ESPN has also confirmed the news. No confirmations on the date have been made for now. The service though won’t be for free. To avail the services the Xbox user will have to be an Xbox Live Gold member, which might pull you back by $50 a year. But that’s definitely cheaper, considering all the Gaming options you have.

And just to add more Incentives to the package, the Gold membership will now grant you an access to over 3,500 live events a year and that to in HD. Now the $50 price might just seem Insignificant.

The news comes as a definite breather to the sport lovers, for whom all that matters is watching the live sports and then playing the same on Simulation Video Games. And now Xbox brings you both at just a good price. Well now along with a common jersey, you will now also have a common Console, when you play or watch live your favorite sports.

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