X-bit labs

Saturday, April 30, 2005

Computer Maker Sues Apple for “Tiger” Brand-Name. TigerDirect Accuses Apple of “Overwhelming References”

TigerDirect.com, a reseller of computers and components from the U.S., accused Apple Computer of overwhelming the Internet with references to Tiger by launching a nationwide media blitz to support the launch of the company’s new operating system which is to be released Friday.

“Apple Computer has created and launched a nationwide media blitz led by Steven Jobs, overwhelming the computer world with a sea of Tiger references,” TigerDirect.com’s attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.

The retailer insists that Apple’s use of the name “is causing confusion, mistake and deception among the general purchasing public”. Particularly TigerDirect.com claims that Apple’s use of the “Tiger” brand-name has affected its ranking amongst the Web’s largest search engines – Google and Yahoo – which bumped the company from its usual position among the first three search results.

The first hearing is scheduled on the 3^rd of May, 2005, which is after Apple’s Tiger release. Apple Insider web-site notes that if the court grants TigerDirect.com’s request for an injunction, Apple's rollout of Tiger could be stopped.

“Tiger” is not a registered trademark of TigerDirect.com. Apple Computer lists “Tiger” as a trademark for its operating system.

Apple Computed did not comment on the story.

• Apple Insider: Apple Sued Over “Tiger”, Injunction Sought.
• Apple: Trademark List.
• TigerDirect.com: Computers, Parts, PC Components, etc.
• United States Trademark and Patent Office Home Page.

Nokia Brings Yahoo to Cell Phoes. Nokia Smartphones Equipped with Yahoo Software

Yahoo may fall behind its competitors in some areas, but some of the company’s actions may indicate that it too early to put Yahoo out of competition. With the development of 3G mobile nets and 3G capable cell phones, Internet browsing is becoming one of the most important capabilities of modern mobile devises. To meet the demand of the customers, Nokia has aligned with Yahoo to deliver advanced Internet usability to mobile phones.

“Nokia has begun selling advanced cell phones with Yahoo messaging, search and Web browsing embedded inside, in a move to spur wireless data usage and sales of smart phones. The Finnish handset maker said Tuesday that the first three smart phones with Yahoo’s popular software onboard are Nokia models 6680, 6681 and 6630, which are now widely available in Europe and Asia,” claims the report at CNET News.com web-site.

 “[Tuesdays] agreement is a progressive step in the adoption of an online lifestyle. We are providing consumers with a familiar way of accessing the Internet and Yahoo e-mail” said Harry Santamaki, Nokia Vice President.

• CNET News.com: Nokia Makes More Room for Yahoo.

The Drive that Does Not Run Out of Space. Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400GB Investigated

Although it seems that on the one hand hard disk drive makers just cannot manufacture larger and larger HDDs in cost-effective manner and on the other hand consumers hardly need anything beyond 80GB, manufactures try to find new ways to increase performance and attractiveness of their products. A couple of web-sites have reviewed Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400GB hard disk drive, which is based on the 7200.7 line with the Native Command Queuing (NCQ) feature which is aimed to boost the performance of the hard drives. The unit utilizes a three 133GB platter design, is enhanced with 8MB cache and spins at 7200RPM.

“Native Command Queuing was the focus with Seagate’s 7200.8 and we ran a few multitasking benchmarks to see how it performs against the others. We first ran the Multitasking Performance test in the Business Winstone 2004 suite and found that Maxtor’s DiamondMax 10 NCQ drive came in at first place with an overall multitasking performance rating of 2.95. The Raptor followed, of course, most likely due to its Tagged Command Queuing feature. The Seagate came in at third in multitasking, which doesn’t knock it out of the competition, but rather makes it a worthy competitor. Seagate has designed a great drive that has been proven to compete with the 10,000RPM Raptor and Maxtor’s newest NCQ enabled drive with a 16MB buffer. Though it doesn’t win all of the tests, it does give the other units a run for their money. Seagate also backs their drives with a 5-year warranty, which is the lengthiest in the hard drive industry,” concludes AnandTech.

“We’ve seen a slew of tests with these drives, some predictable, some not.  It was surprising to see that when Native Command Queuing was enabled on the Seagate hard drive that it actually had a small negative impact on performance.  However, NCQ seemed to shine some light on the game loading tests, maybe a dim light, but a light nevertheless.  It’s not that huge of a deal saving around a second of loading time when it comes to game,” writes Techware Labs.

• AnandTech: Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400GBs with NCQ.
• Techware Labs: Hitachi Deskstar 7K400 vs Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 400 GB.

Kingston's Fastest Memory Reviewed. Kingston Memory Reaches 750MHz Frequency

Legit Reviews has taken a look at Kingston HyperX DDR2 PC2-6000 memory module kit. This product is set to operate at 750MHz frequency, with aggressive timings set of CL4 4-4-12. The author investigates product’s overclockability, performance on default and boosted frequencies.

“As we noted early on in the article these modules are NOT plug-in-play and your computer will need to be overclocked to reach a memory speed of 750MHz. While this is no big deal to overclockers, it is necessary to point out as I'm sure someone is going to install them and wonder why their system memory isn’t running at 750MHz. Kingston’s HyperX PC2-6000 memory line allows overclockers to overclock higher by allowing higher memory frequencies, which is something everyone wants. We found our Kingston HyperX PC2-6000 modules were rock solid up to 770MHz at 4-4-4 timings, which allowed for some pretty impressive bandwidth numbers,” concludes Legit Reviews.

• Legit Reviews: Kingston DDR2 PC2-6000 (750MHz) Memory.

Nokia Unveils New N-series Phones with 3G, WLAN. Nokia’s New Handsets Offer Connectivity, Carl Zeiss Camera

With the growing number of the third generation cellular networks deployments, Internet connectivity is becoming more and more important capability of modern mobile devices. That said, makers of cell phones are likely to significantly enhance Internet features of their products. Following some of the rivals, Nokia this week unleashed its N-series phones that embed advanced camera, broad multimedia features along with messaging.

“Packed with the latest technologies such as 3G, Carl Zeiss Optics, megapixel cameras, multi-gigabyte memory, VHS resolution video and WLAN, the Nokia Nseries offers new fusions of digital media and mobility to the hands of mobile users. Consumers can now use a single device to do everything from snapping print-quality images, reading email, listening to music, browsing their favorite websites, watching mobile TV and much more,” Nokia said in a statement.

The Nokia Nseries multimedia range, which currently includes N90, 91 and N70 models, is styled to meet the expectations of demanding customers with stainless steel finishes and black pearl and smooth silver color pallets. The first Nokia Nseries products are expected to become available during the second quarter of 2005 followed by several more by the end of 2005.

The main distinctive features of the Nseries are large color displays, HTML web browser, streaming video, two-way video call, video sharing and multiple messaging options. The main idea behind the Nseries is to give customers access to entertainment, news and information anywhere, anytime.

“The Nokia Nseries range helps consumers balance personal and work life with a broad range of productivity features such as push email with attachments and full organizer features. PC synchronization of music, images, videos and organizer data are made simple with Nokia PC Suite and multiple connectivity options,” Nokia said.

Nokia Nseries is based on the Series 60 smartphone platform, users can choose from more than 3 000 applications to add new functionality to their device, according to Nokia.

“Summing up, we can call the models interesting and pleasant if not considering their dimensions. The 2MP cameras are of good quality and many of you will make sure of that soon. The quality of the photo is quite comparable to the Sony Ericsson K750i but probably not higher. Comparing the new models appeared at once with the Sony Ericsson K750i is not right, like comparing a lorry with a passenger car and then saying the carrying capacity of a lorry is higher. The company is a doubtless leader in the family of smartphones without a sensory screen. Its production is the best for today and the Nokia 6680 and its clones' expanded functionality makes us doubt Windows 2005 Magneto will dominate next year, it is likely to happen in two years,” Mobile-Review web-site informs.

• Nokia Press Release: Nokia Launches Nokia Nseries Branded Multimedia Device Range.
• Mobile-Review: The N-series by Nokia – Three New Products and One Leader.