The Sunday Techie Notebook

September 21, 2008 · Filed Under Product Reviews

For those of you who don’t know, http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/ is a great site for free stuff of all sorts, from useful utilities (some retailing for a fair amount of money), to screensavers, to…you name it. I’ve been frequenting the site for awhile, and gotten tons of great stuff.

I know what you’re thinking .. ‘Ah, just garbage on there that authors can’t even give away, so why not throw it on there?’ And some of it is that sort of software, but most of it is actually useful. And no, it’s not warez; it’s all approved by the authors of the software. Worth a visit.

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Packard Bell (yes, those of the slow, cheapie systems from years ago) has a new laptop and attitude, apparently. Take a look at the iPower GX:

This model comes with a “street art cover” that basically stands diametrically opposed to their boxy, beige history of design. Specifications are pretty beefy: 1,920 x 1,200 resolution display, nVidia 9800M GTS 1GB video card, Intel Core 2 Quad Q9100 processor, Draft-N Wi-Fi, and Blu-ray drive. Should be out in early October.

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The HTC Dream, the first Google Android smartphone is expected to be released this month, priced at $199 the same price with Apple iPhone 3G. This will no doubt trigger huge waves in the smartphone industry, as it has enough muscle behind it to seriously compete with the iPhone for market share.

The Google Android gPhone will be available on the October 13th ~ 2-year contract, a specified data plan, and Gmail account included.

All I know is: I’m glad I waited to decide on a smartphone, as the competition is just now heating up, and should bring lower prices and better service to consumers as a result.

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