Apple recently released the first build of the new Mac OS X 10.5.5 software. However, the new release comes with an ominous caveat not to install the software on Macs with integrated graphics chips. The update takes care of numerous bugs noted since the release of the previous OS X version. Find out more about the new 9F5 build in our full article after the jump.

If you're keen on getting one of those HD camcorders and making the most out of it, you might as well get Panasonic's new 64GB P2 card and its new ExpressCard adapter, which gives you longer recording hours, and faster file transfers. More information about these gadgets in the full article.

Now that the format war is over, we can expect the market to soon flood with Blu-ray enabled gadgets. Dell is coming out with their first offering: a Blu-ray laptop, the latest in their Inspiron line, and it's going for less than US$ 1000. Details in the full article. *editor p

Taiwanese company BenQ recently showed off the BenQ Joybook S41, their new Santa Rosa notebook. Yeah, the name's kinda funky, but boy, is it a beauty.

According to Akihabaranews.com, aside from running on Intel's fourth-generation Centrino platform, the Joybook S41 also features a 14.1-inch widescreen, up to 2GB RAM and a 160GB hard drive. These are just the bare essentials, and the notebook also offers Wireless a/b/g/n, an NVIDIA GeForce 8600M, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, HDMI output, and an ExpressCard slot.

Price information for the BenQ Joybook S41 has yet to be revealed, but the notebook will reportedly become available sometime this month. Check out the images below for a look at it.

   

Sony announced the other day that development of the much-talked about memory stick PRO-HG Duo is now in full swing and will become available in authorized dealers and online retail store SonyStyle.com across North America starting August of this year. This hasn't been mentioned in a long time so let us refresh your memories about this particular memory stick (Pun not intended).

Sony's Memory Stick PRO-HG media is capable of recording times and data transmission and is three times faster than the standard Memory Stick Duo products. This is because of its 8-bit parallel interface and the flash memory device. The addition of four more connector pins results data transfer of up to 30MB/s (240 Mbps) megabytes per second.

But if for some other reason you still want to use just four connectors, PRO-HG Duo media is also capable of that but take note that the minimum write speed of 15 megabits per second will be employed. Quite curiously, the new memory stick features copyright protection technology MagicGate that provides security to commercial content like digital music and downloaded movies.

In relation to this, Sony will also be releasing Memory Stick Duo ExpressCard adaptor. This is for personal computers with an ExpressCard slot - mostly familiar in the 2007 line up of VAIO computers. How fast will this make the data transfer, you ask? Well, let's just say that you can transfer one hour of personal video to your computers in around two minutes from a regular memory stick handy cam.

Memory Stick PRO-HG media is also available in three different capacities: 1GB (US$ 60), 2GB (US$ 90), and 4GB (US$ 150).

As EV-DO technology has become more and more popular over time the variety of solutions available to meet the needs of EV-DO users has become equally diverse. Carriers like Verizon and Sprint are currently in the process of maintaining and, in some cases, upgrading their EV-DO network infrastructure to keep up with the expected demand. The depth of the financial investment in network infrastructure alone demonstrates an iron clad commitment to the future of this technology on the part of the carriers.

The new AirCard 597E from Sierra Wireless is evidence that the next generation of EV-DO (known as Revision A) will be a viable competitor in the future of high speed wireless data services, and the investment will not have been in vain. "Built for notebook computers with ExpressCard expansion slots, the AirCard 597E will be fully compliant with network operator requirements and will offer user-friendly features such as Assisted GPS (aGPS) location based services; a robust, fixed antenna design; and an external antenna jack for flexibility and improved reception in fringe coverage areas or for specialized applications. The AirCard 597E is expected to begin shipping in the first quarter of 2007. ExpressCard models for HSDPA networks are expected to follow later in the year."

Sierra Wireless has been carefully watching the market and has plans to benefit from an overall trend in consumer habits that they expect to peak in 2007. "Notebook installations of ExpressCard slots are expected to move toward critical mass in 2007 - we are timing our ExpressCard products to match market adoption." said Trent Punnett, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Development for Sierra Wireless.

Since Dell and Apple (along with most all of the other manufacturers of laptops in the world) have moved to the express standard and basically abandoned the older PCMCIA standard, the market for express based network and storage solutions is expected to continue to grow. Eventually, everything will be done without wires, under one universal standard that is expandable, extensible, modular and fully self-sufficient (yeah right!). Until then we are left to choose between the various competing standards available today until we find a winner.

Apple released the update to its ExpressCard. In ExpressCard v1.0, the problem that prevented the system from sleeping when some cards are inserted in the ExpressCard/34 slot has been fixed. ExpressCard v.1.0 system requirement includes Mac OS X  10.4.7 and MacBook Pro. It also supports multiple languages.

Simultaneously Apple released Security Update 2006-004, also for MacBooks. This update  is recommended for all Mac Pro systems running Mac OS X v10.4.7 (build 8K1079), and systems running Mac OS X Server v10.4.7 (Universal). Update 2006-004 improves the security of the following components:

• ImageIO
• OpenSSH

Download: [ExpressCard v1.0 for MacBooks]
Download: [Security Update 2006-004 for MacBooks]

  

Hewlett Packard have laptops that could cater to the needs of a simpleton or to the needs of an imeldific character...well, a practical imeldific (is there such a thing) that is. What I mean is that, whatever your needs are, HP would get you covered. Diversity is the name of the game in the HP camp as they unveil two of their latest innovations which feature AMD's Turion 64 X2 and NVIDIA nForce Go430 chipset with NVIDIA graphics. I am talking about tthe two notebooks that will amp the Pavilion line-- the Pavilion dv6000z and the Pavilion dv9000.

To kick things off, let's start with the more high-end dv9000 (left thumbprint). This one is being paraded as HP's latest 17" notebook which comes fully equipped with AMD's latest mobile platform and NVIDIA's chipset & graphics. This could sort of pass as a gaming laptop since it is blessed with a more capable NVIDIA Go 7600 with 256MB dedicated DDR2 RAM. The G0 7600 could play recent games although you'd have to lengthen your patience as this may produce lower resolutions. The 17" display comes in three choices - WXGA+ (1440x900) BrightView, WXGA+ Ultra BrightView, and WSXGA+ (1680x1050) BrightView.

Your garden variety USP ports are also in there along with multimedia features, and the optional ExpressCard TV Tuner for the TV addicts. Another characteristic that makes this baby stand out is that it has dual hard drives option which could give this baby a 240GB using proper RAID configurations. Weight starts at 7.8lbs and is 1.0" thin. Optional integrated webcam is available. Prices start a bit higher at $1,349 and the dv9000 will be available mid-July.

Too pricy for you? Then maybe you oughta consider the 15.4" Pavilion dv6000z (right). It also houses a competitive NVIDIA nForce Go430 chipset with discrete 256MB Go 7200 graphics, plus you have a choice between an AMD Mobile Sempron or a Turion 64 X2 processors. You can't play recent games with this one, but if gaming ain't your thing, then this may be for you. Prices range from $1000-1300, depending on configuration.

A lot of QJ staff are in love with their dual monitors. Heck, even a certain Crazy Jon is addicted to multiple monitors! I guess some people really find ease at doing computer jobs when faced with multiple monitors; we can't therefore blame Richard Troxel for wanting to use an extra monitor with his 17" MacBook Pro.

Troxel asks, "Is it possible to use both a 30” and 23” Apple Cinema Display monitors with a 17” MacBook Pro?" Macworld's Christopher Breen clues us in on the answer.

Unfortunately for Troxel - and other MacBook Pro users who also want to work with multiple monitors - the answer is no, not for now. Breen explains, "Although you can connect Apple’s 30” display to your MacBook you need another video card to drive an additional monitor."

Because Apple replaced the PC Card slot with the faster ExpressCard/34 slot on their new laptops, the task of adding other monitors on a MacBook Pro has becomes impossible as there are a few ExpressCards available and nil ExpressCard video cards.

If you're a PowerBook user though, multiple monitors are a go for you via the PC Card slot - you'd just need a device like VillageTronic's VTBook and Digital Tigers' SideCar, which will soon release an ExpressCard version of such device this fall...so all is not lost to MacBook Pro users.

California hardware company FirmTek, LLC, has announced the release of their highly-anticipated SeriTek/2SM2-E ExpressCard Adapter for the MacBook Pro. This device will allow MacBook users to stream live video directly to their disks, and make the lives of videographers much easier, enabling them to perform most of their work in the field. The ExpressCard Adapter also features "hot-swap" compatibility, simplifying the chore of moving drives and arrays from the MacBook to any FirmTek equipped desktop system. While designed for the Apple, the new device is also compatible with ExpressCard equipped Windows machines.

The SeriTek eliminates the data "bottleneck" caused by the inherent limitations of the stock machine, such as the internal drive and USB ports. While this is wonderful for those who need to work with video files, they can be useful for almost anyone whose work requires them to deal with huge amounts of data.

The SeriTek/2SM2-E ExpressCard will retail for around $120. Additional drive trays will be available for about $23.00 each.