Friday, December 18, 2009

Phinix Cube PC

Many users argue that barebone systems are generally weak in performance because most of the work goes into the customizing the look of the case. I disargee with that fact. Barebone systems allow for easy installation, modification and upgrading over ready-to-go assembled computers which support limited upgrades like RAM and CPU Fan.



Here is an example of a desktop pc made in a form of a cube that supports my statement.







It has a nice and attractive design and it's performance is quite good. Inside of this Phinix Cube PC is: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, SSD-disk 30GB and 320GB hard drive, also a Leadtek GeForce GTX 280 video card.



Phinix Cube is equipped with water cooling system, which was the toughest decision manufacturers had to make to make this pc more appealing.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Screenshots of Android 2.1 built-on Nexus One

Soon to be released Google Nexus One, has few information leaks regarding photography, video, etc. Another interesting news is there is information regarding ROM Nexus One built-on Google Android 2.1 platform. It was installed on Motorola Droid for Verizon operator.



Based on the screenshots we can conclude that Android 2.1 will highly differ from version 2.0. There is a new weather widget, application for reading news, updated home screen, and the menu has been placed at the bottom.



Google Nexus One will be released in the beginning of January. Experts from HTC and Google are working hard on the manufacturing of this device. The update for Android 2.1 will be available for latest Google phones, including HTC Hero and Motorola Droid.




Friday, December 11, 2009

Java GUI Managing Various Layouts

Few weeks ago I posted a code and a screen shot how to code and use Java's GUI GridLayout. After doing some research I found a great video tutorial on YouTube. Here is the link on how to create and use GridBagLayout. Ever since I watched the video, I've been using GridBagLayout for my projects and it helps a lot. Here is the video, let me know what you think:

Half of the users are ready to pay for third-party applications

Samsung offers mobile applications for sale through their Samsung Application Store. Obviously before selling the products Samsung conducted a survey asking their users whether they are willing to pay for useful applications. The survey was done in British Columbia, France and Italy.



The results are outstanding 42% of the voters would pay for applications for their mobile phones. From the given percentage 54% of those offered as much as 5 euro per third-party application.

Here is some relevant statistics based on the survey:
  • 34% - users that never installed applications are willing to pay for applications useful for navigation while they travel;
  • 12% - for photos/images/pictures;
  • 11% - for work related reasons;
  • 9% - for shopping
Samsung also found out that women are most interested in games than man - 70% vs 57%. Everyone 1 out of five users complain that the market lacks good quality browsing applications, what the market has now does not meet user requirements. Designers should also pay more attention to the content of work and travel applications.

In addition, 43% of users launch their third-party applications only one time - may be because they are bored or low quality.

What do you use your third-paty applications for? And how often you use them? Are you willing to pay for your additional applications? Respond in comment section.

Top Ten Games (2009)

We're approching the end of year 2009 and many sites will start publishing their list of top 10 games for 2009. The first publisher became The Time magazine, here is their list of top ten games for 2009:
  1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2;
  2. Batman: Arkham Asylum;
  3. DJ Hero;
  4. Borderlands;
  5. New Super Mario Bros. Wii;
  6. Geo-Defense Swarm;
  7. Scribblenauts;
  8. Halo 3: ODST;
  9. Assassin's Creed 2;
  10. Uncharted 2
You are most likely familiar with vast majority of these games and as you now all of them are well ranked over the internet. Happy gaming to all.

Desktop Cygnus X1

At times when we look at the art work of desktop computers we notice the bright LED lights, large cooling fans and beautiful drawings on the case. But in this case the design of this desktop computer has been manually manufactured using wood and aluminum. There is no bright LED lights or loud fan noises, and it doesn't attract the eye because of it's bright colors the difference here is the nice, neat, and pleasent to the eye wooden case.


The key feature of this case is the sliding up top panel, which reminds you of the side doors in sports cars that open up. You can appreciate the design yourself, the quality of the work can be seen on the side panels as well.










Desktop Apple Mac Pro 3.33GHz Intel Xeon CPU

Apple recently announced an upgrade to their desktop Mac Pro computers. Now, you can upgrade your desktop computer with Intel Xeon 3.33GHz quad-core processors. Additionally, future buyers will able to upgrade their hard drive capacity to 2 terabytes for $550.



The default configuration package for this desktop pc comes with a single quad-core Intel Xeon 2.66GHz processor, 640GB hard drive, 3GB RAM, nVidia GeForce GT 120 with 512MB video memory. The cost of this piece is $2,500.


The upgraded version of this product contains the following specifications: two quad-core Intel Xeon processors, 6GB RAM, 640GB hard drive, and nVidia GeForce GT 120 with 512MB video memory. The cost of this desktop PC is $3,300.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Open-Downloads.net - Free Music Downloads

After surfing online looking for various ways to download music I stumbled upon this website, called Open-Downloads.net. It has a simple yet attractive design. The search function is quite neat as well, I tried some of the familiar artists and was able to find what I needed. On the home page there is a list of top songs which is always updated. There is also a wide variety of artists displayed in the Music tab.

I'm not too familiar with music industry or their websites. Has anyone else found any other decent sources for online music? Check out the website tell me what you think.