A laptop straight out of Minority Report

Well, not literally. But the VAIO Zoom concept laptop looks like it could be part of John Anderton's arsenal of tech tools. Composed of two sheets of thin glass hinged together, the Zoom relies on holographic technology for both the screen and the input devices. When the laptop is turned off, the display becomes completely transparent and the keyboard opaque.

Being technology critics, we have to wonder: Where's the power source? What are the components? How comfortable can it be to type on a flat panel? Can an object made entirely of glass be all that portable?

But then we remind ourselves to relax--it's just a concept, something pretty to populate our dreams of the future.

This post originally appeared in CNET Crave.

Yuraku Yur.Beat Fusion Stream

In journalism as in technology, one learns early to K.I.S.S. ass. That is, you Keep It Short and Simple, or end up feeling like an ass. So what's with the complexly convoluted naming convention from some tech vendors? HP chose the long and winding road naming its new iPaqs. Now here's a product from Singapore-based company Yuraku opting for a similar treatment. Who needs a lobotomy after that?

Product name aside, Yaraku claims this is the world's first portable wireless Internet radio with full multmedia features. And we'll admit it's pretty darn tiny, about the size of a Creative Zen Digital Media Player. Make no mistake here. The Yur.Beat Fusion Stream's claim to fame is really as a portable Internet radio, and there lies the catch. Want Internet radio? Well, you need a wireless hotspot to connect to. Although once online, you can tune into about 10,000 Internet radio stations via the vTuner service. When we tested it on our office Wi-Fi, Mumix Radio from Japan came in loud and clear, as did a few other world channels. But expect some connection lag, lost signals and buffering to occur occasionally.

Fortunately, there's FM radio if you're commuting and can't get onboard the island's Wireless@SG broadband.
Read more »

Creative "stretch-a-Stone" MuVo T100

Creative has announced the new MuVo T100, a screen-less device with an attached USB connector. The design of this MP3 player looks like a Zen Stone which has undergone rack torture. It shares the same set of buttons laid out in a circular format but is longer and doesn't require a separate mini-USB cable.

This basic player comes in 2GB and 4GB versions and will cost S$89 and S$149, respectively. The colors available are black, pink, white and blue. Expect to see it in stores at the end of October worldwide.

Click here to see full specifications and more images.

Threaded messaging for S60 devices on beta

One of the most exciting places to be in for tech geeks is a research lab. Not only do researchers get to test drive all kinds of beta products, they also determine what users can expect to see in the future. The harsh reality of life is they also get the brunt for thinking up totally useless products sometimes. Fortunately, that's not the case for the Conversation app which is coming out from Nokia Beta Labs.

One of my pet peeves for S60 devices is the lack of threaded messaging support. Gmail has it and so do most of the instant messaging clients. And we can already hear Palm Treo users sniggering "you mean you have it only now? And it's in beta"? Whatever it is, Nokia's looking in the right direction and we hope to see the program moving out of the beta stage. Before that, Stefan from intomobile has written a great overview of Conversation, Palm, Windows Mobile and the iPhone. Check it out here.

StarHub on a pay-TV offensive

Don't you love competition? The recent entry of the red camp (read: SingTel) has gotten the boys in green on an offensive. In two separate recent press releases, the cable TV provider announced a barrage of new programs to further entice its subscribers. Here's a roundup of what're installed for Singapore in the coming weeks.

Neo Sports: A 24-hour channel featuring home and domestic matches by the Indian and Bangladesh cricket teams. This will be bundled with the existing Cricket Channel to form a new Cricket Group with a monthly promotion price of S$26.75 (US$17.60) till March 2008. Expect this channel to be available starting from September 26.

Golf Channel: Another round-the-clock channel going live on October 16, but this time for Tiger Wood wannabes at no extra cost. The program lineup includes 60 hours of live and delayed telecasts of US PGA, European PGA, LPGA, Champions and Nationwide Tours. The catch? You will have to be an existing Sport Group customer on Digital cable.

STAR Gold: This one will appeal to all Bollywood buffs with one of the world's largest libraries of blockbusters showcasing Indian stars, filmmakers, elaborate dance sequences and music scores. A first outside India, Pakistan and the Middle East, this will be telecast from October 4 for a monthly fee of S$8.56 (US$5.63), available for all Digital cable subscribers.

TVB Classic Channel: Also to be launched on the same day as STAR Gold, this channel will air Hong Kong evergreen dramas from Cantonese veterans the likes of Chow Yun Fat, Andy Lau and Liza Wang. A new and free addition to the Chinese Plus II group, this ups the current selection to a total of nine separate Chinese channels, all for a flat rate of S$8.56 (US$5.63) per month.

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