The wait is over: Lotus Notes 7.0.2 is here

Many of you may were waiting for the latest version of Lotus Notes in your Mac OS X. Your wait is ended now. IBM released the latest version of Lotus Notes 7.0.2 client this week. That too just two days before the end of year 2006.

The Big Blue has its own version of comments on Lotus Notes 7.0.2. The new Lotus Notes comes with a pile of collaboration features, such as groupware and strong Mail and iCal apps, that competitors like Microsoft Entourage lack, IBM sources said.

The main advantage of the Mac users is that it allows you, Mac OS X users, to IM, use RSS and e-mail. Lotus Notes 7.0.2 uses embedded RSS technology and an easy-to-use blogging template. According to the sources, the new version is coming with more improved user interface and it can run either Intel-based or Power PC machines. Notes also come with full calendaring features, such as group scheduling and meeting delegation.

Lotus Notes 7.0.2 is available with immediate effect starting at $101 per user.

HD DVD players: Get ready for price drop

HD DVD players are here for more than one year now. How this format came into the minds of targeted users is still a big question to be answered. Many feels that HD DVDs are not penetrating as expected. Experts list out different reasons. One may think that he cannot decide whether he needs an HD DVD or Blu-ray format. Other may opt for a cheap format, say DVD, to HD DVD.

It’s said. HD DVD players high priced last year. Toshiba launched their first HD DVD players at CES in January 2006. But the cheapest model HD-A1 was priced at $500. The other model HD-XA1 cost $800. Later, almost a year after, the company released their second-generation HD DVD players. But still the model HD-A2 cost $500 and HD-XA2 priced at $1000.

The fact is that the users are looking for cheaper options. They can’t choose a costly player when the future format has yet to be determined. Look how cheap standard DVD players are now. But we can hope something now. Toshiba, the biggest backer of the HD DVD format, is planning to aggressively push the new generation HD DVD players in the next month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company executive hinted a reduced price for the next generation models: “At first I thought the price threshold is $499. Maybe coming next is $399 and after that is $299.”

Apart from this Toshiba is offering a money saver offer for customers to receive three HD DVDs when they purchase a player until the end of February. All these may lead to a price drop, they suggest. Let’s us hope for the best.

Wikia: Free Search Engine to beat Google!

When you are ahead for something to be searched from internet, the only name comes into your mind will be the Google. You simply go to www.google.com and put your keywords in the search box and try hard to get the information you wanted. In the last 10 years Google demonstrated us how to search in internet and how it can be collected and used. There were many competitors like Yahoo, MSN, etc. over years. But Google remained Google and hold their position as the No. 1 in internet searching.

Google was not the only one company which ignited revolution in internet. The other is simply can be named as Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. Over the last 3-5 years Wikipedia grew in to something the founders didn’t foresaw. Now it became the prime resource for the research scholars, students and layman loggers.

But both Wikipedia and Google were in the two different streams all these days. No one of them tried to encroach into others space. Now the case is different. Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, has announced his plans to develop a free search engine on the lines of Wikipedia methodology and concepts. He named it as “Wikiasari” or simply “Wikia” and exclaimed that the new search engine will be the answer for the lack of freedom, lack of community, lack of accountability and lack of transparency in web search. The new search engine comes into web in the first three months of 2007.

How it is different from the established commercial search engines like Google and Yahoo? Wales has the answer: "Human intelligence is still the best thing we have, so let's let humans do what they do best, and computers do what they do best." That means the Wikia search engine will be a new kind of search engine, which relies on human intelligence to do what algorithms cannot. He also invited members of the Wiki community to help in the design of Wikia, the open-source alternative for Web search.

Can Wikia beat Google? That’s the question all web enthusiasts ask. Over the years Google faced stiff competitions from Yahoo, MSN and other search engines. Still, according to Nielsen/NetRatings (NTRT), Google enjoys the majority 49.5 per cent of the searches in the December, 2006, up from 43 per cent of the last two years. The immediate competitors are Yahoo (24.3%) and MSN (8.2%). Look at the difference Google got the edge over others.

Definitely Jimmy Wales are in for a huge controlled space. His previous assignment, Wikipedia, was against the print counterparts. But it’s not an easy task to take on a web giant in its own battlefield. Let’s wait and see.

iPod nano: Owner’s pride

Nowadays music is everywhere and sometimes you may die for it. And if you have it in your walk, that’ll be a nice thing to have. Apple iPod is rightly doing this for you. But what iPod is doing is not the subject matter for this write up. But definitely a new innovation that may hold your breath is in the ranks now.

The product I am talking about is Apple iPod nano. Actually this is the fourth digital audio player from Apple combining feature of the famous iPod shuffle and iPod. Earlier they had a product called iPod mini and ultimately the product was replaced with iPod nano on September 7, 2005.

The very feature of iPod nano which may attract many of you might be its thinner design and stylish colors. It also brought you a brighter display and up to 24 hours of battery life. The battery and other internal parts were also reduced in size. The storage capacity of iPod nano can be differed according to your needs. It has more flash memory storage than is used in the iPod shuffle. Currently 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB models are available from Apple stores with a price range starting from $149.

Okey. How many songs can be played from iPod nano? That’s a right question. This super-slim design offers more room for music, say, up to 2,000 songs! And it’s not a full stop there. You can use this sleek product as a coolest photo album also. Believe me iPod nano can hold up to 25,000 snapshots. The iPod nano has a headphone-out, a feature the other iPod family products doesn’t have. And what’s more, it can play audiobooks and podcasts from the iTunes Store.

Now what you think? Doesn’t feel an iPod nano is a hot product to hold on?