Nelson Wong Life Blog

Windows Vista SP2 is ready to download

in between waiting for Windows 7 to launch and tweaking the XP build on your newly purchased netbook, there’s this little thing called Windows Vista that needs to be maintained. Today, Microsoft did its part and released the standalone installers for the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Service Pack 2 for Vista and Server 2008. Now it’s all up to you. Hit the read links to patch the Wow with a little SP2 Meh.

32-bit
64-bit

Sony 400-Disc Blu-ray Changer

Sony is said to be releasing their previously-spied 400-disc ES Series Blu-ray “Ultra Player” soon, meaning that even the most well-heeled home theater enthusiasts will have a big enough changer for their expansive movie collections.

Of course, somewhere between three and five people on the face of the planet own anywhere near 400 Blu-ray discs, but lots have old, huge collections that span a few generations of disc technology. Having a giant changer like this would eliminate the need to own a separate BD changer, and if it matches or improves on its predecessor’s 500GB HDD and DLNA via Ethernet streaming abilities, could make a solid video control center for a high-end home entertainment system.

Prices are expected to fall well north of two grand, according to a leaked Swiss product page.

Underwater Camera Cases for Cannon 5D mark II

Most popular, mid-to-high-range DSLRs eventually get their own waterproof diving cases, but this one is special. It’s a Sea&Sea housing for a Canon 5D Mk II, and it lets you take videos like this:

This specific video was actually shot through a modded case, originally meant for the 5D Mk I, but the effect is the same.

Predictably, making HD fish screensavers with your DSLR isn’t cheap: once you take care of import and shipping costs, it’ll probably cost you nearly three grand—more than the body itself.

Free Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks

Free Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks
Kraft is giving away coupons for $1 million worth of Oscar Mayer Beef Franks.

http://kraft.promotions.com/ombeeffranks/front.do

Dell’s Mini 10v shown running a plethora of operating systems, Android

Need some further proof that Dell is working on an Android-powered netbook? How about a video featuring Doug Anson, Dell’s Technology Strategist, sitting next to a Mini 10v that’s running Android? And it’s not just any flavor of Google’s OS — oh no, this is the frosting-covered goodness of Cupcake. Sadly the demonstration is nothing more than showing the desktop with that big, iconic clock, but it’s proof enough that Round Rock’s finest are working on something special. Also shown are 10v’s running standard Ubuntu and the Netbook Remix, but they don’t taste nearly as good. Video after the break.

Nokia’s Leaked Future Tablet Screenshot Large Smartphone

Mobile Crunch just posted this Maemo Harmattan Nokia Tablet screenshot, which consists of a vertical page worth of widgets that are embedded deeply inside the OS.

From the screen, Mobile Crunch says only the blue-shaded section is visible at once. Not a whole lot more detail in the post, but it is an interesting widget-based ad-supported system subsidized by carriers.

Time-Lapse Photography Captures Galactic Core of the Milky Way

iPhone 3.0

Apple just announced their iPhone 3.0 software update. This is a major update for Apple that adds fundamental building blocks for the future of the platform. The In-App purchase is the change that will have the most effects for the developer community and Apple itself as it could bring billions of dollars in extra revenues a few years down the road. As for the rest, there are nice incremental changes, but nothing “groundbreaking”. Some of the demos were nice, like the Sims, but other games like Livefire (a first-person shooter) remind us that the touch screen remains a difficult control interface. Here are the top changes:
iPhone 3.0 is a free update

Coming this summer…
In App Purchases

This is a huge business opportunity for Apple and for developers. The market for add-ons in games, social network and applications might be worth billions. Similar business models in Asia have already proven to be great. This will also enable subscription-based businesses like ebooks and newspapers.
Peer to Peer Connectivity

Peer to Peer communication is something that we expect from a communications device, but it is added only now and to be honest we had not missed it before. This could lead to networked games and simple apps to send your business card.
Accessories Control

This will take accessories to the next level. Accessories and iPhone can now communicate both ways, enabling the phone to analyze incoming data and reacting, thus making the accessory effectively smarter. Let’s see what comes out of this.
Maps for all Apps

This is convenient for developers: now they can use parts or all of Google maps – except if they want to do turn by turn directions (for maps licensing reasons). However, they can still use their own maps and retrieve the GPS location via Google Maps, saving a lot of time and code on the way.
Copy/Paste

Better late than never: this third time around, Apple has managed to pull Copy/Paste off, one of the (sadly) most anticipated feature. You won’t have to type in your WEP key from now on! You can select a block of text and double tap to display the copy/cut/paste menu. It kind of works like you would expect it to.
Landscape QWERTY keyboard

This was long overdue – good stuff.
MMS

Finally, MMS is here! Some people don’t care because they have email, other feel really strongly about having it. The bottom line is that any dumb phone can do it, so there’s no reason why the iPhone couldn’t
Voice memo

Send voice memos to yourself…
CalDAV

Makes the iPhone compatible with other services calendars such as Yahoo or Google.
Search

Searches in “key” apps like email, apps, contacts, music… that’s nice for people who do have a lot of contacts or music. We like this.
And a bunch more…

Head to the Apple website to check ALL the new features and updates, but there you go, you know what matters the most.

Next iPhone to launch July 17 with OLED display and glowing Apple logo?

You had to know we’d see a flurry of iPhone rumors and news as the Apple community reacted to the Pre’s official price and launch date, and right on schedule, we’ve got whispers that Cupertino’s next handset will be announced at WWDC, feature an OLED display and a glowing Apple logo, and launch on July 17. There’s also a longer list of detailed specs, but for the most part they’re just a combination of that matte black casing leak from February and those Chinese specs from last week. So are they the real deal? Well, the source and the site they’re on seem a little shaky to us, but the specs themselves don’t seem too far-fetched — OLED screens are getting cheaper and more prevalent, and we’re almost certain to see bumps in camera resolution and storage, so even if they are totally made up, we’d venture to guess they’re more right than wrong. That’s just us, though — check out the full spec list after the break and tell us what you think.

New Apple Ad Mocks Microsoft Laptop Hunters