Word is out that CBS corporation has entered a deal which will allow it to acquire CNET Networks, Inc. If this pushes through, CBS will become one of the major players among the internet companies in the United States. Care to know more? Head on over to the full article.

We've heard of exploding laptops, and now get ready for a new mobile shocker: laptops that give off electrical charge. Check out why Dell's new XPS M1530 aren't so pleasing to the touch in the full article.

CNET has recently announced the winners of this year's Best of CES awards at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. Gamers will be happy to know that Nyko's Wireless Nunchuk attachment for the Wii was counted as the winner for the gaming category. More details up ahead in the full article.

It's nothing new to the forefront in the high definition format wars. Samsung accomplished the same with their own BD-UP5000 - a decent marriage between Toshiba's HD-DVD and Sony's Blu-Ray. But it seems that hybrid drives (or combo drives as the techie world would like to put it) are the safest bet for everyone.

 

Enter Hewlett-Packard, a consumer and business computer solutions provider. They may lead in the printer camp, but they aren't any slackers in the PC camp either...well, not awful slackers, for the most part. According to a report by CNET News, HP will be sporting a HD-DVD and Blu-Ray internal drive for PCs in two models of their Pavilion line.

The Pavilion Media Center m8010y and the Pavilion d4890y will both sport a "triple writer, dual read" drive, come May 9, 2007. The drive is currently being offered as an optional drive for both systems, but there has yet to be a mention of it's model number, pricing and upgrade options for older Pavilions (including laptops) with HD-DVD drives.

Gizmodo writer Eric Lam gave a reaction and correction post to CNET's Erica Ogg for her article discussing how iTunes may be streamed to a mobile phone in the future. The CNET write-up got a lot of fans excited until Lam burst the bubble.

Lam explained that the article does hold some water in terms of feasibility, but there's a lot more to it than just having your phone synced with a computer or iPod.

"What they're talking about is using the excellent, yet non-specific ability of a Slingbox to stream iTunes to an Apple TV," says Lam, "using a HD equipped Slingbox Pro to stream Apple TV to your Sling Client-equipped Palm, or Windows Mobile phone."

Lam also said that there's a fat chance that iPhone wouldn't support Sling videos. Audio should be a non-issue, but unless there's a drastic change in the last stages of the iPhone, that would be a smart prediction.

"The article speaks of future support, but isn't this possible with the mere addition of a few IR codes?" asks the Gizmodo scribe.

State Senator Carl Kreuger, a Democrat representing New York's 27th district in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn, has recently announced his plan to introduce legislation that would ban the use of electronic devices (iPods, BlackBerrys, cellphones, DS Lites, PSPs) while crossing streets in major cities.

Sen. Kreuger has claimed that the phenomenon of "iPod oblivion" has led to a number of fatal accidents on urban streets. While he did not cite any statistical studies that have indicated a rise in such incidents, he did refer to the January death of a 23-year-old Brooklyn man who, while tuned into his iPod headphones, walked into the path of a city bus.

The bill would basically make it illegal to use any kind of handheld device while crossing the street in major cities like New York, Albany, and Buffalo. Offenders would end up with a US$ 100 fine and a criminal court summons.

Joggers and other exercise buffs who like to pass the time listening to tunes while burning calories would have to limit their iPod use to city areas in which no street crossing would be involved.

While this proposed bill may infuriate handheld gamers, music loving exercise buffs, and Wall-Street BlackBerry addicts, Kreuger stands fully behind this bill, saying that tuning in and tuning out is a fatal combination on the streets of New York. CNET News reports that Kreuger said this in a statement:

You can't be fully aware of your surroundings if you're fiddling with a BlackBerry, dialing a phone number, playing Super Mario Brothers on a Game Boy, or listening to music on an iPod

We here at QJ would like recall George Carlin's view on children and "dangerous toys" and prefer to think of this "iPod oblivion" phenomenon as a passive form of eugenics: If you're too dumb to play your PSP while crossing a traffic-heavy street, then you're probably just too dumb.

Stuck in a dilemma between getting a Samsung Q1 and an Apple Newton? Well, the guys at CNET pitted those two against each other just for fun. The verdict? Read on.

Undeniably, Apple's Newton MessagePad 2007 has been around for quite some time - since 1997 to be exact. It features handwriting recognition, and touch-screen display plus a stylus, all packed in a simple design. It doesn't boast of a full color screen, but runs on an efficient and virtually virus-free OS.

The Samsung Q1, on the other hand, has a sleek, shiny look as opposed to the "industrialized" design of the Newton. Its screen has 16.7 million colors, so you would be able to watch your favorite movies here. It also has better networking capabilities and handwriting recognition than the Newton.

However, the Newton can run up to 30 hours with four AA batteries, which dealt the final blow on the Q1, which only runs for 2.5 hours. And while the latter costs £799, the decade-old Newton can be bought in eBay for £50.

So take your pick. If you're more into practicality, you might want to get a Newton. But if you're into sleek, modern gadgets, maybe you'd consider getting a Samsung Q1 instead.

Just can't wait to get your hands on the Dell XPS M2010? Well, before you part with your hard-earned cash, it wouldn't hurt to know what CNET has to say about the sleek feature-packed XPS M2010. Dell claimed that the XPS M2010's footprint takes up less space than a typical desktop computer, but measuring at 16.75 inches deep, 19.25 inches wide, and 3 inches thick, the XPS M2010 is larger than any other late-model, desktop-replacement laptop around. It also weighs a hefty 18.3 pounds, 20.8 pounds if you include the AC adapter. It's too heavy to carry it around on a regular basis.

Dell has packed all the multimedia goodness in the XPS M2010. It accommodates a fold-out 20-inch display, a detachable Bluetooth keyboard, and set of components that can be seen in a modern Media Center PC - impressive sound system, pop-up slot-loading DVD player, integrated video camera, microphone. Dell's UltraSharp LCDs are known for its sharp graphic display and the XPS M2010's glossy 20-inch (diagonal) screen won't tarnish that reputation. The display brighter than the average LCDs in its class, scoring 230cd/m² on CNET's Minolta luminance meter. It's 1680x1050 native resolution offers a nice balance between detail and screen real estate. The nice thing about the display is that it's considerably more adjustable, able to sit at a 90 degree angle to the keyboard, be brought up 10 inches inward, and tilt about 65 degrees upward.

With eight speakers and a built-in subwoofer, the XPS M2010 can hold its own as a dedicated home stereo. It's able to deliver rich, clear audio with more low-end sound than any other laptop in its class.

A $4,675 top-of-the-line XPS M2010 test unit came configured with an extremely high-end set of components: a 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo T2600 processor; 2GB of DDR2 SDRAM (667MHz); a high-end ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 graphics card with 256MB of video memory; and two big 100GB, 7,200rpm hard drives (Raid 0). The $3,500 base configuration includes a slightly slower 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo T2400, 1GB of RAM, and 80GB of hard drive space.

What's CNET's verdict? A 7.3 editor rating. Not too bad.

The good: Sleek, attention-getting design; high-quality, adjustable 20-inch LCD; speakers offer crisp, rich audio; detachable Bluetooth keyboard and Media Center remote will work well from the couch or during a presentation; top-of-the-line components deliver high overall performance and competent gaming capability.

The bad: Absurdly expensive; TV tuner and some other A/V connections aren't built in; too heavy to be truly portable.

The bottom line: A striking feat of engineering that's sure to garner attention in a stylish home or on a multimedia-intensive sales call, the Dell XPS M2010 is simply too expensive and impractical to be anything more than a curio for the rest of us.

Click on the Read link for the full review.