Dell today officially unveiled the Inspiron Mini 9. This small, easy-to-carry device stands ready to connect teens, tweens, travelers and “Tweeters” to their online world be it surfing the Web, chatting with friends, blogging, streaming content, uploading photos or enjoying favorite online videos, music and games. The Inspiron Mini is an affordable Internet companion that can be fine-tuned to fit users’ specific needs and deeds. It is currently not available yet at the Dell Malaysia Store, but we do believe it will appear on the site sometime soon.

With a starting weight of 2.28 lbs (approx 1kg), digital nomads will value the Inspiron Mini’s durable design, with sealed keyboard and reliable solid state drive (SSD) memory storage. A bright 8.9 inch glossy LED display (1024x600) presents most web pages with no left-right scrolling, and the keypads are large and easy to navigate. Standard built-in Wi-Fi means quick and easy wireless internet access to hotspots in the home, on campus, in a local coffee shop, in the office or at a conference.

More details and specifications after the jump.

HP unveiled six new notebook PCs at a press conference yesterday. This includes the new HP Pavilion dv4, dv5, dv7 Entertainment Notebook PCs and under the Compaq branding, the Presario CQ20, CQ40 and CQ45.

The new Pavilions follow a simple method of differentiating themselves with their screen size. Hence dv4 comes with a 14.4" display, while dv5 has a 15.4" display and dv7 sports a 17" display.

Touting elegance and mobility, the dv4 comes equipped with the latest offering from Intel, Centrino 2 up to 2.8GHz, Nvidia GeForce 9000 graphics that provides 1280x800 resolution on the optional HD BrightView WXGA screen, integrated TV tuner and optional wireless broadband. The dv4 starts at a retail price of RM3,999 and is available now.

Continue to read more on the other notebooks.

Since it’s launch, Google Chrome has been the hottest thing since sliced bread in the computing world. It’s fast, it’s light weight and it’s free. What else could one ask for in a browser, right? Well, for the average Joe, nothing much.

In a ballsy move that will either have you going yay or nay, camera boys Nikon have announced that video functionality will make its way into their latest DSLR, the D90. Recording video in M-JPEG format, what’s probably the niftiest part about this new functionality is that like a regular DSLR, you’ll be able to utilize various lenses (such as macro, wide angle and fisheye lenses) while shooting these videos.

More information on the D90 are available here and here, but there’s still no word how much this bad boy will set us back in Malaysian Ringgit.

No, we haven't been hacked. And no, the admins of LYN didn't mistakenly reinstall the CMS system. I just thought that the "Hello, world!" line would be a snazzy way to introduce myself as the newest member to the LYN team, and by the looks of it, I've probably caught your attention so here it goes.

Hi, I'm Wern Shen, the latest addition to the Lowyat.NET team and I will be acting as the Editor for Lowyat.NET and all it's subsites. I'd like to take this opportunity to say that it's going to be a pleasure and an honor to serve all you discerning readers out there, and I will strive to do the best to keep everyone duly entertained and informed. 

There are some changes lined up for the site, but I can't disclose anything just yet. However, what I can say is that we're working on making the main page a little more entertaining with the use of new media (such as video, courtesy of Lowyat.TV). So, please do stick around and visit back often for more updates.

Wishing you pleasant reading,

Wern Shen
Editor,
Lowyat.NET

After years of waiting, Mobile Number Portability will finally be implemented tomorrow (Friday). The initial service will be offered to Prepaid subscribers, while those on Postpaid lines will be able to join in the fun in a couple of weeks.

To those not so in tune with the technical jargon, Mobile Number Portability or MNP in short is a service that will allow you to switch telco providers without having to go through the hassle of changing your service number. After tomorrow, no longer will the prefixes of 016 solely be that of a DiGi subscriber, or 012 be an exclusive Maxis number.

With MNP finally in place, subscribers will have the convenient freedom of switching to competing telco providers while retaining their respective phone numbers. There will be a RM25 charge everytime the MNP is used to switch to a new telco.

The nationwide launch for the MNP service is in October, but prepaid users may start switching from tomorrow onwards. We have been informed prior to the nationwide launch, each telco is only allowed to process 100 MNP applications a day. Prepaid credit will not be transferred over to your new service provider, so finish up before you jump ship.

Nokia launched the latest of its N series mobile at an event held at KL Hilton yesterday night. The new N series compromised of the N96, N85 and the N79.

It even features a unique 'kickstand' on the back cover for hands free viewing of Live TV or videos. The built-in camera can capture video at 30 fps and is luminated by dual LED Flash. 802.11b/g WIFI and HSDPA connectivity are also built-in.

Not only does it support N-Gage games, it even comes pre-loaded with 10 N-Gage gaming titles. It even has dedicated gaming keys that light up when the device is in landscape gaming mode. The built-in memory is only 74MB, however each unit comes with a 8GB microSD memory card.

Read on for more pictures, specifications and pricing details.

Kingston Technology Company Inc. today announced the release of its first Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS)*-validated USB Flash drive, the DataTraveler BlackBox, available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB capacities. Gaining FIPS 140-2 certification requires a validation process that meets federal requirements set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)**, and the Communications Security Establishment of the Government of Canada. This is critical because many governmental agencies in the United States and Canada mandate that sensitive "data at rest" (i.e., all information not in the network) must be encrypted with the FIPS 140-2 standard.  

"We are very excited that our DataTraveler BlackBox met all federal requirements established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)," said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Product Manager, APAC Region, Kingston.

"This certification, along with other enhanced security features, makes the DT BlackBox an ideal way to store and transport confidential documents with the utmost confidence that the data is secure." 

The FIPS Level 2 standard requires the DT BlackBox to run a power-on self test which verifies that the encryption architecture is functioning each time it is plugged into a USB port. Beyond the NIST certification, the DataTraveler BlackBox features 256-bit hardware-based AES encryption via a dedicated processor which automatically encrypts and decrypts data on the fly. The drive automatically locks down after ten consecutive failed password attempts, thus helping to prevent unauthorized access if the drive is lost, stolen or misplaced.

Local pricing details not available.