Just when you thought print media was turning into something passé, the boys from Esquire (USA, of course) sprung up and hit us right in the face with an e-ink panel on the front cover of their October issue.

More information on the e-ink cover at the Esquire website here, as well video of the e-ink cover in action here.

Here at Lowyat.NET, we strongly believe in giving you, the reader, enough mouth watering variety to keep you coming back for more. Our first initiative, called the After Lunch Special, aims to achieve this goal by introducing you to non-tech related topics whenever we come across something interesting - even though Lowyat.NET is Malaysia's Tech Enthusiast Resource Community, you've got to admit that here's only that much tech news one can consume in a day. Well, enough chatter for now; let's get on to the serious stuff.

 

In today's edition of the After Lunch Special, Lowyat.NET is proud to present you with (*drumroll please*) the winner of Lowyat.NET's inaugural PC Fair Booth Babe contest - from the Sony booth, Miss Sammi. Watch our (very) short chat with the ever busy student/model who took some time out of her busy schedule to say thank you to all of you who voted for her.

Shortly after posting up news of the Sony Vaio recall, a representative from Sony Malaysia got in touch with us and explained that there actually was an announcement regarding the recall on the Sony website. However, to access it, one has to dig into the inner recesses of the Product Support page, which would explain why we missed it in the first place.

The official recall announcement after the jump.

Not too long ago, about 9.6 million Sony laptop batteries were recalled from around the world after a couple of them (OK, maybe more than just a couple) decided to go haywire and send the laptops that they were attached to exploding into flames. 

But if you thought that was the end of all your Sony related fire problems, then you're wrong. Just hours ago, news of another Sony recall hit the web - this time with the Sony Vaio TZ being the catalyst. Apparently, this recall announcment comes after seven people (five in Japan, one in USA, one in Italy) have being burnt by fires caused by faulty wirining in their Vaio TZ's. Sony Malaysia's website doesn't have any further information regarding the recalls, so until then, it's advisable to keep a fire extinguisher handy.

More information on the recalls here and here. 

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