If you haven’t already seen the hypethat’s going on in Mid Valley Megamall, now’s the time to make that trip –especially if you’re an Apple Mac or iPod/iPhone fanatic. Apple PremiumReseller, Machines and other supporting companies are holding a five-dayroadshow that will go on until July 5 – a good way to explore the capabilitiesof a Mac; a machine that can do more than just designing and image enhancing,and iPod; music, applications and even making a side income.

Throughout the event, Mr. Tan Tze Mengfrom Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) will be introducing MDeC’siPhone Application Development Training Program that will give developers thesupport to be able to learn and build their own iPhone applications. During theopening today, Mr. Bikesh L from iTrain demonstrated the ease of creatingapplications.

 Also to be found at the event,Gameloft is showcasing some of their latest mobile game specifically developedfor iPhone and iPod Touch. Competitions will be held by Ecaz Studios iPhoto wherebythey will give complimentary portraits taken by professional photographers tovisitors and these photos will be submitted for a “Portrait of the Day” and“Portraits of the Show” competition. On Saturday and Sunday, local acts such asQings & Kueens, Otam, Altered Frequency will be performing at the centrestage.

Machines will be holding specialoffers and workshops for consumers, teaching them how to create music, moviesas well as editing and managing them. Apart from that, they are also showcasingtheir Mac, iPod and iPhone 3G products and accessories. Finally, there will bedaily workshops on Apple software iLife ’09 and iWork ’09, Aperture, Final CutStudio and Logic Studio.

For more information, log on to www.discoveryweek.com.my or followtheir Twitter at www.twitter.com/discoveryweek and stand a chance to win an Apple iPod. 

What happens when a 13-year old boy - a boy who's probably never come into physical contact with a cassette tape before in his life - trades in his shiny iPod Touch for a clanky Walkman from yesteryear? Well, according to this interesting piece on BBC UK, it wasn't exactly a week filled with fun and games.

When I wore it walking down the street or going into shops, I got strange looks, a mixture of surprise and curiosity, that made me a little embarrassed.

As I boarded the school bus, where I live in Aberdeenshire, I was greeted with laughter. One boy said: "No-one uses them any more." Another said: "Groovy." Yet another one quipped: "That would be hard to lose."

OK. So maybe the classic Sony Walkman doesn't score too highly on aesthetics, but surely in terms of functionality...

It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.

Another notable feature that the iPod has and the Walkman doesn't is "shuffle", where the player selects random tracks to play. Its a function that, on the face of it, the Walkman lacks. But I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down "rewind" and releasing it randomly - effective, if a little laboured.

Hmm... Well considering that it took him a whole three days to realize that there were two sides to the tape, the Walkman does notably suffer from some ease of use issues. Thankfully though, the young man's father shed light on how delicate cassette tapes really are, and how the constant rewinding could potentially transform his museum worthy Walkman into an ancient paperweight.

You can catch the full story on the BBC UK website here: http://tinyurl.com/mebjkx and check out the young man's thoughts for yourself.

Just days after the shocking death of Michael Jackson and Farah Fawcett, Malaysians had to brace themselves for yet another high-profile celebrity death - this time involving 80's pop sensation Rick Astley. Known best for his uptempo hit, Never Gonna Give You Up, an 80's chart topper that was recently revived thanks to a series of online pranks known as Rick Rolls, it looked like the laughs were about to come to an end when news of his untimely demise hit Malaysia's most popular daily newspaper's website.

However, when news of the report hit Twitter some moments later (as things like these usually do), the reactions weren't exactly mournful. In fact, they were downright critical. A quick look at my Twitter list showed questions like "Did he really die?" and "Where's the source?" instead of the usual "Oh no... I'm going to cry my eyeballs out tonight T_____T...".

Pwnage continues after the jump.

The organizer of World Cyber Games Asian Championship 2009 (WCGAC'09) has just released the group draw for each of its official games: DoTA, FIFA'09 and Guitar Hero World Tour. The grouping looked pretty comfortable for Team Malaysia as none of our national players was drew into any group of death. The event will take place at Singapore this coming weekend. (http://bit.ly/uW4tI)

As for local news, Online eClub will be on tour across a number of states in Peninsular Malaysia to organize qualifiers for their Left 4 Dead Versus Mode Tournament. Apart from cash and product prizes, winners from each venue will qualify to a national championship, expected to happen in few months time. Gather 3 of your best friend and let's get the zombie frag fest started! (http://bit.ly/DbCow)
 
Last but not least, Blizzard recently confirmed that they decided to ditch LAN mode in Starcraft II. For us, it was a questionable decision as the original Starcraft is very LAN-centric which made it very popular in cybercafes for years after it was originally released. We guess no LAN party with your friends on Starcraft II release day then. :( (http://bit.ly/Q0gwf)
 
Don't forget to tune in to Multiplay (http://multiplay.lowyat.net/) daily for the juiciest news from across the world and within Malaysia's gaming community.

PocketPC aficionados HTC have introduced yet another sleek number to their already bursting WinMob-phone portfolio. Called the HTC Touch Pro 2, this sexy slider is actually the successor to one of their previous flagship models, the HTC Touch Pro.

Featuring a refined bezel, a glossy two-tone finish, and an angled slide up keyboard, the Touch Pro 2 looks way slicker than it's blocky predecessor and promises an enhanced user experience too. As usual, HTC's proprietary TouchFLO 3D interface makes a return to the device and effectively masks the boring (and occasionally confusing) WinMob 6.1 default Today Screen with an intuitive and easy to use touch-controlled interface.

Designed with business professionals in mind, the HTC Touch Pro 2 is also equipped to handle business-centric applications such as Push Internet technology (for push mail, etc), and a new HTC hardware/software pairing called HTC Straight Talk that turns your Touch Pro 2 into a boardroom quality teleconferencing device when flipped over.

The HTC Touch Pro 2 is available on the market now and will retail for RM3,199. For more detailed information on the HTC Touch Pro 2, visit the official website here: http://tinyurl.com/ajtd8t

Earlier today, Toshiba's Computer Systems Division (CSD) unveiled a new range of notebooks for 2009 at the Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel. Consisting of new models from the Portege and Satellite series, the range that was on show today also featured a healthy spread of matching accessories.

Story continues after the jump.

Last April, AMD released the latest addition to ATI's Radeon HD 4000 graphic series - the ATI Radeon HD 4770. Carrying an estimated price tag of only RM 380 (~USD 100), together with power packed features such as DirectX 10.1 support, super fast GDDR5 memory and 40 nm processor, it caught the attention of the world as soon as it is hit the market.
 
The graphic card in question stopped by our office recently and we didn't waste any time putting the card to the test on our trusty test rig. Unfortunately, we don't have any other cards that are on the same class as 4770 for a comparison at this moment, so we are going to let the card to stand by its own, based on statistics from our test.

Reviews continues after the jump. WARNING: Image intensive feature ahead!

Have you ever wished that your digital camera or mobile phone could work just like a Polaroid and produce instant prints in under 2 minutes? Well, I guess you’ve wished hard enough because a new product from a rather unlikely source has recently emerged, and promises to do just that!

Hailing from the one of the largest computer makers in the world, the Wasabi from Dell is a dinky new photo printer that hooks up with any device (mobile phone, camera, notebook, etc) via Bluetooth or Pictbridge and produces credit card sized prints in just 45 seconds. Oh, and the best part about the Wasabi is that it doesn’t even use ink!

If there's one company that knows how to throw an exciting themed event, it's definitely got to be HP. In the recent months, we've seen almost everything from the aeroplane inspired launch of the HP Elitebook, to the espresso flavored DV2 launch where everyone was dressed up as a barista.

Yesterday, members of the Malaysian media were treated to yet another dress up spectacle from the technology giants as HP Malaysia unveiled a series of new products that were previously showcased at the Touch the Future. Now. regional showcase which was held in Beijing not too long ago.

And with an event theme like Recipie for Success, there's little wonder why everyone from the ushers to the head honchos like Danny Lee (Country General Manager, Personal Systems Group, HP Malaysia) were dressed from head to toe in chef garb.

Story continues after the jump.