It seems Cisco has decided to remove the Linksys branding from all its consumer products. Previously Linksys was more known as a brand then Linksys and they have now decided to rebrand all their Linksys products as Cisco over a certain period of time.

I think that is a mistake on Cisco’s part, Linksys has a brand loyalty has been known to make some very good routers/access points. One of my best Access Points/Routers is the wap54G. You could modify it to suit your needs, but I’m really surprised at this point that they are just tossing it out and forcing the name Cisco on all consumers.

Link: Engadget

Essentially Surface is a high powered computer built into a beautiful looking table with a 30-inch touch sensitive screen that can recognize objects placed on it. Using dynamic touch, infrared cameras, and physical objects, users can order food, browse photos, load their Zune with music, play games and a lot more. While it would be great to have one of these as the new coffee table in the house, Microsoft is targeting retail stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues with a price range of $5,000 to $10,000.

This technology has been around for a little while now being developed for custom applications for military, government, and corporate customers. Currently Microsoft has taken this technology and applied it to this new idea of a product. They are aiming for certain business consumers rather then regular consumers, but they will have regular consumers who will want to get their hands on this, it just really reminds me of the Minority Report. Check out the video link below it has some pretty funky features.

Link: Brightcove

It seems that Dell is going through with this, they will be offering Ubuntu on three specific models:

• Dell E520 Dimension
• Inspiron 1505
• XPS 410

You will have it preloaded with all the necessary productivity software. Also Dell said they will work with hardware providers to increase driver compatability with Ubuntu which is good for the public. Also this is bring some mainstream light on to Ubuntu which hopefully does some more good. They will be installing Ubuntu 7.04 “Fiesty Fawn” on the Dell machines.

Link: Engadget

I haven’t gone through my Ubuntu Book yet, but I am just skimming through it right now and there is a lot of useful information. The setup I have for the hardware is very simple and I want to install both Vista and Ubuntu on it. I think it has the hardware to support Vista, I’m just trying to figure out which one to install first. I would like to just go ahead with Ubuntu, but some people are telling me to install Vista first because it may become unstable and with the new improved Ubuntu they have improved the Dual Booter.

Also with this recent update it is more compatible with different hardware and has less issues, which is always an improvement. Every person I talk to is very happy with Ubuntu, so I’m betting this improvement just makes things easier. The new version is called Feisty Fawn which is pretty funny.

Link: Engadget

There are two things peaking my interest right now:

1. SSD Hard Drives, these hard drives are thin and lightning fast to access information on it. They are expensive for the larger sizes that we have come to be acustomed to but with time they will drop in price. From Q3 2007 and onwards many laptop manufacturers are integrating
2. Google Phone: I just keep hearing rumors about this phone, and where there is smoke there is fire. This phone is supposed to have all the Google apps integrated into it, and I’m hoping Google develops the main Operating system for it. I really enjoy using google applications and find them very useful so a phone made with Google Applications from A to Z would be great. From what little information is out there, they are saying it will be made by HTC, I just hope it won’t just be Google Apps running on Windows Mobile O/S. Whats good is that they seem to be concentrating on the software rather then the phone itseld, I hope they knock the iPhone off its high seat.

Link: GooglePhone

I really like this picture and how it depects all the Ipods over the years and the different ones that came out! They say its a success, I say thats an understatment! They made it into a trendy icon that an average computer user up to a technology savy user loves having them. Apple did something right!

Link: Engadget

There are a lot of options out there right now, and people are coming out with the second generation Blu-Ray and HD DVD players. I am seeing more Blu Ray titles being sold, but when it comes to quality both are pretty damn good. Samsung, Toshiba, LG, and other manufacturers are all trying to come out with the perfect player. Some concentrate so much on the new formats that they forget about the DVD format, but every year there are leaps and bounds in this technology. Things seems to be a lot clearer this year, but I still want to give it some time.

Most of my collection like everyone else is now DVDs, it was a lot easier to switch to DVDs since the quality and benefits over VHS were clear as day, but with two formats to choose from we don’t which camp we wan’t to be in or in both. They are also including these players and burners in PCs, so as it spreads in PCs it will be used more then before. I have to say that the quality of each format is nothing short of fantastic but I still want to keep my DVD collection and see how this goes.

This is one thing that is greatly needed in Kuwait, a robotic parking garage. A Parking lot that can store 24 cars normally can store up to 67 cars with this system. There other benefit is that this system helps those who don’t even know how to park. How many times have you gone to a parking lot in Kuwait and some people just can’t seem to park between the lines even though the space is twice the size of their car. So implementation of robotic parking and charging a good amount for it would be great, that way companies pay for the parking spots for their employees and all you have to do is leave it in one spot and the system parks it for you.

Link: Engadget

This is one hell of a cool small HDMI switch and its 1080p! And you can connect an Infrared connection to it which can be hid somewhere! The remote is small and has only two buttons. This machine is only currently available in Japan.

Link: Engadget

This is one of the coolest pieces of hardware that I have seen in a while! It increases your laptop signal by a huge amount! I have wanted something like this for a while, and it is relatively cheap going for $30.

It looks like its something that belongs to the military but I dont care it will do the job and probably make it easier to get signals from other access points which you usually can’t get. I know it will boost the signal but by how much I’m not sure, but its one formidable looking antenna. I hope they release it soon.

Link: Engadget.