Most new netbooks on sale are running the Windows 7 starter edition, but you can pay an extra about $80 to get it upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium version to stay away from those limitations. But the additional cost makes lots of netbook users unhappy.

Microsoft’s such move seems to squeeze netbook users to one corner, and may unintentionally urges netbook users to opt Linux, the free and open source OS. And some more Apple is also killing Hackintosh, which will also lead more to use Linux. Latest reports are predicting Linux netbooks could grab over 30% of the share of netbook sale, which isn’t a good news at all for MS. Read more at GeekWithLaptop

Protection One security panels allow you to have various detections such as gas leakages or any possible intrusion to sensitive areas in your home. Now these security panels are able to send text alerts to an iPhone with the eSecure app installed, once something suspicious detected.

The eSecure iPhone app also allows you to control your home security system remotely. Such as checking if it’s properly armed and disarm it to let cleaning clews in while you’re at work. Read more in the press release below.

Find out more ProtectionOne.com

Of course, the mobile version of the Photoshop is different from the full-fledged version. You could only carry out some simple tasks on your Android phones. But it should be more than sufficient for those who’d love to twist some photos before uploading them to Facebook for sharing.

The Android Photoshop mobile app allows you to crop, rotate, and color correct your photos with a touch of a finger only. It also includes features like soft focus and ability to convert your photos into black and white in just a click. The app also allows you to upload your photos to Photoshop.com and share them with your friends and you can also use the app to browse the Photoshop.com library which is where all your photos stored.

Photoshop mobile via geeky-gadgets

But rumors seem to tell that Apple would plan to have updates for their OS X Snow Leopard operating system, which the next release would not come with the support of Intel Atom processors. So if you’d proceed for an update of the Mac OS X on your netbook, the consequence could be your Hackintosh’d stop running.

Apple is about to release the updates for two versions of its Snow Leopard OSes, which are the 10.6.2 and 10.5.9. If you own a Hackintosh network, you’d better beware or not to proceed for an update. The OS X 10.6.2 is currently only available as a developer release, but testers have claimed that it’s not compatible with atom processors at all.

Apple’s attempt to kill Hackintosh netbooks could be true, and some more Apple iTablet could be on its way soon and need Apple to build a smooth path for it. Read more at Snow Leopard Updates will kill Hackintosh netbooks.

Apptizr is still in its Aplha version, and we’ve been invited to have a preview for the Alpha version of the Apptizr. To use Apptizr to locate the best iPhone applications for you, you must have an account with it. Once you’ve signed into your account, it first prompts you to fill up your interests and the application categories that you’re interested in such as games, utilities, music, social networking, communications etc.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll then be presented with a list of applications that match your interests. You can get the application directly from Apple App Store by clicking the Get It button or you can thumb it up for later consideration of purchase at the “My Apps” tab. And it also tracks those applications that you’ve purchased from Apple App store via Apptizr in the My Apps section, so you won’t mistakenly buy the same app again.

For TechChee readers: As mentioned you need an account to use Apptizr, CEO of Apptizr, Dave is kind enough to have given us an invite code TechCheeXX, which allows the first 50 people to sign up for an account at Apptizr.com. So, hurry up!

Find out more: Apptizr.com

Single Interface for all – The older version of AudialsOne was split into a number of tools including RadioTracker, TuneBite, and VideoRaptor which tracks audio, removes DRM and searches and downloads videos and MP3s from online video sites like YouTube respectively. The new AudialsOne 4 makes it much simpler by combining all these functions into a single interface.

A very brief look at the new interface presented by the AudialsOne 4 – it’s now divided into six tabs on top. The first tab is the Radio, where you can have AudialsOne 4 to select from over 30,000 Internet radio stations by genre, country of origin and radio station, and start recording cool music. And those audio files can be converted into the formats of your choice to suit the devices (e.g iPod Touch and iPhone) that you intend to play the downloaded/stripped music files on.

The second tab is where the search function is, which allows you to search musics and videos by titles and your favorite artists. And the AudialsOne 4 allows you to add in plugins that add more search capabilities over music sharing and social network sites. You can get to the AudialsOne forum to get a number of available plugins contributed by the forum users. I particularly like the search function that provides superb easiness to find any musics and videos over the Internet.

The third tab leads you to where you can create your own wish list and even load others’ wishlists from the community. The forth tab is where you can record music and video from any website or website that is on your browser screen. The fifth tab is leads you to where you can tune to listen and watch Podcasts and the last is a powerful converter that allows you to convert music and video files to various formats (MP4, H.264 and you name it) that suit a variety of gadgets including iPod Touch, iPhone, Sony PSP, Samsung, Nokia, SE etc.

Music cut perfectly – The very obvious improvement is AudialsOne 4 provides much better and near perfect music cut, compared to the old AudialsOne which usually had glitches at the end of the audio file.

HD video recording capability – One great feature of AudialsOne 4 is to record HD movies and videos and save them in your desired formats. This allows you to keep copies of films rented from online movie stores. This is similar to the old days where your dad and mum simply taped those video tapes in the analogue way and now AudialOne 4 just does it in digital and much simpler way.

The AudialsOne 4 can be downloaded from AudialsOne.com. The freeware version needs no registration or activation, but those functions available in the full version are only available in the free version for limited time. To have the full version, you need the license key which costs you $60, At AudialsOne store.

AudialsOne 4 as Giveaway at TechChee.com Fortunately, we’ve got three license keys for the full version as giveaway here. All you need to do is subscribe to our RSS feed and leave a comment below. Please make sure you leave a valid email in the subscription form below. And three of you will be chosen at random from the comments. This giveaway will be closed once all the three license keys have been given out. For those who did not win a license key, you can use the coupon code AudialsOne4 to get a 20% discount when buying AudialsOne 4 online.

But unfortunately, the first release of the Blackra1n got problems which those who downloaded it didn’t manage to use it to jailbreak any iPhone or iPod Touch with firmware 3.1.2. Finally, GeoHot has released the RC2 of the Blackra1n, which has got a few fixes and it should be able to kick off your jail break on iPhone with firmware 3.1.2.

The RC2 includes the fixes of the 3G signal issues, Icy software, and added with a Tethered jailbreak for 3.1 OOTB iPod Touch 8GB and new 3GS. And it’s been made available for both Mac and Windows.

Get Blackra1n via gadgetlite

The Microsoft tool allows you to create a bootable installer using the downloaded install files on a USB flash drive or USB HDD that has sufficient capacity. The tool is currently available on Microsoft online store for download and purchase.

via everythingusb

Agile Messenger is what you need to get connected to all your friends on all the mentioned IM networks while you’re on the run. It’s been available for a number of mobile platforms including Windows Mobile, Apple iPhone, Symbian platforms and now is also available for the Android devices.

If you’ve got hold of any one of the recently mentioned Android smart phones, you can now get the Agile IM to let you stay connected with all your friends over all the IM networks. The Agile IM for Android has a 30-trial version, which you can download from AgileMobile.com

So, you’ll be immediately alerted that the emails from your big boss have arrived. The MailTone app needs you to have all your emails to be forwarded to the MailTones server, where it marks each email by the tone you’ve preset. The MailTones has 25 different tones which you can use to mark different groups of emails.

And of course, using tones to differentiate emails will take you some time to get accustomed to which tone belongs to which group of emails. It’s definitely handy, instead of the boring single tone, now you have many tones, so you can be made aware of important emails without needing to keep checking the iPhone.

MailTones via thegadgeteer

How amazing is that, iPhone has been made to act as various utilities in life. And one cool feature of the Viper Smart Start is, your iPhone and the module do not need to be in line of sight. The communication between the two are via the cellular network.

The Viper Smart Start app is free to be downloaded onto your iPhone. In order to get your car iPhone-ready, what you need is to invest $300 for the module to be installed in your car. Oops! I’ve missed something, the Viper Smart Start app is free for the first year only, and you’ll be charged for $30 yearly fee hereafter.

via walyou

Apple also stuffed the iPhone FM radio app with iTunes purchases, so Apple can make more money from the users. You can track down songs that you’re listening on a radio station and buy them from the iTunes Mobile store if you like them. This features allows only users in the USA and the radio stations should support tagging in order for songs to be tracked. At the time of writing, the iPhone FM radio app is not yet known for its launch date.

via unwiredview

Japanese FreeBit has announced the Serversman Cloud storage application for Windows Mobile phones. The Cloud storage app allows Windows mobile phones to publish and share data via the Internet and data can then be accessed in the phone using a web browser.

At serversman.com, users will get an account for uploading, sharing and downloading various contents including documents, music, videos, spreadsheets, presentations etc. Serversman has also got a web service that supports various mash-ups pulling or sharing content from it. Read more in the press release below:

TOKYO, JAPAN–October 6, 2009 — FreeBit Co., Ltd. (TOKYO: 3843) today announced ServersMan(R)@Windows Mobile 2.1?, a new cloud storage application for Windows Mobile phones. The app is now available for downloading free of charge on Microsoft Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which started operating today.

ServersMan@Windows Mobile 2.1? provides a true cloud storage service in a compact configuration. The app enables users to share and publish data in a Windows Mobile phone via the Internet, accessing the data in the phone directly via Web browsers.

“ServersMan is an innovative and popular Apple iPhone app.” said Atsuki Ishida, FreeBit President and CEO. “Finally, Windows Marketplace for Mobile has opened. To obtain ServersMan, people simply search for and select this app on Marketplace. Additionally, ServersMan supports Windows Mobile phone in the English language and has a sharing function, which is a great new feature. I’m very excited to announce the worldwide availability of this app for Windows Mobile phone users.”

ServersMan@Windows Mobile 2.1? focuses on sharing data safely via the Internet. Users select the data to share and select“Send”in the menu list to hash a URL. “Customers asked us to provide a way to share data with a limited number of people. Hash URL is the answer. I believe this will be very useful,” said Noriaki Misawa, manager of the ServersMan products and strategic design center.

Users log in their own cloud storage in a Windows Mobile phone at serversman.com to upload, download and share data like documents, spreadsheets, presentations, movies, music, and other content. In addition, ServersMan has a web server service that supports mash-up. By starting up ServersMan, people can access web pages on a phone by using specific URLs.

Users need only install ServersMan and complete the easy registration process. FreeBit assigns an IPv6 global address to each ServersMan. Any type of connection is acceptable because FreeBit’s Cloud Switch technology automatically switches between Local IP and Global IP.

To use ServersMan@Windows Mobile 2.1?, Windows Mobile 6.0/6.1/6.5 (Professional or Classic) is required. This software is also available for downloading from ServersMan.com.

Service page: Serversman

A new GPS application for Sony PSP was demonstrated by Zenrin at CEATEC 09. The Zenrin GSP app for PSP allows the map view in 2D mode but it automatically switches into 3D mode when arriving to a complex intersection to provide detailed models of the surrounding and a clear path. The PSP GPS app may also be useful for kids to easily find their way home by simply using the PSP in their hands. Or it could be helpful too for tourists who’re game addicts.

via ubergizmo

Most laptop users will have worries about their laptops getting stolen, especially when they’re just a couple of steps away from their laptops. But now you can make use of an old USB flash drive as the laptop security alarm, which makes sounds when the laptop is being detached or taken away from its original position.

The secret behind is by installing the LAlarm security alarm software on your laptop. Have an old USB flash drive fastened with with a strap, plug the USB flash drive into your laptop’s USB port, and then fasten the strap to a table as shown in the few pictures below.

Fasten a strap to a USB flash drive

Fasten the strap to a table

Plug the USB drive into the USB port of the laptop

When you wanna walk away to the loo, simply press the Windows logo key and L key together to lock the laptop. So when someone pulls the laptop away, it’ll sound an alarm that is loud enough to get you quickly come back from the loo.

The LAlarm even instantly locks your laptop while it’s connected to a power outlet which you do not need a USB flash drive in this case.

The LAlarm security software also comes with a number of cool features including allowing you to recover and destroy data when your laptop has fallen into the hands of the thieve. It also has a number of other alarming functions including battery alarm (when battery is low), disk alarm (when the drive needs a repair), and is even capable of sending alert to your mobile phone using SMS or email.

For Business user: Buy online, $50, LAlarm (Free for personal use)

LAlarm product page

But unfortunately, the Bionic Eye Augmented reality app is pulling information from the POI (Point Of Interest) database instead of one for the spaceship environment. The POI database provides local information including the nearest restaurant, WiFi hotspots, trainstations, hotels and many other categories. This application should be best used for a tourist who is completely new to a city.

The current database has over 100,000 entries which covers various cities in the United States and also in the UK, Tokyo and France, making it quite a cool app for those who live in one of those cities. The data is pulled from POI database which is less than 1KM away from the user. The app also makes use of the iPhone 3GS’ built-in compass which lets it put the data on the camera feed correctly.

For iPhone models without built-in compass are still able to use this app. But only you don’t get the camera view. Instead, you’ll get Google Maps to wander around. The app is now available on iTunes for $1 only.

Buy online, Bionic Eye Augmented Reality App, $1

via gadgetvenue

In short, the Pioneer AVIC Feeds is just a companion app which needs to work with any one of the in-dash GPS units mentioned above. The app would be useful for the passengers to use an iPhone to help read the directions for the driver. So the driver could always keep the eyes on the wheels instead of having to read locations and directions from the in-dash GPS unit.

The destinations on this free iPhone app are synced with the in-dash GPS unit using Bluetooth. The app has three means of marking places, which are manual keyword search, which brings up selectable pins; allows photo-taking of current position and creating geotag data and extracting geotags from existing photos. Locations can be saved to the dash unit as contacts

AVIC feeds on iTunes via electronista

The TabToolKit app is especially handy for guitar players on the run, who can simply make use of an iPhone or iPod Touch to view tablature files, play and learn along.

The TabToolKit app also allows the users to view Power Tab, Guitar Pro, text and PDF files. (Power Tab and Guitar Pro are the software which guitar players use to edit tabs (tablature files) and MIDI.)

The TabToolKit iPhone app also comes with built-in synthesis engine which allows the user to hear the music played by instruments. This helps a lot for beginners in learning new music. The app also includes instrument guide for beginners to easily learn finger placements on a guitar fretboard or keyboard.

Similarly to other iPhone musical instrument apps, the TabToolKit can make use of the WiFi connectivity of your iPhone to upload and download the tablature files to and from a computer. Watch TabToolKit in action in the videos below:

TabToolkit Intro from John Berry on Vimeo.

TabToolkit Instruments Sampler from John Berry on Vimeo.

Source: Agile Partners – TabToolKit Preview

The ITG xpPhone is now available as pre-order for the public and it comes with impressive features and housed in a manly aluminum case. The ITG xpPhone is unlocked, should be giving no restriction to use in any networks. But the ITG website seems to need you to choose what network prior to ordering.

Specs at a glance of this cool Windows XP cellphone are as follows:

via gadgetlite

The C64 emulator app costs you only $4.99 and comes included with 5 games, which are Dragons den, Le Mans, Jupiter Lander, Arctic Shipwreck, and Jack attack. More games will be coming and sold separately for the price of $0.99 to $1.99 each. Video below shows the C64 emulator for iPhone in action.

Buy online, iTunes, $4.99

via geeky-gadgets touch arcade