You’d probably have heard by now that Apple has opened pre orders for their new iPad touchscreen tablets. But if they’re not good enough for you, why don’t you try this delicious diamond studded iPad?

Made by Mervis Diamonds, this beauty comes with 11.43 carats of G/H VS2/SI1 diamonds, 64GB storage, 3G, and looks like this: (hi res)

If you can afford it and want an iPad that’s subtly different from the others, then you should order it right away. After all, it’s only $19,999…

Compare that with Apple’s price chart:

Here’s what the text on the official site has to say:

This gorgeous diamond studded iPad features 11.43 carats of diamonds, hand-set in a micro-pave styling. The diamonds are graded G/H in color and VS2/SI1 in clarity. The iPad features 64 GB of memory and is 3G enabled.

Price tag: $19,999.

Very limited quantities available. Orders will be available June 1..

Click here for the official site.

With the upcoming release of Apple’s new iPad, including a model that ships with only Wifi and no 3G, one could expect (or at least hope) that the iPad could share an iPhone’s 3G connection via tethering. But apparently that is not the case.

Swedish DJ Jezper Söderlund shot Steve Jobs an email asking him if this would be possible.

He said

Will the wifi-only version somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?

Two devices, based on the same OS, with already built-in technology to share one data plan suggests a secondary contract could possibly be redundant.

From the look of your keynote, where the iPad sits well between my MacBook Pro and my iPhone, I was hoping the three of them could interact as seamless as possible.

And Steve Jobs’ answer?

No.

Sent from my iPhone

Got the latest NVidia card driver from the website and you’re experiencing poor performance with it? Roll back to your old driver at once.

NVidia pulls 196.75 Driver because it fries cards

Watch out – NVidia’s latest driver update to their graphics card lineup isn’t working quite as expected. The latest driver from NVidia, the 196.75 doesn’t seem to be performing as it should be.

After installing the update, you would probably have noticed that performance is a lot slower that usual. And if you’d opened up your cabinet and touched your card, it probably would have fried your fingers off.

Why?

Because the latest NVIdia driver fails to work the automatic fan controller. As a result of this failure, the chip overheats to extreme temperatures, causing very poor performance, and in some cases, death (of the card).

As a precautionary measure, NVidia has pulled the driver from the website, and we hope they’ll release a new one soon.

But till then, downgrade your drivers to an older version, lest your graphics card melts!

So you’re probably not very excited about Apple’s new iPad, with it’s DRM restrictions and it’s lack of multitasking.
But if you want something more full featured than Apple’s offering, look no further than this Chinese iPad imitation – running Windows 7.

To be honest, the only thing that makes this an iPad “imitation” is the fact that the case somewhat resembles an iPad.

The iPad that Wasn’t

Q What is the Shenzhen?
A TESO’s new netbook without a keyboard

…for that’s what it is. Take netbook guts out and stuff it into an iPad-esque frame, and you have an “iPad Clone” that can run Windows and multitask.

Better than the iPad

Indeed, it is. Here are the features:

• Processor Atom N450 at 1.66GHz
• RAM 1GB DDR2
• Storage 320GB hard drive (no SSD)
• Screen 10.1″ 1024×600 display, Multitouch
• 3 USB ports, Card reader, VGA out (NO ethernet)
• 3G modem, can use to make phone calls
• GPS
• 3000MAh battery
• …and and accelerometer

Which means, unlike the iPad, which is slightly less powerful than the average netbook, this Chinese tablet sure looks much better than the iPad itself (of course, it can’t run iPhone apps, but who’s complaining?)

Also, unlike the iPad, it hasn’t got Apple’s hardware design, and has a FAN to keep things cool. But I’d still choose the Shenzhen. What about you?

It’s not out yet, but as soon as it hits the market, we’ll let you know. Stay tuned!

[From Liliputing]

Apple is famous for it’s AppStore, and even more famous for all the completely unfair app rejections. But this one is clearly the worst of the lot, showing what a terrible sport Apple is.

[image from here]

Apple Rejects App that Mentions “Android”

Flash of Genius is an app developed by a tiny mobile software company, and it helps students prepare for competitive exams. Their app “Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab” first came out on the iPhone, and then appeared in the Android marketplace at the end of last year.

The App was then named as a finalist in Google’s Android Developer Challenge, and the developers of the app tried to mention this simple fact in the App’s description.

In a blog post entitled “Apple vs. Google, featuring Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab“, the developers have posted the email they received from Apple, which says “During our review of your application, we found that your application contains inappropriate or irrelevant platform information in the Application Description and/or Release Notes sections.”

The email also says: “Providing future platform compatibility plans or other general platform references are not relevant in the context of the iPhone App Store.”

And then they demand that the changes are made, else the app would not be allowed in: ” While your application has not been rejected, it would be appropriate to remove “Finalist in Google’s Android Developer’s Challenge!” from the Application Description.

Please log into iTunes Connect to make appropriate changes to the Application Description now to avoid an interruption in the availability of Flash of Genius: SAT Vocab 2.2 on the iPhone App Store.”

All you Apple fanboys out there, here’s something for you to gloat about to your PC-using friends.

Anders Norman from Sweden had his house catch fire recently, and all his belongings were completely gutted.
Imagine then his surprise when he found that his Mac worked flawlessly after being “burned alive”, so to speak.

“Unfortunately, the whole house and all things in there completely destroyed, so even the iMac.
What’s funny is that it is still in operation. While damaged from smoke and dust and partially melted, but yet, however in operation.

After I plugged in the burned power cord and wiped off the worst dust from the screen I pressed the melted start button.
Imagine my surprise when the startup sound sings from the speakers! The screen turns on and the machine connects to the wireless network.

The mouse works flawlessly and the scroll wheel as well.
Firefox starts and I take up the article from the local magazine about the fire … Fantastic!

On Friday I bought a new iMac at the Apple Store here in Umeå, which I now rejoice.”

Anders has even taken photographs of his proud Mac with Firefox displaying a local news article about the fire:

Keys completely melted, mouse gutted, still works

There are apparently no problems whatsoever with his Mac, even after being burned in a pretty hot fire!

Click here to visit the original article for more pictures and info

[via engadget]

Last month came rumours of Google releasing a phone and launching a VOIP telecom service.

More recently, Google distributed amongst it’s employees an Android 2.1 phone, whose name later came to be known as the Nexus One.

Nexus One Technical Specifications

Now, Engadget has acquired the specifications for the Nexus One, displayed below:

• Size 119 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm
• Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz
• RAM 512MB
• Storage 4GB SD card, expandable upto 32GB, 512MB internal memory
• Battery 1400Mah Removable
• Camera 5 Megapixel, mechanical autofocus, 2x digital zoom, LED flash
• Wifi 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
• A2DP stereo Bluetooth
• AGPS receiver – photo geotagging
• Cell tower, Wifi positioning
• Digital Compass
• Accelerometer
• 3.7″ WVGA Amoled touchscreen
• Tricolour, clickable trackball
• Proximity and light detectors
• Operating system Android 2.0 Eclair

The specs sure beat most others in the market, and has an SD card slot and a removable battery, things that the iPhone doesn’t have.

According to Engadget, the phone will be available from the 5th of January, on an invite-only-basis.

Apart from the fact that Google will be handing out the invites, not much else is known, though it will probably be sold with T-mobile to the public at a later stage.