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Have you ever particularly worried about what your computer smells like? As long as it doesn't smell like smoke or burning plastic, I've been pretty content with the “factory” odor that just about every new piece of hardware comes with. That's not enough for some, it seems, who want a machine that is pleasing to the nose as well as pleasing to the touch.

Asus is going after them, with the introduction of the F6V-C1 line of laptops. The machines come in a variety of colors and designs, intending to be aesthetically pleasing. On top of that, each color of the laptop comes with its own smell as well, ranging from “Grass” to “Cologne” to “Flower” and more.

The laptops are fairly compact, though certainly not as small as the Eee line, and boast modest hardware to accompany their look and smell. You can read more in the press release.

Microsoft has just posted their advance notification for next week’s Patch Tuesday, which will include four critical fixes that deal with remote code execution exploits in several software packages. Among the affected software is Windows Media Player 11, Windows Media Encoder, Microsoft Office and various components and versions of the Windows operating system.

Starting next month, the software giant will make a major shift in its security strategy. The company plans to unveil a new exploitability index to rank vulnerabilities based on the likelihood of someone developing working exploit code for them in order to help system administrators prioritize the patches. In addition, Microsoft plans to share detailed vulnerability information with security vendors before the public announcement so as to enable them to develop signatures and filters prior to Patch Tuesday.

LG has revealed more details regarding the launch of its Netflix-enabled LG BD300 Blu-ray disc player that was announced earlier this year. The device will be available from retailers in October for $400, which falls in line with the original company claim of “under $500” and also matches the price of a PlayStation 3 console.

The BD300 offers all of the features you’d expect on a new Blu-ray player, including Profile 2.0 for BD Live functionality, Dolby TrueHD and Digital Plus audio formats support. In addition, it will play 12,000 Netflix movies and TV episodes provided that you are a subscriber – albeit streaming is done in “near DVD-quality,” depending on the speed of your Internet connection.

The appeal of this particular device is of course in getting Blu-ray and Netflix movies in the same place, but at that price I’d rather buy a PS3 to get Blu-ray and gaming from a single device. I guess it’s a matter of preference. Keep in mind, though, that at least one company is already working to bring Netflix support (and a handful of online video services) to Sony’s console.

Intel is set to release a six-core processor within less than two weeks, according to Cnet sources at server vendors. The new 45nm chip is Intel’s first foray beyond four cores and also the first multi-core design from the company to have a monolithic design – meaning all six cores will be on a single die.

Previously codenamed Dunnington, the new server chip should start shipping on September 15 as the Xeon 7400 series, featuring 16MB of shared L3 cache and is expected to be socket compatible with the Xeon 7300. The design is the last of the Penryn-class before the company moves to its Nehalem architecture later this year, which will adopt the company’s new Core i7 branding.

DVRs save relationships: study @ Reuters
Where the hot IT jobs are going to be @ InfoWorld
Explosives Get Greener, Cheaper @ DailyTech
10 Amazing Google Earth Add-Ons @ PC World
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Five years ago in TechSpot:
Decline expected in the game-console market

Even the largest supporter of Blu-ray, Sony, has admitted that it is the end of the road for optical technology. At the same time they also claimed it would be around for years to come, providing plenty of capacity and versatility for quite a while. Given how long CDs and DVDs are lasting, you might assume that to be 10 or even 15 years. Maybe even more.

Not Samsung, they have a much gloomier picture of Blu-ray. They are also members of the Blu-ray disc association along with Sony, and concur that it's the last optical technology around. Where they differ from Sony is in how long Blu-ray will last. They claim it may have as little as five years. Even if it does manage to survive five years, Samsung thinks that it “definitely” doesn't have 10 left in it.

Some of the cited reasons include increased distribution of high-def content over the Internet, hardware pricing and more. It's interesting when even two big supporters of Blu-ray predict its downfall in the near future.

Google Chrome has certainly made a powerful first impression. Though the overall picture painted has been one of incompleteness, it has apparently proved interesting enough for many to try it out. So many, in fact, that according to some statistics gatherers it is already beating Opera in terms of numbers, taking in a little over 2.6% market share.

Other trackers disagree with those numbers, putting the amount of Chrome users a little under 1.5%. Others don't even have data available yet.

These are definitely skewed perspectives. The browser is only a few days old, so many people may just be test driving it and don't plan on keeping it. Further, that's only two datasets. Other sites may differ. It definitely shows that Google's advertising methods, which include word-of-mouth, are working to their advantage. What I'd really like to see is download figures straight from Google – which I'm sure they are capable of providing.

The so-called $100 laptop from the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative is about to get a much-needed boost, with Amazon getting ready to ship the XO starting in November. It’ll be sold as part of the “Give One, Get One” program, meaning that buyers will need to purchase two XOs – one for themselves and a second machine that will be donated by the charity to a kid in the developing world.

The program is expected to become available via the online retailer around the time of Thanksgiving in the U.S. and should extend through the end of December. In related news, a dual-boot XP and Sugar OS XO will be shipping in the “next month or so.”

If you've bought an Nvidia-based card in the past three years (and who hasn't?) you've probably noticed the dozens upon dozens of different “brand names” that vendors will give to the cards. Nvidia's resellers have been a strong point for them in the past, but now not so much. It seems that Nvidia is tiring of so many different brand names on the market for the same type of card, and as such as planning to cut off many partners.

In particular, they are dropping “smaller” partners, seeking to make the market for their cards less diluted. It's easy to see the advantage there. You won't be faced with 25 different iterations of the same GPU when looking to buy, and it would make different cards easier to compare, relatively. But how large will the difference be? Nvidia didn't say, nor did they say which partners were getting the axe.

As expected, Dell today officially unveiled its own netbook offering, the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. There aren't many surprises, as previous leaks have pretty much revealed all of the system’s features and design, but it’s still exciting to see a major player offer a decent alternative to the current crop of low-cost laptops.

The new device features an Intel Atom Diamondville processor with 512MB/1GB RAM, 4/8/16GB SSD options, webcam, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a bright 8.9-inch glossy LED display. In addition, Dell has teamed up with Box.net to offer web-based file storage and sharing to users of the Inspiron Mini 9, including a free Basic plan with 2GB of remote storage space.

Only the Windows XP version is available now for $399 (or $449 fully spec’d), but the $349 Ubuntu flavor should be just a few weeks away. Also, if you can wait until 6 a.m. tomorrow, you’ll be able to get a Mini for just $99 with the purchase of a Studio 15, XPS M1530 or XPS M1330 through 6 a.m. September 9.

Sony is recalling 440,000 Vaio notebook computers around the globe following several reports of them overheating. The recall concerns 19 Vaio models in the TZ series manufactured since May 2007 and at least one person has suffered a minor burn as a result of the latest defect.

According to the company, the problem is related to irregularly positioned wires near the computer's hinge and/or a dislodged screw inside the hinge, which can cause a short circuit and overheating. The company has issued a recall of 73,000 Sony Vaio TZ-series notebook computers in the U.S. alone, with the rest being recalled in 47 other countries. Vaio customers are advised to visit a special support webpage and follow the instructions to determine if their notebook is one of the affected units – though strangely the site doesn’t seem to be working as of this writing.

Sony is certainly no stranger to product recalls. Over the past couple of years Toshiba and other laptop manufacturers have been affected by Sony’s bad portable batteries, with over five million batteries being eventually recalled at a cost to Sony of more than $430 million.

What was originally meant to be a regional price cut for the Xbox 360 has extended to the United States, where the console enjoys its widest adoption. With this, the Xbox 360 Arcade bundle will now be sold for $199, or $50 less than the Nintendo Wii, which is still seasonally hard to get. This also makes the Xbox 360 the cheapest console of the current generation, go figure.

The standard Xbox 360 will now cost $299, and the Xbox 360 Elite bundle has been set at $399, the same price of Sony's PlayStation 3 base bundle in this market.

Even though the Xbox Arcade bundle doesn't carry a hard drive, industry analysts say once a console breaks the $200 psychological barrier, the system is set for massive adoption. With Xbox Live becoming an ever more important monetization tool for Microsoft, the software giant is certainly hoping its console to become the next PS2, which saw millions of sales after the eventual price drop.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to watch how Sony and Nintendo play their positions come the holiday season.

With online gaming being as competitive as it is these days, you will no doubt want to take advantage of every opportunity available (short of cheating) to gain an edge over your online foes. Today we are taking a look at five gaming mice that aim to do just that.

Meet the cream of the crop: from Logitech, the G5 and G9 mice. Microsoft is represented by the Sidewinder and Habu mice, while Razer rounds out the group with the Lachesis gaming mouse.

Considering it would be nearly impossible to cover all options we have gone with the usual suspects which usually carry the best ergonomics and sensor technology available at any given time.

Read the complete review.

Google's release of Chrome has been received with mixed reviews, some praising the search giant’s attempt and others pointing out obvious flaws. The security issues aside, it is beta software and some leeway must be given to Google because of this. One area where there isn't any wiggle room, though, is the EULA. A particular section of it has caused many in the community to protest against Chrome, as it seems that Google is claiming default ownership of anything you submit into the browser. This could include your own pictures you upload to sites, written works, et cetera.

That was apparently not Google's intent, and the claim itself would have been ridiculous. Google realized what had occurred and claims the license was solely the “stock” option they use on other services, picked for simplicity. As a result they will be revising that section of the license for Chrome. The retroactive change has already been applied, which has caused the phrasing of the license to change. The change is significant, now much friendlier, saying that any content you own remains yours.

This will certainly put the minds of those who were upset by the license wording at ease.

The Best Gaming Mouse: Logitech vs. Razer vs. Microsoft shoot-out @ TechSpot
The 20 Most Trafficked Web Sites--Then And Now @ Forbes.com
Apple confirms September 9 Special Event: "Let's Rock" @ Ars Technica
10 Challenging but awesome CSS techniques @ Nettuts
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Five years ago in TechSpot:
Teen charged in worm attack says case is inflated