YeinJee's Asian blog

Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment

Personal Computers

Windows 7 Japanese anime mascot & commercial

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Microsoft has created an anime character, Nanami Madobe, voiced by popular voice actress Nana Mizuki – as mascot for the Window 7 operating system in Japan. Below is a Madobe’s commercial targeting D.I.Y. computer users…

It seems that the commercial will not be shown on TV, but on billboards and shop-displays at Akihabara electronic town, Tokyo’s famous geek district instead.

A limited number of bonus DVDs of the anime will be offer to customers who purchase a special version of Windows 7. Story via ANN.

Pikom PC Fair III (2009) – KLCC show girls

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Pikom PC Fair, Malaysia’s largest computer and IT event, is held thrice a year concurrently in various locations. Sharing some show girls (and a few guys) photos by Demon; taken from KL Convention Centre over the weekend…

PC Guru show girls at Pikom PC Fair III 2009, KLCC, Malaysia

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Dell Adamo – World’s thinnest laptop

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Dell Adamo thinnest laptop in the worldDell has released the Adamo – the world’s thinnest laptop – in the United States on March 17.

With a flat 0.65 inches (1.65 cm) thickness, the Adamo is thinner than Apple’s MacBook Air which has a max thickness of 0.76 inches (1.94 cm).

Adamo weighs more though (1.84 kg). MacBook Air weighs 1.36 kg instead, and looks sleeker to be frank.

The Adamo cost US$1999, which is more expensive than the MacBook Air ($1799). Not sure if it’s a good idea for Dell to compete with Apple in a premium laptop line. Apple’s customers are familiar with higher-end pricing, Dell is the opposite case instead.

Regardless, with tech development these days, there will be another thinnest laptop pretty soon. It won’t be a selling point when it happens too often. Quality and pricing still matter the most in the end.

Update March 2019 – A decade later. Dell discontinued the Adamo line in 2011, guess the venture was a complete failure. The record changed hands many times as expected. The current thinnest laptop is Acer’s Swift 7, its 2018 model has a max thickness of 0.35 inches (8.98 mm).

Computer mouse celebrates 40th birthday

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Computer mouse celebrates its 40th birthday this week. The device was invented by Douglas Engelbart and his team at Stanford Research Institute; it was introduced to the public in a demonstration on December 9, 1968 in San Francisco.

Picture of the first computer mouse
The 1968 wooden mouse (Image from Bootstrap Institute)

The basic fundamentals of the mouse we use today are about the same as the 1968 invention, but the usage of the mouse wasn’t popularised until more than a decade later since its first introduction. It seems like nobody is really sure though… on who came out with the nickname Mouse.

Personal thanks to Mr Engelbart and his team; computing experience wouldn’t be the same without these technology pioneers.

Apple MacBook Air – World’s thinnest laptop

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Apple has unveiled the MacBook Air – the world’s thinnest laptop – on January 15 at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco. The notebook has a thickness of 0.16 to 0.77 inches (0.4 to 1.94 cm).

Apple MacBook Air thinnest laptop in the world 2008

Despite its slimness, the MacBook Air has all the features of an entry-level laptop. There’s only one model, with 13.3-inch screen and 1.36 kg in weight. I presume it’s only available in one colour too.

One of the biggest issues with laptops (versus desktop computers) is overheating, and the problem usually gets bigger when the size gets smaller. Interesting to see how the MacBook Air handles that.

Regardless, it will cost someone US$1799 to be an owner of the world’s thinnest laptop. It’s not a lot more expensive than the standard MacBook though, so I guess Apple fans may find this tempting.

Update January 2018 – A decade later. The record has changed hands numerous times. Dell first broke it in 2009 with Adamo. And Acer’s Swift 7 is the current record holder (0.35 inches, or 8.98 mm). Later models of MacBook Air also became thinner but Apple never got the record back.