Loaded: Laptops on the cheap Video

Loaded: Laptops on the cheap Video Transcript

>> Dell is ready for back-to-school. Verizon launches FiOs to New Yorkers. And, Australia wants to check your iPod at the airport. It's Tuesday, July 29. I'm Natali Del Conte and it's time to get loaded. ^M00:00:11 [ Music ] ^M00:00:13

>> Dell launched a new line of desktops and laptops just in time for back-to-school. The desktops are kind of retro-looking. They are called the Hybrid Mini PC. They are environmentally-friendly since they are 80% smaller than standard desktops and said they consume 70% less power and can weigh 95% less packaging. They started just $499. The new line of laptop is in the Inspiron family. The Inspiron 13 starts at $699 and it's a 13-inch machine. You can see all the specs at Dell.com, but one of the things to note is the aesthetics of these new machines. I really like all the colors and shapes of the new line of Dell. Why let Apple have all of that. The Motion Pictures Association of America is finally being proactive rather than reactive about preventing movie piracy. According to Ars Technica, the MPAA is planning on launching a website that will direct users on how and where to legally download movies so that they are less tempted to rip them off. The unnamed site will let users search for film titles and provide them with information on where to buy movie tickets, rentals, DVDs, or downloads. This is far smarter than the MPAA's normal activities, which usually just involves waiting until people pirate movies and then suing them. The Washington Post wants to hear your prediction and you might even get paid for doing it. The newspaper has partnered with an online pooling service called Predictify to create a space where readers who can vote on potential outcomes of news stories. The site will allow companies to sponsor a poll where the most accurate participant will receive cash. It's rare to see all the new media coming together in a way that could potentially work well, and I think this is one of those examples. I think it's beneficial on both ends and that it could encourage readers to contribute thought out opinions to a targeted question in a specific way. Unlike your typical blog post that can often generate random reader comments on just about anything. The world's cheapest laptop is now for sale and it cost a $130. The catch is that you have to buy them in bulk from Chinese retailer, Alibaba. You have to buy at least a hundred units to get the low retail price. But if you do that, you get a machine that has a 7-inch screen, a 400 megahertz processor, 128 megs of RAM, and 1 gig of flash storage. It runs Linux. So this isn't the most powerful machine around, but you get what you pay for. Verizon launches FiOS TV Service in New York this week and I can tell you one person who is excited about it -- you are looking at her. FiOS is Verizon's fiberoptic internet TV and phone service. It's supposed to be super fast and reliable, which are two adjectives that I would not use to describe my Time Warner service. FiOS will be available to at least 3 million New York residents by the end of the year, but to start only 300,000 New Yorkers who will have access and guess what? -- I'm one of them. I'm gonna call and get it set up today and I will be twittering my progress, so follow along at the Twitter address on the screen. If you've got pirated music on your iPod, reconsider your vacation to Australia. That's because the Australian government is reportedly considering searching through traveler's iPods in airport screening in order to search for ripped music. Under this proposal, custom's officials would have the right to search your MP3 player for pirated music. And if they found an inordinate amount, they could fine you. But Duncan Riley of the Inquisitor raises a good question. How can you even tell pirated music on an iPod from legitimately purchased music -- random, and sloppy file names -- I don't know. That's just silly. I don't predict very much will come of this. Yahoo music is offering a refund to customers that purchased songs through their service. Just last week, the company announced that they would no longer offer DRM Software to play the songs that users had already purchased through the site. They're sticking with the service will be transferred to RealNetworks' Rhapsody while those who are not are pretty much [inaudible] by the end of September. Users will now get a refund for DRM songs purchases. Plus, Yahoo says that they are looking for a way to replace DRM-free purchases with DRM-free files of the same songs if they chose that over a refund. Now that is what I call good customer service. See Yahoo, you don't need Microsoft around to make good decisions. You're doing just fine on your own. OLED lights may become much more energy efficient. Thanks to a research project at the University of Michigan and Princeton. Researchers have found a way to release more energy out of OLEDs, which typically only emit 20% of the light that they generate. The new technology would produce 60% more light using a combination of an organic grid working in tandem with small micro lenses that guide the trapped light out of the devices. These lights are long way from hitting the market. But if and when they do, they could significantly reduce the amount of energy needs and carbon emission. Those are your headlines for today, but I will be back tomorrow with more. Thank you for watching. I'm Natali Del Conte with CNET TV and you've just been Loaded. ^M00:04:37 [ Music ]