Um, okay? Just days after Apple introduced its exceedingly underwhelming iPad while simultaneously attempting to convince that masses that said product was the portable gaming device they had been waiting their whole lives for, Sony’s own hardware marketing honcho has come forward and extolled Cupertino’s decision to finally make the gaming leap. In a recent interview, John stated the following:

“Apple’s entrance into the portable gaming space has been a net positive for Sony. When people want a deeper, richer console, they start playing on a PSP.”

While we can’t seem to shake the suspicion that Mr. Koller is drawing links that probably don’t exist (at least fully) in reality, research firm NPD does show that sales of the PSP have “nearly tripled since the iPhone went on sale in June 2007.” Of course, it’s not like the PSP has gained functionality, become the home of more than a few killer titles and spawned a UMD-less sibling since the heydays of ’07, but hey – who are we to question the suit?

WareGround IT News: Sony’s John Koller: Apple’s entrance into gaming market drives consumers to PSP

Do you hate Apple news? Are you so bothered by stories about the Cupertino-based company that you feel the need to comment on each and every story about how bothered by stories about the Cupertino-based company you are? Do you lay awake at night, cold sweat beading down your forehead, dreading the morning when you’ll potentially see your favorite tech site writing about a new Apple product? Do you believe that Apple is 100 percent evil in every way? Well we’re here to help.

Due to the overwhelming demand of 16 commenters, we present to you the Apple-free Engadget! Yes – read all the hot news happening in the tech world without the upsetting presence of Apple-related stories. Your dream is a reality… so now you’ll have to find something else to complain about!

WareGround IT News: Do you hate Apple news?

Panasonic is nothing like shy about pushing out a plethora of compacts, but while it was talking up specs for the new Lumix F-series of compact cameras back at CES, we’ve just now got some prices and a release date to chew on. The FH1 (12 megapixel, 720p video) goes for $160, FH3 (14.1 megapixel, 720p) is $180, and the FH20 (14.1 megapixel, 720p) is $200. In slim land, the FP1 (12 megapixel) hits at $150 and the FP3 (14.1 megapixel, 720p) is $230. Finally, some killer value can be found in the bulkier F3, which does 12.1 megapixels and 720p video for a mere $130, and the barebones 10.1 megapixel F2. All of the cameras should be out in mid-February.

WareGround IT News: Panasonic clamps down prices, release window for latest F-series line of compact cameras

This either proves the point that BMWs are expensive enough for now or the company is trying to aggressively hold the line on pricing for existing models. 2011 pricing and equipment for the complete BMW North American model range has been released, and the company is adding a revised Value Package and keeping prices the same. New models, such as the 2011 5 Series with which we scooted about in Portugal, will see some attendant bottom-line juggling, but the base MSRP for your dream 3 Series remains the same, even if you choose the updated coupe and convertible models.

The biggest news is that the single-turbo N55 is muscling the twin-huffer N54 out of some Bayerische engine bays. 135s, 335s, 535s, the 535i Gran Turismo and X6 xDrive35i all get the new single-turbo N55 between the fenders. The N54 still appears in the Z4, new 335is and the 740i, as well as some others.

There’s new package deals going on as well. 1 and 3 Series vehicles get a new Value Package, building on the popularity of the no-cost iPod interface and leather seat upgrade BMW has been offering. The 335 model misses out, however, as this is a 128-, 135- or 328-only affair. Don’t fret, as there’s a new Convenience Package, too. Costing between $1,000 and $2,350, the Convenience Package is different depending on the car, but it’s again a 1 and 3 Series upgrade. The package includes an alarm system, Comfort Access, some flavor of PDC, sunshades and, sometimes, xenon headlamps.

WareGround IT News: BMW announces pricing for 2011 range, 3 Series MSRP unchanged

Plus, few dates about the Office 2010 and next office suite seep out

While we’re happily enjoying the latest Windows 7 operating system, Microsoft is said to have planned the Windows 8 already. Chris Green, assumed to be a Microsoft ex-employee, uploaded a .pdf document that carried details about product support life cycles on his blog. Obviously, the document has been removed from that place but Hexus.net managed to grab the document and posted a screen grab of important details.

Back in November 2009, we reported that Windows 8 is scheduled to arrive in 2012 as per Microsoft’s roadmap. Now, as per the PDF document uploaded by Green, estimated product support life cycles of Windows 8 suggests that the operating system may arrive in July next year. That’s less than two years from the launch of Windows 7 Operating system. Past Windows OS dates obviously match with their respective timeline of announcements.

The document also shells some information about the Office 2010 suite’s RTM (release to manufacture) build is dated to arrive in or before July this year. Following that, Office 2012 is listed to arrive in July 2012. Sounds exciting, eh? We took a closer look at the document and found this statement written at the end of it – This information is provided as guide only and is likely to contain errors.

Hence, we believe that Windows 8 is most likely to arrive in 2012 and not next year to continue the 2 yearly OS release cycle.

WareGround IT News: Microsoft Windows 8 Info Leaked

Are you ready for more cores?

With both AMD and Intel already floating quad-core CPUs on the market, it’s only natural for them to dial things up a bit bigger by adding 50 percent more cores.

According to a report from Digitimes, who sources its friends at Taiwanese motherboard companies, Intel will be rolling out its six-core desktop “Gulftown” processors at the end of March. The six-core Nehalem-based chip will supposedly be named the Core i7-980X and will be priced in the four-digit range.

In response, AMD will launch the six-core “Thuban” 45nm chips as Phenom II X6 1075T, 1055T and 1035T models sometime in May.

As always, take these reports with a grain of salt – but it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing six-core CPUs sometime before the summer.

WareGround IT News: AMD, Intel Plotting Six-Core CPU Releases

Announced for the Korean market, the SPF-800P a 8” (800×480) LED backlight Digital picture frame with now its big brother the SPF-1000P, a 10” (1024×600) version. Sold at 19800 Yen for the 800P and 24800 Yen for the 1000P, both features 2GB of internal memory, Bluetooth, SD, SDHC USB port…

The main advantage for this 2 Digital picture frame is the possibility to listen to Mp3 wirelessly (Bluetooth) if you happen to own a pair of Bluetooth headphones.

WareGround IT News: Samsung SPF-800P and SPF-1000P now heading to Japan as well

Well, here we go again. Apple might have stolen all the headlines yesterday with the iPad, but as we’ve already noted, that name has been in dispute since September – and it doesn’t look like Fujitsu, which has been selling its own iPad since 2002, is going to back down. “It’s our understanding that the name is ours,” Fujitsu PR director Masahiro Yamane told the New York Times. Maybe, but it’s not quite that simple. Here’s the deal: Fujitsu applied for the “iPad” mark in 2003, specifically covering handheld devices used in retail. (The Fujitsu iPad is a $2,000 Windows CE point-of-sale device.) Along the way, the application got bogged down because a company called Mag-Tek had already registered IPAD for its line of PIN-entry keypads, and Fujitsu’s application was listed as “abandoned” in April of 2009. The notice of abandonment apparently woke someone at Fujitsu up, because the company then asked the Trademark Office to re-open the application, arguing that Mag-Tek’s IPAD had nothing to do with the Fujitsu iPad. The USPTO agreed, re-opened the application, and the process continued until September, when the iPad application was published so other trademark holders could oppose registration. That’s when Apple signaled that it wasn’t so happy about things – and filed its own “iPad” trademark application using a shell company called “IP Application Development.”

Phew – still with us? That leaves us at now, with Mag-Tek selling the IPAD under a valid, registered trademark, Fujitsu selling an iPad with a pending trademark application, and Apple sucking all the air out of the room with the launch of the iPad and no US trademark at all. We’ll be honest: we’d always simply discounted rumors Apple would call it the iPad, because this is kind of a mess. Apple can’t just take “iPad” from Fujitsu because it really wants the name – it’s likely going to have to argue that “iPad” is confusingly similar to “iPod,” while still trying to register “iPad” on its own and telling the Trademark Office that it won’t be confusing to people looking for the Mag-Tek device, or the Siemens “iPad” motor trademark, or potentially even Coconut Grove’s trademarked iPad bras. Of course, all these problems can be solved with the direct application of cash and some nice ambient media attention, so it’s likely we’ll see some friendly joint PR from Apple and Fujitsu along with an agreement to share the name sometime before Apple’s formal opposition is due on February 28. That’s pretty much what happened when Apple bit the “iPhone” name from Cisco, anyway. But still – why can’t Apple ever learn to have these conversations ahead of time?

WareGround IT News: Apple and Fujitsu inevitably caught up in iPad trademark dispute

Just announced today, DMX-CG110 NR is SANYO’s first model in the Xacti series that is created with their new goal of being the choice of even wider range of consumers in mind and the “handy formats for daily use” motto as their guiding principle.

Being as such, you may wonder what appealing features it has to offer to be the One for you. It is a dual-camera making it possible for you to shoot both Full HD videos and HD still photos, to start with. As a camera with video recording function, it boasts 12x “Double-Range Zoom” which enables you to switch between zoom ranges with the touch of a button. It uses MPEG-4 AVC/ H. 264 format for videos as it is convenient for usage in PC and internet environments.

As to its function to capture still images, it boasts 14.4 MP high speed CMOS sensor. Once you purchase separately sold “Eye-Fi Share card” and “Eye-Fi Share Video card”, images or videos can also be automatically uploaded to your PC.

Other features also include, 16 GB of internal memory, Windows 7 compatibility and SDXC memory card support (up to 64 GB), AV out, HDMI/ Composit Video port (support for NTSC/PAL), USB 2.0 port (with high speed mode support). It is lightweight (around 176 gr with battery and SD card; around 159 gr without) and compact 85.7 (W)×37.4(D)×110.3 (H)mm.

It will be available in the end of February and in two colors (Black and Red).

WareGround IT News: Sanyo’s new Xacti series Full HD Dual Camera DMX-CG110 NR, strong candidate to win the hearts of the masses

As you may know, the latest graphics card by AMD is the Radeon HD 5670 which was unveiled on January 14. And it comes with 512 MB capacity. The R5670-PMD1G is msi’s custom PCB (printed circuit board) based for the most part on AMD’s HD 5670 graphics card. However, compared with AMD, above all, msi offers better capacity, GDDR5 SDRAM 1GB and also features SSC (solid-state chokes).

Some other features include PCI Express 2.1 x 16, DirectX11, OpenGL3 and OpenCL APU support, HDMI support, HDCP capable, DVI Dual-link, Blu-ray and HD DVD support.

It is now available in Japan for about 12,800 Yen.

WareGround IT News: Msi Radeon HD 5670 R5670-PMD1G graphics card now available in Japan