You might’ve heard that crazy rumor making the rounds that Microsoft leaked the Windows 7 beta on purpose to build some positive buzz, and while there’s no real evidence (or likelihood) of that of any sort, the seemingly-magical build 7000 is certainly doing well for itself. Following up on wide praise for the fledgling OS, ZDNet‘s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes pitted the beta up against XP and Vista in some informal "real-word" tasks like boot up, shut down, file maneuvers, installations and other common tasks. On both test systems, an AMD Phenom 9700 setup and an Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2200 number (with ATI and NVIDIA graphics, respectively), the Windows 7 install soundly bested XP and Vista task by task, with few exceptions. Performance testing is never an exact science, but it’s clear that Microsoft is taking performance very seriously this time around — we can’t wait for the next conveniently-leaked beta to bolster this rep even further. Next on the benchmarking agenda? Real World: Brooklyn tasks.

Chinavasion’s latest piece of steaming trash is actually very un-trash-like, as it thoughtfully meshes a number of in-car technologies into one single cigarette adapter doodad. The Plug-In Car MP4 Player with LCD Display manages to bundle an MP4 / MP3 player, 1.5-inch LCD and 4GB of memory into a device that plugs neatly into your car’s cigarette adapter, and the inclusion of an FM transmitter means that you won’t even need to bring your own DAP to get tunes flowing in the car. Moreover, the SD card slot enables even more jams to be loaded on if you’re embarking on a serious road trip, and the USB socket makes PC-to-whatchamacallit transfers a cinch. We’re truly impressed with just how awe-inspiring this thing is for €21.57 ($29); too bad we don’t trust the quality one bit.

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PMA may be but a few months off, but that’s not stopping Kodak from dropping a few show-stoppers here at CES. Up first is the Z980 megazoom ($399.95; Spring 2009 availability), which offers up a 26-millimeter wide angle lens with a mind-boggling 24x image stabilized optical zoom. You’ll also find a 12-megapixel sensor, a vertical shutter release, HD video capture and a detachable vertical grip. On deck is the March-bound EasyShare M380 point-and-shoot ($179), a 10-megapixeler with a 5x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD monitor and your choice of black, red, or teal color schemes. Finally, we’ve got a few new SDHC cards from the outfit, with 4GB, 8GB and 16GB variations coming soon for undisclosed amounts. Full release is just past the break.

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Lenovo’s just announced their newest desktop – the IdeaCentre A600 – for all to wonder at. This puppy’s got a 21.5-inch (1920×1080) HD panel with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and the PC packs a choice of Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, optional ATI Radeon graphics, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and an up to 1TB hard drive. Optional to the system is a remote control which can also be used as a game controller, a VOIP handset to make and receive calls, and as an air mouse — that’s a lot of functions! The A600 is expected to roll out in March with a starting price of $999. Check out the full press release after the break.  (more…)