A few days after Asus announced the world's first USB 3.0 /SATA 6.0 PCI-E card, ECS is also said to be ready to launch similar add-on cards. According to reports, it will release two separate PCI-E expansion cards, with one equipped with USB 3.0 and the other armed with SATA 6 Gb/s.
The USB 3.0 card features two ports on the rear panel. The SATA 6 Gb/s card on the other hand features one internal port and a lone eSATA 6 Gb/s connection. There is no word on the price or availability of the cards.
Samsung has announced a new breakthrough that could lead to mobile devices with greater storage space than before. The company says it has developed a new multi-chip memory package that is 40% thinner and lighter than a normal memory package. The 0.6mm-thick package is said to contain eight 30-nanometer NAND Flash chips.
The new package owes its lean figure to a “bare” die that is just half as thick as a conventional die. The ultra-thin package contains a “bare” die that is only 15 micrometers thick. This is quite an achievement on Samsung’s part as it has managed to overcome “the conventional technology limits of a chip's resistance to external pressure when under 30um in height.” Chips based on this new technology seem tailor-made for SSDs and mobile devices.
Asus has extended its O!Play HD media player family to include the Air HDP-R3, the first model in the series to feature WiFi connectivity and a multimedia card reader. Nothing else has changed apart from these two additions. The O! Play AIR HDP-R3, as the new media player model is called, features 802.11n WiFi, HDMI 1.3, a multimedia card reader, a USB 2.0 port, one eSATA/USB2.0 combo port and a RJ-45 LAN port. The Air HDP-R3 retains the aesthetics and the dimensions (181x125.3x47.7mm) of the original O! Play player - one without WiFi. The only departure from the original's design is in the form of the WiFi indicator on the player's front. Its price hasn't been revealed.
"It has been quite amazing to watch the global excitement build around Windows 7, especially during a tough economic climate. It was just a few short weeks ago that we learned about Windows 7 outselling the UK's "own" Harry Potter. In Japan, anxious PC users waited in line to be one of the first to get their hands on Windows 7," a clearly ecstatic Le Blanc wrote on the official Windows Team Blog.
According to NPD's weekly tracking service, Windows 7 software unit sales in the US surpassed VIstas by 234 percent during the first few days. However, revenue generated by Windows 7 sales was only 82 percent higher than Vista's during the tracking period. NPD imputed the rather lackluster revenue growth to the discounts offered on pre-sales and Microsoft's failure to plug the Ultimate version in a manner its due. Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade with an average selling price of $76 was the top-selling Windows 7 SKU during the week ending October 24, 2009.
The shortage of the 40nm ATI Radeon HD 5000 series is being blamed on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's inability to keep pace with the demand due to low yields. On the other hand, the dearth of 55nm GPUs is due to the fact that they no longer figure prominently in AMD’s plans.
The report further claims that AMD has delayed the shipment of “its ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5000 series (Manhattan) GPUs for notebooks to the first quarter of 2010 from the originally planned fourth quarter of 2009.”
According to a Digitimes report, Chou is confident that his company’s handset shipments and revenues will both grow sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2009. His confidence stems from the strong demand for the HTC HD2 phone. In fact, the demand is so strong that the handset maker is finding it difficult to keep up with it. Chou said that the HD2 will be available in North America in the first quarter of 2010.
No Adamo announcement can be complete without pitting the upcoming Dell ultraportable against Apple’s MacBook Air, a rival that also serves as a yardstick. Both our contestants weigh just over 3 lbs. While the Adamo XPS is thinner of the two and features 4GB memory compared to the Air’s 2GB, Apple’s ultraportable boasts more power and a longer battery life. Dell plans to have the Adamo XPS ready for action in time for the holidays.
OWC has introduced a quad-interface Blu-ray burner that uses a Pioneer BDR-205. You will never be short of options with the Mercury Pro 12x Blu-ray burner as it supports four different interfaces: FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA. It ships with a cable each four all the interfaces that it supports. It is capable of writing to BD-R media ( single or double layer) at 12x speed, BD-RE media at 2x speed, DVD±R at 16X, DVD±R DL at 8X, and CD-R at 40X. The Mercury Pro 12x Blu-ray burner can be yours for $350. The burner is also available along with Roxio's Toast 10 Titanium Pro for $450, though the bundle is only meant for Mac users.
The DRAM market slumped to a 15-year nadir last year. But it is now moving briskly on the road to recovery. According to DRAMeXchange, contract prices for 1Gb DDR2 and 1Gb DDR3 chips shot up by 15.7% and 10.9%, respectively, in the late part of October. Nanya Technology's vice president and spokesperson Pai Pei-Lin expects an encore from the DRAM market in November. He believes November will bring yet another double-digit rise in contract quotes for DRAM memory.
The Leo will reportedly combine a 45nm Phenom II series processor with either the 890FX or 890GX (RD890) northbridge and SB850 southbridge chipsets and an ATI Radeon HD 5000 series graphics card. This high-end desktop platform will also support AMD's upcoming six-core Thuban CPU, as per the report.
Moving on to the other platform, the sources said that the Dorado will bring together an Athlon II CPU, 880G (RS880P) northbridge and SB810 southbridge and HD 5000 series GPU. AMD refused to comment when contacted by Digitimes, saying that it cannot comment on unannounced products.
Sony Ericsson today published the specs and a video of the Xperia X10, its debut Android smartphone, which was hitherto known by its code name “Rachel”. It can be expected to be a guaranteed fixture on the list of the most powerful Android phones by the virtue of its 1GHz Snapdragon processor.
As for the software, the X10 will run Android 1.6 Donut. In addition to apps found on the Android Marketplace, apps for this phone will also be available through Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow arena service. The X10 will feature a 4-inch TFT touchscreen, an 8MP camera with LED flash, WiFi, A-GPS and 3G. The company is expected to release the X10 in the first quarter of 2010.
Exactly a week after the much anticipated launch of Windows 7, Canonical rolled out Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala). Although it may not have been as keenly awaited as Windows 7, Karmic Koala's launch was special for a particular demographic that romances Linux, and especially its subset that dotes on Ubuntu. But early adopters of the latest Ubuntu release are having a torrid time.
Excited users have been rewarded with a plethora of problems in exchange of their bravura and enthusiasm. Karmic Koala's poor handling of graphics drivers - blank and flickering screens are quite common - and its failure to install the latest 2.6.31 Linux kernel figure prominently on the list of flaws. Also, the latest version of Ubuntu is not too good at spotting hard drives, according to initial reports.
According to a poll on Ubuntuforums.org, more than one-third of about 1,500 people polled so far have encountered some major flaws. Users upgrading to 9.10 are experiencing more issues than those opting for a fresh install.
Technology purists may still swear by the ubiquitous DVD. It is probably a sense of nostalgia that usually deludes them when a much loved technology draws perilously close to the brink. But the writing surely has to be on the wall for the DVD if one of its biggest backers and beneficiaries is busy bracing for its demise.
Best Buy has announced a new deal with Sonic Solutions. It will use the latter's Roxio CinemaNow service to stream DVD titles to a wide range of internet-enabled devices, inlcluding Blu-ray players, TVs, PCs, smartphones, and personal media players. Users will be able to enjoy their favorite movies on a host of devices after they purchase them on DVD: pay once and watch on any device.
“All these guys — Best Buy, Blockbuster and Netflix — realize is that the era of the boxed DVD is about to end,” Creative Stratigies' president Tim Bajarin told the New York Times. The service is set to debut early next year.
According to Intel, the Trim attribute of the ATA Data Set Management Command "synchs the operating system's view of deleted files with those that are deleted, but not erased on the drive."
Trim helps the SSD identify unused blocks of data, thereby lending stability to the health and performance of the SSD. Intel said in the press release that 34nm X25-M 160GB owners can expect an improvement of around 40 percent in sequenstial write speeds with the firmware update, which amounts to write speeds of up to 100MB per second.
"Not only will Windows 7 users receive the performance enhancements of the Trim command, but so will our Windows XP and Vista users," said Pete Hazen, director of marketing, Intel NAND Solutions Group.
PS3 users will have to insert the disc into their console each time they wish to enjoy streaming content from Netflix's library. But this disc-popping ritual should only last until the two companies enable direct access to the service. "As a leading game console and Blu-ray disc player, bringing Netflix to the PS3 system is a real win for both Netflix members and PS3 system owners,"said Netflix CEO and co-founder Reed Hastings.
The MID, which reportedly runs Android 2.0 and features a 5-inch touchscreen, likes to be addressed as the Dell Streak. All that is known at this moment is that the Streak features a 5MP camera with dual LED flash, WiFi/Bluetooth/3G connectivity, a microSD slot, and a 1,300mAh battery.
HealthGuru.com publisher HealthGuru Media has raised $3.2 million in Series C funding, the company announced on Wednesday. The round was spearheaded by Castile Ventures with HealthGuru’s existing investor Village Ventures also pledging fresh funds.
The investment will help the company drive more traffic to its video-centric health website, which currently receives 2 million visitors a month. The site currently features more than 1,000 videos covering about 75 health conditions that are also distributed through Youtube and MySpace TV.
Fairly young visitors in the 13-24 age group account for almost half of its total visitors, although the content is tailored to the health needs of 18 to 40 year olds.
IBM is hoping its latest war cry can somehow pierce the din that Windows 7 seems to be generating. In September, the company struck a partnership with Canonical, the UK-based sponsor of Ubuntu, which resulted in the launch of an Ubuntu-based desktop bundle in Africa.
The cloud- and Ubuntu-based software package, which is part of IBM’s Smart Work Initiative, will soon be debuting in the States. The Ubuntu-based desktop package includes IBM’s free Lotus Symphony productivity suite and Lotus Notes, which is a business email and collaboration solution.
The IBM Client for Smart Work will only arrive in the U.S. in 2010 despite IBM positioning it to rival Windows 7 – on the brink of launch - in the enterprise market. It will be available both as a run-of-the-mill desktop and as a virtualized desktop.
"If a company is a 'Windows shop,' at some point it will need to evaluate the significant costs of migrating its base to Microsoft's next desktop," said Bob Picciano, General Manager, IBM Lotus Software. IBM and chums are clearly targeting those businesses that are not too keen on Windows 7.
The price of a fake security software program usually hovers between $30 and $100. But the hidden costs seem to be greater. Installing rogue security software can not only wreck the system but it also makes the owner vulnerable to identity theft. Deceptive ads linking to rogue software appear on both malicious and legit sites. Cybercriminals are also using search engine optimization (SEO) and social media tricks to ensnare even more people.
Have you installed SpywareGuard 2008, AntiVirus 2008, AntiVirus 2009, SpywareSecure, or XP AntiVirus yet? Don’t! They top the list of the most reported rogue security software.
Santa Clara-based chip maker Marvell has launched a new range of CPUs called ARMADA. Based on the ARM instruction set, the new processors will power “smartphones, smartbooks, consumer and embedded devices, and displays.”
The largest producer of ARM chips in the world claims its ARMADA chips will enable mobile devices to deliver PC-like performance. Support for Adobe Flash and Blu-ray functionality should also enable ARMADA-toting mobile devices to deliver a rich multimedia experience.
Based on their intended device segment, the new application processors fall into four different series: the ARMADA 100, 500, 600 and 1000. "Launch of the ARMADA family represents a watershed event in mobile computing,” said Marvell’s co-founder and VP, Ms. Weili Dai.
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