Posted 06/10/09 at 04:12:48 PM by Paul Lilly

You've heard the cliché big things come in small packages, but what you've probably never heard of is stuffing 128GB of solid state storage capacity into a form factor so tiny you could swallow it, secret agent style. That's exactly what InnoDisk has done, who was showing off its aptly named nanoSSD at Computex.

Despite its small stature, the nanoSSD offers pretty impressive performance numbers with InnoDisk claiming read and write speeds of 150MB/s and 160MB/s, respectively. It can also withstand an accelerative force of 20g, and to prove it, InnoDisk had its nanoSSD hooked up to a custom, rapidly vibrating motherboard, which you can see here.

No word yet on price or availability.

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Posted 06/05/09 at 09:24:45 AM by Paul Lilly

Thanks in part to Intel's Atom platform, system builders are having an easier time designing fully-integrated PCs and a tapping into the increasingly popular all-in-one PC market. And that's exactly what Shuttle plans to do, if Computex is any indication.

Shuttle, most popular for its small form factor (SFF) PCs, had on display its upcoming X50 all-in-on PC. The new rig comes with a 15.6-inch 1336x768 widescreen display with touchscreen capabilities (the company was also showing smaller screen models), Intel's dual-core Atom 330 CPU and 945GC chipset combo, 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 160GB hard drive, a 1.3MP webcam, and a 4-in-1 card reader.

Fans of Shuttle's SFF rigs need not worry, however, as the company had on display several new SFF systems, including a pair that will tap into VIA's Nano processors.

See the full range and specs here.

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Posted 06/03/09 at 07:10:48 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Loud bellows can be heard at the ongoing Computex tradeshow in the Taiwanese capital. Nvidia is the one making all the noise with a bagful of Ion-based small form factor products. There are 21 Ion-based products being showcased at the event, including the Acer Desktop AspireRevo, Asus All-in-one eeeTop ET2002 and MSI All-in-one Windtop AE2201. Many of these products had not been heard of prior to Computex. The Ion platform has been at the receiving end of Intel’s contempt. But even Intel must be keenly observing the first wave of Ion-based products at Computex.

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Posted 06/03/09 at 09:47:14 AM by Paul Lilly

During a press conference at Computex, AMD gave the world's first official DirectX 11 GPU demonstration, saying the new API will debut before the end of 2009. When it does, AMD promised it would beat the competition to the punch and "deliver DirectX 11 first."

"Games and other applications are about to get a lot better as a result of AMD's new graphics hardware and DirectX 11," AMD stated in a press release. "DirectX 11 features such as tessellation will bring consumers higher quality, superior performing games making use of 6th generation AMD technology."

AMD also said its DX11-based videocards will improve Windows 7 performance in a wide number of applications and in a way that's "completely transparent to users," such as accelerating the conversion of video playback on portable media players.

Catch the full press release here.

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Posted 06/02/09 at 09:40:48 AM by Paul Lilly

At Computex today, Nvidia and its partners announced a dozen high-definition mobile internet devices (MIDs) built around the GPU maker's Tegra processor, the "world's smallest and lowest power computer-on-a-chip," according to Nvidia.

"The mobile computing revolution has arrived," stated Micheal Rayfield, general manger of mobile business at Nvidia. "These new Tegra-based products combine excellent Internet and media capabilities, always-on operation, and wireless connectivity for the un-tethered Internet experience consumers have been craving."

Not to be confused with MIDs as handheld devices (as Intel uses the term), Nvidia's MIDs include several Tegra-based netbooks and tablets. We'll let you be the judge on that one.

The Tegra platform brings several goodies to the table, including 25 days of music or 10-hours of 1080p video playback on a single charge, playing videogames at up to 46 frames per second, GPU accelerated Adobe Flash, and more.

According to Engadget, look for Tegra devices to start shipping by the end of the year for $200 or less.

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Posted 06/02/09 at 09:07:03 AM by Paul Lilly

We're still waiting for AMD to go gunning after Core i7, but in the meantime, the No. 2 chip maker announced plans to expand its Athlon and Phenom processor lines. The new chips include the Athlon II X2 250 and Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition.

Zipping along at 3.0GHz, the Athlon II X2 250 will take its place as the fastest Athlon processor in AMD's lineup. Other vitals include a 45nm manufacturing processor, 65W TDP, and an AM3 package allowing it to support both DDR2 and DDR3 memory. Perhaps best of all, the new chip is being priced at a budget-friendly $87.

As for the other processor, the Phenom II X2 550 BE will rank as the company's "fastest ever dual-core processor" clocked at 3.1GHz. It will come with an HT Link of 2.0GHz, a 7MB cache, and the same AM3 package as the aforementioned Athlon II. And it won't cost much more, either - look for a $103 price tag.

No word yet on a release date.

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Posted 06/01/09 at 09:51:10 AM by Paul Lilly

You'll have to look to Mars to spy the fastest desktop consumer graphics card in the galaxy, which is the name of the new GPU Asus is showing off at Computex. Instead of two semi-custom GPUs that sit "between" a GTX 260 and 280, the Asus Mars 295 Limited Edition stuffs two higher end GTX 285 chips -- the fastest single GPU in Nvidia's lineup -- into a single package.

All told, the new card boasts all 240 shader processors on each GPU, a full 512-bit GDDR3 memory interface, 32 memory chips for 4GB total (2GB accessible per GPU), and the same core/shader/memory clockspeeds as the GTX 285 (648/1476/2400 MHz). By comparison, a traditional GTX 295 sports 896MB of GDDR3 per GPU on a 448-bit memory bus with core/shader/memory clockspeeds checking in at 576/1242/2000 MHz.

According to TechPowerUp, the funky looking cooler uses the same basic internal construction as the reference design for GTX 295 cards, albeit extending "slightly higher."

No word on price or availability, but Asus did say it would limit the run to 1,000 individually numbered cards.

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Posted 05/26/09 at 08:15:46 AM by Paul Lilly

Starting in June, Shuttle plans to show off two new nettops at Computex as part of its Embedded Slim-series. Both systems -- XS92 and XS92F -- will be powered by VIA's Nano processors.

The XS92 will come equipped with VIA's L-series chips, specifically the L2100 (1.8GHz, 25W) and L2200 (1.6GHz, 17W). Meanwhile, the XS92F will trade a bit of performance for better power management by utilizing VIA's U-series. The U-series range in speed from 1GHz to 1.3GHz while sipping just 5W to 8W. Because of the super low power draw, the U-series boast a fanless, noise-free design.

Further details remain scarce, including release date and pricing information.

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