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| Google Chrome Beta is now available for the public to download |
2008-09-03 17:33:58 |
On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff - the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.
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| New Logitech Illuminated Keyboard Makes Typing Easy – Night or Day |
2008-09-03 17:33:50 |
To help you find the keyboard that best matches your needs – and style – Logitech (SWX:LOGN) (NASDAQ:LOGI) today introduced three new keyboards, including the Logitech® Illuminated Keyboard, which offers an optimized backlight experience, Logitech PerfectStroke™ key system and Logitech’s thinnest design ever. Also unveiled today, the Logitech® diNovo Keyboard for Notebooks is designed for laptop owners who use a notebook mouse to improve comfort and need a keyboard to complete their setup, while the Logitech® Cordless Desktop™ S520 offers a keyboard-and-mouse combination that matches a wide variety of computer setups.
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| NVIDIA announces native SLI for Intel X58 chipsets |
2008-08-29 12:40:17 |
It may not have produced quite the onslaught of news that Intel's recent Developer Forum did, but it looks like NVIDIA's NVISION08 conference was at least able to pull one big rabbit out of its hat, with NVIDIA itself dropping word that it's going to allow Intel's X58 chipset to natively support SLI. For those not following the ins and outs of the NVIDIA / Intel relationship, NVIDIA had previously said that it would let its nForce 200 chip to be implemented by board manufacturers to allow SLI support, but that idea never exactly caught on, leading to this new, more accommodating solution. As PC Perspective reports, the native SLI support will also be far from limited, with motherboards with as few as two PCIe x16 slots and as many as four PCIe x16 slots able to support an array of SLI configurations, including a 3-Way SLI with a fourth graphics card for a PhysX boost.
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| Microsoft Hardware teaser: 'Say Goodbye to Laser' |
2008-08-27 19:20:38 |
Microsoft Hardware, the unit that makes the company's mice and keyboards, has scheduled a Sept. 9 event in Seattle to unveil its latest product lineup. Today it launched an animation teasing a new product, with the tag line, "Say Goodbye to Laser."
The obvious guess is that it's a new mouse technology, maybe replacing the internal lasers currently used to determine the relative position of mice. But it could be something else entirely. Microsoft isn't offering any details. Does the shape of the logo provide any clues? I'm doing a little digging, and I'll update this post if I turn anything up.
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| Antec Takes a Step Toward DIY Notebook PCs |
2008-08-21 11:47:18 |
Antec said Tuesday that it is launching a series of standardized components for small channel vendors and system builders, with an eye toward true "whitebook" notebooks that could be built by just about anybody.
The new components, which interface to the MGM45WU and MGM45RM motherboards Intel launched in mid-July, use a motherboard standard called "Rich Creek 2," which provide standard interfaces for Antec's new keyboards, AC adapters, battery packs, and several components such as integral webcams and Bluetooth modules.
The motherboard spec builds on the "Common Building Block" specification Intel launched in 2006. Intel's CBB spec says that the hard disk drive, optical drive, LCD panel, battery pack, customizable notebook panel, power adapters and keyboards can be built on common components.
Although the dream is to allow enthusiasts to build notebooks as easily as they would build desktop PCs, "when that phase will happen, I couldn't tell you," David Forster, director of channel relations for Antec, said in an interview. Antec is "at the beginning" of a time in which smaller system builders can compete with the likes of Dell and other top-tier OEMs, he said.
Still, a number of components are now more readily available. Partner Chi Lin is providing LCD panels; Viewsonic has been rumored to be interested as well. System builders can buy the Rich Creek 2 motherboards directly from Intel, as well as the CPUs; one must be a system builder to buy one, however. Antec is working with a "handpicked" group of system builders, including ASI Corp.
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| Intel's Nehalem Processor Gets Turbo Boost |
2008-08-21 11:44:23 |
Intel's "Nehalem" will contain a technology called "turbo mode" that will dynamically reroute power to improve performance, an Intel executive said Tuesday.
An improved version of the turbo mode will also appear in the first mobile version of Nehalem, the Calpella platform, next year, executives said.
Nehalem is the flagship product of this year's Intel Developer Forum and most likely – for Intel, at least – 2009 in general. The desktop version of Nehalem, now renamed the Core i7, is the product of Intel's "tick tock" strategy, where a new process technology is introduced first, and then a new microarchitecture. Intel shifted to 45-nm process technologies last year, and this year it's time for the new microarchitecture, Nehalem, to be introduced.
For Pat Gelsinger, who leads Intel's Digital Enterprise Group, Nehalem represents the most dynamically scalable architecture in the industry. That appears to mean that Intel will be able to easily scale up and down clocks and threads, and add capabilities like graphics and other accelerators to future cores.
"The only records left to beat are our own," Gelsinger said.
Many aspects of Nehalem have alredy been announced, among them features like two to eight cores, a 4-instruction-wide ISA, and two-way simultaneous multithreading. Other notable additions include the QuickPath interconnect, with up to 25 Gbytes/s per link, and an integrated memory controller, following AMD into the market. In addition, there will be a new 8-Mbyte shared level 3 cache.
Here's Intel's Nehalem roadmap, as officially released by Intel: Nehalem's first server processor (codenamed "Nehalem-EP") will be first to production. Intel is also planning to manufacture a second server derivative designed for the expandable sever market ("Nehalem-EX"), the company said, and desktop ("Havendale" and "Lynnfield") and mobile ("Auburndale" and "Clarksfield") versions in the second half of 2009. The Calpella mobile platform will connect to the Auburndale and Clarksfield processors.
The Core i7 will ship sometime during the fourth quarter, although Intel isn't saying exactly when. It will be a four-core chip, capable of eight threads. Its clock speed and performance have not been disclosed.
Power management has been a key design attribute for Intel and other hardware manufacturers for a number of years, and Nehalem is no exception. Unfortunately, Intel declined to disclose the thermal design power of the new chip.
Turbo mode, however, will be an innovative feature that will span the new family and will be used in future processors as well, according to Rajesh Kumar, an Intel fellow and architecture of the new turbo mode feature. "We wanted to develop an entirely new process technology for power," Kumar said.
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| Intel announces Mainstream SSD drives |
2008-08-20 11:27:52 |
Intel has now formally announced its Mainstream series of SSD drives. Models will be available in 1.8- and 2.5-inch sizes, and rely on MLC (multi-level cell) NAND memory, which should in theory aid to keep prices down. One of the first examples is the 80GB X25-M, which is also Intel's first SATA-based SSD for notebook and desktop OEM builders.
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| New SATA Spec Will Double Data Transfer Speeds To 6 Gb/s |
2008-08-19 23:14:47 |
A new specification for the popular Serial ATA storage interface will double the maximum transfer speed from three to six gigabits per second (Gb/s). This will enable large amounts of data to be moved at even faster rates, a key advantage as end-users amass ever-increasing amounts of high-resolution photos, videos, music and other multimedia files.
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| Logitech reveals Cordless Desktop Wave Pro keyboard / mouse tandem |
2008-08-19 21:45:45 |
Logitech is now offering you its highest level of comfort with the introduction of the Logitech® Cordless Desktop® Wave Pro™ keyboard-and-mouse combination. The second-generation Logitech Cordless Desktop Wave Pro combines the field- and laboratory-tested comfort of the Logitech® Wave Keyboard™ with the exceptionally comfortable, rechargeable Logitech® MX™1100 Cordless Laser Mouse. If you're looking to upgrade your mouse only, a battery-powered version of the MX1100 mouse will be sold separately.
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| Everything You Need to Know About USB 3.0, Plus First Spliced Cable Photos |
2008-08-19 21:42:46 |
No doubt you’re familiar with the Universal Serial Bus – we ranked it as our top PC innovation of all time. But what do you know about the next version of this ubiquitous interface? USB 2.0 (otherwise known as USB Hi-Speed) boosted the original 12Mbps data rate to 480Mmb/s over eight years ago, and now USB 3.0 (dubbed USB Superspeed) is set to multiply that bandwidth tenfold. The USB Implementers Forum (led by Intel) released the USB 3.0 spec to hardware partners last week after some reported disputes with AMD and Nvidia (who, afraid Intel would have a jump start in incorporating the tech in chipsets, threatened to develop their own USB standard). But how does this affect you? We dug up some new information about USB 3.0, got our hands on the new connectors, and even took a look inside the new cables.
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| Next-Generation Intel PC Chips to Carry Intel Core Name |
2008-08-11 15:30:30 |
Intel Corporation announced today that desktop processors based on the company's upcoming new microarchitecture (codenamed "Nehalem") will be formally branded "Intel® Core™ processor." The first products in this new family of processors, including an "Extreme Edition" version, will carry an "i7" identifier and will be formally branded as "Intel® Core™ i7 processor." This is the first of several new identifiers to come as different products launch over the next year.
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| AMD's new 790GX chipset for gamers on a |
2008-08-07 21:58:33 |
The AMD 790GX chipset is here to give gamers an incredible experience with unprecedented graphics scalability and new performance tuning innovations. Featuring ATI Radeon™ HD 3300 graphics, get the best DirectX®10 gaming experience right out-of-the-box. With the addition of an applicable ATI Radeon graphics card, ATI Hybrid Graphics technology leverages powerful motherboard graphics to give your performance a boost. AMD 790GX is the only desktop platform that scales from the best motherboard graphics to high-performance ATI CrossFireX™ for multi-GPU gaming at maximum 3D resolutions. Unlock even higher AMD Phenom™ processor performance using new AMD 790GX performance-tuning innovations and AMD OverDrive™.
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| NVIDIA gets official with GeForce 9800 GT / 9800 GTX+ GPUs |
2008-08-04 10:25:57 |
The 9500 GT is the first desktop video card based on the G96 core. Currently manufactured in 65nm (55nm production will start later this year), PCI-Express 2.0 and OpenGL 2.1 support. You also get support for PureVideoHD which enables hardware decoding of VC-1 in addition to WMV and MPEG-2 HD. Memory wise, it is equipeed with 256MB or 512MB of DDR2 or GDDR3.
Here are the reference specs:
* Stream processors: 32
* Core clock: 550 MHz
* Shader clock: 1400 MHz
* Memory clock: 800 MHz
* Memory bus width: 128 bits
* Memory bandwidth: 25.6 GB/s
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| Hello AMD Socket G34 |
2008-08-04 10:22:01 |
AMD's 12-core and 8-core processors get a new home in 2010
AMD's newest roadmap reveals a major shift in early 2010: the company will once again overhaul its socket architecture to make way for DDR3 support.
The new socket, dubbed G34, will also ship with two new second-generation 45nm processors. The first of these processors, 8-core Sao Paolo, is described as a "twin native-quadcore Shanghai processor" by one AMD engineer. Shanghai, expected to ship late this year, is AMD's first 45nm shrink of the ill-fated Barcelona processor.
This past April, AMD guidance hinted at a 12-core behemoth of a processor. This CPU is now named Magny-Cours after the French town made famous by its Formula One French Grand Prix circuit.
Both of these new processors will feature four HyperTransport 3 interconnects, 12MB of L3 cache and 512KB L2 cache per core.
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| Microsoft's Midori -- a future without Windows |
2008-07-31 11:46:41 |
With the Internet increasingly taking on the role of the PC operating system and the growing prevalence of virtualization technologies, there will be a day when the Microsoft Windows client OS as it's been developed for the past 20-odd years becomes obsolete.
Microsoft seems to be preparing for that day with an incubation project code-named Midori, which seeks to create a componentized, non-Windows OS that will take advantage of technologies not available when Windows first was conceived, according to published reports.
Although Microsoft won't comment publicly on what Midori is, the company has confirmed that it exists.
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| NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Mainstream GPU |
2008-07-30 11:01:31 |
NVIDIA has introduced the PCIe 2.0-compatible GeForce 9500 GT which provides a 550MHz core clock, 1,400MHz shader clock, 32 stream processors, 800MHz memory clock, 256MB / 512MB of RAM and twin dual-link DVI ports. It's a solid buy for those okay with being a few steps behind, and HTPC builders will find the low power consumption, quiet operation and small size to be quite appealing.
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| Intel announces EP80579 system on a chip for MIDs and consumer electronics |
2008-07-25 00:57:02 |
Intel has just announced EP80579 Integrated Processor features a system on a chip design that integrate the Pentium M core with a Memory Controller Hub (MCH), I/O hub (ICH) and data path acceleration engines (among other things dependent upon model). Intel believes these new Integrated Architecture (IA) chips will simplify consumer electronics like set-top boxes and MIDs due to their consolidated design that will reduce incompatibility issues. Intel also says portable devices will benefit from the new processors' energy efficiency. Speeds run from 600MHz on up to 1.2GHz and all sport a 256KB L2 cache.
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| Western Digital intros 2.5-inch 10,000RPM VelociRaptor HDD |
2008-07-24 14:12:46 |
WD announced today the WD VelociRaptor(TM) 10,000 RPM enterprise SATA
hard drives in an enterprise-class 2.5-inch form factor for blade servers
and 1U and 2U rack servers. The newest WD VelociRaptor hard drive is built
for business-critical applications with enterprise-class mechanics and
packs up to 300 GB of capacity into the enterprise small form factor bays,
while consuming 35 percent less power than the previous-generation WD
Raptor(R) drive.
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| New Optimus Family Member |
2008-07-22 15:17:45 |
Optimus Pultius - a 15-keys addition to any keyboard. To be used with the Maximus or with any other non-display keyboard.
Optimus Pultius uses the same principles as Maximus, has the same display keys and the same set of ports on the back (using one instead of two additional USB hub slots).
Click here for more information. |
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| Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 Goes Live!! |
2008-07-22 15:11:06 |
The team is pleased to announce that Windows Home Server Power Pack 1 has been released to manufacturing (RTM) and is now available on the Microsoft Download Center!.
Please click here for more information. |
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| NVIDIA's GeForce 9700M / 9800M laptop GPUs get quasi-official |
2008-07-19 00:30:44 |
Nvidia releases new graphics cards for notebooks-end enthusiast: Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT / GTS and Nvidia GeForce 9800M GT / GTS / GTX promise 3D performance at the highest level but also greater energy efficiency.
Click here for more information. |
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| Toshiba's 9.5-mm thin laptop disk hits 400GB |
2008-07-17 00:43:32 |
Toshiba just bested its own 320GB hard drive with a 400GB offering in the same 9.5-mm height form factor favored by most thin laptops. That's as good as it gets unless you can track down Sammy's elusive 500GB Spinpoint M6. The MK4058GSX spins just 2 platters which means the disk sports an impressive 477Mbit/mm2 (308Gbpsi) areal density while consuming 20% less power (0.0015W/GB energy consumption efficiency) and 2dB less noise than its own 320GB predecessor. Rounding out the specs are a 12-ms average seek and 8MB cache. Toshiba also boosted the rest of its 9.5-mm, 2.5-inch, 3.0Gbps SATA disk lineup to 7,200rpm including the 320GB MK3254GSY. Mass production of the 400GB slab is expected to begin in September while the 7,200 HDDs will hit the market in August. No prices announced.
Click here for more information. |
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| Analog Devices bails on SoundMAX, PC audio |
2008-07-16 12:46:33 |
Analog Devices' SoundMAX line of audio codecs has been one of the more notable integrated audio options in PC motherboards for some time now. SoundMAX solutions have found their way into motherboards from Intel and Asus, among others, and have fared reasonably well in our testing. However, ADI hasn't quite managed to steal enough market share away from suppliers like Realtek to make a go of it, and now, the firm has decided to cease development of new PC audio codecs in order to focus on other markets.
Click here for more information. |
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| AOC's 22-inch 2230Fm HD3 display includes integrated media player |
2008-07-14 22:27:37 |
AOC has launched HD3 Display technology with their 2230Fm; a multi-functional high definition platform that provides powerful performance and the ultimate in digital flexibility. The 2230Fm is a true HD monitor, HD TV, digital picture frame and Multi-media player all rolled into a light, sleek 22" frame.
If you would like to know more about this product, please click here. |
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| Albatron Retrotechnology -"PCI" graphics alive and kickin' with GeForce® 8 Series GPUs! |
2008-07-14 22:02:16 |
Albatron Technology recently unveiled three new "PCI" graphics cards at Computex 2008. You read it right - "PCI" and not "PCI Express"! The PCI8600GT-256X, the PCI8500GT-256X and the PCI8400GS-256 are all VGAs that retrofit recent GeForce 8 Series graphics onto older PCI technology. These cards all offer a significant graphics boost along with dual monitor capabilities for an entire generation of integrated-graphics, PCI-only mainboards.
For more information, please visit Albatron . |
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| Pioneer develops 400GB 16 layer disc |
2008-07-14 14:00:46 |
Pioneer invented a disc structure that can reduce crosstalk from adjacent layers, resulting in a 16-layer optical disc that can playback high-quality signals from every layer. … Each of the layers can hold 25 GB of data, the equivalent of one singel Blu-ray disc layer.
Please click here for more information. |
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| Seagate Powers Next Generation Of Computing With Three New Hard Drives, Including World's First 1.5-Terabyte Desktop PC And Half |
2008-07-14 13:55:48 |
Seagate unveiled the industry’s first 1.5-terabyte desktop and half-terabyte notebook hard drives to meet explosive worldwide demand for digital-content storage in home and business environments.
The debut of the Barracuda® 7200.11 1.5TB hard drive, the eleventh generation of Seagate’s flagship drive for desktop PCs, marks the single largest capacity hard drive jump in the more than half-century history of hard drives – a half-terabyte increase from the previous highest capacity of 1TB, thanks to the capacity-boosting power of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology.
The Barracuda 7200.11 hard drive combines proven PMR technology, components and expert manufacturing to provide 1.5TB of reliable storage for mainstream desktop computers, workstations, desktop RAID, gaming and high-end PCs, and USB/FireWire/eSATA external storage.
Seagate’s new 2.5-inch half-terabyte 5400- and 7200-rpm drives – Momentus® 5400.6 and Momentus 7200.4 – deliver the best combination of capacity, mobility and durability for mainstream and high-performance notebook computers, external storage solutions, PCs and industrial applications requiring small form factor.
For more information, please click here. |
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| Intel to launch three Nehalem-based processors by the end of 4Q 08 |
2008-06-25 11:26:50 |
Intel plans to launch three Nehalem-based quad-core processors (Bloomfield) at the end of the fourth quarter this year targeting the company's new LGA1366 socket, according to sources at motherboard makers.
Although official model names have not yet been set, the CPUs are currently identified by the codenames XE, P1 and MS3 with core frequencies of 3.2GHz, 2.93GHz and 2.66GHz, respectively. All three have a TDP of 130W, 8MB L3 cache and will support simultaneous multi-threading (SMT) technology, the sources detailed
The company will also launch the X58 and ICH10 chipset combination in the fourth quarter to support these processors. The new platform is expected to increase performance by 15-30% compared to current generation products. The X58 chipset will adopt Intel's latest QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) architecture replacing its longstanding FSB design.
The new platform will also feature four PCI Express 8x slots and support AMD's Quad CrossFireX technology, however it is still unknown whether Intel will be able to license Nvidia's SLI technology too.
In other news, Intel has updated its processor schedule in will begin to phase out its Core 2 Extreme QX6850 and 6800 after July this year, the sources revealed. Additionally, the performance-level quad-core Q9550 and Q9650 will both phase out in the first quarter of 2009. Intel will leave its quad-core Yorkfield processors for the mainstream market and their life cycle will not end until the end of fourth quarter 2009.
Finally, Intel was originally planning to mass produce its dual-core Atom 330 processor in July, however, due to shortages of the single-core Atom 230, the company has postponed the launch to at least September this year, will release further planning in August, the sources said.
Intel declined the opportunity to respond to report saying it cannot comment on unannounced products. |
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| Firefox 3 Web browser is now out as free download |
2008-06-18 14:42:13 |
What’s New in Firefox 3:
The Web is all about innovation, and Firefox 3 sets the pace with dozens of new features to deliver a faster, more secure and customizable Web browsing experience for all.
User Experience. The enhancements to Firefox 3 provide the best possible browsing experience on the Web. The new Firefox 3 smart location bar, affectionately known as the “Awesome Bar,” learns as people use it, adapting to user preferences and offering better fitting matches over time. The Firefox 3 Library archives browsing history, bookmarks, and tags, where they can be easily searched and organized. One-click bookmarking and tagging make it easy to remember, search and organize Web sites. The new full-page zoom displays any part of a Web page, up close and readable, in seconds.
Performance. Firefox 3 is built on top of the powerful new Gecko 1.9 platform, resulting in a safer, easier to use and more personal product. Firefox 3 now uses less memory while it’s running, and its redesigned page rendering and layout engine means users see Web pages two to three times faster than Firefox 2.
Security. Firefox 3 raises the bar for security. The new malware and phishing protection helps protect from viruses, worms, trojans and spyware to keep people safe on the Web. Firefox 3’s one-click site ID information allows users to verify that a site is what it claims to be. Mozilla’s open source process leverages the experience of thousands of security experts around the globe.
Customization. Everyone uses the Web differently, and Firefox 3 lets users customize their browser with more than 5,000 add-ons. Firefox Add-ons allow users to manage tasks like participating in online auctions, uploading digital photos, seeing the weather forecasts, and listening to music, all from the convenience of the browser. The new Add-ons Manager helps users to find and install add-ons directly from the browser.
For more information about Mozilla Firefox 3 and how it delivers an easier, faster, and safer online experience, visit http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/features.
Mozilla Firefox 3 is available now for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems as a free download from http://www.getfirefox.com.
The release of Firefox 3 kicks off Download Day, the Mozilla community’s grassroots campaign to set a brand new Guinness World Record for the greatest number of software downloads in 24 hours. The worldwide community effort begins the minute Firefox 3 is released and will continue for a full day. For more information, please visit http://www.spreadfirefox.com/worldrecord/. |
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| AMD, NVIDIA to Create Second Open Host Controller For USB 3.0 |
2008-06-10 15:44:56 |
AMD and NVIDIA say Intel won't share its USB 3.0 open host controller specs
The USB 3.0 specification is expected to be out in 2009 and will significantly upgrade the bandwidth of the current USB 2.0 ports and products that all computer users are familiar with. The body responsible for the support and promotion of the USB specifications going back to USB 1.1 is the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF).
The USB-IF was founded by Intel in 1995 along with other industry players including Microsoft, HP, Texas Instruments, NEC and NXP Semiconductors. Currently, the USB-IF and its members are working to bring the USB 3.0 specification to market. USB 3.0 is also being called “PCI Express over cable” because the USB 3.0 specification uses intellectual property that was sourced from the PCI SIG. USB 3.0 will increase the bandwidth offered by USB 2.0 by 10 times with a data throughput of about 5 gigabits per second.
Despite the fact that much of the intellectual property behind the USB 3.0 specification wasn’t developed by Intel, AMD and NVIDIA both assert that Intel is keeping crucial information concerning the open host controller to itself. According to NVIDIA and AMD, Intel has working silicon, meaning the open host controller portion is mature and working, yet Intel is refusing to give the specifications to other processor and chipset makers.
AMD and NVIDIA say that by withholding the open host controller specifications that Intel is basically giving itself a market advantage of six to nine months because of the time lag between receiving the host controller specifications by other CPU and chipset makers and getting product to the marketplace.
An Intel source told News.com, “Intel only gives it [open host controller specifications] out once it's finished. And it's not finished. If it was mature enough to release, it would be released. If you have an incomplete spec and give it out to people, these people will build their chipsets and you'll end up with chipsets that are incompatible with devices. That's what (Intel) is trying to avoid."
The Intel source continued saying, “[Intel is] a little bit behind and that's what might be causing some of the resentment. You could take the opinion that Intel is giving stuff out for free and people are complaining because (Intel) isn't giving it out fast enough.”
If Intel feels that AMD and NVIDIA aren’t willing to do the hard work of developing the open host controller for USB 3.0 themselves, it may be very mistaken. AMD and NVIDIA say they are going to develop their own open host controller for USB 3.0. Both firms point out that developing a separate open host controller could very well mean incompatibilities between USB 3.0 controllers and products.
An AMD source told News.com, “We are starting development on it [open host controller] right now.” An NVIDIA source says the first meeting of the alternate open host controller specification is set for next week and adds, "We fully intend to productize this spec.”
Intel maintains that it is not withholding the specification and that it will provide the details for the open host controller when it is complete.
Intel is in hot water already for some of its business practices. The FTC announced last week that it will investigate whether Intel has abused its market position to stifle competition. |
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| New ASUS Eee PC Models Arrive for 2008 |
2008-06-04 14:54:38 |
With over one million Eee sub-notebooks sold to date, it’s safe to say that the Asus Eee is far more than the fad that many thought it would always bEee (that will be the last shameless pun, I promise.) For those of you playing at home, a million units since last October roughly comes out to 4000-ish units every single day. Go get ‘em Asus.
All those numbers aside, this year’s Computex has seemingly been one big stage for Asus, using the high profile convention to announce not only their Eee Box desktop PC using Intel’s Atom family of processors but also the next predicable step in the Eee mini-notebook evolution. While not a very well kept secret, only yesterday did Asus officially announce their Eee 901 and Eee 1000.
Starting with the smaller of the two notebooks, the 901 is primarily an updated version of the popular Eee 900. Of the listed changes to the series, the most notable is undoubtedly the inclusion of Intel’s new Atom processor. This new CPU from Intel is designed with low power consumption in mind and accordingly, Asus is making the lofty claim of up to 7.8 hours of usage. Taking a step back from excitement, it original Eee was seeing between 2 and 4 hours of battery life so a claim of 7.8 hours is huge.
Asus attributes this jump in battery life to what they are calling their “Super Hybrid Engine” that supposedly “provides three GUI modes to easily adjust CPU frequency, voltage, and LCD brightness to minimize system noise and power consumption to save up to 15% power consumption, or to maximize system performance according to individual needs.” This sounds great and we can’t wait to hopefully confirm these claims out on our own. That said, other changes in the 901 also include a slightly larger chassis that allows for a larger keyboard to be used while keeping the same 8.9” LCD screen of its precursor.
The Eee PC 901 comes with your choice of 20GB hard drive with Windows XP installed or 12GB drive with Linux.
While the 901 is all well and good, the real exciting news coming out of the Asus camp is that of the 1000 series of Eee PCs. Bringing a completely new design, the 1000 sports a larger 10” screen and the option of a solid state hard drive for all of you hard core road warriors out there. One other major point of interest of the Eee 1000 is that with the larger frame comes a larger keyboard. Using a keyboard that is 92 percent the size of those found on larger, regular form factor notebooks, using the Eee 1000 should provide a much more comfortable user experience.
According to our friends over at PC Perspective, the new lineup of Eee PCs offer WiMAX connectivity, bringing faster wireless internet to its users (whenever the infrastructure finally gets into place.)
While pricing has yet to be released, Engadget captured a photo of a pricing sheet. Take it for that it is as nothing is official yet.
Just released though from Asus are the final specs of each of the three new Eee models. All models come with at least a gig of RAM with the 1000 and 1000H coming with 2. All also include Draft n wireless (yes, it’s still not ratified) and a decently capable 1.3 Mega Pixel web camera. As we mentioned earlier, the 1000 comes equipped with an SSD and going by the spec sheet, it’s a 40 GB drive and interestingly enough, it’s loaded with Linux. Each model can be found in a variety colors as well.
As we said earlier, Asus has already had an exciting showing at Computex 2008 and it’s only just started. As excited as I was for the idea of the Eee, I was personally was not a believer once it finally started to hit store shelves and the pricing became stable. That said, and regardless of my opinion, you can’t argue with the sales figures (unless they are of the shady Vista variety). One million notebooks is a LOT of movement considering the brand has only been available for a little over 8 months.
With competition coming from practically every corner of the industry, the sub-notebook market has quickly become saturated but the benchmark so far has been the Eee. It will be interesting to see how Asus adapts once these other manufacturers start shipping their goods en masse. While I am still not completely sold on the Eee, I’m starting to like what I see more and more. I have been using a Dell D430 a lot lately and can certainly appreciate its mobility. For half the price, an Eee might not be that bad of an investment. We are looking forward to forming our own opinion on the latest offerings from Asus but until then, keep checking in for more Computex coverage.
Source: Techgage |
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| Windows 7 Multi-touch LCD Announced |
2008-06-04 13:55:07 |
Multi-touch is one of the big technology trends these days: Bill gates recently demonstrated a display integrating multi-touch at the recent D6 conference and unfortunately received little more than lukewarm feedback. Albatron is one of the first companies demonstrating what appears to be a production ready multi-touch device: Having played with the LCD at Computex, we have to say that we are impressed.
It is easy to overlook the truly exciting products at Computex due to the flood of rather common things at the show. After day one of the show, we found that the probably most stunning product on the show floor comes from Albatron. This motherboard and graphics maker may not be the first name that comes to you mind when you are thinking about LCD displays, but we have to admit that the company’s new LCDs reveal a whole new level of interactivity on your PC.
Imagine Apple’s iPhone display on a large scale: Albatron integrated sensors on both sides of the touchscreen display. Robert Doncevski, sales director at Albatron, demonstrated the screen and its features to us and as far as we could see, controlling an operating system is a breeze. You simply only use your fingers to start and close applications. Bill gates’ demonstration may have been rather underwhelming, but seeing a multi-touch LCD actually in front of us made it clear that this technology works much better than we expected. Playing around with Google Earth was a blast.
Albatron integrated the technology into a 22" LCD providing a resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels. According to Doncevski, multi-touch is not affected by typical touch-screen limitations. Screen sizes of 24" and above simply require a third sensor on top of the screen. That’s it.
You don’t have to have supernatural powers to predict that this display may become a huge hit when Windows 7 becomes available. At this time, the display works with the current crop of Windows XP users, while Vista is the default operating system.
Pricing and availability has not been announced, but we were told that physical price of this multi-touch screen is only 20% above a regular LCD. |
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| VIA's "Isaiah" Officially Launches as "Nano" |
2008-05-30 16:27:03 |
VIA hopes to take the fight to Intel with its Nano processors.
VIA's C7-M processor architecture has soldiered on for a number of years, but it's finally time for a chance. While the C7-M processors are relatively efficient and find homes in embedded products and notebooks like the HP 2133 Mini-Note, it's not exactly a performance powerhouse.
VIA hopes to change this with its Isaiah processor family which today is being officially launched as the Nano. The Nano is a 64-bit out-of-order processor design -- Intel's Atom is in-order to save power -- and is built on a 65 nanometer manufacturing process.
"VIA Nano processors represent the next generation of x86 technology, providing the fundamental building blocks for a new genre of optimized computing solutions," said VIA President and CEO Wenchi Chen. "‘Small is Beautiful’ is more than a design strategy; it’s our vision of where the PC market is heading and our new processors will help the market realize that dream."
The Nano will be available in both standard voltage (desktop) and ultra low voltage (notebook) SKUs to satisfy a large range of products. Standard voltage chips include the 1.8GHz Nano L2100 (25W) and 1.6Hz Nano L2200 (17W). The ultra low voltage lineup will consist of the 1.3GHz Nano U2300 (8W), 1.2GHz U2500 (6.8W), and the 1.0GHz U24000 (5W). All Nano processors include 1MB of L2 cache and an 800MHz FSB.
Preliminary benchmarks for the Nano have been quite favorable as previously reported. VIA's own supplied benchmarks also show that the Nano is quite a bit faster than the venerable C7-M.
However, the true test will be to see how the Nano stacks up to Intel's Atom processor. OEMs are flocking to Intel's latest mobile processor and the chip giant is expected to be in short supply until Q3 as a result. If VIA can match or exceed the performance of the Atom, the company might find itself in prime positioning to be a serious player in the mobile consumer market.
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| Samsung Set to Introduce 200MB/sec Read, 160MB/sec Write 256GB SSD |
2008-05-27 15:19:31 |
Samsung throws down the gauntlet when it comes to SSD performance
The solid state disk (SSD) market is really starting to heat up as more player enter the market and NAND flash memory/controller technology improves. A few weeks ago, Super Talent dazzled consumers with a new "budget" line of SSDs which offered surprisingly large storage capacities at relatively affordable levels.
Samsung today is taking tackling the opposite end of the pricing spectrum with its new 256GB SSDs which it plans to introduce later this year. Samsung's new SATA II SSD should obliterate the competition with read speeds of 200MB/sec and write speeds of an amazing 160MB/sec. This compares to 120MB/sec and 40MB/sec respectively for Super Talents latest SSDs. Even Mtron falls far behind Samsung's new 256GB SSD with read speeds of 120MB/sec and write speeds of 100MB/sec.
Most would take a gander that Samsung is using single-level cell (SLC) NAND chips to achieve these unheard of performance figures, however, the company instead settled on cheaper multi-level cell (MLC) NAND chips.
"With development of the 256GB SSD, the notebook PC is on the brink of a second stage of evolution," said Samsung Memory Marketing VP Jim Elliott. "This change is comparable to the evolution from the Sony Walkman to NAND memory-based MP3 players, representing an initial step in the shift to thinner, smaller SSD-based notebooks with significantly improved performance and more than ample storage."
Given the wide performance delta between Samsung's new 256GB SSD and lesser rivals, the drive will likely come to the market with a price tag that pushing into the multi-thousand dollar range. With a price tag that high, the SSD will likely be relegated to high-end business use and for consumer with plenty of money to burn.
However, as the technology matures, we can expect to see prices drop as we have seen with the offerings from Super Talent. And if Intel has anything to say about it, it will offer SSD performance that will rival all contenders and likely will use its girth to push pricing further down to “mere mortal” levels. |
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