IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 09/01/2009

Nokia ends production of its only WiMAX device
Vaguely suggesting that WiMAX will sooner or later get the short end of the stick and lose to LTE (Long-Term Evolution) the battler for becoming the next thing in wireless technology, Nokia has decided to stop making the N810 tablet, the only WiMAX-enabled device in its offer.

While Nokia said the end in production was necessary as the N810 has reached the end of its lifecycle, the Finnish company has yet to announce an updated version or any indication that it is currently planning a new WiMAX mobile device, although it didn't say it's done with WiMAX either.

AMD announces the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series cards
Expected for quite a bit, the mobile-friendly Radeon HD 4000 family of GPUs has now been officially introduced by AMD. All built using 55nm process technology and based on the well-known desktop parts, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4800, HD 4600 and HD 4500 GPUs have support for DirectX 10.1 and will provide users a home theatre-quality HD multimedia experience, without forgetting about gaming performance or battery life. According to AMD, the first GDDR5 mobile GPU, the HD 4870, delivers 1.8 times the performance of its predecessors and, since it features CrossFireX support, it is set on blowing every other mobile solution out of the water.

Ready to take on Nvidia's recently-introduced GeForce 100M cards, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 range will make its debut this quarter in notebooks coming from Asus, MSI and other manufacturers.

Palm announces webOS and the 'Pre' smartphone
Just as previously predicted, Palm took the spotlight at CES to introduce two things, a new platform codenamed Nova and the first smartphone to make use of it. Officially named webOS, Palm new mobile platform is said to be the first to automatically deliver information to the user, no matter where he/she is, in an integrated way and without being bound to a PC. Designed exclusively for mobile use, webOS includes a feature called Synergy which enables the device to provide such things like linked contacts, layered calendars, combined messaging, web-connected applications and intuitive and unobtrusive notifications, all via a multi-touch interface.

Since webOS doesn't have to look good only on paper, Palm has also announced the 'Pre' webOS smartphone which can be seen below and includes a 31.-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 320x480 pixels, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, a 3 megapixel camera with an LED flash, plus EVDO Rev. A or UMTS HSDPA connectivity backed by WiFi and Bluetooth.

The upcoming phone also comes with a GPS, an accelerometer, 8GB of built-in memory (about 7.4GB to be available to the user), a MicroUSB connector and a 3.5mm jack, all in a package measuring 59.57 (W) x 100.53 (L, closed) x 16.95 (D) mm and weighting in about 135 grams.

The Pre will make its debut in the US exclusively from Sprint during this first half of 2009. No word on pricing yet.

Kingston intros low latency triple channel DDR3-2000 kits
Kingston Technology has just updated its memory offer for Core i7 systems by releasing two new HyperX-branded kits. Coming in 3 and 6GB flavors, the triple channel 'ultra-low latency' kits feature modules cooled off by blue T1 heatspreaders that can go all the way up to 2000 MHz with 8-8-8-24 timings and just 1.65V.

"Kingston is following up its first-to-market 2GHz triple-channel kits released in October 2008 with a second generation 2GHz HyperX kit that gives gaming enthusiasts and benchmarking teams even more headroom to go further," said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston. "The new ultra low latency triple channel kits take maximum advantage of the T1 heatspreadersأ¢آ€آ™ HyperX Thermal Xchange (HTX) technology to optimize system functionality at 1.65 volts in Core i7 based motherboards designed for extreme performance."

Backed by a lifetime warranty, the new HyperX T1 3 and 6GB memory kits are priced at $297 and $469.

EVGA unveils their GTX 285 and 295s
In a just about synchronous dual news post on the EVGA web site they announced the release of their new graphics cards based on Nvidia's GTX 285 and 295 designs.

The two cards are very impressive pieces of hardware boasting some of the highest top of the line product and capabilities on the market with features that would make any geek drool. The features of each card are as follows.

GTX 285:

1GB of onboard DDR3 Memory

Dual DVI-I and HDMI 1.3a

2nd Generation Unified Shader Architecture

NVIDIA PhysX

Full DX10 Support

NVIDIA CUDA Technology

2nd Generation Purevideo HD

GTX 295:

1792MB of onboard DDR3 Memory

Dual DVI-I and HDMI 1.3a

2nd Generation Unified Shader Architecture

NVIDIA PhysX

Full DX10 Support

NVIDIA CUDA Technology

2nd Generation Purevideo HD

Info on EVGA's GTX 285 is available here while the $509.99 GTX 295 can be found here.

CoolerMaster to offer "Gaming" cases
Not one to be left in the dust by the other big names in PC cooling and case designs, CoolerMaster recently announced that they have a new product line planned for 2009 that will be marketed to gamers.

The new "CoolerMaster Storm" (CM Storm for short) is being endorsed by pro gamers and even overclocker teams worldwide. While CoolerMaster is no stranger to high end products for computers and even gaming, the new product line looks incredible.

Features look to include cable organization, fan speed controllers, top side USB ports and basically anything that any peripheral nut (like a gamer) would drool over.

Check out CoolerMaster's new line at CMStorm.com.

MSI to release slightly overclocked GeForce GTX 285
Going against the 'old ways' which dictate that you first release a stock clocked card and, shortly after come with one or more factory-overclocked models, MSI has decided that for its GeForce GTX 285 offer, it should just have a slightly overclocked card. Codenamed N285GTX-T2D1G-OC, MSI's GTX 285 has the well-known 200 series scary monster sticker and features 240 Processing Cores, 1GB of GDDR3 memory, a 512-bit memory interface, triple SLI support, two 6-pin PCIe connectors for extra power and two DVI ports.

As mentioned, the GTX 285 comes with a little OC - the core being set to 680 MHz as opposed to the stock 648 MHz and the memory to 2000 MHz (2484 MHz stock), while the shader is at 1476 MHz. Those interested should find the N285GTX-T2D1G-OC in stores next week.

Creative forms ZiiLabs, announces Zii platform, ZMS-05 processor
Clearing the self-induced fog around the Zii, Creative has now announced that all Zii fuss comes from its subsidiary, 3DLABS (now renamed ZiiLABS) and its latest creation, the ZMS-05, a highly integrated media processor based on the ZMS architecture. Ushering in the "era of StemCell Computing," the ZMS-05 chip features a media processing array, dual ARM cores and a rich set of integrated peripheral controllers which enable it to do intense media processing tasks faster and by consuming far less energy than current processors.

"We now look to shaping the future of computing with the introduction of the integrated ZMS-05 media-rich processor, and ushering in the new era of StemCell Computing where we will bring the incredible benefits of nano-sized super computing right into our daily lives," said Hock Leow, President of ZiiLABS.

Being small, energy-efficient and powerful, the ZMS-05 certainly has a lot of potential so it comes to no surprise the ZiiLABS is currently working with quite a few OEMs, including MSI, F&S Electronic, MediaNet, PowerLinux, Perception digital and Grandeye on products that integrate it. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the first Zii-powered device.

Nvidia officially intros the GeForce GTX 295 and 285
Completing today's press release circle, Nvidia has finally launched the 55nm GT200b-powered GeForce GTX 295 and GTX 285. Claimed to be the world' most powerful dual-GPU (GTX 295) and single-GPU (GTX 285) cards, the new GeForce models both have SLI capabilities, Quad and triple SLI respectively, feature DirectX 10, CUDA and PhysX support, and obviously a passion for ripping Radeons to shreds.

The GeForce GTX 295 has 480 Processing Cores, a GPU clock of 576 MHz, a shader frequency of 1242 MHz and 1792 MB of GDDR3 memory @ 1998 MHz. The GeForce GTX 285 has 240 Processing Cores, 1GB of VRAM and GPU, shader and memory clocks of 648, 1476 and 2484 MHz respectively.

Already hitting the stores, the GeForce GTX 295 has a recommended price tag of $499 while the January 15-bound GTX 285 will for for $399.

To get a better idea of what the currently-selling GeForce GTX 295 can do be sure to check out the reviews posted

@ PC Games Hardware
@ Hexus
@ Guru3D single and Quad SLI
@ [H] Enthusiast
@ TweakTown - one and two
@ PC Perspective
@ bit-tech
@ HardwareZone
@ Fudzilla

GeForce GTX 285

GeForce GTX 295

Friday, January 9, 2009

IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 09/01/2009

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