IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 15/04/2009

Intel reports 13% revenue drop for Q1, still makes a profit
Now counting 88 quarters since the last time it posted a loss, Intel got through Q1 relatively well (given the current economic conditions) although posting significant drops all around. According to the recently-reported results, Intel's Q1 revenue was of $7.1 billion, down 13% sequentially due to a fall in chip demand, yet the company managed to make a profit of $647 million, this actually being a 176% increase over Q4 2008.

"We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "Intel has adapted well to the current economic environment and weأ¢آ€آ™re benefiting from disciplined execution and agility. We're delivering a product portfolio that meets the needs of the changing market, spanning affordable computing to high-performance, energy-efficient computing."

Even though Otellini thinks the PC market has already hit rock bottom, and, in theory, it should slowly be going up, Intel said that, the to "continued economic uncertainty and limited visibility" it won't be providing a revenue outlook for Q2, at least not now. The company aims to maintain revenue at Q1 levels but it's not making any predictions.

Asus Vento TA-M2 mid-tower case unveiled
Asus' Vento family of PC cases is about to be updated with a new model, the not so little thing seen below named TA-M2. Measuring 190 x 483 x 478 mm, the black painted mid-tower chassis has a mesh design for the front and side panel, includes four external 5.25-inch bays, provides tool-less installation for optical drives and PCI cards, and comes with a top-placed I/O panel with one (optional) eSATA, two audio, two USB ports.

For cooling, the case offers two 120mm fans, one in front and one at the back, and, optional, two more on the side panel. No word on pricing yet.

Google delivers Chrome 2.0.172.5 beta
The Google Chrome beta channel has now received an update in the form of Chrome version 2.0.172.5. According to Google, this release includes all the patches and fixes between 2.0.169.1 (the previous beta) and 2.0.172.2 (developer update) which translates into:

- A heap of bug and stability fixes
- Added support to cache some form submissions so that when you press back, you don't get the annoying "Confirm Form Submission".
- Autocomplete popup now appears when you press up/down key in a text-field.
- Visited links from normal browsing are no longer being displayed as visited in incognito mode.
- Pressing the Del key while a item is selected in the form suggestion popup deletes that suggestion.

To download Chrome 2.0.172.5 visit this page.

Picasa Web Albums video upload limit now at 1GB
Google has just introduced a small but feisty update to its Picasa for Windows image software. The version 3.1 build 71.28 comes to add beta support for right-to-left languages Hebrew and Arabic, and it increases the filesize limit for videos uploaded from Picasa to Picasa Web Albums to 1GB.

To download the fresh and funky Picasa 3.1 build 71.28 visit picasa.google.com.

Asus readies the Maximus II GENE P45 mATX motherboard
Asus is apparently getting its MicroATX on as, after the Rampage II GENE, it has now unveiled another Republic of Gamers Micro ATX motherboard, the Maximus II GENE. Powered by Intel's P45 chipset, the baby GENE board offers support for Core 2 Duo/Quad/Extreme processors, has four DDR2-1300 memory slots, two PCI-Express x16 slots for CrossFireX setups, and energy-saving EPU-6 Engine.

The upcoming motherboard also boasts one eSATA ad seven SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, Gigabit Ethernet, SupremeFX X-Fi 7.1 channel audio, an external LCD module, and features like MemOK!, CPU Level Up, Keyboard-TweakIt, Extreme Tweaker, iROG, and Loadline Calibration. The Maximus II GENE's price or release data have not been announced.

ImgBurn version 2.4.4.0 software update
ImgBurn is a lightweight CD/DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray burning application that has several modes, each for performing a different task: Read - read a disc to an image file; Build - creates an image file from files on your computer or network (you also can write the files directly to a disc); Write - write an image file to a disc; Verify - ensure that a disc is 100% readable (you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct); and Discovery - used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing.

Changes include:

- Added: A 'Note' to the box that pops up at the start of a burn when the LB in the settings doesn't match the one in the DVD/MDS file - basically it tells you to put the setting back on 'Calculate Optimal'.
- Added: Support for one more Lite-On device identifier ('ATAPI iHES') - used when automatically changing the book type etc.
- Added: Ability to select the size of the format when multiple options are available. 'Preferred' uses the 'Number Of Blocks' value from the first descriptor in the list for a given format type, 'Minimum' and 'Maximum' should be pretty obvious!
- Added: New log entries showing the status of options (enabled/disabled etc) that have an effect on what happens during an erase operation.
- Added: The user can now choose if they want to perform full certification or not (the opposite being 'Quick Certification' !) when full erasing BD-RE via the New option 'Prefer Format With Full Certification'. Previously the program always requested full certification - i.e. where the drive tests all the sectors and maps out any bad ones.

Click here for the full changelog.

Website: ImgBurn
Download: ImgBurn 2.4.4.0

LaCie announces the Rugged XL external hard drive
Secsy storage maker LaCie has just introduced the world to a new member of its 'Rugged' family of hard drives, the Rugged XL. Coming in capacities of up to 1TB, the external drive features an aluminum casing backed by an orange rubber sleeve, an internal bumper for even grater shock protection, and both USB 2.0 and eSATA connectivity options.

"Since the launch of the original Rugged drive, users have shared stories of admiration for the robust materials, functionality and design of the Rugged family of hard drives," said Lise Manteau, Desktop Hard Disk Product Manager. "It was a natural progression to expand the Rugged family and offer customers the same durability and style in a solution suited for safeguarding data in the desktop environment."

Backed by a 3-year warranty, the Rugged XL is expected to become available through the LaCie Online Store and from resellers soon, at prices starting at $159.99.

Asus' custom Radeon HD 4890 pictured
The Radeon HD 4890 may pack quite a punch but come board makers, including Asus are looking into taking the RV790 card to greater heights. To do that most companies overclock the reference design, but since it already did that, Asus is also working on a custom HD 4890 which should look like the one below. In addition to improved circuitry, which is supposed to make it more stable while overclocked, the card comes with a fresh dual-slot cooler, which makes use of two fans and no less than six heatpipes.

With the additions and modifications Asus may be looking to break the 1GHz barrier for the GPU but for now, the final clocks of the upcoming custom Radeon HD 4890 are unknown.

Pictures courtesy of NordicHardware.

Office 14 confirmed as Office 2010
As probably most people expected, the next major Office release will be officially known as Office 2010. Microsoft has made that clear while wrapping up the preparations for the release of the first public beta of Exchange 2010.

Set to become available later today, the beta will enable people to test out the new features in Exchange 2010 - the integrated e-mail archive, voice mail preview, conversation view, MailTips, and more. Back to Office 2010, the full release of the software suite is expected to be released in Q1 2010.

Pioneer delivers new 8x Blu-Ray writer
Pioneer has now revealed the BDR-2203, a new internal optical drive able to burn Blu-Ray discs at a maximum speed of 8x. Boasting a SATA interface, the drive comes bundled with the CyberLink PowerDirector, PowerDVD, and Power2Go software applications and delivers write speeds of 8x for BD-R and BD-R DL, 2x for BD-RE and BD-RE DL, 16x for DVD-R/+R, 8x for DVD-R/+R (DL) and DVD+RW, 6x for DVD-RW, 5x for DVD-RAM, 32x for CD-R and 24x for CD-RW.

"As one of the earliest advocates of Blu-ray Disc technology, Pioneer recognized the many advantages the format could have for consumer and professional users, which has culminated in our development of one of the industry's most robust BD writers to date," said Steve Cohn, director of optical disc sales for Pioneer Electronics (USA). "When considering that a dual-layer Blu-ray Disc is equivalent to ten single-layer DVDs, our BDR-2203 is a viable PC upgrade for those who are looking to enter this new era of HD playback, storage and picture performance in every facet of their life."

According to its maker, the BDR-2203 will start shipping later this month and cost about $250.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 15/04/2009

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