IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 17/06/2009

Techconnect Review Round-up 17/6/09
CPU & Motherboard

- Intel Core i7-950 @ PC Games Hardware
- MSI Eclipse Plus X58 LGA 1366 Motherboard @ PC Perspective
- Intel Core i7-975 Extreme @ ITreviewed

Memory

- G.Skill PI Black DDR2 PC2-6400 CL4-4GB kit @ XtremeComputing

Storage

- Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB SATA HDD @ Techware Labs
- Patriot Duplicator 16GB SDHC Card @ Big Bruin
- Corsair Flash Voyager 32gb @ OC3D
- Patriot Torqx SSD @ PureOC

Graphics cards

- Gainward GTS 250 2048MB Limited Edition @ X-bit labs
- XFX Radeon HD 4770 @ Ultimate Hardware
- Sapphire Radeon 4890 Atomic GFX Card @ DriverHeaven

Enclosures & PSUs

- Eagle Tech Consus T-Series ET-CSTESU2-BK External HDD Enclosure @ Verdis Reviews
- Coolermaster HAF 922 chassis @ Rbmods
- Thermaltake Litepower 450W Power Supply @ ThinkComputers
- NZXT Beta case @ techPowerUp
- Antec P183 Mid-Tower Case @ Hardware Canucks
- Tuniq Ripper 1000W Power Supply @ OC Online

Displays

- Lilliput EB701Y 7-Inch Touchscreen LCD Monitor @ BmR
- LG 22LU4000 22in LCD TV @ TrustedReviews

Cooling and modding

- Cooler Master Hyper TX3 vs. Cooler Master 212 Plus @ InsideHW
- Scythe Mugen 2 Cooler @ Tech-Reviews
- Cooler Master Hyper TX3 CPU cooler @ Bjorn3d

Peripherals

- Logitech G19 keyboard @ bit-tech
- Steelseries WOW mouse @ MetkuMods

PCs

- OCZ Neutrino 10" Do-It-Yourself netbook @ TechSpot
- HP Pavilion dv2 'Yukon' laptop @ Hexus
- Sony VAIO VGN-NS20E/S - 15.4in Laptop @ TrustedReviews

Photo and video cameras

- Olympus E-620 digital SLR @ TrustedReviews

Other

- HTC Touch Pro2 @ TechRadar

Nvidia brags with having first OpenCL 1.0 conformant driver
Giving its fans something to write home about (BEd: What?), Nvidia has now announced that it is the first company to have OpenCL conformant drivers for Windows and Linux. The OpenCL 1.0 drivers have been submitted to the Khronos OpenCL Working Group for certification last month, have support for all CUDA-enabled GPUs and, according to the Santa Clara Green Goblin include:

- Updates to the OpenCL SDK code samples
- A new SDK "oclsobelFilter" sample
- OpenCL compiler and driver binaries
- OpenCL for compute-capable GPUs documentation
- Support for both 32 and 64bit Windows XP and Linux distros

Nvidia's OpenCL drivers are available to all GPU Computing registered developers. For more info on Nvidia's OpenCL moves visit this page.

Buffalo intros the HD-PXU2 Series portable hard drives
Buffalo is back into the spotlight to announce a new storage solution, the HD-PXU2 line-up of portable hard drives. Set to be available in 250, 320 and 500GB capacities, the drives comes enclosed in glossy Ruby Red, Black Crystal or Pearl White shells, and feature a USB cable that can be wrapped around them for easy carrying, a silicone band to prevent them from slipping, and a shock-proof mechanism that should keep data safe.

The HD-PXU2 drives weight 240 grams, boasts automatic hardware encryption, and, when idle, can consume just 1.06W.

According to Buffalo, the 250, 320 and 500GB drives will debut in Japan early next month and cost $120, $130, and $185, respectively.

More info about the HD-PXU2 HDDs can be found here.

Adobe's revenue and profits continue to slip in Q2
Adobe Systems has just reported its financial results for the second quarter of the current fiscal year and as the title suggests, they are not not that great, - although you wouldn't say so after the statement of the company's CEO. In the quarter ended on May 29 the Photoshop producer saw its revenue reach $704.7 million, down when compared to both the $886.9 million reported one year before, and the $786.4 million made in Q1, while the profit was of $161.4 million, also lower on-year and sequentially.

"We are pleased with the solid profit margin and earnings results we were able to deliver in Q2," said Shantanu Narayen, president and CEO of Adobe. "We continue to invest in our key business initiatives which will drive long-term revenue growth once the economy improves."

Looking into the crystal ball, the company has predicted that even with Adobe.com out of beta and ready to make some cash, it may make less money in Q3, the expected revenue hovering between $665 million to $715 million.

Intel said to be prepping a Core 2 Quad Q9505
Punk and the Core 2 line-up are not dead (apparently), with proof of the latter still kicking rumored being the upcoming introduction of the Core 2 Quad Q9505. The new 45nm LGA775 quad-core processor is set to be clocked at 2.83 GHz, just like the Q9550, have a 1333 MHz FSB, a TDP of 95W, but will feature 6MB of shared L2 cache (12MB for the Q9550).

Said to debut with a price tag of $213, the Q9505 will push the Q9400 out of the picture or down the price ladder.

PhotoFast announces speedy 'dual channel' SDHC memory cards
PhotoFast is readying a new line-up of SDHC memory cards that are focused on providing both high transfer speeds and sufficient storage capacity. The Dual Channel SDHC Series includes 4, 8, 16 and 32GB cards that are backed by a one-year warranty, are Class 10 rated and deliver read and write speeds of up to 24 and 19 MB/s, respectively.

Set to go on sale in Japan first, the 8, 16 and 32GB models are expected to cost about $46, $83 and $153, respectively.

iiyama rolls out the ProLite E2208HDS-B Full HD monitor
iiyama has just announced the introduction of a new model to its ProLite line-up of monitors, that of the E2208HDS-B. Seen below, the 21.5-inch LCD features a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pxels, a 5ms (2ms G2G) response time, a contrast of 1000:1 (10000:1 ACR), and a maximum brightness of 300 cd/m2.

The E2208HDS-B has both D-Sub and DVI connectors, plus a 3.5mm audio jack, two 1W speakers and is backed by a three-year warranty. Those interested will find the monitor in Japan with a price tag of about $205 / 148 Euro.

Gainward single-PCB GTX 295 looks dull, still is fast
Still without a Radeon HD 4890 or HD 4770, Gainward is ready to ship a single-PCB GeForce GTX 295 which unfortunately, as you can see below, is quite banal, even for a reference card, due to the lack of any pretty sticker on the cooler. Going for uber-simplicity, Gainward has not changed Nvidia's design so the new card has GPU, shader and memory clocks of 576, 1242 and 2016 MHz, respectively, 480 Processing Cores, a 2x448-bit memory interface, DirectX 10 support and PhysX, CUDA capabilities.

The single-PCB GeForce GTX 295 also boasts support for Quad SLI and is expected to cost about 450 Euro when it become available later this month.

Logitech makes video calling easier with 'Vid'
Well-known peripheral manufacturer Logitech has now introduced a little piece of software called Vid that promises to make video calling a quick and simple task. The new application makes use of the SightSpeed network, provides a streamlined setup and a simple, intuitive interface dedicated to video calling, and will automatically optimizes the speed and resolution of a call to have a good balance between frame rate and image quality.

"Video calling has been around for more than a decade, but Vid truly has the potential to make video calling one of the primary ways that people stay in touch with their loved ones," said Gina Clark, general manager and vice president of Logitech's Internet Communications business unit. "Vid gives you the best of both worlds أ¢آ€آ“ eliminating the biggest obstacles to making video calls, while still providing the exceptional-quality audio and video that you expect from Logitech. Above all, you don't need to be tech-savvy to use Vid."

Compatible with both Windows and Mac OS, Vid is free if you have a Logitech webcam, and is also free to use if the person calling you has one (but you don't), unfortunately, if neither own a webcam from the company, Vid will be free only for 30 days, period after which you'll have to get a Logitech cam.

To download Logitech Vid simply check out this page.

Silicon Power reveals the Touch 850 Crystal Disk flash drive line-up
More NAND fun (BEd: Oh joy!) is coming our way from Silicon Power as the Taiwanese company has announced a new family of flash drive, the Touch 850 Crystal Disk. Coming in 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32GB capacities, the Touch 850 drives measure 31.6 x 16.3 x 6 mm and weight just 6.3 grams, have a USB 2.0 connection interface and come in a wannabe blinged out zinc alloy casing with a crystal-like cut surface.

The new drives make use of a COB (Chip On Board) packaging technology to be compact (and easy to lose), are water, dust and vibration proof, and have a push-out USB connector to make away with using caps. Silicon Power has not yet revealed the drives' pricing or retail availability.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 17/06/2009

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