Wednesday, July 15, 2009

IT News HeadLines (techPowerUp) 15/07/2009


techPowerUp!
Verbatim Unveils SureFire Line of Portable Hard Drives
Data storage specialist Verbatim today introduced its SureFire line of portable hard-drives. These palm-sized, portable HDDs come with storage capacities of 250, 320, and 500 GB, and boast of two interfaces: USB 2.0 and FireWire 800, making it out of the box compatible with PCs and Macs. It measures 81 x 128 x 15 mm, and weighs in at 186 g. Enclosed in it, is a 2.5 inch hard drive with 5400 rpm spindle-speed and an 8 MB cache. It draws its power from an AC adaptor, though when used with USB 2.0, it can rely on the port for all its power. The Verbatim SureFire is compatible with Mac OS X Leopard's Time Machine backup application. Backed by a 3-year warranty, these drives go for US $109.99, $139.99, and $179.99 for the 250 GB, 320 GB, and 500 GB models, respectively.



Source: EarthTimes
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(PR) MSI Unvils CX600 and CR600 Classic Series Notebooks
MSI has supplemented its classic C series notebook computers with two new 16 inch models, the CX600 & the CR600. Both devices feature wedge-shaped designs with streamlined 45 degree angled edges and optical drive & I/O ports designed with a clean, minimalist style. A distinctive imprint finish on the lid interacts with light to provide ever-changing patterns thanks to MSI's Color Film Print technology. Inside, the touch pad area is treated with sturdy, scratch resistant material that gives off a luminescent shine and brings classic design and functionality into daily life-ideal for entertainment, learning, and business applications.


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DFI Intros Blood Iron G41-T33 Motherboard
DFI made a new addition to its popular LAN Party Blood Iron lineup, which offers overclocker-friendly features on a budget. The Blood Iron G41-T33 is the first micro-ATX model in the series, and uses the Intel G41 + ICH10 chipset. The board remains minimalistic, taking care of only the essentials as far as components go. The LGA-775 socket is powered by a 3-phase circuit. There are two DDR2 DIMM slots, with support for dual-channel DDR2-1066 memory. The G41 northbridge packs an Intel GMA X4500 IGP. Expansion is care of one PCI-E x16, a PCI-E x1, and two PCI slots. The southbridge provides four SATA II ports internally. 6-channel audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of this product. The LAN Party G41-T33 is expected to retail for around US $90.



Source: TechConnect Magazine
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(PR) Active Media Products Delivers SaberTooth SSD Upgrades for ASUS Eee PC
Active Media Products, maker of unique storage solutions including the WWF endangered species USB drives, today announced immediate availability of their new SaberTooth SSDs that are custom designed for Asus Eee PC upgrades.

This new line of SaberTooth SSDs is built with MLC NAND flash to deliver exceptional performance. These SSDs have been tested with and are guaranteed to operate with Eee PC S101, 900, 900A and 901 models. The SaberTooth SS, offered in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities, is the fastest available SSD upgrade for the Eee PC, supporting sequential read speeds up to 155 MB/sec and write speeds up to 100 MB/sec. The SaberTooth S is offered in 16 and 32GB capacities, and supports sequential read speeds up to 90 MB/sec and write speeds up to 55 MB/sec. All these products use standard 3Gbps SATA-II signaling and a Mini PCI express connector, as used in compatible Eee PC models.


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(PR) USPTO Rejects Additional Rambus Patent Claims Against NVIDIA
NVIDIA announces that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has initially rejected an additional eight claims challenged by NVIDIA in two patents that Rambus has asserted against it in litigation. This follows the USPTO's rejection last month of 41 other claims in seven patents that Rambus had asserted against NVIDIA.

NVIDIA has compiled a 100 percent success rate at the USPTO in challenges to the claims in the patents asserted against it by Rambus in an International Trade Commission (ITC) action filed in November 2008.
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(PR) Super Talent Delivers 128 GB Luxio USB Drives
Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today began shipping a 128 GB USB 2.0 flash drive that includes AES-256 hardware encryption as a standard feature.

The new 128GB Luxio drive is smaller in size than most competing 64GB USB drives, measuring approximately 77 x 21 x 10 mm (3.0 x 0.81 x 0.37 inches). The pocket-sized drive stores up to 40,000 six megapixel photos or up to 32,000 MP3 songs. The 128 GB Luxio is offered in three colors: black, silver and wood grain, and is packaged in an elegant gift box. Each drive comes with a custom black leather carrying case. Luxio drives are now available in capacities from 16 GB to 128 GB.


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(PR) Intel Reports Second-Quarter Results
Intel Corporation today reported second-quarter revenue of $8.0 billion. Excluding the effects of the European Commission fine, the company had non-GAAP operating income of $1.4 billion, net income of $1.0 billion and EPS of 18 cents. On a GAAP-basis, the company reported an operating loss of $12 million, a net loss of $398 million and a loss per share of 7 cents.
"Intel's second-quarter results reflect improving conditions in the PC market segment with our strongest first- to second-quarter growth since 1988 and a clear expectation for a seasonally stronger second half," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "Intel's strategy of investing in new technologies and innovative products, combined with ongoing focus on operating efficiencies, continues to yield benefits that are evident in our strengthening financial performance."
To read the complete earnings release, click here.

Source: Intel
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(PR) Patriot Releases Xporter Mini II USB Drives
Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, today announced the release of their Xporter Mini II USB.

Designed around today's advancing computer technology, the Mini II provides a lightweight, cap-less slider architecture that makes it portable and convenient. With its sleek design, the Mini II allows for easy plug and play across multiple platforms.

"Our Xporter Mini II is a novelty of ingenious design," says Eric Akerson, Patriot's Director of Marketing. "The Xporter Mini II, now available up to 16 GB, is an affordable portable storage solution allowing users to be on the go and have the convenience of large data storage."


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ASUS P6X58 Premium Detailed, Updates Platform with USB 3.0 and SATA III
Motherboard mogul ASUS is ready with a new premium motherboard for the LGA-1366 platform. The P6X58 Premium breaks away from the "P6T" nomenclature the company used for its Intel X58-based motherboards, and flashed "X58" in the model name. This motherboard brings two new connectivity standards to the platform: USB 3.0 "SuperSpeed", and SATA III 6 Gbps. It uses additional controllers onboard to expand the chipset's feature-set.

The board looks similar to the P6T Deluxe series at a glance, but uses a different layout of its expansion slots, rear-panel, and connectors in general. Unlike with the P6T Deluxe, the three PCI-Express x16 are spaced-out, with the first two (blue) slots providing full x16 lane bandwidth, with the third (white) one sharing 8 lanes with the second slot (x16, x8, x8, when all three slots populated). The chipset+VRM cooler is nearly identical to the one on the P6T Deluxe. The CPU is powered by a 16-phase circuit.


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Mushkin Announces Europa III SSD Series, Intros 250 GB Model
Mushkin today announced the third-generation of its flagship solid-state disk lineup, the Europa III. The new series revolves around using a high-performance controller chip made by Samsung. The NAND flash configuration is of the multi-level cell (MLC) type, and in conjunction with the controller, provides high transfer rates.

The first model in this series is the Mushkin esi25607. This 250 GB SSD is of the standard 2.5 inch form-factor, and weighs 80.1 g. It is driven by Samsung S3C29RBB controller, which helps this drive churn out speeds of 220 MB/s (read), 200 MB/s (write). It uses the standard SATA II interface. The drive maintains a low power draw of 0.15W when idling, and 0.25W when active. It has its MTBF rated at one million hours. The drive comes packed in a fancy aluminum case. Details on its pricing and availability are yet to surface.


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Early Intel LGA-1156 Quad-Core SKUs Surface
Intel recently detailed its strategy with the Core brand, and its various brand-modifiers (namely i3, i5, i7, and i9). The move to give some LGA-1156 processors the Core i7 modifier, based on the performance level they offer, particularly sparked off several debates about if the move actually benefits the consumers as much as it does to Intel. Back then, Intel did not divulge much about a number scheme that characterizes LGA-1156 Core i7 processors from their LGA-1366 counterparts. Fresh information suggests that Intel may have one such number-scheme in place that will demystify its lineup.

The LGA-1156 socket lineup will be spearheaded by quad-core desktop chips that will start selling from September 8, tentatively. These consist of a 2.66 GHz part, a 2.80 GHz part, and another 2.93 GHz one. Sources revealed much earlier that these could be priced US $194, $284, and $562, respectively. Among these three, the 2.66 GHz part lacks HyperThreading technology in its feature-set, and hence, will be placed in the Core i5 series. To further clarify the lineup, the following model numbers have been suggested:
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(PR) Logitech Announces Four New Multimedia Speakers with 360-Degree Sound
Today, Logitech announced a significant extension to its line of multimedia speakers, delivering four new systems with 360-Degree Sound - including the Logitech Speaker System Z320, Logitech Speaker System Z323, Logitech Speaker System Z520 and the Logitech Speaker System Z523. Whether you're at work using a desktop computer, at home using a laptop, whether you use a Windows-based or a Mac, computer, all four of Logitech's new speakers just work - and sound great.

Unlike standard PC speakers that use forward-firing drivers, the four new Logitech multimedia speaker systems feature 360-Degree Sound, or omnidirectional acoustics, which creates a substantially wider sweet spot - an especially helpful feature if you often move your computer around your home or office. With speaker drivers that face forward and backwards in each satellite, these four new speakers are designed to transmit sound more consistently over a wider range of space so you never miss a beat no matter where you are in the room.


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(PR) MSI Releases R4890 Cyclone Series Graphics Cards
MSI today announced the R4890 Cyclone graphics card. This Radeon HD 4890 card uses the same basic design as its R4870 Cyclone, and a lite version of AMD's reference PCB. The card first surfaced in May, during the run-up for the Computex event. The card's star attraction is the cooler, consisting of a GPU heatsink with radially-projecting aluminum fins, from this heatsink about four 8 mm heat-pipes arise, conveying heat to two suspended, curved aluminum fin blocks on either sides of the heatsink. The cooler is nucleated with a 10 cm PWM-controlled fan. The memory and VRM areas are care of this cooler's air-flow.

MSI used a few innovations of its own on the PCB which it calls "military class", including flat-bed high-c capacitors that can be found on server and workstation components, a solid-state choke that has lower core energy loss compared to traditional chokes, and an all-solid-state-capacitor design, which is a standard-issue for graphics cards in its class. The R4890 Cyclone comes in three variants based on clock speeds - R4890 Cyclone, R4890 Cyclone OC, and R4890 Cyclone SOC. These cards come with clock speeds of 850/3900 MHz, 880/3900 MHz, and 1000/4000 MHz, respectively (core/memory). Expect availability in a few weeks. The press-release follows.


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(PR) Seagate Releases Cheetah 15K.7, Fastest, Most Efficient, and Highest Capacity
Seagate announced it is now shipping its technology-leading Cheetah 15K.7 enterprise-class hard drives into the worldwide distribution channel. As the highest performing, highest capacity 3.5-inch mission critical hard drive with best-in-class reliability for Tier 1 environments, the Cheetah 15K.7 drive is ideal for a wide range of server and storage applications. With the Cheetah 15K.7 hard drive, Seagate's technology leadership moves firmly past the competition as it delivers the industry's first 15K-rpm drive to reach the 600GB capacity point while providing record reliability of 1.6 million hours MTBF.

The Cheetah 15K.7 drive is available with the latest 6 Gb/s SAS or 4 Gb/s FC interfaces, and includes Seagate PowerTrim technology, which dynamically reduces power consumption. Together, these features enable system builders to deliver lower-cost, multi-drive servers and storage systems, making the Cheetah 15K.7 ideal for use in environments ranging from small and medium-sized businesses to the largest enterprises.


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(PR) ASUS Announces TV Monitor T1 Series: Double Entertainment, One Screen
ASUS today unveiled the TV Monitor T1 Series that combines the best in desktop monitor and LCD TV technology to deliver HD TV broadcasting and Full HD Blu-ray Disc playback for the ultimate entertainment and work experience. Featuring inbuilt TV tuners, these large screen monitors-available in 22", 24" and 27" sizes-allow users to watch digital (DVB-T) and analog (PAL/SECAM) channels and enjoy all common TV functions in Europe. The T1 Series also boasts surround sound with a pair of 7-Watt speakers, a rich complement of I/O ports catering to various connectivity needs and ASUS' exclusive Splendid Video Intelligence Technology for spectacular color reproduction.


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Windows 7 RTM Release Delayed
Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system was supposed to reach the release-to-manufacture development stage around July 13, a build largely squared off as the final product of its development team before being sent for mass-production. Earlier this week, news from sources claimed another pre-production build (number 7600) as the RTM version due to its timing of a leak to sections of the internet. As it turned out, the build was not the RTM, though as indicated by the jump in build number, included a host of changes.

Microsoft further advises the community to wait for an official announcement from the company before taking any more pre-release versions to be the RTM, as was the case with build 7600. Expect the RTM to be out in the second half of July, and a confirmation from Microsoft when that happens. In related news, Microsoft indicated that the retail packages for all variants of Windows 7 will pack both 32-bit and 64-bit DVDs of the OS, as was the case with Windows Vista Ultimate. This leaves consumers the convenience of having to pick just one sub-variant.

Source: Windows 7 Team Blog
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(PR) GLOBALFOUNDRIES Calls for Renewed Focus on 300 mm Manufacturing Innovation
In its effort to meet the ever-increasing demands of consumer technology, the semiconductor industry has long been preoccupied with smaller transistors and larger silicon wafers. While these are important tactics, opportunities for increasing efficiency, becoming more agile, and minimizing waste are often overlooked in manufacturing processes, according to Thomas Sonderman, vice president of manufacturing systems and technology at GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

At SEMICON West 2009, Sonderman is calling for a renewed focus on operational agility in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, particularly in light of increased pressure to move to processes based on 450 millimeter (mm) wafers.
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Microsoft Office Online to Go Free
Faced with a future competitor in general productivity applications, Google, which recently announced concrete plans with a web-friendly operating system, Microsoft expressed plans to make Office Online - a web-based version of Office - free. Microsoft's upcoming Office 2010 productivity suite will be available both as a paid software that you can purchase and use, and an web-based application that can be run from within a web-browser. According to the company, the upcoming Office Online is designed to work seamlessly with popular web-browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari, apart from its own Internet Explorer. Currently Microsoft has a highly profitable business of selling the Office productivity suite, which amounts for $20 billion of the company's revenue. The company is working on pre-release community versions of Office 2010.

Source: CNN Money, Fortune Blogs
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Intel Updates CPU Launch Schedule
Intel's upcoming processor and compatible platform launch schedule gained some clarity today with tentative launch dates and time-frames surfacing from industry sources. Highlights on the client front include:

  • Desktop platform initially based on Lynnfield quad-core processor and P55 chipset to be out between September 8~11
  • Three recently detailed mobile quad-core processor models based on the Clarksfield core will be announced towards the end of September or early October
  • Around the same time as above, Intel will release two new budget chips for its CULV platform, called Celeron SU2300 and Celeron 743. Expect these to be toned-down variants of the existing Core 2 CULV chips

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Windows 7 to be Available to Businesses Early
At the ongoing Worldwide Partner Conference held in New Orleans, USA by Microsoft, the company announced that its upcoming client operating system, Windows 7 will be made available to its business customers through volume licensing starting September 1, over a month ahead of its worldwide commercial launch on October 22. Starting September 1, business customers will be able to order the Windows 7 Enterprise variant through Microsoft Software Assurance licensing. The key features of Windows 7 Enterprise as listed by Microsoft are as follows:

  • DirectAccess: Give mobile users seamless access to corporate networks without a need to VPN
  • BranchCache: Decrease time branch office users spend waiting to download files across the network
  • Enterprise Search Scopes: Find information on network locations including SharePoint sites with a simple user interface
  • BitLocker & BitLocker To Go: Help protect data on PCs and removable drives, with manageability to enforce encryption and backup of recovery keys
  • AppLocker: Specify what software is allowed to run on user's PCs through centrally managed, but flexible, Group Policies
  • Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Optimisations: Improved user experience for VDI with multimon and microphone support. Plus the ability to reuse virtual machine (VHD) images to boot a physical PC
  • Multi Lingual User Interface: Create a single operating system (OS) image for deployment to users worldwide
Source: Hexus.net
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Nexus Unveils EDGE Full-ATX Tower Chassis
Nexus announced the newest addition its case lineup. The Nexus EDGE, measuring 64.2 x 23.9 x 57.6 cm (L x W x D) is a full-ATX tower, compatible with most Flex-ATX, M-ATX, ATX, and E-ATX motherboards. The case has a fine brushed-metal finish with polished, rounded-off edges. The external drive bays can be locked off behind a metal front-door. Although the exterior reveals 13 5.25" bays, only 8 of them are accessible. The bottom five bay covers protect the 4-bay 3.5" drive cage inside, which neighbours two 2-bay drive racks that hang above the PSU area. This area is separated from the motherboard area, and shares room for a 120 mm fan with it.

The motherboard tray has room for 7 expansion slots. It has an opening where most motherboards have the CPU socket, which provides accessibility to CPU coolers with bolt-through retention mechanisms. Another 120 mm fan bay is located above the rear-panel, an a 140 mm fan to ventilate the entire case from its top. The case provides a degree of noise control with its noise-absorbtion wave foam padding. The utility panel is located on the top, and is a standard issue with a couple of USB ports, an eSATA port, and audio connectors. The Nexus EDGE is expected to retail for around 160 EUR.



Source: Nexus
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Logitec Out With New External DVD Writer
Japan-based Logitec (not to be confused with the more popular peripheral company with a similar name), is out with yet another compact external DVD writer. The LDR-PME8U2L is a little over a slim DVD writer enclosed in a fancy casing that comes in complete back or topped with red. It measures 136.5 x 143 x 19.2 mm, and weighs in at around 300 g.

The drive offers write speeds of 8X for DVDأ‚آ±R and 6X for DVDأ‚آ±RW, and 5X for DVD-RAM. It writes and rewrites CDs at 24X. It uses the USB 2.0 interface. ArcSoft's TotalMedia Backup & Record comes bundled. The LDR-PME8U2L drive is backed by a one-year company warranty and is priced at US $92.



Source: TechConnect Magazine
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