IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 01/12/2009

November comes and goes with Kindle sales record
Online seller Amazon has proudly announced that this November (2009) has been the best sales month for the Kindle ebook reader even without counting this last day which this year's Cyber Monday (at least for US folks). While not giving any numbers, Amazon stated that Kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted, and the best selling product across all product categories on its website.

"Kindle is a great gift for anyone who loves to read and it's flying off the shelves faster than any other product Amazon sells," said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "We're seeing lots of people buying from one to a handful of Kindles as gifts for friends or family, as well as many businesses and other organizations buying Kindles in large quantities for their employees or customers."

If you want to keep Amazon happy throughout this holiday season and get yourself the popular Kindle (second-gen) see this page.

PowerColor to release Radeon HD 5770 version 2.0
Despite board partners already coming out with new designs, AMD has released a tweaked reference model for the Radeon HD 5770, one boasting a new cooler which strongly resembles than used for the HD 5750.

Not wasting any time, PowerColor has already unveiled the Radeon HD 5770 V2 which is seen below and has all the usual - DirectX 11 support, 800 Stream Processors, a 128-bit memory interface, 1GB of GDDR5 VRAM, CrossFireX, plus dual-DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.

The new card's GPU and memory clocks are the stock 850 MHz and 4800 MHz, respectively, while the price tag should be about the same (or a bit lower) as the Radeon HD 5770s already available. PowerColor will offer this one with or without a bundle containing the game Battleforge.

Global chip sales topped $21.7 billion in October
The semiconductor market has continued its healthy growth in October, with reported sales of $21.7 billion, up 5.1% over the $20.6 billion recorded in September. While sequential growth was guaranteed by good performance in all major markets it's worth nothing that compared to October 08, this past month still resulted in a drop, one of 3.5%.

"October is historically a strong month for the semiconductor industry as electronic equipment manufacturers ramp production for the holiday season," said SIA President George M. Scalise. "As Semiconductor sales are increasingly driven by the performance of the overall global economy our sales are reflecting the improved economic conditions in our world markets. Sales increased sequentially in all geographic regions."

In the first ten months of 2009 chip sales were of $180 billion, a decline of 16.6% from the like period of 2008 when sales were $215.8 billion. You can blame the global economic crisis for this.

Cocage Arrow CPU cooler pictured
The Thermalright team is currently preparing to introduce a new product under the Cogage brand, the Arrow CPU heatink. Seen below, the new cooling solution measures 147 (L) x 123 (W) x 160 (H) mm and weights 825 grams, and features a nickel-plated copper base and four 8mm heatpipes, two aluminum fin stacks, and a 120mm PWM fan.

Arrow is compatible with LGA 775, 1156 and 1366 processors but a mounting bracket for AM2/AM3 CPUs will also be available (as an option). The price and retail availability of the Arrow are yet unknown.

Cooler Master Excalibur 120mm fan detailed
Cooler Master has now provides a good look at Excalibur, a 120mm case fan featuring Barometric Ball Bearing technology which is claimed to ensure low operation noise and a life of up to 100,000 hours.

The new fan also boasts nine sword-shaped blades that can be easily removed for cleaning, a honeycomb ventilation meshed frame, works at speeds between 600 and 2000 RPM (rotations per minute), and have a sound output hovering between 13 and 30 dBA.

The Excalibur is said to become available next month at about 18 Euro.

Zune HD getting purple, magenta color options
Confirming previous leaks which suggested new colors were in plan for Microsoft's Tegra-powered media player, the Zune HD store now now says that two more color options - Purple and Magenta, and going to be available soon. How soon you ask? Well, as soon as tomorrow since Microsoft likes doing released on Tuesdays.

The added colors would provide more options for those looking to buy a PMP these holidays and they may bring a few extra sales for Microsoft in an iPod-dominated market segment. We'll have the Purple one. To go with the suit and car.

Nokia reported prepping just one Maemo phone for 2010
Just two days before Nokia's Capital Markets Day 09 a report has hit the web claiming that the Finnish company is only planning to release one Maemo-based smartphone in 2010. The Linux-based Maemo, which is powering the fresh N900, seems to be getting more support lately but Nokia is still very much includes to promote Symbian as the main platform for its smartphone line-up.

Earlier this month a member of Maemo's marketing team said that Nokia's N-series handset family will fully adopt Maemo and drop Symbian by 2012 but Nokia quickly stepped up to try and mend the situation by deeming Symbian as the company's "smartphone platform of choice." If the rumor and Nokia 'suggestion' are true then Maemo will have to settle being the underdog for at least another year or two.

Radeon HD 5750 going IceQ
Just like other board makers HIS is working on custom Radeon HD 5000 series cards and the first such product to come out from it is seen below, the HD 5750 IceQ+. The Juniper-powered has a blue PCB and stock GPU and memory clocks - 700 MHz and 4600 MHz, respectively, it boasts 720 Stream Processors and is equipped with a custom dual-slot, UV sensitive cooler that resembles Akasa's Vortexx Neo and is supported to be quieter and more efficient than the stock solution.

HIS' card also features a 128-bit memory interface, DirectX 11 and CrossFireX support, DVI (just one DVI, not two as on reference models), HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, is bundled with the Bumptop 3D desktop environment, and will be available with and without a redemption coupon for Dirt 2.

The HD 5750 IceQ+ is not yet priced but it will probably hit stores at around 160 Euro.

New AMP flash drives come loaded with piano solos
Bringing more sweet melody in our lives, Active Media Products has teamed up with pianist Ken Elkinson to release a series of flash drives that are pre-loaded with six original Elkinson piano solos in MP3 format. Coming in 2, 4, 8 and 16GB capacities, the drives measure 40 x 14 x 5 mm, have a Statue of Liberty hologram, are waterproof, feature a USB 2.0/1.1 interface and deliver transfer speeds of up to 30 MB/s.

"I'm thrilled to be partnering with AMP on this product," said Ken Elkinson. "These six songs [Opal, Afterglow, Orchid, Cue, Revelry and Link] are an excellent cross-section of my music that I picked myself."

The 2, 4, 8 and 16GB Ken Elkinson flash drives have started to become available on Amazon and are priced at $9.95, $15.95, $19.95 and $39.95, respectively.

Gigabyte prepares three ODIN Plus power supplies
Gigabyte is currently gearing up to expand its ODIN family of power supplies with three new models which will be known as the ODIN Plus series. The upcoming 500W, 600W and 700W units comply with the ATX 12V 2.3 specifications, are 80Plus Bronze certified, have sleeved cables, active PFC, as well as over-voltage, over-current, under-voltage and short-circuit protection.

Gigabyte's PSUs are also Nvidia SLI certified, are cooled off by a 120mm fan and have a multi-rail design, with the 500 and 600W models featuring three 12V rails, while the 700W units boasts four rails. The three ODIN Plus units are expected to cost between 110 and 140 Euro.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 01/12/2009

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