IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 08/01/2010

Zotac to release Mini-ITX H55 motherboard
Continuing its focus on compact motherboards for HTPCs, Zotac has designed a mini-ITX board around Intel's new H55 chipset. Named H55-ITX WiFi, the board has support for LGA 1156 Core processors, packs two DDR3-1333 memory slots, a PCI-Express x16 for discrete graphics, and six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports.

"Intel Core processors with Intel HD graphics and the Zotac H55-ITX WiFi platform is perfect for home theater PCs no matter what type of video formats the user may watch," said Carsten Berger, marketing director, Zotac International. "In addition to top-notch HD video playback capabilities, Intel Core processors with Intel HD graphics and the Zotac H55-ITX WiFi features technologies that enhance standard definition content such as enhanced DVD upscaling (8x8 polyphase), advanced de-interlacing, sharpness enhancement and noise reduction."

Zotac's board includes Gigabit Ethernet, an eSATA port, 7.1 channel audio, 802.11n WiFi, and provides DVI and HDMI outputs. The price tag and release date of the H55-ITX WiFi have not been announced.

OCZ shows off new, high-efficiency power supplies at CES
Taking a stroll down to OCZ's CES 2010 booth will reveal that, in addition to a heap of solid state drives, the company is also planning to release quite a new new power supplies this quarter. Among the units in plan there's a 750W Fatal1ity series model, a modular PSU with an efficiency of around 85%, featuring a single 12V rail and a 135mm red LED-equipped fan. This one is said to debut at around $79.

PC Power & Cooling (which is part of the OCZ Technology Group) will have some new power supplies too, namely the Silencer MK II series 500W, 650W, 750W and 950W units. These (non-modular) PSUs have a single 12V rail design and bare an 80Plus Bronze (500W & 650W) or Silver (750W, 900W) certification.

Photos courtesy of PC Perspective.

Spring Design's Alex ebook reader to go on sale next month
Today Spring Design has officially introduced the 'Alex' ebook reader as a commercial product and said that those interested will be able to purchase it as of February 22nd. Alex, which was first revealed in October (2009), features a 6-inch electronic paper display for displaying text, a 3.5-inch color touchscreen for navigation, an SD card slot, WiFi, 3G, EVDO/CDMA and GSM connectivity, built-in speakers, and runs the open saucy Android operating system.

"We designed Alex to expand the usersأ¢آ€آ™ reading enjoyment, enriching the content whether it is reading for pleasure, education or business, and enhancing the capabilities with access to the growing suite of Android applications," said Spring Design Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Eric Kmiec. "We believe Alex enables readers to transcend the printed page to an interactive multi-media reading experience; letting children browse classic picture books with music to serious students who can view videos of science experiments online on the LCD screen while reading textbooks on the EPD screen."

Alex supports multiple text formats including Adobe ePUB/PDF/DRM and .txt, has access to over 1 million Google Books and will cost $399. The reader will be sold via springdesign.com.

RIM announce BlackBerry presenter gadget
Research In Motion have announced an all new device that allows BlackBerry handsets to be connected to presentational peripherals such as projectors, monitors or televisions - eliminating the need to carry notebooks for slide shows.

The BlackBerry Presenter, which will be available later this month, is a small device that plugs into a projector or monitor and links to a BlackBerry smartphone via Bluetooth. An application allows Microsoft PowerPoint presentations to be beamed wirelessly using this connection.

"BlackBerry Presenter equips mobile professionals with a simple, secure and convenient way to deliver presentations directly from their BlackBerry smartphone, giving them the freedom to leave their laptops behind," said RIM executive in charge of product management, Glenn Laxdal.

The device will sport VGA and S-Video outputs, the latter capable of switching between NTSC and PAL video signals for different national formats, and supports resolutions of 640 x 480, 800 x 600, or 1,024 x 768. It has an internal battery that is charged by connecting to a PC via a Micro USB port.

To use the BlackBerry Presenter, people need to download a BlackBerry Presenter desktop manager tool for their PC and a BlackBerry Presenter application for the handset itself, which is free from RIM's app store. The BlackBerry Presenter application allows users to control their presentation, setting a time between slides or freezing a slide on screen while browsing through the rest of the presentation on their BlackBerry. It supports most of the slide animations and transitions from Microsoft PowerPoint versions 2003 and 2007, according to RIM.

BlackBerry Presenter requires BlackBerry Device Software v4.6 or later, and is unfortunately not supported on the BlackBerry Curve 8300 or BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8200 smartphones. It costs $199 (أ‚آ£125) from RIM's online BlackBerry store.

The low down on Microsoft's 'exciting' new slate device
Hot on the heels of the rumours from yesterday, Microsoft did, sure enough, deliver a tablet yesterday - just not the tablet that we had all expected! The world's largest software company unveiled a range of so-called "slate computers", but not a much rumoured tablet computer which was said to pose a serious challenge to Appleأ¢آ€آ™s much-anticipated iSlate device, which is expected to be announced later this month.

Michael Gartenberg, a senior analyst at research house Interpret, said Microsoft's "slate" computers were simply "too large for the pocket, too small to do work on." Steve Ballmer wrote "Itأ¢آ€آ™s a أ¢آ€آکtweener device not optimised for anything," on Twitter.

Microsoft's CEO said 2009 had been a year of "unprecedented economic turbulence", but that he was excited about prospects for the coming year. "This industry really stayed focused and continued to invest, work hard and bring new technology to the market place we really made an impact on peopleأ¢آ€آ™s lives around the world," he continued. "From the largest screen on the wall to the smallest screens in peopleأ¢آ€آ™s pockets, we are delivering the entertainment people want."

Orbit Downloader version 3.0 final released
Orbit Downloader, leader of download manager revolution, is devoted to new generation Web application downloading to make downloads more easier and faster. It is a free all-in-one downloader which can download any social media.

Changes include:

- An advanced feature, Download Tagging was added. You can organize your downloads easier.
- Keep your downloads perfectly organized with very little work, with download tagging
- Fixed OneCilck YouTube Downloader GetIt bug
- Fixed Grabpro Internet block connection bug

Website: Orbit Downloader
Download: Orbit Downloader 3.0

Futuremark spins off its mobile unit
Out of the blue Futuremark, the company responsible for the well-known 3DMark and PCMark benchmarks, has popped up to say that it has shed its Mobile and Embedded business unit. The mobile division was sold to Rightware, a spin off company that's headed by Futuremark's former CEO Tero Sarkkinen. This move is said to help Futuremark be more focused on the development of PC benchmarking software and games.

"The divestment of the mobile and embedded business was the right move for both Futuremark and Rightware," said Artturi Tarjanne, Futuremark Chairman of the Board. "Futuremark is now fully focused on its core strength of developing innovative graphics technology and software, such as the groundbreaking Shattered Horizon online game and the world-famous 3DMark and PCMark performance measurement suites."

Due to Sarkkinen's departure towards Rightware, Jukka Mأƒآ¤kinen, Vice President of PC Products and Services and Head of Futuremark Games Studio, has become acting CEO at Futuremark until further notice.

PowerColor announces the PCS+ HD5800 series cards
PowerColor has now revealed a couple of custom-cooled and factory overclocked Cypress-based graphics cards, the PCS+ series HD5870 and HD5850. Seen below, the cards have a 256-bit memory interface and 1GB of GDDR5 VRAM, support DirectX 11 and CrossFireX, boast the ATI Eyefinity multi-monitor technology (have dual DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs), and are equipped with a dual-slot cooler that features a 92mm fan, four copper heatpipes, and is able to cool the GPU more efficiently than the reference solution.

"HD5800 series is a highly recommended product series after its announcement," said Ted Chen, CEO of TUL Corporation. "Now we add custom-made cooling technology and distinctive design to make the products more attractive. Want to experience the ultimate gaming speed and ultra cooling performance? Then PCS+ HD5800 series is the right choice for you!"

The PCS+ HD5870 includes 1600 Stream Processors and has GPU/memory clocks of 875/4900 MHz (850/4800 MHz stock), while the HD5850 packs 1440 SPs and comes with GPU/memory frequencies of 760/4200 MHz (725/4000 MHz). Both PCS+ 5800 series cards are bundled with Dirt 2 and will become available in the coming weeks.

ECS A890GXM-A AM3 motherboard pictured
Today ECS has officially introduced its H57/H55 offer but it also took the time to preview a motherboard that's aimed to be used with CPUs rivaling Intel's 32nm parts. Seen below is the A890GXM-A, a full ATX board that's powered by the AMD RS890 chipset (part of the Dorado platform), includes the SB810 (most likely) southbridge, and supports AM3 processors.

The upcoming Black Series model packs four DDR3-1800 memory slots and has integrated DirectX 10.1 graphics, three PCI-Express x16 slots for CrossFireX and Hybrid CrossFire setups, SidePort memory, one eSATA and five SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, and includes the eJiffy instant-on OS. Moreover, ECS' board has dual Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 channel audio, as well as D-Sub, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs. A pretty nice package overall, we'll just have to wait until Q2 and see how it performs. For now, we contemplate.

Pictures courtesy of MadBoxPC.

Samsung's PX2370 monitor is FullHD, packs proximity sensor
For Q2 Samsung is preparing the introduction of a new Syncmaster-branded premium LED backlit monitor, the 23-inch PX2370. Featuring a thin (18mm) profile and a Touch of Color (ToC) design, the sleek LCD has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, a 2ms response time, a contrast ratio of 1000:1 (5,000,000:1 DCR), and includes the Smart Sensor technology which automatically turns the monitor off when the user is not near it.

"With its slim 18mm depth and eco-sensitive design, the PX2370 leads the way with the smallest footprint possible, both on the desktop and the environment," said Young Bae, director Display Marketing, Samsung Information Technology Division. "Consumers no longer have to choose between a high-performance, feature-laden product and green technology."

The Samsung PX2370 has D-Sub, DVI and HDMI connectivity and is planned for an April release at a price tag of $369.

Picture courtesy of CNET.

Friday, January 8, 2010

IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 08/01/2010

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