Chaintech presents the Apogee SSD Convertor, new CF cards
Walton Chaintech is serving up a speedy new storage solution in the form of Apogee SSD Convertor, a 2.5-inch device that can be equipped with one or two (in RAID 0/1) CompacFlash memory cards and act as a solid state drive. The faster/larger the CF cards used, the greater the performance and capacity offered by the convertor which comes with a SATA 3.0 interface. According to its maker, the Apogee SSD Convertor can deliver read speeds of up to 55 MB/s, but, again, it all depends on the cards used.
Speaking of CompactFlash cards, Walton Chaintech has also announced a new CF line which features 16GB and 32GB models with a 606x speed rating. Ready to be paired up with the Apogee SSD Convertor or a DSLR camera, the cards offer read and write speeds of up to 93 MB/s and 91 MB/s, respectively.
Unfortunately, Chaintech has not said anything about the availability of its new products so we'll just have to keep an eye out for them.
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Nook 1.2 firmware update goes live
Barnes & Noble has today begun to roll out a new over-the-air update for its Nook e-book reader, bringing the device's firmware to version 1.2. This second Nook update contains the following:
- Enhanced in-store seamless connectivity to enjoy free Wi-Fi, with More In Store content promotions exclusively for Nook owners
- Improved opening of eBooks and ePeriodicals
- Improved response to Reading Now and Settings buttons
- Current reading page and bookmarks on all eBooks are properly saved when you power your Nook off
- Bookmarks display page number
- Eligible LendMe eBooks in your library have LendMe flags
- Easier navigation of daily subscriptions with issues rolled into one folder
- Improved "back" button functionality for navigating eBooks and ePeriodicals
- Personal files downloaded and displayed in My Documents can be sorted by author and title
- Overall system improvements and battery optimization.
... so it's a must-have for all owners of the reader. And it's just in time for the weekend.
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Fujitsu LifeBook MH380 netbook goes on sale
Some six weeks have passed since its official unveiling and Fujitsu's LifeBook MH380 has finally become available for purchase @ $449. This sum will get you a netbook colored in Gorgeous Brown, Ivory White or Diamond Black that features a 10.1-inch (1366x768) LCD screen, a 1.66 GHz Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, GMA 3150 integrated graphics, and a 6-cell battery.
Fujitsu's machine also has 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, a built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam, an SD/SDHC card reader, a multi-gesture touchpad, and is pre-loaded with Windows 7 Starter.
The LifeBook MH380 is backed by a one-year warranty and can be bought via this page.
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ASRock reveals its USB 3.0/SATA 6.0-ready P55 Deluxe3 board
Already offering six P55 motherboards, Taiwanese manufacturer ASRock has now announced yet another product based on Intel's mid-range chipset, the P55 Deluxe3. The upcoming high-end board features support for LGA 1156 processors, and packs four DDR3-2600+ memory slots, two SATA 6.0 Gbps and six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, two PCI-Express x16 slots for CrossFireX or SLI multi-GPU configurations, plus the Instant Boot Linux environment.
ASRock's board includes the VIA VT2020 codec for 7.1 channel audio, Gigabit Ethernet, one eSATA port, FireWire, a debut LED, Power, Reset and Clear CMOS buttons, and two USB 3.0 connectors linked to a PLX bridge chip that provides additional PCIe lanes (the SATA 6.0 ports make use of the extra lanes too).
The P55 Deluxe3's pricing has not been revealed but it should be around 180 - 200 Euro.
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Thermaltake intros four more Toughpower XT PSUs
Thermaltake has now revealed four new additions to its Toughpower XT line of modular power supplies - 575W, 675W, 775W and 875W units targeting power users and gamers. The fresh PSUs are all 80 PLUS Bronze certified (up to 89% efficiency), comply with the ATX 12V 2.3 and EPS 12V 2.91 standards, and feature things like the DC-DC Converter Module, double-forward switching circuitry for low power loss and higher reliability, active PFC (Power Factor Correction), a single 12V rail design, and the S.P.T. indicator, a 3-mode LED that enables the easy real-time monitoring of your unit.
Thermaltake's power supplies also make use of high quality 105أ‚آ°C Japanese solid state capacitors, have a MTBF (mean time before failure) of over 120,000 hours, and are cooled off by a 140mm dual ball bearing fan (working at 1900 RPM) that will continue to operate 15-30 seconds after system shutdown to prolong the lifetime the PSU's components.
The 575W, 675W, 775W and 875W Toughpower XT units are set to become available very soon priced at $109, $135, $145 and $159, respectively.
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Sunbeamtech unveils USB 3.0 enclosure, dock and expansion card
Tuniq owner Sunbeamtech is jumping aboard the USB 3.0 train by announcing than three products that make use of this new, fast standard. First up, the Taiwanese company has constructed the USB3.0 Airbox, an aluminum external hard drive enclosure that measures 203 (L) x 126 (W) x 44 (H) mm, weights 435 grams and supports 3.5-inch SATA HDDs with a capacity of up to 2TB. To provide better cooling for your precious platters, the Airbox boasts an 80mm blue LED-equipped fan working at 1600 RPM.
The second USB 3.0-enabled device from Sunbeamtech is the USB3.0 HDDPAL, a HDD/SSD dock that can work with 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch SATA drives. The dock measures 132 x 94 x 69 mm, is Hot Plug and Play, and supports drives of up to 2TB.
Last but not least, we have the SuperSpeed USB3.0 expansion card which features a PCI-Express x1 interface, and provides two USB 3.0 ports that can easily be used to connect USB 2.0/1.1 devices too.
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MSI R5770 Hawk announced and tested
MSI has today officially introduced its first Hawk series card, a custom, and slightly overclocked Radeon HD 5770. Seen below, the R5770 Hawk features a black PCB equipped with Military Class components (Hi-c CAP, solid state capacitors, and solid state inductors), a 7+1 phase design that provides 100% more current than reference cards, built-in voltage measurement points, and the dual-slot dual-fan Twin Frozr II cooling system which boasts three heatpipes.
MSI's DirectX 11-supporting card has a 850 MHz GPU clock (850 MHz stock), a 128-bit memory interface and 1GB of GDDR5 VRAM @ 4800 MHz, 800 Stream Processors, CrossFireX support, as well as DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs for some nice ATI Eyefinity multi-monitor configurations.
To get an idea of what the R5770 Hawk can do see the its first review which has been posted here. Expect MSI to release this card in the coming weeks at just under $200.
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Microsoft readies 13 patches for next week
This coming Tuesday, February 9, Microsoft will be releasing 13 patches that are aimed at fixing a total of 26 vulnerabilities in its Windows operating systems and Office productivity suites. Out of the 13 updates, six are rated 'critical' and target issues that can lead to remote code execution, seven are tagged as 'important' and one is stamped 'moderate'.
The soon-to-be-fixed bugs are affect Office XP, 2003, 2004 for Mac, Windows 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Server 2008 (R2), and 7. Five updates apply for Windows 7 flaws, two of which are critical. Be sure to update as soon as the Microsoft makes the patches available. Better to be safe.
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Deutsche Telekom reported considering T-Mobile USA spinoff
This year could mean big changes for T-Mobile USA as its owner, Deutsche Telekom, is rumored to be looking into several options regarding the future of the mobile service provider. One possibility is a spinoff of T-Mobile USA, that would see Deutsche Telekom keep only a minority stake in the company.
Another option involves an initial public offering (IPO) that will raise money to be invested in the hopes of growing T-Mobile's business, which currently is well behind the likes of AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Whatever the road to be taken, one thing is clear, T-Mobile USA will have to get back on its feet, expand its network, and attract more subscribers. Or it could just fade away but we're guessing that's not really something to be considered by the company's management.
Deutsche Telekom is expected to make up its mind and go either for the spinoff or IPO before the end of the year.
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Smartphone sales up 39% on-year in Q4
The smartphone market has ended 2009 with a bang as Q4 has seen it set a new record in terms of sales - 54.5 million units, up 39% compared to the same period of 2008. According to IDC analyst Ramon Llamas, the Q4 figure demonstrates that more and more mobile users are looking to get greater utility from their devices, want to go beyond telephony and messaging, and are thus turning to smartphones to satisfy their needs.
Helping people with their smartphone craving, Nokia was in Q4, the largest vendor, with 20.8 million shipped units and a 38.2% market share, followed by RIM (Research In Motion) with a 19.6% share and 10.7 million unit sales. On third place we can find Apple, which delivered 8.7 million iPhones and held a 16% piece of the smartphone pie.
Motorola can brag with a very promising performance in Q4 as it managed to take the fourth spot in the market with 2.5 million sold units, jumping in front of HTC, which shipped 2.4 million phones.
The full-year 2009 statistics show smartphone sales of 174.2 million units, up 15.1% compared to 2008. And 2010 should be even better for smartphones.
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