IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 19/02/2010

OCZ introduces the Vertex Limited Edition SSDs
OCZ has now officially unveiled the Vertex Limited Edition, its first SandForce-based solid state drive line to hit stores. The new 2.5-inch drives come in 100GB and 200GB capacities, feature the SandForce SF-1500 controller, MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips, a SATA 3.0 Gbps interface, TRIM support, and deliver read and write speeds of up to 270 MB/s and 250 MB/s, respectively (15,000 IOPS 4K random writes).

"OCZ has an excellent reputation as a leader in solid state drives, and as new technologies become available, we are continually expanding our solution portfolio to bring enhanced performance benefits to the complete spectrum of our client's applications," commented Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group. "The new Vertex Limited Edition SSD is our fastest, multi-level cell (MLC), performance-based drive yet and delivers both exceptional speed and reliability for customers demanding a superior storage solution including intensive applications such as audio/video editing, mobile computing and even use in workstations."

Rolling out over the next few weeks, the 100GB and 200GB Vertex LE SSDs are backed by a 3-year warranty and are now listed for pre-order @ 350 Euro and 700 Euro, respectively.

Google acquires reMail
iPhone users can wave goodbye to the reMail email search application as Google has acquired the startup that built it and decided to discontinue support for Apple's smartphone.

The transaction between Google and reMail was announced yesterday by Gabor Cselle, the founder and CEO of reMail, former Software Engineer at Google, and now Product Manager on the Gmail team.

"Gmail is where my obsession with email started as an engineering intern back in 2004, and I'm thrilled to be coming back to a place with so many familiar faces," said Cselle. "reMail's goal was to reimagine mobile email, and I'm proud we have built a product that so many users find useful. Still, I feel like we've only seen the beginning of what's possible. Google is the best place in the world to improve the status quo on how people communicate and share information."

In addition to doing a little damage to Apple's App Store and iPhone platform, the reMail purchase will likely help improve Gmail, and especially, the experience of mobile users accessing Google's email service.

Corsair stealthily launches the Padlock 2 flash drive
Obsidian craftsman, Corsair has recently introduced its second-generation Padlock, a flash drive featuring 256-bit hardware encryption that provides access to the data on it only after typing the correct (user-set) PIN (Personal Identification Number) on the built-in keypad. The Padlock 2 boasts 8GB of space, has a ruggedized rubber shell like the Flash Voyager models, is Plug-n-Play compatible, and includes USB 2.0/1.1 connectivity.

The 8GB secure drive is backed by a 10-year warranty and can be found priced at $59 / 42 Euro.

VIA builds dual-GPU S3 graphics card
VIA Technologies has announced that next week, at the Digital Signage Expo 2010 in Las Vegas, it will be showing off a dual-GPU graphics card, the S3 Graphics Chrome 5400E x2. This dual-headed card is aimed at multi-monitor digital signage applications and features the PanoChrome technology that enables support for up to 8 displays, as well as H.264, VC-1 and WMV-HD hardware acceleration. There's no scent of Eyefinity competition here as the S3 card doesn't go for top graphics power, it's all about low power computing.

"VIA is delighted to work with S3 Graphics to bring unique digital signage embedded products to market, highlighting our prowess in delivering the very best in power-efficient, Hi-Def digital display technologies," said Daniel Wu, Vice President, VIA Embedded Platform Division, VIA Technologies.

The S3 Graphics Chrome 5400E x2 is expected to start being supplied to ODMs (original design manufacturers) in Q2.

Sapphire intros the Radeon HD 5850 Vapor-X and Toxic editions
Sapphire has today rolled out two more Cypress-powered graphics cards that make use of the Vapor-X cooling technology, the Radeon HD 5850 Vapor-X and HD 5850 Toxic. Both cards feature 1440 Stream Processors, 72 texture units and a 256-bit memory interface, support DirectX 11 and CrossFireX, have dual DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, and are equipped with a dual-slot Vapor-X cooler that enables them to run as much as 15 degrees C cooler and 10dB quieter than reference models.

The HD 5850 Vapor-X card has GPU/memory (1GB GDDR5) clocks of 735/4200 MHz and costs around 252 Euro, while the HD 5850 Toxic tops 765/4500 MHz and is priced at 265 Euro.

AMD Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition said to debut on March 11
If everything goes as Nvidia wishes then next month we'll finally see the company come up with the GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470, its first DirectX 11-supporting graphics cards. This is a big milestone for Nvidia and, since it can, AMD will try to spoil the moment with a few new Cypress-based releases.

According to a report, AMD will let loose the Radeon HD 5830 next week, on February 25th, in advance of CeBIT 2010, and will introduce the Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition after the Hannover show, on March 11th. The Radeon HD 5830 features 1280 Stream Processors, a 750 MHz core clock and 1GB of GDDR5 memory @ 4000 MHz, while the Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition is a stock-clocked HD 5870 (with 2GB VRAM) that, instead of DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort outputs, features six mini DisplayPort connectors enabling a single card to control six monitors. AMD may have another card up its sleeve for next month so the new GeForce 400 series cards will have a rough launch. Not that their delay wasn't troublesome enough.

Sony unveils the Cyber-shot DSC-TX5 and DSC-H55 cameras
Sony has today announced a couple of new additions to its Cyber-shot family, the DSC-TX5 and DSC-H55 compact cameras. Priced at $350, the TX5 is less than an inch thick, is waterproof (up to 3 meters/10 feet), shockproof (up to a 5-feet drop) and dust proof, and features a 10.2 megapixel Exmor R CMOS sensor, a BIONZ processor, Carl Zeiss Vario Tessor lens, 4x optical zoom, a 3-inch (230,400 pixel) touchscreen, and can record 720p video.

The H55 boasts a 14.1 megapixel CCD sensor, 10x optical zoom with Sony G lens, a 3-inch LCD screen with the same resolution as that on the TX5, SteadyShot image stabilization, is capable of 720p video recording, and will cost $250.

The TX5 is set come in silver, black, pink, green, and red, while the H55 will settle for 'just' black and silver, as color options. Both cameras will ship in April.

Cyber-shot DSC-TX5

Cyber-shot DSC-H55

Samsung SNE-60 e-reader goes on sale in South Korea
Samsung Electronics has recently begun shipping to its home market (in South Korea), the new SNE-60 e-book reader which is looking very similar to the E6 model slated to go international this quarter. The SNE-60 features a 6-inch E Ink touchscreen, 2GB of internal storage, support for ePUB and PDF files, an MP3 player, text-to-speech software, plus WiFi and apparently Bluetooth too.

The SNE-60 is selling for $373, which is some $25 under the recommended price tag of the E6.

Marvell ARMADA-based notebook showcased at MWC
Marvell has taken its ARMADA chips to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona for a little show and tell, and presented some nice devices based on them, including a laptop. Yes, that's right, the slim 13-inch laptop pictured below is ARMADA-powered, more specifically, it used an 1.5 GHz Armada 500 processor which is specifically designed for smartbooks, MIDs, netbooks and thin clients.

The ARMADA-based machine is manufactured by Quanta, runs Ubuntu without much problem, and is supposed to have a long battery life. While no production specifics were provided, Marvell does expect ARMADA laptops and/or netbooks to start selling later this year, priced lower than Intel and AMD-powered portable PCs. Wait for it...

Photo courtesy of Hexus.

Amazon delivers Kindle app for BlackBerry
Almost a year after iPhone users received a Kindle app, BlackBerry owners are finally getting their own e-reader software from Amazon, and yes, it's free. Currently available only in the US in beta form, the Kindle for BlackBerry app provides access to a shop with over 420,000 e-books, to all previously-purchased books stored on Amazon's servers, it automatically synchronizes the last page read between Kindle-compatible decides, and lets you create bookmarks and view annotations. You can also view books in full color, something that the Kindle reader will not offer at least until later this year.

"Since the launch of our popular Kindle for iPhone app last year, customers have been asking us to bring a similar experience to the BlackBerry, and we are thrilled to make it available today," said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "Kindle for BlackBerry is a great way for customers to continue reading their current book wherever they are أ¢آ€آ“ in between meetings, at the grocery store or waiting in the doctor's office. We think customers are going to love how easy and fun it is to read their Kindle books on their BlackBerry."

Kindle for BlackBerry works on the BB Bold 9000, Bold 9700, Curve 8520, Curve 8900, Storm 9530, Storm 9550 and Tour 9630.

Friday, February 19, 2010

IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 19/02/2010

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