IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 27/08/2010

Friday, August 27, 2010

IT News HeadLines (TechConnect Magazine) 27/08/2010

Zotac serves up Intel CULV-based MIni PC and mini-ITX platforms
Zotac is upping the ante when it comes to compact PCs and mini-ITX (lower-cost) motherboards by introducing a product line that combines Intel CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) processors and Nvidia's ION platform.

Samsung 30 and 90 Series tuner-equipped monitors launched in the US
Samsung Electronics America has today sent out word regarding its newest multi-function monitors which include a built-in TV tuner, the 30 Series B2230HD (21.5-inch), B2330HD (23-inch), B2430HD (24-inch) and the 90 Series FX2490HD (24-inch).

Sparkle kicks off StartCraft II trial promotion in Europe
Sparkle Computer is trying to bank on the hype around Blizzard's latest RTS title and has thus decided to offer throughout Europe a trial coupon for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, bundled with various graphics cards.

Dell's new offer for 3PAR beats HP's, is accepted
As expected, Dell has accepted HP's challenge for a bid war on 3PAR and has offered $24.30 per share in cash, or approximately $1.6 billion (HP bid $24 per share) to the virtualized storage company which, yes, accepted the new price. Dell's initial plan was to pay $18 per 3PAR share.

Team Group to release a 32GB Class 2 microSDHC memory card
For those in need of lots of storage space for their camera or mobile phone, Team Group has developed a new, high-capacity microSDHC memory card that can carry 32GB worth of content, be it music, video, documents, or something else.

HP acquires IT automation company Stratavia
HP has just announced a new addition to its ranks, Denver-based Stratavia, a privately-held company providing application stack automation for physical, virtual, and cloud infrastructure.

Corsair's Professional series power supplies hit stores
Announced back in June, Corsair's 80Plus Gold-certified Professional Series line of modular power supplies has now begun to reach retail, enticing enthusiasts with their specs and high efficiency which reaches up to 92%.

Asus develops 14mm-thick external DVD burner
After extensive fiddling with the design Asus has managed to come up with an external DVD writer that is just 14mm thick and looks all hot with its brushed metal surface and shiny side panels.

LaCie intros the Rikiki Go portable hard drive
Keeping us well supplied with sexy storage solutions, LaCie has rolled out a new portable hard drive, the Rikiki Go which measures just 75 x 109.7 x 13.4 mm and has a tough and smooth aluminum shell.

Microsoft reveals the Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 Studio Series
Microsoft has today presented to the world the Wireless Mobile Mouse 4000 Studio Series line of wireless mice - six models with the same specs but a different design to make them stand out - Patterns Micro, Botanic and Cosmic (Best Buy exclusives), and Downtown, Crania and Pirouette.

Opera Mini back to growth in July, tops 62.3 million users
Following a rather slow June in which its user base fell 3.2% to 59.4 million people, Opera Mini has once again experienced growth in July when it managed to have 62.3 million users (23% are female users) who viewed over 29.6 billion pages - up 8.5%.

Acer LumiRead e-reader to reach Germany in October
Acer is expected to have a significant presence at IFA 2010 Berlin (September 3-8), where it will show off a lot of products, including the LumiRead ebook reader which has been confirmed to hit German stores in October.

Google, Apple, Nokia, others, sued over mobile ad patent
Ready to sing along to Meja's 'All about the money' again? Good, because we've got another major patent case on our hands, courtesy of one StreetSpace Inc who filed a complaint against Google, Apple, Nokia, Jumptap, NAVTEQ, Millennial Media and a bunch of other companies.

Revamped Digg.com goes live
After months and months of work the 'new and improved' Digg has finally been launched in hopes of getting back the popularity lost due to the explosion of Facebook and Twitter.

I-O Data preps the HDPN-U500/V camcorder-loving portable HDD
Next month I-O Data will be releasing in Japan a new external storage solution, the HDPN-U500/V portable hard drive that can survive 70cm drops, and easily backup SD or HD videos recorded with a camcorder.

Radeon HD 6000 series GPU codenames found in Catalyst 10.8
Released yesterday, the Catalyst 10.8 drivers are more than meets the eye as a very close look at them reveals the codenames of AMD's next-generation GPU line known as Southern Islands.

CyberLink YouCam 4 comes with Augmented Reality effects, easy sharing
CyberLink has this week released a new version of the YouCam consumer-oriented webcam software, which brings to the table quite a few interesting features, like Augmented Reality effects, Avatar Creation, and the TrueTheater technology.

Cooler Master comes up with the USNA95 slim notebook power adapter
Cooler Master has now announced the USNA95, a compact (104 x 62 x 17 mm) and metaphorically hot notebook power adapter that can provide up to 95W to portable PCs, and also charge USB devices like mobile phones, MP3 players, and Sony's PlayStation Portable.

Canon unveils the 18MP EOS 60D DSLR camera
Canon has just announced the newest member of its popular EOS family of Digital SLR cameras, the 60D. This one comes with an 18 megapixel CMOS sensor, built-in functionality for RAW image processing, and the ability to record Full HD (1920 x 1080) video at up to 30 fps.

Motorola's 'Kobe' Android smartphone smiles for the camera
The yet unannounced but AT&T-bound Motorola Kobe (aka MB520 aka Diablo) smartphone has now been revealed through an unofficial hands-on which confirms its use of Android 2.1 and the Blur UI also found on the Droid 2.

Chrome goes 7.0 in the Dev Channel
Google Chrome has now moved to 7.x build numbers with the Dec Channel release of version 7.0.503.0 but there's nothing major to report as no significant features have been added. Sure, you have more stability fixes and tweaks to the Wrench menu, but nothing exciting enough for the first 7.0 build.

Smartfish ErgoMotion Mouse goes on sale
Smartfish Technologies has now made available the ErgoMotion Mouse, a wireless laser mouse that makes use of a patented swivel mechanism which enables a fluid hand movement and reduces the risk of Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI).

Garmin recalling 1.25 million GPS units due to battery overheating issues
Laptop battery recalls may have dropped to a minimum recently but you're still not safe from fiery hazards as Garmin has revealed that some 1.25 million nÃ¼vi navigation devices contain a battery that may overheat and lead to more or less serious damage.

Apple schedules 'special event' for September 1st
Next week, Wednesday, September 1st, Apple will be holding its usual fall announcement event in San Francisco to introduce some new products. Nothing is confirmed yet but we can expect the fourth generation iPod touch (which could have a front-facing camera) to make its debut.

Techconnect Review Round-up 25/8/10
Today's review round-up...

Gmail added phone call functionality, it's free for US and Canada calls
As of today people in the US don't need Skype to make phone calls from the PC to landlines or mobiles phones as Google has made this possible in Gmail. The VOIP feature is easily accessible through the Chat window on the left and offers some low rates, or no rates, depending on where you're calling.

Lexmark files patent lawsuits against 24 cartridge manufacturers
Well-known printer maker Lexmark has last week filed complaints with the US ITC (International Trade Commission) and the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, accusing 24 cartridges manufacturers of infringing 15 of its patents.

Catalyst 10.8 drivers available for download
Just as promised, AMD has today let loose the Catalyst 10.8 WHQL-certified drivers which come with support for the Radeon HD 2000, HD 3000, HD 4000 and HD 5000 series graphics cards, and the Radeon HD 3000 and HD 4000 series IGPs (a Mobility Radeon release is available for mobile chips).

Catalyst 10.8

Silicon Power develops a 32GB Class 10-rated SDHC card
Taiwanese manufacturer Silicon Power has now introduced a new SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) memory card, one that provides photographers owning DSLR or HD camcorders with 32B of storage space and minimum read/write speeds of 10 MB/s.

The Best of Today's E-Book Readers
The e-reader market, long dominated by Amazon's Kindle, has lately gone mainstream as many brands decided to enter and many books and publications are now available. The growth of e-readers in both sales and features will be the interesting trend to watch over time.

Latest Opera 10.70 snapshot comes with unified build number, more fixes
Opera Software's Desktop Team has now released a new Opera 10.70 build, the first to have a unified number for all three platform (Windows, Mac OS and Linux) - 9034.

Amazon starts shipping third-gen Kindle e-reader
Amazon has today begun delivering the first batch of third-generation Kindle ebook readers, two days ahead of the original schedule. According to its maker, the new, lighter Kindle has already established a new pre-order record although no actual numbers were provided (as usual).

No comments:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)