IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (techPowerUp) 28/04/2011

(PR) AMD and Multicoreware Team to Help Developers Optimize the use of OpenCL for APUs
MD today announced a new collaboration with Multicoreware, a leader in software solutions and tool development for multi-core and heterogeneous computing environments, to deliver an advanced set of tools for OpenCL optimization. The tools development effort accelerates software developers' ability to create and optimize software that fully exploits the unique processing capability of AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs).

"Accelerated parallel processing represents unprecedented levels of computing capability in mobile form factors, and the tools suite that Multicoreware is developing enables application developers to achieve this performance benefit with less effort," said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. "Our work with Multicoreware marks another milestone toward broad industry adoption of OpenCL as we equip developers with necessary tools to build innovative, next-generation applications ranging from consumer PCs to high-performance computing."

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(PR) Buffalo Reveals Sleek Design for Powerful Portable DVD Drive
Buffalo Technology, a global leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of storage and wireless networking solutions, is today announcing a stylish and convenient design for its optical storage range.

The compact and sleek portable DVD device will allow users to watch DVDs and burn data to CDs/DVDs at their convenience, anytime anywhere. The drive is powered by integrated USB cables which snap to the chassis for easy mobility, contributing to the compact design. The lightweight and slim drive fits comfortably into any travel bag, making it an ideal product for laptop and netbook users on-the-go.

AMD Catalyst 11.4 WHQL Software Suite Released
AMD today released this month's timely release of its Catalyst software suite, a unified software package that installs the latest drivers for AMD Radeon graphics processors, AMD HDMI audio device, 7-series and 8-series chipsets, and related system software. This particular release has been touted by its makers within the community to provide significant performance improvements, some of which have been demonstrated by a "preview" version of Catalyst 11.4 released last month. A partial list of those games can be found here. The rest of the change log is awaited, and you will be updated once we have it.

DOWNLOAD:AMD Catalyst 11.4 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

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Ivy Bridge CPUs Feature PCI-Express 3.0
Slides detailing Intel's upcoming "Panther Point" chipset reveal that the next generation of LGA1155 processors will feature PCI-Express 3.0 bus to connect with graphics cards. PCI-Express 3.0 doubles bandwidth over PCI-Express 2.0, and comes with a number of new features and electrical specifications. With Panther Point, Intel put an end to chipsets meant for discrete graphics (such as P67). Here on, all LGA1155 chipsets will support Intel Flexible Display Interface (FDI), although only the Z-series will support overclocking. Among the Z-series, Z77 is the top part supporting a wider range of PCI-Express configurations, Z75 supports discrete graphics with up to 2 graphics cards, while H77 only supports one graphics card, and lacks overclocking features.

Unlike the X79 LGA2011 chipset, Panther Point chipsets don't feature massive 10-port SATA 6 Gb/s storage controllers. Like Cougar Point, it features two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and four SATA 3 Gb/s. The chipset embeds a USB 3.0 controller, but only 4 out of 14 USB ports are USB 3.0, rest are USB 2.0. Intel's Ivy Bridge will make for the company's 2012 Core Family portfolio, supplying entry-thru-performance segments with processor, while enthusiast segment is care of a different platform.

Source: XFastest

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(PR) Foxconn Announces NT-A3500 Nettop
Foxconn, the world leading manufacturer of computer components and systems, today announced incredible performance results for the new NT-A3500 Barebone – with over twice the performance of the NT-330i it replaces, whilst using significantly less power.

Utilising the new AMD Fusion APU with built-in Radeon HD 6310 graphics, the NT-A3500 is capable of delivering DirectX 11 graphics and true 1080p HD playback with real-time image processing, all in the ultra-small form factor of the Foxconn NT-series chassis.

Buffalo Intros New MiniStation HDDs with Better Shock Protection
Buffalo rolled out the new MiniStation HD-PNTU2 series portable USB 2.0 hard drives. Available in 500 GB and 1 TB variants, the drives are available in red, black, and silver color options. A highlight here is a new shock-absorbing system that uses springs along the sides, and eight cushions to minimize the impact of mechanical shock. The 500 GB variant measures 118 x 82 x 16 mm, weighing 190 g, while the 1 TB variant measures 118 x 82 x 19 mm, weighing 220 g. The drives come with various software utilities that help with data transfer, backup, and encryption. The bundled EcoManager software powers down the drive when idling to conserve power. Backed by 1 year warranty, the 500 GB and 1 TB Buffalo MiniStation HD-PNTU2 hard drives are priced at US $129 and $177, respectively.

Source: TechConnect Magazine

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(PR) MSI Announces GX780 Gaming Notebook
Are you still messing around with one of those old-style keyboards? In the heat of battle, do you sometimes find that you left the game, because you accidently hit the Windows "Start" key and by the time you get back, your character is already dead? If so, MSI has heard your cry. It got together with leader in professional gaming equipment manufacturing SteelSeries to forge a keyboard for the serious gamer. Not only is the new keyboard much more durable, the Windows key has been moved to the right side of the keyboard where you're less likely to strike it when the adrenaline's pumping. The GX780 also comes with a 30-color LED backlit keyboard with five modes to throttle up your visual experience.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, notes that the GX780 not only sports Intel's second generation Core i7-2630QM quad core CPU and nVidia's DirectX 11-supporting GeForce GT 555M discrete graphics card, it also has four DDR3 slots and accelerated dual hard disk architecture endowing it with impressive computing powers, making it equally suited for the digital content creator as it is for the serious gamer. The GX780 also comes with smart wrap around sound courtesy of Dynaudio and THX TruStudio Pro and a 17.3" full HD high resolution display to guarantee the ultimate multimedia experience.

(PR) Gigabyte Presents the GS-AH6G3N Business Notebook
The GS-AH6G3N embeds the new LGA1155 Intel platform for mobile products, with the most powerful and efficient processor and chipset for a reliable and durable business notebook. Designed for professional end users, our product includes all the most important features required by a utilization in a business environment. The GS-AH6G3N is therefore a very versatile business notebook, with the highest standard of performance and quality from GIGABYTE. It is nevertheless a stylish product, with an excellent design and ultra-thin profile, as well as a very light weight and a large power autonomy for the smoothest mobility. With its high value features, the GS-AH6G3N has everything to be the best work tool for your daily business life.

The GS-AH6G3N offers all the important features that e good business notebook should have. Probably the most critical feature, the GS-AH6G3N has a power autonomy of about 7 hours, which can be extended to 10 hours with a second battery docked in the swappable ODD bay (this bay can also dock a second HDD).

Mitsubishi Intros New 3D-ready DiamondCrysta 23-inch Monitor
Japanese display maker Mitsubishi released its latest addition to the DiamondCrysta series, the RDT233WX-3D. This 23-inch LED-backlit LCD monitor with stereoscopic 3D capabilities uses an in-plane switching (IPS) panel that can provide 178°/178° viewing angles. With full-HD resolution (1920 x 1080), the panel features response time of 3.8 ms (GTG), a honest-sounding 5,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (1,000:1 static contrast), and its display inputs include HDMI 1.4, DVI, and D-Sub.

The Mitsubishi DiamondCrysta RDT233WX-3D features stereo 3D support, and bundles a pair of 3D glasses; Giga Clear II image enhancement engine that adjusts various image parameters dynamically to give out the best image quality; and PIP (picture-in-picture) function. 2W stereo speakers are embedded. Its stand is designed to allow height and tilt adjustments. Slated for release by the end of May, the Mitsubishi DiamondCrysta RDT233WX-3D is expected to be priced at 52,800 JPY (US $645).

Source: PC Watch

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Gigabyte Gives Touchscreen Support to Latest BIOS Setup Program
Apart from a brand new CPU architecture, Intel's Sandy Bridge LGA1155 platform saw the mass introduction of EFI (extensible firmware interface) to the PC, a new BIOS-replacement component that can eliminate several limitations of BIOS, most notably, the ability to boot from volumes bigger than 3 TB in size. While most motherboard manufacturers have given their LGA1155 models support for UEFI, not everyone has a graphical user interface (GUI) based UEFI setup program that uses mouse as a pointing device, and presents users with UI elements such as radio buttons, drop-lists, and checkboxes to make changes. Gigabyte has been one such manufacturer with its first wave of P67 and H67 based motherboards.

With its newest B3-revision motherboards that include the upcoming Z68 chipset based motherboards, Gigabyte wants to make amends. It has to, being the number two motherboard vendor in terms of volumes. Gigabyte wants to go a step ahead of other vendors, and design a UEFI setup program that not only supports mouse, but also touchscreens, and present a user interface with large icons and design elements that resemble tablets, which are designed to make configuration easier than on mouse-driven UEFI setup programs. The TouchBIOS ("BIOS" here is just used as a verb) from Gigabyte should be available on Gigabyte's upcoming motherboards, as well as in the future, on Gigabyte's all-in-one PCs, tablets, and notebooks.

UPDATE: It turns out that TouchBIOS isn't a firmware application, but rather a Windows-based utility that makes BIOS management easily for the people less acquainted with it. Let's hope the "less acquainted" don't touch the wrong colorful button in their "ooh what does this button do?™" moments.

Source: OCWorkbench

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(PR) MAINGEAR Announces EPIC 180 Liquid CPU Cooler System
MAINGEAR, an award-winning custom PC builder offering custom desktops, custom notebooks, pc workstations and media centers, is announcing the release of their exclusive MAINGEAR EPIC (Enhanced Performance InterCooler) liquid cooling solutions by CoolIT for their entire desktop lineup.

In tradition with their legacy of innovation and design, MAINGEAR has collaborated with CoolIT to design the EPIC line of CPU cooling systems, which are the first of their kind in existence. The MAINGEAR EPIC cooling solution provides a distinct advantage in all the problem areas of existing CPU cooling units: performance, loudness, and durability.

(PR) OCZ Technology Announces Vertex 3 Max IOPS Solid State Drives
OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today unveiled a new addition to the highly-awarded Vertex 3 SATA III Series. The Vertex 3 Max IOPS edition drives extend the company's industry-leading Vertex 3 SSD product line to support users that require greater transactional throughput.

"Following the successful launch of our Vertex 3 SATA III 6Gbps solid state drives we are pleased to introduce the new Max IOPS edition," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "Vertex 3 Max IOPS drives increase random write performance, and are the ideal storage solution for applications that require high aggregate workloads and increased IO throughput."

(PR) Thought Leaders from ARM and Microsoft to be Among Keynote Speakers at AFDS
AMD today announced a distinguished line-up of keynote speakers as well as technical session topics for the inaugural AMD Fusion Developer Summit (AFDS), which will be held June 13-16, 2011 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington.

Industry keynote presentations will be delivered by esteemed industry experts from AMD, ARM and Microsoft. In his keynote "Heterogeneous Parallelism at Microsoft" Herb Sutter, Microsoft principal architect of Native Languages, will showcase upcoming innovations to bring access to increasingly heterogeneous compute resources directly into the world's most popular native languages.

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(PR) Crucial m4 SSD with Higher Capacities and Faster Performance Now Available
Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced the immediate availability of Crucial m4 solid-state drives in capacities ranging from 64GB to 512GB. Designed for both business customers and general consumers, the Crucial m4 SSD product line incorporates Micron's industry-leading 25-nanometer (nm) NAND flash technology in a 2.5" form factor. Like its Crucial RealSSD C300 predecessor, the Crucial m4 also supports the SATA 6Gb/s interface, opening up the data path between the host processor and the SSD, and resulting in improved overall system responsiveness, including faster boot times and application loads.

The new Crucial m4 SSD reaches read speeds of up to 415 MB/second, a 17 percent increase over its predecessor. Likewise, write speeds on the new 512GB capacity have demonstrated increases up to 260MB/s, a 20 percent boost over the fastest C300 drive1. Ideal for client computing, Crucial m4 SSD products provide benefits for notebooks, desktops, workstations, and industrial applications, including low power consumption, lightweight construction, and resistance to shock and vibration.

ASRock Uses ''Real'' AM3+ Sockets, Lists Out Advantages Over AM3
ASRock launched a new marketing campaign for its AMD platform motherboards, claiming to be the first manufacturer to be out with motherboards that use real AM3+ sockets. AM3+ is the FCPGA socket that has been designed for upcoming AMD FX series "Zambezi" processors based on the "Bulldozer" architecture. As a part of its campaign, ASRock highlighted the benefits of opting for its AM3+ motherboards. In the process, it ended up disclosing quite some technical information about AM3+, and why AMD designed it in the first place, when apparently AM3 can run Zambezi with a BIOS update.

To begin with, ASRock started with the socket itself, showing that AM3+ sockets can be identified by "AM3b" written on the socket, and have wider pin-holes (0.51 mm vs. 0.45 mm of AM3). It is possible that future (retail?) versions of the CPU, if not the engineering samples doing rounds, could use packages with thicker pins that are incompatible with AM3. The thicker pins add durability, and are designed for a different set of electrical specifications.

(PR) Logitech Introduces K270 Wireless Keyboard
Logitech has introduced their Wireless Keyboard K270, a sleek keyboard that delivers Logitech Advanced 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity and up to two years of battery life. With the Logitech Advanced 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity, you will enjoy virtually no signal loss from up to 10 meters away. The Logitech Wireless Keyboard K270 also delivers up to 24 months of battery life as well as auto-standby, which helps you save energy when you are not using the keyboard.

The Logitech Wireless Keyboard K270 also features the tiny USB receiver, which is small enough to stay in your laptop. Plus, you can easily add another compatible mouse or keyboard - without the hassle of multiple USB receivers.

(PR) Kingmax Announces Waterproof 64 GB SDXC Card
As technology has quickly progressed, people have come to rely on consumer electronic products more so than ever. Photos, music, movies and electronic games continue to require higher digital data transmission rates and larger storage capacity. Additionally, consumers were disappointed with memory cards' transfer speeds traditionally being unable to perform fast enough to capture continuous spectacular shots. In light of this, KINGMAX, world-renowned as a first-rate memory card manufacturer, has taken the lead in launching a new high-speed, high-capacity Waterproof SDXC Class 10 64GB memory card, which not only provides waterproof and dustproof functions but also boasts impressive read and write speeds and a vast storage capacity that certainly satisfy consumer needs.

Compatible with the Secure Digital Association's (SDA) widely used Secure Digital (SD) format, the KINGMAX Waterproof SDXC Class 10 memory card exhibits a massive 64GB storage capacity, with specs of 65 MB/sec read speed and 40 MB/sec write speed. The KINGMAX memory card lineup include SD 3.01 specifications, which add a new UHS-I (Ultra High Speed Bus I) interface structure that will enable transfer speeds of up to 104 MB/s. The UHS symbol applies onto SDHC and SDXC products only. When paired with a UHS-I device, KINGMAX's Waterproof SDXC UHS-I and SDHC UHS-I memory cards are designed for recording HD-resolution videos while simultaneously performing other recording functions at speeds never seen before.

(PR) OCZ Appoints Steve Lee as New SVP of Product Management, BU General for PSU Division
OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and power supplies for computing devices and systems, today announced the appointment of Steve Lee as Senior Vice President of Product Management and BU General Manager for power supplies.

"We are pleased to announce Steve Lee's new position as he is an expert in the power management field and an excellent addition to our executive team," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "Steve's extensive experience in power supply design and product management will help OCZ to enhance our position and expand the company's PSU product offerings in both the consumer and commercial markets."

(PR) Kingston Technology Launches HyperX Plug and Play High Performance Memory
Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the new HyperX Plug and Play (PnP) series of high-performance enthusiast memory. HyperX PnP are the first modules to scale the higher memory heights that are a part of the second generation Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs. The memory is programmed with faster frequencies and when 'plugged' into a system using the Sandy Bridge chipset, will automatically 'play' at either 1600MHz or 1866MHz in both desktop and notebook PCs.

The modules are programmed using JEDEC-compliant settings, allowing 1600MHz and 1866MHz frequency support. It is as simple as plugging in the memory and turning on the machine, as the system automatically recognizes faster memory speed with no further BIOS settings required. Users will notice performance gains as overclocking is automatic with the HyperX Plug and Play modules. In addition, the modules are backwards compatible with previously released DDR3 systems on the market.

(PR) EverCool Announces Dr. Cool, World's First Router Cooler
Guess what it is. A crab? The tool for clip game? Or a small UFO? It is the new cooler launched by EVERCOOL, who is always driven by the coexistence of both cooling and aesthetics, but also emphasizing the usability. Dr. Cool is the World’s first specialized cooler for Routers and IP sharing devices with a unique design. It was conceived with three features in mind: branding, creative aesthetics and effective cooling. This last being where EVERCOOL pays special attention to, as well as taking into consideration user’s feedback. It has a white, delicate and compact appearance that makes it attractive to people’s eyes.

Dr. Cool provides a cooling solution to address overheating problems. Using one 8cm long-life fan it provides sufficient airflow to achieve silent cooling, effectively dissipating the heat. It also helps prevent damage caused by heat by long periods of operation and extend the router’s or IP sharing device’s life expectancy.

Available Tags:AMD , Catalyst , WHQL , Ivy Bridge , MSI , Gaming , Notebook , Gigabyte , CPU Cooler , CPU , OCZ , Microsoft , SSD , ASRock , Logitech , Wireless , Keyboard , Kingston , Router ,

Thursday, April 28, 2011

IT News Head Lines (techPowerUp) 28/04/2011

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