Thursday, June 30, 2011

IT News Head Lines (InformationWeek) 30/06/2011





Data centers, DR, and private clouds now ‘on-demand’
Want a data center? A company is now offering it ‘on demand’ and claims you can have it in a few weeks. It claims you can save significantly with their on-demand private cloud and on-demand DR site; resources can be self-provisioned much faster

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SAIL gets MPLS Network
A Virtual NOC was established to provide customers with Internet-based network monitoring through a dashboard

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United Bank of India connects faster
The ATM services, branch transactions and communications of the Bank have phenomenally improved post implementation of VSAT solution

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Mobile devices can be a new front for attackers in the future
Paul Sagan, CEO, Akamai Technologies shares his perspective on why India remains one of the hottest markets for Akamai

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Cloud computing interoperability presents a greater challenge to adoption than security, says IEEE
Security and reliability, as well as security guarantees, may reassure IT managers and support continued cloud adoption

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'When M&A happens it is important to have good communication happening'
Armed with a PhD in Computer Science and a solid technology background, Dr. Neena Pahuja, CIO, Max Healthcare now plays a key role in business transformation. Dr. Pahuja shares her long journey — assuming roles of Head of Digitization, Global Enabling Leader for security and compliance, and now as CIO — and the valuable lessons
picked up along the way

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Available Tags:India , IEEE ,

IT News Head Lines (Tom's Hardware) 30/06/2011





Deals June 28: Dell XPS 9100 / i7-930 / 9GB $949
Deals June 28: Dell XPS 9100 / i7-930 / 9GB $949A deal on a big PC.

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PCIe 3.0 is Here; PCIe 4.0 Already in the Works
PCIe 3.0 is Here; PCIe 4.0 Already in the WorksTons more bandwidth for future applications.

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Latest Windows 8 Rumor Says RTM by April 2012
Latest Windows 8 Rumor Says RTM by April 2012Just one beta to rule them all?

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Nvidia Boasts New Laptop GPU With DX11 Crysis 2
Nvidia Boasts New Laptop GPU With DX11 Crysis 2Yes, it plays very well.

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Sony Vaio Z Has External Radeon Light Peak GPU
Sony Vaio Z Has External Radeon Light Peak GPUThe best of both worlds for the roadwarrior and desktop replacement.

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Blizzard Launches WoW ''Starter Edition''
Blizzard Launches WoW ''Starter Edition''It's not a time-limited demo, but Blizzard's new World of Warcraft Starter Edition isn't exactly a free-to-play MMORPG, either.

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Acer's AC700 Chromebook Shipping This Week
Acer's AC700 Chromebook Shipping This WeekAlthough Samsung already released a Chomebook, Acer America claims its new AC7000 is the first Chome-based device to hit North American shelves.

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Patriot, Super Talent Launch SSDs with SF-2200
Patriot, Super Talent Launch SSDs with SF-2200Both Patriot Memory and Super Talent have launched new SSDs using SandForce's SF-2200 controller.

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Available Tags:Dell , Windows 8 , Windows , Nvidia , GPU , Light Peak , Sony , Vaio , Radeon , WoW ,

IT News Head Lines (InsideHW) 30/06/2011

InsideHW



Cloudy Office launched, available 365 days a year
Following a lengthy beta period, Microsoft's business-oriented and cloud-based communications and collaboration package, Office 365, has went live in 40 countries around the globe, promising to boost productivity while lowering IT costs. Office 365 brings together things like the Office Web Apps (web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote), Lync Online (cloud communications service), SharePoint Online (for sharing documents), Exchange Online (email, calendar, contacts and such), and Office Professional Plus (productivity tools).

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Google+ launched, somehow different social network
Claiming that online sharing is awkward and broken, Google today announced its much-rumored push into the social space and introduced the Google+ project. What is it? Not a social network per say, but a package of services and apps to help share content, communicate and discover new things online. One major component of Google+ is the circle, a structure that can be easily customized (and multiplied, since you can make a heap of circles) to include the persons you want to share content with. According to Google, making circles is as fast as easy as pie, and allows for a more focused management of a person's online contacts.

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MSI unveils GX480 Sandy Bridge-powered notebook
MSI announced its newest Huron River-based mobile PC, a the colorful (black, white, summery blue) 14-inch model called CX480 which runs Windows 7 Home Premium and promises a battery life of up to 8.5 hours. MSI's notebook weights in 2.2kg, comes with a brush metal finish, and features an LED-backlit (1366 x 768) display, a 2.1 GHz Core i3-2310M or 2.3 GHz Core i5-2410M processor, up to a 640GB hard drive (which is placed towards the middle to ensure a higher protection against shock), a GeForce GT 520 1GB graphics card, a DVD writer, a multi-in-1 card reader, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, optional Bluetooth 3.0, two 2W speakers (SRS PC Sound enhanced), a HDMI output, optional USB 3.0 connectivity, and a 6-cell battery.

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Microsoft released Service Pack 1 for Office 2010
Microsoft has made available the first service pack for Office 2010 which includes all public updates released through June as well as a bunch of unreleased fixes that improve stability, performance, and security. Some of the highlights of SP1 follow:

- Word 2010 SP1 includes a dialog box that warns users that the custom XML will be lost when files that use custom XML markups are saved in XML-based file formats.

- Outlook 2010 SP1 includes Office 365 support.

- Excel 2010 SP1 - Function names now maintain backward compatibility with earlier versions of Excel for the Czech, Dutch, Danish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish languages.

- Access 2010 SP1 adds a new feature to integrate community content in the Application Parts gallery.

- OneNote 2010 SP1 - Added a new Open from web option that is located under the File Open menu. This enables you to open OneNote notebooks from Windows Live SkyDrive.

- PowerPoint 2010 SP1 - The default behavior for the Use Presenter View option is changed to display the slide show on the secondary monitor, and display the notes on the primary monitor.

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Intel tying Clover Trail launch to Windows 8
Despite the fact that Windows 8 should show a lot of love for ARM-based processors, Intel is still very supportive of the new operating system and is hoping to pair it up with the upcoming Clover Trail platform.

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Patriot releases SandForce-based Wildfire SSDs
Patriot’s promise of SandForce SF-2200-enabled store is becoming a reality as the company released its previously-announced Wildfire solid state drives. These units make use of a SATA 6.0 Gbps interface and deliver read and write speeds of up to 555 MB/s and 520 MB/s, respectively.

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NVIDIA unveils GeForce GTX 580M & 570M
NVIDIA let loose two new mobile cards targeting the high-end segment: GeForce GTX 580M and GTX 570M both feature support for the DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.1 APIs as well as for technologies like CUDA, PhysX, SLI, Optimus (graphics switching), and 3D Vision.

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ASUS to release slim Eee PC X101 netbook next month
Not even a month has passed since its unveiling but the Eee PC X101 netbook is claimed to be ready for its time in the spotlight. This new, slim (17.6mm) and light (950 grams) Eee PC model is supposed to go on sale in July in two versions - one running MeeGo and one with Windows 7 pre-installed.

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Available Tags:Sandy Bridge , MSI , notebook , Microsoft , Windows 8 , Intel , Windows , NVIDIA , GeForce , GTX , ASUS , netbook ,

IT News Head Lines (techPowerUp) 30/06/2011

techPowerUp!



ViewSonic Intros New Budget LED Monitors
Display major ViewSonic announced three new monitors in Europe, the 19" VA1948m-LED, 21.5" VA2248-LED and 23.6" VA2448-LED. The VA1948m-LED features 16:10 aspect ratio, with native resolution of 1440x900 pixels; while the VA2248-LED and VA2448-LED are 16:9 full-HD monitors (1920x1080 pixels native resolution). All three feature LED-backlit panels with dynamic contrast ratios of 10,000,000:1, and 5 ms GTG response time. Available now, the VA1948m-LED, VA2248-LED, and VA2448-LED are priced at €119, €145, and €179.







Source: Softpedia

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(PR) SAPPHIRE Announces EDGE-HD2 Mini PC
Building on the success of its first Mini PC, hailed as the smallest PC in the world, SAPPHIRE Technology – the world leading manufacturer and supplier of PC graphics cards and mainboards has just introduced a new model – the SAPPHIRE EDGE-HD2. The SAPPHIRE EDGE-HD2 shares the same slim, stylish outline as the earlier model but delivers slightly higher performance and is now also available with a pre-loaded operating system. At less than half a litre in volume, it is slimmer and smaller than most wireless access points – in fact around the size of a paperback book! Its stylish design and simple pedestal mount make it equally at home next to a TV or business monitor whilst occupying the minimum of desk or shelf space.





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TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.5.4 Released
TechPowerUp released the latest version of GPU-Z, our popular graphics hardware information and monitoring utility. Version 0.5.4 packs a large number of changes, beginning with faster start-up, support for the entire line of NVIDIA GeForce 500M series GPUs, new models of Intel Sandy Bridge processor graphics, a number of AMD Radeon HD 6000M series GPUs, improved support for AMD APUs, and a number of bug fixes.



GPU-Z has overcome the slow start-up issue on AMD Radeon GPUs, it loads slightly faster on NVIDIA GPUs, too. ROP count reading on AMD Radeon HD 6790, Turks & Whistler was fixed; along with sensor count on Caicos, Whistler, Turks. OpenCL detection on some NVIDIA drivers was fixed. The ability to read UMA-shared memory on AMD APU systems was added. GPU-Z has better ability to detect and warn of spurious graphics cards with faked IDs. GPU-Z 0.5.4 is available in both its standard form and the ASUS Republic of Gamers themed variant.







DOWNLOAD: GPU-Z 0.5.4 | GPU-Z 0.5.4 ASUS ROG Themed



A complete list of changes with this version follows.

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(PR) MSI Debuts Dazzling CX480 Multimedia Notebook
MSI unveiled its new generation CX480 laptop, with your choice of black, white, or summery blue as well as MSI's own flat brush finish for an all-new youthfully chic exterior. The new color film print technology gives it character and natural refinement that make it stand out from the crowd. The CX480 is the perfect mobile companion when you're enjoying some summer rays.



Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, points out that not only is the eye-catching CX480 NB ideal for outdoor use, it packs Intel's high performance second generation Core i processor and nVidia GeForce GT520M discrete graphics card with 1GB DDR3 display memory. In addition, the ALS and ECO technologies give it up to 8.5 hours of battery time per charge, perfect for individuals that don't always have electrical outlets nearby.





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Lamptron Unveils FC9 Slider Type Fan Controller
Lamptron unveiled its latest internal case fan controller, the FC9. With this, Lamptron broke away from the rotary-knob styled speed control to a slider styled one. The FC9 lets you control up to four channels, each delivering up to 50W of power. The unit draws power from a standard 4-pin Molex connector. It measures 148.5 x 42.5 x 75 mm. It comes in two brushed aluminum bezel color options of black and silver. The LEDs colors are user-changeable between white, blue, green, cyan, red, purple, and yellow. Lamptron recommends users to have at least a 600W PSU to use this as intended. Pricing and market availability information was not given out.





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FurMark Updated to Versions 1.8.5 and 1.9.1
The enthusiast community's favourite trial-by-fire for graphics cards, FurMark, has been updated to versions 1.8.5 and 1.9.1. Its developers maintain two branch versions of the program, since version 1.8 is popular, and 1.9 is the latest, bleeding-edge in the suite of stress test routines it has. FurMark is an OpenGL-based 3D graphics hardware stress-testing and benchmarking program. Its stress-testing functions are widely used to test stability of overclocked graphics hardware, and is dreaded by GPU manufacturers.



Version 1.8.5 is a maintenance release, which packs improved score submission, an updated number of window resolutions available, and improved graphics hardware detection using an updated ZoomGPU code. The FurMark 1.7 mode is removed. A bugfix filters the spikes in temperature graphs. Minimizing the window now can't be done in full-screen mode. Version 1.9.1, on the other hand, adds support for new AMD and NVIDIA GPUs with updated detection code, supports GPU-Z 0.5.1 and GPU Shark 0.5.1; added a workaround for a bug in AMD Catalyst GLSL compiler, which led to wrong lightning of the furry donut.







DOWNLOAD: FurMark 1.8.5 and 1.9.1

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AOC Announces USB-Powered Full-HD Monitor
Display major AOC announced the USB-powered e2251wu monitor. This 21.5-inch monitor consumes so little power, that it draws it from a USB port. Even with so little resources, the monitor has a formidable specs sheet: 1920 x 1080 pixels native resolution, 1000:1 static contrast ratio, 200 cd/m² brightness, and 5 ms response time. The monitor can either by attached to its base, or incline on its arm. AOC is expected to release the e2251wu to the market in August.







Source: TechConnect Magazine

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Available Tags:ViewSonic , SAPPHIRE , TechPowerUp , MSI , Notebook ,

IT News Head Lines (PCSTATS) 30/06/2011

PCSTATS



NZXT H2 Computer Case Review @ PCSTATS



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AMD 990FX: Prepping for Bulldozer @ PCSTATS
Explosions, pings, message notifications, and the Windows login tune. What do all of these have in common, you may ask? Well, these are all sounds we may hear almost every day when sitting in front of our computers. From just logging on to playing games, we hear a plethora of stuff coming from our speakers or headsets. However, one thing most users don't want to hear while performing their day-to-day routine would be the incessant humming from their computer itself. In my case, the last thing I would want to hear when I am gaming or listening to music is the spinning noise from my hard drive, or the noise from my case fans. To combat this problem, some people may go about and get the best fans and passive cooling units to reduce the noise. What some users do not think of, however, would be to choose a quieter chassis to seal the deal. Well, today we have a new case from NZXT that advertises to do just that. NZXT is well known in the industry for their high quality cases, fans, and power supplies. The product we will be taking a look at today is the NZXT H2 from the Classic line of cases, which is pretty self-explanatory. This line seeks more classic and clean designs, while providing modern luxury at the same time. Without further delay, let us dive right into our review, and see how well this chassis reaches its goals for being quiet and clean looking at the same time.
... [APHNETWORKS] via PCSTATS


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Rasurbo Real Power 650w Modular PSU @ PCSTATS
AMD's latest chipset offering adds in some interesting new features, including support for the upcoming 8-core processors and re-introducing SLI on the AMD platform. Does it make sense to buy now?
... [PREPPING] via PCSTATS


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OCZ Vertex 3 240GB @ PCSTATS
"Here’s the third in our Rasurbo Real Power Previews. Today its the 650w unboxing where we’ll be looking at the physical layout and the bundle. Please bare in mind there won’t be any performance results, as we don’t want to be wrong now do we?"
... [XSREVIEWS] via PCSTATS


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Flextronics R&D team recruited by Compal, Wistron @ PCSTATS
"The Vertex 3 is equipped with the latest controller from Sandforce, the SF2281TB1-SDC-ES. Sandforce's 2281 controller is a second generation product that uses enhanced Duraclass technology to deliver optimized power consumption, security, wear leveling, and drive performance in a single chip solution. The Vertex 3 has a total of sixteen 16GB 25nm MLC NAND modules on board, eight on each side of the PCB. The NAND is made from Intel, although you may see Micron on board. If you do the math, the total NAND equals 256GB, or 16GB more than the capacity of the drive. This extra space is used by the controller to keep the drive optimized and replace cells that may have failed."

... [OVERCLOCKERSCLUB] via PCSTATS


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OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 review @ PCSTATS
With Electronics manufacturing service (EMS) provider Flextronics recently exiting the notebook manufacturing industry, the company's notebook R&D team was soon being recruited by Taiwan-based notebook maker Compal Electronics and Wistron, according to sources from notebook players.
... [DIGITIMES] via PCSTATS


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OCZ RevoDrive 3x2 480GB PCIe SSD Review - 1.5GB/s Read @ PCSTATS
The world of Solid State storage technology is full of surprises and the development rate is exceedingly progressive. As such we today test the OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2.

Let me just throw some numbers at you to get that tickly in your belly ; 1500 MB/s maximum read performance, or what about 1250 MB/s maximum write performance ? No that still didn't do it for you ... well what about 200.000 IOPS (4K writes) ? Yeah that is where we have arrived in the year 2011. It's insanely fast, it will be insanely expensive but it is most definitely insanely sexy.

... [GURU3D] via PCSTATS


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OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 PCI Express SSD Performance @ PCSTATS
Today’s complete review of the OCZ RevoDrive 3 x2 PCIe SSD is published on the heels of our ‘Quick Look’ of the Revo 3 a few weeks back which resulted in a flurry of attention by PC enthusiasts worldwide. As many e-mails that were received in result, they never compared to the backlinks returned from dozens of forums with members salivating over the Revo 3 x2 and anticipating its release date. It turns out that our ‘Computex Taipei’ RevoDrive 3 x2 SSD benchmarks were an exclusive first look at this cards performance as we tried a new approach in conducting first hand independent benchmarks at Computex on nothing more than a flash drive.

The OCZ Revo 3 x2 PCIe SSD enters the consumer market as the fastest consumer available storage solution by a land slide. OCZ specifications list high sequential performance as 1.5GB/s read, 1.25GB/s write and capable of 200, 000 IOPS at 4k random write disk access. Coincidentally, this is also the first consumer targeted product that brings us out of megabyte per second speeds and into the realm of gigabytes per second.

... [THESSDREVIEW] via PCSTATS


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Llano and the Fusion architecture @ PCSTATS
In recent months we've covered PCI Express-based SSDs from virtually all the major players, from Fusion-io to, OCZ and LSI. The last time we took a look at OCZ's offering, the RevoDrive X2 took to the test bench for us and with its MLC-based design, offered much of the performance of significantly more expensive SLC-based PCI Express SSDs, but at a fraction of the cost. Today the third coming of the RevoDrive from OCZ is upon us, with all new technology on board, from its Flash controllers to the RAID processor.

With read/write specs that will make you drool, the RevoDrive 3 X2 is here and if it lives up to its specifications on paper, we think you're going to want to stick around for the intimate details...
... [EXPRESS] via PCSTATS


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Gigabyte to sell Z68 motherboard/20GB SSD bundle in July @ PCSTATS
AMD has clearly articulated a software and hardware roadmap for unified CPU and GPU computing at their Fusion Developer’s Summit that has all the right pieces. Llano and Zacate are the first integration steps and focus on reducing overhead by sharing – rather than copying – data between the CPU and GPU.



Llano made a number of compromises in favor of time to market, such as using a very mediocre CPU core and relying on memory rather than on-die caches for CPU/GPU communication. However, it still packs the best performance integrated graphics period, and good media decoding. Overall, Llano is a serious improvement for AMD’s notebooks, mostly due to power management, which should be well received by consumers. The trick for AMD going forward is to execute on their vision and consistently deliver compelling improvements in a timely fashion.

... [REALWORLDTECH] via PCSTATS


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Gigabyte re-arranges executive positions to fix motherboard shipments @ PCSTATS
Taiwan-based motherboard maker Gigabyte Technology will start selling its Intel Z68-based Z68XP-UD3-iSSD motherboard bundled with Intel's 20GB 331 series solid state drive (SSD) in early July, hoping to boost its Z68 motherboard demand.
... [DIGITIMES] via PCSTATS


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OCZ released the RevoDrive @ PCSTATS
Taiwan-based motherboard maker Gigabyte Technology saw its motherboard shipments performance in the first half rather stable compared to its competitor Asustek Computer and has recently re-arranged its executive positions to fix the issues, according to sources from retail channel vendors.
... [DIGITIMES] via PCSTATS


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Seagate GoFlex Slim (320GB) @ PCSTATS
"The RevoDrive 3 X2 is a true breath of fresh air to the field
of PCIe Solid State Storage. With very large available capacities, and
performance on-par with solutions costing several times more to
obtain, I see the new RevoDrive making its way into low end servers
and (very) high performance end-user PC's. Anyone truly serious about
their storage performance should not be without this Drive."
... [PCPER] via PCSTATS


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ASUS EAH5550 Review @ PCSTATS
“The Seagate GoFlex Slim (320GB) hard drive is like a prize greyhound, with a distinctive slim look and USB 3.0 speed. Some might want a drive with more storage capacity, but the sleek design and zippy speeds will tempt most buyers.”
... [PERIPHERALS] via PCSTATS


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Motorola XOOM Review @ PCSTATS
With the EAH5550 ASUS has AMD's low end product in its
portfolio that comes with PCB layout made by ASUS themselves. This
card is based on the RV870 architecture which has been fully reworked
for the entry level market. Never the less we're curious how this
thing will perform in our benchmark parcours. For a small teaser: this
card proves quite decent and overclocking was a lot of fun.
... [OCAHOLIC] via PCSTATS


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CPU Performance Comparison Guide Rev. 5.6 @ PCSTATS
"As most of you may know, up until recently we have mainly focused on computer hardware. Well today we have our first tablet to review, the Motorola XOOM. Whereas most sites will provide you with extremely technical reviews that sometimes include paragraphs of technical jargon you just don’t understand a word of, we’re here to provide you with a high quality review that gives you an overview of the product in general, its hardware, operating system and our overall verdict. With that being said, let’s get down and dirty with the XOOM from Motorola."
... [TECH-REV] via PCSTATS


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ASUS BC-12B1ST Internal 12X BD-Combo Drive Review @ PCSTATS
This article compiles the best benchmark results we collected
of various CPU models using x264 HD Benchmark 4.0, a free CPU
benchmark developed by graysky, Dashken and Adrian Wong. This CPU
performance comparison guide currently covers 59 different CPU models
plus another 283 CPUs in the older comparison but this is just the
beginning. We will keep updating the results as new results come in,
so please contribute your results.

If you would like to participate in this endeavor, head over to the
x264 HD Benchmark 4.0 page and download a copy. After you obtain your
benchmark results, simply post them in the official forum thread of
x264 HD Benchmark 4.0. Please post your results even if your processor
is already listed in the comparison. This is because we will use your
results if they are better than the results currently listed in the
comparison.

... [TECHARP] via PCSTATS


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Gigabyte A75-UD4H FM1 (AMD A75) Motherboard @ PCSTATS
"The ASUS BC-12B1ST drive can read a Blu-Ray disc and has the ability to burn data onto a DVD media. The ASUS BC-12B1ST BD-Combo drive can reach read speeds of 12X for BD-ROM discs and 16X for DVD-ROM discs. As for data burning speed, the ASUS BC-12B1ST BD-Combo drive can burn a DVD+/-R disc up to 16X and store data on CD-R discs up to 48X. Using ASUS’ E-Green technology, the BC-12B1ST BD-Combo drive conserves energy by closing unused drive applications while the Optical Tuning Strategy employed by the BC-12B1ST drive when burning results in excellent error-free burning. Using a SATA interface and being compatible with a Windows operating system, makes the ASUS BC-12B1ST a great addition to your PC-based home theater system."
... [HITECHLEGION] via PCSTATS


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Available Tags:PCSTATS , AMD , OCZ , SSD , Fusion , Gigabyte , Seagate , ASUS , Motorola , XOOM , CPU ,

IT News Head Lines (Yahoo News) 30/06/2011





Android Market missing out on game marketing, others fill the gap
(Appolicious)

Appolicious - Games have become an integral part of the Android experience, benefiting gamers, developers and Android alike. But as the rivalry between Android and iOS heats up, and third party marketplaces emerge as alternative portals for Android apps, Android games become an important experiment in software marketing and distribution. From fragmentation issues on Android’s operating system to disappointing restrictions on app publishing in the Android Market, game developers have a lot to consider as they hope to monetize their efforts on the Android platform.

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Oracle buys company majority owned by CEO Ellison
(Reuters)

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison speaks during his keynote address at the Oracle Open World in San Francisco, California September 22, 2010. REUTERS/Robert GalbraithReuters - Software company Oracle Corp has agreed to buy Pillar Data Systems, a privately held storage technology company that is majority owned by Oracle's own chief executive officer, Larry Ellison.



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Microsoft rolls out Office in the cloud
(Reuters)

A Nokia staff member shows off the new Nokia N9 phone on the sidelines of CommunicAsia 2011, an international communications and information technology exhibition and conference held on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 in Singapore. Finnish handset maker Nokia Corp. said it plans to introduce this year its first mobile phone using the Microsoft Windows platform. Nokia also unveiled its N9 smartphone model, which is based on the MeeGo platform. Nokia's Chief Executive Stephen Elop said the N9 would be launched later this year, but declined to specify the date or price. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)Reuters - Microsoft Corp made its biggest move into the mobile, Internet-accessible world of "cloud" computing on Tuesday, taking the wraps off a revamped online version of its hugely profitable Office software suite.



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Microsoft takes Office into the 'cloud'
(AFP)

Microsoft took its Office software into the Internet AFP - Microsoft took its Office software into the Internet "cloud" on Tuesday, moving the suite of popular business tools online amid budding competition from Google's Web-based products.



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Microsoft launches Web-based Office, rivals Google
(AP)

In this photo provided by Microsoft, CEO Steve Ballmer launches Microsoft Office 365, Tuesday, June 28, 2011 in New York. Office 365 brings together Microsoft Office with SharePoint, Exchange and Lync Online for a monthly subscription. (AP Photo/Microsoft, Jason DeCrow)AP - Microsoft has officially launched its Web-based email and Office services, part of its ongoing effort to keep Google at bay when it comes to business software.



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Microsoft Jazzed About Office 365, But Concerns Remain
(PC Magazine)

PC Magazine - An elegant event hosted by Steve Ballmer made for an exciting Microsoft Office 365 launch, but not everyone is so excited.

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Available Tags:Android , Oracle , CEO , Microsoft , Google ,

IT News Head Lines (Rage3D) 30/06/2011

Rage3D



Bulldozer to feature TDP Cap
With the new Bulldozer-based Opterons, which are set for release in the third quarter, AMD is introducing TDP Power Cap, which will give enterprises the ability to set the TDP (thermal design power) of their processors, essentially customizing their chips to meet power and workload demands. Using...

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RealWorldTech: AMD Fusion Analysis
AMD has clearly articulated a software and hardware roadmap for unified CPU and GPU computing at their Fusion Developer’s Summit that has all the right pieces. Llano and Zacate are the first integration steps and focus on reducing overhead by sharing – rather than copying – data between the CPU...

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Available Tags:AMD , Fusion ,

IT News Head Lines (ComputerWorld) 30/06/2011





More Americans own e-readers than tablets, survey finds
A Pew Research Institute survey in May found that Americans favor less-expensive e-reader devices over tablets like Apple's iPad.

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Oracle buys Ellison-owned Pillar Data Systems
Oracle is building out its array of hardware products with the acquisition of storage vendor Pillar Data Systems.

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Cloudera unveils Hadoop management tools
Version 3.5 of the Cloudera Enterprise edition has new modules for configuration and process monitoring

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After OpenOffice and Hudson, will Oracle stick with open source?
NetBeans, MySQL, and GlassFish are all likely to remain in Oracle's software portfolio as they have profit potential

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HP to open cloud, R&D centers in China
Hewlett-Packard is opening two new centers in China, one focused on cloud computing, and the other on research, as the company ramps up to address this large market.

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Pope uses iPad, Twitter to launch new Vatican website
Pope Benedict XVI Tuesday announced a new Vatican website, via his first Twitter post, from an Apple iPad. But you won’t be able to follow him on Twitter and he probably won’t be following you.

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Micro Express NBL5125
The Micro Express NBL5125 is a basic almost-a-desktop-replacement notebook. This all-purpose laptop is an excellent performer with a nice, bright screen, but its speakers and keyboard leave something to be desired.

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Gigabit Wi-Fi spec edges closer to reality
Wi-Fi that can sustain multi-gigabit data rates? That fantasy is edging closer to reality: This week an industry group published the latest spec for gigabit Wi-Fi, and plans a first round of early interoperability tests with prototype products in fall 2011.

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Asus B43J
The Asus B43J is an example of this company's push to expand its credibility among business users--on the bottom of this laptop, Asus even adds a clear plastic business card slot. The B43J is attractive, fairly powerful, and supports up to three external monitors. I hear that the more monitors you have, the more productive you are (or something like that), so Asus is clearly trying to show its dedication to productivity in the workplace.

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Available Tags:Oracle , HP , Twitter , Asus ,

IT News Head Lines (Digital Trends) 30/06/2011

Digital Trends



EA “blown away” by Wii U, will provide launch games
In an interview, EA's Frank Gibeau expressed his enthusiasm for Nintendo's upcoming Wii U and pledged EA games for the console's launch.





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Sony promotes Kaz Hirai to SCEI chairman, Sony Europe’s Andrew House takes over games group
Sony's Kazuo Hirai moves from group CEO and president to chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., with SCE Europe boss Andrew House stepping in to replace him.





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Pope sends first tweet from iPad, blesses Twitterverse
Pope Benedict XVI officially announced the creation of the Vatican's new website, News.va, today, through a tweet posted via an Apple iPad.





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Scientists develop way to triple battery life in electronics
Japanese scientists at Sumitomo Electric have developed a new substance that could improve lithium-ion battery life by 1.5 to 3 times.





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BioShock Infinite the big winner in the E3 Game Critics Awards
BioShock Infinite ends up being the big winner in this years Game Critics Awards: Best of E3, with four wins, including the top prize for Best of Show.





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Square valued at $1 billion after raising $100 million
Mobile payment system Square just raised an additional $100 million, which places the 8-month-old company's value at a hefty $1 billion.





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World of Warcraft is now free to play until level 20
Activision Blizzard is changing with the times. The publisher will now let gamers try out World of Warcraft until they reach level 20. Previously, the game had a 14-day trial.





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Star Wars Galaxies fan petition blocked by Sony as SOE drops All Access rates
Star Wars Galaxies players are finding that Sony is quietly defusing efforts to generate interest around a petition asking that the MMO not be shut down at the end of this year.





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Angry Birds finally available on Windows Phone
It's been a long wait, but Angry Birds is finally available on the Windows Phone Marketplace for $2.99





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TwitPic founder Noah Everett tweets ‘naked’ arrest photo
TwitPic founder Noah Everett caused a stir early Wednesday morning after posting pictures of himself "getting arrested."





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Transformers: Dark of the Moon Review
The third try is the charm for the franchise, as Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the best of the bunch.





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Amazon customer data to fuel companies’ new ad network
Amazon has a large data set of customer buying habits which, along with Tigget, it will be using to fuel a new ad network venture. Privacy concerns?





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MacBook Air rumor roundup: Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt, and back to black?
All signs point to a MacBook Air update being just around the corner. We take a look at the rumors and speculation around the update and figure out what's likely and what's not.





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LeapFrog opens preorders for the LeapPad, a $100 tablet for children
LeapFrog is opening preorders for its LeapPad, a $99 tablet for kids. Complete with an app store, it promises to offer everything your child needs and grow with them.





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Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D review
Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D splinters a classic mini-game from previous Resident Evil titles off into a standalone Nintendo 3DS title, but a glaring lack of depth makes its full-game price tag seem out of whack.





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Zynga may file for IPO as early as tomorrow
Reputable sources are saying that Zynga may file for an initial public offering as early as tomorrow.





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Google pretties up its search and web services in preparation for Google+ Project
After announcing its Google+ social network, Google will be tweaking and redesigning many of its most popular services to have a simpler and more consistent interface.





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Google launches tool to convert Flash into iPhone-friendly HTML5
Google has an experimental new product out that promises to convert Flash-based ads and animations into an OS X friendly HTML5 format.





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Google takes direct aim at Facebook with Google+
At long last, Google has announced its newest foray into the world of social media with a new service called Google+. But this time, Google could have a winner.





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FCC report finds 89 pct of Americans have wireless service
The FCC's latest wireless competition report finds 89 percent of Americans have mobile phone service...and almost a quarter have no landlines.





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Porsche Design unveils sleek new line of hard drives
Porsche Design and LaCie have re-teamed to unveil one of the slicker looking line of external hard drives we've seen. Full details and pictures below.





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IOGear USB Theater Sound Xperience brings surround to stereo headphones
IOGear's Home Theater Sound Xperience aims to bring DTS surround sound to everyday stereo headphones - along with a retro vacuum-tube look.





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Xbox 360 has a huge lead in online game sales, says NPD
New NPD data suggests that the Xbox 360 is seen as the best console for online games. Gamers buy many more game cards and more online-enabled games for the 360 than the PS3 and Wii.





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AOL restructures again, now focusing on ‘power brands’
AOL continues to tinker with content production and management, this time swinging the spotlight to properties like the Huffington Post.





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Google facing $418 million suit from French rival 1PlusV
French niche search engine company 1PlusV is suing Google for 295 million euros saying Google is abusing its market dominance to stifle competition.





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Apple swallows pride, issues refunds to irate Final Cut Pro X buyers
Apple may not be used to poor customer feedback, but it is responding to the heavy Final Cut Pro X criticism coming its way.





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E-reader ownership explodes past tablets, says Pew
A new study by Pew Research shows that e-reader popularity has doubled in the past six months, while the tablet market has only seen moderate gains in ownership.





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T-Mobile myTouch 4G slide claims most advanced camera
T-Mobile's new myTouch 4G Slide sports an 8 megapixel camera with zero shutter lag, burst mode, HDR imaging, and easy panoramic shots.





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Video game researchers weigh in on Supreme Court ruling
Two researchers who have built careers studying the effects of violence in video games support the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, but they don’t believe the debate over its role in psychology is over.





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Proxy firms pressure RIM to split CEO/chairman roles
As Research in Motion struggles to keep investors happy, two proxy firms are calling for RIM's co-CEO's to stop leading the company's board.





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