IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TechConnect Magazine) 30/09/2011

Friday, September 30, 2011

IT News Head Lines (TechConnect Magazine) 30/09/2011

Sharp Aquos Phone 102SH packing 3D 720p display, set for Japanese market
For this December Japanese carrier SoftBank has scheduled the release of an enticing new Android smartphone made by Sharp, the Aquos Phone 102SH. This one can brag with a 12.1-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization and a 4.5-inch (1280 x 720) glasses-free 3D touchscreen.

Skype 2.5 for Android outed, brings support for more devices (tablets too)
An updated version (v2.5) of Skype for Android has now been made available and it comes with support for 14 more Android devices (smartphones and tablets), with video enhancements, but also with ads (these won't show for people with Skype Credit, a Calling or Skype Premium subscription).

Nox Xtreme releases the Hummer 3.0 full-tower PC case
Nox Xtreme has now introduced in Europe a USB 3.0-enabled version of its Hummer full-tower case. Named Hummer 3.0, the updated, steel-constructed chassis measures 610 (H) x 232 (W) x 520 (D) mm, and supports micro ATX, ATX, E-ATX, XL-ATX and Flex-ATX motherboards.

Dell Streak Pro 101DL smartphone announced in Japan, coming in early 2012
Pretty much out of blue a press release popped up announcing the early 2012 release, in Japan, of a new Dell smartphone, a high-end device called Streak Pro 101DL which runs Android 2.3 (with the Stage 2.0 UI) and is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor.

Nokia to lay off 3,500 more employees, close down Romanian phone fab
Still in a 'strategic alignment' phase, Finnish company Nokia has committed to doing more workforce and operation tweaks which will result in 3,500 people getting the pink slip. These layoffs add to the 4,000-strong cuts which were announced back in April.

HTC unveils the Explorer entry-level Android smartphone
Catering to smartphone buyers with a limited budget HTC has today announced the Radar, a low-cost device which runs Android 2.3.5 (with the Sense 3.5 UI) and features a 600 MHz processor, a 3.2-inch (480 x 320) touchscreen, and a 3.15-megapixel rear-facing camera.

Sennheiser CX 215 and MX 365 earphones officially launched in the US
Sennheiser has now announced the US availability of two new and very colorful earphones, the CX 215 and MX 365. Both models are claimed to offer a dynamic sound experience and a solid balance between performance and cost.

LaCie debuts LaPlug device for USB drive sharing
Taking on Pogoplug, LaCie has developed its own device that can turn USB-connected drives (hard drive, solid state drive, flash drive) into network storage devices ready to share files wirelessly at home or remotely, via the interweb.

Asus launches three new IPS monitors in Europe
Well-known Taiwanese company Asus has this week introduced in Europe three VS Series monitors - the 20-inch VS209H, 21.5-inch VS229H and 23-inch VS239H, which feature an LED backlight and make use of IPS (in-plane switching) panels with nice, wide (178/178 degrees) viewing angles.

Samsung introduces the 1.5 GHz Exynos 4212 dual-core mobile chip
After making waves with its first Exynos chip (the 1.2 GHz Exynos 4210 used in most Galaxy S II models), Samsung Electronics is ready to move forward so it developed the Exynos 4212, an 'application processor' for mobile devices which packs two Cortex-A9 cores clocked at 1.5 GHz.

Samsung's Stratosphere smartphone detailed in full, launching next week
If all goes according to recent leaks then next Thursday, October 6th, Verizon Wireless will release in the US a new LTE-enabled smartphone, the Samsung Stratosphere. This one runs Android 2.3, has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and is powered by a single-core 1 GHz processor.

Synaptics hires ex-AMD GM Rick Bergman as President and CEO
Less than one week after leaving AMD (where he was General Manager of the Products Group), Rick Bergman has already got a new 'gig' having been appointed as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Santa Clara-based touch interface expert Synaptics Inc.

LG promising great color reproduction with its IPS5 series monitors - update
LG Electronics has today announced the IPS5 family of monitors which make use of LED backlighting and of in-plane switching (IPS) panels, and claim to deliver 'exceptionally realistic images with enhanced color accuracy'.

Samsung develops 4Gb LPDDR3 chip, 64GB e-MMC for mobile devices
At its Mobile Solutions Forum in Taipei, Samsung Electronics announced a few new achievements that will surely benefit the mobile device market - the development of a 4Gb LPDDR3 (low power double-data-rate 3) memory chip, and the construction of a speedy 64GB embedded multimedia card (e-MMC).

Motorola and Verizon kick off Xoom LTE upgrade program
The promised 4G LTE upgrade for the Xoom tablet is becoming a reality as Motorola and Verizon have initiated the program enabling current Xoom owners to send in their tablets and have them enabled (free of charge) for LTE operation.

Plantronics announces the Marque M155 Bluetooth headset
Santa Cruz-based Plantronics Inc. has today revealed to the world its smallest and lightest Bluetooth headset yet, the Marque M155. This one weights just 7 grams, offers voice-guided pairing for iOS and Android smartphones, and is supposed to deliver 'excellent sound quality'.

Jays a-Jays One+ earphones coming in Q4 complete with an in-line remote
Swedish headphone builder Jays is currently preparing the release of an updated version of its a-Jays One earphones, a solution called a-Jays One+ which adds to the initial mix a one-button in-line remote enabling users to control talk and music on their mobile device.

Biostar reveals the TA990FXE AM3+ motherboard
Getting its gear ready for the impending Bulldozer launch (fingers crossed for no more delays), Biostar has developed and launched the TA990FXE, an ATX motherboard based around AMD's 990FX/SB950 chip combo.

AMD lowers revenue forecast for Q3, blames 32nm manufacturing issues
Chip designer AMD has revised its forecast for Q3 and lowered the expected revenue growth (compared to Q2) for the quarter to four to six percent. Previously the company predicted a revenue growth of 10% but that's no longer possible due to a lower-than-expected supply of Llano APUs.

Techconnect Review Round-up 28/9/11
Today's review round-up...

HP's 7-inch tablet that never was gets detailed, turns into a memory
Remember that 7-inch webOS tablet (codenamed Opal) HP was supposed to be rolling out this fall? Well it's pretty clear now that those plans are scrapped, but it doesn't mean we can't enjoy the sight of some leaked marketing slides detailing the 7-inch device which is/was called TouchPad Go.

AMD serves up Catalyst 11.9 driver
Although most users have probably jumped on the Catalyst 11.10 preview released earlier this week, AMD stuck to its schedule and also delivered the Catalyst 11.9 which is an earlier build but comes with WHQL certification.

Prolimatech Panther CPU cooler available in Europe
Teaming up with CaseKing.de. Taiwan-based Prolimatech Inc. has today introduced (in Germany) the Panther, a new high-end CPU cooler which supports Intel LGA 1155/1156 and AMD AM2(+)/AM3(+) processors.

Kingston unveils the DataTraveler 6000 secure flash drive
Kingston Digital has now introduced the DataTraveler 6000, a new, highly-secure flash drive which offers Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 Level 3-grade data protection and 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption using an XTS block cipher mode.

Amazon announces three new Kindles, they go from $79 to $199
As expected today Amazon introduced to the world its newest Kindle devices, the 'flagship' Kindle Fire which comes with a 7-inch IPS color touchscreen, the Kindle Touch packing a touch-enabled E Ink screen, and the entry-level Kindle, which boasts an E Ink screen without touch capabilities.

Cooler Master readies the GeminII M4 low-profile CPU cooler
In addition to the Hyper 212 EVO and Hyper TX3 EVO, Cooler Master will also soon be releasing another CPU cooler, one called GeminII M4 which features an 'ultra low profile' design making it suited for use within mini-ITX systems, HTPCs, other small-sized desktop PCs.

Asus coming out with three PCI-Express 3.0-enabled Z68 motherboards
Not to be out-done by its rivals (Gigabyte, MSI and ASRock), Asus too is going to offer some LGA1155 motherboards that feature support for Intel's 2012-bound Ivy Bridge processors and for the bandwidth-rich PCI-Express 3.0 standard.

Acer launches the Aspire 5560 and 7560 Llano-powered laptops
Acer has this week officially introduced in Europe its Aspire 5560 (15.6-inch) and 7560 (17.3-inch) laptops which are based on AMD's Sabine platform and are powered by the A-Series (A4/A6/A8) APUs (accelerated processing units) codename Llano.

Wortmann rolls out the Terra Pad 1080 Wintel tablet PC
German firm Wortmann AG has now released the Terra Pad 1080, a 10-inch tablet PC which is based around Intel's Oak Trail platform (it's powered by the 1.5 GHz Atom Z670 processor) and runs Microsoft's Windows 7 Professional (32bit).

Linux and LiMo to develop the Tizen platform, MeeGo set to retire
Open source supporters the Linux Foundation and the LiMo Foundation have announced a partnership that will see to the development of a new Linux-based, cross-architecture (so it will work both with x86 and ARM chips) software platform called Tizen.

Motorola Droid 4 said to be codenamed 'Maserati', have a D-pad-less keyboard
Motorola's fourth-generation Droid smartphone is apparently well in the works, with a rumor claiming that internally it's known as 'Maserati', after the Italian luxury car manufacturer based in Modena.

IBM, Intel and friends to invest $4.4 billion in New York chip projects
After a fierce battle with countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, the state of New York managed to secure a $4.4 billion investment coming from chip giants IBM, Intel, TSMC, Samsung and GlobalFoundries.

Toshiba builds 7-inch Thrive tablet, to release it in December
Toshiba is currently readying a new, smaller Thrive tablet, a model boasting a 7-inch (1280 x 800) touchscreen (the first Thrive, released in July, has a 10.1-inch screen) that features a durable and slip-resistant Easy Grip finish but manages to be just 0.47 inches thick.

US ITC to investigate latest HTC accusations targeting Apple
The US ITC (International Trade Commission) has decided to look into the complaint filed by HTC last month (and amended on September 7th) which claims that several of its patents have been violated by none other than Apple Inc.

Chrome 15.0.874.51 beta available for download
Google has made available a new beta build of its Chrome browser, one called 15.0.874.51 which comes for Windows, Mac OS and Linux and includes an updated V8 engine (version 3.5.10.13), some crash fixes and more.

Techconnect Review Round-up 27/9/11
Today's review round-up...

Firefox 7.0 released for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android
Mozilla has now officially introduced the Firefox 7.0 browser for desktops (Windows, Mac OS, Linux) and mobiles (Android). The desktop release comes with improved memory handling which enables lower memory usage, while the mobile build offers enhanced functionality.

Microsoft starts roll-out of Windows Phone 7.5 Mango update
Microsoft has now begun delivering the long-discussed Mango (version 7.5) update for the Windows Phone platform, and its goal is to make it available to 98% of WP7 customers worldwide within the next four weeks.

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