IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (techPowerUp) 26/04/2012

Thursday, April 26, 2012

IT News Head Lines (techPowerUp) 26/04/2012

(PR) Thecus Announces the Latest 5-Bay N5550 NAS
Thecus is proud to present itself as a technological innovator. Once again, Thecus releases an all new 5-bay N5550 server to lead the competition. The past proves merit: link aggregation, LCM display, USB 3.0, multi RAID functions and so on. Impressive technologies have been used to develop the new N5550 NAS to serve one single purpose: improve user experience and satisfaction.

Intel Atom CPU: silent power

Intel Atom CPUs are designed to work without fans. This will dramatically reduce NAS noise and power consumption. Associated with large amounts of DDR3, Intel Atom CPUs will provide much better performance. Don't be restricted to a 4-bay NAS, bring it up a notch, Thecus N5550 is available and boosts the best performance with a great price, without entering larger bay units. Multi-users environment, web hosting, intense backup, data encryption, application serving, heavy RAID computations, and HD multimedia streaming: welcome to the world of smooth multi-tasking!

(PR) Koss Introduces STRIVA: First Wi-Fi Headphone System to Get Music Directly from Web
Koss Corporation, the U.S.- based creator of the world's first SP3 Stereophone in 1958, has unveiled STRIVA, a revolutionary new headphone and in-ear monitor system with Wi-Fi technology that receives music directly from the Internet without wires.

"54 years ago my father revolutionized personal listening with the first Koss SP3 stereophone," Michael J. Koss, President and CEO said. "Today, thanks to the Internet, the revolution is in the air. Now all of your favorite music can be streamed directly from the Internet to our new headphones and in-ear monitors without wires using Koss STRIVA technology."

AMD Releases the Catalyst 12.4 WHQL Driver
AMD has today let loose the newest Catalyst release, the WHQL-certified Catalyst 12.4 which includes the 8.961 graphics driver and features support for the Radeon HD 2000, HD 3000, HD 4000, HD 5000, HD 6000 and HD 7000 Series desktop cards.

Download links Windows 7/Vista (32-bit) | Windows 7/Vista (64-bit) | Windows XP (32-bit) | Windows XP (64-bit)

Catalyst 12.4 Release Highlights

New Features

Windows XP support for the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series, AMD Radeon HD 7800, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series

- In addition to Windows 7 and Windows Vista support, Catalyst 12.4 now also introduces Windows XP (64-bit/32-bit) support for the AMD Radeon HD 7900, AMD Radeon HD 7800, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series

Super Sampling Anti-Aliasing: Level of Detail (LOD) Image Quality enhancements

- Supported on the AMD Radeon HD 7900, AMD Radeon HD 7800, and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series

- LOD Image quality enhancements have been improved when enabling Super Sample Anti-Aliasing and Adaptive Anti-Aliasing through the AMD Catalyst Control Center for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications.

- Applications must support in game Anti-Aliasing for the feature to work (Forced on Anti-Aliasing through the Catalyst Control Center is not supported for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications)

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HP Envy 4 Series Sleekbook and Ultrabook Pop Up for Pre-Order In China
HP's China online store listed out the company's new Envy 4 series that spans across six models occupying key price points starting at 5,499 RMB (US $872), and going up to 6,299 RMB (US $1000). The six models include relatively entry-level 1005tx and 1019tx, followed by 1004tx and 1021tx in the middle, ending with somewhat high-end 1006tx and 1021tx Ultrabooks. The slower models among these are driven by Intel Core i3-2367M, while the faster ones by Core i5-2467M. All six models are slim-category 14-inch notebooks.

Source: Engadget

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(PR) Samsung Announces the Series 7 CHRONOS 17 Laptop
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today announced its new Notebook Series 7 CHRONOS 17-inch model.

Encased in a premium compact and light aluminum chassis, the high-performance multimedia-ready Series 7 CHRONOS 17 with Intel's 3rd generation Core i7 and ExpressCache represents the perfect desktop replacement. The innovative ExpressCache technology developed by Diskeeper provides 8 GB of flash memory on the motherboard, enabling a faster start-up as well as increasing the PC's overall performance; web browsing is two times faster (based on Microsoft Internet Explorer) while the device takes just two seconds to wake up.

(PR) Samsung Introduces World's Thinnest Optical Disc Drive for Ultrabooks and Tablets
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, announced today its new slim external DVD writer, the SE-218BB optical disc drive (ODD) that sets the industry standard for ultra portable drives.

Built to accompany a new generation of ultrabook and slim laptop designs, the SE-218BB features a compact size that is 18% thinner than conventional DVD writers and is the world's thinnest external optical disc drive with a 14 mm height. The drive is 8% lighter than Samsung's conventional DVD writer and built to accommodate today's mobile lifestyle.

(PR) DisplayLink Supports 3rd Generation Intel Core Processors
DisplayLink, the leading provider of technology for virtual graphics and USB-connected computing, today announced its support for 3rd generation Intel Core processors and supporting mobile Intel HM76 and Intel B75 express chipsets with SuperSpeed USB 3.0.

DisplayLink's DL-3000 chip platform with USB 3.0 is shipping today in adapters, monitors and docking stations from leading vendors. The broad availability of onboard USB 3.0 in systems using 3rd generation Intel Core processors means that a huge new segment of the market now has access to easy-to-use docking, and multi-display possibilities.

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(PR) Apricorn Introduces the Aegis Padlock 3.0 Secure Portable Drive
Apricorn (www.apricorn.com), a leading designer and manufacturer of data security products for business, has announced a new and improved version of its popular Aegis Padlock drive, the Aegis Padlock 3.0. The reinvented Aegis Padlock 3.0 combines a super fast integrated USB 3.0 cable - increasing data transfer speeds by over 500% over the USB 2.0 version, enhanced AES-XTS hardware encryption, software free design, plus new security features to create a powerful data storage device perfect for taking your data on the road.

Available in capacities up to 1 TB with either a ruggedized, shock mounted hard drive (prices start at $169) or with a super tough SSD (prices start at $199), the Aegis Padlock 3.0 provides powerful data security that is tough enough for a wide variety of needs.

(PR) Panasonic Announces Pricing and Availability of 2012 Lineup of Headphones
Panasonic, a leader in consumer electronics technology, today announced pricing and availability of its 2012 line of headphones. Featuring a wide-array of headphone styles and functionality, including ear-bud, monitor and noise-cancelling, the 2012 models have been designed to produce superior sound quality while maintaining stylish appeal and comfortable design.

Expanding on its popular line of noise cancelling headphone models, Panasonic introduces the RP-HC200 which features an over-ear design and soft headpad to increase user's comfort level. The RP-HC200 reduces outside noise by 81% (14 dB) at 200 Hz and has the ability to be used in normal headphone capacity even when the noise cancelling effect is turned off. A fold-flat design makes it easy to pack in carry-on luggage and a plug adaptor for aircraft use is included. Users can enjoy 60 hours of long, noise cancelling operation with just one AAA Alkaline battery. The RP-HC200 is available now in black, white, green and yellow with an SRP of $79.99.

(PR) StarTech Intros SATSAS425BK 4-Bay Hot Swap SATA/SAS Backplane
StarTech.com, a leading manufacturer of hard-to-find connectivity parts has announced the release of the Mini-SAS to 4x SATA/SAS Backplane (part # SATSAS425BK), which enables users to add four 2.5" SATA or SAS hard drives to a desktop computer, using a single Mini-SAS (SFF-8087) host connection, while requiring only a single 5.25" bay for installation. The backplane offers a versatile solution for adding multiple hot-swappable Serial ATA or Serial-Attached SCSI drives, even in computers with a limited number of drive bays available – ideal for adding removable storage for backups or RAID storage systems.

The backplane supports SATA and SAS Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) and Solid State Drives (SSDs) up to 15mm in height, including high-capacity drives, and each tray features a locking mechanism that prevents unauthorized removal of the individual drive. The hotswap backplane is constructed from durable lightweight aluminum, which helps improve operating heat dissipation, and also features a 40mm cooling fan to increase air flow around the installed drives to ensure peak performance.

(PR) NZXT Unveils Cryo E40 Adaptable Notebook Cooler with Moveable Fans
NZXT, a company built on realizing the dreams of gamers worldwide, is proud to announce the Cryo E40 Notebook cooler for laptops up to 15". Cryo E40 employs a unique approach to high performance notebook cooling with 2x 80 mm moveable fans that adapt to any laptop configuration. Featuring low-powered magnetic clasps designed to be safe around any piece of technology, users can easily adjust the positioning of the two fans enabling precise direction of airflow towards the notebooks most frequent hot spots.

Cryo E40's additional features include the ability to run the USB cable to either the left or right side for maximum flexibility and an easily removable mesh cover for quick access to your fans. All of this advanced cooling technology is packed into an ultra-slim, lightweight profile for easy mobile use while traveling or on-the-go.

(PR) NVIDIA GPUs Accelerate DNA Sequencing at BGI
NVIDIA today announced that BGI, the world's largest genomics institute, is launching a service that will enable researchers worldwide to perform affordable next-generation sequencing (NGS) bioinformatics analysis in the cloud.

The new "EasyGenomics" service from Shenzhen, China-based BGI combines an intuitive user interface with BGI's automated pipeline analysis, software and tools. These are integrated with the industry's largest sequencing platform to provide everything biologists, bioinformaticists and, ultimately, physicians need to submit and receive an automated analysis of DNA sequencing data.

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NVIDIA Releases GK107-based GT 630, GT 645 and 3 GT 640 Variants to OEMs
NVIDIA released its first desktop graphics cards based on its 28 nm GK107 silicon, in as many as three models, the GeForce GT 630, GT 640, GT 640 (second variant). Apart from these, NVIDIA appears to have launched two more models, one labeled GT 640, and another GT 645, which are based on previous generation GF116 and GF114, respectively. These new SKUs are available only to OEM partners, who will implement them in their new desktop PC designs.

Of the five new SKUs, the GT 630 and GT 640 (28 nm) are most interesting, as they are based on the GK107 silicon, with as many as 384 CUDA cores, and TDP as low as 50W. The GT 630 is a single-slot, low-profile graphics card with 384 CUDA cores, and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, 875 MHz GPU clock speed, and 891 MHz memory clock speed. The GT 640 (28 nm) features different clock speeds. The specifications may seem confusing to the end user, but then they really don't concern people who buy retail-channel graphics cards. NVIDIA and AMD design OEM-specific SKUs completely à la carte, to OEM partners' requirements.

Source: VideoCardz

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(PR) AMD Foundation Named a 2012 Computerworld Honors Laureate
AMD today announced that the AMD Foundation has been named a 2012 Laureate of the International Data Group's (IDG) Computerworld Honors Program for the Foundation's use of technology to promote and advance the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills of youth around the world. The annual award program distinguishes organizations and companies that use technology to support and create positive social, economic and educational change.

The AMD Foundation was selected based on its ability to provide a significant benefit to society through its global signature education program, AMD Changing the Game, which is designed to take gaming beyond entertainment and inspire youth to learn. The program teaches kids how to design their own video games and, in doing so, enhances their STEM skills as well as problem solving techniques, critical thinking abilities, language skills and teamwork.

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Keep 35 GB HDD Space Handy for Max Payne 3
In what could be a blow for gaming PC users with lower-capacity SSDs (such as 60 GB, 90 GB, etc.), the minimum system requirements list of Max Payne 3, published by Rockstar Games, asks for at least 35 GB of free space on the installation drive. The game will likely ship in four double-layer DVDs, if not more. It could also make for an extremely huge download (over Steam, Amazon.com Digital Download, and GameStop. Other system requirements, particularly the requirements that the game is capable of taking advantage of, are particularly steep. For example, the game can take advantage of 6-core Intel Core i7-3960X, 8-core AMD FX-8150, the fastest single-GPU graphics cards in the market, as well as 16 GB of RAM.

Source: Rockstar Games

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(PR) AMD Selects HP for Cloud Data Center
HP today announced that AMD has improved business efficiency and streamlined operations by consolidating its worldwide data centers and standardizing on HP Networking solutions.

AMD's innovative computing and graphics technologies run a wide range of computing devices - such as personal computers, game consoles and servers - all of which power internet and business operations spanning cloud computing and virtualization environments throughout the world.

With 18 data centers worldwide, AMD recognized the need to consolidate its infrastructure to optimize resources as well as improve power and cooling efficiency. AMD conducted a comprehensive testing and review process of solutions from multiple networking vendors before choosing HP. The HP 12500 Switch Series and HP 5820 Switch Series will be used in AMD's newest private cloud data center, where the company makes heavy use of virtualization and cluster technologies.

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Steam for Linux Arrives "in Months"
There is light in the end of the tunnel for proponents of a native-Linux version of Valve's Steam platform, as a Steam for Linux is just months away, according to a Phoronix report. Linux has been hiring developers with experience in Linux OpenGL applications for some time now, and the gearwheels at Valve have been able to drive out an early version of Left 4 Dead 2 that was seen running native on Linux (Ubuntu 11.10), without translation layers such as Wine, utilizing the OpenGL API, with the ICD provided by AMD Catalyst. Although first denied in 2010, Valve is back to the idea of Steam for Linux, thanks to its "flat" company structure that lacks a hierarchy. Following the footsteps of Steam for Mac, Valve could port some of its games to Linux, and give the client SteamPlay capability.

Sources: Phoronix, Engadget

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(PR) Broadcom Introduces Industry's First 100 Gbps Full Duplex Network Processor
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a global innovation leader in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, today announced the industry's first 100 Gbps full duplex network processor unit (NPU). Enabling the next wave of 100GbE optimized switches and routers for service provider networks, the fully programmable BCM88030 family features 64 custom processors running at 1GHz, delivering more than 2X the throughput of any NPU on the market. With the industry's highest level of integration, the BCM88030 solution eliminates costly external components, dramatically reducing system cost and power by up to 80 percent per 10 GbE port.

In 2012, the number of connected devices is set to exceed the world's population with an estimated 7 billion devices connected to the network(1). By 2015, 90 percent of content viewed on mobile devices will be streaming video and application downloads are expected to reach 47 billion per year(1). To satisfy this overwhelming appetite for bandwidth, service providers around the globe are racing to transform their networks by adopting higher bandwidth links. Analysts estimate a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 170 percent from 2011 to 2016 for 100G Ethernet ports as service providers rush to meet this demand(2).

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(PR) Thermaltake Institutes the "10" with Frio Extreme, First 10 Year Warranty CPU Cooler
Thermaltake, the leader and pioneer in PC thermal solutions, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, with "delivering the perfect user experiences" as our mission and carrying the corporate vision of "building Thermaltake Technology into a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle." Today would like to invite enthusiasts and gamers around the world to get an exclusive experience on the new instituted as well as the industry's first 10 year warranty with the purchase of the Frio Extreme.

(PR) MSI H61 (G3) Bags Highest Memory Speed in its Class with Core i7-3770K and ME8L BIOS
MSI announces that its Intel-based H61 (G3) series now offers the latest ME8 BIOS and Driver with support for 3rd generation Intel 22nm processors. Its Intel H61 motherboards are also the fastest in the world, with DDR3 memory support up to 2400MHz. With its solid R&D ability, MSI has created H61 motherboards with superior efficiency that is the best choice for users wishing to upgrade to next-generation 22nm processors from Intel.

As a commitment to long-time MSI users, MSI releases the ME8 upgrade package and related upgrade guide for the most robust update solution, allowing consumers of MSI H61 (G3) / Z68 (G3) motherboards to easily adopt the latest Intel 22nm processor. This solution offers amazing DDR3 memory speeds of up to 2400MHz, efficiency never seen before.

ASUS Teases Feature-Packed P8Z77-V Premium Motherboard
To an interview with Anandtech, ASUSTek USA representative JJ carried with him a sackful of new Z77 Express-based motherboards. One of these caught keen eyes at VR-Zone, which attempted to describe what it saw. Called the P8Z77-V Premium, this motherboard is poised to go a notch above the already launched P8Z77-V Deluxe, in terms of features. The new P8Z77-V Premium is a crossover between the Deluxe and WS (Workstation) models, in that it features no less than four PCI-Express x16 slots in its all-PCIe slot loadout. The electrical configuration of these four slots is hard to guess, but there is a tiny PLX bridge chip that adds a few PCIe 2.0 lanes to the board's PCIe budget, to wire out onboard controllers.

Speaking of onboard connectivity, apart from eight angled internal SATA ports, there clearly is an mSATA slot, which is populated by an SSD. Perhaps an SSD that's fit for Rapid Storage and Rapid Start technologies is a standard accessory with the P8Z77-V Premium. Just below the WLAN b/g/n + Bluetooth add-on card, one could spy a mini-DisplayPort. It's highly likely that the port is wired to a Thunderbolt controller apart from Intel Flexible Display Interface. The rest of the rear panel could be similar to that of the P8Z77-V Deluxe. The P8Z77-V Premium could command a price-point over US $300, the source postulates.

Source: VR-Zone

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(PR) PNY Technologies and TYAN Developed the Strategic Distribution Partnership
PNY Technologies and TYAN, an industry-leading server platform manufacturer and subsidiary of MiTAC International Corp., today announced that they have developed the strategic distribution partnership for the EMEA region. PNY Technologies will promote and distribute TYAN's full range of NVIDIA TESLA GPU based HPC servers through its wide network of channel partners across the region.

Designed for high performance in massively parallel computing environments , the PNY product portfolio of TYAN servers and NVIDIA GPUs easily meet users' complex workloads requirements while accelerating general computing capability.

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(PR) Freecom Intros 3 TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive for TVs and DVRs
Freecom, part of the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Group and award-winning manufacturer of external hard drives and portable storage devices, today unveiled the Hard Drive Sq, a 3.5" external hard drive with an innovative square form factor. With its unique appearance and state-of-the-art technology, the Hard Drive Sq strikes a perfect balance between elegant design and practicality. In addition to being able to back up and store files on a computer, the drive connects directly to a TV set for USB recording and playback, enabling users to store and watch their favourite shows quickly and easily.

"With the Hard Drive Sq, you can really put the information you need at your fingertips – whether it is on your PC, laptop of even a TV screen," said Cas de Heus, marketing and communications manager EUMEA at Freecom. "From a practical point of view, the Hard Drive Sq is everything you would expect from a high-quality external hard drive in that it is fast, easy to use and visually stunning – but the ability to plug it into a TV set gives it an additional edge. People are changing the way that they watch television and with so much great content to choose from, many are opting to record and playback the programmes that they would most like to watch. The Hard Drive Sq enables users to make the most of this by reliably expanding their TV's storage capacity."

AMD FX-8150 Price Drops Like a Rock
AMD's FX-8150 was only mildly competitive with previous-generation Intel processors such as the Core i5-2500K, but to make matters worse, Intel launched its new "Ivy Bridge" Core processors that promise small but sizable performance improvements over its predecessors. The Core i5-3570K, for example, will be priced on par with FX-8150, if its price is left to itself. AMD has apparently cut prices of FX-8150 in Europe. Price aggregator Geizhals shows that the FX-8150 is available for as low as 179 EUR (incl. taxes). The PIB chip is now packed in a more cost-effective paperboard box, instead of the tin box AMD launched the SKU with.

(PR) Powercolor Unveils the Radeon HD 7870 Eyefinity 6
TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today releases the only HD7870 graphics solution which can support up to 6 displays simultaneously: the PowerColor HD7870 Eyefinity 6. The latest edition optimizes multi-display Eyefinity technology, enabling up to six monitors to be operated from one card through its six mini display port onboard design. This unique feature allows gamers to enhance productivity to get more things done at once, also delivering the most vivid HD gaming experience with wider view.

The HD7870 Eyefinity 6 clocks in at 1000 MHz core speed and 1200 MHz of memory speed; with 2 GB GDDR5 onboard memory, the latest edition allows more bandwidth for demanding DirectX 11.1 gaming title, delivering the intense gaming performance and unrivaled image quality with lifelike 3D visual effects.

(PR) ASUS Shatters Performance Barriers with Intel Z77 Chipset and 3rd gen Core i7 CPUs
ASUS continues its industry lead in performance, superior design, quality and ease of use with its latest Intel Z77 chipset based motherboards. ASUS is excited to announce our Z77 line of motherboards has reached new performance heights. These include reaching the 7 GHz clock speed threshold on the ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE motherboard, as well as five new world records on the ROG Maximus V GENE, with more to come. These new records all showcase the benefits of ASUS' superior engineering and design, use of the finest materials and components, and industry leading user-friendly DIY features.

Achieving 7 GHz and beyond on the P877V-DELUXE

ASUS' internal overclocking group and performance team are excited to reach a 7 GHz CPU clock frequency on the P8Z77-V DELUXE, using a 3rd generation Intel Core i7-3770K processor with 16 GB of DDR3 clocked at 2800 MHz. Employing LN2 cooling, they were able to push the new processor to the limit and beyond, demonstrating the performance tuning abilities of ASUS Z77-based motherboards. The milestone also establishes that channel boards from ASUS are capable of very impressive overclocking feats thanks to their class leading Digi+ VRM power and control design. In addition our close cooperation with the enthusiast community has resulted in the P8Z77-V DELUXE easily exceeding 3GHz memory frequencies with all four DIMMS populated thanks to optimized trace layouts and superior UEFI tuning options.

AMD A10-4600M Performance Revealed in Infographic
AMD revealed performance numbers of its key product for mainstream notebooks, the A10-4600M, in an infographic for the Korean market. Besides detailing the part, it reveals some performance numbers. To begin with, A10-4600M is based on the 32 nm "Trinity" silicon with all its components enabled. It has four x86-64 cores spread across two "Piledriver" architecture modules, 4 MB of total cache (2x 2 MB), CPU clock speeds of 2.30 GHz (3.00 GHz TurboCore), and integrated Radeon HD 7660G graphics that has 384 VLIW4 stream processors, and GPU core speed of 685 MHz. The chip integrates a PCI-Express 2.0 root complex, and dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz integrated memory controller.

Moving on to performance numbers, and as expected, the infographic doesn't touch comparative CPU performance with a barge-pole. Instead the focus is on graphics performance, with an emphasis on Dual GPU feature, where the integrated graphics can work in tandem with a discrete GPU of the same class, resulting in up to 75% performance increase. Based on data from this infographic, and its own testing data of other notebooks, NordicHardware compiled relative performance of the IGP and Dual Graphics setup involving the A10-4600M and Radeon HD 7670M discrete GPU.

Source: NordicHardware.se

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(PR) Manhattan Introduces Stealth - A Touch Mouse for the Tablet Generation
The computer mouse was invented back in the 1960s, and with few exceptions it looks and works the same as it did back then...until now. Manhattan today unveiled a re-imagined mouse for the tablet generation: Stealth. With an ultra-sleek , contoured design, Stealth is a Touch Mouse that lets you access and interact with Web content from a PC or Mac with a simple tap or swipe of your finger...no clicking, no scroll wheel, no buttons.

The first two things you will notice about the Stealth are its graceful, slipper shaped body and elegant SilkTouch coating. The body of the Stealth is ergonomically engineered to eliminate wrist strain and position your fingers for optimal use while surfing the Web, checking Facebook or just about anything else. Meanwhile, the SilkTouch coating gives the Stealth a very sophisticated, upscale look and lets your fingers to slide gently along the mouse's curved surface.

(PR) HP Announces Ivy Bridge Desktop Line-Up
HP today expanded its consumer desktop portfolio, adding five models powered by Intel's 3rd generation Intel Quad-Core processors that deliver intelligent performance and enhanced built-in security.

Intel's new 3rd generation Core processors offer up to twice the HD media and 3-D graphics performance as well as significant processor performance as previous generation. Consumers will appreciate the added protection against viruses, malware and rootkits provided by Intel Secure Key and Intel OS Guard.

(PR) HP Names John Schultz Executive Vice President and General Counsel
HP today announced that John Schultz has been promoted to the position of executive vice president and general counsel, effective immediately. Schultz, who joined HP in 2008, will be a member of HP's executive council and report to Meg Whitman, president and chief executive officer, HP.

As general counsel, Schultz is responsible globally for all legal and compliance functions. His previous role was vice president and deputy general counsel in charge of litigation.

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(PR) Cooler Master Announces the Arc Dock
Cooler Master, an industry leading chassis, thermal solution, peripheral, and accessory manufacturer today announces a visually alluring new piece of functional art, the ARC MacBook Pro and iPad stand. Draw attention to your beautiful pieces of technology with this new multipurpose stand.

(PR) Apple Reports Second Quarter Results
Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 second quarter ended March 31, 2012. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $39.2 billion and quarterly net profit of $11.6 billion, or $12.30 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $24.7 billion and net profit of $6.0 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 47.4 percent compared to 41.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter's revenue.

The Company sold 35.1 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 11.8 million iPads during the quarter, a 151 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4 million Macs during the quarter, a 7 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 7.7 million iPods, a 15 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter.

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(PR) Intel Acquires High-Performance Computing Interconnect Technology and Expertise
Intel Corporation today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Cray Inc. to acquire certain assets related to its high-performance computing (HPC) interconnect program. With the agreement, Intel gains access to Cray's world-class interconnect personnel and intellectual property.

The Cray interconnect team is responsible for the award-winning Gemini interconnect as well as the upcoming Aries interconnect, designed to work in Cray's next-generation supercomputer, codenamed "Cascade," which will integrate Intel Xeon processors. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the current quarter, subject to customary closing conditions being met.

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Firefox 12 Officially Released
Open source supporter Mozilla has today announced the arrival of its latest Firefox release, Firefox 12. This build brings a stealthier update system on Windows (it removes the user account control dialog pop-up), multiple security fixes, better WebGL performance on Mac OS X, automatic downloads for URLs pasted into the download manager window, support for the text-align-last CSS property and for the ECMAScript 6 Map and Set objects, and a few more tweaks and improvements.

Firefox 12 is available for Windows, Mac OS and Linux and can be downloaded via this page.

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(PR) Lenovo Expands Recall of ThinkCentre Desktop Computers Due to Fire Hazard
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Lenovo ThinkCentre M70z and M90z computers

Units: About 13,000 (50,500 were previously recalled in March 2012)

Hazard: A defect in an internal component in the power supply can overheat and pose a fire hazard.

(PR) BOXX Introduces Intel Xeon Workstation Available With Four GPUs
BOXX Technologies, the leading authority on dedicated rendering and innovator in high-performance computing systems for product design, visualization, engineering, visual effects, and more, today introduced the 3DBOXX 4925, the industry's first single Intel Xeon processor workstation with support for up to four GPUs. The latest addition to the BOXX 4900 series workstation line, 4925 enables users of Autodesk Revit, Autodesk 3ds Max, SolidWorks, CATIA, and other professional software applications, to simultaneously design and render without bogging down the processes.

EA Posts Crysis 3 Gameplay Trailer, Box Art
Following a juicy debut teaser, EA posted an even more engaging gameplay trailer. The trailer reveals the premise of the single-player campaign, where New York is overrun by the Ceph and vegetation, and is cordoned off from the rest of the world by a giant dome. Prophet lunges on a mission to take back the city. Towards the end of the 2 minute video, the box-art is revealed, with a bitter fact that you'll have to wait another year before being able to play it.

The trailer video follows.

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(PR) Silicon Power Announces the Velox V60 Solid State Drives
Silicon Power (SP), the world's leading provider of memory storage solutions today unveiled Velox V60, a 2.5" consumer solid state disk that combines aesthetic and performance. V60 features a sleek metal body with SATA III interface delivering personal style, speed and quality, taking computing experience to a new level.

Unlike a traditional SSD that is rigid and bulky, SP V60 offers a stylish brushed aluminum enclosure in metallic gray. It features a hairline finished cover with a silver embossed diamond cut logo and a body with curved edges. Its minimalist design speaks quality and character; adding style to functionality so consumers will never need to compromise aesthetic for performance.

(PR) IBM Board Approves 13 Percent Increase in Quarterly Cash Dividend
The IBM board of directors today declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.85 per common share, payable June 9, 2012 to stockholders of record May 10, 2012. Today's dividend declaration represents an increase of $0.10, or 13 percent higher than the prior quarterly dividend of $0.75 per common share.

This is the 17th year in a row that IBM has increased its quarterly cash dividend, and the ninth year in a row of double-digit percent increases. IBM has increased its dividend by over 600 percent since the beginning of 2000. With the payment of the June 9th dividend, IBM will have paid consecutive quarterly dividends every year since 1916.

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(PR) X-ES Supports 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 Processor Across Product Line
Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. (X-ES) is supporting the 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor across eight industry-standard form factors -- COM Express, 3U VPX, 6U VPX, 3U CompactPCI, 6U CompactPCI, VME, air-cooled PrPMC/XMC, and conduction-cooled PrPMC/XMC. The XPedite7470 3U VPX Single Board Computer (SBC) and XCalibur4401 6U CompactPCI SBC are the first products available from X-ES to support the 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor.

3rd generation Intel Core i7 processors provide higher performance and lower power compared to 2nd generation Intel Core i7 processors. 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processors also include Intel HD Graphics with DirectX 11, supporting OpenGL 3.1 and OpenCL 1.1.

(PR) NVIDIA Licenses Integrated, OV-Tolerant I/O and ESD Tech. from Sofics and ICsense
Sofics bvba of Gistel, a leading provider of ESD solutions for ICs, and ICsense of Leuven, a prominent designer of analog, mixed-signal, and high-voltage ICs and turnkey ASICs, today announced that NVIDIA has licensed their integrated ESD and I/O technology to provide a stable 3.3V I/O with robust ESD protection on its Icera modem processors that use 1.8V transistors.

The license includes customized ESD solutions from Sofics and ICsense's overvoltage-tolerant I/Os. These solutions are based on a novel circuit technique proven in TSMC 0.18 um, 40 nm, and 28 nm processes that allows I/Os to handle more than 2X the voltage of the transistors on the chip.

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(PR) Silex Expands Product Line With High-Performance Gigabit and 802.11n USB Device
Silex Technology, a global leader in wired and wireless networking solutions, today announced the SX-DS-3000WAN and SX-DS-4000U2 USB device servers designed to allow users to easily connect virtually any USB device on a wired or wireless network with two hi-speed USB ports.

The SX-DS-3000WAN supports dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n wireless local area networks (WLANs) as well as Gigabit Ethernet wired networks. The SX-DS-4000U2, with an 800 MHz CPU, is a high performance Gigabit Ethernet USB device server designed for high speed applications including scanners, webcams and other peripherals where fast throughput is a requirement.

AMD Chooses Computex 2012 as Radeon HD 7990 Launchpad
Even as NVIDIA is on the verge of unveiling its GeForce GTX 690 dual-GPU graphics card, at GeForce LAN Shanghai, AMD is in no hurry. Its competitive graphics card to the GTX 690, the Radeon HD 7990 "New Zealand", will be kept under the wraps till Computex 2012 (early June), DonanimHaber learned. Radeon HD 7990 will pack two completely unlocked 28 nm "Tahiti" GPUs, a total of 4,096 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 6 GB of GDDR5 memory, and the ability to drive 6-monitor Eyefinity, out of the box.

Source: DonanimHaber

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Iiyama Releases the ProLite T2234MC Multi-touch Monitor
Iiyama Corp. has just launched the ProLite T2234MC, a 21.5-inch monitor which features an IPS panel and makes use of projective capacitive touch technology to allow for two-finger multi-touch. Designed for 'Interactive Digital Signage, Instore Retail, Kiosks, Gaming and Interactive Presentations', Iiyama's new widescreen LCD also has a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, an 8 ms response time, a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 225 cd/m2 brightness, 178°/ 178° viewing angles, D-Sub and DVI inputs, and USB connectivity.

The ProLite T2234MC has a recommended price tag of 629 Euro.

(PR) AMD and Adobe Creative Suite 6 Innovate With OpenCL and GPU Acceleration
AMD today announced a collaboration with Adobe Systems Incorporated to optimize a new set of GPU-accelerated features for Adobe products including the newly announced Adobe Photoshop CS6. Implementing GPU acceleration and incorporating OpenCL optimization improves the end-user experience by dramatically speeding up critical imaging features and generating real-time results when editing with key tools in Adobe Creative Suite 6.

"AMD brings its expertise in GPU and APU compute in the latest release of Adobe Creative Suite," said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. "This technology integration allows us to provide creative professionals with exciting new creative options and lightning-fast performance."

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(PR) HP and AMD Research Shows Concerns About Security, Budgets Main Barriers to Gov 2.0
According to a recent survey commissioned by HP (NYSE: HPQ) and AMD, security concerns are still the top barrier to the adoption of Gov 2.0 tools, with 40 percent of government IT professionals listing security as a concern.

Gov 2.0, which involves the use of technology to make government an open platform that allows for greater innovation, also is being hampered by lack of budget (20 percent) and lack of technical expertise and ability (14 percent).

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(PR) One in Every Five Mac Computers Harbors Malware, Sophos Research Reveals
New research released by Sophos has revealed a disturbingly high level of malware on Mac computers -- with both Windows and Mac threats being discovered.

Sophos experts analyzed a snapshot of 100,000 Mac computers running its free anti-virus software, and discovered that one in five machines was found to be carrying one or more instances of Windows malware.

Although Windows malware on Macs will not cause symptoms (unless users also run Windows on their computer), it can still be spread to other computers. Additionally, Sophos's analysis shows that 2.7 percent (one in thirty six) of Macs were found to be carrying Mac OS X malware.

Thermalright Leetgion Hellion RTS Mouse Detailed
Over the month, Thermalright's gaming peripherals brand, Leetgion, released its first gaming mouse, Hellion, which it also claims to be the world's first "mechanical" gaming mouse. Perhaps they didn't find ball mice "mechanical" enough. The mechanical part Leetgion is referring to, is its switches. The Hellion uses a combination of Cherry MX Blue and OMRON Japan micro-switches. The main buttons apart from center are backed by OMRON switches, while a side "attack" macro button is backed by Cherry MX Blue.

Under the hood is an AVAGO 9500 laser sensor with a tracking resolution as high as 5,000 DPI. The non-primary buttons can be assigned macro functions, and macro profiles can be switched on the fly. Leetgion comes with three macro profiles optimized for Starcraft player classes. Measuring 123 x 73 x 42 mm (LxWxH), the Hellion has a fixed weight of 105 g. It uses a wired USB connection to the host, the cable is sleeved. The mouse also features a true-color LED illumination, a color can be chosen form a pallet of 16.7 million colors in the software. Find a review here.

New Rubicon DAC Uses Atomic Clock for Jitter-Correction
A new DAC by Rubicon, the Rubicon Antelope, seeks to address the problem of jitter using a rubidium atomic clock instead of a crystal oscillator. Modern electronics rely on oscillators and clock-generators to time the flow of everything from signals to well-structured packets of data. Often the accuracy of these could impact on signal quality (think of a packet "missing the bus" due to bad timing), during digital to analog conversion. External DACs tend to suffer jitters during digital to analog conversion, which could ruin the experience for extreme-Audiophiles.

Rubicon used the most accurate clock generation technique known to man, by implementing a rubidium atomic clock. This clock, Rubicon claims, is 100,000 times more stable than conventional crystal oscillators. Although it sounds gimmicky to the mainstream, atomic clock-based equipment very much are used in big-budget professional mastering studios. Other features include 64-bit acoustically-focused clocking jitter management technology; 384 kHz D/A and A/D converters; ultra-linear, dual stage headphone amps; de-jittered audio S/PDIF output; DLNA streaming capabilities through an Ethernet interface.

Source: Gizmodo

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(PR) ADATA's DashDrive Durable HD710 is Now Available in the US and Canada
ADATA Technology, announces that the DashDrive Durable HD710 portable hard drive with an USB 3.0 interface is available in the US and Canada. The DashDrive family adds military-grade waterproof and shockproof (IPX7) protection to the company's impressive lineup of external storage device.

With the HD710 you no longer have to worry about accidental spills or drops destroying all your precious data. The housing of the HD710 is comprised of a unique silicone material making this external hard drive tough enough to handle life's daily abuses.

Mitsubishi Intros New DiamonCrysta Wide Series IPS LED Monitors
Mitsubishi Electric Japan, launched a duo of 23-inch widescreen LED-backlit LCD monitors under its DiamondCrysta Wide series, the RDT234WX and RDT234WX-S. The two differ with the RDT234WX having an anti-glare matte coating, while the RDT234WX-S lacks it. The monitors are backed by IPS panels the provide richer color reproduction, with 1920x1080 pixels resolution, and response time as low as 3.5 ms, if its Overdrive feature is enabled. Both monitors provide 1000:1 contrast ratio (8000:1 DCR), 250 cd/m² maximum brightness, and display inputs that include two HDMI, one DVI, and a D-Sub. 545 x 170 x 394 mm (WxDxH), these monitors weigh around 4.9 kg. Other features include 2+2W stereo speakers and TV tuning (optional). The RDT234WX is slated for May 16, and the RDT234WX-S for June 15.

Source: Hermitage Akihabara

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Pre-HD 5000 Will be Removed from Catalyst Mainline, But Onto a New Support Model: AMD
AMD confirmed to TechPowerUp its plans of removing pre-HD 5000 series Radeon GPUs from the Catalyst mainline update model (where WHQL-certified driver updates are released on a monthly basis), but that doesn't necessarily mean a discontinuation of support for those products. AMD told us that it is merely relocating pre-HD 5000 GPUs (under the Radeon HD 2000, HD 3000, and HD 4000 series), to a new update model that will have new WHQL-certified drivers being released on a quarterly basis.

This model is carved out of the mainline, because the driver team is encountering a diminishing number of problems that can be addressed, with the older chips, and can pool them up over a quarter and release updates for them. The driver team can then focus on Radeon HD 5000 (and later) product lines. AMD also talked about the current lack of driver support for pre-HD 5000 GPUs on Windows 8 consumer preview. It said that the driver that Microsoft ships with Windows 8 will support for pre-HD 5000 GPUs, and of course in the future AMD will have WHQL-certified Windows 8 drivers for these chips, part of its new update model. A variant of the driver version 8.97, released in May, will be the first pre-HD 5000 driver in this new update model.

A transcript of AMD's statement follows.

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Cooler Master Unveils the HAF XM Chassis
Cooler Master finally launched the High Air Flow (HAF) XM chassis (model: RC922XM-KKN1). The XM is an ATX mid-tower variant of the HAF X, which is a full-tower. The HAF XM supports standard ATX and E-ATX motherboards, with 8+1 expansion slots, allowing users to take advantage of the bottommost expansion slot on their motherboards to install big multi-slot graphics cards. As with every other HAF series chassis, the design emphasis is on high air-flow, to maintain a positive air pressure inside the case, resulting in better cooling.

Measuring 252 x 530 x 579 mm, the HAF XM features three 5.25" drive bays, and eight 3.5" drive bays (that include two hot-swap bays with removable SATA backplate). Its perforated front grille houses one red LED-lit 200 mm fan (which can be replaced by a 140 mm fan, or two 120 mm fans); one 140 mm rear fan; two 200 mm top fans, and two 140 mm side-panel fans. Its front-panel includes two USB 3.0 ports (standard header), two USB 2.0 ports, and HDA front-panel jacks. The case is made mostly of SECC-steel and ABS plastic. It weighs about 10.5 kg. The Cooler Master HAF XM is expected to be priced around US $129. Find our review here.

NVIDIA Wants 450 mm Wafers, Seeking Foundry Partnership with GlobalFoundries, Samsung
NVIDIA is formulating a long-term chip manufacturing strategy that will see its interests secure by the time chip manufacturing has moved on to 14 nm (which follows 20 nm and today's 28 nm), which could arrive around 2015. Chip manufacturing by foundry partners is a potentially major irritant for NVIDIA, which wants to see wafer sizes getting increased from the current 300 mm manufacturing at TSMC, to 450 mm, and fast. TSMC will achieve 450 mm (18-inch) wafer manufacturing capability only by 2015. Another irritant for NVIDIA is TSMC's change in business model, which charges fabless customers "per wafer manufactured", rather than "per working chip yielded", giving them what they perceive to be the shorter end of the stick. NVIDIA is thus rigorously evaluating other foundry partners. We know from a slightly older report that Samsung has sent NVIDIA test chips manufactured at its Austin, Texas facility. There is talk that NVIDIA could also seek partnerships with GlobalFoundries, of which AMD recently relinquished all its stakes on. NVIDIA needs reliable, high-volume foundry partners that can keep it competitive not just with its main business of GPUs, but also a potential gold mine that is application processors.

Source: VR-Zone

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(PR) Amped Wireless Unveils Two New High Power Wireless-N USB Adapters
Amped Wireless, the leading manufacturer of high-power, long range wireless communications products for the home and office, today introduced two new high-power Wi-Fi directional USB adapters, which delivers high speed Wi-Fi access and the industry's best wireless range - the UA1000 High Power Wireless-N 500 mW Directional USB Adapter and the UA2000 High Power Wireless-N Directional Dual Band Adapter.

Through the use of advanced high gain directional antennas, high power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers and the latest Wi-Fi technology, these two new products provide Mac and PC, laptop or desktop users with high speed Wi-Fi access and superior range. These new platforms allow devices to connect to 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi networks from up to three times greater distance than standard wireless adapters.

Harley Quinn's Revenge DLC for Batman: Arkham City Confirmed
A new trailer of Batman: Arkham City GOTY Edition revealed a new DLC in the works, dubbed "Harley Quinn's Revenge". Slated for May 29, the GOTY (game of the year) Edition package will feature the previously released Catwoman, Nightwing and Robin DLC, as well as the Skin and Challenge map packs, and what the trailer calls "final chapter, Harley Quinn's Revenge." Find its Christian Audigier-esque logo below. Unfortunately, the May 29 release only targets Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3; and the UK edition won't arrive until September 7. Does it take that long to cross the big pond?

The GOTY Edition trailer follows.

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(PR) Team Razer Gains Ultra Street Cred With Fuudo and Itazan
Razer, one of the world's pioneering supporters of e-Sports, has signed a groundbreaking pact with Japanese fighting legends and Super Street Fighter IV stars Keita "Fuudo" Ai and Hiromiki "Itazan" Kumada, which will see the duo compete for Team Razer in 2012 and assist with the development of the Razer Arcade Stick. Both players have a wealth of experience, competing against top-flight competition for the past eight years, amassing four Super Battle Opera victories, three EVO championships and two gold medals at the World Cyber Games between them.

AMD Launches its Radeon HD 7900M Series Mobile Discrete GPUs
AMD kicked off its Radeon HD 7900M series mobile discrete GPU family with the Radeon HD 7970M. Based on the 28 nm "Pitcairn" silicon, the HD 7970M is near-identical in specifications to desktop Radeon HD 7870, except for slightly lower GPU core clock speeds. The HD 7970M packs 1280 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 2 GB of memory. Its core is clocked at 850 MHz, with 1200 MHz (4.80 GHz GDDR5 effective) memory clock speed, amounting to 153.6 GB/s memory bandwidth. The Radeon HD 7970M, apart from the ZeroCore technology carried over from its desktop counterparts, also packs a feature called AMD Enduro Technology, which "seamlessly powers down" the GPU when not required, below even 1W. The HD 7970M, we're hearing, scored many design wins, and should be launched by several notebook vendors today.

(PR) Eurocom Adds Radeon HD 7900M GPUs to its Portfolio
Eurocom Corporation, a developer of long lifespan, fully upgradable notebooks is adding the newest AMD Radeon HD 7970M GPU to their extensive options list of Ivy Bridge powered, high performance notebooks. The addition of the AMD Radeon HD 7970M offers users a new level of high performance GPU computing. Eurocom will also offer the AMD Radeon HD 6990M GPUs separately to existing customers as an upgrade option.

The addition of the AMD Radeon HD 7970M, the highest performing mobile solution from AMD, gives Eurocom customers a superior choice of video processor options to configure into their new Eurocom system or upgrade into their existing system. The addition of the AMD Radeon 7970M GPUs in single and CrossFireX offers customers a greater selection of video processor options to fit any preference or performance level.

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(PR) ARCTIC Extends Its Cable Portfolio
ARCTIC extends its cable portfolio with new cables that integrate functionality, performance and reliability to meet your data transfer and charging needs to the maximum. The Mini USB 2.0 Cable, Micro USB 2.0 Cable, Micro USB 3.0 Cable, USB Cable for Apple Devices and the Optical Audio Cable are excellent solutions which offer convenience, connectivity, and immaculate data and signal transfer.

The Mini USB 2.0 Cable and Micro USB 2.0 Cable provide high-performance data transfer between your computer and most of today's portable USB and portable devices (smartphones, MP3 players, digital cameras and external hard disks). You can fast charge these devices with these cables since the voltage drop of these cables is 10 times less than conventional USB 2.0 cables. Their superior quality ensures accurate and reliable data transfer.

Inno3D GeForce GTX 680 iChill "Ice Dragon" to Allow Customization of Fans
When we saw the first pictures of Inno3D GTX 680 iChill, we knew there was more up Inno3D's sleeve, which another picture with all of Inno3D's products laid out, revealed. It turns out Inno3D has another [longer] GTX 680 graphics card, codenamed "Ice Dragon", which allows users a nice degree of customization of the cooling assembly, called "HerculeZ", by allowing control over the number of fans (1~3), positions of fans (six combinations possible), and even mix-matching the impeller. In doing so, it even makes cleaning the fans and the heatsink very easy. The heatsink consists of a GPU base from which five heat pipes arise, which convey heat to two aluminum fin stacks, with a total of 120 fins.

Source: WCCFTech

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(PR) Rosewill Announces R5, the Sleeper Mid-Tower Gaming Case with Ultra-Cooling
Rosewill the award-winning brand for Computer Hardware just released the newest member of Rosewill gaming and performance computer case family, R5 Gaming Case.

The R5 Gaming Case may not look like a showstopper from the outside, but when you take a closer look at the insides of this sleeping giant, it will hold its own against the big boys out there. This case has all the features that you have come to expect in a top ranking gaming case under $100 including 3 x 120 mm fans (with the ability to support up to 8 fans), USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, 7 expansion slots, tool-less bays for your 5.25" and 3.5" drives, and easy-access covers (with dust filters) for the top and front fan bays (which can hold 2 fans in each bay), this case has all of the features that all modern gamers need and more.

(PR) Toshiba to Build New Semiconductor Facility in Thailand
Toshiba Corporation today announced that it will rebuild its semiconductor manufacturing operations in Thailand by relocating Toshiba Semiconductor Thailand Co., Ltd. (TST) to a new manufacturing facility. The move will position the company to meet future growth in demand and replace the factory inundated by the 2011 floods.

Established in 1990, TST carries out back-end processes–assembly and packaging–for small signal devices and photocouplers. Small signal devices control current and voltage in digital consumer products, a product segment that is expected to grow in coming years, with a primary focus on smart phones and tablets PCs. Photocouplers are used widely in industrial products, such as inverters, and are also expected to see strong demand growth.

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(PR) Tyan Announces its Embedded Product, S5515 & S5517 for Core "Ivy Bridge" Processor
TYAN, an industry-leading server platform manufacturer and subsidiary of MiTAC International Corp., announces new CPU support for the S5515 and S5517. These embedded motherboards now support the 3rd Generation Intel Core processor product family (codename: Ivy Bridge) with a quick bios update. These two platforms now deliver the benefits of Intel's 22 nm Core i3/i5/i7 processor architecture with stronger performance, consistent reliability, and low cost in small form factor that targets various applications in the embedded industry.

TYAN's S5515 and S5517 embedded motherboards now offer support for 3rd Generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 Processors. Existing motherboards will only need a BIOS update to support the new processors. Intel's 3rd Generation Intel Core processors offer greater performance with multiple expansion options such as PCI-E x16 Gen.3 slots, SATA 6G/3G controllers, U-DDR3 1600/1333/1066 w/o ECC memory slots and USB 3.0 ports. These two products deliver enhanced computing performance, greater 3D (tri-gate) effect and more RAM support. This makes them the ideal platforms for customers with critical requirements from telecom, networking, storage, medical imaging, embedded severs, security and surveillance appliances.

(PR) G.SKILL Announces New TridentX DDR3 Memory For 3rd Generation Intel Core Processors
G.SKILL, the worldwide leading high performance memory designer, has announced the new TridentX DDR3 memory kit for 3rd Generation Intel Core Processors and Z77 platform.

The ultimate speed up to DDR3 2800 MHz 16 GB(4 GBx4) & DDR3 2666 MHz 32 GB(8 GBx4)

Designed for overclocking enthusiasts, the TridentX series includes a complete lineup of extreme performance DDR3 memory, starting from 2400 MHz 8 GB to 2800 MHz 16 GB. The following screens show the TridentX 2800 MHz 16 GB kit has successfully achieved DDR3 3320 MHz speed, while the 32 GB 2666 MHz kit has achieved DDR3 2933 MHz speed, both results are with 4 DIMMs fully installed under LN2.

"Hackintoshing" Easiest with GIGABYTE 3D UEFI BIOS
Hackintosh (running Apple OS X on a non-Apple PC) interest group tonymacx86 discovered that GIGABYTE's 3D UEFI BIOS is most trouble-free with hackintoshing, leaving you with no risky BIOS modding to do. The BIOS tells OS X about what the hardware environment is like. If the OS doesn't have an environment that it's designed for, it crashes with a kernel panic.

GIGABYTE 3D UEFI BIOS, tonymacx86 reports, as tested on a GA-Z77-DS3H, already has power-management descriptors, so you don't have to add any power-management DSDT tables for sleep/wake or power-management functions. Most other onboard devices on the Z77-DS3H run seamlessly with Apple's native drivers. The Atheros gigabit Ethernet controller works with MultiBeast driver, Realtek ALC887 HDA codec works with ALC8xxHDA/AppleHDA, and Intel HD 3000 graphics embedded into the Core i5-2500K (used in the testing) works just fine.

Sources: tonymacx86, VR-Zone

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(PR) RunCore Previews the InVincible and XAPEAR SSDs
RunCore, leading supplier of high-performance solid-state drives, has just started giving a sneak preview of two soon to be globally available special-use SSDs, the RunCore InVincible with a physical self-destruction mechanism, and the RunCore XAPEAR, allowing for complete remote data elimination through your mobile phone.

The RunCore InVincible SSDs allow you to protect your data from third party access in two ways with a single click. One method is the intelligent elimination of all your data through overwriting the entire disk with. A less subtle method is the physical destruction of your SSD by applying an over-current to the NAND flash memory and thereby rendering these. The RunCore InVincible product series is catering to embedded computer systems requiring high-speed serial switched fabric interconnects for rugged design implementation and more flexible power ranges. Delivering optimized storage options particularly in mission-critical fields such aerospace, military and general industrial applications.

(PR) Curtiss-Wright Controls Intros Single Board Computer Based on Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs
Curtiss-Wright Controls Defense Solutions (CWCDS), a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls, enhances its rugged, high performance OpenVPX Intel processor-based single board computer (SBC) product line with the introduction of the new VPX3-1257, its first OpenVPX SBC designed with the new quad-core 3rd generation Intel Core i7-3612QE processor.

The VPX3-1257 is the latest member of CWCDS's family of next generation multi-core Intel architecture-based SBCs, and builds on the success of the earlier VPX3-1256 that was based on the 2nd generation Intel Core i7-2715QE processor. The new Intel Core i7-3612QE processor delivers a significantly improved thermal profile, enabling greater cooling for the extended temperature ranges demanded by the most rugged Mil/Aero/Gov customer.

Nofan Unveils All-Copper CR-95C Silent CPU Heatsink
Silent PC cooling solutions expert Nofan is ready with an all-copper variant of its CR-95 fanless CPU heatsink. Called the CR-95C, the heatink retains the distinct hamster-wheel shape that's optimized for passive cooling. Measuring 180 x 180 x 148 mm (WxDxH), the cooler weighs a little over a kilogram, at 1020 g. Despite its dimensions, particularly its weight, it can only handle processors with TDP up to 100W (95W chips with mild OC could run, too). Its design consists of an octagonal copper (mirror-finish) base, from which two copper heat-pipes emerge, which twine through the copper fin stack. The CR-95C from Nofan is slated for early-June.

Source: FanlessTech

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(PR) CyberpowerPC Announces New Desktop Gaming PCs Paired with "Ivy Bridge"
CyberpowerPC Inc., a global leader in custom gaming machines, today announced new desktop gaming systems based on 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3770K (3.50 GHz), Core i5-3570K (3.40 GHz) and other 3000 Series Ivy Bridge processors.

CyberpowerPC customers can configure the ultimate gaming platform based on the new Ivy Bridge CPUs paired with recently released Intel Z77 chipset motherboards. The combination provides a 10-15% performance boost over Sandy Bridge 2000 series CPUs and offers advanced overclocking; native USB 3.0 and PCI-Express Gen 3.0 support; Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0; and next gen DirectX 11 ready Intel HD 4000 graphics along with quick sync technology.

(PR) Eurocom Adds Ivy Bridge Core Processors to its Lineup
Eurocom Corporation, a developer of long lifespan, fully upgradable Notebooks, high performance Mobile Workstations and Mobile Servers is now supporting the Intel Core i7-3920XM Processor Extreme along with the Intel Core i7-3820QM, Intel Core i7-3720QM and Intel Core i7-3610QM in the Eurocom line of Notebooks including: EUROCOM Neptune 2.0, Racer 2.0 and Monster.

Eurocom's line of high performance Mobile Workstations and Gaming Notebooks will be bolstered by the introduction of the Intel Ivy Bridge processors and complete line of Intel 22nm processors. The Eurocom notebooks will be some of the world's first Ivy Bridge notebooks with Intel HM77 and HM76 chipsets using the uFPGA988B socket. Eurocom Notebooks are ideal for professionals and teams who frequently travel and need access to high performance computing.

(PR) Microsoft, Facebook Announce Patent Agreement
Microsoft Corp. and Facebook announced today a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will assign to Facebook the right to purchase a portion of the patent portfolio it recently agreed to acquire from AOL Inc. Facebook has agreed to purchase this portion for $550 million in cash.

In the initial AOL auction, Microsoft secured the ability to own or assign approximately 925 U.S. patents and patent applications plus a license to AOL's remaining patent portfolio, which contains approximately 300 additional patents that were not for sale. As a result of today's agreement, Facebook will obtain ownership of approximately 650 AOL patents and patent applications, plus a license to the AOL patents and applications that Microsoft will purchase and own.

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(PR) Acer Announces Ivy Bridge-Based Desktops
Acer's first desktop PCs with the 3rd Generation Intel Core Processors will be available immediately in several configurations ranging in price from $699.99 to $1,199.99. Both Acer and Gateway-branded desktop PCs will be equipped with the new processors. Below are two examples of systems that will be available from retailers this next week.

Several models of the Acer Predator AG3620 desktop line will be the first with the new processors. The Acer Predator delivers performance and graphics benefits for power-users who want an advanced PC for entertainment, gaming and digital media. The Acer Predator AG3620-UR21P is equipped with a 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 3770 processor running at 3.4GHz as well as NVIDIA GT 630 graphics to deliver blazing fast speed and realistic graphics. The system also has 16GB of memory and 2 TB of storage space. It has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $1,199.99.

(PR) COM Express Modules With Brand-New, Quad-Core 3rd Gen. Intel Core Processors Released
MSC Vertriebs GmbH presents the first COM Express modules based on the 3rd generation Intel Core processor family (formerly codenamed 'Ivy Bridge'). The 3rd generation Intel Core processor family utilizes Intel's advanced 22nm process technology with three-dimensional transistors for higher performance at lower power. The new COM Express modules feature a further leap forward in computing power, graphics and video performance in comparison to modules based on the previous generation Intel platform. Important innovations of this new product generation are lower power consumption at higher clock frequencies and improved graphics and video performance. For the first time, the new Intel platform supports DirectX 11.

(PR) MSI Tops Gaming Benchmarks with its NVIDIA GTX 670M and Intel HM77-Equipped Notebooks
MSI Computer Corp, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, uncages the GT70 and GT60, two mobile gaming beasts featuring Intel HM77 Chipset, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M graphics processing unit (GPU), Killer™ E2200 Game Networking, Steel Series backlit keyboard, and more. Designed with the serious gamer in mind, both units provide unmatched power while fortifying MSI's arsenal of award-winning G Series family of gaming notebooks.

Bringing a new standard to mobile gaming, the GT70 comes with 17.3-inches of Full HD anti-reflective display to maximize visual experience under all lighting conditions, Steel Series full color backlit programmable keyboard with 1000 customizable color combinations, amplified gold plated audio connections for crisper sounds, 12 GB of DDR3 for superb speed, and more. For gamers looking for even more power, the GT70 is also available with 16 GB of DDR3, BD Burner, and MSI's Super RAID 0 configuration, a unique combination of 128 GB (2 * 64 GB) of SSD RAID 0 and 750 GB at 7200 RPM for unprecedented storage capacity.

(PR) Transform in Style with the New ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T
Announced at Mobile World Congress in February, the new ASUS Transformer Pad is a powerful, yet affordable, tablet with a host of features onboard. Available in three stylish colors, the ASUS Transformer Pad is aptly named thanks to the mobile dock that allows it to transform from a tablet into a notebook. When docked, total battery life is rated up to 15 hours, while also increasing productivity with a full QWERTY keyboard, multi-touch touchpad and USB/SD Card ports.

Housed in the Transformer Pad is a powerful NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-core CPU, ASUS SonicMaster technology for an incredible audio experience and an 8MP auto-focus camera that shoots crystal clear photos. The Transformer Pad is running the Android 4.0 operating system (Ice Cream Sandwich) that is upgradable and features exclusive software for added productivity.

Intel Announces 3rd Generation Core "Ivy Bridge" Processor Family
Intel finally got the ball rolling on its third generation Core processor family codenamed "Ivy Bridge", which will go into making most of the company's client processor portfolio for 2012. These chips are characterized as being the world's first microprocessors built on the 22 nanometer silicon fabrication process. Intel aided miniaturization of circuits to such tiny scale thanks to 3D Transistor technology, a space-efficient nano-scale transistor design that enables chip-designers to achieve higher transistor densities, and come up with ever more powerful chips.

The third-generation Core processor family is based around a single die design (pictured below), from which it will carve out numerous SKUs in the client market in May-June, and enterprise market (under its Xeon brand, towards the end of June). These SKUs will be carved out by toggling the various parallel components (such as x86 cores, cache banks, processor graphics cores, and of course clock-speeds). The new Core processor family is expected to feature higher performance per clock-speed, and higher efficiency. Intel's Kirk Skaugen has been quoted by the BBC as saying "This is the world's first 22 nm product and we'll be delivering about 20% more processor performance using 20% less average power."

(PR) ASRock Z77 Extreme6 Overclock Intel Core i7-3770K CPU To 6.9 GHz With LN2 Cooling
CPU overclocking new record releases today! Record-breaking motherboard maker, ASRock Inc., is excited to announce that Intel's new start Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K processor was able to be overclocked to incredible 6.9 GHz with the company's newly released Z77 Extreme6 motherboard. The overclocking-friendly Z77 Extreme6 mobo was designed for optimized performance and built upon top-quality components that are ripe for extreme amounts of overclocking.

New record was created by the World's Legendary Overclocker, Nick Shih, who had been topped the Professional Overclockers League for 18 months straight. With only two-year overclocking experience, Nick Shih is a living legend who holds the world champion title as well as being multiple overclocking world-records keeper which included both 2D and 3D tests.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Slated for April 28, Launches at GeForce LAN, in Shanghai
NVIDIA is poised to launch its high-end GeForce GTX 690 dual-GPU graphics card on the 28th of April, according to a VR-Zone report. NVIDIA has chosen the 2012 NVIDIA GeForce LAN / NVIDIA Gaming Festival (NGF) held in Shanghai, China, as its launchpad. NVIDIA even put up a countdown timer on GeForce.com that counts down to the event. GeForce GTX 690 combines two 28 nm GK104 graphics processors for an SLI-on-a-stick solution. It is gunning for absolute performance leadership, enabling gamers to throw any game, at any resolution at PCs equipped with it.

Source: GeForce.com

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Arctic Unveils the F PWM CO Series Case Fans
Arctic has today announced the F PWM CO (Continuous Operation) series case fans which have been designed to work nice and quiet 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Coming in three sizes, 80 mm (F8 model), 92 mm (F9) and 120 mm (F12), these new fans feature a Japanese dual ball bearing, they are backed by a six-year warranty, and offer support for the patented PWM Sharing Technology (which forwards the PWM signal to all other fans within the system so that all fans are spinning at the same speed).

The F PWM CO specs:

- F8: 700 ~ 2000 RPM (speed) | 0.3 Sone (noise) | 31 CFM (airflow) | $7.90

- F9: 600 ~ 1800 RPM | 0.4 Sone | 43 CFM | $8.50

- F12: 400 ~ 1350 RPM | 0.5 Sone | 74 CFM | $9.95

Ivy Bridge-powered Sony VAIO E Series 14P Spotted in the Wild
Sony's VAIO E Series 14P notebooks went Ivy Bridge with model#SVE14A16FGH. This 14-incher (1600x900 pixels) is powered by an Intel Core i7-3612QM quad-core processor (2.10 GHz with 3.10 GHz boost), 4 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory, and AMD Radeon HD 7670M graphics. A 750 GB HDD and DVD writer are at the helm of storage. USB 3.0, HDMI and D-Sub, wireless b/g/n, 1.3 MP webcam, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of it. It retains the E series 14P chassis that's already launched. The leak occurred at Sony Australia, SVE14A16FGH goes for AU $1,499 (US $1,554) Down Under.

Source: LaptopReviews

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(PR) mLogic Showcases mLink PCIe to Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis at NAB 2012
Today at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB), mLogic LLC announced that the company's mLink PCIe to Thunderbolt expansion chassis will be demonstrated at the following booths on the trade show floor:

G-Technology, Inc. - SL11105 | Editshare LLC - SL9012 | Intel Corporation - SL12810

Other World Computing - SL14110 | RED Digital Cinema - SL3324 | Skymicro, Inc. - SL 12715

Small Tree Communications - SL7425

mLink enables PCIe adapter cards (video capture cards, RAID controllers, host bus adapters, SSDs, etc.) to be attached to Thunderbolt-equipped computers. mLink brings the functionality of these add-in cards that formerly required a desktop system to all-in-one and portable computers like the iMac and MacBook Pro. Visit www.mlogic.com for a list of Thunderbolt-aware PCIe cards that are compatible with mLink.

(PR) MSI B75MA-P45 Motherboard Gets Intel SBA Certification
MSI is happy to announce that it's B75MA-P45 mainboard has passed Intel Small Business Advantage certification. This adds to an already impressive array of professional advantages of MSI's B75 mainboards. Intel Small Business Advantage ensures software and hardware stability and security and when combined with MSI's excellent Military Class based B75 mainboards provide the best overall quality and stability.

Intel Small Business Advantage Certified

The MSI B75MA-P45 is the first Intel B75 mainboard in the industry with Intel SBA Certification. Intel® SBA (Small Business Advantage) enhances Security and Productivity without switching to a traditional corporate platform. By making traditional software features hardware based, it improves stability and doesn't reduce performance.

(PR) HyVE Systems Selects OCZ's Talos 2 SAS-based SSDs for VDI Academic Platforms
OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced that its SAS-based Talos 2 SSDs have been selected by HyVE (Hybrid Virtualization Engine) Systems for implementation within three high-compute platforms targeted for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) academic and corporate end user compute solutions. Providing stellar read/write input/output operations per second (IOPS) performance, high reliability and availability of stored data and desktop applications, the ability to grow with the HyVE Systems platforms, and cost-effectiveness were the key attributes that aided in the selection of OCZ Talos 2 drives.

Combining proven virtualization solutions with state-of-the-art, best-of-breed hardware products that support next-generation cloud requirements, the HyVE System VDI platform provides a cost-effective, high-performance environment that scales to the needs of their customers while providing an extremely low cost per desktop without jeopardizing quality, reliability or performance. A typical HyVE System VDI solution has a fixed cost of approximately $200 per desktop which is significantly lower than traditional virtual solutions that typically start at $1,500 per desktop, and scale down cost to approximately $700 per desktop, depending on infrastructure costs.

(PR) Dane-Elec Releases Marvel Avengers-branded USB Flash Drives and Hubs
Dane-Elec, a global leader in consumer electronics, today announced Marvel's The Avengers USB drive product line with Marvel Entertainment, LLC. The four Avengers characters featured in Marvel's The Avengers movie premiering this May -- Captain America, The Hulk, Thor and Iron Man -- will be brought to life in the form of 8 gigabyte (GB) flash drives. Users can collect them all with Marvel's The Avengers 4-Port USB Hub and let the Super Heroes transport and protect their data for years to come.

"We are thrilled to offer Marvel fans our second line of USB drives, which is based on the characters in the upcoming Marvel's The Avengers movie," said Sherry Chapman, director of marketing for Dane-Elec. "The Marvel Classics line is extremely popular and we are excited to give movie fans the Marvel's The Avengers drives. Both adults and children can now store and transport data on these replica character statuettes that have a sleek sliding USB drive embedded in the base. Marvel's The Avengers Super Heroes collection is both unique and practical for all ages."

(PR) Dell Revolutionizes Design and Performance with New Line of Precision Workstations
Dell's newly redesigned portfolio of Dell Precision tower workstations announced today delivers superb performance, accessibility and best-in-class¹ chassis design to help creative and design professionals deliver results faster. Dell engineered its tower workstations to enable engineering, product design, animation, and other graphics and compute intensive professionals increased productivity and minimized downtime so they can focus on their innovations.

From creating the 854 stereo 3D VFX shots featured in the award-winning movie "Hugo" to designing unique architectural spaces to analyzing seismic data to accelerate exploration of natural reserves, companies around the world rely on Dell Precision workstations to design and deliver superb results fast.

(PR) Acer's New AC100 Micro Server Brings the Data Center to the Desk
Acer America today announced a new commercial offering, the Acer AC100 micro-server. It delivers the latest server-class features and utilities in a compact form factor to suit the needs of small and medium businesses.

Featuring an easy to configure micro-tower enabling quick upgrades, the new Acer AC100 not only reduces the time and costs associated with maintenance, but also provides excellent expandability in its class. In addition to Energy Star certification, it boasts a high-efficiency 200W 80 PLUS power supply, which makes the AC100 more than 80 percent energy efficient at 20, 50 and 100 percent rated loads, reducing electricity use and bills.

HIS Slashes Prices of its HD 7000 Lineup Across The Board
Although the recent round of price-cuts by AMD covered mainly three SKUs, the HD 7970, HD 7950, and HD 7770; HIS put together its own list of price-cuts covering all Radeon HD 7000 series SKUs launched by it, including its non-reference design and overclocked ones. The new prices (in EUR, incl. taxes) are listed below.

HIS 7750 iCooler 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E DP/DVI/HDM - 89,- Euro
HIS 7770 iCooler 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E DVI/HDMI/2xMiniDP – 114,90 Euro
HIS 7870 IceQ X Turbo 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP – 299 Euro
HIS 7870 IceQ Turbo 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP – 309,90 Euro

Ivy Bridge-Powered HP Pavilion dm4 Laptop Selling in China
HP China has now put up for sale on its website the 14-inch Pavilion dm4-3110tx Beats Edition laptop which is equipped with one 3rd generation Intel Core processor, namely the quad-core 2.1 GHz Core i7-3612QM. In addition to packing an Ivy Bridge 22 nm CPU, the laptop has an LED-backlit (1366 x 768) HD BrightView display, 4 GB of RAM, a 750 GB hard drive, a DVD writer, and an AMD Radeon HD 7570M 1 GB discrete graphics card.

The dm4-3110tx also comes with a chiclet keyboard with a red backlight, a 720p webcam, a memory card reader, a fingerprint reader, WiFi, Bluetooth, a HDMI output, two USB 3.0 ports, Beats audio, and a 6-cell battery. The laptop costs 6,799 yuan (~ $1,078).

Source: Laptoping

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ORICO Readies NCA Series Passive Laptop Cooling Pads
ORICO is working on a new line of passive notebook cooling pads that are made of thick sheets of perforated aluminum with rubber feet and grips. Designed for 15.6-inch and 14-inch notebooks, these coolers raise notebooks at a fixed angle, from where passive air cooling takes over. CGI drawings reveal that the aluminum sheets that make up most of the pad dissipate heat from the notebook to the air. The perforations on its surfaced are designed in a way that allows users to strap PC fans on to it, of almost any shape and size, and at almost any specific region of the pad. There is no word on availability.

Source: Expreview

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(PR) World's 1st Voicecode Security USB Drive - Voicelok
You wouldn't think there would be much to say about a USB flash drive, but in this case, what you say, and how you say it, is your key to data security. Advanced technical skills are definitely not required, because this is a plug-and-play device, requiring no software installation. All critical software is embedded in the flash drive itself, and it is fully functional the moment it is removed from the box.

After inserting the USB into a computer, red and green LEDs flash to signal to the user that the drive is ready to hear the password through its on-board microphone. Armed with a dedicated on-board microprocessor, the drive's voice-recognition software then sorts out the various nuances and frequencies of an authorized voice, and the only necessary password is a spoken one.

Shuttle Also Intros New Line of Atom-powered Slimline Barebones
Shuttle also launched a new line of slimline, fan-less XPC Mini PC barebones driven by the latest Intel Atom D2700 processor. The XS35V3 and XS36V launched today, succeed the XS35/V2 launched last September, which were based on previous-generation Atom D525 chips. Measuring 252 x 162 x 38.5 mm (WxDxH), the XS35V3 features a slimline optical drive bay apart from a 2.5" SATA drive bay to hold an HDD or SSD. It has two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots, supporting up to 4 GB of single-channel DDR3-1066 MHz memory. Front-panel includes a card-reader (supports SDHC/SD/MS/MS Pro), and a USB 2.0 port. Its rear-panel includes stereo line-out and mic-in audio jacks, four USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, and display outputs that include HDMI 1.3 and D-sub (VGA). It also features wireless b/g/n LAN.

The XS36V has a slightly smaller chassis, measuring 200 x 160 x 36 mm. It lacks a slimline optical drive bay, its only drive bay is a 2.5" SATA. Most of its logic board is identical to that of its sibling. Apart from the a card-reader (SDHC/SD/MS/MS Pro) and a USB 2.0 port, the front-panel features two RS232 serial (COM) ports. Its rear-panel is identical to that of the XS35V3. Both models include a 40W external power brick. The XS35V3 is priced around US $149, while the XS36V is priced slightly higher.

Source: Hermitage Akihabara

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Apple Could Discontinue 17-inch MacBook Pro
Market researcher Ming-Chi Kuo, who is credible with reports on Apple's product lineup in the past, predicted that Apple could discontinue the 17-inch variant of its MacBook Pro soon, owing to weak sales. Apple's next MacBook Pro could look increasingly like the MacBook Air, offering high-performance in a very compact form-factor. Being a major design rejig, Apple could take a fresh look at the viability of each variant based on its past market reception. "While adding new products, Apple is likely to stop making the 17" MacBook Pro this year due to falling shipments, in order to maintain a lean product line strategy," Kuo writes in his report.

Source: MacRumors

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Antec Intros Kühler H2O 920e CPU Cooler
Antec introduced its newest closed-loop liquid cooler for CPUs, the Kühler H2O 920e. A variation of the H20 920, the 920e features stronger fans to ventilate the radiator in push-pull configuration, and higher coolant pressure, to keep up with the high thermal output of socket LGA2011 processors, which it supports out of the box. So the "e" in its model name really just denotes "enhanced [performance]."

The dimensions of the cooler are the same as the H20 920, with 70 x 70 x 25 mm (WxDxH) block, featuring a polished copper base; 120 x 49 x 151 mm radiator (without fans), and 120 x 120 x 25 mm fans (x2). The fans have more aggressive automatic speed profiles, they can spin at speeds as high as 2400 RPM pushing 110 CFM of air, each. The cooler includes sensors, which can be read by an included software, and speeds can be controlled. The retention kit includes support for all modern Intel and AMD sockets, including LGA2011, LGA1155, AM3+, and FM1.

Source: Hermitage Akihabara

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Shuttle Launches X79 and Z77-based Barebones
Barebones mini PCs expert Shuttle Computer launched its first barebones featuring Intel Z77 Express chipset, ready for 3rd generation "Ivy Bridge" Core processors in the LGA1155 package, while retaining support for every LGA1155 "Sandy Bridge" processor launched till date. Shuttle also launched an Intel X79-based mini PC barebone, which supports Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E" processors.

Called the SZ77R5, the Z77 barebone features four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory, expansion slots that include one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, one PCI-Express 2.0 x4 and one mPCIe; two SATA 6 Gb/s, two SATA 3 Gb/s ports, one eSATA 3 Gb/s, and one mSATA; four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio. Its chassis features two 5.25" and one 3.5" drive bays, front-panel that includes two of the four USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port with "fast charging" (high current), and front-panel HD audio. To power the machine, a 500W 80 Plus-compliant PSU is included. The SZ77R5 measures 332 x 216 x 198 mm (WxDxH). It will be priced around 32,800 JPY (US $404).

Intel Core i3 "Ivy Bridge" Desktop Pricing Surfaces
Although slated for June, Intel's budged 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" processors, under the Core i3 brand extension, matter a lot to system builders, small businesses, and enterprises. Three of its first models to be launched are priced. These include the Core i3-3220, priced at 113€ (US $149); Core i3-3225 at 130€ (US $172); and Core i3-3240 at 132€ (US $172).

The i3-3220 succeeds the current-generation Core i3-2100, it is clocked at 3.30 GHz. The i3-3225 has the same clock speed, but a faster integrated graphics (HD 4000 vs. HD 2500 on the i3-3220). The i3-3240 is clocked at 3.40 GHz, but retains the slower HD 2500 graphics from the i3-3220. All three chips are dual-core, lack Turbo Boost, but feature Hyper Threading. The PCI-Express root complex is thrown back to PCI-Express Gen 2.0, they lack Gen 3.0.

Source: VR-Zone

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(PR) Genius Introduces the HS 400A Headset
Taiwan–based Genius is an international leading company in computer peripherals introduces the new PC Headset HS-400A, which is great for VOIP chatting and also has a great appearance.

HS-400A features a graffiti pattern and a vivid preen which catches everyone's eye. From the inside the in-line volume control and adjustable, microphone lets one adjust it to the liking. The headband and ear cups are also adjustable and provide great listening experience. HS-400A is a great choice for practical solutions.

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