IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (HotHardware) 04/10/2009

Forget Your Glasses? There's An App For That
It seems as if there's an iPhone application for everything these days. A new application called iMagnify can even substitute for a pair of eye glasses. Simply put, iMagnify transforms your iPhone into a powerful magnifying glass. With the application, users can enlarge an image from 1x to 4x. The magnification is controlled by a slide on the display, providing pinpoint precision or a broad range. iMagnify works equally well in dimly lit restaurants or on brightly lighted streets. It is ideal for quickly checking
Read More ...

Haleron Adds Two Atom N270s To Swordfish 102 Netbook
Tired of waiting for Intel to serve up a proper successor to the aged Atom N270 and N280 netbook processors? So was Haleron, a foreign PC maker who has suddenly shot to fame after equipping its own netbook with not one, but two Atom N270 CPUs. Yes, a dual-CPU netbook. Is the world coming to an end? We're not quite sure, but we'd surmise that a twin-processor netbook is a decent sign that it is.The Swordfish Net 102 Dual, outside of its funky CPU setup, is a pretty standard machine. It has a 10.1" display, 2GB
Read More ...

Sony's PSPgo Goes On Sale In North America For $249.99
Sony's PSPgo has really taken it on the chin. Reviewers around the Web have criticized the new gaming handheld for being too expensive, too limiting and just too backwards to be taken seriously. Of course, we also think the physical disc will soon die in favor of digital downloads, but obviously the PSPgo is just a few years ahead of its time.The console, which cannot accept PSP-3000 UMD-style games, can only retrieve games and content digitally. So you can either upload media from a flash card, your PC or over-the-air
Read More ...

Dell's Vostro 430 Desktop Gets Core i5/i7 And $699 Starting Tag
By and large, Dell's Vostro range is still largely unappreciated and under the radar. The Latitude line seems to get way more attention in business uses, and the Inspiron line gets way more love from consumers. And of course, the XPS/Alienware line gets all the attention from gamers. The Vostro line, however, still stands out as offering a real value to consumers who just need a basic machine to handle basic tasks. If that's you, and you're scouting a new tower, the Vostro 430 might be "the one."Granted, we're
Read More ...

Nissan's EPORO Concept "Cars" Avoid Collisions Like Fish
Here comes still more technology based on fish. As opposed to the earlier tech, autonomous robotic fish built to detect pollution, Nissan has developed a system that emulates schooling behavior of fish to avoid auto collisions.Nissan's new "EPORO" robot car concept is designed to travel in a group of "cars" while avoiding obstacles (including other cars). The technology is designed to mimic the behavioral patterns of a school of fish.The EPORO technology is an update to the Biomimetic Car Robot Drive "BR23C"
Read More ...

TXTBlocker Lets Users Disable Texting & Other Features While Driving
AAA and the government are working on plans to ban texting while driving. Now, there's a new product for cell phones that lets you ban yourself, employees, or kids from texting while driving. Mobile technology developer TXTBlocker has created a product for cell phones that lets owners disable texting and other functions while the user is driving. TXTBlocker makes it possible for parents and employers to customize cell phones to disable texting functions, block certain numbers, or only permit incoming and outgoing
Read More ...

Another Xbox 360 RROD failure

I went to turn on my XBox 360 last night hoping to play some Call of Duty: World at War but instead of the dancing green ring I was treated with the dreaded "Red Ring of Death" I purchased this console last November and it has run fine up until now.

I initially bought this console to replace an older hon HDMI model which had died and been replaced under warranty four times within two years. It looks like I'll have to deal with XBox support yet again Sad

Nissan's EPORO Concept "Cars" Avoid Collisions Like Fish

Here comes still more technology based on fish. As opposed to the earlier tech, autonomous robotic fish built to detect pollution, Nissan has developed a system that emulates schooling behavior of fish to avoid auto collisions.

Nissan's new "EPORO" robot car concept is designed to travel in a group of "cars" while avoiding obstacles (including other cars). The technology is designed to mimic the behavioral patterns of a school of fish.

The EPORO technology is an update to the Biomimetic Car Robot Drive "BR23C" concept which was designed to mimic bees. Why did Nissan switch from bees to fish?

The answer is simple: while both bees and fish have excellent collision-avoidance abilities, bees tend to travel alone, but fish tend to swim in schools (unless, of course, they are predatory fish). This produces an advance in the collision-avoidance tech necessary for Nissan to get EPORO to work, vs. BR23C. According to Nissan, there are three types of fish behavior rules, based on proximity. Depending on the "area" an obstacle may be in, fish will exhibit different tendencies.

Fish Behavior Rules
AREA 1: Collision Avoidance - Change traveling direction without colliding with other fish.

AREA 2: Traveling Side-by-Side - Travel side-by-side with other fish while keeping a certain distance between each fish (to match the speed).

AREA 3: Approaching - Gain closer proximity to other fish that are at a distance from them.

In a pres release, Toshiyuki Andou, Manager of Nissan's Mobility Laboratory and principal engineer of the robot car project said:

"We, in a motorized world, have a lot to learn from the behavior of a school of fish in terms of each fish's degree of freedom and safety within a school and high migration efficiency of a school itself. In EPORO, we recreated the behavior of a school of fish making full use of cutting-edge electronic technologies. By sharing the surrounding information received within the group via communication, the group of EPOROs can travel safely, changing its shape as needed."

Nissan intends to demonstrate the technology with a group of six EPOROs at CEATEC JAPAN 2009, October 6 - 10 at the Makuhari Messe. Strangely, the picture provided by Nissan shows seven EPOROs; what happened to the last one? Did it run into something?

Sony's PSPgo Goes On Sale In North America For $249.99

Sony's PSPgo has really taken it on the chin. Reviewers around the Web have criticized the new gaming handheld for being too expensive, too limiting and just too backwards to be taken seriously. Of course, we also think the physical disc will soon die in favor of digital downloads, but obviously the PSPgo is just a few years ahead of its time.

The console, which cannot accept PSP-3000 UMD-style games, can only retrieve games and content digitally. So you can either upload media from a flash card, your PC or over-the-air downloads. To some, this may not be that big of a deal; for those with vast PSP-3000 UMD game libraries, it's somewhat less appealing. But hey, we still think Sony will sell quite a few of these new things as the holiday run-up continues, even at the $249.99 price in North America.

As of right now, the highly anticipated console can be ordered or bought from retailers, with Sony currently offering 16,000 pieces of digital content for PSP owners on PlayStation Network, from games to hit movies and popular TV shows. Shortly, even more digital material will launch, including Gran Turismo, Tetris, God of War, Madden NFL, Star Wars Battlefront and lots of "mini-games." The PSP go system will be available in "Piano Black" and "Ceramic White," and will include a demo of popular rhythm action title Patapon 2 pre-loaded onto the system's memory.

Consumers will be able to download games and entertainment contentfrom PlayStation Store directly onto their PSPgo system via Wi-Fi;through a PC using the Media Go(TM) application; or by transferring from a PS3(TM)system. The Media Go application has been updated with a new look andfeel, offering an enhanced shopping experience. PSP owners can visitus.playstation.com/psn/mediago to download Media Go and for moredetails.

In addition,participating retailers will be selling PlayStationآ® Network Game Cardsbeginning with the launch of PSPgo. These cards will provide consumersan additional option to purchase their favorite digital games atretail, and the initial lineup of cards includes Daxterآ®, God of Warآ®: Chains of Olympus, Gran Turismo, MotorStorm(آ®): Arctic Edge, among others. The PlayStation Network Game Cards complement the PlayStation Network Cards currently available in $10, $20 and $50 increments.

Launch content

New PSP titles - Virtuallyall PSP titles launching on UMD moving forward will also be availablefor the PSPgo system. Titles launching today include the PSP system'sdebut of the best-selling racing franchise, Gran Turismo, along with MotorStorm: Arctic Edge and Beaterator(TM). Other key titles launching soon from first-party and publishing partners include Assassin's Creedآ® Bloodlines(TM), BUZZ Master Quiz, DISSIDIA: FINAL FANTASY, Grand Theft Autoآ® Chinatown Wars(TM), Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier(TM), LittleBigPlanet(TM), NBA 10 The Inside, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 and Star Wars Battlefrontآ®: Elite Squadron(TM).
PlayStation Network Exclusives - PixelJunk(آ®) Monsters Deluxe will be launching today; additional PlayStation Network exclusives launching this holiday include Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake and LocoRoco(TM): Midnight Carnival.
"minis" - Thesebite-sized games offer a more casual experience, ideal for quickgameplay sessions on-the-go. Key titles launching today include Tetrisآ® and Fieldrunners(TM).
UMD Legacy titles - More than 150 titles previously released on UMD are now available, including recent releases such as Madden NFL 10, Soulcaliberآ® Broken Destiny, and Tiger Woods PGA Tourآ® 10.
PSoneآ® Classics - More than 60 classic PSone titles are now available for download.
Videos - 2,300 movies and 13,000 TV shows are now available from major studios and content partners.

Dell's Vostro 430 Desktop Gets Core i5/i7 And $699 Starting Tag

By and large, Dell's Vostro range is still largely unappreciated and under the radar. The Latitude line seems to get way more attention in business uses, and the Inspiron line gets way more love from consumers. And of course, the XPS/Alienware line gets all the attention from gamers. The Vostro line, however, still stands out as offering a real value to consumers who just need a basic machine to handle basic tasks. If that's you, and you're scouting a new tower, the Vostro 430 might be "the one."

Granted, we're not entirely sure we'd agree with Dell's assertion that the Vostro 430 is "future proof"--we wouldn't even call a $4000 Alienware "future proof"--but it is powerful enough to handle Windows 7 and shouldn't break the bank along the way. In an unusual move for Dell, it has decided to equip the Vostro 430 with a Core i5 or Core i7 processor, dedicated GPU options from NVIDIA/ATI, up to 16GB of DDR3 SDRAM and up to 1TB of extra storage. It's available to customize and order today starting at $699, and while it probably won't play Crysis at its maximum resolution, it'll more than handle those pesky Spreadsheets and the occasional gaming spree.

Vostro 430: Expandability, Productivity and Connectivity

Expandability options with the ability to add memory, PCI/PCIe cards and HDD, future-proofing IT investment;
Increased internal storage capacity with one terabyte hard drives offering up to 2 terabytes of internal storage;
Dual-display capability, and more expandability and flexibility with 10 external USB ports and four total PCI/PCIe expansion slots for more network, sound or graphics cards.
Optional Blu-Ray Disk^TM drives for data storage and video playback;
PS/2 and serial ports to enable use of older devices; and
Dell 19-in-1 Media Card Reader (Optional)
IEEE 1394a (Optional)

Haleron Adds Two Atom N270s To Swordfish 102 Netbook

Tired of waiting for Intel to serve up a proper successor to the aged Atom N270 and N280 netbook processors? So was Haleron, a foreign PC maker who has suddenly shot to fame after equipping its own netbook with not one, but two Atom N270 CPUs. Yes, a dual-CPU netbook. Is the world coming to an end? We're not quite sure, but we'd surmise that a twin-processor netbook is a decent sign that it is.

The Swordfish Net 102 Dual, outside of its funky CPU setup, is a pretty standard machine. It has a 10.1" display, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 1.3MP camera, 160GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, Windows XP, Bluetooth 2.0 and a built-in 3G module. We do appreciate the trio of USB 2.0 sockets, 4-in-1 card reader, Ethernet jack and stereo speakers, but the 3-cell battery just feels weak. Particularly when you think about just how much battery life two CPUs will drain while working in tandem. For those brave enough to give this wild thing a shot, it's up for order right now for $449, which isn't much more than most single-CPU netbooks these days.

Videocard cooler is it possible to turn off?

I have an old videocard nvidia tnt2 model 64 pro, it comes with a cooler and is extremely noisy! So tried cleaning cooler without results.

Next thing I did was unplug the cable from cooler to videocard (I thought that way I would be disconnecting the cooler only, but then noticed I had no video at all, so plugged it in again and got video image back, but still I hear all noise cooler does).

Is there a way to anulate the cooler and still have the video card? And would I spoil the videocard that way?

______________

SMART LIPO
lab suppliers

Impedance matching question??

Hi guys,

I have a problem with my audio circuit. I use NJM2113 as my audio amp and a 150 0hm speaker. I could not get a good tone from it. But when I change an 8 ohm speaker it does produce a good tone frequency. Is this the result of impedance mismatch?

____________________

SMART LIPO
lab suppliers

Getting More Drive out of my external sound card!

I have a serato SL1 sound card that i use for Djing in the clubs

the only problem is it has a pretty low output

Is it possible to replace the pre amps to higher gain ones? Or would this be more trouble than what its worth?

_______________

SMART LIPO
lab suppliers

McAfee Launches New, Unlimited Capacity Online Backup Service

McAfeerecently launched an online backup service that lets you store and encrypt photos,videos, music, emails, and other files. To make things even easier, McAfeeOnline Backup is a completely automated service that provides unlimitedcapacity.

After installation, the backup process is automatic andtakes place in the background at regular intervals so you won't have to worryabout remembering to back up your files. Furthermore, since storage is unlimited, youdon't have to prioritize data. Should a catastrophe or device failure occur,your files are easily retrievable with a few clicks from a secure remoteserver.

â€œThe McAfee Online Backup service addresses many ofconsumersâ€™ concerns about safely and easily storing their important files withunlimited storage capacity. It completely eliminates the hassle of backup:set-up takes just a few easy steps, and then the service securely backs upfiles automatically at regular intervals,â€‌ said Brent Remai, vice president ofconsumer marketing at McAfee. â€œItâ€™s the perfect solution for anyone with a PC,but specifically the member of the family who manages the familyâ€™s digitalphotos, videos, music and other files. They no longer need to worry about diskfailure, file corruption or other disasters such as home theft or fires.â€‌

U.S. consumers can try McAfee Online Backup using a free 30-dayunlimited upload trial or purchase an annual subscription for $59.99 at www.mcafee.com. McAfee intends to expand the service to Canada,UK, Australia, Japan, China, Taiwan, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, France, Spain,Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Poland,Czech Republic, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, and Korea in thefourth quarter of this year.

Forget Your Glasses? There's An App For That

It seems as if there's an iPhone application for everything these days. A new application called iMagnify can even substitute for a pair of eye glasses. Simply put, iMagnify transforms your iPhone into a powerful magnifying glass. With the application, users can enlarge an image from 1x to 4x. The magnification is controlled by a slide on the display, providing pinpoint precision or a broad range.

iMagnify works equally well in dimly lit restaurants or on brightly lighted streets. It is ideal for quickly checking nutrition facts at the grocery store, reading the dosage on a medicine bottle, making certain that your receipt is accurate, glancing at a menu, browsing through the labels on cosmetics, and the hundreds of other common instances when you need to read fine print, but only for a moment. Its appeal also extends to coin collectors, philatelists, and hobbyists of every stripe, who will appreciate the instant access to detail that iMagnify offers.

iMagnify is available in the App Store by visiting http://appsto.re/imagnify. Learn more about the app by visiting the application's website, http://www.imagnifyapplication.com.

Soup's Rig

I bought and made this computer in the summer of '08 and is my current rig.

AMD Phenom 9850 BE

ASUS M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi 790FX ATX

8GB (4 x 2GB) G.SKILL 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Memory (Model F2-8500CL5D)

VisionTek 900244 Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card

Crossfired with a SAPPHIRE 100243L Radeon HD 4870 512MB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Channel PCI Express Sound Card

ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ900 900W Modular Power Supply

Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB @ 7200 RPM

Windows XP Pro x64 SP2

My monitor is a 21" Widescreen HP f2105.

Thermaltake V1 CPU Cooler with 110mm Variable Speed Fan CL-P0401

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner

TXTBlocker Lets Users Disable Texting & Other Features While Driving

AAAand the governmentare working on plans to ban texting while driving. Now, there's a new productfor cell phones that lets you ban yourself, employees, or kids from textingwhile driving. Mobile technology developer TXTBlocker has created a product forcell phones that lets owners disable texting and other functions while the useris driving.

TXTBlocker makes it possible for parents and employers tocustomize cell phones to disable texting functions, blockcertain numbers, or only permit incoming and outgoing calls to predefined"safe lists" or emergency numbers. TXTBlocker uses proprietaryvelocity and geographic algorithms. In addition to preventing dangerous usewhile driving, users can also set up 'safe zones' that do not allowdistractions around focused areas such as schools or worksites.

TXTBlocker's product will be available for customers thisfall. To learn more about TXTBlocker, visit the company's website at www.txtblocker.com. Here's what TXTBlockerhas to say about its product:

TXTBlocker allowsparents, employers and others to safely end the dangerous habit of textingwhile driving. Cell phone owners simply log in to this site and customizesettings to control when, where and how their cell phones can be used.

Use TXTBlocker's GPStechnology to disable or limit cell phone functions in your own "safezones" like schools or workplaces.

TXTBlocker worksautomatically, so you never have to remember to turn it on, and it allows forsafety features so that phones can always make calls to 911 and send or receivecalls with preset "safe list" numbers.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

IT News HeadLines (HotHardware) 04/10/2009

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