IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 26/05/2012

Thunderbolt poised to become part of the key spec of motherboards in second half of 2012
Thunderbolt has been all out of thunder lately, debuting last year on the refreshed Apple MacBook line up, it now looks like the technology will make a bigger appearance on motherboards later this year. DigiTimes is reporting that it is expected to become one of the key specifications that motherboard makers will be competing with in the second half of this year.

This is thanks to sources from motherboard players, but we all know Thunderbolt will eventually be a bigger thing as time goes on. Thunderbolt supports PCI Express and DisplayPort, allowing a Thunderbolt port to smash through data at high speeds. Compared to USB 3.0, unfortunately, the higher costs stop Thunderbolt's market penetration.

At the moment, Thunderbolt chips are offered only by Intel, with quotes of around $20-$25. This leaves non-Intel chipmakers unable to make much profit from the technology, which leaves us with adapter chips being more popular. We should hopefully see more Thunderbolt-powered products at Computex in just over a weeks time.

NCSA is building a supercomputer with 380 petabytes of storage... of magnetic tape capacity
Just when you thought tape was dead, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications is getting ready to build a new storage infrastructure that will include 380 petabytes (PB) of magnetic tape capacity which will be backed up by 25 petabytes of online disk storage made up from 17,000 SATA drives.

The new storage infrastructure is said to be built to support one of the world's most powerful supercomputers, Blue Waters. Blue Waters was commissioned by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and is expected to have a peak performance of 11.5 petaflops. The NCSA says that they're building the system to:

Predict the behavior of complex biological systems, understand how the cosmos evolved after the Big Bang, design new materials at the atomic level, predict the behavior of hurricanes and tornadoes, and simulate complex engineered systems like the power distribution system and airplanes and automobiles.

The 25PB of disk space will be online storage for data that needs to be accessed rapidly, with the tape library categorized as nearline, which is a compromise between online storage, and backup systems. The system will be built with 380,000 AMD Opteron 6200 Series x86 processors, and will sport 40Gbps Ethernet technology, with aggregate throughput of up to a terabyte per second.

How quick can the system write to the tape library? Well, it will be capabel of read/write speeds of up to 2.2 petabytes per hour. Doesn't sound like a lot because it's measured in hours, and not seconds, but 2.2 petabytes per hour is an insane amount of data.

Dell's Windows 8-based tablet is unveiled, kinda
Dell is hard at work on their Windows 8 tablet, but as with all Windows 8-based tablets, information on the specs is hard to come by. But, Neowin have gotten their hands dirty and found a slide which shows off Dell's upcoming Latitude 10 tablet.

The Dell Latitude 10 is a 10.8-inch tablet with a 1366x768 resolution, sports Intel's Clover Trail dual-core Atom processor, fingerprint reader, 2GB of RAM, 128GB SSD, and of course, Windows 8. What is surprising is that it has a swappable battery, Dell are offering a 2- or 4-cell battery with either 30/60WHr, depending on which battery is installed.

The smaller battery should be good for 6-8 hours of use, with the bigger battery achieving around 10-12 hours. Remember, this is probably just one of many tablets that Dell have in development that will run Windows 8, but it's good to see them finally taking form. Swappable batteries? Very nice change to the tablet world.

Facebook to set up an official office in Dubai next week
If the current Facebook IPO problems weren't enough of the social networking hitting the screens of computers, tablets, smartphones, TVs and more across the world over the past month or so, then this news won't surprise you: Facebook are opening up an office in Dubai next week.

The social networking site is set to pack a bag of tricks and open up its first office located in the Middle East. The company has not listed any details, and won't do so until after the event, but the office would add to its collection of about 30 outputs that are pegged across the world.

The news of an office in Dubai comes just after four days of the site in the public market. Do you think this will help them? Will it calm investor nerves?

Google acquires design studio that worked on the G1
If Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility, Project Glass, and their push toward hardware design and manufacturing wasn't enough, the acquisition of the industrial design firm Mike and Maaike should be enough to convince most people that Google are in it for the long haul.

Who are Mike and Maaike? They're a studio that worked on the very first Google Nexus phone, and bill themselves as "a progressive industrial design studio" who is focused on "functionality, intelligence, and ease" in the design process for the G1. Mike and Maaike have some rather large clients in Belkin, Steelcase, Microsoft and the City of San Francisco.

Google representatives have commented on the purchase, saying that it was a "natural next step" for the company to get "even more serious and to really for for it" when it comes to mobile device offerings sporting their Android OS.

GeIL Taipei Factory Tour - We almost broke an IC Testing Machine

Today we were invited to GeIL's Taipei factory to get an up close and personal tour of its facilities for testing and producing its RAM modules.

Since GeIL outsource the SMT part of its memory production, that is the part where the chips get attached to the memory module PCB, we could not show that part, however we do get a chance to give you a really close look at some of the testing aspects as well as the burn-in process.

As you can see in the video above, the first area we visited on the factory tour was the IC testing room. In this room there are a dozen or more IC testing machines. Their purpose is to validate each and every memory chip that is placed on to GeIL RAM. However, it's not just GeIL RAM. GeIL's Taipei factory is operated under a different business under the same group called Valor Precision Testing Co., Ltd. Valor actually help test IC's for competing memory companies - for a fee, of course. We would suspect judging by the vast amount of IC testing machines that this is a big part of GeIL / Valor's business.

geil_taipei_factory_tour_we_almost_broke_an_ic_testing_machine

During our visit to the IC testing room, we even managed to almost break one of GeIL's machine. Prior to shooting the video, we were told we could open the door when we wished, but we were not told the part about having to pause the machine before doing so. Oops! Nevertheless, you'll probably get a laugh out of that part of the video.

The next step was to change rooms and head into the smaller burn-in room which contains the GeIL DBT-I burn-in chamber. GeIL burns in standard desktop memory for one hour, while more mission critical server memory is burned in for three hours. We had no issues with opening the door in this room and as you can see in the video above, you get a really close up look at the custom-made motherboards that GeIL use to burn in its RAM.

Normal memory will receive another check after the burn-in process to make sure it works fine and passes all the required tests. Then it gets moved to another floor in the building where it gets packaged and shipped off. High-end GeIL RAM isn't quite done yet, though. Enthusiast level RAM after the burn-in proceeds over to the hand testing area where GeIL employees test the RAM on a range of GIGABYTE and ASUS motherboards to ensure that the RAM operates as promised.

At the start of the tour we were told that there was only one machine we could not record and that is the machine which does the final check to ensure the memory is working properly before heading to the packing area on another floor. At the end of the tour we asked if we could record the machine from a distance and were granted access to do so, hence the overlay of it in the video above.

We hope you enjoyed this tour of the GeIL Taipei factory and we'd like to extend our thanks to the friendly staff at GeIL who made it possible!
... Read the rest in your browser!

BitFenix Unleashes Prodigy
Today, BitFenix is proud to launch its latest creation - Prodigy. The first mini-ITX chassis designed with enthusiasts in mind, Prodigy is set to turn the mini-ITX chassis market on its head. With support for long graphics cards, tower coolers, and even watercooling radiators, Prodigy offers unparalleled flexibility in a compact Mini-ITX form factor.

"The wave of enthusiast class mini-ITX motherboards is upon us, and with Prodigy, users finally have a case to match," says BitFenix Product Manager David Jarlestedt. "No longer will users have to choose between compact size and blazing performance. With Prodigy, mini-ITX users can finally have it all."

Prodigy - Small Case, Big Ideas
Designed by BitFenix from the ground up, Prodigy embodies everything BitFenix - robust functionality, revolutionary new materials, and timeless design. The subtle curves and clean lines on the outside speak the same BitFenix design language that has catapulted BitFenix into the hearts of enthusiasts everywhere. The chassis is suspended by two handles on the top and bottom that are crafted with BitFenix FyberFlex Composite - a revolutionary new material that is very flexible yet offers incredible strength. These handles, coated in our SofTouch Surface Treatment, are not only a convenient way to carry Prodigy, but are also an extra level of shock protection during transport. Two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports are provided on the outside for fast file transfers, while the brushed aluminum BitFenix logo on the front ties the entire design together. Available in Midnight Black or Arctic White, Prodigy is not just a PC case, but a work of art.

Sliding off the side panel reveals the Prodigy's true talents. The modular BitFenix FlexCage houses up to five 3.5" HDDs or 2.5" SSDs, making Prodigy an ideal candidate for a home server, HTPC or NAS. Remove the middle portion of the FlexCage, and Prodigy can accommodate long graphics cards up to 320 mm in length, making it ideal for a pint-sized gaming powerhouse. Need even more power? Remove FlexCage and the ODD bay all together to make room for a thick 240 mm water cooling radiator. Prodigy accommodates standard ATX power supplies, and a specially designed side SSD mounting bracket that enables users to install up to five SSDs, even with the FlexCage completely removed! Featuring multiple installation options, Prodigy is the most flexible mini-ITX chassis on the market, bar none.

Of course, no one wants to spend time wrestling with their system, which is why Prodigy comes with a bunch of DIY-friendly features. The uniquely positioned motherboard tray makes it possible to install tall CPU coolers, and filtered fan intakes keep the insides looking as good as the outside. Tool-free drive locking mechanisms make installation a breeze, while rolled-edge cable pass-throughs help protect your cables from damage.

Pricing and Availability
BitFenix Prodigy carries an MSRP of 69€ in the EU, $79 in North America, and will be available on store shelves in early June.

For more information on Prodigy, go to: http://www.bitfenix.com

MyDigitalSSD BP3 SATA III 2.5" and mSATA Drives Shipping Soon
Introducing MyDigitalSSD Bullet Proof 3 (BP3) mSATA III solid state drives for laptops, ultrabooks, tablets, desktop computers and more.

BP3 drives are easy to install SSD upgrades that eliminate the bottle-neck of stock hard drives and double the performance of SATA II drives with R/W speeds up to 500MB/s and 315MB/s respectively; not only increasing productivity but lowering energy consumption and prolonging battery life per I/O.

Want to use a BP3 drive with your existing SATA II applications? BP3 drives are completely backwards compatible and will in most cases peg your SATA II BUS Speeds.

If you've yet to make the move to SSD, then you don't know what you are missing. If you have, the unmatched price for performance of BP3 drives will make upgrading on a budget - a reality. See our estimated pricing below, pricing may be vary based on retailer location.

MyDigitalSSD BP3 mSATA III (6G) Solid State Drives

32GB: $49.99

128GB: $139.99

64GB: $79.99

256GB: $269.99

MyDigitalSSD BP3 SATA III (6G) 2.5" Solid State Drives

64GB: $79.99

256GB: $219.99

128GB: $119.99

512GB: $499.99

BP3 products are currently available for pre-order at MyDigitalDiscount.com and will soon be available from all MyDigitalSSD resellers around the world.

ZTE Launches Android Smartphones Featuring 3D Homescreen by Rightware Kanzi UI Solution
Rightware Oy, a leader in embedded 3D user interface (UI) technologies, announced today that ZTE Corporation ("ZTE"), a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, has started the shipment of its latest Android 4.0 smartphones powered by Rightware's Kanzi® UI Solution. ZTE Corporation is rapidly growing smartphone manufacturer worldwide and according to IDC, ZTE became world's fourth largest handset maker in the world in Q4 2011 with global market share of 4,9%.

"ZTE is committed to providing customers around the world with innovative technologies, and our latest smartphone portfolio includes highly differentiated and engaging 3D Android 4.0 ICS smartphones targeted for consumers globally. With help of Rightware and Kanzi UI Solution our latest smartphones are equipped with first-class 3D homescreen, providing consumers the best user experiences delivered on mobile devices," said Mr. Jichao Li, Vice President of ZTE Corporation.

Rightware's patent-pending Kanzi UI Solution consists of two product components: Kanzi Studio and Kanzi Engine. Kanzi Engine is an integral part of a device's software platform, whereas Kanzi Studio is a standalone UI design software enabling rapid creation of innovative and highly attractive 3D user interfaces. Kanzi Studio works seamlessly with leading 3D content creation tools, such as Autodesk 3DS Max, Maya and XSI and Blender. Once built, modifying and deploying UI designs to various different devices and platforms can be done seamlessly and without additional engineering effort. Given its long work in the field of graphics performance testing, Rightware has been able to optimize Kanzi Engine to make it capable of executing highly comprehensive UI designs with superior performance.

"We're very excited to announce ZTE Corporation licensing the Kanzi UI Solution. Our designers and engineers worked together with ZTE's team and the results of this cooperation now boost ZTE in competing for the pole position in the global smartphone rally. Their latest Android smartphones powered with Kanzi 3D user interfaces significantly raise the bar for the competition," said Tero Sarkkinen, CEO of Rightware.

As well as providing the industry's most cutting-edge user interface technologies, Rightware also provides its customers with a full range of complementing services, including UI design, implementation and unique performance benchmarking of various different chipsets. With the help of Rightware Kanzi UI Solution customers get the industry's most modern turnkey solution that dramatically speeds up time to market with best-in-class quality.

For more information about Kanzi® UI Solution, please visit: http://www.rightware.com/kanzi

NVIDIA Icera Modem Chipset Validated on AT&T LTE Network
NVIDIA today announced that the NVIDIA® Icera® 410 LTE multimode data modem chipset for tablets and clamshell devices has been tested and validated for operation on the AT&T 4G LTE network.

AT&T qualification tests help ensure that product manufacturers can confidently select chipsets that integrate with connected devices and can quickly achieve final product qualification.

"Validation with AT&T is an achievement that paves the way for NVIDIA Icera-powered LTE devices on the AT&T network through this year and next," said Stan Boland, senior vice president of Mobile Communications at NVIDIA.

The NVIDIA Icera 410 LTE modem delivers lightning-fast web browsing, video streaming and multiplayer gaming to tablets and clamshell devices. It is the first Icera modem to implement 4G LTE in NVIDIA's software defined radio baseband processor. Together with its multimode radio transceiver, the chipset offers 4G LTE at category 2 data rates (up to 50 Mbps) as well as 4G HSPA+, 3G and 2G compatibility.

Useful Links:
http://www.nvidia.com/tegra
http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra-superchip.html
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia-icera-products.html

Intel Invests More than $40 million in Worldwide Network of University Research Centers to Drive Innovation
Intel Corporation today announced it will invest more than $40 million over the next 5 years in a worldwide network of university research communities called the Intel Collaborative Research Institutes (ICRI). The ICRI program is based on the successful U.S.-based Intel Science and Technology Centers (ISTCs), and will bring together experts from academia and industry to help explore and invent in the next generation of technologies that could impact the lives of many in the future.

"The new Intel Collaborative Research Institute program underscores our commitment to establishing and funding collaborative university research to fuel global innovation in key areas and help address some of today's most challenging problems," said Justin Rattner, chief technology officer at Intel. "Forming a multidisciplinary community of Intel, faculty and graduate student researchers from around the world will lead to fundamental breakthroughs in some of the most difficult and vexing areas of computing technology."

The three ICRIs will collaborate with their own multi-university communities and other ICRIs, as well as the U.S.-based ISTCs, strengthening Intel's global research network. In addition, two previously established centers are being incorporated in the ICRI program: Intel Visual Computing Institute (Saarland University) and the Intel-NTU Connected Context Computing Center (National Taiwan University), extending Intel's global research network even further.

Each institute will have a specialized focus, but is encouraged to incorporate the unique environments within their region, country and area of research. The three new ICRIs include:

The ICRI for Sustainable Connected Cities, United Kingdom. This joint collaboration among Intel, Imperial College London and University College London aims to address challenging social, economic and environmental problems of city life with computing technology. Using London as a test bed, researchers will explore technologies to make cities more aware and adaptive by harnessing real-time user and city infrastructure data. For example, through a city urban cloud platform, the city managers could perform real-time city optimizations such as predicting the effects of extreme weather events on the city's water and energy supplies, resulting in delivery of near-real-time information to citizens through citywide displays and mobile applications.

The ICRI for Secure Computing, Germany. At this Institute, Intel and the Technische Universität Darmstadt will explore ways to dramatically advance the trustworthiness of mobile and embedded devices and ecosystems. For example, the joint research will seek ways to develop secure, car-to-device communications for added driver safety; new approaches to secure mobile commerce, and a better understanding of privacy and its various implementations. By grounding the research in the needs of future users, the institute will then research software and hardware to enable robust, available, survivable systems for those use cases.

The ICRI for Computational Intelligence, Israel. In a joint collaboration with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the ICRI will explore ways to enable computing systems to augment human capabilities in a wide array of complex tasks. For example, by developing body sensors that continuously monitor the owner's body, researchers could then pre-process this information and take appropriate actions. The system can continuously monitor human functions from the brain, heart, blood, eyes and more, and send this data to a remote server that will combine them with other data such as environmental weather conditions, along with historical data, and could proactively warn people about a potential headache or dizziness during driving.

"Intel has long recognized that the computing industry is sustained by the efforts of many participants," said Chris Ramming, director of Intel Labs University Collaborations Office. "We are hopeful that we will be able to expand the program and include other industry and government sponsors to find new ways to accelerate the creation and adoption of valuable new technologies."

Available Tags:Thunderbolt , motherboards , Windows 8 , Windows , tablet , Facebook , Google , SATA II , SATA , ZTE , Android , 3D , NVIDIA , Intel ,

Saturday, May 26, 2012

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 26/05/2012

No comments: