Dell launches new Vostro V131 in Core i3, i5 and ULV variants

Dell is upping the design ante with their new business centric Vostro V131 notebook, and have done away with the boring and uninspiring design cues of yesteryear by injecting a healthy dose of color. Hailed as one of the lightest and thinnest products in the Dell Vostro portfolio, the V131 is available in Intel Core i3, Core i5 and even ULV Celeron 847 variants so there will definitely be one to suit your needs.

“We designed the Vostro V131 to deliver fast, uninterrupted multitasking for today’s business challenges. The result is a feature-rich laptop for mobile professionals who want full performance to support their technology demands without sacrificing design and portability. In addition, theV131 offers services and software solutions that improve productivity and data security.”-- Varinderjit Singh, Dell’s Managing Director for Consumer & Commercial, Malaysia & Singapore

The Vostro V131 also comes with additional trimmings like USB 3.0 ports, WWAN connectivity and a finger print scanner for all you paranoid androids out there. The Core i3 variant will retail from RM2099 and is available for purchase via the official Dell Malaysia website at www.dell.com.my. The Core i5 variant will be available in the coming weeks.

Article From: Lowyat 

Selected Intel Core-i3 and Pentium Receive Upgrade via Software

 

If your machine are running on one of these Intel processors - 3.1GHz Core i3-2102, 2.1GHz Core i3-2312M and 2.6GHz Pentium-G622, then you might want to pay attention to this news. Intel has recently released a software update that enables you to upgrade these processors that are able to bump up their performance in the range of 10 to 23 percent.

In general, this is how much each of the processors gained after the update:  

Unfortunately, the upgrade is not actually free as you need an upgrade card before you can perform the update. The upgrade card contains a code that the software update requires in order to apply the update to these processors. Nevertheless, if you are planning to purchase a new computer that is powered by either one of these processors, you might want to ask your OEM about the upgrade card.

Article From: Lowyat 

Firefox 6.0 Hits The Web, Earlier Than Scheduled

Originally scheduled for August 16 release, the latest Mozilla Firefox Internet browser has been unleashed to the web. For the mean time, it is only downloadable via Mozilla's FTP server but it is expected to be available everywhere very soon.


While the browser's welcome page might said “Firefox Beta” as well as some possibilities that Mozilla might push a number of updates to the browser before its actual wide public release, the installers are indeed the"final" build of Firefox 6.0. In general, the new browser does not offer any UI changes but still, it contains a number of performance fixes including up to 20 percent improvements in speed compared than Firefox 5.0.


Hit on these links to download the latest Firefox Internet browser, according to your operating system: [Windows] [Linux] [Mac].


[Source: Tweak Town]
Article From: Lowyat

Intel Sandy Bridge-E Priced, To Come Without Stock Cooler?

Think Intel are done with their Sandy Bridge-based products? Nope, not yet. There are a number of new Sandy Bridge processors coming to market in fourth quarter of this year or early 2012 but these processors are relatively different from previous releases. Named as Sandy Bridge-E, they are targeted for enthusiasts that requires an huge amount of firepower for their applications.

The Sandy Bridge-E processors will be led by the six-core 3.30GHz Intel Core i7-3960X that features Turbo Boost speed of 3.90GHz, 15MB of L3 cache and fully unlocked multiplier which made it suitable for extreme overclocking. As marked by the X on its name, this processor will also carry the Extreme Edition label on its box.

Together with it is another six-core processor, the 3.20GHz Core i7-3930K with Turbo Boost speed of 3.80GHz, 12MB of L3 cache and limited unlocked multiplier as well as the quad-core 3.60GHz Core i7-3820 with Turbo Boost of 3.90GHz and 10MB of L3 cache. Unlike its two big brothers though, the i7-3820 multiplier are locked. In addition to that, all three processors will feature the new LGA 2011 socket and Intel X79 chipset.

According to one source, these processors will be priced at around RM 2998 (USD 999), RM 1750 (USD 583) and RM 882 (USD 294) respectively. These procesors will also not come with stock coolers as per other Intel processors but instead, users have to purchase aftermarket coolers or separate Intel-branded coolers that are designed for Sandy Bridge-E processors. That might looks like a weird move by Intel but since enthusiasts usually prefer aftermarket coolers anyway, it does seems quite logical.

[Source: VR-Zone - 1 - 2. Image: Legit Reviews]
Article From: Lowyat 

Seagate ships 1 millionth Momentus XT; proves that hybrid drives sell

The adoption rate of SSDs to date might not be as high as hardware makers would have hoped due to the sheer cost of the devices, but it seems that hybrid drives – the half SSD, half HDD variant – are doing pretty fine.

We recently received word from Seagate that they have just shipped their 1 millionth solid state hybrid drive, which is an impressive feat that they attribute to some clever cost-saving engineering and strategic partnerships with computer makers such as Alienware, ASUS, Dell, Sony and Toshiba to ship machines with Momentus XT drives on board.

Since SSDs cost at least 10 times more than regular HDDs, hybrid drives like the Momentus XT from Seagate manage to stay affordable by combining NAND flash with a traditional HDD, and effectively does what any SSD/HDD combo would – keep large files on the HDD portion, and frequently used files on the NAND partition.

To find out more about the Momentus XT from Seagate, hit up the official Seagate website at www.seagate.com.

Article From: Lowyat 

AMD Fusion A-Series APUs For Desktop Are Now In The Market

When AMD first released its brand new Accelerated Processor Unit (APU) products which combines CPU and GPU into one single processor, the initial line-up – C-Series and E-Series – were focused on low-power PC and budget market. Only now, the more powerful and more capable APU have started to arrive into the market in the form of AMD Fusion A-Series APUs that was previously codenamed as “Llano”.

Following the release of AMD Fusion A-Series APUs for mobile last month, the first batch of the new AMD Fusion A-Series APUs for desktop has just arrived into the market in two different flavors: the A8-3850 and A6-3650. As both are quad-core processor with thermal design power of 100W, they can be differentiated through their CPU and GPU clock speed together with the type and amount of Radeon graphics cores within them; as listed below:

The new AMD Fusion A8-3850 and A6-3650 APUs are priced at around RM 407 and RM 346 respectively. Contact you favorite retailer to find out more about them or visit www.amd.com. 

Article From: Lowyat

Mac OS X Lion Coming On The 14th, MacBook Air Soon After.

According to the good people over at TUAW, their sources have received word that Apple is planning to pull all nighters on July 13th in their retail stores. Usually when Apple pulls this sort of thing, it could only mean one thing, a new product release the next day. If the timeline is to be believed, it looks like Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will be released to the general public on the 14th July via the Mac App Store. Why the overnighter then if it wont be available in store? Apparently Apple is upgrading the machines in store to make sure Lion runs smoothly on them.

It looks like soon after the launch of Lion, Apple is looking to refresh the MacBook Air shortly after, quite possibly within a week. According to Appleinsider, the hardware was ready to go but Apple held them back wanting to wait to ship them with Lion pre-installed.

OS X Lion will be available for US$29.99 from the Mac App Store, if you don't have fast internet, you're out of luck so far. Go bug someone with Unifi to let you leech off their connection for a few hours.

(Source: TUAW)

Article From: Lowyat

LG E2360 dual-monitor setup adventure

Desktop real estate space is becoming an increasingly difficult topic to understand. On one hand, you have disciples of the old school who believe in fully utilizing desktop space, and insist on filling up every inch of empty space with an icon. Then you have the newer generation of zen hippies who believe that minimalism is key to getting into heaven, and that more than three icons on a desktop is a punishable sin. You also have the social media / Wall Street archetypes that run applications which are so big they require a screen of their own just to run in the background.

Review: Alienware M14x Gaming Laptop

Well, hello there… looks like we have met again, Alienware. Previously, we have reviewed two Alienware – the M17x in 2009 and the M11x in 2010; so, now it is time for the new M14x to be under the spotlight.

As per any given Alienware-branded entity out there, the M14x is one serious mean machine which goes beyond its physical design. Being one of two new Alienware laptops – M18x being the other one, not locally available for now – that were released in April 2011, the laptop comes equipped with second generation Intel Core i7 processors together with an Optimus-enabled NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M GPU. It is also equipped with a couple of other fierce hardware such as the options of either 7200RPM hard drive or a solid state drive as well as 1600MHz DDR3 RAM options up to 8GB.

So, how does the combination of these high performance hardware fares under our tests? Jump in to find out.

Logitech launches big sounds with the Z906 500-watt monster

Creating a worthy successor is never an easy task, and when you have a gargantuan reputation to live up to, the job only gets tougher. Logitech launched the Z906 surround speaker system earlier today, the successor to the highly acclaimed Logitech Z-5500 digital 5.1 speaker system, and after cranking it up for a couple of demo tunes, we’re happy to report that the engineers behind it have done their heritage proud.

Offering a massive 500 watts (RMS) of kidney jiggling power, the Z906 is THX certified and jammed packed with audio bad assery. The press release says that it’s powerful enough to shake your house, which is a claim that isn’t too far-fetched thanks to a 165 watt ported side-firing subwoofer. But since you’re more likely to be using it in your living room or bed room rather than to power up a feng tao joint, the crystal clear mids and trebles from the five 67 watt satellites, the on-board DTS / Dolby Digital 5.1 decoder, and the six audio inputs help it blend in perfectly with your existing entertainment system and is well equipped to churn out some mind blowing aural pleasure.

Story continues after the jump.

Celebrate World IPv6 Day by monitoring web traffic with Akamai

Behind the façade of all fancy and witty URLs lie a string of numbers called an IP address. IP addresses are also used to tell your web surfing mobile phone apart from your desk bound work station, pint sized tablet, and cloud-connected inkjet printer. In essence, anything that is connected to the internet has an IP address, and at the rate that technology is moving forward, we’re going to run out of fresh IP addresses pretty soon.

Since the world will probably implode once we run out of IP addresses, a new revision of the Internet Protocol structure called IPv6 was created to facilitate the world’s seemingly insatiable hunger for new IP’s.

Today happens to be World IPv6 Day and internet big boys like Google, Facebook and Bing are giving IPv6 a day-long test run. From a user point of view, nothing much will change. Typing www.google.com will still bring you to Google, but if you’re REALLY interested to see how web traffic is served throughout this 24-hour period, then hop onto the Akamai site at www.akamai.com/ipv6 and you’ll be treated to a real-time chart of IPv6 statistics. 

(Source: Akamai) 

 Article From: Lowyat

AMD at Computex 2011

Computex is always a great yearly event to look forward to as hardware manufacturers come out with new stuffs to get you excited for the year ahead. At the recent Taiwan Computex 2011, AMD launched its 9-series chipset lineup that allows PC manufacturers to build next generation high performance desktop platforms. Additionally, as the tablet market is growing rapidly, the company also unveiled its 2011 HD Tablet Platform that is based on the AMD Z-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) that brings exciting entertainment features like a vivid media display and content creation capabilities to Microsoft Windows-based tablets.

“As consumer appetites for more compelling, lifelike visual experiences increase, there is a greater need for high performance, smooth, vibrant graphics as well as unparalleled computing power. From tablets to desktops, AMD is making powerful computing accessible to everyone.” – John Taylor, Product Marketing Director, AMD.

While the AMD 9-series chipset is the foundation for unlocking the highest-octane AMD desktop experience, providing an immersive HD entertainment and gaming experiences, extreme multitasking, tweaking, and overclocking, it is the first to support the AMD AM3+ socket processors (while being backward-compatible with the AM3 socket), enabling blazing fast performance. Additionally, they support clock rate management through AMD OverDrive Software. Other features includes up to 6 SATA 3.0 6Gbps hard drive interface ports, Gigabit Ethernet, HyperTransport 3.0 technology, and PCI Express Generation 2.0. The 9-series line of chipsets will be available on manufactures including Asus, Biostar, Foxconn Technology, Gigabyte Technology, Jetway and MSI.

There’s no denying that the tablet market is growing rapidly. With the availability of tablet devices from various manufacturers, Gartner research shows that by 2014, the tablet market is expected to exceed USD$200 million. The new AMD 2011 HD Tablet Platform will offer support for HTML 5, Adobe Flash 10.2 and external monitors, enabling crisp graphics for entertainments such as gaming, streaming of videos. All play and no work is not good either, it will also offer enterprise-level security, allowing IT policy makers to offer the convenience of tablets to an increasingly mobile workforce.

Hit the break for more information and pictures.

Don't Worry, Leave It All To Kaspersky

It doesn’t matter where you go and where you are, protection is important and protection; as long as you have a computer, you’re going to need something to protect you from the dangers of the Internet, but merely getting good protection is not enough especially if you have a family of several young users or run a small company full of employees. Kaspersky recently introduced a No Worries Plan aimed at providing its award-winning security solutions with added services not only to home users, but also SME and SMBs.

The No Worries Plan comes in a choice of Kaspersky PURE or Kaspersky Small Office Security (KSOS) solutions that not only comes with security software, but also support service that includes installation and setup of the security network plus training for those who are new to network security. Imagine going home after a tiring day only to discover all your computers are infected with virus, or imagine rushing for meetings and your server suddenly crashes, causing your company to lose money; the service will take away your worries by solving all these problems for you by trained technicians.

On top from the privileged services that will be provided by Kaspersky, the No Worries Plan will give subscribers an added bonus as it will come with technical support to semi-urban and rural users as well through free monthly visitation to selected outskirt areas.

“Many computer users in rural areas are facing difficulties in obtaining technical support for their security software products as there are few software professional around to assist. As a brand that champions cyber security awareness, we saw a need that could be filled for an important segment of Malaysian society and stepped in with a solution that meets that need more effectively.” – Ms. Gun Suk Ling, Corporate Sales Director, APAC, Kaspersky Lab.

No Worries Home Plan subscribers will only need to pay RM30 a month to enjoy better protection and worry-free technical services with Kaspersky Pure premium protection for 3 users. As for SMBs, companies will have to pay only RM200 per month for up to 10 licenses through its Small Office Plan 1, and as for companies with up to 20 employees, they can opt for Small Office Plan 2 at a price of RM500 per month.

Of course, along with the launch which featured Kaspersky Lab’s Malaysian Brand Ambassador, World No. 1 Badminton Men’s Singles Champion Dato’ Lee Chong Wei, Kaspersky will be having a special promotion that offers a more affordable price. Hit the break to find out more.

MSI Array of Tablets and Notebook At Computex 2011

As you can see from coverage that we have featured from Computex Taipei 2011, there is no doubt that this year is the year of tablets. You can see them at almost every inch of the event show floor, from manufacturers to developers and heck, even giants like Microsoft – who themselves has just unveiled the new tablet-centric Windows 8 yesterday - are not spared the hottest form factor in the market at the moment.

Obviously, MSI is also part of the bandwagon as well and have showcased quite a number of WindPad tablets at Computex this week - including the one above that is draped with designs by world-renowned fashion designer Jeremy Scott - alongside couple of new additions to their G, F, C and X notebook series. Find out more about them right after the jump.

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Plays Nice With PS3 Controller

If you needed another reason that the Asus Eee Pad Transformer is probably the best Android tablet out there, let it be this one. Last week at Computex, the Best Choice in Computex Award Winner got an update in the form of Android 3.1 which gave it USB host support. This update opens the floodgates to many possibilities and one of them is plugging a PS3 (or theoretically an Xbox 360 or any USB gamepad) into the USB port and controlling the tablet from there. Obviously there will be no bluetooth support so you're going to have to be fully wired, but hey, its better than nothing! Now all we need are some PS emulated games on the Android platform and we'll be all set, I don't think abduction would work very well with the PS3 controller.

(Source: Engadget)

Article From: Lowyat

Computex 2011: Kingston Unveils HyperX SSD & Wi-Drive

 

Last week at Computex, memory giants Kingston pulled out all the stops to launch their two latest products which included Taiwanese actress Maggie Wu in a beach themed atmosphere that was meant to illustrate Kingston's connection to daily life in instances like vacations.

 

First to be unveiled is the first SandForce-based SSD which boasts a SATA 3.0 connection that transfers at 6Gb/s which is ideal for gamers, enthusiasts and performance users. The HyperX SSD features the fastest and most reliable SandForce controller to date and will also be available as a bundle with the HyperX Upgrade Kit for easier installation. Available in both 120GB and 240GB capacities, the HyperX SSD also has read speeds of up to 525MB/s and write speeds of 480MB/s.

Article Continues After The Jump

NVIDIA Introduces GTX 560M For Notebooks, Adds GT 520MX While At It

For the longest time, users who want their notebook to be equipped with NVIDIA GeForce 500M series GPU are stuck with entry-level and mid-range offerings as the series do not offer a gaming-level GPU. That is until just few days ago when the company announced the arrival of GTX 560M into the family.

According to the specifications, the new GTX 560M offers similar level of performance as per its predecessor the GTX 460M – 192 CUDA cores, 1250 MHz memory clock - with the exception of higher processor clock of 1550 MHz which in hand gives the GTX 560M a higher texture fill rate at 24.8 billion/second. Not to forget, the usual NVIDIA technologies such as PhysX, Optimus and 3D Vision are also supported on the new GTX460M GPU.

To describe the power that the new GTX 560M got to offer, Rene Haas - NVIDIA’s General Manager of Notebook Products – claimed that gamers are able to obtain 50 frame per second in the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever as well as five hours of battery life in Microsoft Office through the use of NVIDIA Optimus power saving technology. The company also stated that the Optimus-enabled GTX 560M-powered laptops will be available from Alienware and Toshiba very soon while ASUS, Clevo, MSI and other manufacturers will be revealing their GTX 560M-powered offerings very soon as well.

At the same time, NVIDIA has also announced another addition to its GeForce 500M family in the form of entry-level GT 520MX GPU which offers slightly higher processor clock speed compared to the previously released GT 520M. For further information, head on to www.nvidia.com.

[Source: NVIDIA]

Article From: Lowyat

LG and Intel Introduces First AIO PC with FPR Display and IPS Technology

Among all that’s happening at the on-going Taiwan Computex 2011, Asia’s largest IT exhibition in Taipai that goes on from 31 May to 4 June, it looks like LG is going to unveil the LG V300, its first all-in-one (AIO) PC that will feature the innovative Film-type Pattern Retarder (FPR) display that is found in the company’s popular Cinema 3D TVs. Apart from the technology as well as In Plane Switch (IPS) screen technology that allows for a 178-degree viewing angle, the V300 that is developed in partnership with Intel will be equipped with 2nd Generation Intel Core Processors, and will also feature a triple camera system for a superb multi-touch experience.

“The combination of the newest Intel Core processor and the FPRO display in the LG V300 is going to create a new level of performance and viewing experience in a PC. With millions of homes now using their PCs as entertainment hubs, marrying the best from the computing world with the best from the display world was the next natural step in the evolution of the PC.” – HK Kwon, Managing Director, LG Electronics (M) Sdn. Bhd.

One of the worst thing about 3D – besides making you dizzy and giving you headache of course – is how it is compulsory to wear heavy shutter-type glasses and its limited viewing angle. The FPR technology will eliminate the need for glasses to sync with an emitter, instead, the V300 will come with two sets of lightweight polarized glasses instead for better comfort. Furthermore, with IPS technology, the system operates a Color Shift configuration that will accurately render colors and images for viewers that are looking at the display within a 178-degrees range.

Hit the break for more information about the LG V300 AIO.

NVIDIA Unveils Wired 3D Vision Glasses

Designed with LAN centres and cybercafés in their mind, NVIDIA has announced a new version of 3D Vision glasses which is heading to the market very soon. As opposed to the existing wireless version of the glasses which is powered by internal batteries and need to be charged, the new glasses is wired and require less maintenance since it is not powered by batteries.

To reduce to risk of lost, NVIDIA has built slots into it so that users can lock it together with PC using optional computer lock. In addition to the above, the new wired NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses also features a better fit and more flexible material which made it lighter than the wireless glasses. It also comes with around 3 m (10 ft.) of USB 2.0 cable.

The release of this new wired glasses does not mean the demise of the existing wireless NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses though as it will still be available in the market since both works differently and the co-existence of both glasses provides choice for users. The new wired NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses is scheduled to be released into the market from late June onwards and is priced at RM 299 (USD 99). 

[source: NVIDIA] 

Article From: Lowyat 

The TMS RamSan-70 affirms that everything is bigger in Texas

The peeps over at Engadget couldn't have said it any better - there are SSDs and then there are SSDs - when describing this new monster from Texas Memory Systems. Called the RamSan-70, and affectionately known within the TMS office as 900GB Gorilla, this PCIe mounted SSD holds a whopping 900GB of high-speed SLD NAND flash. Capable of a massive 2GB/second throughput, the RamSan-70 is indeed drool worthy, but probably won't ever make its way onto a conventional desktop since the only people who could afford such a monster would rather see it used on the servers that make them their millions instead of their porn gaming rigs.

Price tag? Well, for now it has yet to be announced probably due to the limited amount of zeros the human mind is conditioned to compute, but we're putting it somewhere between more expensive than your car and a little lower than the national debt. We could be wrong though... 

(Source: Engadget) 

Article From: Lowyat

HIS Takes On AMD Radeon HD 6450, 6570 and 6670

Released back in February, these three budget AMD Radeon HD 6000 series graphic cards – the 6450, 6570 and 6670 - were originally available only for OEM companies. However, AMD has quietly made them available recently at retail stores through many of their partners including HIS.

While the technical specifications of HIS offerings are very close to AMD’s reference design, the new HIS Radeon HD 6450, 6570 and 6670 are available in a variety of cooling options especially for 6450 where it is available in both fan and fanless design. Even though they are budget graphic cards, they are still come equipped with many features as per other more advanced GPU in Radeon HD 6000 series such as DirectX 11 support, AMD Eyefinity multi-monitor technology, AMD CrossFire (software-based only), AMD HD3D and many more; making them a good alternative to integrated graphic processors inside desktop PCs.

For further information, head on to your favourite retailers or visit HIS official website at www.hisdigital.com. 

Article From: Lowyat

Hard Drives goes 3D to Give You Double the Capacity

So, there are 3D TVs, 3D monitors, 3D cameras, 3D gaming consoles and such, what’s next? Hard drives of course; how else were we supposed to handle the explosion of data and demand of storage space? Thanks to researchers in France, the storage capacity of magnetic disk drives can be doubled simply by constructing “3D towers” of information.

Unlike traditional storage media that consists of flat discs that are essentially “2-dimensional” and stores magnetic ones and zeros that makes up a data, the team from SPINTEC decided to build up pillars that consist of two magnetic dots each. The bottom dot has a magnetic field that can be read in either up or down, and the top dot has a magnetic field that can be read in either left or right. This means that a pillar of two dots will give you twice the amount of information in the same amount of space, meaning that storage capacity can be doubled.

"Our new approach involves using bit-patterned media, which are made of arrays of physically separated magnetic nanodots, with each nanodot carrying one bit of information. To further extend the storage density, it's possible to increase the number of bits per dots by stacking several magnetic layers to obtain a multilevel magnetic recording device." -- Jerome Moritz, a researcher at SPINTEC, in Grenoble.

(Source: Dvice, Engadget)

Article From: Lowyat 

Alienware M11X Get Refreshed With Intel Sandy Bridge and More

While the crowd is getting used to see two new Alienware gaming notebook in the form of M14X and the upcoming M18X, Dell has also refreshed Alienware M11X for the third time with new hardware, increased firepower and slight aesthetic redesign. Among them are the second generation Intel Core processors, new GPUs, Klipsch-powered audio drivers and new ports.

The newly refreshed M11X is available with 1.5GHz Intel Core i7-2617M or 1.4GHz Intel Core i5-2537M processor that is paired with up to 16GB of 1333MHz DDR3 memory. It also comes with dual graphic capabilities featuring the built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000 together with the discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M GPU that comes with up to 2GB of graphics memory. Customers can opt to equip their M11X with a high performance 7200RPM hard drive with up to 750GB in capacity or a solid state drive with capacities up to 256GB. Dell is also kind enough to fit it with two USB 3.0 ports.

Available immediately at www.dell.com.my, the new Alienware M11X gaming laptop is priced from RM 3,799 onwards.  

[Source: Dell Malaysia] 

Article From: Lowyat

Alienware M18X Gaming Laptop Is Official, Coming In May

After being rumoured for quite some time, the monster is now out of closet. Not content with the juggernaut that is 17-inch Alienware M17X [our review of the original M17X], the gaming arm of Dell has one-upped itself by announcing an even larger model, the 18.4-inch Alienware M18X.

With a shell that followed the same design concept as existing Alienware gaming laptops, the M18X is powered by overclockable second generation quad core Intel Core i7 processors; including a Core i7 with Turbo Boost that is factory overclocked to 4.0GHz. In terms of GPUs, users can choose either NVIDIA GeForce or AMD Radeon in SLI and CrossFire configurations respectively, with up to 4GB of GDDR5 memory. It is also able to support up to 32GB of 1333MHz DDR3 memory.

Apart from all that, the M18X is also equipped with USB 3.0 ports, HDMI input to connect consoles and other HDMI-capable devices, HDMI 1.4 output for 3D displays and speakers powered by Klipsch Audio. Last but not least, Alienware has also stuffed five programmable keys from their TactX gaming keyboard into the laptop.

Available in black and red colours, the Alienware M18X is expected to be priced from RM 6,046 (USD 1999) when it hit the market in May and hopefully, we will be able to see it in Malaysia at the same time. 

[Source: Alienware] 

Article From: Lowyat 

Logitech launches trade-in campaign for Earth Day

Masters of the peripheral universe, Logitech, are celebrating Earth Day 2011 with a special campaign called the Earth Day Trade-In campaign which will run from April 22 till May 15.

True to its namesake, the campaign will be offering trade-in rebates for purchases of selected Logitech products, where the traded-in products will be refurbished and donated where possible or disposed of responsibly at a trusted electronics recycling facility. Also, if you make a purchase of more than RM100 on April 22 (Earth Day), you will receive a limited-edition Logitech recycling bag.

More details on the Logitech Earth Day Trade-In campaign can be found at http://www.facebook.com/LogitechMalaysia. 

Article From: Lowyat

Alienware M14x Drops First In The Dell Malaysia Store

Those of you who are looking at getting your hands on one of the 14inch gaming beauties from Alienware you'll be glad to know that the M14x is finally available on Dell Malaysia's website starting at RM4,799. As far as Engadget has reported, Malaysia is the first to have the details on the site for the upcoming launch of the M14x and M18x which is slated only for later today. The M14x notebook will be coming with a whole plethora of upgradable options such as a Core i7 2820QM, 8GB of RAM as well as the GeForce 555M with 3GB DDR3 Graphics Memory. So if you've had your eye on a sleek, powerful and all round amazing gaming laptop, go check out the source link.

(Source: Dell Malaysia)

Article From: Lowyat

Intel and Micron Announces New 20nm NAND Flash Technology

Intel and Micron - through their joint venture company, IM Flash Technologies (IMFT) - has unveiled the new 20nm manufacturing process technology for NAND flash memory production. This new process technology produces an 8GB multi-level cell NAND device and offers 30 to 40-percent reduction in board space compared to the company’s existing 8GB 25nm NAND flash while maintaining similar level of performance and endurance.

Targeted for smartphones, tablets and computing devices such as solid-state drive, the size reduction will be able to provide extra space for manufacturers include more features into their devices such as bigger battery, larger screen or even another chip that can offers extra capabilities. The new 20nm 8GB NAND flash device from IMFT is already heading to manufacturers as samples and is expected to be mass produced in the second half of 2011.

At the same time, the venture is also planning to introduce 16GB NAND flash device which will enable manufacturers to come up with a single solid-state storage solution that is smaller than a U.S postage stamp and with capacity of up to 128GB.

[Source: Intel] 

Article From: Lowyat

Exclusive Preview: The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Tablet System

Today must be a great day as the fine folks over at ASUS have dropped off one of the latest and greatest tablets in their lineup for us to play with and you get to see it here first! The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer is the second tablet to be launched by ASUS in 2011 and is the first to be powered by the stunning Android 3.0 Honeycomb Tablet OS.

At first glance, Honeycomb looks fantastic and crisp thanks to the 10.1inch LED backlit IPS screen which has a covering of the super durable Gorilla glass over it. Transitions between pages and apps are incredibly smooth thanks in no small part to the NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor and the 1GB DDR2 RAM that it has built in. The Eee Pad Transformer comes with the usual WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity as well as 2 cameras for video conferencing and a Micro SD Card and SD card reader to expand the already generous 16/32GB of internal memory. Rounding out the features, the Eee Pad Transformer also features a built in GPS module, full HD playback (With Mini HDMI port), 16 hours of battery life and a 178 degree viewing angle.

This HDD from Toshiba Can Encrypt and Erase Data Automatically

If you’re one of those who love to store, well, obscene pictures and videos of yourself, I would ask you what’s wrong with you, but that’s not the point. The point is, here’s a must have hard disk from Toshiba because it will self-encrypt and auto-erase itself when it’s stolen. Well, not exactly when it’s stolen per-say, but let’s say your device is stolen and someone tears it apart to sell and that person plugs in your HDD into a different PC, the hard disk will be smart enough to initiate Toshiba’s Wipe Technology and erase data and voila! All your data will be gone and will never be seen by anyone.

Though this technology is cheap, affordable and something enterprise or companies with highly secure information would love to have, I’m not sure how things will be if you wish to upgrade your machine and use back the same hard disk. Would be a pain in the rear end if you forget this function and all the data inside get erased. The disk will be available from June 2011 in 250GB, 320GB and 640GB in capacity, with enterprises getting them first. Pricing to be announced at a later date.

 

(Source: Dvice)

Article From: Lowyat 

Concept Fujitsu Lifebook X2 Photos Look Promising

We've seen some pretty cool concepts in laptop design, but you know with our disdain for all things concept its hard to get on board. This one from Fujitsu however seems so crazy it just might work. Designer Park Hyun Jin at Yanko recently cooked up these renders of a potential Fujitsu Lifebook X2, a cross between a laptop and well a foldy menu of sorts. The concept is simple, take a laptop and basically fold each side again, giving it either a standard laptop form factor, or a smaller, more pocketable version. I can imagine each of these screens would have the capability to be an onscreen keyboard and preferably also work in portrait mode as a book reader of sorts. You may think it's crazy, but you didn't think Acer would have 2 15 inch multitouch screens in the form of the ICONIA did you?

 

(Source: Engadget)

Article From: Lowyat

Early Windows 8 Build Leaked

As with every Windows release that has dropped in history, people have leaked it in one way or another. With the faster broadband speeds and how filesharing is so much a part of our lives, it's almost inevitable that leaks like this happen. So it turns out that an early build of Windows 8 has made it's way into the bay of pirates for all the world to see. At first glance, it looks pretty much like Windows 7, but we're not expecting huge changes as it's still early days. We haven't actually visited the bay to acquire ourselves a copy and not that we're saying you should either but I can't imagine that it would be any better than what you are rocking now. Unless of course you are an OS hipster and want to get on the bandwagon before it became mainstream then by all means, don those wayfairers, slap on that pair of skinnies and search away.

 

(Source: Engadget)

Article From: Lowyat

Adobe Release A Slew Of New Features In CS5.5

A year ago, when Adobe gave the creative community something to cheer about with their new and improved Creative Suite 5, they cemented their position on the top of the industry. Innovative features in the new Photoshop CS5, Illustrator CS5 among other applications were welcome additions to the workflow of creative professionals, making life much easier as well as making it more accessible to the prosumer.

A year later, Adobe have announced the arrival of the Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 and despite it's half-increment name, the new features in this point release are nothing to scoff at.

At a press briefing yesterday, Adobe showed off the latest CS5.5 in all it's splendour with it's improved focus on publishing content to tablets and mobile phones. Using the new InDesign, publishers can now create dynamic contents of their magazine optimised for various tablets out there in the market today. Creating a WIRED style magazine app for the iPad just got relatively easier. Not only that, CS5.5 is tightly integrated with the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite to facilitate publishing, sale and analysis of the content you put out. This is a great tool for magazines who want to enter the world of tablet versions without the hassle of hiring an entire team to do so.

23" Tablet from Lenovo

So, you’re a geek with a laptop PC, a desktop, a Mac, an All-in-One (AIO) PC, several mobile phones, and tablets, what are you missing? Well honestly, I can’t think of any but according to Lenovo, you can also have a 23” tablet to bring around the mouse and be moved from room to room and even use it with a full keyboard, or as a television! Nope, it’s not a typo and you read correctly, a 23-inch tablet, which is bigger than my AIO at home, bigger than my monitor in the office but thankfully smaller than my TV at home.

Obviously it’s not for mobility use like your Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Blackberry Playbook or Motorola Xoom, William Cai, the Marketing Specialist of Lenovo said it could be moved within the house or even used as a table top for activities such as a fun family game. But it’s not completely new this 23-inch tablet from Lenovo, the company showed off a non-working prototype at the last CES and it was reported to run on Windows 7 as opposed to iOS, Android or the likes.

A large device that could be hooked up to keyboard and mouse, can be used as a television, equipped with touchscreen, supposed to be used within the household compound, wait, I think my AIO already does that except, it’s probably a whole lot heavier than this extra-large tablet which is reported to be designed with a much lighter chassis. No, it’s not only a prototype or concept, it is supposed to arrive within this year.

 

(Source: Dvice)

Article From: Lowyat 

NVIDIA Brings 3D Vision Technology To The Hand Of Web Developers

Not enough with making video games and movies popping out of computer displays, televisions and projectors everywhere with their 3D Vision technology, NVIDIA has announced that they are making its 3D Vision video player technology available for free to all web developers. This move aims to enable web developers to come up with video contents that support the stereoscopic 3D technology.

This is done through a 3D video plug-in that the company developed for the Microsoft Media Platform Player Framework v2.5. This open-source framework is based on Microsoft Silverlight and also features full support for IIS Smooth Streaming together with Microsoft PlayReady DRM.

“The Web is enabling an entirely new market for creating and delivering compelling, innovative 3D content. Our 3D Vision technology now makes it easy for web developers to integrate world-class stereo 3D video capabilities into all types of sites,” - Jon Barad, Senior Business Development Manager, NVIDIA.
“With NVIDIA’s new 3D video plug-in, developers can now take full advantage of the stereoscopic 3D video streaming support available in the latest version of Microsoft Media Platform Player Framework. Microsoft is delighted to work with NVIDIA to deliver exciting functionality and capabilities to help developers build the next wave of websites powered by the Microsoft Media Platform,” - David Sayed, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Corp.

Budding web developers are able learn more about the technology and its implementation at www.3dvisionlive.com/apps. 

Article From: Lowyat

From Concept to Reality: Razer Switchblade To Be Released In China

When Razer Switchblade concept was first shown to the world at CES earlier this year, I bet a lot of people out there were wondering whether this mini gaming machine will just remain as a concept or will it actually be turned into a real product. You don’t have to wait for long for the answers though as Razer is indeed going to release it into the market and their first destination… is China.

According to the announcement that Razer and Intel - who provided the new Oak Trail-based Atom processors for the device - made earlier today at Intel Developer Conference in Beijing, they are currently working closely with Tencent, one of China’s biggest Internet companies, in order to optimize the company’s huge selection of online games for Razer Switchbalde. No actual release date and pricing are available for now but Razer’s CEO, Min-Liang Tan has stated that it will be "affordable".

[Source: Razer and PCWorld] 

Article From: Lowyat

Alienware M18X Puts Most Desktop Gaming Rigs To Shame

Just when you thought the pinnacle of modern laptop gaming had been reached with the Alienware M17x, the purveyor or fine gaming devices has upped the ante with the M18x. Replacing the passé 17 inch screen is a mammoth 18.4inch 1920x1080 full HD display as its name implies. Powering this beast is an overclocked Intel Core i7 Extreme at 4GHz, your choice of either AMD CrossfireX or NVIDIA SLI Graphics and up to a jaw dropping 32GB of DDR3 RAM. Rounding off the specs, the M18x comes with a 3D capable HDMI 1.4 port, WirelessHD for those who are not so big on cables as well as 5 Macro Programmable keys to make raiding that much easier and all wrapped up in a sexy anodised aluminium package.

There is no availability details right now, but I'm very certain the big beast won't come cheap. I'm not sure how mobile this machine would make you, but damn your geek cred would just go through the roof with one of these at Starbucks.

 

Hit up the source link for more pretty pictures

 

(Source: Engadget)

Article From: Lowyat

Intel To Show Cedar Trail-Based Atom Platform At IDC Beijing

If you have read the announcement of the new Intel’s Oak Trail-based Atom processor platform earlier today, you might have been wondering whether Intel is changing Atom’s target market from netbooks to tablets and other embedded devices. Well, the answer is no. In fact, Intel is going to show off the next generation Atom processors platform - codenamed “Cedar Trail” - for netbooks, entry-level desktops and all-in-one designs this very week at Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, China.

No clock speed has been mentioned yet but the new platform which is based on Intel’s 32nm process technology will be equipped with quite a number of new features such as Intel Wireless Music, Intel Wireless Display, PC Synch and Fast Boot. The new Cedar Trail-based platform will also be supporting Blu-Ray 2.0, HDMI and DisplayPort together with dedicated media engine capable of full 1080p playback. 

Article From: Lowyat

Fujitsu unveils Malaysia’s first MeeGo devices; launches 11 new notebooks

You don’t usually see a brand launching twelve products on the same day, but that’s exactly what happened during last week’s Fujitsu Spring 2011 launch event. On the day, the Japanese computer maker unveiled nine machines from the Lifebook series that were powered by the latest 2nd generation Intel Core processors and two machines that were powered by the AMD Fusion Brazos processor.

More interestingly though, was the debut of the ESPRIMO MH300, the first MeeGo netbook on the market that’s powered by an Intel Atom processor.

Story continues after the jump.

ESPRIMO MH300 – RM999

Touting “infinite social capabilities for tomorrow’s computing experience”, the interface on the MH300 looks more like what you’d see on a tablet or on a smartphone than on a netbook. Nevertheless, this makes for a much smoother learning curve if used by someone that isn’t exactly computer savvy, since navigation through the system is rather straightforward.

Article From: Lowyat