iPad 2 Not Getting High-Resolution Display Or SD Card Slot?

Ahead of the much anticipated iPad 2 event on Wednesday, the guys over at engadget have managed to obtain a brief description of the specs (or lack thereof) for the successor to the wildly popular Apple tablet. Apparently, at the 11th hour, Apple made some cuts to what we thought would be default features in the iPad 2, namely the higher resolution display and the SD Card Slot. The reason for this has been attributed to "engineering issues" and not much more is known at this time.

So what we're left with is most likely a thinner, lighter iPad with more RAM and a more powerful CPU. This new device will also have the same resolution as its predecessor and will probably have a camera or two on it. Underwhelming? Yup I think so. The big thing I was looking forward to is a better screen and better battery life, but looks like that's not going to happen.

Anyway, this news is all hearsay at the moment, but Engadget usually has some pretty reliable sources so we'll keep our fingers crossed for now. If only Apple would now bring their iOS up to date and not have it trailing in the wake of all the other OS'. Well that's a different story for a different time.

(Source: Engadget)
Article From: Lowyat 

LaCie Previewed Thunderbolt-Based Little Big Disk

With a high transfer speed of 10Gb/s, it is obvious that storage devices are going to benefit tremendously from Intel’s new I/O technology, the Thunderbolt. While it is not in the market yet, LaCie has already unveiled quite a number of details from their Thunderbolt variant of Little Big Disk external hard drive.

Featuring an aluminium body shell designed by their long-time collaborator Neil Poulton, the Thunderbolt-based Little Big Disk body also works as a heat sink to dissipate heat generated by its internal parts. Inside, it contains two 250GB solid state drives (SSDs) from the upcoming Intel 510 Series which reads at 450MB/s and writes at 300MB/s. These two drives are also preconfigured in RAID 0 for better performance, according to LaCie.

No pricing details are available yet but since the 250GB Intel 510 Series SSD itself is priced around RM 1768 (USD 579) per unit, expect to pay top money for LaCie’s upcoming Thunderbolt solution. The LaCie Thunderbolt-based Little Big Disk is expected to meet users sometime in the second half of this year.

[Source: LaCie and Fudzilla] 

Article From: Lowyat

Google Gmail Accounts Vanished, Google is Fixing Problem

If you haven’t already checked your email then do so right away, right now. See any mails inside? If you do, then you’re lucky and you might want to consider backing up all your important mails because it has been reported that some users have lost all their mails including chat logs, folders and well, basically everything; they’re being treated like a new user greeted with welcome messages and all.

Of course Google is aware of the problem. They said that only less than 0.29% of Gmail users were hit by that bug that went on erasing account contents but knowing how huge Gmail is, that’s a very big number; it was reported that 500,000 Gmail users lost access to their inboxes. Not too long ago, the company has just reported their new estimate of only 0.08% of users encountering such problem so that’s about 150,000 individuals.

If your email is missing, don’t worry, the engineers at Google are working to fix the issues right now and all missing messages will be restored as soon as possible if not already.

(Source: Engadget)

Article From:Lowyat  

Intel promises native USB 3.0 support someday

So, now that Intel's fully revealed its proprietary high-speed interface technology and shoehorned it into Apple's new MacBook Pro, wither the fate of barely-incumbent USB 3.0? Intel says the two ports will co-exist in the market, and not just because third parties will obviously continue to roll SuperSpeed devices out -- Chipzilla's actually pursuing a native solution itself. "Intel fully supports USB 3 and plans to integrate it in the future," said the company's Jason Ziller, which sounds like a fairly potent promise to us. Still, considering how long Intel's been dragging its heels, we have to wonder if eventual support will be more than a token move -- Intel could wait until Thunderbolt not only has a foothold, but also a dozen pitons and a nice big rope securing it to a mountain of peripherals. 

Article From: Engadget

Sources: iPad 2 lands in thinner body with spec bump and cameras, SD slot and higher resolution display are out

The Apple rumors game can be a volatile thing. Just as we'd heard about last minute alterations to the Apple TV before it hit the market, we've gotten word from sources that the iPad 2 slated to be announced next Wednesday will be sans a few of the features we'd previously reported. Notably, that SD card slot and higher resolution display won't make it into the new model (the latter we'd been hearing rumblings about for a little while). What's the cause of the switch? Well our sources weren't crystal clear on the exact reasons, but the gist of what was explained to us centered around vague "engineering issues" which may have forced some changes at the eleventh hour. It's worth noting once again that these sources have been dead right on specific Apple plans and specifications for unannounced products in the past, and we have no reason to believe these changes are due to anything more than legitimate engineering decisions made close to launch.

Intel Thunderbolt: a closer look (updated with video)

So what's this Thunderbolt stuff, and why is it in your new MacBook Pro? Intel just broke it down for us, and now we'll do the same for you. Simply put, Thunderbolt's a familiar-looking port, a brand-new chip, and a cord, which allows devices to pipe two data streams simultaneously -- in both directions -- over a single cable at up to 10 gigabits per second to start, primarily using PCI Express x4 for data and DisplayPort for video. The Thunderbolt controller chip -- required for the system, but Intel says it's hardware-agnostic and doesn't require an Intel processor or chipset to use -- acts as a miniature router of sorts that rapidly switches between the two bidirectional channels of data.

HTC Thunderbolt delayed until March 4th, says a Best Buy store with a Twitter account (update: or maybe March 10th?)

HTC Thunderbolt delayed until March 4th, says a Best Buy store with a Twitter account (update: or maybe March 10th?)

By Chris Ziegler posted Feb 24th 2011 3:23PM

Wondering why the Thunderbolt isn't in stores yet? Hard to say -- apart from the reeling HTC and Verizon employees might be doing in light of the Apple / Intel news -- but a Best Buy in California spilled the bad news on Twitter last night that it's now expecting Big Red's first LTE phone on March 4th. As Android Police points out, the store appears to have confused the day March 4th falls on (it's a Friday, not a Thursday), but we're figuring it's far more likely the date is right, not the day of the week. And if Best Buy has a launch exclusive on this thing, that means it could be another week or two beyond that before the phone shows up in Verizon retail locations and elsewhere. Bummer, eh?

Easily Sync Google Docs and Microsoft Office Documents

When you’re on your personal computer, you use Microsoft Office to edit your work like Word document or your Spread Sheet, when you’re on the go you can use Google Docs, but how painful is it to keep updating both files to make sure that both documents contains the latest information? Google has just launched the Google Cloud Connect officially so now you can easily synchronize any Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Excel documents with Google Docs.

Previously launched in November as a beta version, Google Cloud Connect is a downloadable plug-in that will sit on top of your Office application as a toolbar. On top of being able to sync your Office document with the cloud and allowing you to share your document easily with anyone via an email address, there is also a feature that allows users to download the Google Docs files and edit it on Microsoft Office. When changes are made, the edits will show up on the original document too.

It’s working right now, so if you’re curious on how it works, try it out. If you do not have either of those services, check out a video of how it works right after the break.

(Source: Mashable)

Article From: Lowyat 

 

There Is A New Port In Town: Say Hello To Thunderbolt

So, you have heard about the newly refreshed line up of Apple MacBook Pro. Hence, you should already know that these new laptops come with a new I/O port called Thunderbolt. Previously codenamed by its developer as Light Peak, this new I/O technology was developed by Intel; together with some help from Apple which pretty much explained why the new MacBook Pro are the first ever product to feature it. 

But then, what exactly is the purpose of Thunderbolt? In essence, it is a full-duplex dual-channel high speed link that supports both data (PCI Express) and video (DisplayPort) connections, and capable of transferring data at the speed of 10Gbps per channel. Just to describe how fast that is, Intel claimed that users are able to transfer 10 to 20GB of data - a typical size of full-length full HD 1080p movie – in less than 30 seconds; way faster than the existing USB 3.0, 1394 Firewire and eSATA standard. Thunderbolt also supports daisy chaining with up to 7 devices at the same time.

Another interesting fact about the new Thunderbolt standard is that it offers low-latency, high-accuracy synchronization time of 8ns within connected devices. This capability should be very useful to media professionals out there especially media creators who will be able to do real-time processing on multiple devices at the same time as the frames will be pretty much synchronized throughout all devices. It also compatible with existing DisplayPort-based displays so that current owners don’t have to replace their current monitors. As for many of us who depends on DVI or HDMI, there is nothing that adapters cannot do.

As for physical connectors, Thunderbolt supports both electrical and optical cable although for electrical cable, it is limited to 3 meters long. That being said, Thunderbolt electrical cable is also able to provide up to 10W to bus-powered devices.

Moving on, now it is time for the golden question: how fast will Thunderbolt-based devices pop into the market? Well, judging from the current adoption rate of DisplayPort and USB3.0, I personally don’t think it will take off in an instant. Thunderbolt’s high speed data transfer is clearly an advantage here, so one can expect that the first wave of Thunderbolt-based products are meant for users  such as mentioned earlier, media professionals, that can take advantage of the amazingly fast transfer speed. It already has a good start since the Apple MacBook Pro is also one of the products that are commonly associated with media creation.

So, the impact of Thunderbolt will not be seen instantly but rather later on; when manufacturers have started to pick it up and make it available to users everywhere. For the time being, if you would like to learn more about Thunderbolt, check out its official website at www.intel.com. 

Article From: Lowyat

APPLE UNVEILS NEW SANDY BRIDGE MACBOOK PRO FAMILY

We all knew this was coming, and boy are the updates better than the previous refresh cycle! At first glance, the Macbook Pro's haven't ditched their unibody case in favour of a liquidmetal replacement, which is a bummer, but what they stuffed into the machines makes this latest round of Macbook Pros that much more desirable.


Firstly we all know that all the models across the board have been upgraded with Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge processors as well AMD treatment in the graphics department (all except the 13incher, which has the Intel HD3000 integrated graphics), with the introduction of the Radeon HD 6000M graphics cards. All the models have also been outfitted with a new "FaceTime HD camera" (Apple dropping the iSight naming) which has 3x the resolution of the previous Macbook Pro iSights and come with full HD video calling functionality.

TRUSTPORT EXPANDS TO SOUTHEAST ASIA

If you don’t already know what security software to get for your computer, then here’s something you should know, you can now have more choice as TrustPort, a major producer of software solutions for secure communications and reliable data protection, expands their business to the Southeast Asia market through its partner, TrustPort SouthEast Asia Sdn. Bhd. This means that they will need a regional headquarter office and where better than right here in Kuala Lumpur? So, what does this means? With a local company, it means that consumers like you and me can get first class customer service.

“We have watched with great interest the stable growth of the ICT industry in Southeast Asia and our entrance to the market was just a matter of time, and the time is here. Malaysia is well-positioned as a regional ICT hub and that is a compelling reason for us to set up our office here in Kuala Lumpur.” – Vladislav Nemec, CEO of TrustPort Inc.

WORLD’S SMALLEST COMPUTER…MADE FOR EYEBALLS

How small can a computer system get? Well, the world’s smallest computer system has just been unveiled by researchers at the University of Michigan Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and it measures at just over 1 cubic millimeter, a tiny fraction of the penny coin you see in the image above. Now, don’t look down on this minute thing, it coes with an ultralow-power microprocessor, a pressure sensor, memory, a thin-film battery, a solar cell, and a wireless radio with antenna that can transfer data. But what could this tiny thing be used for? Well to be put into the eyes of glaucoma patients.

It’s supposed to be implanted into the eyes, so what about power consumption and battery? According to the developers, the processor uses a unique power gating architecture and an extreme sleep mode so it will keep power consumption to the lowest. The system will only wake up to take measurements every 15 minutes, consuming an average of 5.3 Nano watts of energy. The battery can then be recharged back using the solar power and requires 10hours of indoor light or 1.5 hours of sunlight daily.

No, it won’t help these patients see again, instead, the computer will be able to collect data, store and transmit it. It’s only a tiny computer system by itself for now, the professors, Dennis Sylvester and David Blaauw, are hoping for developers to create applications for it. They are already currently working with a doctoral student to develop a consolidated radio with an on-chip antenna to eliminate the need for external crystals for two isolated devices to communicate with each other.

(Source: Slash Gear, Dvice)

Article From: Lowyat

RAZER BRINGS WIRELESS SOUND TO YOUR GAMING RIG WITH THE CHIMAERA

Razer has always been way up there when making peripherals for gamers to drool over and this time is no exception. The new Razer Chimaera Wireless Headset enables users to feel every frag, mine more vespene gas and gank in 5.1 Channel Surround Sound, without the wires to weigh you down. Also, the Chimaera will support up to 8 hours of continuous use for 1 single charge so you won't have to worry about losing juice midway through a crucial game in a BO7.

The Chimaera has a flexible mic that lets you trash talk your 10-year old opponents with class, or even communicate with 3 fellow Chimaera toting team mates via locally networked base stations.

The Razer Chimaera Wireless headset comes in 2 flavours, one featuring the 5.1 Dolby Surround and one just a vanilla stereo model. They will surface in April for US$200 and US$130 respectively.

(Source: Gizmodo)

Article From: Lowyat

GARTNER AND HP: USING A SECOND VENDOR CAN HELP SAVE ENTERPRISE COST

Everybody wants the best for their business, especially if you’re an enterprise that uses many different tools to get your entire company going. According to Gartner’s research, the top priorities for CIOs are changing and one of the top three priorities now is to reduce enterprise cost, not IT cost. But how does one do so? By being a smart consumer and getting the right solutions in order to keep the business running and make that decision wisely. Do not invest on a solution solely based on the price or the name of the vendor just because you are already using one of their products, let the business decide and see what you really need so you can go out and get the best of everything.

Gartner also found that by using multiple vendors, it can help save big bucks (from 30% to 90%) while busting several single vendor myths like training will be difficult, different vendor products may not inter-operate, adding a new network infrastructure will make things more complex, an extra vendor means the need to hire an extra staff, equipment and maintenance will be more expensive, and adding a second vendor will require the purchase of a lot of extra management tools just to name a few.

“Our findings show that most organizations should consider a dual-vendor or multivendor solution as a viable approach to building their network, as significant cost savings are achievable with no increase in network complexity, while improving the focus on meeting business requirements.” -- Gartner.

THE ONLY MOUSE DESIGNED FOR USE ON THE COUCH - THE LOGITECH M515

 

If you're like me, with no desk at home and the main place you use your laptop (and burn your thighs in the process) is your bed or couch, then the new Logitech Couch Mouse M515 is for you. You heard me right, Couch Mouse. The M515 features a sealed bottom case that makes gliding on fabric surfaces easy and worry free as well as a hand-detecting sensor which is only active when you want it to be. This could be great for people still using HTPCs connected to their bazillion inch LED TVs in their living room.

SET THEM IN YOUR DIARY: DATES AND VENUES OF PIKOM PC FAIR (I) 2011

Friends, ready your wallets...the PIKOM PC Fair is here once again! The fair’s first edition of the year will be making its way throughout Malaysia for the next three months starting from this weekend at Melaka International Convention Centre up till its final stop on 20 to 22 May at Stadium Indera Mulia in Ipoh. For Klang Valley folks, the fair will be held at its usual venue - Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre - from 15 to 17 April.
If you looking for other reasons to shop at PC Fair this year apart from the great deals that are going to be offered by more than 645 exhibitors throughout the event, here’s one: a brand new Mazda 2. Yes, you read that right; PIKOM is giving away a car as a lucky draw grand prize for any bargain hunters that spend at least RM 100 in a single receipt at any PC Fair location throughout the country.
So, if you are ready to go for car bargain hunting, check out the complete list of PC Fair (I) 2011 right after the jump and plan your trip wisely.


[Source: PIKOM]
Article From: Lowyat

SENSONIC TO RELEASE NEW LED-BACKLIT LCD MONITORS IN MARCH

For the longest time, Sensonic have always been associated with smaller computer peripherals such as mouse, keyboard, webcam and headset but starting this year, they are going to expand their offerings to bigger products such as PC monitors. To start off, the brand will be releasing two new LED-backlit LCD monitors into our market next month.
Judging from their technical specifications, these new Sensonic LCD monitors are relatively identical to each other with the exception of their maximum resolution of 1366x728 for the 18.5-inch E185WD and 1600x900 for the 20-inch E200WD. Unfortunately, since we have no pricing information for them, interested parties out there will only able to find out about their price tags when these monitors arrive at retailers next month.
As mentioned earlier, this is only the beginning of Sensonic products expansion. According to the company, the next product that they will be releasing into the market is an All-In-One PC. Well, it is going to be interesting to see how their AIO PC is going to fare against other players in the industry. For the meantime, find out more about Sensonic and its line of products at www.sensonic-global.com.


Article From:Lowyat

Zotac's Fusion-based Zbox AD03 Blu-ray HTPC gets reviewed, smiled upon

While AMD's Zacate E-350 APU has managed to find its way into a number of laptops, it's not exactly simple to find a desktop based on Fusion right now. Thankfully, Zotac was champing at the bit to be one of the first, and its Zbox AD03 / AD03 Plus has just hit the test bench over at Hot Hardware. All told, the results were fairly predictable, with the Fusion APU running laps around the prior Atom-based version. Of course, "laps" is a relative term, and while it hasn't single-handedly redefined the SFF PC sector, it has provided a real alternative to Intel's stable of underwhelming nettop chips. Across the board, the Zacate E-350 managed to hold its own, with the only real issue being "lackluster Flash video acceleration." We're told that updated drivers are expected to remedy that, however, so there's really little to gripe about from a numbers standpoint. As for value proposition? The AD03 Plus (ringing up at $529.99) seems like a worse deal with its skimpy 2GB of RAM and (comparatively sluggish) 250GB HDD, while the barebones AD03 (which lists for $439.99) could be turned into quite the powerhouse with 4GB of memory and a speedy SSD. Head on down to the source link to get your nerd on, but only if you're interested in scratching that DIY itch that's been so bothersome of late.

Hot Hardware Article From: Engadget

ASUS' 24.1-inch PA246Q P-IPS LCD now covering 98 percent of Adobe RGB, on sale for $500

This here monitor surfaced months ago, but it looks as if ASUS has just now started to ship it stateside. As far as 24-inch monitors go, this one's fairly well specced, and it's got a mighty tempting price tag to boot. The PA246Q is a 24.1-inch P-IPS LCD, complete with a six millisecond response time, tilt / swivel stand, a pair of USB sockets, an integrated 7-in-1 card reader, 400 nits of brightness and a 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. It's also capable of covering 98 percent of the Adobe RGB spectrum, so all but the most particular of creative professionals should be duly satisfied with color reproduction. You'll also get a native 1,920 x 1,200 screen resolution, 178 degree viewing angles, DVI / HDMI / DisplayPort / VGA inputs and support for a VESA wall mount. She's all yours for $499.99 -- hit the source link if you just can't resist. 

MOMENTUS XT HYBRID DRIVE FACING SERIOUS PROBLEMS. FIXES INCOMING

Remember the Seagate Momentus XT we reviewed last year? The drive was a cross between a traditional notebook drive and an SSD drive, giving a small amount of solid state space to boost application boot time and performance, while having a traditional platter for storage space. Well despite the glowing reviews it has gotten, a number of long-term users have observed that the drive chirps, stutters, crashes and freezes alarmingly regularly, especially when used on a Mac. This may be due to the Momentus XTs drives spinning down inappropriately due to an overzealous power management scheme. Thank goodness we didn't opt for one in our primary Macbook Pro!

However, Seagate is not huddled up in a reality distortion field, as they are actively involved in getting the problem fixed. So far, new firmware updates have addressed some of the symptoms, while a third is on the way.

(Source: Engadget)

Article From: Lowyat

Apple announcing new high-speed interconnect, Light Peak here we come?

There's not a scrap of evidence to back this rumor, but everything seems to line up: CNET reports that Apple will announce "a new high-speed connection technology" soon -- and Intel's Light Peak seems to be a shoo-in for the job. We've long known that Apple's been secretly backing the 10Gbps interconnect, but with a likely MacBook Pro refresh right around the corner and Light Peak allegedly due for a 1H 2011 launch, it seems the time for action could be right around now. It also doesn't hurt that this latest rumor comes from CNET, actually, as we're pretty sure the publication has an inside source. The very same reporter wrote that Light Peak would be downgraded to copper, a full month before Intel would admit anything of the sort.

CNET Article From: Engadget

Momentus XT hybrid drive causing headaches, Seagate working to fix

All's not well in hybrid solid state storage land, as owners of Seagate's Momentus XT are facing serious issues with their drives -- despite glowing initial reviews, a number of long-term users claim that the drives chirp, crash, stutter, and freeze with alarming regularity, particularly when installed in a Mac. Seagate forumgoers speculate these are symptoms of the XT's magnetic platters spinning down inappropriately, due to an overzealous power management scheme. That's the bad news -- and it sounds pretty bad -- but the good news is this: Seagate's owning up to the issues, and is actively involved in getting them fixed. So far, a pair of new firmware updates have addressed some symptoms, a third is on the way, and a Seagate engineer known only as STX_NB is proactively chatting with affected customers about possible fixes. That's what we call technical support -- take notes, tech companies.

Computerworld, Seagate Knowledge Base (1), (2), (3) Article From: Engadget

Ixonos shows off windowed UI for Android

When your tablet needs a windowed UI, has it crossed some undrawn, implied boundary that makes it too complex for the kinds of casual tasks you'd want to accomplish on a tablet? Hard to say, but the mobile developers at Ixonos took to MWC last week to showcase a windowed build of Android on top of a tablet developed by Aava -- so at the very least, we know it's possible. The system is built atop Froyo and allows apps to continue running in the background -- they don't suspend, which means you can, say, play a video while you're off composing messages. The company also demonstrated the software on a dual-screen 7-inch tablet, allowing apps to be launched on either screen and transferred between them -- all seemingly without any customizations needed to individual apps, which is going to be key for a system like this to gain any market traction. Follow the break for Ixonos' press release and demo video. 

Dell XPS 14 discontinued, will be replaced with something thinner and lighter

Sure, it was only about four months ago that Dell released its XPS 14, but unfortunately, those looking to snatch up the Core i5, NVIDIA GeForce 400M-powered laptop today will have a mighty hard time. Some keen-eyed tipsters noticed that Dell's 14-inch mainstream system was out of stock, and a quick call to one of our friends at Dell confirmed that the smallest version of the series won't actually be making a comeback. However, that's not because the system didn't sell well -- Dell maintains that it actually exceeded sales expectations. Considering it was a very aggressively priced rig that doesn't really surprise us, but why not bring it back? That's where things get interesting, and we'll give you Dell's exact quote on this one...

"With the transition to Sandy Bridge technology, we chose to re-focus our efforts on incorporating this feedback into future thin and light products launching later this year. Stay tuned!"

Yep, it seems like Dell is gearing up to bring some Adamo qualities back in to the XPS brand, which is actually what were told last year when the company killed off the Adamo brand altogether. We're staying tuned alright!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]


Article From: Engadget

SAY GOODBYE TO ANOTHER FAILED MACBOOK AIR RIVAL: HP ENVY 13

It looks like HP has decided to join Dell in getting rid of their ultra thin 13" notebook. Supposedly an Apple MacBook Air competitor much like the Dell Adamo line which was recently killed by the company due to low response, the Envy 13 didn't seem to do a very good job either.

But that's not the end for Envy fans, HP won't be getting rid of the entire Envy line. They will only be killing Envy 13 which will be replaced by the Envy 14 though, if you're hoping for the same 13" design with full-metal chassis and weighs very light, you're going to be highly disappointed. The Envy 14, like its name suggest, measures at 14.5", weighs 2.38kg, about 700grams more than the Envy 13, and measures at 1.16" thick compared to Envy 13's 0.8".

Right before this announcement, the price of the HP Envy 13 has been slashed for a couple of months, going off for as low as USD$999 with USD$450 instant rebate. Are you going to miss the HP Envy 13?

(Source: Cnet) 

Article: Lowyat

COOLER MASTER LAUNCHES CASE MODDING COMPETITION

Love to mod your computer case? Why not get rewarded for it? Cooler Master has announced that they are now accepting submissions for their 2011 Cooler Master Case Mode Competition. Open to fellow case modders from all over the world, participants are required to submit a project that either uses Cooler Master casing as their subject or they can also build their submission from scratch using any building materials that they can get their hands on.

With prizes worth more than RM 45,000 - in the form of motherboards, graphic cards, RAMs, video games, SSDs and of course, Cooler Master cases - are up for grabs, this competition is not something that you can come across every day. The submission will be closed on 15 April while the deadline to complete the project will be on 15 May, so there are still quite some time to get your brain and fingers to work. For further information, visit the competition’s official website at www.coolermaster.com/casemod2011.

Article: Lowyat

Review: ASUS HD 6870 DirectCU Graphic Card

Released back in October 2010, the AMD Radeon HD 6870 is the mid-range member of the AMD Radeon HD 6000 series graphic card. Codenamed as “Barts XT”, the GPU was also the first from the series to arrive into the market. However, what we have right here from ASUS stable of Radeon HD 6870 offerings can be considered as a “non-stock” graphic card.

The physical design alone is already a big indication that the ASUS HD 6870 DirectCU have something extra underneath it. ASUS switched AMD’s stock cooler with their own solution which features three 8mm flattened copper heat pipes directly above the GPU and claimed that they are able to lower down the GPU’s temperature up to 20-percent than usual. It is for good reason: the ASUS HD 6870 DirectCU comes with a slightly faster 915MHz core and it can be tweaked further through ASUS Voltage Tweak technology that is contained within ASUS SmartDoctor software.

Apart from that, ASUS have also equipped the graphic card with parts that are made from their own mix of metal called Super Allow Power which the company claimed gives those parts better performances, reliability and longevity. It is a little bit unfortunate that we have no means to test these claims but we can certainly show you how the card performs on our test bed. Jump in to find out more.

IN A GLANCE

NVIDIA BRINGS OUT QUAD-CORE TEGRA, ONE UPPED QUALCOMM’S

As you might know, Qualcomm earlier this week have announced that their Snapdragon mobile processors are going to receive a new and very powerful family member called the Krait. The new microarchitecture is going to be available in a number of variations including a quad-core model but there is one problem: it will only be available to manufacturers towards end of this year and early next year.

As soon as that announcement took place at MWC’11, NVIDIA comes along and pretty much say, “Hey, we got one too and we sending it to our partners NOW,” through this announcement. Dubbed as “Project Kal-El” (isn't that the birth name of Superman?), the new quad-core mobile processor said to contain 12-core GPU and offers five times more power than the current Tegra 2. The company is pretty bullish about its new chip and claimed that consumers might be able to see products based on the new quad-core mobile processor as early as this August. That’s not all, NVIDIA have also revealed that they are already working on even more powerful processors that are scheduled for release on annual basis for the next few years.

Check out two demo videos of Kal-El, right after the jump.

[Source: NVIDIA]

Article: Lowyat

ASUS EEE PC 1015PW WITH DUAL-CORE ATOM HITS THE MARKET

A netbook might not possess much firepower but that doesn’t mean such boringness have to extent to its physical design. In fact, many netbook these days are designed rather stylishly such as this new ASUS Eee PC 1015PW with its unique seashell-like surface on its front and three aptly named colours: Purple Rain, Gold Dust and Angel Skin.

At the heart of the new 10.1-inch netbook is a 1.5GHz Intel Atom N550 dual-core processor that is paired together with 1GB of DDR3 RAM and 320GB worth of storage space. While one might think that having a dual-core processor might suck the battery life out of this netbook, ASUS actually said that the Eee PC 1015PW’s battery is able to offer up to 10 hours of battery life. The netbook also comes together with ASUS own operating system called Express Gate Cloud which gives users instant access to Internet applications such as instant messaging, browsing, photos and online games.

The netbook still comes standard with Windows 7 Starter Edition though, ultimately making it a dual-boot netbook right out of the box. With a price tag of RM 1299, the new ASUS Eee PC 1015PW is already available on the market right now. Check out it with your favourite retailers or my.asus.com for further information.

Article: Lowyat

AMD SENDS CHOCOLATES TO INTEL ON VALENTINES DAY. #TROLLIN

February the 14th means different things to different people. Some people embrace Valentines day for its kitschy, overpriced, blatant commercialism while some people just prefer to treat it like any other day on the calendar. Some people, like the folks at the AMD marketing team decided to get a potshot in on their arch rivals Intel. AMD shipped out a mug of chocolates that read simply " I <3 APU" - referring of course to the Stellar Fusion Platform -  with a note attached:

"I heard that Sandy B. broke your heart and wanted to let you know that I'm here for you. Oh, and I have a cousin from Llano, Texas I'd like to introduce you to soon - I think you two would really hit it off!

XOXO 
AMD Fusion APU"

Nice one AMD. Our resident troll couldn't have done better himself.


(Source: Engadget)
Article: Lowyat

RUMOR: SANDY BRIDGE MACBOOK PRO'S STILL ON COURSE FOR MARCH

Despite all the teething problems associated with the good ol Sandy B, it looks like rumours are abound that Apple's Macbook Pro Refresh is set to be on schedule for early March and not only that, it is also said that there will be a host of other product enhancements that we can only speculate on.

It was initially thought that with Intel discovering and recalling the Sandy Bridge processes over a engineering fault, the MacBook Pro's would be indefinitely delayed as well; However a combination of dummy SKUs at Best Buy in the US and low inventory numbers all over the world all point to a release in the coming weeks.

So what do you think will spice up the new Macbook Pro's? SSD/HDD hybrid? Instant On? Your guess is as good as mine.

(Source: TUAW)

Article: Lowyat

Happy Valentine's Day

Overclockers, here is your chance.

Looking for something to do, overclockers? Well, if you have an AMD graphic card lying around, we got one for you then. MSI, with the help of the famed overclocking portal HWBOT have issued an overclocking challenge which MSI claimed is not like any common overclocking challenge out there.

Instead of pushing your hardware to the max, expect it to churn out beefy benchmark score and hope that the score beats some record, the MSI AMD “Eyes on The Prize” Target Challenge only ask overclockers to tune their hardware to a specific score. Be the first to reach the target score within the time limit and you’ll scoop home some prizes which are consisted of twenty 30Mark11 Advanced license together with four sets of MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard and 1GB MSI Radeon 6850 Cyclone Power Edition graphic card.

For the first three week of the challenge, the submission is open exclusively for MSI AMD graphic card models while on the final week, any brand of AMD graphic cards are welcome to participate. As a bonus, MSI are going to throw one of their upcoming graphic cards, the MSI Radeon 6970 Lightning graphic card for lucky draw. This draw is open to all participants that managed to reach the target score specified by MSI.

For further information, head on to HWBOT.org to learn about the AMD “Eyes on The Prize” Target Challenge. 

Article From : Lowyat

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Ivy Bridge

It feels like it was only yesterday that Intel announced the arrival of their second generation Core processors a.k.a the Sandy Bridge at CES’11 but guess what, Intel’s next processor – codenamed Ivy Bridge - is actually heading to the shelves sooner than you might think. This is the strengthen by a number of information that have just made their way into the Internet.

To be manufactured using the new 22nm process technology, among new features that are coming to Ivy Bridge processors is a DirectX 11 graphics core and second generation QuickSync video processing technology; together with native support for PCIe 3.0 and DDR3-1600 memories. Initial information also stated that the new line of processors will still be using Sandy Bridge’s LGA 1155 sockets and they are compatible with the existing Intel H67 and P67-equipped motherboards via BIOS and firmware updates.

That should be a good new to current H67 and P67 motherboards owners although for the time being, they have to deal with the chipset design flaw that Intel found out recently. The new Intel Ivy Bridge processors are expected to hit the market in 2012. 

Article From: Lowyat

[Source: Fudzilla (1) (2) and VR-Zone via Hexus]