Mad Catz Cyborg M.M.O. 7 Gaming Mouse Now Available for Pre-order

At $129.99, the Cyborg M.M.O. 7 Gaming Mouse might be the most expensive rodent you ever buy. It's also one of the most flexible. Now available on pre-order from Mad Catz, the Cyborg M.M.O. 7 is a funktastic looking mouse for gamers with an adjustable weight system, ergonomic finger resting places, multiple buttons, and a high DPI sensor.

The DPI is adjustable from 100 to 6400 in increments of 25, allowing you to fine tune the mouse's behavior based on whether you're charging through an area like Rambo or sniping from a distance. It has 50G of acceleration, a 1,000Hz polling rate, tracking speed of up to 6m/sec, slick PTFE feet, and a gold plated USB connector attached to a braided cable.

It's the adjustable weight system that's the main attraction here. The mouse ships with five 6-gram weights with a storage canister to hold the ones you opt not to use. This is supplemented with two additional pinkie finger rests and two additional palm rests, all of which adds up to what Mad Catz claims is the world's most adjustable gaming mouse.

Clear Introduces Spot Voyager And Hub Express 4G Modems

Clearwire may be biting into LTE in the near future, but WiMAX is at the company's core, and evidently, so is sleek design. The company just launched the Clear Spot Voyager, one of the smallest 4G hotspots on the market. It offers unlimited 4G data plans, and if that one isn't in your wheelhouse, there's also the Clear Hub Express, a combination 4G modem and wireless router to give your home or office high-speed wireless internet.


The Voyager offers 4G sharing with up to eight Wi-Fi devices at the same time, and brings up to six hours of battery life in a form factor of 2.6" squared. The CLEAR Hub Express provides users 4G internet and is the only piece of equipment needed to set up a 4G internet hotspot in a home or office. With the device's built-in wireless router, users have an instant wi-fi network with no set-up or installation required. Unlike service plans from traditional wireless carriers which cap data usage, CLEAR offers unlimited* 4G usage plans that do not require long-term service contracts.

CLEAR offers unlimited* 4G coverage starting as low as $34.99/month for either a home or mobile plan. CLEAR service is currently available in areas of the United States where approximately 130 million people live. A detailed map of service availability can be found at www.clear.com/coverage.

The CLEAR Hub Express is manufactured by Gemtek, costs $99.99 (plus tax and shipping) and is 6.1" x 9.3" x 3.7". The CLEAR Spot Voyager and CLEAR Hub Express both currently are available -- the question is, are you still into WiMAX?

Kinect Sensing Technology Rumored To Hit Notebooks

It didn't take Microsoft long to realize that they had more than they bargained for with Kinect. While originally intended only for use with the Xbox 360, the motion sensing device soon found a home with PC hackers. After first rejecting the notion, Microsoft soon changed their tune and began to embrace the hackerspace. Earlier this month at the company's CES keynote, Steve Ballmer officially unveiled the Kinect for Windows package, which will be fully compatible with Windows PCs and enable hackers to do nearly anything with their Kinect, so long as there's a PC and USB port nearby. Now, The Daily is reporting that the Kinect could soon be coming to notebooks and other portable computers.

Lenovo Quietly Launches IdeaPad Y470p Laptop with Radeon HD 7690M Graphics

If you're looking for a well equipped laptop sporting AMD's new generation graphics technology, Lenovo may have exactly what you've been pining for. Lenovo quietly slipped out its IdeaPad Y470p, a 14-inch notebook with an Intel Core i7 2670QM processor (2.2GHz, 6MB cache), 8GB of DDR3-1333 memory, and AMD Radeon HD 7690 graphics with 1GB of video memory. That's a solid foundation, folks.

It also has a 750GB hard drive (5400 RPM), DVD burner, 2MP webcam, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, GbE, HDMI, premium JBL speakers, three USB ports + USB/eSATA combo, 6-in-1 card reader, 6-cell battery, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit wrapped in a "real metal cover with brushed-metal effect."

The Y470p lists for $1,499 MSRP with a Web price of $1,249. That seems a bit much for a 14-inch laptop, but don't despair if this happens to be your dream laptop, Lenovo currently has it listed for $799 after eCoupon (WKLYDEALSY470P), or about the price of a lower end Ultrabook.

Estimated ship date is February 13, 2012.

AMD Quietly Adopting "Tick-Tock" Model for Micro-Architectures.

Intel Corp.'s so-called "tick-tock" model  of transitioning to new manufacturing processes and micro-architectures has proved to be very efficient in making Intel the maker of the highest-performance microprocessors. Apparently, its smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices is also plotting something similar, but a bit differently.

As it appears from AMD's documents observed by an X-bit labs reader (in the comments for this news-story), starting from Piledriver micro-architecture and going forward, AMD's Fusion accelerated processing units (chips that integrate both x86 and stream processing cores) will feature "reduced", or "early" micro-architectural feature-set, whereas central processing units (CPUs) based on new designs will feature "full" or "late" feature-set. As a result, x86 performance of the former will be lower than x86 performance of the latter.

SanDisk Sees 2012 as Inflection Point for Solid-State Drives.

SanDisk Corp., a leading supplier of NAND flash-based products, believes that this year the demand for solid-state drives (SSDs) will start to grow rapidly as a result of lowering prices, better user experienced and maturity of technology. Even now SanDisk considers its consumer and enterprise SSD businesses a success, going forward the company expects further growth.

"We expect 2012 to mark the inflection point of SSD growth for SanDisk, with both the enterprise in client markets becoming strong contributors to our revenue growth in 2012 and beyond," said Sanjay Mehrota, chief executive officer and president of SanDisk, during the latest conference call with financial analysts.

Imagination Technologies May Introduce Standalone Ray-Tracing Accelerator.

Imagination Technologies, which could not popularize its graphics accelerators for PCs in early 2000s and decided to concentrate on mobile graphics adapters instead, may return to PCs and bring-in real-time ray-tracing accelerators.

Imagination Technologies tried to popularize its tile architecture for graphics processing units (GPUs) in the late nineties and the early thousands. While some products, e.g. Power VR Kyro, managed to boast respectable levels of performance, ImgTec could not capture significant share of the market due to very fast progress demonstrated by ATI Technologies and Nvidia Corp. and the lack of ties with PC OEMs. But the company may get back to discrete accelerator cards for personal computers already this year when it launches real-time ray-tracing accelerators.

Nvidia Lowers Revenue Expectations Due to Hard Drives Shortages.

Nvidia Corp. on Wednesday announced that it expects revenue for the fourth quarter ending January 29, 2012, to be lower than the company's previous outlook provided back in October. The developer of multimedia chips blames shortages of hard disk drives as well as lowering demand towards Tegra 2 system-on-chips for the lowering revenue.

 

WD Does Not Expect Ultrabooks to Boost Popularity of SSDs.

Ultrabooks are projected to capture a considerable part of the notebook market and redefine it in many ways. Many analysts as well as Intel Corp. believe that ultrabooks will boost the demand towards solid-state drives considerably thanks to higher performance and lower power consumption compared to hard disk drives. But Western Digital is confident that HDDs will continue to be popular even inside ultrabooks thanks to low price and high capacities.

 

"I expect ultrabooks to have traditional hard drives, hybrid hard drives and SSDs. [...] We think that the SSD penetration profile will be in very low single digits in a mature ultrabook environment. We see an emerging position for hybrids a little early to develop a view on exactly what percentage of penetration, but we see hybrids as a very compelling alternative on the performance side to solid-state on bang for the buck. We anticipate that in large capacity environments, traditional hard drives will continue to be the compelling solution," said John Coyne, chief executive officer of WD, during the most-recent conference call with financial analysts.

Micron Takes Over Virtensys to Boost Enterprise SSD Effort.

Micron Technology and Virtensys have announced that the companies have signed an agreement for Micron to acquire the assets of privately held Virtensys, a provider of PCIe-sharing solutions based in Manchester, England and Beaverton, Oregon.

The transaction would further strengthen Micron's enterprise storage portfolio by combining Virtensys' award-winning PCIe virtualization technology with Micron's solid state drives (SSDs), enabling data centers to share local storage across multiple servers. The agreement would enable a combination of enterprise technology solutions that have the opportunity to virtualize SSD storage on the path to a more flexible and dynamic data center.

"Virtensys' PCIe-sharing technology has helped change the way data center operators manage and deploy their virtualized I/O resources, and Micron's enterprise PCIe drive delivers market-leading speed, reliability and power efficiency," said Edward Doller, Micron vice president and chief memory systems architect.

The transaction is subject to closing conditions and is currently anticipated to close by the end of the month. Specific terms of the proposed agreement are confidential.

^{Virtensys PCIe sharing appliance}

"Virtensys has served as an OEM focused company working to deliver innovative solutions with some of the world's leading server, storage and I/O adapter manufacturers. Our technology complements Micron's enterprise products as we strive to empower the virtual data center, and we are delighted to join the Micron family," said John Nicholson, chairman and chief executive of Virtensys.

HP Launches Atom N2600-Based Mini 1104 10.1" Netbook

CES 2012 started the next netbook revolution, with Intel's newest Atom CPUs at the helm. Today, HP is (re)joining the crowd, with the newest Mini machine launching. The HP Mini 1104 is the latest Mini for business in education. It's priced at $399, weighs 2.78 pounds and has a 10.1" display. There's also a 93% full-size keyboard, a battery that's good for up to 9 hours, a dual-core Intel Atom N2600, an integrated VGA webcam, integrated Bluetooth and a hard drive accelerometer that acts as a motion sensor for protection if the Mini is dropped.

 

Adafruit Debuts FLORA, a Wearable Electronics Platform

If you’re a DIY electronics geek, Adafruit should be one of your favorite playgrounds. The open source hardware maker’s site offers a plethora of kits, parts, plans, and other electronic miscellany, and it recently announced FLORA, a wearable electronics platform.

FLORA is a tiny board that measures just 1.75 inches in diameter, and it’s based on Adafruit’s own Atmega32u4 Breakout Board and is compatible with Arduino. It comes with “addressable and chain-able 4,000 mcd RGB LED pixels and premium stainless steel thread”; if you’re not sure what that is, have a peek at the image below.

An example of addressable and chain-able 4,000 mcd RGB LED pixels and premium stainless steel thread

CPU Startup Combines CPU+DRAM—And A Whole Bunch Of Crazy

The CPU design firm Venray Technology announced a new product design this week that it claims can deliver enormous performance benefits by combining CPU and DRAM on to a single piece of silicon. We spent some time earlier this fall discussing the new TOMI (Thread Optimized Multiprocessor) with company CTO Russell Fish, but while the idea is interesting; its presentation is marred by crazy conceptualizing and deeply suspect analytics.

The Multicore Problem:

There are three limiting factors, or walls, that limit the scaling of modern microprocessors. First, there's the memory wall, defined as the gap between the CPU and DRAM clock speed. Second, there's the ILP (Instruction Level Parallelism) wall, which refers to the difficulty of decoding enough instructions per clock cycle to keep a core completely busy. Finally, there's the power wall--the faster a CPU is and the more cores it has, the more power it consumes.

Attempting to compensate for one wall often risks running afoul of the other two. Adding more cache to decrease the impact of the CPU/DRAM speed discrepancy adds die complexity and draws more power, as does raising CPU clock speed. Combined, the three walls are a set of fundamental constraints--improving architectural efficiency and moving to a smaller process technology may make the room a bit bigger, but they don't remove the walls themselves.

TOMI attempts to redefine the problem by building a very different type of microprocessor. The TOMI Borealis is built using the same transistor structures as conventional DRAM; the chip trades clock speed and performance for ultra-low low leakage. Its design is, by necessity, extremely simple. Not counting the cache, TOMI is a 22,000 transistor design, as compared to 30,000 transistors for the original ARM2. The company's early prototypes, built on legacy DRAM technology, ran at 500MHz on a 110nm process.

Sales of Intel Atom Hit All-Time Low: Netbooks Doomed.

While Intel Corp. is facing great demand towards its advanced Core i-series "Sandy Bridge" microprocessors, the firm of witnessing rapidly dropping demand towards its low-cost/low-power Atom chip line. In Q4 2011 sales of Intel Atom hit all-time low, which is another evidence of dropping popularity of netbooks and ultra low-cost PCs powered by Intel in general.

Based on Intel's financial report, the Atom micro-architecture revenue, including microprocessors and associated chipsets, was $167 million, down 38% from the third quarter and down 57% from the fourth quarter of 2010. Apparently, even despite of the beginning of revenue shipments of Atom 2000-series "Cedarview" chip, overall sales of the product family fell significantly.

According to the world's largest chipmaker, Intel Atom micro-architecture revenue is down as a result of lower demand for netbooks, inexpensive small form-factor mobile computers with limited performance and capabilities.

Intel Vows to Integrate 4G Tech into Chips.

Intel Corp. is on track to integrate wireless wide area network (WWAN) functionality into its system-on chip devices aimed at smartphones and tablets, something that would revolutionize its positions. The company declined to say when exactly such chips will become available.

"Over time, what we will want to do is grow [Infineon wireless technology] capability up by integrating the apps processor and the communication processors onto the same chip, while we drive our initial positions in apps processors from the top down," said Paul Otellini, chief executive officer of Intel, during the most recent conference call with financial analysts.

Mr. Otellini did not say a word when the company plans to proceed with the integration, but he made it clear that eventually Infineon modems will land onto the company's system-on-chip solutions.

Cloud Server Shipments Set to Explode - Analysts.

Spurred by the rising use of online storage and infrastructure systems to support client cloud services, cloud servers will enjoy robust prospects in 2012 and then move on to become the fastest-growing segment of the server industry within three years, according to a recent report from IHS iSuppli.

1.8 Million Cloud Servers to Be Shipped in 2015

Shipments of cloud servers are projected to reach 875 thousand units in 2012, up a notable 35% from 647 thousand in 2011 and nearly double the 460 thousand in 2010, IHS claims. High growth rates ranging from 23 to 30% are anticipated for each of the next three years until 2015, by which time cloud server shipments will have hit approximately 1.8 million units. The five-year compound annual growth rate for cloud servers beginning in 2010 stands at 31% - five times greater than the forecast for the total server market.

Cloud servers also will make up an increasing portion of total server shipments - growing from just a little more than 5% of the market in 2010 to more than 15% in 2015.

AT&T Expands Netbook Choices With The Addition Of The Aspire A0722

Acer's Aspire A0722 is now available through AT&T. This 11.6-inch netbook targets enterprise and consumer users by offering a portable and thin design with key usability features such as a full-size keyboard and multiple ports. The Aspire A0722 can connect to AT&T's HSPA+ network. The A0722 offers three USB ports, a VGA out connector, an Ethernet Jack, headphone jack, and HDMI-out port. This netbook is available for $449.99 without an annual contract or for $39.99 with a two-year agreement and a 3GB monthly data plan.

AMD Rolls Out RC11 Driver for Radeon HD 7900 Series

Here's a nice treat for AMD Radeon HD 7970 videocard owners as you get ready to end the work day and head into weekend. The Santa Clara chip maker just released its 8.921.2 RC11 AMD Radeon HD 7900 driver so all you early adopters can squeeze a little bit of extra performance out of your graphics card.

Performance highlights include up to a 250 percent performance improvement in TessMark (OpenGL when set to "insane" levels. That's crazy, and also of limited usefulness, though the driver also boosts performance in a handful of popular titles, including:

• Up to 8 percent in Aliens vs. Predator
• Up to 15 percent in Battleforge with Anti-Aliasing enabled
• Up to 3 percent in Battlefield 3
• Up to 3 percent in Crysis 2
• Up to 6 percent in Crysis Warhead
• Up to 10 percent in F1 2010
• Up to 5 percent in Unigine with Anti-Aliasing enabled

AMD Ups Performance Projections for Next-Gen "Trinity" APUs.

Advanced Micro Devices has increased performance projections for its next-generation code-named Trinity accelerated processing unit and set up launch timeframe for the chip. While AMD Trinity will be faster than initially believed, it will become available only in the middle of the year, which is somewhat later than generally expected based on AMD's comments.

According to performance benchmarks conducted by AMD, the Trinity 35W APU with Piledriver-class x86 cores will provide 25% better x86 performance compared to Llano 35W (with K10.5+ "Husky" x86 cores) based on results obtained in PC Mark Vantage Productivity benchmark. AMD also claims that Trinity 35W will offer up to 50% better result in 3D Mark Vantage performance benchmark compared to Llano 35W.

 

Earlier released slides, which were also presumably from AMD, projected 20% increase in x86 performance and 30% boost in graphics performance for Trinity compared to currently available A-series "Llano" APUs based on simulations.

Although AMD implied a number of times that it would release Trinity in the first half of the year and rather sooner than later, the official plan now is to launch it in the middle of the year. Some unofficial sources have implied that A-series "Trinity" will be released in June, 2012.
"We are indeed on track with Trinity for mid-2012," said Chris Hook, a spokesman for AMD, without elaborating on actual months or dates.

According to documents seen by X-bit labs, staring from early and middle March, 2012, AMD intends to mass produce its desktop A-series "Trinity" accelerated processing units with 65W thermal design power (TDP). In early May, 2012, the chip designer wants to initiate mass production of desktop A-series "Trinity" APUs with 100W TDP and higher performance.

AMD’s second-generation code-named Trinity APU for mainstream personal computers (Comal for notebooks and Virgo for desktops) will be made using 32nm SOI HKMG process technology at Globalfoundries. The APU will feature up to four x86 cores powered by enhanced Bulldozer/Piledriver architecture, AMD Radeon HD 7000-series "Southern Islands" graphics core with DirectX 11-class graphics support, DDR3 memory controller and other improvements. The chips will be compatible with new infrastructure.

Intel’s New Warranty Plan to Cover Processors Damaged by Overclocking

Overclocking has been an inevitable part of high-performance personal computers for over two decades now. Even though nowadays leading suppliers of x86 microprocessors and graphics cards release special chips and special tools to boost performance of their products by the end users, devices damaged by overclocking up to now have not been covered by warranties. Intel Corp. has decided to change that.

Intel on Wednesday introduced a new pilot plan targeted at the enthusiast community. The new pilot service plan for “K”, “X”, and LGA2011-socketed boxed processors called the performance tuning protection plan (PTPP) provide certain out-of-warranty service offerings in the event of damage caused by overclocking or overvoltaging by the user.

Available at the cost between $20 and $35 (depending on microprocessor), the plan enables user to receive a one-time replacement processor if the user’s overvoltaging or overclocking causes the original processor to fail. The plan only applies to issues directly related to performance tuning.

NZXT Announces Switch 810 Hybrid Full Tower Chassis

NZXT is into options; its new Source 810 chassis (available in black or white) is designed to offer gamers a bevy of different ways of easily configuring their preferred cooling setup, from liquid cooling to a slew of fans to a more quiet setup with the vents closed.

The case offers support for 280mm radiators (the top 5.25-inch plates comes out to make more space) and up to ten 140/120mm fans. The fins on the vents can be closed or left open, depending on your desire for airflow or noise reduction.

Inside, there are plenty of ways to route cables and maximize airflow. There are ten cutouts for cabling, and the two hard drive cages (which accommodate up to 7 drives) are removable. Further, there re a pair of pivoting 120/140mm fans that blow at a 40-degree angle to the graphics card and CPU.

The Source 810 has 9 expansion slots with room for four-way SLI or three-way CrossFire, and the case sports a pair of USB 3.0 slots, an SD card reader, and a HDD dock on the front. The chassis is available now for $169.99.

pureSilicon Reveals Kage K1 USB Flash Drive And Kage K1 SATA SSD

Like flash memory? Like good looks? pureSilicon has plenty of both, as evidenced by their introductions this evening. They're launching launched a new line of enterprise-focused storage devices, including the Kage K1 USB Flash Drive — an “impossibly thin” (4.5 mm) USB 3.0-based SSD drive.

It leverages the technology pioneered in pureSilicon’s recently announced Renegade and Nitro devices, making it available at a lower price point aimed at power users in the financial services, science, and engineering sectors, as well as creative professionals who need fast, high-capacity storage for digital media.

Sony Intros First USB 3.0 Flash Drive: Micro Vault MACH

Flash drives have been around for ages and ages, but the newer USB 3.0 ones are still taking shape. Sony's joining the group with a new Micro Vault MACH, which is the first SuperSpeed USB drive from the company. It's available in 8GB/16GB/32GB/64GB sizes, and supports transfer speeds up to 120MB/sec (read) and 90MB/sec (write). It's encased in aluminum, and sports a retractable USB connector and LED indicator.

Of course, the drive is backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports, and it comes with a few pieces of software for those who are into that kind of thing. It's available now, but no pricing is being made public just yet.

Shuttle's XH61 Barebones PC: So, So Small

Shuttle's become famous for their barebones PC options, and the company's newest box is as tiny as ever. The XH61 is a 3-litre PC for Intel's Sandy Bridge processors, measuring just 7cm high. The Intel H61 Express chipset selected for this new product supports second-generation Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors for the LGA1155 socket with a TDP of max. 65 W. The two memory banks on the pre-installed motherboard can take DDR3 modules up to a total capacity of 16 GB.

The XH61 is provided with UEFI and has 4x SATA 3 Gbit/s, 6x USB 2.0, 7.1 Sound, Gigabit-LAN and Kensington Lock. An HDMI and D-Sub port in combination with the graphics function integrated in the second-generation Intel Core processors enable dual monitoring and smooth HD playback.

The compact case (24.2 x 20 x 7.3 cm DWH) still provides space for an optical Slimline drive and 2.5" hard disk or SSD. An external 90 W power unit provides a noiseless energy supply. The optionally available PS01 pedestal accessory enables vertical operation. Alternatively, the optional PV02 VESA monitor mount allows the user to fit the XH61 to a range of screens and surfaces. "With the XH61, we can now fit second-generation Intel Core processors in our smallest and fastest PCs", states Tom Seiffert, Head of Marketing & PR at Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH. "The practical format of the XH61 and its predecessor, the XG41, has proven its worth and will continue to be developed in future. 3-litre PCs represent a good compromise between space requirements and computing performance."

The recommended price for the Shuttle Barebone XH61 is EUR 146, but there's no word yet on if it's making its way to other nations.

HSTi's Moboplay Is World's Smallest Media Player

Small is in, and there's little questioning that. And the latest "small" gizmo is coming to us courtesy of HSTi. The company's Moboplay Pocket Media Player is said to be the world's smallest, measuring just 60mm x 64mm, which is smaller than a credit card. Even being that compact, it's capable of playing back 1080p material via HDMI, and there's a USB port / SD card slot if you want to load media up via either of those methods. Or, you could plug in the company's Wireless Media Stick to make similar things happen without wires. Best of all, it's just $89.95; trouble is... how will you keep yourself from losing it?

Samsung Brings Out New Blu-ray Line, UltraViolet Cloud Access

"Smart" is still in, and while 3D took a back seat to a lot of other things at CES 2012, intelligence is still at the front of most companies' minds. Samsung is tapping into a technology developed by Flixster and Rovi, where consumers will be able to import their existing Blu-ray and DVD collections from participating studios into the UltraViolet Cloud, which will make them viewable on a wide range of products. Moreover, Disc to Digital can work with any authorized retail service and will initially be available using a new Flixster application on Samsung's Smart Hub.

 

When consumers insert an eligible physical disc into a 2012 Samsung Blu-ray player and select the Disc to Digital icon, they will launch the Flixster application and can easily add the movie to their UltraViolet locker for a nominal amount. If high definition versions are available, they will have the option to upgrade their standard definition movies for an additional fee.

AMD Mulls Releasing a Faster Clocked Radeon HD 7970 Graphics Card

Goose and Maverick aren't the only ones with a need, a need for speed (that's a Top Gun reference for you young guns out there, not a shout out to EA's Need for Speed series). Apparently AMD isn't content to simply own the fastest single-GPU graphics card on the planet, but it's also flirting with the idea of launching an overclocked version of its Radeon HD 7970 part.

According to news and rumor site Fudzilla, the Sunnyvale chip maker knows its GPU can dance the line at around 1,200MHz, so why not roll out an official version? That's the question AMD is currently mulling.

"Several things indicate that the company is working a faster version and second wave of overclocking products," Fudzilla said, adding "but it has not been decided when and at what speed and brand they come out."

Perhaps it would carry the moniker Radeon HD 7970 OC, or AMD could bump up the model number to 7980. Regardless of what AMD decides, you can bet AMD's add-in board (AIB) partners will offer factory overclocked versions of their own, with or without a new model number in tow.

In case you need a refresher, reference specs for a stock 7970 include a 925MHz engine clockspeed and 3GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1,375MHz on a wide 384-bit bus.

Matias Keyboards Play With Both iPhone And Computer

 

CES has the keyboards, too. Matias has just released three new units for your iPhone and Mac / PC, and yes, we mean both. The idea here is to create a product that works with a computer and iPhone. "With the press of a button, the keyboard connects to your iPhone. You can type a quick text or Twitter message, and then press again to instantly switch back to your Mac or PC. You just need to experience this once, to feel how much faster it is," said Edgar Matias, CEO of Matias. PC and Mac specific versions of each keyboard are available.


The One Keyboard comes equipped with a USB 2.0 hub, and an in-keyboard stand that's perfectly positioned for holding and controlling your iPhone. The Slim One Keyboard is a slimmer, laptop-style keyboard, for people who prefer to save space on their desk. The package includes Matias' stylish MiniRizer stand for your iPhone. Finally, the Tactile One Keyboard brings the incredible feel of Alps mechanical keyswitches to your iPhone. Based on the company's award-winning Tactile Pro Keyboard for Mac, the Tactile One Keyboard includes an in-keyboard stand and a 3-port USB 2.0 hub.

"We wanted to make sure we had all bases covered. Different people have different tastes and different needs. With these 3 keyboards, there's a great option for virtually every type of user," said Matias.

The $99.95 (US) One Keyboard, and the $79.95 Slim One Keyboard, are available now from www.matias.ca and will be available soon from Matias Authorized Resellers. The $199.95 Tactile One Keyboard is available for pre-order now at www.matias.ca.

Crucial Rolls Out Firmware Update to Fix Funky M4 SSD Issue

 

Crucial, the Micron-owned maker of memory and storage products, made good on its promise to fix a strange issue plaguing some M4 solid state drive owners. Earlier this month, Crucial said it was hard at work on new firmware that would address an issue causing some M4 SSDs to stall out Windows and kick out a Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) with an error code that reads 0x00000f4. What made the bug so strange is that it manifested itself after 5,200 hours of use, and it only seemed to affect 64GB models.


Nevertheless, firmware revision 0309 is available for all four M4 SSD capacities (64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB) and includes the following fixes, according to Crucial's release notes:

• Changes made in version 0002 (m4 can be updated to revision 0309 directly from either revision 0001, 0002, or 0009)
• Correct a condition where an incorrect response to a SMART counter will cause the m4 drive to become unresponsive after 5184 hours of Power-on time. The drive will recover after a power cycle, however, this failure will repeat once per hour after reaching this point. The condition will allow the end user to successfully update firmware, and poses no risk to user or system data stored on the drive. This firmware update is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for drives in the field. Although the failure mode due to the SMART Power On Hours counter poses no risk to saved user data, the failure mode can become repetitive, and pose a nuisance to the end user. If the end user has not yet observed this failure mode, this update is required to prevent it from happening.

Crucial says if you're using a SAS Expander, do NOT this particular firmware and hang tight until it releases a compatible update (no time frame was given).

Plextor's Stand-Alone PlexEasy 8x DVD/CD Burner Debuts

Plextor's made a few announcements during the CES stretch, and here's another. The company has just revealed a snazzy new PlexEasy DVD/CD burner, which aims to provide PC-free backups. It's a stand-alone optical storage solution, consisting of a compact 8X DVD/CD Writer with a built-in SD/MMC card reader and a USB connector. It has the ability to connect directly to a wide variety of devices including both mass storage devices and Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) devices such cameras, smartphones, tablets, and camcorders.


Now for the first time, users can burn photos directly from a camera (point-and-shoot or DSLR) or smartphone (iOS, Android, Blackberry, etc.) without going near a computer or learning a complicated software package. It's now a three-step process: 1) connect the device, 2) insert a disc, and 3) press a button to burn a backup.

PlexEasy's compatibility with mass storage devices enables the connection of MP3 players, flash drives, and external hard disks. Users can transfer videos, music, or other data from a device to a DVD/CD disc or from an SD card to an external storage device. By navigating the unit's intuitive menu, users can also duplicate data quickly and easily.

There's no mention of a price yet, but hopefully it'll be on store shelves soon.

CTL, Lenovo Unveil New Classmate PCs

More Classmate PCs based on Intel’s Learning Series are coming down the pipe; CTL showed off two new models at CES, as did Lenovo, and both companies are offering traditional clamshell laptop and convertible form factors.

CTL’s 2go Classmate PC E12 laptop and 2go Convertible Classmate PC NL3 have 10.1-inch screens and feature a dual-core Intel Atom N2600 (1.66 GHz), up to 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and either up to a 320GB-capacity HDD or 128GB SSD, as well as WiFi and Ethernet for connectivity. (The NL3 also has a 3.5G chip inside.) Both have audio jacks, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, VGA, HDMI, 2-in-1 card reader, stereo audio, and an omni-directional microphone and come packing educational software.

NL3

They’re built to be hauled around by youngsters and have ruggedized cases, scratch- and water-resistant screens, carrying handles, and antimicrobial keyboards.

E12

Lenovo’s 10.1-inch Classmate+ PCs have virtually the same specs as the CTL machines: they have the same processor and same capacity for RAM and storage, although the SSD option maxes out at 32GB. They also have one additional USB port and a better webcam (2.0MP versus 1.3MP). Like CTL’s Classmate PCs, Lenovo’s models are built to withstand any punishment inflicted by rambunctious young learners.

The Lenovo Classmate+ PCs will be out yet this month, while CTL’s are coming in early February (and are available for pre-order now). Prices will vary quite a bit depending upon configuration.

Lenovo And Amimon Demo WHDI-Enabled Tablet Concept

Wireless HD. A tablet. Together. That's what Amimon and Lenovo have done together here at CES 2012, with Amimon integrating WHDI technology into Lenovo's IdeaPad. The goal? To "enable wireless transmission of content to any TV." There's supposedly "zero" delay (probably a few milliseconds in reality), and it'll evidently work in theory on Android tablets with 7" and 10" screens. It's just a concept setup for now, but the promise is huge.

"WHDI provides easy set up and sharing of content from our IdeaPad to any larger screen TV. The embedded WHDI solution not only eliminates not only the need for cables, but also any external adaptors as it's all built in," said Judy Liu, Manager MIDH PAD Accessories Product Planning and Development. "Photos, videos, games, anything our users enjoy on their tablet is now accessible to share with others right in the living room. WHDI actually mirrors the tablet user interface to the big TV, zero delay means that they have the same great user experience that they are used to on our android tablet, on their TV."

"The integration of WHDI into the Lenovo tablet is our next step in creating one standard to rule all wireless HD transmission," said Yoav Nissan-Cohen, CEO, AMIMON. "By taking the personal screen of the tablet to the big screen, WHDI gives consumers convenience and flexibility without any hassle or learning curve."

Tablets could obviously stand to have even more wireless functionality, and this sounds like an excellent start. Too bad it's just a concept; let's start shipping this stuff!

Panasonic Reveals Huge Amount Of New HDTVs At CES 2012

HDTVs? Yeah, CES 2012 has plenty of those to go around. Panasonic just introduced their 2012 line of Smart Viera Plasma sets, which center on five new points: Networking, Easy Operation, Picture Quality, Eco and Design elements. There's 17" new models, which range in size from 42" to 65". Also new for 2012 is a cloud-based architecture to increase the VIERA Connect IPTV platform to an unlimited number of apps, thereby cementing its reputation for creating innovative and cutting edge products and focusing on providing the consumer with the ultimate in home entertainment. New to select VIERA TVs is the inclusion of a browser, further enhancing the internet platform, as well as the addition of "3D Real Sound" with 8-Train Speakers to further enhance sound quality.

 

In addition, Panasonic continues its commitment to the environment by improving the panel luminance efficiency, as well as producing mercury and lead free panels. To further improve the in-home 3D viewing experience, Panasonic introduced its latest generation of lightweight 3D glasses. Weighing only 27 grams, the latest generation 3D glasses utilize Bluetooth technology and feature a rechargeable battery.

Panasonic is dedicated to bringing new picture improving technologies to HDTVs and the 2012 line-up builds upon that philosophy. The 2012 VIERA HDTVs produce black levels that have consistently been recognized as among the best in the industry, super fast response time, intuitive and therefore easy to operate controls, an infinite number and variety of internet apps, a new VIERA's, clean and simple design incorporating "Glass and Metal" Design concept to express elegant and luxurious theme.

The six VIERA Plasma series, VT50, GT50, ST50, UT50, XT50, U50, feature self illuminating panels with ultimate black levels, NeoPlasma technologies(VT/GT/ST) providing a black filter with a higher efficiency panel that generates the best balance of black and white under brighter environments. The new Louver filter and new high performance panel result in improved external light shading, improved clarity and improved light transmittance.

The 2012 models employ the NeoPlasma Black 2500 (VT/GT/ST/UT), a 6,220,800 pixel cells FULL local dimming, 24,576 steps of gradation technology (VT/GT) (previously only available in professional monitors), a new custom driver LSI and a fast switching phosphor panel on all of Panasonic's 1080p 3D models.

Dell Unveils Hot New XPS 13 Ultrabook

Dell just announced the thin and powerful new XPS 13 ultrabook. This razor thin ultrabook measures less than a quarter of an inch thick at its thinnest point and weighs as little as 2.99 pounds. The XPS 13 will feature a 13-inch display in a 12-inch form factor. For durability, the XPS 13 features a bonded edge-to-edge Gorilla Glass display.

The XPS 13 is one of the first ultrabooks to feature Intel's Smart Connect Technology. With Intel's Smart Connect Technology, the XPS 13 will wake periodically to detect a wireless network and update your calendar, email, and more so that you will always have the most current information right at your fingerprints. The ultrabook also features Intel Rapid Start Technology and an all flash design which make it possible for the XPS 13 to boot in seconds.

Key hardware specs for the XPS 13 include your choice of Intel Core i3 2367M, Core i5 2467M, or Core i7 2637M dual core processors; Intel HD 3000 graphics; 4GB DDR3 RAM; and a 128GB SSD or 256GB SSD with Intel Rapid Start. According to Dell, the XPS 13 offers a battery life of up to eight hours.

Whether you're working day or night, you'll appreciate the full size, backlit keyboard found on the XPS 13. This ultrabook also features a large glass buttonless touchpad with gesture support. In addition to attractive hardware features, the XPS 13 also features a number of aesthetically pleasing design features such as a frameless design, an aluminum frame, and a carbon fiber base.

Dell's XPS 13 will be available at the end of February. Customers can reserve units on Dell.com today. Dell expects to make the XPS 13 available in select geographies around the world in March.

Razer Displays PC Gaming Tablet Concept Dubbed “Fiona”

Razer took the wraps off of “Fiona”, a PC gaming tablet concept design, at CES this week. Though just a concept design, Fiona portends exciting things in the portable gaming world--specifically, the idea that portable gaming can be as immersive and natively awesome as desktop PC gaming.

Razer is packing in an Intel Core i7 processor into Fiona, whose other (projected) specs will include a 10.1-inch (1280x800) display; multi-touch capabilities; gyro, magnetometer, and accelerometer; force feedback; Dolby 7.1 surround sound; and WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0. The tablet should cost less than $1,000, but Razer didn’t offer any further details on price.

Fiona will have a hybrid user interface consisting of the touchscreen and integrated dual game controllers with analog sticks and according to the design images, at least four buttons on each side. PC games (that are gamepad-enabed) will run on Fiona, with no need for an app version of a particular game or any other modifications.

Of course, with any concept design, you can bet the farm that the finished product--if it ever becomes a finished product--won’t be as beautiful, may have weaker specs, and in general won’t be as titillating, but in this case, we’ll let ourselves feel giddy about the possibilities anyway. We want one of these, now.

Besides, Razer says that developer units are coming soon, and the product should ship in Q4 this year.

  

Sony Brings Their Own 55-Inch HDTV To CES 2012, But It's An LCD

With both LG and Samsung introducing huge OLED TVs at CES 2012 this year, Sony just couldn't be left out. The company today announced that it has developed the next-generation self-emitting display, "Crystal LED Display," and presented a Full HD, 55-inch prototype model. Yep, that's another 55-inch television, but there's no OLED to be found here. That said, it does happen to be the industry's first 55-inch Full HD self-emitting display using LEDs as the light source.

The "Crystal LED Display" is a self-emitting display that uses Sony's unique methods to mount ultrafine LEDs in each of the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) colors, equivalent to the number of pixels (approximately six-million LEDs for Full HD). The RGB LED light source is mounted directly on the front of the display, dramatically improving the light use efficiency. This results in images with strikingly higher contrast (in both light and dark environments), wider color gamut, superb video image response time, and wider viewing angles when compared to existing LCD and plasma displays, with low power consumption. Furthermore, due to the display's structure, the "Crystal LED Display" is also ideal for large screens.

Compared to existing LCD displays, the 55-inch prototype exhibited at CES is boasting approximately 3.5 times*1 higher contrast in light environment, approximately 1.4 times wider color gamut, and approximately 10 times faster video image response time (all values based on current Sony models). Sony envisages a wide range of applications for its "Crystal LED Display", ranging from professional to consumer use. Parallel to its continued development and commercialization of organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, Sony will work conscientiously to bring the "Crystal LED Display" to market.

Of course, no price is being thrown around, but let's be honest: it won't be cheap.

SanDisk Introduces World's Largest SDXC Memory Cards

What if the memory card you used each day, only got bigger? Growingmemory would be a technology to end all technologies, but until then,we'll just have to settle for buying more of the stuff. SanDisk hasintroduced the world's fastest 128GB SDXC card at CES 2012, which iscapable of capturing up to ten hours of Full HD 3D video. It features a45 megabyte per second read/write fate, and it'll ship worldwide in 64GBand 128GB capacities with retail price tags of $199.99 and $399.99,respectively. 

 

Not surprisingly, the company plans for these to be usedby high-end DSLRs and HD camcorders, but you can pop 'em into prettymuch anything that'll read the format.

MAINGEAR Welcomes Radeon HD 7900 series Graphics Cards to the Fold

MAINGEAR’s line of gaming desktops are getting a boost in the form of the AMD Radeon HD 7950 and 7970 graphics cards. The SHIFT and F131 series will get the new cards straightaway, and the VYBE line will see it “in the near future”, according to MAINGEAR.

We’ve already waxed long about the pros and cons of the 28nm 7970, including its AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology, 3GB of DDR5 memory, DVI and mini-display ports (two of each), HDMI port, multi-card support, and the GCN architecture.

MAINGEAR systems equipped with the 7950 or 7970 come with lifetime labor and phone support as well as hardware warranty options of one to three years.

LaCie Intros 2big Thunderbolt And eSATA Hub Thunderbolt At CES

Thunderbolt clearly is the port to beat at this year's CES, and LaCie is announcing their latest peripherals at the show. There's the new 2big Thunderbolt Series and the eSATA Hub Thunderbolt series, the latter of which allows users to connect external eSATA drives to their Macs. With speeds up to three times faster than FireWire 800, the LaCie 2big also features RAID security, hot-swappable disks, daisy chain convenience and a solid-aluminum casing. Heavy data users will appreciate capacities up to 8TB with jaw-dropping transfer rates up to 311MB/s. Daisy chaining multiple 2bigs even increases overall performance.

The eSATA Hub Thunderbolt Series gives new life to existing eSATA drives with Thunderbolt innovation and backward compatibility. It connects to a late-model Mac via the Thunderbolt port and features two eSATA ports. This lets the user connect two eSATA external hard drives to the Hub and get full eSATA speeds on their new Mac. The Hub also features a second Thunderbolt port that lets the user connect other Thunderbolt peripherals. This means up to 12 eSATA drives (6x Dock, 2x eSATA links per Hub) can be connected via a single connection to a Mac with full eSATA 3Gb/s speeds.

The 2big Thunderbolt Series and eSATA Hub Thunderbolt Series will be available in the first quarter of 2012, but no pricing information is available just yet. Better budget for a T-bolt cable, too.