Review of Sony Playstation Phone

Past few years experienced tremendous boom for PlayStation Phones. Sony once again proved that when it comes to technology and innovations it leaves behind its competitors.

Well known Sony Xperia Play station phone with touch screen and other gaming functionality has become a huge success in gaming phone category. Apart from same Smartphone features, Sony has added physical control for gaming in order to provide that enables the Smartphone to show what they have got for their users.

This is the very first gaming phone having Android 2.3 that has virtual keyboard, internet facility and better downloading options. Replacing analog stick with touch sensitive circular controls that work great on many games, this Smartphone has once again proved that it make changes according to the comfort zone of users. If you don’t like to use touch screen for non gaming commands, you can use gamepad in order to check browse menus. Sony has preloaded six games and has capacity to download over 20 games that are available on Sony Xperia app at the moment.

Sony Xperia Play station phone also supports Wi-Fi and multiplayer gaming thereby giving you an option to share your experience among your friends. Since it is also a phone it is obvious that while playing games you may get obstructed by incoming calls. In such case no need to worry as your game will go on pause mode and you can attend your call.

Adding gaming features doesn’t mean that Sony would forget that it’s a phone. This Smartphone has great call quality along with low background interference. It has got stereo speakers that enhance your gaming experience. Other features of Sony Xperia include Skype so that you can be in touch with your friends whenever you want. Design of this play station phone is robust with high-end exterior. Smooth sliding mechanism, Stylish finishing add to the features of Sony Xperia gaming phone.

If you compare this cell phone with other gaming mobiles like N-Gage, PSP-3000 models, you will find this Smartphone much more attractive and easy to use. With so many positive features to check we should also look at a few downsides that this electronic gadget has. This phone is not offering any kind of access to PlayStation Network. It has 5MP camera at rear and 0.3MP camera in front that does not provide good visibility during video chat.

Overall by examining its gaming and basic phone features, we would say that this phone can be considered as an alternative of wireless users who don’t have Play station or may be this phone is for those who want to have gaming experience of play station on phone. If you are investing your money for powerful Android phones and are looking for both good gaming and phone features, I would suggest you to think before putting hands on Sony Xperia gaming phone.

We can say that it’s a great start from Sony in smart phone category but sadly there are a lot of features that need to be perfected.

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Sharkoon Announces T28 Case for Long Graphics Cards

Sharkoon presents another series of cases: Available in three color editions, the Sharkoon T28 offers a lot of space especially for hard drive installation, thankfully due to the removable hard drive cage, and also perfect for extra-long graphic cards.
Externally the Sharkoon T28 offers a black body and a rectilinear mesh front design. Power and Reset buttons are elegantly chromed. In regards to the front connectors, Audio In/Out stands ready between three USB2.0 ports and a USB3.0 interface. An acrylic window on the left side panel gives an insight into the interior of the colored mainboard tray. Choose from three color editions: Red, green, and for the first time after numerous customer suggestions, blue. Also, the operating and hard drive LEDs illuminate in the edition color as well as the three pre-installed 120 mm fans. Two fans rotate in the front, the third in the back. All possess a 4-pin power supply and a 3-pin mainboard connector.
The Sharkoon T28 allows various options with the drive assembly: Two external 5.25 inch and eight internal 3.5 inch bays are available. In one of the two 5.25 slots an external 3.5 inch device alternately can be mounted, appropriate installation material is enclosed. 2.5 inch disks also find room: Configuration includes two mounting frames for hard drives and SSDs in both installation sizes. If necessary, the case converts in no time to support the installation of longer graphic cards: The eight hard drive bays are divided, with two firmly installed and a separate modular hard drive cage. By removing the middle three-cage, enough room is created for up to 40 cm long graphic cards.
In regards to the other functions Sharkoon focuses on proven comfort: The mainboard tray is provided with a CPU cooler mount opening and feedthroughs for orderly and concealed cable relocation, the drives assembly occurs with practical quick-locking mechanisms, the power supply is positioned on the floor of the case directly over a dust filter protected air intake, and in the rear two rubberized hoses are provided.

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Seagate Finalizes Samsung Storage Acquisition Deal

Seagate has completed a $1.4 billion cash and stock options deal to acquire Samsung’s hard drive division. The deal would see Samsung license flash memory technology to Seagate for use in solid state drives (SSD), and Samsung buying hard drives from Seagate for use in its consumer computer division.
This transaction was announced in April 2011 along with a series of other agreements between Seagate and Samsung.
“Together, Seagate and Samsung have aligned our current and future product development efforts and roadmaps in order to accelerate time-to-market efficiency for new products and position us to better address the increasing demands for storage,” said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman, president and CEO in a press release. “It is an exciting time in the industry with rapidly evolving opportunities in many markets including mobile computing, cloud computing, and solid state storage.”
“The strategic relationship will open new opportunities for the two companies by mutually complementing each other’s creative technology solutions for a broad diversity of IT applications,” said Oh-Hyun Kwon, vice chairman of Device Solutions of Samsung Electronics in a statement.
Though Seagate’s facilities were spared in the catastrophic floods in Thailand, the company has faced a myriad of financial troubles during the last fiscal year. In Q3 2010, Seagate reported a profit of $503 million. A year later that profit slumped to $103 million.
Despite this slump in profit margin, In an interview with Bloomberg in November, CEO Luczo claimed he could raise prices 40 percent because of flood related shortages; instead, he said, he would be offering increases of 20 percent to customers that commit to one- to three-year contracts.

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AMD Announces New A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs)

AMD today updated its A-Series line-up of desktop and notebook Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), further improving its top-performing family of dual- and quad-core APUs. Along with speed and performance improvements, AMD Steady Video update make this unique feature more compelling than ever. For desktop users, AMD extends its overclocking pedigree to the APU; for the first time users can tune both x86 and graphics settings in a single processor for boosted performance. The updated AMD A-Series APUs combine up to four x86 CPU cores with up to 400 Radeon cores, delivering powerful DirectX 11-capable, discrete-level graphics and dedicated HD video processing on a single chip. These new APUs increase performance and deliver a richer feature set than existing AMD A-series APUs. Plus, only AMD APUs offer AMD Dual Graphics for an up to 144 percent visual performance boost when a select APU is paired with a select AMD Radeon HD 6500 Series graphics card.
The AMD A-Series family of APUs also features AMD Steady Video, designed to stabilize videos during playback – making unsteady, jumpy content look steady and smooth as you watch. On select systems using AMD A-Series APUs, Internet Explorer 9 will include an AMD Steady Video plugin, unlocking one-click control to simplify access to the premium AMD Steady Video feature for video stabilization.
All AMD A-Series processors are powered by AMD VISION Engine Software, a suite of software that provides end-users with regular updates designed to improve system performance and stability, and can add new software enhancements.
New A-Series Desktop APUs launched today:

• A8-3870K: Four CPU cores, 3.0 GHz CPU base (unlocked), 100W TDP, 400 Radeon cores, 600 MHz GPU base (unlocked), 4 MB L2 cache
• A8-3820: Four CPU cores, 2.5 GHz CPU base (2.8 GHz Turbo Core), 65W TDP, 400 Radeon cores, 4 MB L2 cache
• A6-3670K: Four CPU cores, 2.7 GHz CPU base (unlocked), 100W TDP, 320 Radeon cores, 600 MHz GPU base (unlocked), 4 MB L2 cache
• A6-3620: Four CPU cores, 2.2 GHz CPU base (2.5 GHz Turbo Core), 65W TDP, 320 Radeon cores, 4 MB L2 cache
• A4-3420: Two CPU cores, 2.8 GHz CPU base, 65W TDP, 160 Radeon cores, 1 MB L2 cache

New Notebook APUs launched today:

• A8-3550MX: Four CPU cores, 2.0 GHz CPU base (2.7 GHz Turbo Core), 45W TDP, 400 Radeon Cores, 4 MB L2 cache
• A8-3520M: Four CPU cores, 1.6 GHz CPU base (2.5 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 400 Radeon Cores, 4 MB L2 cache
• A6-3430MX: Four CPU cores, 1.7 GHz CPU base (2.4 GHz Turbo Core), 45W TDP, 320 Radeon Cores, 4 MB L2 cache
• A6-3420M: Four CPU cores, 1.5 GHz CPU base (2.4 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 320 Radeon Cores, 4 MB L2 cache
• A4-3330MX: Two CPU cores, 2.2 GHz CPU base (2.6 GHz Turbo Core), 45W TDP, 240 Radeon Cores, 2 MB L2 cache
• A4-3320M:Two CPU cores, 2.0 GHz CPU base (2.6 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 240 Radeon Cores, 2 MB L2 cache
• A4-3305M:Two CPU cores, 1.9 GHz CPU base (2.5 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 160 Radeon Cores, 1 MB L2 cache
• E2-3000M: Two CPU cores, 1.8 GHz CPU base (2.4 GHz Turbo Core), 35W TDP, 160 Radeon Cores, 1 MB L2 Cache

The new AMD A-Series family of APUs improves the first generation of highly successful and revolutionary desktop and notebook processors, providing an outstanding experience for consumers seeking more responsive multitasking, long battery-life, vivid graphics, lifelike games, lag-free videos and the ultimate multimedia performance.
Desktop APUs in the component channel as well as systems based on the new AMD A-Series APUs will hit the retail market over the next several weeks.

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Microsoft Pulls “Bulldozer” Hotfix

Claiming that the patch was incomplete and released by mistake, Microsoft has pulled a hotfix for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 designed to improve performance on AMD’s “Bulldozer” platform. This hotfix was supposed to offer a performance increase of 10 to 15 percent by addressing performance issues with simultaneous multithreading. However, according to HardOCP, because of incomplete code found in the patch, performance for some users was actually lowered.

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Hard Drive Manufacturers Cut Warranty Periods

Citing a need to “align to current Industry standards”, Seagate has announced it intends to reduce warranty periods on its hard drives, matching a move done by competitor Western Digital.
According to The Register, which first broke the story, Seagate’s warranties will be reduced as of December 31, while Western Digital will follow suit on January 2. All drives shipped prior to those respective dates will still carry the same warranty as before.
Seagate’s new warranty policy applies to hard drives shipped in desktops and consumer electronics devices. Seagate says there will be no change in warranty policy on “mission critical enterprise drives.”
Western Digital will continue to maintain their policy of a five-year warranty on its “premium desktop/notebook products, including the WD Caviar Black, WD Scorpio Black and WD VelociRaptor products,” according to a company spokesperson.
Both companies deny that this change in warranty policy is related to floods in Thailand which have caused a shortage in drives.
“By aligning to current industry standards, Seagate can continue to focus its investments on technology innovation and unique product features that drive value for our customers,” the company claims.
In an email to customers announcing the change in policy, Western Digital said: “In the near future we will be unveiling an extended warranty offering with special pricing.”

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KFA2 Launches GeForce GTX 580 MDT X4 Graphics Card

KFA2, the European premium NVIDIA brand, announced today the GTX 580 MDT X4 EX OC, the latest in the line of MDT series multi-display performance gaming graphics cards. The KFA2 GeForce GTX 580 MDT X4 is designed to be the flagship product within our MDT range, offering unparalleled performance in the latest DirectX 11 games in full 1080p.
Whilst the KFA2 GeForce 580 MDT X4 supports up to 4 monitors for multi-display, its main feature includes ‘Virtual single monitor mode’ which shares one desktop across 3 screens, producing surround HD game play (50Mhz compatible monitors needed for this feature). This myriad of features and unrivaled performance is complimented by a KFA2 custom designed LED chassis and high efficiency triple fan cooling solution.
In addition, KFA2 will be bundling the new, custom KFA2 developed EZY Display Setting Management software to make configuring and managing multiple displays and the application windows, with ease of a single click of the mouse. More info can be found at here.
“The GTX 580 MDT is highly over-clocked at 840MHz with a triple LED cooling systems and the option for Multi Display, all these features combine, has produced a new level to consider when looking at the GTX 580 range ” said Graham Brown, European Marketing Manager.
KFA2 continues to lead the way in performance graphics cards with new innovations in cutting edge hardware and software.

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Research Firm Claims That Google is ‘Conspiring’ to Kill Firefox

Last week, security research firm Accuvant released a report – commissioned by Google – which claimed that Chrome was the most ‘secure’ browser and Firefox was the least secure. Now, rival security firm NSS Labs has published a report claiming that Accuvant’s methodology is flawed, and is part of a “larger strategic move by Google to eliminate the competition”.
The report, entitled “The Browser Wars Just Got Ugly”, raises a number of questions about the investigative methodology employed by Accuvant during the creation of the report. NSS Labs allege that “the clear bias in the test methodology” diminishes the report, from what is otherwise a respected research institution, into a propaganda piece for Google.
“Accuvant disabled highly relevant portions of non-Google browsers’ protection without noting the impact on the overall results,” NSS researchers note in their report. “This error in testing resulted in an erroneously negative assessment of the browsers’ protection capabilities, since some browsers will only block malware during or after download and before execution.
“The JIT hardening analysis failed to give ample credit to the more proactive technologies employed by IE9, which happened to not be present in Chrome,” NSS further alleges in the report.
The authors that wrote the NSS report also question the timing of the Accuvant study’s release, which coincided with the expiring of the Google-Firefox funding deal. This deal, which expired in late November, made up 84% of Mozilla’s $123 million in revenue in the 2010 fiscal year.
In an interview with Computerworld, NSS Chief Technology Officer Vikram Phatak told tech-journalist Gregg Keizer that: “This is a vendor-funded paper, and in these cases, the vendor is going to drive the methodology [of the testing], which appears to be the case here.”
In a footnote in their report, NSS noted that it analyzed Accuvant’s study at the request of some of its customers.

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Study: Internet Explorer Users Have Low Risk Intelligence

Days after a Google commissioned report was released stating that Internet Explorer was the second most secure browser – between Chrome and Firefox – a new study has been released by risk consulting firm Projection Point claims that Internet Explorer users have a “low risk intelligence”.
Projection Point’s test involved users ranking 50 statements on a scale on 1 to 10 based on how certain they think the statements are true or not. Most questions have little to do with computer security or known web vulnerabilities, but rather are general historical questions and logic questions.
In a blog post on Projection Point’s website, Benjamin Jakobus, the company’s CTO, deduced that, “users of monopoly software (that historically has been responsible for many of the most severe software vulnerabilities) are not as good at estimating probabilities as their more adventurous counterparts.”
It was also noted that, “Apple users are the best when it comes to dealing with risk”.
Mr. Jakobus concluded, “perhaps the use of Microsoft Internet Explorer should be considered an indicator of poor risk intelligence.”
Given the small sample size of 351, and the lack of published margin of error, the statistical validity of such a survey is questionable.

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ADATA Offers New Line of Value Priced SSDs [PR]

ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leader in DRAM memory and Flash application products, today introduced the S396 Solid State Drive (SSD), providing a needed cost-effective entry solution to what is often seen by consumers as a high-priced component market. Now, consumers who have been hesitant to upgrade their machines are provided with an appealing incentive.
After extended periods of use, many computers see a marked decrease in system speed. A common method seen to eliminate this problem is to upgrade the hard drive to a SSD. Because the method by which SSDs transfer data is entirely different from that of conventional hard drives, SSDs provide markedly higher speeds. In addition, SSDs have further advantages of low heat-discharge, low power-consumption, lightweight structure, and high impact resistance.
The S396 utilizes optimized firmware, allowing for appreciably increased performance. In normal situations, 90% of computing tasks involve transfers of data packets 4KB in size. This means that the performance of 4KB file transmission plays a critical role in users’ experience. The S396 runs 44K IOPS of 4KB random write and 280/250 MB/s of sequential read and write.
The S396 will be available in 30GB capacity, and utilize the SATA 3Gb/sec interface. Users of ADATA SSDs are able to download Norton Internet Security 2012 (60-day trial) for free, and experience enhanced mobility and security with just few mouse clicks. All ADATA SSDs are backed by 3-year product warranty.

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AMD to Appoint Dr. Lisa Su as Senior Vice President and GM, Global Business Units

AMD announced today that Dr. Lisa Su, 42, has agreed to join the company as senior vice president and general manager, Global Business Units. She will report to president and chief executive officer Rory Read. Dr. Su, who was most recently senior vice president and general manager, Networking and Multimedia at Freescale Semiconductor Inc., will oversee AMD’s business units focused on the Client, Commercial, Graphics, Professional Graphics, and Game Console markets.
“We are fortunate to have Dr. Su join our leadership team,” Read said. “As one of the most respected and technically astute executives in the global semiconductor industry, she brings an impressive track record of business execution driving leading-edge microprocessor technologies, developing deep customer relationships, and transforming organizations while growing market share.”
Dr. Su will oversee the team responsible for driving end-to-end business execution of AMD’s product solutions including strategy, product definition, and business plans to ensure AMD consistently delivers industry-leading solutions. She will also have responsibility for driving alliances and partnerships with software developers to facilitate the development of a complete software ecosystem that can take advantage of the capabilities in AMD’s differentiated products.
Dr. Su joined Freescale in 2007 as chief technology officer, where she led the company’s technology roadmap, and research and development efforts. She was promoted to senior vice president and general manager, Networking and Multimedia in 2008, and was responsible for global strategy, marketing, product management and engineering for their embedded communications and applications processor businesses. Prior to her tenure at Freescale, Dr. Su spent thirteen years with IBM in various engineering and business leadership positions, including vice president of the Semiconductor Research and Development Center responsible for the strategic direction of IBM’s silicon technologies, joint development alliances and semiconductor R&D operations. Prior to IBM, she was a member of the technical staff at Texas Instruments in the Semiconductor Process and Device Center (SPDC).
Dr. Su has bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was named Fellow of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) in 2009. She has authored or co-authored more than 40 technical publications and was named MIT Technology Review’s Top 100 Young Innovators in 2002. She will begin her employment with AMD on January 3, 2012 and will be based in Austin, Texas.

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Microsoft Gives AMD’s ‘Bulldozer’ an Update

Microsoft today released a hotfix for Windows 7 users using AMD’s ‘Bulldozer’ chips that aims to address performance issues with simultaneous multithreading.
According to the hotfix page: This article introduces an update that optimizes the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs that are used by Windows 7-based or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computers. Currently, the performance of AMD Bulldozer CPUs is slower than expected. This behavior occurs because the threading logic in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2 is not optimized to use the Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) scheduling feature. This feature was introduced in the Bulldozer family of AMD CPUs.

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G.Skill roles out the ultimate RipjawsZ DDR3 2400MHz 64GB(8GBx8) memory kit.

Following the exciting announcement of its extreme RipjawsZ series quad channel DDR3 memory, G.Skill has once again pushed the DDR3 memory performance to the boundary, and successfully developed the super sized & super speed DDR3 2400MHz CL10 64GB(8GBx8) kit, exclusively for Intel X79 platform.
Every single memory module of this epic 2400MHz 64GB kit is hand-tested, hand-picked by G.Skill legendary R&D team. All the chips are highly selected and tested with G.Skill rigorous internal validation process to ensure the maximum stability, while maintaining decent overclocking headroom. The following screen shows the super kit under memtest burning test with ASUS Rampage 4 Extreme motherboard and Intel 3960K processor.
All G.Skill memory products come with a lifetime warranty and the G.Skill technical team is always ready to provide consumers with complete technical support via online forums, telephone and email.

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NVIDIA Appoints Former Macromedia CEO to Board of Directors

NVIDIA announced today that it has named Rob Burgess, a veteran technology executive and independent consultant, to its board of directors. Burgess, age 53, served as chief executive officer of Macromedia, Inc., a provider of Internet and multimedia software, from 1996 to 2005, and as the company’s chairman or executive chairman from 1998 to 2005, when it was acquired by Adobe Systems Inc. He has been a member of Adobe’s board since then, and has served since 2010 as a director of IMRIS Inc., a provider of image-guided therapy solutions.
Prior to joining Macromedia, he held a variety of executive positions at Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI), and was chief executive of Alias Research, Inc., a 3D software company, from 1991 until its acquisition by SGI in 1995. He has a bachelor’s of commerce degree from McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.
Burgess expands NVIDIA’s board to nine members.

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Has AMD’s Chief Marketing Officer Been Axed?

AMD’s Chief Marketing Officer, Nigel Dessau, announced yesterday on Twitter that he is leaving the company and speculation is rampant that he has been fired by new CEO Rory P. Read as part of Mr. Read’s promise to restructure the company.
Mr. Dessau left Sun Microsystems in 2008, where he was senior vice president of Storage Marketing, to join AMD. Prior to his time at Sun Microsystems he was involved with IBM and Storage Tek.
In early November CEO Read laid off the majority of AMD’s marketing department as part of his promise to shareholders to restructure the company.
The announcement of Mr. Dessau’s departure comes days after AMD announced that previous marketing material describing the Bulldozer processer as having 2 billion transistors was an error, as the chip only has 1.2 billion.
Mr. Dessau has has declined Hardware Canucks’ request for comment.

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Corsair Announces Retail Availability of New Vengeance Gaming Keyboards and Mice

Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced immediate retail availability of their new line of Vengeance PC gaming peripherals.
Corsair’s new PC gaming peripherals line includes four new HID products: The Vengeance K60 and Vengeance K90 gaming keyboards and the Vengeance M60 and Vengeance M90 laser gaming mice. A key feature of all four of these new Vengeance Series products is the use of an aluminum structure to provide strength and durability, as well as a stunning industrial design.
“We’re hardcore gamers ourselves, and with the new Corsair Vengeance line, we’ve developed precisely the products we always wanted.” said Ruben Mookerjee, VP and General Manager of the Components Business Unit at Corsair. “They’re carefully designed to give you the competitive edge you need to win.”
Vengeance K60 and M60: Designed For First-Person Shooters
The Vengeance K60 gaming keyboard and the Vengeance M60 laser gaming mouse are designed for PC Gamers who specialize in First-Person Shooters (FPS). The Vengeance K60 keyboard features the predictable linear response and light touch of Cherry MX Red mechanical key switches for more agile movement and faster multi-taps. The contoured left-wrist rest plus shaped and textured WASD key caps increase comfort, even during extended gaming sessions. The K60 uses an advanced key matrix design that delivers complete anti-ghosting so no keystrokes are missed. Unlike other USB gaming keyboards that are limited to the USB-standard 6-key rollover, the K60 features a 20-key rollover and a blazing fast 1ms reporting rate (1000 reports per second).
The Vengeance M60 mouse features an enthusiast-grade 5700 DPI Avago Technologies LaserStream gaming sensor with on-the-fly resolution switching, an aluminum unibody design with adjustable center of gravity, programmable lift detection, a high-mass scroll wheel, and PTFE glide pads. A key innovation of the M60 mouse is the Sniper button, allowing an instant toggle from fast movement, high DPI-resolution mode down to a high-precision mode for more accurate aiming.
Vengeance K90 and Vengeance M90: Designed For MMO and RTS Gaming
The Vengeance K90 gaming keyboard and M90 laser gaming mouse are optimized to meet the unique needs of MMO and RTS gaming. The Vengeance K90 keyboard also features Cherry MX Red key switches, full anti-ghosting, 20-key rollover, 1ms reporting rate, and each key is individually backlit with a cool blue LED that can be adjusted to three different levels of intensity. The K90 also includes 18 dedicated macro keys that can be programmed either through software or on the fly, and with three user-selectable banks of macros you have a total of 54 independent macros available at any time. Your macros are stored in flash memory on the keyboard so you’ll be able to bring them with you wherever your gaming takes you.
The Vengeance M90 gaming mouse features 15 fully programmable buttons, arranged and tuned for intuitive operation without compromising your grip, and on-board flash memory lets you save your macros in up to six profiles that can be switched on-the-fly. The Avago Technologies 5700 DPI LaserStream gaming sensor allows on-the-fly resolution adjustment and the programmable lift detection, high-mass scroll wheel, and PTFE glide pads ensure swift, precise movement. The intuitive Windows-based Vengeance software utility lets you manage your macro keys, on-board profiles, and sensor settings so you can customize your M90 to exactly match your gaming style.

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Lian Li Shows Off ‘Revolutionary’ PC-100 Case

Experienced case maker Lian Li has unveiled a radical rethink of the PC case, the new PC-100. The PC-100 is a long overdue redesign of the traditional PC chassis that improves cooling, prolongs component life, and saves space. This beautiful and compact mid tower case is roomy enough for the longest graphics cards and largest E-ATX/XL-ATX/ATX motherboards, thanks to its innovative layout. It is also remarkably easy to assemble without tools. Lian Li’s innovative PC-100 is a breath of fresh air for the stagnant PC case market. Superior cooling helps CPUs and graphics cards run at maximum speed without slowdowns or crashes due to overheating. This also means higher speeds for overclockers, and extends the life of disk drives and motherboards. However, traditional case layouts have two serious barriers to optimal cooling, performance, and ease-of-use: firstly, they block airflow with a wall of hard disk drives inside the front of the case. Secondly, important ports and connectors are at the back, making them difficult to access – a defect that manufacturers can only try to address by adding a few front panel connectors.
The PC-100′s radical redesign solves both these problems. For the first time, a case is available that provides a clear path for cool air to flow unimpeded across the CPU, chipset, and voltage regulation components, forcing heat out of the case with maximum efficiency. The result is a dramatic improvement in cooling performance with standard PC parts, and no extra cost. The PC-100 actually needs less space than competing cases, but provides a less cramped interior, easier access to external connectors, and a shorter, more direct path for airflow.
Two Lian Li innovations have made this breakthrough in cooling possible. In the PC-100, the motherboard is rotated 180 degrees. So all those hard-to-reach connectors at the back of traditional PCs are now easily accessible at the front of the PC-100, and the graphics card is much closer to cool air drawn in at the front. Meanwhile, the hard disk drives are moved to the side of the case from their traditional location at the front (similar to Lian Li’s recently released PC-90 chassis). The airflow direction remains the same, from the front of the case to the back, driven by two large, quiet 140mm fans filling the rear of the case, and another 120mm fan at the front.
Despite this radical redesign, there’s less cable clutter. The front panel keeps things neat, with a cable access door. If necessary, any cable can still be routed to the rear or side internally through ducts, so no extra cables protrude from the front of the case and the front panel can be opened without unplugging cables.
The PC-100 also offers enhanced hard drive cooling. With the top side of three hard drives now arranged flat against the outside of the case, they are able to radiate heat directly to the outside over a bigger surface area, instead of being crammed together in a stack as they are in traditional cases. And there’s still unimpeded airflow moving across every drive.
Unobstructed airflow reduces noise, as well as keeping the PC cooler. To further control noise and vibration, there are rubber anti-vibration pads under the case, and the disk drives are isolated with rubber strips on the hard drive tray.
All the neat Lian Li features that buyers have come to expect are still there, like washable air filters, a graphics card holder for stability and protection, and water cooling ports.
There’s space for up to 8 full sized drives and 8 expansion slots. For removable and optical drives, there are two bays at the front of the case – at the top to avoid obstructing air flow.
Cool both inside and out, the PC-100′s classic black anodized aluminum construction and smooth, rounded lines provide the perfect understated complement to the technical wizardry concealed inside.

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Cougar Revises GX-Series PSUs with Newer Fan Design and Flat Cables

COUGAR revised the award-winning 80PLUS Gold certified GX-series Power Supply. The fan used previously was replaced by a proprietary development of COUGAR. From now on, one 140 mm fan COUGAR VORTEX HDB is used. The fans of the VORTEX HDB series have a much longer lifetime (300,000 hours MTBF) and are still much quieter. Bearing noise is through the hydro-dynamic bearings almost impossible. We have responded. In response to a lot of customer feedback, now modular flat cables are used to achieve a perfect airflow and provide a simpler interface cable assembly. The internal filtering has been optimized for better ripple noise levels and a further increase in efficiency achieved. Special attention was paid to the design of the power supply housing. This is enhanced by the redesigned golden fan grill and the fan comes with its patented VORTEX fan blade design very nicely. The new photo-realistic packaging gives the impression that you had the power supply before opening in your hands.

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PNY Launches HP v240b/v240g Tiny USB Flash Drives

PNY Technologies, Inc., is considered a leading designer, manufacturer and a worldwide leader in DRAM Memory and Flash Memory products, and authorized partnership with HP since 2008. December 2011 PNY has introduced its popular line-up – the HP v240b/v240g, which is a tiny but elegant designed drive targeting mainly business people. The drive comes in no-nonsense plastic casing in classic blue and green colors. The clean design is meant to symbolize tidiness and a coherent professional feeling at the workplace. The drive comes with a cap to protect the USB plug from dust and water. In fact, the drive is not only rugged, it is also dustproof and waterproof, with the strong polymer lending it durability and resistance to shock. The cap has a keyhole to attach a lanyard, useful to attach it to your purse, keychain, belt, etc. The COB packaging helps achieve such a small dimensions of 7 mm x 16 mm x 31 mm and just 4.2 grams, thus giving it ultra-portability.
Even though it appears tiny, it comes in sizes as large as 32 GB. Thanks to its large capacity, you can share and transfer your digital documents, pictures, video clips and music files. With a USB 2.0 interface, this drive sports read speeds up to 18 MB/s and write speeds up to 8 MB/s. The drive is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7, and even on Mac OS 10.3 and above.

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AMD Preparing ‘Ultrabook’ Competitor?

In an interview with The Australian [paywalled], AMD’s AMD Australia and New Zealand country manager Brian Slattery said that the company is preparing a “ultrathin” line of AMD powered laptop’s to compete with Intel’s ‘Ultrabooks’.
Mr. Slattery told The Australian that the computers could be available as early as January, but didn’t confirm a specific launch date. AMD has yet to formally announce a name; though rumor has it they may opt for the moniker ‘Ultrathins’.
Mr. Slattery did confirm to The Australian that AMD doesn’t plan on being “prescriptive” in defining exactly what an ‘Ultrathins” configuration would have to be. Intel, in contrast, states that ‘Ultrabooks’ must be clocked at a minimum speed, and have neither optical drive nor solid-state storage. AMD would instead produce chips with integrated Radeon graphics on the processor consistent with an ultra thin form factor.
More details on AMD’s planned ‘Ultrathin’ lineup are expected at CES in January.
AMD has not yet responded to Hardware Canucks’ request for comment.

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NVIDIA Giving Out Tons of Prizes in Holiday Sweepstakes

With Christmas fast approaching, our friends at NVIDIA want to Gear Up their fans that have helped grow their Facebook community by more than 400% this year. So, NVIDIA is announcing the “12 Days of Gear Up Giving” sweepstakes, where GeForce fans can win daily prizes including GeForce GTX GPUs and 3D Vision 2 kits.
The Gear Up prize for each day is determined by Fan Tiers. As new Fan Tiers are unlocked, the prize for that day will update to reflect the new tier that the community unlocked. The more fans NVIDIA gets, the better the prizing gets. Total prize giveaway is $5,000.
Tier 1 (2000 fan increase):  Choice of 3DV 2 Kit or GTX 550 Ti
Tier 2 (3000 fan increase):  GTX 560
Tier 3 (4000 fan increase):  GTX 560 SLI
Tier 4 (4500 fan increase):  3DV 2 Monitor & Glasses
Tier 5 (5500 fan increase):  GTX 580 SLI + x79 motherboard
To boost your chances of winning, invite your friends to become GeForce fans.  NVIDIA will reward you for every friend that you refer by giving you an extra entry into the sweepstakes. One lucky fan will be selected to win daily.
To enter head on over to the NVIDA Facebook page. Contest is open to residents of the United States and Canada. Contest closes December 23.

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Thecus Announces N4100EVO 4-bay NAS Powered by Cavium Dual-Core Processor

Thecus is well known in the market for always putting innovative hardware and state of the art technology on the table for a fair price in order to guarantee our customers the best value. Thecus’s new N4100EVO NAS offer a broad range of advanced features and differentiate themselves with low-energy hardware for those who place strong value on cutting down their electricity costs and carbon footprint. This cost-effective hardware is the first four-bay NAS on the market to feature the speedy and efficient dual-core Cavium CPU to get the quick transfer speeds necessary for large backups and heavy use. The N4100EVO is designed to change the way you run your office, at home or at work.
Dual Core CPU
The N4100EVO doesn’t bust your budget and still has plenty of power to throw around. It integrates a Cavium dual-core processor, making file sharing, web hosting, and even heavy data backups easy and fast. This four bay NAS will also have 2 USB 2.0 ports for easy data backup to and from external hard drives and an LCD screen for more convenient administration.
Hardware RAID and the Powerful XOR Engine
The XOR Engine makes the N4100EVO the first SMB/home NAS on the market to use dedicated hardware to lighten the load of building RAID and free up the CPU to keep your NAS running fast. The N4100EVO embeds a dedicated XOR engine in order to speed up all RAID 5 computations and minimize one of the main drawbacks of RAID protection: rebuilding time!
As the demand for storage capacity continues to grow, SMB/home users are requiring greater integration of storage into their environments,” said Florence Shih, Thecus Technology General Manager. “The N4100EVO is designed to deliver performance, features, and reliability at an affordable price to satisfy these needs.”
“Cavium is delighted to be working with Thecus in introducing the revolutionary 4-Bay NAS product to the market,” says Douglas Cheung, Director of Marketing for Consumer and Home Networking at Cavium. “Our ECONA family of dual-core System-On-Chips (SoCs) deliver best–in-class NAS performance with the lowest power consumption. N4100EVO leverages these attributes of ECONA SoC to deliver an energy efficient 4-bay solution without compromising the performance or cost targets.”

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CPU World is reporting that Intel plans to shift their CPU lineup in Q2 2012, dropping support for 19 chips from their Clarkdale, Lynnfield, and Sandy Bridge lines. According to CPU World the list includes: Pentium G6950, G6960, G620, G620T, and G840 Core i3 540 and 2100T Core i5 650, 660, 670, 680, and 2300 Core i7 860, 870, 930, 950, 960, 980, and 990X Some of the chips listed are approximately 2 years old, though the Sandy Bridge Pentium G630, G630T, and G860 are less than 4 months old. As Intel is planning on launching their Ivy Bridge lineup soon, a retooling of their product lineup was somewhat expected. 19 Intel CPUs to be End of Lifed 19 Intel CPUs to be End of Lifed

CPU World is reporting that Intel plans to shift their CPU lineup in Q2 2012, dropping support for 19 chips from their Clarkdale, Lynnfield, and Sandy Bridge lines.
According to CPU World the list includes:

• Pentium G6950, G6960, G620, G620T, and G840
• Core i3 540 and 2100T
• Core i5 650, 660, 670, 680, and 2300
• Core i7 860, 870, 930, 950, 960, 980, and 990X

Some of the chips listed are approximately 2 years old, though the Sandy Bridge Pentium G630, G630T, and G860 are less than 4 months old.
As Intel is planning on launching their Ivy Bridge lineup soon, a retooling of their product lineup was somewhat expected.

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Report: Google’s Chrome Most ‘Secure’ Browser

According to a report by security research firm Accuvant, Google’s Chrome browser is the most ‘secure’ mainstream web browser besting Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
The report, commissioned by Google, analyzed the practical effect default protections bundled with each browser had on a wide class of exploits. Each browser was compared on a layered perspective, taking into account security architecture and anti-exploitation techniques according to Chris Valasek, Accuvant LABS senior research scientist.
“Our researchers used a completely different and more extensive methodology than previous, similar studies,” said Mr. Valasek in a statement.
Mr. Valasek told The Register that Accuvant ranked Google’s Chrome browser the most secure because it did the most ‘sandboxing’. This process, explained Mr. Valasek to The Register, is a hallmark of good security because it isolates application code inside a perimeter that is sealed off from the rest of the OS. Chrome, for instance, doesn’t allow the browser to access files outside of a limited set of directories.
Accuvant says that the sandbox found in Internet Explorer is much more permissive, allowing browser resources to read almost all parts of a hard drive.
“The Google Chrome token is far more restrictive,” said Accuvant Chief Research Scientist Ryan Smith, to The Register. “It’s more like a learner’s permit, whereas the Internet Explorer token is more like a regular driver’s license.”
According to the report, the least secure browser was Mozilla’s Firefox as it allowed the most access to the host machine’s operating system.

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webOS to Live on as Open Source Software

Hewlett Packard has announced that they intend to donate webOS to the open source community.
Under the regime of former CEO Leo Apotheker, the webOS project, which HP acquired with Palm, virtually collapsed when the company announced they intended to discontinue their TouchPad tablet.
HP was adamant that webOS would live on as the operating system of choice for printers and other peripheral tablets, though this widespread adoption has yet to materialize.
After two ‘fire-sales’ to clear out remaining TouchPad inventory (with another expected this weekend), webOS now has a robust user base. According to a statement by CEO Meg Whitman HP hopes to unleash “the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices.”

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KINGMAX Introduces UI-03 Paperclip Flash Drives

KINGMAX, a world renowned leading brand of DRAM and flash memory, announced the KINGMAX latest model UI-03 in the urban series. What would surprise you when you choose a USB drive? Whenever a new style of flash drives comes to the marketplace, of course we look for speed, capacity and the latest technology, but nowadays we also consider its added values, and where added value is concerned, for most people, it is a case of whether it is attachable or waterproof.
KINGMAX latest model UI-03 in the urban series, which really has got the “wow” factor! What is unique is its “paper-clip” design hook, making the UI-03 not simply a storage drive but also a handy USB drive that can also be used to attach pieces of paper together. It can even be attached to your collar as a discrete pendant.
In addition to the unique “paper-clip” design hook, UI-03 USB drive is waterproof also dustproof. What is more, being both innovative and practically-minded, KINGMAX has incorporated into the UI-03 the three main elements of minimalism, light weight, and user-friendliness, making it fresh and elegant at first glance! The UI-03 comes with orange and blue, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB or 32GB storage capacity to suit your individual needs.
The new KINGMAX UI-03 flash drive meets RoHS regulations (Restriction of hazardous substances in electronic and electrical and electronic equipment), and is certified by Microsoft Windows 7, CE, and FCC. So product and system compatibility is never a worry. Moreover, all KINGMAX products have been 100% tested under strict quality control to meet all requirements before shipping. The KINGMAX product warranty service ensures premium product quality and flawless customer services.

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SuperTalent Enters Pro-Enthusiast SSD Market with TeraNova Series

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of NAND Flash storage solutions, today announces their fastest 2.5” SSD to date, the SATA3 TeraNova. Targeted at the Pro/Enthusiast seeking extreme performance, the TeraNova is the fastest 2.5” SSD that SuperTalent has released to date. Featuring the SATA3 Interface and SandForce 2200 processor with optimized firmware, the SuperTalent TeraNova was built for speed. By optimizing the transfer rate at various queue depths, the TeraNova delivers excellent performance in a variety of different conditions. Sure the TeraNova boots quickly and posts outstanding benchmark scores (over 500 MB/s for both read and write), but the TeraNova also excels in general responsiveness. Industry standard applications like Photoshop, Premier, Maya and 3DS Max, load, render and perform much faster when compared to countless other SSDs available on the market. The TeraNova also includes new features that enhance reliability as well. In the event of a sudden power loss, the TeraNova reacts, protecting valuable data from corruption before it powers off. f you are looking to improve workstation productivity across the board, SuperTalent’s new TeraNova is an excellent choice. Available in 60, 120, 240 and 480GB capacities, the TeraNova begins shipping today.

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AMD Announces Fusion ’12 Developer Summit

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that AMD Fusion ’12 will be held June 11-14, 2012 in Bellevue, Washington. The company’s annual developer summit will return to the Meydenbauer Center and the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue.
This event will build on the success of AMD Fusion ’11, where more than 700 leaders from industry, academia, and government converged on the forefront of heterogeneous computing. The summit offers an engaging opportunity to learn more about next-generation software development and AMD Fusion System Architecture (FSA), Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) technology, central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) processor technologies, and programming methods using industry-standard application programming interfaces (APIs) such as OpenCL, OpenGL, Microsoft DirectCompute and C++ AMP.
“AMD exceeded my expectations with their AMD Fusion Developer Summit this past June,” said Jon Peddie, principal and founder, Jon Peddie Research. “I saw an open and instructive exchange of ideas on software development, tools and APIs, free from the marketing hype that you get at many conferences.”
“As the only provider of world-class APUs, GPUs and CPUs, AMD is leading advancement of heterogeneous computing and OpenCL, both of which have reached a tipping point as demand grows for new user interfaces and immersive computing experiences,” said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. “AMD has a history of customer-driven innovation based on industry standards and AMD Fusion ‘12 will be the ideal place for developers, academics and innovators to collaborate around that software innovation.”

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Microsoft Gives a Sneak Peek of the Windows Store

Microsoft gave developers a sneak peek at their new iTunes style ‘Windows Store’ last night in San Francisco, making the first time the new concept has been demonstrated since it was introduced at the BUILD conference in September.
The Windows Store will sell “Metro-style” apps. Microsoft Metro is the design language of the “live tile” icons for apps that first made an appearance in 2010 on the Windows Phone 7 OS, and is making its way over to the Xbox 360 via a software update.
Customers won’t be able to access the Windows Store until February, when Windows 8 is expected to be released.

Check out the video preview below:

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Intel, Micron Introduce World’s First 128Gb NAND Device and Mass Production of 64Gb 20nm NAND

Intel Corporation and Micron Technology, Inc., today announced a new benchmark in NAND flash technology — the world’s first 20 nanometer (nm), 128 gigabit (Gb), multilevel-cell (MLC) device. The companies also announced mass production of their 64Gb 20nm NAND, which further extends the companies’ leadership in NAND process technology.
Developed through Intel and Micron’s joint-development venture, IM Flash Technologies (IMFT), the new 20nm monolithic 128Gb device is the first in the industry to enable a terabit (Tb) of data storage in a fingertip-size package by using just eight die. It also provides twice the storage capacity and performance of the companies’ existing 20nm 64Gb NAND device. The 128Gb device meets the high-speed ONFI 3.0 specification to achieve speeds of 333 megatransfers per second (MT/s), providing customers with a more cost-effective solid-state storage solution for today’s slim, sleek product designs, including tablets, smartphones and high-capacity solid-state drives (SSDs.)
“As portable devices get smaller and sleeker, and server demands increase, our customers look to Micron for innovative new storage technologies and system solutions that meet these challenges,” said Glen Hawk, vice president of Micron’s NAND Solutions Group. “Our collaboration with Intel continues to deliver leading NAND technologies and expertise that are critical to building those systems.”
The companies also revealed that the key to their success with 20nm process technology is due to an innovative new cell structure that enables more aggressive cell scaling than conventional architectures. Their 20nm NAND uses a planar cell structure — the first in the industry — to overcome the inherent difficulties that accompany advanced process technology, enabling performance and reliability on par with the previous generation. The planar cell structure successfully breaks the scaling constraints of the standard NAND floating gate cell by integrating the first Hi-K/metal gate stack on NAND production.
“It is gratifying to see the continued NAND leadership from the Intel-Micron joint development with yet more firsts as our manufacturing teams deliver these high-density, low-cost, compute-quality 20nm NAND devices,” said Rob Crooke, Intel vice president and general manager of Intel’s Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group. “Through the utilization of planar cell structure and Hi-K/Metal gate stack, IMFT continues to advance the technological capabilities of our NAND flash memory solutions to enable exciting new products, services and form factors.”

 The demand for high-capacity NAND flash devices is driven by three interconnected market trends: data storage growth, the shift to the cloud and the proliferation of portable devices. As digital content continues to grow, users expect that data to be available across a multitude of devices, all synchronized via the cloud. To effectively stream data, servers require high-performance, high-capacity storage that NAND delivers, and storage in mobile devices has consistently grown with increased access to data. High-definition video is one example of an application that requires high-capacity storage, since attempting to stream this type of data can create a poor user experience. These developments create great opportunities for high-performance, small-footprint storage, both in the mobile devices that consume the content and the storage servers that deliver it. Intel and Micron noted that the December production ramp of their 20nm 64Gb NAND flash product will enable a rapid transition to the 128Gb device in 2012. Samples of the 128Gb device will be available in January, closely followed by mass production in the first half of 2012. Achievement of this milestone will further enable greater densities and overall fab output, while also helping the companies’ development teams cultivate the expertise required to design complex storage solutions and refine future technologies.

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Will Google Kill Firefox?

Hardware Canucks reported last week about the changing hierarchy of browsers. Firefox, which was once the dominant alternative to Internet Explorer, has seen its market share eroded by the emergence of Google’s Chrome. Now, ZDNet is reporting that the Mozilla Foundation’s search partnership contract with Google — the Foundation’s biggest source of revenue — has expired. In the 2010 fiscal year, 84% of Mozilla’s $123 million in revenue came directly from this Google search partnership contract. According to ZDNet there has been no movement from Google on contract re-negotiations. This is somewhat expected, as when the contract was initially signed Google had yet to release Chrome. Now, they face the predicament of whether they should continue financing their direct competitor. Will this be the end of Firefox?

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Acer Announces HR274H 27-inch 3D LED Monitor

Acer America Corp., the number one provider of 3D displays worldwide(1), today introduced the Acer HR274H, a 27-inch 3D monitor featuring new advances in 3D technology. Featuring Acer’s innovative chip-based solution, the new monitor can convert any 2D content to 3D, allowing anyone to watch their favorite movies, videos, photos and games in 3D.
With crystal clear 1920 x 1080 resolution, it is the ideal monitor for advanced 1080p full HD gaming on a PC, Blu-ray Disc console gaming, widescreen movie playback and multimedia and productivity applications.
“The Acer HR274H delivers the highest level of realism available for fans of 3D games, TV programming, movies and photos,” said Chris White, senior director of product marketing, Acer America. “Every detail is so clear, bright and rich in color, immersing yourself in your favorite game or movie has never been so utterly exhilarating.”
Through a single HDMI cable connection, the HR274H monitor easily connects to any 3D-enabled PC, Blu-ray player, game console, cable set top box or camera. 3D enthusiasts can then enjoy a broad selection of high-quality 3D content, including more than 550 full-HD 1080p 3D games, more than 100 Blu-ray 3D movies and thousands of 3D videos and photos from YouTube and 3DVisionLive.com.
3D for Everyone
Acer’s innovate chip based solution easily converts any 2D content to 3D in real time. There is no extra software required; the feature only needs to be enabled via the on-screen-display. This allows regular movies and traditional photos and videos to be enjoyed in a completely new way. In addition, it works with any graphics card, so popular PC games can now be viewed in eye-popping 3D.
Lightweight Polarized Glasses Reduce Eye Strain
Acer includes a set of polarized glasses that deliver vibrant 3D imagery without straining the eyes. In addition, the glasses do not require batteries and are made of composite materials for a lightweight comfortable fit, which makes viewing 3D content more convenient and comfortable than ever before.
Film-patterned retarder (FPR) technology in the Acer display and glasses enable a flicker-free 3D viewing experience. This reduces eye strain, fatigue, and headaches by separating left/right images so only one image reaches the left or right lens at a time. It also eliminates ghosting, since the display and glasses don’t need to synchronize. Slightly larger than first generation 3D glasses, they provide a wider viewing area and increased external light blocking.
High quality moving images and a crystal clear viewing experience is provided through 2ms response times and an impressive 100 million:1 contrast ratio.
Eco-Friendly
The Acer HR274H monitor uses LED backlight technology, minimizing environmental impact while offering superior performance and durability. White LEDs do not contain the toxic substance mercury, making them safer for the environment. They also consume less power and are more durable than CCFL lamps, resulting in big savings. It is also RoHS compliant, ENERGY STAR certified and is packaged in recyclable materials.
Pricing and Availability
The 27-inch Acer HR274H 3D LCD is available for U.S. customers at leading retailers with an MSRP of $599. It includes a three-year parts and labor limited warranty.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Tablet Review

Introduced earlier this year to the South East Asian region at the Samsung Forum 2011, the latest Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is not just an evolution from the Galaxy Tab tablet that was introduced last year, but it brings a whole shebang of improvements with it apart from the increased screen real estate. First off, the device is a super-sleek tablet designed to look somewhat like its competitors although with its plastic back and thinner size.
Its slimness hides the fact that this tablet packs NVIDIA Tegra 2 processing capability, along with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space. While it is as thin as the current tablet benchmark, the Apple iPad 2, it comes with a battery with slightly higher capacity at 7000mAH along with a weight reduction despite its hardware. It feels solid in the hand despite having a huge amount of plastic covering its back. Although the device is thin, it does not seem to flex and our fears of it breaking in half are pretty unfounded unless it is dropped on one of its corner.
With the review unit updated to Android 3.1 (instead of the 3.0 stock ROM), the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 did not come with Samsung’s usual TouchWiz interface instead employs tweaks such as the Live Panel on the home screen called TouchWiz UX. Samsung also included their recognizable widgets called Mini Apps which look somewhat similar to the applications you get in their smartphone range. Despite its Tegra 2 chipset, the tablet did feel laggy, especially in stock homescreen condition, no thanks to five rotatable homescreen pages that were chock-filled with widgets. This might be attributed to the OS update itself as previous version of this tablet scored higher on synthetic tests.
The screen is gorgeous, sporting a 1280 x 800 IPS panel while also having eye-popping colors at the same time. The same can be said whether we were viewing text, watching a HD video or flipping through our image library. This is due to its high pixel density which rivals the iPhone 4’s Retina display in terms of sharpness. It comes with Wi-Fi and HSDPA/HSPA+ wireless radios although a SIM with a data plan is needed for connecting to mobile networks.
Combining a set of stereo speakers, it is sufficient to say that playing back high-res movies on the tab 10.1 is highly amusing prospect. The only problem lies when you’re transferring large files over to its internal memory – the USB cable is, as always a proprietary version despite looking similar to a rival’s 30-pin connector. Although the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has niggles such as lag and a slightly different way in which it is executed, it is the closest Android tablet so far which made us wish that there were more apps for the OS to better show-off its capabilities. For now, that is the main reason we’re not too keen on Android tablets although if history repeat itself, they will be smashing new sales record pretty soon.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Specifications :
Processor : 1GHz dual-cre NVIDIA Tegra 2
Display : 10.1 touch sensitive TFT screen with 1280 x 800 and multi-touch
Connectivity : Bluetooth 3.0 and A2DP and EDR, Compass, A-GPS Quadband GSM, headphones jack, WLAN 802.11b/g/
Memory : 1GB RAM, 16GB/32/64GB models
Dimensions : 256.7 x 175.3 x 8.6mm
Weight : 565g w/battery

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Kingston USB 3.0 Media Reader

USB 3.0 is fast, surely, but it’s been only working with USB 3.0 devices, with the most portable being a USB 3.0 pen drive. What about SD-cards, and CF-cards, and microSDs? Can’t they have the USB 3.0 treatment too? Well, fortunately, they can, with the Kingston USB 3.0 Media Reader. This is essentially a media reader (or multi-card reader, you pick) like any other, only that it comes with a USB 3.0 cable which, naturally, means it gets to read regular media in USB 3.0 speeds. The Media Reader supports SD cards (up to SDXC), microSDs and Memory Sticks (all the way to M2). It’s also USB 3.0 compatible, so no harm getting it for when you finally have USB 3.0 in your systems.

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HTC Evo 3D Smartphone

We could see it as HTC said it – the HTC EVO 3D is a little more than just a phone slapped with a 3D-capable screen; it’s a wholly new 3D experience, freshly ground into a smartphone mould, and meant to usher a new 3D-steered direction. But does adding 3D deepen an experience? And – most importantly, of course – how good is the experience itself?
So we go along answering this burning question by doing the physical experience first, which is the phone’s built. It’s large, perhaps on the monstrous side. It’s also expectedly heavy, though not so bulky that it perturbs the pocketing process. What we would readily say is that it’s solidly built, and that the core design is unproblematic.
What stands out most for the EVO 3D is, firstly, the dual cameras at the back (which juts out slightly), and a toggle switch that sits beside a dedicated camera button. This is one part of the camera’s 3D experience; it can capture 3D images and video, and can do so with a simple button toggle. It’s a great feature, which would’ve been better quality, but alas; you can see a light dip in colors and resolution with 3D images.
The qHD screen, on the most part, does a great job; it’s not as reflective and the screen display brightly and colorfully enough. Of course, it’s really the glasses-less 3D display that matters most, and it’s mostly commendable. With the best of 3D content, the 3D effect is great, but it’s not a perfect 3D viewing experience, as it requires the user to look at the right angle for the best view, and sometimes the slightest change losses it.
Running a dual-core processor at 1.2GHz, you can expect the EVO 3D to perform with the right amount of snappiness and speeds when running apps. Battery life is surprisingly decent, despite the screen, it won’t last for days, but at least we managed to reach midnight with decent amount of use.
It’s not a defining moment in smartphone history, but the HTC Evo 3D puts a wholly realized 3D experience to a solidly-built and powerful smartphone. While the 3D experience could be better, it’s undoubtedly a new, fresh and overall a good experience.
Pros : Powerful performace, 3D shooting capability, Glasses-Free 3D viewing
Cons : 3D viewing isn’t perfect
HTC Evo 3D Specifications :
Operating System : Android 2.3.4 (Gingerbread)
Processor : 1.2GHz Dual-Core Processor
Frequency : HSDPA 2100 / 900 EDGE / GPRS / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 /1900
Screen : 4.3 inch qHD 3D Touchscreen
Connectivity : Bluetooth, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm audio
Others : 5.0 megapixels dual camera, glasses-free 3D viewing capabilities
Dimensions : 126.1mm x 65.4mm x 11.3mm
Weight : 170g

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