Well guys, we are (almost) there once again. It is January and CES 2009 is about to kick off on the 8th of January. We will be there a couple of days early to give you the inside scoop. All the juicy stuff will be posted in form of news here on the front page. We, W1zzard and I, are currently stranded in Cincinnati but should arrive in Las Vegas tomorrow.

Source: TechPowerUp

Buffalo Technology, a global leader in the design, development and manufacturing of wired and wireless networking, storage and memory solutions today announced the new, fully redesigned LinkStation Pro. As the answer to all your storage and sharing needs, this high performance NAS device allows iPhone owners to access their photos, videos, files, etc., via Buffalo's unique Web Access 2.0 feature. Web Access allows users to access data via a web browser from any computer.

As the latest addition to the award-winning LinkStation line of consumer NAS devices, the new LinkStation Pro comes equipped with a new, stylish chassis and faster processor for quick and easy file transfers and backups. With Web Access 2.0, iPhone users can conveniently download content stored on their home or office LinkStation Pro right to their iPhone, anytime, anywhere.

Buffalo Technology, a global leader in the design, development and manufacturing of wired and wireless networking, storage and memory solutions today unveiled a chic new design for the MiniStation Cobalt. Offering a feature-rich storage solution in a stylish, lightweight package, the MiniStation Cobalt is designed for mobility. With a simple, easy-to-use user interface, storing, protecting and transporting digital images, music and other files becomes a snap! Offered in three distinct colors, Blue Onyx, Pearl White and Ruby Red, the MiniStation Cobalt safeguards your digital assets and provides the peace of mind that only Buffalo's years of engineering excellence can provide.

Designed for the active professional, Buffalo's new portable storage solutions for PC and Macs includes easy-to-use backup and sync software, a robust shock resistant design as well as Buffalo's SecureLockMobile software to prevent unauthorized access in the event the drive is lost or stolen.

DisplayLink unviled today that Samsung's new 22-inch Samsung SyncMaster 2243QW monitor is the third model to feature the company's proprietary technology. The new monitor makes it possible for busy office workers and business professionals to use a simple USB cable to extend their desktop and visual workspace, boosting usability and flexibility. Up to six displays can be easily connected and powered off of one PC. There’s no need for additional graphics cards or complex software installation. The Samsung 2243QW has a 1680x1050 16:10 resolution, a 1000:1 contrast ratio, and 5-millisecond response time. In addition to the built-in USB hub used for DisplayLink-enabled connections, the 2243QW features traditional VGA (15-pin D-sub) and DVI-D inputs. The monitor is compatible with both Mac and Windows systems, and comes with a pivot function that allows it to operate in either portrait or landscape mode. The Samsung SyncMaster 2243QW is available now through Samsung's official resellers and distribution channels for $399.99 USD.


Source: DisplayLink, Engadget

AMD added two new low-power Athlons introduced primarily to gain leverage with the nettop segment Intel has been dominating in. The two models, Athlon 2650e and dual-core Athlon 3250e are derived from the K8 micro-architecture which still holds certain technological advantages over competitive platforms from Intel in that segment.

The Athlon 2650e is comes with a clock-speed of 1.60 GHz, 512KB of cache and a rated TDP of 15W, while the dual-core Athlon 3250e ends up with better power efficincy being clocked at 1.50 GHz, with a TDP of 22W. Both processors use the AM2 socket and support DDR2 memory. They are expected to be priced under $50.

Source: TechConnect Magazine

Today LaCie unveils the 2big Quadra, a new two-bay RAID solution with up to 3TB of capacity for high speed-demanding applications, as well as for backup and storage use. With four RAID modes including RAID 0 and RAID 1, and a convenient hot-swap feature, it offers optimal performance and data protection. Developed for maximum speed, the 2big’s native RAID controller preserves computer resources and provides professional workstations with lightning-fast data transfers, which reach up to 165MB/s through eSATA 3Gbits/s in RAID 0. It also integrates perfectly with most applications that demand high speed, such as photo and pre-press processing or audio/video projects, including HDV post-production.

ASUS is preparing the industry's first notebook with a 512 GB solid-state drive (SSD). The ASUS S121 comes in an ultrathin form-factor while carrying hardware that puts it in the grey-area between netbooks and UMPCs.

The S121 comes with a 12-inch LCD screen with a compact yet rugged chassis. It is powered by an Intel Atom processor running at 1.33 GHz and 512 MB of RAM. Its storage is care of a rather massive 512 GB SSD. Its availability and price isn't known at this point, though we suspect that with the exclusiveness built around this product coupled with ASUS categorizing it outside its ULPC/netbook lineup, it will carry a rather high price tag.


Source: TechConnect Magazine

The Foundry Company (TFC), AMD's manufacturing division spun-off along with investment from the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) had to go through a series of negotiations to acquire clearence from the investors and the governments under whom AMD operates, to get the new company operational. It is a complicated process since it involes a lot of foreign investment.

A major milestone for TFC is the clearence it got from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a US Government body that studies the possible implications of foreign investment on national security. TFC will control all of AMD's manufacturing assets including upcoming facilities in the US. AMD officially becomes fab-less though TFC will have commitments towards serving AMD as its foundry partner. AMD will hold a 34.2% stake in TFC while 65.8% of it will be held by ATIC.

Source: TFC New Global Foundry

MSI today unveiled the EX625 performance notebook. MSI EX625 features Cinema Pro Technology, which offers consumers the finest movie viewing experience. With a simple touch of the exclusive Cinema Pro button; you may immediately switch to Movie Mode. The quality on screen will be more detailed, the richness in sound and the subwoofer as well as Dolby sound will be activated, providing the finest sensory of the theaters. Furthermore, the embedded high performance subwoofer design can create shocking effects.

Combing Color Film Print Technology with ocean wave patterns in design, the EX625 has been injected with a brand new texture to personal notebook computers. The most advanced ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670 graphics card with GDDR3 512MB VRAM, for a more fluid, more detailed, more realistic 3D high-definition viewing experience. In the other hand, EX625 selects the brand new ECO Engine Technology, the outstanding and unique power saving function by MSI Notebook, as the power management function to extend the battery running time while performing different tasks.

Even though the EeePC is selling like hot cakes, nothing is stopping ASUS from developing more and more Eee-branded products. Their latest creation is called Eee Keyboard - a full-sized keyboard with built-in computer that includes wireless and Ethernet network, single speaker, built-in mic, and a 5-inch touchscreen display. The whole system weighs in less than 2 pounds and can connect to an external display. ASUS Eee Keyboard is still only a prototype, but who knows.


Source: Engadget

Samsung Electronics announced today at the Storage Visions 2009 Conference that it has developed a 100GB single-level cell (SLC) solid state drive for use in servers for applications such as video on demand, streaming media content delivery, internet data centers, virtualization and on-line transaction processing. As an alternative to traditional 15K rpm hard disk drives (HDDs), the new performance-optimized 100GB Enterprise SSD can process IOPS (input/output per second) more than 10 times faster than the fastest 15K rpm SAS HDD available. Designed to remove the system performance bottleneck in enterprise storage applications, the high-performance 2.5-inch enterprise drive reads data sequentially at 230 megabytes per second and writes sequentially at 180 MB/s. The 100GB SSD’s advanced performance is attributed to a sophisticated 8-channel controller, improved NAND flash and special drive firmware, all developed by Samsung. The drive also consumes only 1.9 watts of power in seek mode and 0.6 watts in idle mode, reducing power and heat loads to minimum. Samsung intends to start mass producing the 100GB SS805 drive in the first quarter of 2009.

Source: Network World

BFG Technologies, known as a leading supplier of premium power supplies and 3D graphics cards, is excited to announce its first line of complete gaming and multimedia PCs, called Phobos. These sleek hand-built, high performance machines were designed with the "Graduated Gamer" in mind. This audience is looking for all the performance associated with a high-end gaming system, but none of the hassle related to building and servicing such a system. As a result, Phobos is sold with complementary Concierge Service which includes expert in-home installation and a six month follow up maintenance visit.

Apple today unveiled iLife ’09, which includes major upgrades to iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand and an updated version of iWeb. iPhoto ’09 introduces Faces and Places, breakthrough ways to easily organize and manage photos based on who appears in them and where they were taken. In iMovie ’09, you’ll find powerful, yet easy-to-use new features that let you create a movie quickly or add refinements and special effects if you have more time. And GarageBand ’09 now offers a fun new way to learn to play piano and guitar with Basic Lessons, which teach fundamentals, and Artist Lessons (sold separately), in which original artists teach you how to play the songs they made famous. At last, iWeb ’09 lets you design a website to share your photos, movies, and music just by dragging and dropping. Add new dynamic widgets and publish and share with a single click. Find out more about iLife '09 here.

Source: Apple

The first shape that comes to your mind when you think of a system case probarbly is a cuboidal tower with a little decoration thrown in, with essentially the same internal locations for installing your parts to build a PC. Lian-Li sought to break the mould with the introduction of the PC-888 at the 2009 CES event. The PC-888 sports a whacky design, that is inspired quite seriously by the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, just that the pearl white decked with glass makes way for ocean-blue. Bit-Tech published the first pictures of this rather interesting looking "case".

Given its shape, the interiors have been compartmentalised accordingly to distinct areas holding the system board, hard drives, power supply and space for even a water cooling system to creep in. There is a generous amount of ventilation and cable management features provided. For more pictures, head over to Bit-Tech here.

Joining the string of product launches that coincide with the 2009 CES event, is Imation's solid state drive (SSD) offerings under two distinct product classes: M-Class and S-Class. Both these product lines are available in the 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch form factors and use the standard SATA interfaces. While the M-Class SSDs use SATA-150, the S-Class use SATA-300 interface. They come in unformatted capacities of 32, 64 and 128 GB.

These drives have company-rated data transfer speeds of around 150 MB/s (read) and 90 MB/s (write) for the M-Class, and 130 MB/s (read) and 120 MB/s (write) for the S-Class. Apart from these drives, Imation also announced "upgrade kits" that include necessary tools to migrate an image of the older hard drive to these newer ones, saving the task of reinstalling software. The M-Class SSDs hit the stores in February with prices of $179.99 and above, while the S-Class series are slated for March.


Source: TechConnect Magazine

Imation Corp. today announced the availability of two new products in its Apollo family of external hard drives (EHD). For laptop users, the 2.5-inch Apollo Expert UX is a pocket-sized, portable hard drive sheathed in a protective skin with up to 500GB of capacity, and for desktop users, the Apollo Pro UX is a 3.5-inch hard drive that will offer up to 1.5 TB of capacity. Each stylish drive features an integrated patent-pending stand and unique benefits for backup and storage of data, video, music and photos.

"We designed the Apollo external hard drives to be functional and sleek, with distinctive features and benefits for both discerning mobile and desktop users," said Subodh Kulkarni, vice president, Global Commercial Business, Imation. "These drives push the envelope with capacities that are among the highest available while still embodying great design. Our Apollo Expert UX drive delivers iconic portability with the pure data storage performance that on-the-go users need, while the Apollo Pro UX drive is a perfect match for heavy data users, as well as digital pack rats and video junkies."

Not long after the start of Macworld 2009, Apple officially unveiled the new MacBook Pro, that was confirmed by AppleInsider on Monday. During the demonstration Apple uncovered that the 17-inch display of the unibody MacBook Pro will feature LED backlight, 1920x1200 fullHD resolution, 700:1 contrast ratio and will come with gloss or mate surface (the mate option will cost additional $50). The remaining specs pretty much match the specs of the older 15-inch MacBook Pro model. Apple also said that the addition of non-removable battery will lead to bigger battery installed and longer battery life, which is now claimed to be up to 8 hours.



Source: Engadget

DisplayLink Corp. and Acer have collaborated to introduce the 22-inch DisplayLink enabled Acer P224 monitor. What this means is that you can add Acer P224 as an external monitor to any USB-equipped desktop PC or laptop, using only a single USB 2.0 port without the need to install discrete graphics cards.
“Acer’s integrated monitor-and-dock design is a smart solution for laptop owners who want a cool, all-in-one upgrade,” said Dennis Crespo, executive vice president of marketing and business development for DisplayLink. “And DisplayLink technology ensures that video and graphics applications will play smoothly on any additional monitors linked up to the PC via USB.”
The Acer P224W widescreen display features a contrast ratio of up to 10,000:1, a resolution of 1680x1050 pixels, and a response time of 5 milliseconds. The Acer P224W is also equipped with an analog VGA input. The Acer P224W is currently shipping in the United States and Europe. More information can be found on the Acer's website here.


Source: Acer

After more than one year of development time the Japanese cooling specialist Scythe Co., Ltd. releases the new Scythe Mugen 2 CPU cooler. The name Mugen comes from the Japanese for "infiniteness" and stands already for the highest cooling capacity at low noise level. To fulfill this image, a great value was laid on improving the already established features of the former Scythe Mugen Cooler.

The successful concept of Mugen CPU cooler was further developed for Scythe Mugen 2 in a very consistent way. For this, the experience of Scythe engineers was a great influence as well as improvement suggestions from users of the former Scythe Mugen. Compared with the old Mugen, the number of cooling fins has been increased and at the same time, the weight was decreased by 50 g. To ensure optimal fitting of the cooler on the mainboard, Scythe Mugen 2 uses a novel Back Plate/Screws solution with the name Flip Mount Super Back-Plate (F.M.S.B.). This mounting system is compatible with all current sockets including the new Intel LGA1366.

RTS giant Blizzard let loose a few new teaser screens of its much anticipated title, Starcraft II, sourced by SK Gaming. The screens include stills of ongoing campaigns demonstrating the visuals and graphic design of the game. One of those hype building measures from a company that has so far stood and delivered to all its hype. Starcraft II is on course for launch later this year. Enjoy the screens. A larger archive of Starcraft II images sourced from Blizzard so far can be found here.


Source: SK Gaming

Broadening its storage solutions for Mac, WD today introduced two new external hard drives - the My Passport for Mac portable drive and the My Book Mac Edition external hard drive. Pre-formatted for Mac and offering a simple USB interface, these drives offer the ever-growing Mac community reliable, easy-to-use storage. WD's latest Mac-ready drives work seamlessly with Apple Time Machine or other popular Mac backup software to provide protection for consumers' valuable digital photos and media.

D-Link, the end-to-end network solutions provider for consumers and business, today unveiled an all-in-one home network router with all the features of a fast, far-reaching 802.11n Wi-Fi router combined with network attached storage (NAS), SharePort technology for sharing printers and scanners, along with a bright 3.2-inch LCD monitor on the face for displaying photos, desktop applications and network performance.

G.Skill has also expanded its solid-state offerings, by introducing the new Titan SSDs. Available in 128GB and 256GB models, the 2.5-inch Titan drives make use of MLC (multi-level cell) NAND flash chips, have a second generation SATA 3.0 interface and a MTBF (mean time between failure) of 1.5 million hours. The drives also have built-in EDC/ECC data protection. The manufacturer claims sequential read and write speeds of up to 218MB/s and 162MB/s respectively. The G.Skill SSDs are covered in a strong metal alloy housing and ship with a 2 year warranty.


Source: VR-Zone

NEC Display Solutions of America today introduced LCD3090W-BK-SV - the big brother of the freshly released 26-inch MultiSync LCD2690WUXi² that we covered yesterday here. The 30-inch MultiSync LCD3090W-BK-SV is a wide-gamut display designed for users in the graphic design, digital animation, photography, print production, image analysis and CAD/CAM industries, as well as soft-copy clinical viewing in the medical field. It benefits from the company's ColorComp technology, which reduces LCD uniformity errors, in-plane switching (IPS) matrix and advanced backlight technology that enable the monitor to cover 107% of AdobeRGB color gamut. In addition, this display comes with a SpectraViewII color calibration sensor and software for precise calibration. The 30-inch MultiSync 3090 has a native resolution of 2560x1600 pixels, a G-T-G response time of 6ms (12ms typical), a brightness of 350 cd/m2, and 1000:1 contrast ratio. Input connection include single DVI-D (HDCP), and a DVI-I (digital/analog). The LCD3090W-BK-SV, which is backed by a 4-year parts and labor warranty, will be available this month with estimated street prices of $2,449. The new display can also be seen at the 2009 Macworld Conference and Expo that started today. For more detailed information, please click here.


Source: NEC

SanDisk Corporation today unveiled its next-generation of flash memory-based solid-state drives for adoption in various netbooks. Dubbed SanDisk pSSD-P2 and SanDisk pSSD-S2, the new flash drives feature SATA interface and come in capacities of 8, 16, 32 and 64-gigabytes. They are made using SanDisk's reliable 43-nanometer Multi-Level Cell (MLC) flash memory. SanDisk also claims that its new pSSDs are going to be very cheap when released, but unfortunately there's no exact information to confirm their words.
“Netbooks represent the fastest growing PC segment in 2009 and 2010 yet widespread adoption of SSDs in netbooks has been limited by speed, capacity and cost constraints,” said Rich Heye, senior vice president and general manager, Solid-State Drives (SSD), SanDisk. “With the significant improvements in performance, capacity and low pricing, these SSDs are a perfect fit for the exploding netbook market.”
SanDisk's second generation pSSD drives are slated to be available in February 2009.


Source: SanDisk

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced the immediate availability of Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600) memory modules in three vibrant new colors - green, blue and red. Performance memory enthusiasts and system modders can choose from a variety of Crucial Ballistix Tracer module colors to match their case color scheme or to suit their individual style. The new color modules are available in 3GB and 6GB kits through select resellers worldwide and directly from Crucial's website here.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced a series of next generation iSCSI network-attached storage (NAS) products based on Intel architecture to deliver the performance and enterprise-grade features that customers are looking for in 2009.

The new Turbo NAS family consists of 4-bay, 5-bay, 6-bay, and 8-bay (with redundant power supply) models which are well suited for small and midsize businesses (SMB) and enterprises. The powerful all-in-one feature is designed for businesses that require storage solutions of performance, features, capacity, and manageability.

GELID today announced the availability of an optional mounting kit for its flagship Silent Spirit CPU cooler. The mounting kit provides compatibility for Intel's new LGA 1366 socket for the Core i7 series processors. The kit consists of two retention brackets with push-pins. The brackets are attached to the cooler in the same way in which the LGA 775 brackets are. While upcoming stocks of the Silent Spirit could optionally bundle these brackets, existing users could purchase these brackets if they wish to retain the cooler when upgrading to the newer socket. The GELID LGA 1366 mounting kit is priced at US $4.99 or €3.99.

The G-series line of gaming peripherals from Logitech gives gamers what they want: complete control. Today, Logitech unveiled an extension of its award-winning G-series by introducing three new products that deliver precision, high performance and customization: the Logitech G19 keyboard for gaming, the Logitech G35 surround sound headset and the Logitech G9x laser mouse. Delivering everything gamers need for a competitive edge – from programmable buttons to 7.1-channel surround sound and 5000 dpi laser sensors to backlit keys – Logitech’s best-in-class gaming peripherals are engineered to deliver everything you have always wanted.

SanDisk Corporation today introduced an innovative new family of SanDisk USB flash drives, including the world's first backup USB flash drive with simple backup software activation at the touch of a button. The SanDisk Ultra Backup USB portable flash drive is the first offering of the company's new SanDisk Ultra USB product line. With capacities up to 64 gigabytes(GB), the SanDisk Ultra Backup USB flash drive is designed to protect computer users' photos, music, videos, personal and business documents, and other types of digital files, with the simple touch of a button. No software installation is needed. The drive protects onboard digital content with a dual layer of security, including password-protected access control and ultra-secure AES hardware-based encryption.

Today LaCie announced its new LaCie d2 DVD±RW 22x with LightScribe and Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and/or FireWire disc burners. The new products let customers backup large multimedia files on strikingly original-looking DVDs or CDs. With the LightScribe labeling tools available from LaCie on the 22x rewritable DVD drive, users can customize their content easily and quickly for professional and personal use. And it works with the three major personal computer operating systems.

In addition to the several new notebooks, HP today released the successor of the award-winning HP Blackbird 002, called HP Firebird. Designed for photo and video editing, music creation, gaming and other demanding tasks, the HP Firebird comes in an extremely sleek and original chassis, but that's not all. Inside this beautiful shell HP has integrated a complete watercooling system that cools the CPU, the two graphics cores and the motherboard's chipset. Speaking of CPUs and VGAs, the Firebird is partly customizable. It supports the latest Core 2 Quad processors (Q9400 - 2.66GHz or Q9550 - 2.83GHz), up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, and comes with dual NVIDIA GeForce 9800S small form factor graphics cards in SLI configuration and two hot-swappable 320GB hard drives. Also, the Firebird ships with a 350W external power supply, to help keeping the system as cool as possible. The HP Firebird with Voodoo DNA will be available online at VoodooPC.com on January 9th starting at $1,799. Customers also can purchase the product in select retail stores nationwide starting on February 1st. Find more information here.


Source: HP

AMD today announced the availability of the AMD platform for ultrathin notebooks, enabling exceedingly thin and light OEM designs with rich entertainment capabilities at an affordable price. Previously codenamed “Yukon,” the platform is based on the new AMD Athlon Neo processor, ATI Radeon X1250 integrated graphics and optional ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 discrete graphics and brings true HD entertainment1 to a new category of stylish notebook PCs. The AMD platform debuts within the HP Pavilion dv2 Entertainment Notebook PC ultrathin notebook, which measures less than one-inch thick and weighs less than four pounds. The HP Pavilion dv2 also comes equipped with a 12.1-inch diagonal LED BrightView display, nearly full-size keyboard, and optional external optical disc drive with Blu-ray capability.

Logitech International today announced that it has withdrawn its Fiscal Year 2009 growth targets for sales and operating income due to the deepening global recession. The Company did not provide revised targets and plans to update investors on business conditions and performance during its briefing on third-quarter results on Jan. 20, 2009.
“During the December quarter, the retail environment deteriorated significantly,” said Gerald P. Quindlen, Logitech president and chief executive officer. “We experienced varying degrees of weakness across all geographies and channels as our customers reduced inventory levels in the face of weaker consumer demand. Moreover, we expect the economic environment to worsen in the coming months and we are therefore taking significant actions to align our cost structure with what is likely to be an extended downturn.”

Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd has launched the PC-B70 and PC-B71 full tower chassis. Both cases are made from aluminum sheet metal, and have plenty of room for large numbers of hard drives (HDD) while still incorporating the classic brushed aluminum style and functional design for ease of use and stunning good looks. The PC-B70 has a left side access HDD cage that can accept seven (7) full 3.5 inch hard disk drives. The Hard drives are secured by means of a removable HDD bracket with patented vibration reduction system. While the five Optical bays are an added bonus (the last ODD can be used as 3.5”disk reader). Both towers stand at 220 x 595 x 590mm (W,H,D). The PC-B71 is different via the lower part of the front bezel which has an integrated HDD Hot swappable SATA cage with a front facing securely lockable door. The HDD Cage is cooled via two (2) 140mm blue lit LED fans. The fans are filtered with removable, washable nylon filters. The easy access to the hot swap Raid HDD backplate via the front lockable door makes the PC-B71 convenient while still retaining the good looks found in every Lian Li chassis.

The GeForce GTX 280 served as NVIDIA's flagship graphics accelerator for long enough. While it may not have retained the performance crown for too long, it certainly did offer a great product for its price and thermal characteristics post R700. With two new avant-grade accelerators in the form of GeForce GTX 295 and GeForce GTX 285, NVIDIA seems to have sensed that it needs to let the market digest current inventories of the GeForce GTX 280 to create favourable shelf-space for the new products.

It has been noted on Newegg.com, a leading online retailer, that price-cuts have been injected across brands for the GeForce GTX 280. The card is now available for as low as US $314.99 for the MSI N280GTX-T2D1G OC (a factory overclocked card) with prices of reference-design cards staying below $360 for most of the available products. Leading vendors such as BFGTech, EVGA, and Zotac have placed their base models around the $320 range with factory overclocked models ranging around the $350 mark. The GeForce GTX 280 will be suceeded by the GeForce GTX 285 that is expected to launch on 15th January, which sports a refreshed G200b graphics processor built on the 55nm manufacturing process and running at higher clock speeds. NVIDIA has resorted to similar price-cuts for its GeForce GTX 260 graphics accelerator to serve two purposes: making the product attractive during the crucial Christmas shopping season, and to digest inventories for the 55nm GeForce GTX 260 launch.

LEADTEK Research Inc., world acclaimed for its extremevisual graphics leading brand technology, proudly announces its latest WinFast GTX 260 EXTREME+ with a new graphics card packaging design. Based on the Best-in-class NVIDIA GTX 260 chipsets, this thoroughbred graphics card delivers advanced performance with the best cooling silent fansink. Its overclocking capability is sure to bring users a fantasy visual effect. Together with the launch of the graphics card, Leadtek debuts a new packaging design. The latter replaces the former robots with a series of top speed cars as the key visual. This original concept aims to vaunt Leadtek's corporate spirit of “high quality & speedy performance” that gives users an altogether new visual impression.

WinFast GTX 260 EXTREME+ is powered up with 2nd Generation NVIDIA Unified Architecture and enables the rendering of multiple, true-to-life characters in complex and dynamic virtual worlds. In addition, the latest parallel computing architecture with massive independent processing cores enables GTX 260 EXTREME+ to execute the most intricate non-gaming applications via CUDA language. This includes acceleration of the art design application - science simulation application or transcoding of video to a personal video player up to 7X faster than the CPU.

In a surprise move, HP announced the industry's first notebook based on AMD's upcoming Neo series processor. This is the first product to be based on the AMD Yukon mobile platform. It features an AMD Neo processor clocked at 1.60, which is a single-core CPU code-named Huron. HP seems to have tried hard to push this into the full-fledged notebook segment, keeping it away from the ULPC tag, to serve as a proper "launch vehicle" for the Yukon platform.

Talking about the notebook itself, called HP Pavilion dV2, it features a 12-inch LCD screen with a native resolution of 1280 x 800 px with LED backlit illumination. Apart from the AMD Neo, it features up to 4 GB of RAM, AMD discrete graphics and storage space of up to 500 GB (depending on the variant). Other features include gigabit Ethernet and WiFi connectivity, an external BluRay drive (optional) and an ExpressCard slot. All this enclosed in a durable magnesium-alloy based chassis. The Pavilion dV2 Neo will reach shelves only later this year in April, and will be priced at US $699.


Source: TechConnect Magazine

Today LaCie announced its Hard Disk MAX high capacity storage system for users who want advanced RAID features with consumer-level ease of use and style. Designed exclusively for LaCie by award-winning industrial designer Neil Poulton, the Hard Disk MAX delivers 2 TB (terabytes) of ultra-reliable storage capacity in a stunning package that will satisfy high-performance requirements for the discriminating user.

The Hard Disk Max includes two large-capacity disk drives that can be set in either a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration with the simple flick of a switch on the back panel. RAID 0 stripes data across both disks for the fastest data retrieval response time, while RAID 1 mirrors data exactly on both disks for maximum data reliability.