Samsung to provide Jelly Bean upgrade for quot;eligible quot; devices

Samsung is really stepping up to the plate now-a-days, and unlike other Android OEMs, Samsung is quickly jumping on the Android Jelly Bean upgrade train. In a recent announcement, Samsung notified users that they will be providing upgrades for Jelly Bean “eligible” devices.

Eligible devices can mean anything more than two, three, four, and maybe even all of Samsung’s Android devices. As much as we hope that Samsung will provide Jelly Beans for many of its devices, it’s also very unlikely that Samsung will put forth the resources to provide Android upgrades for most of its Android-powered devices.

Their flagship device, Galaxy S III, is the first candidate to receive the Jelly Bean update. If you consider the Galaxy Nexus a Samsung device (which it is…) then the S III will be the second. Nonetheless, the S III along with a few other Samsung devices will receive Jelly Bean in the coming months.

The Galaxy S II recently got an update to ICS so the S II Jelly Bean upgrade may not be a priority for Samsung. However, the S II is more than capable of powering the latest Android and it will be a shame if Samsung decides to not provide official Jelly Bean support for its S III predecessor.

This is the message straight from the “world’s largest smartphone manufacturer”:

“Samsung will soon announce which additional devices are eligible for the Jelly Bean update. As the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung leads the Android community with best-in-class devices like the Galaxy S III, and is creating new device categories with products like the Galaxy Note. Samsung has delivered the most Nexus-branded lead OS devices and we are pleased that Google will be bringing Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S customers the first experiences of Jelly Bean on a handheld device.”

Vantec EZ-Grip Molex Connector Kit

Removing the power from devices inside your computer can bedifficult with standard molex plugs. The protrusions on the side of the molexare difficult to hold on firmly and, if you were to exert force, can leave yourfingers feeling sore. The Vantec EZ-Grip Molex connectors simplify the ordeal byputting flexible, rounded grips on the top and bottom of the molex connector.Not only do these grips make it easier to hold, pressing down on the gripsseparates the connector from the device slightly, perfect for when the molexconnector feels "stuck." Vantec EZ-Grip Molex Connectors are available in avariety of UV reactive colors.

Features:

Molex Remover Included
Easy To Install
Easily Plug And Unplug Power Molex From Any Device

Package Includes:

Molex Remover X1
EZ-Grip Female Molex Heads x10

Part Number Description MSRP

MCK-10-BK EZ Grip Molex Connector Kit- Black $ 9.99
MCK-10UV-RD EZ Grip Molex Connector Kit- UV Red $ 9.99
MCK-10UV-GR EZ Grip Molex Connector Kit- UV Green $ 9.99
MCK-10UV-YL EZ Grip Molex Connector Kit- UV Yellow $ 9.99
MCK-10UV-BL EZ Grip Molex Connector Kit- UV Blue $ 9.99

Sapphire's Pure White B75M-MA motherboard sneaks out

Intels B75 chipset appears to be popular with the motherboard makers, least not as a replacement for the H61 chipset for Ivy Bridge. As such, Sapphire has snuck out a new model based on said chipset called the Pure White B75M-MA which should end up being a very affordable board judging by the features.

The B75M-MA is most definitely a no frills board, as it has no extra peripheral chipsets beyond the basics and it even has fewer SATA ports than normally. The expansion slots consist of a single x16 PCI Express 3.0 slot and three x1 PCI Express slots. Theres only a single SATA 6Gbps port as this is a chipset limitation, although Sapphire only added three of the five SATA 3Gbps ports which is near enough bordering on mean.

Other internal connectors consist of a USB 3.0 header for two ports, two USB 2.0 headers for four ports and a serial port header. The board only has two DIMM slots, but amazingly theres a push button for resetting the CMOS rather than a jumper. The rear I/O is home to a PS/2 port, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, 5.1-channel audio and a DVI and D-sub connector.

No word on pricing or availability, although currently the B75M-MA appears to be available in the Chinese market. We cant say we like this direction if thats where Sapphires motherboard division is heading, as this is just not making the company stand out at all.

Source: Sapphire

SingTel and Ericsson Unveils 42Mbps LTE Trial

Yuen Kuan Moon (above pic, right), Executive Vice President of Consumer for SingTel and Fadi Pharaon, President and Country Manager for Ericsson Singapore & Brunei, were at the event to talk about the collaboration to push LTE technology trial.

At the showcase, we saw a laptop connecting to a huge HSPA USB dongle that provides the 42Mbps mobile data speed.

You can literally do voice calling, real-time video viewing as well as streaming high definition movie, all at the same time without noticeable lag.

A SingTel promoter showing a demoon 3D Map navigation on a tablet computer.

According to SingTel, LTE will be launchedin the second half of the year (at the time of Youth Olympics Games in July) and would be made affordable to consumers.

Ultrabooks to get price drops across the board

Good news if youre looking to pick up an Ultrabook in the near future. Digitimes reports that notebook makers are expected to significantly drop pricing on their first generation ultrabooks ahead of Intels Ivy Bridge launch early in the second quarter of the year.

Weve already seen the likes of Acer, Lenovo and HP push pricing down on several of their ultrabooks by as much as 25% in the U.S. and further cuts are expected to come into effect soon. Acers Ultrabook S3 recently dropped from US $999 down to US $799, while Lenovo has dropped its pricing by 25% and HP by 21%.

In summary, we should see the remainder of these first-gen US $1000 Ultrabooks start hovering around the US $749-$799 bracket in attempts to help clear inventories before the next wave of Ivy Bridge equipped Ultrabooks arrive in the second quarter.

Source: Digitimes

Samsung Bada phones target 10 million in sales by 1H 2011

Many were skeptical about the Samsung Wavethat was running on the company's Bada open platform when it was first launched. Not to mention, if one were to compare it to Apple and Android phones, Bada has got a lot of catching up to do especially when it comes to the number of apps a user can download and use. However, it looks like the Bada smartphones (with the launch of the Samsung Wave II S8530 in October in Singapore) have exceeded everyone's expectation. As of end of November, the sales of Bada smartphones have exceeded five million.

In a recent developer conference, Samsung introduced the new Bada 2.0 platform and also announced its plan for the Bada smartphone next year. The company plans to break the 10 million sales figure by the first half of 2011. It would be a difficult task for Samsung if it were to rely on the current Bada 1.2, and therefore a newer version is necessary with improved features and performance. (Does this mean that Bada 2.0 update could get on the Samsung Wave and Wave II smartphones?)

Samsung's smartphones have done wellthis year, especially the Galaxy-series. But to depend on Bada and Android platforms to exceed Nokia next year 2011will still bean uphill task for the phone maker.

Source: imobile.com.cn

SiS656 Selected by AVL in DDR2-667 Memory Test Certification Platform

SiS today announced that its P4-supporting high-end and PCI Express-basedchipset SiS656 will be used by AVL (Advanced Validation Labs) in DDR2-667 memorytest certification platform, making it a key core logic chipset to provide AVLin DDR2-667 platform validation.

AVL is a technology services company specializing in the pre-production andpost-production testing and validation of memory to industries, includingmotherboard manufacturers, chip makers and DRAM fabricators. Products selectedby AVL as the strict certification platform means the superb compatibility andstability as well as the quality assurance and promise to end customers.

In continuity of the support in DDR2 DRAM, SiS656 platform has passed DDR2-533memory validation testing at AVL. As DDR2-667 is poised to become the industrysmainstream memory standard, SiS R&D team has been actively promoting this newtechnology in step with this trend. "The SiS656 chipsets lead and qualificationfor DDR2-667 memory specification underscore product quality and performance,and highlights SiS excellent technology and innovation in chipset design," LarryHo, Director of Technical Labs, Advanced Validation Labs. "AVLs readiness ofSiS656 as one of the standard platform for DDR2-667 certification testacknowledges SiS long-term commitment in achieving compatibility and stabilitybetween chipsets and memory products."

SiS656 has recently completed the co-validation for DDR2-667 memoryspecification with the three major international memory makers, Elpida, Micronand Samsung. Motherboards and computer systems equipped with SiS656 chipset willhave optimal high-speed memory compatibility and stability. Supporting PCIExpress, SiS656 is the perfect match for high-speed memory DDR2-667, whichsatisfies new-generation system requirements for high transfer rates, low powerconsumption and high memory capacity. The SiS656 chipsets outstanding designclearly demonstrates stability and maturity in SiS' technology development. Italso points up the close partnership between SiS and international memorymakers.

Nokia Asha, the handsets for the next billion

As for the new Symbian S40 6thEdition handsets announced today at Nokia World 2011, its clear that Nokia is pushing for a death of the "dumb phone" even though its hard to call the new Asha handsets smartphones, but they most definitely fall in the feature phone category. The four new models are the Asha 303, Asha 300, Asha 201 and Asha 200, of which three comes with a full QWERTY keypad.Apparently these handsets are intended for the developing markets, or for the "next billion" mobile users, according to Nokia.

Starting at the bottom, we have the Asha 200 and 201, which are more or less the same handset, although with some minor differences in terms of the internals. Neither model offers 3G connectivity with both limited to dual band GSM/EDGE. Both models sport a 2.4in QVGA (320x240) display, up to 64MB of internal storage memory, a micro SD card slot, a 2Megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, FM radio, a micro USB port and a 3.5mm headset jack. The main difference is that the Asha 200 is a dual SIM phone, but the neat thing here is that the second SIM can be swapped without having to restart the phone. The Asha 200s have a battery rated at 1,430mAh which is good for up to 35 days standby or 7h talk time. Both models will be available in eight different colours depending on the market, with the Asha 200 expected to launch this quarter with the Asha 201 set to follow in Q1 next year with an estimated retail price of €60 (S$105) excluding tax.

Next up we have the Asha 300 which looks a lot more like a traditional “dumb phone” but the looks are deceiving in this case. The Asha 300 features an unspecified 1GHz processor, a 2.4-inch QVGA (320x240) resistive touch screen and quad band 3G/HSPA connectivity. It also has 140MB of internal storage memory, a micro SD card slot, a 5Megapixel camera that will also shoot VGA resolution vide at 25fps, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, FM radio with RDS, a micro USB port with USB OTG support and a 3.5mm headset jack. Its also the first of two Symbian S40 devices from Nokia that will come with Angry Birds Lite pre-loaded. The Asha 300 will be available in six different colours and should arrive this quarter with a retail price of around €85 (S$150) excluding tax.

The fourth and final new handset is the Asha 303 which gets a slightly bigger capacitive 2.6-inch screen, but it retains the low QVGA (320x240) resolution. It too boosts an unspecified 1GHz processor, but the rest of the specs have been given a bump. It has 170MB of storage memory, pentaband 3G/HSPA support, a QWERTY keypad, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, a 3.2Megapixel camera, FM radio, a micro USB port with USB OTG support and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Nokia claims that the 1,300mAh battery should be good for up to 30 days standby in 2G mode or 35 days in 3G mode with up to eight and seven hours of talk time respectively. The Asha 303 will come in six different colours and it too should arrive later this quarter for about €115 (S$205), again excluding tax.

Source: Nokia

Thermalright HR-01-775 Passive Cooler

Due to higher processor frequency enabling computers to run even moreintensive business, multimedia, and gaming applications, the LGA775 processorhas been known to generate more heat than any other processors in the CPUmarket. As any PC enthusiasts would know, stability and heat control gohand-in-hand when it comes to building a good quality PC. Intel made a valianteffort in making a semi-efficient heatsink for the LGA775 processor, but letsface it...it just does not cut it! In response to more heat generated by theCPU, the fan RPM turns up higher and higher which translates into louder andlouder noise. Can your ears bare the noise?

Thats where third-party heatsink designer/maker comes in. The challenge was tofind better solutions in cooling the scorcher in the LGA775 core, plus withminimal noise from the CPU cooling fan. Once again, Thermalright has stepped upto take that challenge and introduced the HR-01-775*. HR-01-775 is a passivetower cooler that utilizes the fan that is already installed in your computer.It works side by side with the fan duct system developed exclusively byThermalright. Basically, the fan duct connects the HR-01 to the 120mm outtakefan, thus making the heatsink serve as a portal to the wind tunnel that leads tothe outside environment of the computer, effectively pulling out hot air andcooling the HR-01 (designed with its proprietary through holes for efficientventilation) at the same time. Lab results have shown that HR-01 with the fanduct works just as efficiently and as effectively as having a 120mm heatsink faninstalled to the HR-01.

Feature:

Fanless design for low-noise operation
Proprietary through holes on fins for effiecient ventilation
Multiple heatpipes for well spread heat around aluminum fins
Soldered fins to copper base (nickel plated) to make effective contact
Light weight and easy installation

Technical Spec.:

Dimension:
L110 x W60 x H159.5(mm) Heat sink only

Weight:
525g (heat sink only)

Motherboard Compatibility:
Intel: Pentium-4 LGA775 3.2 GHz and above **

SingTel and Universal Music bring Lady Gaga back to Singapore

Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) and Universal Music haveannounced that the superstar, Lady Gaga, will be performing an exclusive showcase in Singapore on 7 July 2011 for more than 2000 SingTel customers.

Lady Gaga has been SingTel AMPed’s most downloaded artiste since launch.AMPed offers unlimited free downloads of more thantwo million tracks and is available to SingTel 3G Flexi and iFlexi plan subscribers.Customers can browse and download songs to their hearts’ content, on their mobile devices and PCs, without incurring data charges.

Lady Gaga have garnerednumerous achievements including five Grammy Awards amongst twelve nominations, two Guinness World Records and the estimated sale of 15 million albums and 51 million singles worldwide. She has been included in Times annual ‘The 2010 Time 100’ list of the most influential people in the world as well as Forbes list of the ‘The Worlds Most Powerful Celebrities’ in the world. Her recent release of the highly anticipated follow-up album "Born This Way" has sold over the 1.11 million mark during its first week of sales and has been number one on local CD retail stores and digital music album charts since its release. The album has also achieved sales exceeding platinum status.

More details on this super star showcase and how to secure tickets will be revealed soon.

World Smallest Consumer PC Intel EXPC prototype revealed

Intel has presented their EXPC prototype at Computex 05 during their Keynote session helpd at Taipei's International Convention Hall. Here are some pictures that we took at the Post-Keynote sessions with Intel's Vice-president, Mr Anand Chandrasekher and Mr Jason Chen, Intel Country Manager for Taiwan.

The EXPC will be largely based on Intel's Mobile components like the Pentium M processor and the 855/915GM chipsets, with a proprietary mainboard, lost likely with components like RAM embedded onboard.

TYAN Launched 4-way Board For AMD Shanghai

Taipei, November 13, 2008 - TYAN, an industry-leading server platform provider, today announced at SC’08 that its current line of 23 AMD Opteron™ processor-based platforms and 1 new AMD Opteron™- processor based product will support the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor (codenamed “Shanghai”). Customers can achieve superior performance, low power consumption and low total cost of ownership by upgrading to the new TYAN platforms powered by the enhanced Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor built on 45nm process technology. TYAN platforms that support the previous Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processors are socket compatible and will only require a BIOS update to support this next-generation processor.

TYAN offers 23 current and 1 new platforms that will support the enhanced Quad-Core
AMD Opteron™ processor. Customers can upgrade to the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor in TYAN’s current platforms without extra validation costs or additional hardware changes. For new platforms, TYAN launched the TYAN S4992 motherboard that will target high-end HPC and workstation users. For scalable and flexible 2-way solutions, TYAN’s S3992-E, S3970-E, S2927-E, S2915-E, S2912-E, S2932-E, S2937 and S2935 are perfect platforms that meet current and future IT server and workstation requirements. TYAN’s S4989, S4987-E S4985-E, and M4985-E motherboards are 4-way/8-way solutions that are exceptionally proficient in memory intensive and high-cluster IT infrastructures.

For barebones systems, the TYAN VX50-B4985-E-8P, VX50-B4985-E, FT48-B4985-E, TN68-B4989, GT26-B4987-E, TA26-B3992-E, TA26-B2932-E, GT24-B3992-E, GT24-B2932-E, GT24-B2912-E and GT28-B2935will also support next generation Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processors.

“Since the release of the Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor, TYAN’s products have realized the benefits of AMD’s industry-leading technology, to provide server infrastructures with energy efficiency, remarkable performance and superior virtualization capabilities,” said James Sytwu, GM of TYAN Business Unit of MiTAC International Corporation. “This is an exciting day for our customers, as they can now experience the exceptional processing performance that we expect from the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor, all within the same thermal envelope and without dramatic upgrade requirements from prior generations of AMD Opteron™ processors”

“Tyan’s support for the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor will help provide the server industry with leading white-box proficiency,” said John Fruehe, director, Server and Workstation division, AMD (NYSE:AMD). “With the significant core and cache enhancements, increased processor frequency and enhanced power management capabilities delivered by the enhanced Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor, TYAN’S new server products will enable significant benefits for customers across many different industries.”

The TYAN S4992 is a 4-way high-end workstation server platform that will support HyperTransport™ 3.0 technology or 5.2 GT/s HyperTransport™ technology links between the four CPUs. The S4992 will have a total memory capacity of 256GB DDR2 800/667/533/400 ECC memory, (5) PCI Express Gen. 2 slots, (1) PCI-X 64-bit 133MHz slot, (2) GbE ports, and onboard iKVM features, providing extraordinary computing and networking performance.

TYAN’s current Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor-ready platforms are widely available in the market. The TYAN S4992 motherboard is currently in customer sampling stage and is expected to be in mass production in Q1 of 2009. Please visit http://www.tyan.com/ for more details and information.

VVIKOO introduces GeForce 8800GT Graphics Card

November 01, 2007 ?VVIKOO, the innovative graphics card branding company, introduces the world’s first Nvidia PCI-E 2.0 graphics card ?Vvikoo GeForce 8800GT to the market. Vvikoo GeForce 8800GT is based on NVIDIA?GeForce?8800GT GPU and GDDR3 512MB memory, offering you the best display quality and the smoothest gaming speed!

Vvikoo GeForce 8800GT first uses PCI-E 2.0 bus whose bandwidth is up to 5Gbit/s and double size compared to the bandwidth of original PCI-E 1.1 (2.5Gbit/s). Also, it is compatible with traditional PCI-E 1.x. With the PCI-E 2.0 support, Vvikoo GeForce 8800GT is able to deliver the better image effect than ever, and the smooth gaming display under ultra-high resolution isn’t just a slogan.

Equipped with NVIDIA?GeForce?8800GT GPU, 112 stream processors, and GDDR3 512MB 256bits memory, Vvikoo GeForce 8800GT is the most exciting product of this year. It supports Nvidia PureVideo HD technology and Microsoft DirectX 10 with Shader 4.0, you will be amazed by the true-to-life image quality with all kinds of effects.

Seagate launches the GoFlex Cinema multimedia drive

Media players are hardly what wed call special these days and you can get some really cheap, if albeit basic models these days that will play pretty much any file format you throw at them. Seagate has been trying to get in to the media player for quite some time and so far the company has come up with some fairly uninspiring solutions, but its new GoFlex Cinema is a rather intriguing piece of hardware.

The GoFlex Cinema is one of the smallest media players in the market, well; it is as long as you dont take into account the size of the GoFlex hard drive which its attached to. The entire setup measures 223x120x44mm and that gives you a sizeable external hard drive available in 1TB, 2TB and 3TB sizes. Unlike Seagates previous attempts at media players the GoFlex Cinema relies on 3.5-inch hard drives rather than 2.5-inch drives. Beyond its media player features it can also be used for copying files directly from a digital camera without the need of a PC. A small remote control that doesnt look overly impressive is also supplied.

The actual media player is a small attachment that goes on what would normally have been the bottom end of a GoFlex hard drive and it sports a mini USB port for file transfers to/from a PC, a standard USB port to which cameras or other USB storage devices can be connected, an HDMI port, an optical S/PDIF out, a pair of RCA audio jacks and a composite video connector as well as a power connector. Theres both an upside and a downside to this. The upside is that the drive that comes with the GoFlex Cinema works with other GoFlex adapters from Seagate, so you can get a USB 3.0 dock to boost the speed when youre copying files from your PC. The downside is that the GoFlex Cinema isnt sold without a hard drive, so if you already own a GoFlex drive, youll have to get another one to get the GoFlex Cinema.

In terms of file support the GoFlex Cinema appears to have just about every format in all standard resolutions supported. Itll play back AVI (Xvid, MPEG 1/2/4, AVC, H.264), MPG/MPEG, VOB, ISO (DVD and Blu-ray), M2TS, MP4, MOV (AVC , H.264), MKV (MPEG 2/4, AVC, H.264), FLV and ASF (VC-1, WMV9) video files as well as MP3, WAV, AAC, MKA, FLAC, WMA, APE and OGG audio files, alternatively audio combined with the video. Theres also support for LPCM, WMA Pro, Dolby Digital and DTS audio, although only pass through for the multi-channel formats. Finally itll display JPEG (up to 20Megapixles), GIF, TIFF, BMP and PNG images and SRT, SSA, ASS and SAMI subtitles.

We cant say much about the UI as Seagate has only posted a single screenshot on its website and even that isnt very clear. Theres multi-language support, but as to which languages are supported seems to vary between the regions the unit is sold in and currently it seems to only be available in EMEA and the details on Seagates website is as such limited to that region. The 1TB model retails for €99 (S$175), with the 2TB model only being slightly more expensive at €129 (S$229) and finally the 3TB model at €179 (S$315). No word on when or if Seagate is planning on launching the GoFlex Cinema outside of Europe, but wed expect it to be available globally.

Source: Seagate

MSI Announces X340 X-Slim Series

MSIhas announced the X340 in X-Slim Series. The concept for the bottom framing of the X340 originated from the lightness of the feather as well as its elegance and richness, further freeing our notebook from the traditional grimness.

The most unique features of the X340 has to be that it is only 6 mm at its thinnest, 19.8 mm at its widest, and the entire notebook is only weights 1.3 kilograms added with the battery! Making the X340 the world’s lightest and slimmest 13-inch notebook.

The Very Best Expression of Slim Aesthetic
- The Incomparable Ultra-Slim Experience
The concept for the bottom framing of the X340 originated from the lightness of the feather as well as its elegance and richness, further freeing our notebook from the traditional grimness.

The First 13" Notebook Equipped with 16:9 Wide Screen
- The Perfect 13" LCD Display
The X340 has selected the 13" LCD display as oppose to the 12” or even smaller sizes. This provides much more comfort in reading and operation as well as less weight restraints compared to the 14" models.

The Latest Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology
The X340 features the latest Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology, which uses Intel® Core™2 Solo ULV Processor and Intel® GS45 + ICH9M-SFF Chipset, to deliver long battery life, innovative mobile solutions with unrivaled processor performance, stunning new HD capabilities, and great wireless connectivity (Integrated WiFi+ optional WiMAX, up to 450mbps 802.11 b/g/n).

Source: MSI

Operation SystemGenuine Windows Vista® Home PremiumSupport type @launchIntel® Core™2 Solo ULV ProcessorChipsetIntel® GS45 + ICH9M-SFFLCD13" TFT-LCD DisplayVGAControllerGMA 4500MDHVRAMShare with system memoryMemoryTypeDDR2 667/800MhzConfigurationDDR2 SO-DIMM x 1 slotMaximum2GBAudioSpeakerHigh Quality Speakers x 2Webcam1.3 M WebcamCommunicationLAN10/100/1000 GB LANBluetoothBluethooth V2.0 EDR (Optional)Wireless LAN802.11 b/g/nI/OHDMI1Card reader2 in 1 (SD/SDHC/MMC)Mic-in / Headphone out1/1USB 2.02RJ451D-Sub1StorageHDD form factor2.5" 250 /320/500 GB SATAOptical DriveDVD Super-Multi (External)Battery4/8 CellsKeyboard87 keys (Ergonomic Keyboard )PowerAC Adapter40WPhysical CharacteristicsDimension224x 330 x 60~19.8mmFull System Weight~1.3kg (With 4 Cell Battery)

Super Talent USB 3.0 RAIDDrive reaches transfer rates of over 370MB sec

San Jose, California - November 22, 2010 - Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced their USB 3.0 RAIDDrive is now even faster.

When we introduced the USB 3.0 RAIDDrive, we knew that we had reached the limit of the USB 3.0 host controllers currently available. Now that 2nd generation USB 3.0 host controllers are beginning to emerge, this drive is able to show its true performance. Completely unchanged since its debut in January 2010, this drive now posts scores over 370MB/s; a full 55MB/s faster.

"This product yet again underscores Super Talent's continued leadership in the USB 3.0 storage market. We now have five USB 3.0 flash drives: from the very fastest, RAIDDriveTM, to the ultra-affordable, Express DUOTM", said Super Talent COO, C.H. Lee.

This drive was benchmarked using the new Fresco Logic FL-1009B, the fastest USB 3.0 solution we have tested to date.

All our USB 3.0 drives are fully backward compatible with USB 2.0 ports, at USB 2.0 speeds. Both our USB 3.0 RAIDDriveTM and USB 3.0 Express DUOTM drive use SuperTalent patented technology and are protected under US Patent # 7457897.

YouTube Video-Benchmark

Nevada approves license for Google self-driving cars

The US state of Nevada has approved the first licence for self-driven cars designed by Google, paving the way for a revolution in road travel.

A modified Toyota Prius will be the first self-driven car to hit the streets, powered by software designed by Google to take the steering wheel out of the hands of drivers.Google has tested its self-driven cars with trained drivers who could take control if the software bugged out and managed to cover 140,000 miles without a single accident, apart from a bump received by a car behind when stopped at traffic lights.In fact, while we might think safety is an issue for self-driven cars, the opposite could prove through. A Californian Senator, Alex Padilla, said that “the vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error.” Removing the human element could mean safer road travel.Other car companies are seeking licences for self-driven cars in Nevada and the states Department of Motor Vehicles believes these will be the cards of the future. Other states and countries around the world are likely to follow suit.Source: BBC

NVIDIA G71

There is no doubt NVIDIA will be launching the 90nm G71 soon and the official name will be GeForce 7900 series. There should be a few versions, but little information is known about the pipelines and clock speeds. The current rumours implied a 32 pipes G71 so if that is true, 7900 GT could be 24 pipes.

Nokia To Make Windows Phone

Ifthere isa bet between Android and Windows Phone 7 platform, Nokia may be betting more on the latter. (Sorry Android, no love from the Finnish company).

According to online sources, Nokia may be considering Windows Phone 7 as the additional platform for their phones. Former President ofMicrosoft Business Division, Stephen Elop, has stepped in as Nokias new CEO and it comes as no surprise if Elop managed to convince the board to adopt the new Windows mobile operating system.

The companyhas yet to announce their new devices based on Meego, though it is likely to be announced in Q4 this year.Meego is the Linux operating system project announced by Intel and Nokia at Mobile World Congress in February this year.But whether Meego or Windows Phone 7, time is crucial for the makerto stay in the competition.

Source: VentureBeat

NZXT Announces Sentry LXE Fan Controller

NZXT has released the Sentry LXE, an external fan controller aimed atoverclockers and hardcore enthusiasts.




PCI Card with Support for Up to 5 Probes & Fans

The stylish looking device features a brushed aluminum frame, colortouch-screen LCD (which displays temperatures, RPMs, date, time, &day of the week), temperature alarms, monitors up to five temperatureprobes, and supports up to five fans via five 10W channels (on a PCIcard). The Sentry LXE is expected to start shipping soon at a MSRP ofUSD 59.99.

"Sentry LXE is a unique blend of high performance, complete monitoringand control, intuitive operation, and sleek design" said Johnny Hou,Founder and Chief Designer at NZXT. "The customization capabilities areperfect for the enthusiast who wants to tweak every aspect of airflowand keep tabs on system thermals. Having already launched severalhighly-acclaimed fan controllers, we truly feel that Sentry LXE offersunparalleled value and is a must-have addition to any performance PC."


News via [Techpowerup]