Sapphire FirePro V5700 amp; V3700 Workstation Cards

Sapphire Technology today raised the bar for Computer Aided Design (CAD) andDigital Content Creation (DCC) application performance with the announcement oftwo new professional graphics accelerators – ATI FirePro™ V5700 and ATI FirePro™V3700. As a part of that announcement, AMD also introduced a new brand for thecompany’s professional graphics accelerators, ATI FirePro™, reflecting AMD’scontinuing and evolving commitment to the professional graphics market.

“Following the ATI acquisition, AMD increased its investment in theprofessional graphics business and now delivers professional graphicsaccelerators that perform better than the competition at every price point. Thenew ATI FirePro brand communicates this focus on performance and features thatmatter to engineers and designers”, said Janet Matsuda, senior director, AMDProfessional Graphics. “ATI has been known for delivering value-priced solutionsfor CAD and DCC professionals. The product reviews over the past year havevalidated the fact that ATI offers outstanding application performance as well.”

According to the Worldwide CAD Market Report 2007-08 published by Jon PeddieResearch, in 2007 the installed base of CAD users grew to 5.31 million worldwide– a 20 percent increase from 2006. The firm’s analysts also predict the CADmarket will continue growth through 2008, with revenues projected to grow 15percent to $ 6,025.37 million and reach $ 8.1 billion by 2012.

“Historically, 3D technologies were expensive and used only by seniordesigners within a large manufacturer or architectural firm. As technologiesadvanced and prices dropped, 3D graphics for entry level CAD designers was nolonger a pipe dream but a necessity,” said Jon Peddie, president and founder ofJon Peddie Research. “Today’s entry- and mid-level CAD users need to create andrender more complex designs and models, and graphics accelerators from AMD candeliver the performance and reliability professionals need at a price where 3Dbecomes the rule, not the exception.”

Empowering Users with Features that Matter

The ATI FirePro™ V5700 graphics accelerator delivers the perfect balance ofprice and application performance for CAD and DCC professionals. With the newcard, users will experience increased performance for shader-intensiveapplications, up to two times more than the previous generation. ATI FireProV5700 also features 512MB of frame buffer memory, dual link DVI and Display Portconnections, and its true 30-bit display engine produces more than one billioncolors at any given timeempowering designers to see more of their data.Unified Video Decoder 2.0 provides full Blu-ray feature support includingdual-stream and picture in a picture (PIP) capabilities, and handles decoding ofvarious formats in the graphics processing unit (GPU), which helps free up theCPU to handle other tasks.

The ATI FirePro™ V3700 establishes a new, low entry price for professional 3Dgraphics. For CAD professionals migrating from 2D, the ATI FirePro™ V3700delivers the 3D performance and application certification professionals. The ATIFirePro™ V3700 graphics accelerator features 256 MB of frame buffer memory, twodual-link DVI connectors and VGA mode support on all display outlets.

Best In Class Features Across Products

The ATI FirePro™ V3700 and V5700 cards deliver the industry standard supportand features important to today’s CAD and DCC users, including Microsoft®DirectX® 10.1 and OpenGL 2.0 support, PCI Express® 2.0 interface and ShaderModel 4.1.

“Our customers need high performance graphics hardware that is stable, reliableand compatible with eyeon Fusion and eyeon Generation to foster increasedcollaboration while enabling more complex work,” said Steve Roberts, ChiefExecutive Office, at eyeon Software Inc. “Based on our experiences with AMD, weare confident that ATI FirePro™ 3700 and 5700 can be utilized in uniqueclustering configurations to meet the specific needs of our visual effectscustomers and certainly those of the film industry overall. The recentenhancements to ATI’s FirePro series are consistent with the company’s superiorcustomer service.
At Siggraph 2008, August 12-14, AMD will showcase ATI FirePro™ professionalgraphics accelerators in Booth 327 at the Los Angeles Convention Center inCalifornia.

Additionally, the first comprehensive review of the ATI FirePro™ V5700,conducted by 3D professor, is available online athttp://www.3dprofessor.org

Availability
The new ATI FirePro V3700 is generally available, and the ATI FirePro V5700 isexpected to begin shipping in September 2008.

PalmOne First Hard Drive-based Handheld

PalmOne plans to announce later this month its first hard-drive-based product line, LifeDrive Mobile Manager on May 18. The $ 499 device will come with a 4GB Hitachi Microdrive and two flavors of wireless networking--Bluetooth and 802.11b Wi-Fi. Combined with organizer features, the music-playing handheld could compete with Apple Computer's $ 199 4GB iPod Mini. LifeDrive handhelds will be powered by a 416MHz Intel XScale PXA270 processor and come with a 320-by-480-pixel color screen. It will feature Garnet that includes support for wireless connections such as Bluetooth. Files can be transferred from a PC to a LifeDrive via a USB connection. The device will be able to play music but will not come with RealNetworks' music software, but instead will use Pocket Tunes and sync with Real's Rhapsody music service, according to sources. It will also come with software called Camera Companion for transferring photos to and from the device.

WD Passport acirc;„ cent; Portable USB Hard Drives

Simplifying transport of large quantities of digital content and information,Western Digital Corp. today unveiled its new WD Passportâ„¢ Portable USB HardDrives. With no need for a separate power supply (for most systems), WD PassportPortable Drives, available in capacities of 40 or 80 GB, are easy to useanywhere - simply plug and go.

WD Passport Portable Drives are outfitted with high-performance, low-powerconsuming, cool and quiet-running WD Scorpioâ„¢ 2.5 inch EIDE hard drives, arugged, protective case and Data Lifeguardâ„¢ protection to provide maximumsafeguard from data loss.

WD Passport Portable Drives were designed to serve as a digital file briefcaseby enabling owners to add instant extra storage; slip the drive in their pocketfor on-the-go convenience; back up their notebook computers for extra datasafety; easily share files between computers; and lock up the portable harddrive for extra security. An 80 GB WD Passport Portable USB Drive can storeapproximately 20 2-hour DVD-quality movies or over 1,300 hours of music.

WD Passport Portable Drives will be available at retail stores next month. Forcustomers who prefer the ease of online shopping, WD's new Portable USB drivesmay be pre-ordered via the company's online store (www.westerndigital.com/wdpassport).Customers who pre-order a WD Passport Portable Drive by Nov. 30, 2004, areeligible to receive free shipping with delivery scheduled on or before Dec. 24,2004, making WD Passport Portable Drives available as a holiday gift fortravelers. Full details of this promotion are available on WD's online store.Suggested retail pricing for WD Passport Portable USB Drive 40 GB capacity is$ 199 (USD) and $ 249 (USD) for 80 GB.

WD Passport Portable Drives are able to withstand the rigors of mobileprofessionals and other users who prefer to take their data with them. Safetytests make them one of the few external drives with certification to meet allapplicable safety requirements. A product specification sheet and photos of WDPassport Portable Drives are available on the company's Web site athttp://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=110

"No one does more to safeguard customers' data than WD," said Lonnie Arima, vicepresident and general manager for WD's retail products group. "Only a hard drivemanufacturer has the in-depth expertise to design enclosures that protect users'data. And only WD combines Data Lifeguard data protection with WD Scorpio2.5-inch hard drives -- the most rugged and reliable 2.5-inch hard drive in itsclass -- to deliver a portable USB hard drive dependable enough for ourcustomers to consider it the portable file for their digital life."

Sony hit by hackers again

While Sony is still recovering from the fallout of its Playstation network and Qriocity services being compromised, there is more bad news. Sony has just announced that hackers may have stolen the personal information of 24.6 million Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) users. Sources claim that 12,700 credit card details were stolen in this attack. All of Sony Online Entertainments games services have been taken offline.

An advisory on the SOE website has stated that the stolen credit card information are from an oudated 2007 database. The notice assures consumers that the main database has not been compromised.

Sony Online Entertainment is best known for its MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) such as Everquest, Everquest II and DC universe online.

Source: PC World

Windows 8 debuted - mostly old news

A lot of excitement has been building up in anticipation of Windows 8, which was officially debuted today at an event in New York City. Microsoft took the opportunity at the event to showcase Windows 8, and hardware offerings by its partners. To the disappointment of many, the company did not reveal many new details about the operating system, or new additions to its somewhat meager application store.

But despite the lack of new details at todays event, it can be safely taken for granted that Windows 8 is going to change everything. That is not to say that it will revolutionize technology, but that its operating system is so thoroughly embedded into the computing world at large, that millions of people can be expected to adopt the operating system in a very little amount of time.

Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer (image from PCWorld)

As such, it is no surprise that there was no lack of Windows 8 compatible hardware showcased at the event, from desktops, laptops, tablets, to tablet-laptop hybrids.“Our partners have come up with incredible new designs,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “Are these new designs PCs? Yes. Are these new designs tablets also? Yes.”

Microsoft’s RT tablet was included in the product lineup, and will go on sale Thursday at10 p.m. ET.

Noting the somewhat barren application store, Ballmer reminded attendees that the online Windows Store contains the highest stock of applications of any app store on its launch day. Of course, he is correct - the iOS store, for example, had 500 apps at its launch, and the Android store had 2,000. Meanwhile, the Windows Store had nearly 8,000 apps available as of Tuesday.

Nevertheless, the lack of big name developers in the store could still make it a dud with consumers. Notably, official apps for Twitter and YouTube are not currently present, and a lot of popular games are also missing from the store.

For consumers, Windows 8 is going to be a sometimes difficult but necessary adjustment to make. Windows 8 doesnt seek to alter the way consumers use their computers, but every other device they use as well. The simplistic and mobile style interface blurs the distinction between mobile and desktop operating systems, and a goal for further interconnectedness betwixt Windows devices is evidenced by Windows SmartGlass, which will roll out this week.

If there was any lackluster at today’s event, it should be kept in mind that the real release of Windows 8 will be when it is installed on practically every PC available to consumers. Then, if they ever wanted to ignore it, they will have no choice.

Source: PCWorld

Samsung releases Galaxy Tab 10.1 for sale in Singapore

So Samsungs new Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computing device has just been officially shown the door in Germany. Now, that is definitely not going to be good for German fans of the Korean electronics giants mobile computing products, but the good news is that local fans will not have to fret about the possibility of a ban over in Singapore. This is because Samsung has just announced that it has officially released the Tab 10.1 for retail in Singapore, where it will be sold at the price of S$848 (GST included) without a contract from a carrier.

For those who are wondering about the Galaxy Tab 10.1s specifications, the tablet runs off version 3.1 of the Android operating system (aka Honeycomb) and is touted to measure a mere 8.6mm in thickness, thus making it the world;s thinnest tablet. On the hardware side, the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be powered by a 1GHz “dual-core application processor”, while the built-in 3G modem is reportedly capable of achieving network speeds of up to 21Mbps.

Last but definitely not least, Samsung has also claimed that the new Galaxy Tab 10.1 will boast “surround sound stereo speakers”, dual-facing cameras and support for 1080p video playback, thus allowing for users to enjoy a “rich entertainment experience”.

Full specifications of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet are as follow: