VR-Zone Tech News for the Geeks Feb 2011 Issue

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Published by VR-Zone Active Media Launches
Flip USB Flash Drive February 12th, 2011
February 12th, 2011 copper block has been
machined to house two Watlow Firerod cartridgesins
ideitsbody,ratedabletogenerate150Wat240V input
voltage each. A small PT100 sensor is installed
inside a hole at the highest possible point of
the copper core, only half a mm lower than the
top of the copper block. The head of
the sensor is at exactly the top center point of
the copper core, where an actual CPU / GPU core
would be. Active Media Products,
manufacturer of SSDs, DOMS, and innovative
USB drives, has unveiled the capless Flip USB
flash drive. Measuring 46 x 13 x 8mm, the tiny
device has a USB 2.0 interface, NAND flash
memory chip, and comes in 4GB and 8GB
capacities. Available in fire orange or white
colors, the Flip can be purchased directly from
Amazon at MSRPs of US 12 (4GB) and US20
(8GB). ACTIVE MEDIA PRODUCTS PRESS
RELEASE Fremont, California - February
7, 2011- Active Media Products, a leading
manufacturer of SSDs, DOMs and USB drives, today
announced the new FLIP pivot USB 2.0 flash
drive, an ultra-slim pivot style drive.
"The FLIP drive is designed in fire orange
and white racing colors, giving it a unique
look, and the drive is extremely small and
ultra-slim, making it a highly portable
storage device," stated Active Media Products
VP of Sales, Jerry Thomson.
Copper core In order to make our testing
station compatible with every cooler ever made
we went with a very simple design using
interchangeable PCBs. Creating custom PCBs by
drilling exact holes at specific points is very
easy, therefore by being able to easily install
different PCBs and adJust their height
compared to the top of the copper core we gained
the ability to emulate any CPU core precisely
and install any cooler despite its design,
size, shape, weight and / or retention mechanism.
By being able to use any custom PCB and any size
copper core, we ensured the usability of our
testing station indefinitely. The
pivot style lid protects the drive when not in
use - and you'll never have to worry about
losing the lid because it conveniently
flips open, giving instant access to your
data. Pack 4GB or 8GB of data securely onto the
FLIP drive. It is designed to fit easily on a
keychain or in a pocket or clipped to a
backpack. Load up to 2000 MP3 songs or up to
2400 six megapixel photos onto your FLIP drive
to take with you anywhere. CPU test
PCB 14
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February 12th, 2011 This
new FLIP drive is available today through
Amazon, at approximately 12 for the 4GB model
and 20 for the 8GB. The FLIP drive is available
in fire orange or white. About Active Media
Products BasedintheheartofSiliconValley,ActiveMed
iaProductsLLC is dedicated to developing creative
new media products that improve performance and
enhance the user's experience. Our focus on
innovative product development enables us to
bring new technology to market a step ahead of
the competition. AMP is a leader in small form
factor SSDs and manufactures the Wink and the
endangered species line of USB drives. Fictiona
l spokesperson for Sony accidentally retweets PS3
hack code February 12th, 2011 When news
came out that Sony's PlayStation 3 game
console washackedintobyhackerGeoHotz,itsenteveryon
eincluding Sony, into a frenzy. Whilst Sony
has been successful in stopping the spread of
the code thus far, it was conveniently broadcasted
to the world again - this time via Twitter.
Published by VR-Zone Just
weeks ago, hacker GeoHotz released the code to
Jailbreak Sony's PlayStation 3 console,
online. Since the leak, Sony has been
working hard to contain the spread of the
code, and in what seemed like a victorious end to
the episode, had successfully been awarded
a temporary restraining order against GeoHotz
himself. This prevented the hacker from
distributing the code online, and also sent out a
stern warning to potential hackers. Just today
though, a spokesperson for Sony was spotted
re- Tweeting the code on his Twitter page. Kevin
Butler, a fictional spokesperson for Sony,
re-Tweeted the code from user 'evixa', an added
his own quibble, saying "Lemme guess... you sank
my battleship?" Justwhenitseemedthateverythingwasc
omingtoanend,this is yet another embarrassing
smack in the face for Sony. Apple files
patents for touchscreen OLED technology currently
in use on smartphones February 12th, 2011 It
is well known that OLED technology is
superior to both conventional LCD and even the
recent Super LCD technology currently in use on
every single single device that has a
screen. Needless to say, Apple has also got its
eye on this particular technology as well, and
clearly intends to integrate with its line of
touch-based electronic devices. But it
appears that the Cupertino giant might have
plans to use this technology against the
competition why else would the company
being filing patents over touchscreen
OLED technology which appear to be currently
in use? For a company that always claims to be on
the bleeding edge of technology, Apple's line of
consumer electronics products, especially its
iPod, iPhone and iPads, have consistently
been 15
3
February 12th, 2011 missing out on a certain
display technology which is currently in use by
some of its competitors. Yep, we are talking
about that expensive display technology known
as OLED, which supposedly offers much
faster response times and better power
efficiency as opposed to conventional LCD
panels. Needless to say, it is hardly
surprising that Apple would attempt to
discover ways in which it can integrate
OLED technology into its products and one-up the
competition while in the process of doing so. And
as it turns out, Apple is indeed keen, or have at
least expressed an interest in doing so. But as
most people would have already known by now,
whenever Apple is interested in any
technological-related advances, it almost always
means one thing. Fancy a look a some
new patent applications?
Published by VR-Zone consideration the fact
that Apple has had no prior experience in working
with OLED displays, it would make sense that it
is not possible for them to come up with an
entirely new method of implementing such displays
so suddenly. And needless to say, broad patents
make for great offensive weapons in patent
lawsuits, as it almost grantees
that competitors would find themselves running
afoul of Apple's 'patented methods'. But we can
only wait and see if things will really turned
out as speculated. Source and images Patently
Apple Sony shows off new translucent DSLR
that consumers will never own
February 12th, 2011 DSLRs are well known
for being available in any colour the user wants
them to be, as long as it is black. And once
again, leave it to Sony to break the
mould by exhibiting a new camera over at
the CP Camera and Photo Imaging Show that
sports a one-of-a-kind translucent plastic body.
The only problem? This camera will never
see the light of day in an actual
photographer's hands. A quick look
at the patent applications reveal that
Apple probablyhasanintentiontoimplementOLEDtechnol
ogyinto
a future release of consumer electronic devices.
Indeed, the first diagram features a rather
technical illustration of how an OLED panel
might be able to fit into a device that makes use
of touchscreen technology, along with the
possibility of implementing the
touchscreen-enabled OLED displays on devices
such as mobile phones, media players and
even a notebook. Also included in the second
filling are descriptions regarding layouts for
touch sensors, signal routing,
other details. Still, as informative as this may
be, it fails to change the fact that Apple is
probably one of the last entrants into the
OLED game. More importantly, it appears that
Apple might make use of these patents to
attack competitors, simply because they cover
extremely broad methods of implementing
OLED displaytechnologyinawidevarietyofdevices.Ifon
etakesinto
If there is one universal feature about DSLRs
which applies to most manufacturers in the
market, it has to be the fact that most
of the cameras available in the market
that fall under that category typically come
with only one available colour black. Of
course, that is not necessarily a bad
thing after all, professionalism plays a huge
part in the selection of photography gear, and
needless to say totting around candy- colouredDSLR
stoaprofessionalphotoshootdoesnotdoone's professio
nal image much help at all. Still, there are
times where life needs to be a little
more colourful that Just dealing with things in
black and white, and itwouldappearthatSony'slatest
camerawhichdebutedinthe CPCameraandPhotoImagingSh
owheldinJapanmightJust support that fact. Indeed,
gracing Sony's exhibit was nothing 16
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Published by VR-Zone come with...zero new
consumer-centric features. What a way to be a wet
blanket, Microsoft. Well,
Microsoft surely took its time with this one.
After all, it has been at least an entire
month ever since we brought news of an
alleged leak of an RTM release of SP1 build
for Windows 7, only for the Redmond giant to step
in and caution overenthusiasticusersagainstdownloa
dingaservicepackthat was never meant to be used.
And on top of that, Microsoft apparently started
work on SP1 for Windows 7 as far back
as Marchlastyear,whichmakesitoneofthelongerdevelop
ment times Windows have spent on a Service
Pack. Needless to say, users from all over the
world are anticipating thedayMicrosoftmakestheinev
itableannouncementofwhen Service Pack 1 for
Windows 7 will be released, and what new features
they can look forward to. And this is where we
have the classic 'good news bad news' situation
playing out once again. The good news is that the
wait is officially over Microsoft
has JustannouncedinablogpostthatithassignedoffanSP
1build for RTM today. As usual, TechNet and
MSDN subscribers will get first dibs on the
update these users will be able
to downloaditfromtheirrespectiveportalsonFebruary1
6,while 'normal' Windows users have to wait until
February 22 to get their copy via Windows
Update. Unfortunately, this is also where the
'bad news' part comes in. With SP1 for Windows 7
being under development for almost anentireyear,ch
ancesarethatsomeuserswouldbeexpecting Microsofttoa
wewithtonsofnewfeatures,likewhathappened for XP
and Vista. But this is not the case for Windows
7, for Microsoft has confirmed that SP1 will come
with no new user- centric features. According
to a blog post made by Microsoft's
Windows Server and Cloud division Senior
Technical Product Manager, Michael Kleef, the
update will sport two new
features intendedforWindowsServer2008R2DynamicMem
oryand RemoteFX. The former can be considered as
an enhancement to Windows Server's Hyper-V
feature it allows Hyper-V
February 12th, 2011 lesserthananewtranslucentSonyA
lphaDSLR,completewith the company's proprietary
translucent mirror technology. Loo
ks rather nice, doesn't it? Apparently, a
website known as PetaPixel claims that this
transparent Alpha DSLR spotted in the show is
actually the body for the Japanese
electronics giant's upcoming Sony Alpha
A77 DSLR. Outfitted with the same
translucent mirror technology as mentioned
in the previous paragraph, the A77 is
expected to replace the company's current A700
DSLR, and will feature various new features such
as 1080p video recording and a high-resolution APS
-C sensor. Which sounds suspiciously like a
certain high- resolution APS-C sensor we talked
about quite some time ago. Of course, with the
A77 being an upcoming model, it should be
expected that Sony is not about to let the cat
out of the bag by revealing too much information
about it. And it seems to be working apparently,
no one has the faintest idea as to when the A77
will be released, and how much Sony intends to
sell it for. That being said, we can at
least say that we have positive information
about a certain fact. The translucent body
you see up there? Well, it's not for sale. Yep,
you heard that right. What, you mean you were
actually hoping that Sony would think of selling
its prototype device? Sorry to spoil your
hopes, dude. Source and image PetaPixel Windows
7 SP1 finally marked for RTM, home users need
not apply February 12th, 2011 As always,
one can always count on Microsoft to kill off
any interest in what has to be one of the more
highly-anticipated software releases for the
year. After generating a huge deal of hype over
what would eventually be the first Service Pack
ever for its popular Windows 7 operating system
thanks a couple of supposedleaks,thesoftwaregianth
asapparentlythoughtthat
itwouldbeanicetouchtoannouncethatSP1forWindowswill
17
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Published by VR-Zone consumer is never the
smartest kid on the block, since
their Jobmostlycomprisessittingaroundandmakingunre
asonable demands from OEMs and hardware
developers under the pretext of spurring
innovation. And with dual-core processors starting
to find their way into smartphones
thanks to 'consumer demands', it seems that
Broadcom is not about to let itself fall behind.
Indeed, the company has Just announced its own
dual-core System on a Chip which is specially
targeted for high performance smartphones. In an
announcement posted on its product page,
Broadcom claims that the new BCM28150
smartphone processor is an "advanced 1080p
Multimedia Smartphone System on a
chip (SoC)"whichfeaturesadual-coreprocessorbasedof
ftheARM CortexA9architecture.Theprocessorcoresrepo
rtedlyutilizes Broadcom's proprietary Merlyn app
processor and VideoCore IV mobile graphics to
provide fast and seamless hardware- accelerati
on of 1080p video content and 3D games at
the smartphone's native resolution. Andsinceasmar
tphoneSoCismostlyuselessifitdoessupport commonly-u
sed wireless communication protocols, it
should probably be of no surprise that
Broadcom has taken steps to ensure that its
SoC plays nice with existing
standards. Accordind to the company, the BCM28150
features built-in support for EDGE, WCDMA, 4G
HSPA and HSDPA, and is intended to be
used with the Android operating
system, although Broadcom has claimed that the
SoC will also work with other open mobile
operating systems. Last but not least, Broadcom
has confirmed that the complete BCM28150
smartphone platform (currently
codenamed Broadstone) will include the following
hardware the 40nm BCM28150 HSPA
system-on-a-chip (SoC) smartphone processor,
the BCM2091 radio frequency (RF) IC,
the BCM59056 advanced power management unit
(PMU) with charger and audio support and
Broadcom's Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM, A-GPS and NFC
connectivity technologies. Technical
specifications are as listed below
February 12th, 2011 users to "increase
virtual machine density with
existing resources...without sacrificing
performance or scalability" RemoteFX, on the
other hand, appears to be the
more appealing feature. In his blog post, Kleef
claims RemoteFX's grants Windows Remote
Desktop and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
clients the ability to leverage a server's GPU
to provide hardware acceleration for
applications which make extensive use of
OpenGL and Direct3D. This makes it
very useful in certain business environments,
where thin clients can easily be used to run
applications which have minimum hardware
requirements way above what the remote
client system can offer. Andifyouarethinkingofatte
mptingtomakeuseofRemoteFX to play that copy
of Crysis sitting on your desktop PC
on your netbook via Remote Desktop while on the
move...well, you might want to stop thinking
about it right now, because RemoteFX can only be
used over LAN. Ouch. Broadcom launches new SoC
for smartphones, boasts 1080p video
playback February 12th, 2011 Do you
remember the days where totting a
smartphone that boasted Qualcomm's Snapdragon
platform and single- core Scorpion processor
was an instant passport to large amounts of
geek credentials? Well, it appears that the
days of single-core processors on smartphone
are all but gone, and Broadcom apparently
seems to think so. After all, why else would the
company launch a new dual-core System on a Chip
for specially designed for high-performance
smartphone
computing? Barely as 18 months ago,
single-core computing on a mobile Internet device
such as smartphones were considered as the only
viable method that provided users with Just the
right mix of power and energy drain.. After all,
one must remember that smartphones were
originally intended to be used as business tools
and not as fashion statements or mobile
entertainment devices. Fast forward to the
present, and today the smartphone has
moved from being a mobile business
tool to a mobile entertainment device
for consumers, thanks to the introduction of
the iPhone. Needless to say, the
average 18
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February 12th, 2011 MSI unveils X-Slim X370,
Wind U270 and CR650 with AMD's new generation
dual core E-350 processor February 12th,
2011 MSI have launched their new
powerful performance notebook computers which
include the 15.6-inch CR650, the
12-inch Wind U270, and the 13.4-inch
X-Slim X370. All three notebook PCs are
equipped with AMD latest generation dual core
E-350 processor and AMD Radeon HD 6310
discrete graphics that supports DirectX 11, and
long battery life. The MSI CR650 (above
picture) features Turbo Battery shortcut
that lets you control digital multimedia
with your mouse SRS PC Sound that can
reproduce sound faithfully when you listen
to your favorite songs or watching
videos and Cinema Pro technology that claims to
offer similar audio experience of live
performances, films and recording studios.
Published by VR-Zone the U270 and X370 come
with user-friendly hardware and software,
including the MSI S-Bar that lets you control
maJor OS and hardware hot keys as well as MSI's
own application software with a simple click of
the mouse. No pricing details available
yet. RunCore launches ExpressCard SSD and USB
3.0 host card in one February 12th,
2011 Notebooks have limited
upgradability at best and if you're lucky to
own one with an ExpressCard slot, then you will
know how frustrating it is to have to swap
between two different cards. Especially if one
of them happens to be a storage upgrade.
Chinese SSD maker RunCore has come to the
rescue with a product that should appeal to
notebook PC users, at least as long as the price
is right the ExpressCard 34 SSD with a built-in
USB 3.0 host controller. The card is called the
RunCore Pro IV ExpressCard SSD and it contains a
64GB SSD that connects to your notebook via
the ExpressCard interface. It also hass a USB 3.0
host controller which allows you to connect USB
3.0 devices to your notebook which means that
you'll be able to take advantage of fast,
external storage devices. Add to the fact
that RunCore has implemented a USB 3.0 host
feature that lets you connect the Pro IV to a
desktop PC with USB 3.0 connectivity (or USB
2.0 for that matter) to copy data at high
speed. The Wind U270 sports a
12-inch 169 wide display, weighs a portable
1.3kg, and is less than an inch thick.
it features MSI's proprietary ECO power-saving
design which allows the battery to last twice as
long as conventional notebooks. It is also
sheathed in color film print which not only looks
stylish, but protects against smudging and
wear. The SSD part may not be all that
impressive compared to the latest generation of
SSDs and it actually compares more to recent USB
3.0 flash drives with a read speed of 110MB/s
and a write speed of 80MB/s. But it is still not
too bad considering how unique this product
is on the market. Sadly, RunCore didn't
announce a launch date or any kind of pricing,
but we'd expect the Pro IV to sell in excess of
US200 considering it is
a 64GB SSD and a USB 3.0 host controller in one.
The13-inchMSIX-SlimX370notonlylooksgood,butitisals
o
super slim, yet comfortable to use. It weighs
about 1.4kg and boasts powerful multimedia and
processing capabilities. Both 19
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February 12th, 2011 HP unveils TouchPad
tablet and two smartphones, Veer and
Pre3 February 12th, 2011 HP has announced
their new TouchPad webOS tablet device which
boasts to introduce fun and mobile productivity.
The company has also introduced two new
smartphones- Veer and Pre3 - which also run
webOS. HP has unveiled their first
webOS slate, the HP TouchPad. It features a
9.7-inch capacitive multitouch display,
virtual keyboard, instant-on access, support for
Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta in the
browser and access to thousands
of webOS applications. Designed for entertainment
and mobile productivity, the TouchPad boasts to
offer unified experience across various
devices. You can answer calls or view your
Short Message Service (SMS) messages from the
slate, or use the exclusive touch- to-share
feature to share web URLs from your webOS
phone to the TouchPad. With HP Synergy,
simply sign in to your Facebook, Google,
Microsoft Exchange, LinkedIn and Yahoo! accounts
and your contacts, calendar and email
automatically populate on the slate. Amazon.com
has also announced that it will launch a
free Kindle app for HP webOS tailored for
TouchPad that will give user access to more than
810,000 titles from Amazon's Kindle Store. You
can also buy and sell on Amazon.com, do
internet banking, buy movie ticketsor check the
latest news. Other features include 1.3-megapixel
front-facing webcam, 16 or 32GB internal storage,
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth wireless
connectivity and A-GPS. The TouchPad also
comes with built-in HP Touchstone technology
for easy charging, and is compatible with the
HP Touchstone for TouchPad (sold separately).
You can charge in either portrait or
landscape mode, even without removing the
TouchPad case (sold separately). Availabilit
y HPTouchPadisscheduledtobeavailablethissummer.Pri
cing and availability will be announced at a
later date.
Published by VR-Zone Specifications -
Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-CPU APQ8060
1.2-GHz processor - 9.7-inch diagonal XGA
capacitive, multitouch screen (1024x768) -
16 GB or 32 GB of internal storage - HP webOS -
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n - A-GPS (3G only) - Bluetooth
wireless technology 2.1EDR with A2DP
stereo Bluetooth support - 3.5mm
headset/headphone/microphone Jack - Internal
stereo speakers and Beats Audio - Front-facing
1.3-megapixel webcam - Light sensor,
accelerometer, compass (magnetometer)
and gyroscope - Rechargeable 6,300mAh battery -
Micro-USB connector - Built-in HP Touchstone
technology for easy charging (HP Touchstone for
TouchPad sold separately) and HP
touch- to-share to share web addresses
between TouchPad and compatible webOS
phones - Dimensions 190 x 242 x 13.7 mm -
Weight approximately 740g The Daily VR-Zone
News Summary - 9 Feb 2011 February 12th,
2011 Intoday'snewsroundup-ReviewofKingston
HyperXSpecial EditionSandyBridge1600MHzCL9-Reviewo
fSunbeamtech Twister 120 CPU Cooler - Nokia drops
MeeGo phone before launch - HP's Palm set to
unveil tablet - Video Game Review Dungeons, and
more.. Hardware News Description Kingston's
KHX1600C9D3X2K2/4GX is a kit of two 256M x
64-bit 2GB (2048MB) DDR3-1600MHz CL9 SDRAM
(Synchronous DRAM) memory modules, based
on sixteen 128M x 8-bit DDR3 FBGA components per
module. 20
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February 12th, 2011 Each module kit
supports Intel XMP (Extreme
Memory Profiles). Description The TWISTER 120
incorporates our newest ISO- Turbo Technology
for increased cooling. The dual 120mm MFDB
fan spins in opposite direction which allows for
more concentrated airflow, combined with the
three 8mm heat pipes and large fin area, the
TWISTER 120 offers one of the best cooling
capabilities in its class. Description
Xigmatek's Aegir CPU cooler does indeed bring a
lot to the party. With excellent cooling
performance and a robust,yeteasilyinstalledmountin
gsolution,thiscoolerranks at the top of its
class. White LEDs in the fan frame add a bit
of visual interest to the smoky, PWM fan and will
fit nicely into many color schemes for the
enthusiast thet cares about this sort of
thing. DescriptionADATAstartedtointroducespeedyUS
B3.0flash drives to the market, one of them being
the Superior Series S102 16GB model. These
products have different read/write speeds
depending on the capacity and thanks to
their very highreadspeedperformanceswecanusethems
uccessfullyfor booting Live USB Linux
distributions or for transferring the Windows
7/Vista install kits, to speed up the OS
installation. Description With the launch of
the GTX 570 series, some manufacturers
including Gainward also came up wit
their overclocked GTX 570 models and Golden
Sample that provide an increase of performance of
almost 2.5 to 9.3 Consumer Electronics and
Software News Description Nokia has
stopped developing its
first smartphone using the MeeGo operating
system, two industry sources close to the company
said. Description Ever hear of Coloud? I didnt
until one of their sets of headphones appeared on
my doorstep for review. Their new line is called
Colors and theyre aptly named as you can get
them in many different colors. Description The
Vatican put its foot down Wednesday
over theideaof"confessing"byiPhone,afternewsthatUS
userscan now download an application for the
Apple gadget that helps the faithful gain
absolution. Description HP has plenty riding
on the event, which will showcase the
webOS mobile operating system -- the
most valuableassetthecompanyacquiredwhenitboughtha
ndheld pioneer Palm last summer for 1.2 billion.
HP plans to roll out webOS in a number of
products across its portfolio. Description
Korean manufacturer LG Electronics
has filed lawsuits over alleged patent
infringements in Sony's Playstation 3 console
and Bravia TVs. Description It seems in this day
and age everybody wants a piece of the PC
peripherals market. This time Corsair, famous for
manufacturing PC hardware, released its own
lineup of
Published by VR-Zone consoles, without losing
any of the irreverence that originally made it
a hit. With solo, and multiplayer (online
and off) options,it'safuntitletostickinwhenyou're
notgrindingaway in Fallout or fragging people in
Black Ops. Description Publisher Kalypso and
developer Realmform Studios have introduced
Dungeons, which on first blush looks like a
spiritual successor to the famed series.
You play a Dungeon Lord who builds deathtrap
dungeons to spread his influence on the land
above, and must protect his dungeon heart from
invaders, all while trying to keep the
denizens happy. Enermax readies NAXN
Series PSUs February 12th, 2011 Enermax is
preparing to release its NAXN line-up of
PSUs, designed for both gamers and
enthusiasts. Available in modular(NAXN82)andn
on-modular(NAXN80)models, theyfeatureHeatandAirGu
ardfunctions,multipleprotection circuitry (OCP,
OVP, AC UVP, DC UVP, OPP, OTP, SCP and SIP),
active PFC, and are cooled by a silent 120mm
(135mm fan for NAXN 82) fan. NAXN
80 Enermax is preparing to release its NAXN
line-up of PSUs, designed for both gamers
and enthusiasts. Available
in modular(NAXN82)andnon-modular(NAXN80)models,
theyfeatureHeatandAirGuardfunctions,multipleprotec
tion circuitry(OCP,OVP,ACUVP,DCUVP,OPP,OTP,SCPSIP
), active PFC, and are cooled by a silent 120mm
(135mm fan for NAXN 82) fan.
high-end speakers and headsets. Packing in
many popular features,theCorsairHS1NAUSBGamingHea
dsetcomeswith 7.1 virtual surround sound and
massive 50mm drivers. Gaming News Description
You Don't Know Jack returns in a
package that finally brings the game onto
the current generation of 21
9
February 12th, 2011 NAXN
82 The80PLUScertifiedNAXN80PSUshavetwo12Vrails
and areavailablein350W,450W,500Wand600Wcapacities.
The 82PLUS certified NAXN 82 come in 750W / 850W
models with two/ four 12V rails
respectively. Sharkoon Releases
Flexi-Drive Accelerate Duo Flash Drives February
12th, 2011 Sharkoon has announced the
Flexi-Drive Accelerate Duo seriesofaffordableUSB
3.0flashdrives,aimedatmainstream users.Measuring72
x19x8mmandweighingabout16g,these ultra-portable
aluminum flash drives are available in
32GB and 64GB variants. Sharkoon
has announced the Flexi-Drive Accelerate
Duo series of affordable USB 3.0 flash
drives,aimedatmainstream users.Measuring72x19x8mma
ndweighingabout16g,these ultra-portable aluminum
flash drives are available in 32GB
Published by VR-Zone The
Flexi-Drive Accelerate Duo features a special
controller, supporting data transfer speeds
up to 110MB/s (read) and 70MB/s (write) via
its USB 3.0 interface. They can be found in store
shelves around EU at MSRPs of 69.90 (32GB)
and 124.90 (64GB). Thermaltake Ships Level
10 GT February 12th, 2011 Thermaltake,
well-known amongst enthusiasts for its
high performance thermal solutions and PC cases,
has unveiled the long awaited Level 10 GT,
successor to the best-selling Level 10
Super-Gaming Modular Tower Chassis.
Thermaltake, well-known amongst
enthusiasts for its high performance thermal
solutions and PC cases, has unveiled the long
awaited Level 10 GT, successor to the
best-selling Level 10 Super-Gaming Modular Tower
Chassis.
and 64GB variants. 22
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Published by VR-Zone It
supports all microATX, ATX, Extended ATX
motherboards and has room for four optical
devices, six HDDs / SSDs, and eight PCIe
expansion cards. The massive Level 10 GT is
cooled by four ColorShift / Turbo fans (x1
top 200mm, x1 front 200mm, x1 side 200mm and
x1 rear 140mm exhaust fan) and has three rear
pre-drilled holes for water-cooling tubes. It
is now available through maJor retailers and
e-tailers at a MSRP of US279.99. PhotoFast
announces high- performance USB 3.0
card reader February 12th, 2011
February 12th, 2011
Measuring 584 x 282 x 590mm and weighing
12.7kg, the all blackfulltowerboastsamyriadoffeatu
resanimprovedcable management system,
convertible top-vent 240mm water- cooling
design, hinged side-panel door, five
hot-swappable
hard drive bays, multiple USB 2.0 / 3.0 / eSATA
connectors, and a built-in fan controller. Ca
rd readers don't tend to be all that
exciting these days, mostly because they all
do the sameJob and perform about the same. Not
so with the new CR-8600 from PhotoFast which
is one of the first multi-format USB 3.0 card
readers to hit the market.Itoffersthreetofourtime
stheperformanceofthebest USB 3.0 card readers
with current generation memory cards and will
potentially offer even better performance with
faster memory cards. Card readers don't tend
to be all that exciting these
days, mostly because they all do the sameJob and
perform about the same. Not so with the new
CR-8600 from PhotoFast which is one of the first
multi-format USB 3.0 card readers to hit
the market.Itoffersthreetofourtimestheperformance
ofthebest USB 3.0 card readers with current
generation memory cards and will potentially
offer even better performance with faster memory
cards. 23
11
February 12th, 2011 The
CR-8600 supports all standard memory card
formats such as CompactFlash, SD, SDHC, SDXC,
Memory Stick, HS Memory Stick, Memory Stick XC
and the various mini and micro formats of the
SD and Memory Stick cards. So far PhotoFast
has tested it with a range of the latest
generation of memory cards and have reached read
speeds of 96.75MB/s and write speeds of 67.73MB/s
using a CompactFlash UDMA 7 card, read speeds of
84MB/s and write speeds of 48.24MB/ s using an
SDXC USH-I card and finally read speeds
of 43.18MB/s and write speeds of 43MB/s using a
Memory Stick Pro-HG card. Judging by these
numbers it's pretty clear that a USB 3.0
card reader makes sense for those using the
latest generation of memory cards with their
digital cameras and camcorders as the same UDMA 7
CompactFlash card only mustered 34MB/ s read and
33MB/s write performance using a USB 2.0
card reader.TheCR-8600shouldhitretailsometimeinMar
chwith worldwide availability and a retail price
of around US30. Gigabit speed
802.11ac standard should launch by end of
2012 February 12th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone Wireless networking has
become a ubiquitous technology these days
that few of us would want to live
without, but the 802.11 Wi-Fi standard isn't
without flaws. Most of the problems tend to
be related to either range or speed and
the latter is looking set to get a big
boost by the end of 2012 when the 802.11ac
standard is expected to launch with a
draft moniker tacked onto its name, much like the
802.11n draft standard that we lived with for so
long. The 802.11ac standard will bring with
it Gigabit speeds, but unlike the current
802.11b/g/n standards it will not operate on
the 2.4GHz band. Instead, 802.11ac will be using
a frequency close to 6GHz (802.11a and some
802.11n solution operates at 5GHz today) which
means that there might be yet another round of
complaints from various countries around the
world that are already using that frequency range
for other transmissions. The 0.1 draft standard
of 802.11ac is expected to be approved by the end
of February according to the IEEEE 802.11
task group that are working on ratifying the
standard, but we won't see any retail devices
until the end of 2012 by which time we should see
interoperable devices in the market. According
to some research done by In-Stat and quoted by
CNET we can expectnolessthanabillion802.11acdevice
sby2015,although we'd take this with a pinch of
salt as the 802.11n has as yet to replace the
aging 802.11g standard in most places outside
the home. One of the maJor advantages
802.11ac should bring with it is sufficient
bandwidth for streaming HD video around
the home, something the 2.4GHz 802.11n
standard isn't quite up to task to do. There
are of course 5GHz implementations of the
802.11n standard that does a great Job of
streaming even multiple 1080p HD streams such as
the solutions from Quantenna, but these are still
fairly rare. By having a single universal
standard, we should see a quicker uptake
of this technology which in turn should mean
more devices that will use it. On the downside,
the USB Wi-Fi dongle might be dead,
at leastunlessthehardwaremakersadoptstheUSB3.0inte
rface which is yet another standard that has as
yet to gain universal approval. Although this is
really only going to be an issue on older
devices, but as the 802.11ac standard is expected
to be built into both notebooks and other mobile
devices such as tabletsandsmartphones,it'sreallyJu
stamatteroftimebefore it'll gain enough traction
in the market. Initially it's likely
that hardware will carry a price premium over
802.11n solutions, but this is all par for the
course when moving to something faster and better
in the IT industry.
Wireless networking has become a ubiquitous
technology these days that few of us would
want to live without, but the 802.11 Wi-Fi
standard isn't without flaws. Most of
the problems tend to be related to either range
or speed and the latter is looking set to
get a big boost by the end of 2012 when
the 802.11ac standard is expected to launch with
a draft moniker tacked onto its name, much like
the 802.11n draft standard that we lived with for
so long. 24
12
February 12th, 2011 NVIDIA HDMI 3D now coming to
an Acer monitor near you February 12th,
2011 Playing games on the PC is
definitely one of the more enJoyable
ways to pass the time, thanks to the wide
variety of PC-only titles and the introduction of
extremely powerful hardware specially dsigned
for such purposes. That being said, if
something is worth doing, then it is definitely
worth overdoingaswell,andgamingisnoexception.Andwh
atbetter way to enhance one's gaming experience
than to top of the package with a 3D capable
monitor from Acer for that added degree of
realism? Gaming is probably one of
the few digital entertainment options which
most of use find ourselves unable to give up on,
and for good reason. After all, nothing can come
close to replacing the thrill and exhilaration of
blasting the brains off a virtual enemy's head
with a double barreled shotgun at point blank
range, especially after a hard day at work or in
school. That being said, taking a trip down
to virtual reality town would definitely be a
lot more satisfying if one could actually feel
as though he or she was being placed
directly into the thickofaction,asopposedtomerel
ywatchinganimatedheads bob around a computer
screen. Fortunately, users who crave such realism
no longer have to take the trouble of
investing in a large (and expensive) 3D
television set, because Acer has Just released
its new 3D-capable GN245HQ monitor which the
company claims is particularly well suited for
all forms of media consumption, gaming
included. Acer claims that
the LED-backlit, full HD GN245HQ will sport
a 23.6-inch form factor along with various
features such as an extremely high but
meaningless contrast ratio of
Published by VR-Zone 1,000,000
1(definitely not static) and a fast response
time of 2ms. However, the real draw of the
GN245HQ still lies in its 3D capabilities, and
needless to say Acer has clearly pulled out all
the stops in this aspect. According to the
Taiwanese OEM, the GN245HQ is the world's
first monitor to feature built- in support
for NVIDIA's stereoscopic technology over
HDMI, along with the more conventional method of
transmitting 3D content over dual-link DVI. And
since the GN245HQ has the ability to receive and
display stereoscopic 3D content via HDMI-in, it
should come as little surprisethatthemonitoristheo
reticallycapableofsupporting a variety of
video input device such as digital TV
set-top boxes, Blu-ray disc players and even
video game consoles. However, chances are
these features will be all but useless to the
average Joe at this point of time, especially if
one takes into account that most countries still
lack a 3D broadcasting infrastructure for
content producers to take advantage
of, essentially rendering the GN245HQ useless
in Just about everything except gaming. That
being said, if the idea of spending good
money on a 23.6-inch monitor that can only be
used for gaming purposes sounds like the very
thing you have in mind, we'd suggest that you
start fattening up that piggy bank of yours by
feeding it with all that hongbao money acquired
over the Lunar New Year. With its relatively fat
pricetag of US677, trust us when we say that
your wallet will need all the food it can
get. More than a million AMD Fusion chips
shipped February 12th, 2011 AMD's Fusion
chips have been heatedly debated recently. The
promise of higher performance with less heat,
less power consumption and lower cost seems to
have proven itself true, with AMD shipping over a
million of these chips in less than six months of
the product entering consumer markets.
Promising low power consumption, low heat
emissions and increased performance, AMD's
Zacate and Ontario chips based on the
Fusion platform have been selling like
hotcakes. The Fusion chip is basically a
core processor as well as a 25
13
February 12th, 2011 graphics processor combined
on a single die. Also called APU, or Accelerated
Processing Unit, these Fusion chips have
been delivering as promised. The HP dm1z equipped
with the first of these APU chips was recently
tested and the results were astounding. The
Zacate platform for netbooks easily
outperforms Intel's dual-core Atom chips, and
is hot on the heels of Intel Atom nVidia ION
based netbooks. Furthermore, these chips consume
less power, and as a result develop less heat
than their Intel and nVidia counterparts. Combine
desirable characteristics with a low cost price,
and theanswerisclear.Manufacturersaresnappingupthe
sechips at an alarming rate. As of current, the
only Fusion-powered netbook available locally is
the Sony VAIO Y series. However, the number of
Fusion-based notebooks is poised to
increase steadily in the near future, as the
Intel Atom-based netbooks begin to phase out. The
Fusion platform was announced a long time ago,
but it wasonlyrecentlythatthechipswereshowcasedand
laterwent on retail. With such effort and time
spent on innovating, it is no wonder that the
results produced from these chips are nothing
short of stellar. Such a technological advance
shows that the future of mobile gaming need not
mean large laptops with loud fans, high heat
output, and the inability to run
on battery-powered sources for more than an
hour. Intel resumes shipments of faulty
6-series chipsets to OEMs with one
specific condition
Published by VR-Zone damage control after
the news of the defect in its
6-series Cougar Point chipsets was made public.
Needless to say, this led to a abrupt halt on all
shipments of the affected chipset. Until today,
that is the chip giant has Just announced that
it intends to resume the shipment of the affected
chipsets , but with a catch. Simply put, Intel
knows that it has a reputation to uphold, and
having to deal with hordes of angry
consumers whose machines are experiencing
premature hardware failures is definitely not
going to do itself any favors for its
corporate image. As such, the company has Just
announced in a press release that the affected
chipsets will only be shipped to OEMs who are
"committed to shipping the Intel 6 Series Chipset
in PC system configurations that are not impacted
by the design issue will be receiving these
shipments". This means that OEMs which want to
make use of the faulty chipsets for their PCs
have the responsibility of ensuring that the
machines are configured in such a way its
boards do not sport connectors interfacing the
faulty Cougar Point part. Examples of such
implementations include making use of
the chipsets in 'closed' configurations such as
notebooks, or in the case of desktop
configurations, installing a PCIe SATA card
to provide additional SATA ports. Only when
these conditions are met will Intel allow
the respective OEMs to continue receiving
shipments of the 6- series Cougar Point
chipsets. Dell showcases prototype Windows 7
tablet and business PCs February 12th, 2011
February 12th, 2011 Dell has showcased
their new 10-inch Windows 7-based device and
business PCs at the recent company's "Dell Means
Business" event in San Francisco.
Remember that whole hoo-ha Intel caused
among OEMs,
system builders and enthusiasts last week when it
found out about the maJor blunder it made to the
design of its 6-series Coguar Point chipsets?
Well, it turns out that the chip giant has
decided that decided to resume shipment of the
affected chipsets to OEMs, but only if the
latter fulfills a certain condition. A
t the recent Dell event, Steven Lalla,
vice president and
general manager of Dell commercial client
product group, showed a prototype 10-inch
business tablet device that is running
Windows 7 operating system. The tablet is
designed 26
As most would have already been aware, Intel's PR
personnel were having the time of their
lives attempting to perform
14
February 12th, 2011 for users who want
mobility, security, manageability,
and easyintegrationwithexistinginfrastructures.Acc
ordingtothe company, the Intel-based tablet would
also come in Android flavorthoughitmaynotbeunderth
eStreakfamily.Nopricing has been revealed for the
Windows 7 business tablet though Dell said it
could be available by June this
year. Other new products
unveiled at the event include
laptops, desktops, workstations, and Latitude XT3
convertible tablet (above picture). HTC Saga
pictured Is this the HTC Desire 2? February
12th, 2011 Photos of a new HTC smartphone
were leaked online, Just a weekbeforeMobileWorldCo
ngress,anditwassaidtobeHTC Saga. Could this be
the successor to the HTC Desire? H
TC has done very well last year
with their Q4 2010 financial announcement
of a net profit of more than US500 million. And
that is mostly thanks to Google's Android mobile
Published by VR-Zone cost would be fairly high.
The HTC Saga will sport a 4-inch screen, possibly
running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) and has front
and rear built-in camera. It is still not known
whether the HTC Saga will have at least an
8-megapixel camera and supports LTE 4G network.
From theleakedpictures,theHTCSagacouldbenamedHTCDe
sire 2 after all. We would only know when the
company made the announcement at Mobile World
Congress that is happening in Barcelona next
week. Eleventh beta for Firefox 4 goes live,
prepare for a more private Internet February
12th, 2011 Playing with beta software is
never the wisest of choices, especially if
the developer in question has a release
schedule which is completely out of whack with
what most typical end- users would expect. And if
you currently happen to be testing out the beta
builds of Mozilla's browser, you'd better
prepare to start hitting the download managers,
for the company has Just rolled out its eleventh
beta release of Firefox 4. Is there
such a concept known as 'privacy' when the
Internet is concerned? Many might want to think
that they have the right to prevent content
providers from tracking visitor behavior such
as browsing preferences and online habbits.
After all, it does sound a little
disconcerting to know that data that could
potentially be used to identify oneself is easily
floating around the depths of cyberspace,
with determined hackers and spammers waiting to
spring on the slightest opportunity to blast
out spam mails about the latest in men's
health supplements. Not exactly the nicest of
thoughts. Naturally, the increased awareness
about online privacy (or rather, the lack of
it) has spurred browser developers
into searching for ways that could assist in
preventing an ignorant user from unknowingly
giving away such information without her consent.
And it seems that Mozilla has finally settled
on whatitbelievesisthebestpossiblesolutiontoimple
mentaDo NotTrackfeatureinitsJust-releasedeleventhb
etaofFirefox4.
platform. With recent leak of the new HTC Saga
smartphone, many speculated that this could
be the successor to HTC Desire, or formerly
known as the HTC Desire 2. The HTC Saga looks
similar to the Nexus One, except that it does not
have the trackball below the display. However,
the phone looks to be using an integrated design
which means the 27
15
February 12th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone
The eleventh beta of Firefox 4 can be
downloaded from the Mozilla 4 Beta page
here. And Just to make it clear,
beta softwareisusuallyanythingbutstable,sotheusua
lwarningof VR-Zone not being responsible for
'unfortunate mishaps' such as exploding PCs and
data mysteriosuly disappearing off hard disks
applies. According to a blog posting
made by one of the browser's developers,
the" Do Not Track feature allows users to set
a browser preference that will broadcast their
desire to opt-out of third party,
advertising-based tracking by transmitting
a Do Not Track HTTP header with every click or
page view in Firefox". When enabled, web sites
will be told by Firefox via a header that the
user does not wish to be tracked
online. "The advantages to the
header technique are that it is less complex and
simple to locate and use, it is more
persistent than cookie-based solutions, and
it doesnt rely on users finding and loading
lists of ad networks and advertisers to work". Of
course, one might be tempted to wonder why
Mozilla had to take an entire year to realize
that the Internet needed such a feature to better
safeguard user privacy. Unfortunately, it seems
that users who have been waiting that long for
such a privacy feature will probably wind up
being very disappointed for now. This is due
to the fact that while the feature
is confirmed to be functional on the
browser's end, the same cannot be said for the
millions of websites in cyberspace today which
neither recognize nor support the new Do Not
Track header. And while Firefox believes that the
chicken-and-egg problem can be solved when
content providers and webmasters have no choice
but to honour user preferences after receieve
large enoughnumbersoftheheaderappearingintheirserv
eraccess logs, we'd guard against unmerited
optimism until some concrete results finally
show up. After all, do users really think that
content providers would sacrifice potential ad
revenue to be gained from such tracking over
some moral issue about privacy? 28
16
Published by VR-Zone
February 15th, 2011 VR-Zone.com Stuff for the
Geeks!
The Daily VR-Zone News Summary - 15 Feb
2011 February 15th, 2011 In today's news
roundup HIS's Radeon HD 6970 graphics card
gets reviewed Seagate officially announces the
shipment of its one millionth self-encrypting
hard drive Apple CEO Steve Jobs gets a
virtual boot to the face courtesy of LG
Steve Ballmer talks about Internet Explorer 9 and
multitasking for Windows Phone 7, and Kohime
Musou, the popular Japanese visual novel which
features a genderbent version of the
Three Kingdoms, is getting an arcade fighter
adaptation. Hardware News AXLE GeForce GT 430
1GB Video Card Review _at_ Legit Reviews Description
Legit Reviews has the NVIDIA GeForce GT
430 Classic Edition video card from AXLE 3D up
for review today. Equipped with 96 CUDA cores
on the GF108 'Fermi' GPU along with 1GB
of GDDR3 memory, the GT 430 is
geared towardlowerendgamingandthehometheatermarket
s.Read on to see what we find on the AXLE GeForce
GT 430 and to see how it performs in games lie
Mafia 2 and Batman Arkham Asylum! Enermax
Hoplite Review _at_ Vortez Description Enermax are
world renowned for their presence within the PSU
and cooling departments and are regarded as a
household name, but would you be shocked
to hear that Enermax also produce computer
cases? Admittedly they have only a very small
selection to choose from, but in the last
2 yearsEnermaxhavebranchedoffintothecomputercasege
nre which will certainly surprised quite a few.
These cases have been directed toward entry level
users, so fundamentally the hardware enthusiast
will be ignorant of their existence. But this
year, things are about to change. Asus Xonar DG
Headphone Amp Sound Card Review
_at_ Tweaknews Description Asus' Xonar line
continues its impressive lineup with the Xonar
DG, proving to be an exceptional value at
30. Itdoesagoodjobprovidingricher,fullersoundover
speakers, butthebuilt-inheadphoneampiswherethiscar
dreallyexcels. Xigmatek Achilles Plus SD1484
Heatsink _at_ Benchmark Reviews Description One of
the benefits of testing computer hardware is
that you occasionally get to look at new
kit before it's introduced to the market. In my
time at Benchmark Reviews, I've been fortunate
enough to be able to review some cases and CPUs
before they were generally available (or in
some cases,beforetheywereevenannounced).RecentlyB
enchmark Reviews was given the oppotunity to
evaluate a prototype of
Xigmatek'sforthcomingAchillesPlusSD1484CPUcooler,a
nd I tested it to compares its performance to a
variety of air and water coolers. ASUS Sabertooth
P67 Review _at_ ocaholic Description With the
Sabertooth P67, ASUS has an Intel- P67 based
motherboard in its portfolio that comes with
some interesting features. Therefore very
suspicious is the so called thermal shield. This
plastic cover should allow an optimized airflow
over the boards core components. HIS HD 6970
Review - XSReviews Description Each generation
of graphics cards is made up of thekindofGPUsthatm
ostpeoplebuy,themid-rangeandthey have the budget
ones which quite a lot of others buy. Then
you have the monsters, dual chip and single.
Today we look at the latter one from HIS, the HD
6970. A giant card with expected impressiveperform
ancethoughyouknowthisisgoingtopull a lot of
power. Let's see how much. Seagate Ships One
Millionth Self-Encrypting Hard Drive. Description
Seagate Technologies, the company that
ships most enterprise-class hard disk drives
(SEDs), on Monday said that shipments of its
self-encrypting drives (SEDs) have exceededonemill
ionsofunits.Thecompanyintendstogreatly expand its
lineup of SEDs as it believed that the demand
for such drives will grow fast. Consumer
Electronics and Software News Watch Steve Jobs
Get Kicked In The Face By The LG
Optimus Pad Description Nevermind the man is
recovering from cancer, LG just kicked Steve
Jobs in the face. Really. Well, virtually
at least. But it still counts! Mad Catz CoD
Modern Warfare 2 Elite USB Gaming Keyboard Review
_at_ Bigbruin.com Description Mad Catz may not be
the best known name in the electronics accessory
business, but odds are that you may have used
one of their products before. They
manufacture everything from fully licensed
console controllers, to Rock Band and Guitar
Hero branded instruments. For this
review, Geeks.com has sent over the Call of Duty
Modern Warfare 2 Elite USB gaming keyboard. Sony
announces pricing for the EX720 3D TVs, ready for
pre- order Description Sony's Bravia EX720
3D TVs are now priced and can be
pre-ordered. The 32" (KDL32EX720)
will cost 949, the 40" (KDL40EX720)
will cost 1399, the 46" (KDL46EX720)
will cost 1699, the55" (KDL55EX720) will
cost 2299 and the 60" (KDL60EX720) will cost
3299. The TVs will ship soon (in February,
except the 60" that will ship in
April). SonyEricsson's LiveView finally lands in
the US - for 82 DescriptionSonyEricsson'sLiveVie
wisfinallyshippinginthe US - for 82 (it's
been available in the UK for quite
some time now). The Liveview is an Android
accessory with a small (1.3") PMOLED display and
can communicate via Android 2.x devices. You can
control music, get notifications about phone 1
17
February 15th, 2011 calls, updates from
applications (twitter, facebook) and more. The
idea is that you can wear it like a watch Why
Apple Will Not Release a Cloud-Based iPhone Nano
This Year DescriptionIliketheideaofaniPhonenano.O
newithasmall screen with the same resolution of
an iPhone 3GS, powered by anA4processor.I'dbuyone.
Butacloud-basediPhonedoesn't make any sense. Not
right now. IE9, multitasking goes head to head
with Windows Phone 7 Description Steve Ballmer
takes to the stage at the
Hotel Somethingorother here at Mobile World
Congress. We don't even attempt to make it and
sit on the floor at the MWC booth -watchingonwithi
ncreasinglegcrampastheshyandretiring salesman of
Redmond tells us, mostly, what we already
knew. Gaming News Koihime Musou Gets Arcade
Fighter Description Heard of Koihime Musou?
Girls using popular names from Chinese
history, welding huge blades and weapons
? Well, Koihime Musou is getting a fighter game
for the arcades. Bizarre Creations Closing This
Week DescriptionBizarreCreationsisclosingitsdoors
forgoodthis Friday after Activision failed to
find a buyer for the studio responsible for
a string of highly regarded games. New Assassin's
Creed in the works Description Ubisoft confirms
it is readying another entry in itsaward-winningac
tionadventureseriesmoredetailsduein May. ASUS
Lamborghini VX6 Review Ultraportable
netbook with great performance
Published by VR-Zone If you
are looking to get a laptop
or netbook, you may be confused by
the sheer number of
models available on the market, not to
mention, for different market segments -
ultraportable for the frequent travellers, multime
dia powerhouse for those who enjoy watching
high definition movies, and even gaming
workhorse for the hardcore gamers. Aside
from these, some computer manufacturers
have also collaborated with fashion
designers and even car manufacturers to
come up with a product for the niche and
premium market. For example, HP has worked
with world-renowned fashion designer Vivienne Tam
on a special Vivienne Tam edition laptop,
while Acer has produced the Ferrari laptops
with the car maker. And ASUS has their line
of Lamborghini notebook PCs too. The ASUS
Lamborghini VX6 is the latest addition to
the premiumlineofmobilecomputers,andthatismainlybe
cause of the "charging bull" logo on the
netbook. Here's a sneak peek at the hardware
specifications- ASUS Lamborghini VX6
February 15th, 2011 The ASUS Lamborghini
VX6 is the latest mobile computer born from
the collaboration between the Taiwanese
computer maker and Italian car manufacturer.
Like the sports car, it commands a premium,
but boasts a luxurious design and superior
performance.
CPU Memory Hard disk Screen Graphics Display
Resolution Connectivity Web
camera Battery OS Dimensions Weight
1.8GHz Intel Atom D525 dual-core Up to 4GB of
DDR3 RAM 320GB SATA 12.1-inch Nvidia ION 2
dedicated GPU 1366x768 1x VGA, 1x HDMI,
2x USB3.0, 1X USB 2.0, 1x LAN RJ-45, 2x
audio jack(Headphone / Mic- in), card Reader -
MMC/ SD(SDXC) 1.3-megapixel 10.95V 5200mAh
56Wh Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit 297 x 204 x
28.7mm 1.5kg
2
18
February 15th, 2011 HTC Flyer HTC's First
7-inch Tablet February 15th, 2011 This
year's tablet wars just got more
interesting. HTC has finally joined the crowd
with the HTC Flyer, a 7-inch Android tablet that
comes with a battery-powered stylus. Read on
to find out more. The new
tablet has been launched at the companys
press conference during Mobile World Congress
2011 in Barcelona. The device sports a
uni-body white plastic design with
a resolution of 1024 x 600 and is powered by a
1.5GHz single- core Qualcomm chip to run Android
2.4 Gingerbread plus a new version of HTC Sence,
which is optimized for tablets. Wh
at makes HTC Flyer stands out against the