VR-Zone Tech News for the Geeks Oct 2011 Issue

1
Published by VR-Zone
October 5th, 2011 VR-Zone.com Stuff for
the Geeks!
Olympus Pen E-P3 Review This Pen is mightier
than your compact camera Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/olympus-pen-e-p3-revie
w-this-pen-is- mightier-than-your-compact-camera/1
3611.html October 5th, 2011
VR-Zone Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly
publication covering the latest gadgets and
stuff for the geeks. AMD FX-6100 listed in
e-tailer bundles Source http//vr-zone.com/articl
es/amd-fx-6100-listed-in-e-tailer-
bundles/13690.html October 5th, 2011 The
Olympus Pen E-P3 is one of the three cameras that
were announced in Singapore at an event at
end June this year,
andboaststheworld'sfastestautofocusing(AF)viaFrequ
ency Acceleration Sensor AF system and a lens
incorporating the MSC (Movie and Still
Compatible) mechanism. In this review, VR-Zone
have a hands-on the new micro four-thirds
camera and see if it shoots as well as it
looks. When Olympus
launched their first Pen series E-P1
micro four-thirdsdigitalcamerain2009,itgarneredman
yfavorable reviews. And based on the success of
their new line of micro four-third products,
the camera manufacturer has unveiled the
Olympus Pen E-P3 which is one of the
latest models in the Pen series announced this
year. The E-P3 resembles its elder siblings, the
E-P2 and E-P1, though it comes with few
improvements overall. The camera claims to
incorporate the world's fastest autofocusing,
achieved with the FAST (Frequency
Acceleration Sensor) AF system, and
features 12.3-megapixel High Speed Live MOS
Sensor with 1080i full high definition movie
compatibility and high ISO 12,800 sensitivity. Her
e's a look at the E-P3 specification, 1
One of the top American e-tailers, TigerDirect,
has revealed AMD'supcomingFX-6100aspartofseveralbu
ndles-ranging from motherboard to full system
bundles. The price for the FX-6100islistedas189.N
otsurprisingly,theFX-6100isnot listed
individually. One of the top American e-tailers,
TigerDirect, has revealed AMD'supcomingFX-6100aspa
rtofseveralbundles-ranging from motherboard to
full system bundles. The price for
the FX-6100islistedas189.Notsurprisingly,theFX-61
00isnot listed individually. Interest
ingly, some bundles, such as MSI 990FX
FX-6100, claim to be shipping as early as "within
24 hours". However, the Asus Sabertooth FX-6100
bundle has a more realistic time frame of 7-21
days. Since there is no individual listing,
there are no detailed specifications mentioned
for FX-6100. However, the heading itselfrevealsa3.
3GHzbaseclock,14MBtotalcacheanda95W TDP - all in
accordance with reports thus far. Of course,
these bundle publications are likely to be in
breach of NDAs and may be taken down from the
website soon. Till then, you can review a list of
FX-6100 bundles here.
2
October 5th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone
Olympus E-P3
Drive mode
Single-frame shooting,
Sequential shooting, Self- timer Approximately 3
frames / sec Available USB2.0, mini
HDMI, video-out, dedicated multi- connector
(Video NTSC/PAL selectable, Optional remote
cable RM- UC1, USB) BLS-1/BLS-5
Lithium-ion battery (included) 122x69.1x34.3
(excluding protrusions) 369g (including battery
and memory card)
Lens mount Effective Pixels Image
Stabilizer Monitor Dust reduction Lens
system Live MOS sensor Magnification
ratio Filter array AF system Metering system
Micro Four Thirds Mount 12.3 million pixels Built
in (Imager shift image stabilizer) 3-inch OLED
Touchscreen Display Supersonic Wave Filter
(dust reduction system for image sensor) Micro
Four Thirds interchangeable High speed Live MOS
Sensor x5, x7, x10 (Default), x14 Primary color
filter (RGB) Image Contrast Detection AF System /
AF Assist TTL Image Sensor metering
Sequential shoot speed Built-in
flash Input/Output Battery Dimensions Weig
ht
system EV 0 - 20 SD memory card (SDHC, SDXC,
UHS-I compatible), Eye-Fi 1.33 (43) DCF, DPOF,
compatible/Exif, PRINT Image Matching III RAW
(12-bit lossless compressopm JPEG, RAW- JPEG, MPO
(3D still) RAW 4032x3024 pixels JPEG
4032x3024 pixels - 640x480 pixels AVCHD / AVI
Motion JPG AVCHD Max 4GB / AVI Motion-JPEG Max
2GB Portrait, e-Portrait, Landscape, Landscape
Portrait, Macro, Sport, Night scene, Night
Portrait, Children, High key, Low key, 3D DIS
mode, Nature Macro, Candle, Sunset,
Document, Panorama, Fireworks, Beach
Snow, Fisheye Conv, Wide Conv, Macro Conv AUTO
ISO 200 - 12800 (customizable, default 200
- 1600) 6 settings (3000K - 7500K) Lamp (3000K),
Fluorescent (4000K), Daylight (5300K),
Flash (5500K), Cloudy (6000K), Shade (7500K)
From IDF Retina Quality 2560x1600 HD Panels on
Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks Source http//vr-zone.com/a
rticles/from-idf-retina-quality-2560x1600-hd- pane
ls-on-ivy-bridge-ultrabooks/13689.html October
5th, 2011 With 2560x1400 'retina'
displays expected on Ivy Bridge Ultrabooksnext
year,eventhe2048x1536iPad3maynothave theportablehi
-resleadforlong.But,whynot16102560x1600 then
instead? Makes it easier to see the
photographs and documents in real
proportion... During the past month's IDF,
there were many interesting disclosures and
even strategic directions unveiled,
especially when it comes to Intel's
mobile product expansion. Ultrabooks, the
new category of ultraslim, very light
full function notebook PCs that offer real PC
experience at near- tabletsizeandweight,werethefoc
usthere-inparticular,their displays. What about
the displays? All those beautiful slim
Ultrabooks on the show floor had typically a
13-inch class, 1366x768 'HD ready'display-yesthesa
meuseless169moviescreenwithless vertical real
estate than any 5 year old notebook. How will
that comparewith,10inchclassiPad32048x1536display,
withnot only 3x the pixel count but also much
more useful 43 aspect ratio? Enter 'retina
quality' Ultrabooks. Early next year, when
Ivy Bridge Ultrabook models arrive, expect to see
2560x1440 13.3 inch displays just some 3 mm
thick, to satisfy the system thickness
requirements. Take a look at the slides... 2
Metering range Memory Aspect ratio Recording
format File format Recording image
size Movie recording File Size Scene select
AE ISO sensitivity Preset white
balance
3
October 5th, 2011
Now, a 2560x1440
Ultrabook would have a lot of pixels, over 3 and
a half million, to be precise, but the wide
moviescreen factorwouldleavemanyofthoseunused,even
ifeditingtypical photos or documents or web
pages. Having a 2560x1600 full 4 Mpixel
screen at 1610 would, here, enable not
just better usability but also more beneficial
tablet configuration, which some Ultrabooks will
offer. A 169 tablet screen is just too
elongated, except for Angry Birds playing
or movie file watching. And, since these are
PREMIUM Ultrabooks, the 5 or so that stingy
panel vendors save by glass cutting is not
Published by VR-Zone AC Ryan introduces
VEOLO digital home entertainment device Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/ac-ryan-introduces-veo
lo-digital-home- entertainment-device/13688.html O
ctober 5th, 2011 AC Ryan has unveiled
the VEOLO smart Android hub
that claimstoofferapps,Internet,andmediastreameron
yourTV, at the comfort of your home. The VEOLO is
equipped with ARMCortexA91GHzprocessor,onboard512M
BDDR3andis based on Google Android 2.2 Froyo
mobile operating system. AC Ryan
has launched VEOLO digital home
entertainment device that claims to offer
apps, internet, and a media streamer,
all on your TV.The VEOLO is based on the
Google Android 2.2 Froyo mobile operating
system and brings enhanced experience,
including casual games and social media.
The built-in web browser and Java support allow
users to view Flash websites and stream
videos on TV. You can also stream your
library of movies, music and pictures in
Full high definition (HD) with 1Gigabit wired
LAN. In addition, the device is equipped with ARM
Cortex A9 1GHz processor, onboard 512MB DDR3
memory and offers built-in wireless 802.11 b/g/n
LAN. You can access the functionality of a
keyboard and mouse, wireless motion
controller with the bundled 3-in-1
remote control. The AC Ryan VEOLO will retail in
November 2011, and end October in Singapore at a
suggested retail price of S 329. Arctic Cooling
released two new VGA coolers Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/arctic-cooling-release
d-two-new-vga- coolers/13687.html October 5th,
2011
worth the trouble on such top end
machines. Eitherway,exceptthisstuffinaboutsixmont
hsfromnow,too. 3
4
October 5th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone
Arctic Cooling, the well known
manufacturer from Switzerland, today
released two new VGA coolers aiming at different
segments of the market. The first cooler,
baptized "AcceleroTwinTurbo6990",isaverypowerfuldu
alfancooler designedespeciallyfortheAMDRadeonHD699
0.Thesecond product, the "Accelero S1 PLUS" is a
universal, passive cooler. Read on for
details. Arctic Cooling, the well
known manufacturer from Switzerland,
today released two new VGA coolers aiming
at different segments of the market. The first
cooler, baptized "AcceleroTwinTurbo6990",isaverypo
werfuldualfancooler designedespeciallyfortheAMDRad
eonHD6990.Thesecond product, the "Accelero S1
PLUS" is a universal, passive cooler. The
company claims that their new Accelero Twin
Turbo 6990 is the most powerful VGA cooler ever.
With two 120mm PWM controlled quiet fans and a
cooling capacity of 400W it certainly seems to be
a very impressive product. On the other
hand, the Accelero S1 PLUS is an entirely
passive VGAcoolerdesignedformaximumcompatibilitya
ndabsolute silence. Of course the latter is
obvious, since there are no fans or any moving
parts at all, while Arctic Cooling claims
that this cooler can be mounted on over 80
different models of midrange to high-end cards.
The cooler appears to be a good value at 49.95
USD. Apple launches the iPhone 4S Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/apple-launches-the- i
phone-4s/13686.html October 5th, 2011
This cooler has been designed as a unique
solution for the newest AMD Radeon HD 6990 VGA
card, obviously aiming towards both hardcore
overclockers and users who found the stock
cooling solution too loud. Finally, Arctic
Cooling also designed the most expensive VGA
cooler in history, with the Accelero Twin Turbo
6990 retailing for 149.95 USD.
The iPhone 4S has finally landed and it seems
like most of the changes has taken place on the
inside and as expected, AppleupdateditwiththesameA
ppleA5processorastheiPad 2. Apple claims up to
twice the performance and up to seven times
faster graphics compared to the iPhone 4. The
iPhone 4S has finally landed and it seems like
most of the changes has taken place on the inside
and as expected, AppleupdateditwiththesameAppleA5p
rocessorastheiPad 2. Apple claims up to twice the
performance and up to seven times faster graphics
compared to the iPhone 4. By now you've probably
figured out that performance should be slightly
faster than the iPad 2 thanks to the slightly
lower resolutionscreen(960x640vs1024x768).Appleist
outingthe iPhone 4S as a great gaming device
thanks to the PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics core
from Imagination Technologies, 4
5
October 5th, 2011 although once again it should
be similar to the iPad 2 in terms of graphics
performance. Apple claims up to 8h 3G talk
time, or 14h 2G talk time, alternatively 6h
of web browsing over 3G or 9h over Wi-Fi. It's
also meant to do either 10h of video playback or
40h of music playback. That's a slight
improvement over the iPhone 4 in terms of 3G talk
time, but slightly worse for Wi-Fi web browsing.
On the plus side, Apple has added support
for 14.4Mbps HSDPA (the iPhone 4 supports
7.2Mbps) although the HSUPA speed remains the
same at 5.8Mbps. For those in CDMA countries the
really good news is that the iPhone 4S is what is
generally referred to as a World Phone, as in it
works on both CDMA and GSM/WCDMA networks. The
camera has been boosted from 5Megapixels of the
iPhone 4 to 8Megapixles for the iPhone 5.
The new CMOS sensor has backside illumination
which Apple claims can capture 73 percent more
light. Furthermore the new camera
captures pictures 33 percent faster and it has a
new hybrid IR filter that's said to offer better
colour accuracy and better colour uniformity.
Apple has also kitted out the camera with a
new f/2.4lenswithfivelenselementsthatthecompanycla
imsis30 percent sharper. Add to this a new image
signal processor in the A5 SoC that adds face
detection and 26 percent improved whitebalanceanda
1.1secondtimetofirstshotand0.5second shot to
shot and you're looking at a pretty
serious phone snapper.
Apple has finally caught up with the
competition, but not overtaken them by
adding 1080p video recording support to the
iPhone 4S, as well as video stabilization
(electronic we guess) and something the company
calls temporal noise reduction. Finally Apple
added support for AirPlay mirroring which means
that you can play games on the big
screen, although we're not sure how popular this
feature would be, as although the iPhone has some
of the best handheld games out there, we doubt
that they'll look good on a 1080p screen. The
most talked about feature ahead of the launch was
Apple's newvoiceassistantandit'scalledSiri.It'sasp
eechrecognition
Published by VR-Zone and voice command
feature that allows you to give
voice commands to your phone. As to how well this
will work for non-native speakers or those with a
strong accent or dialect is yet to be seen and we
can imagine the amount of problems Siri will
suffer from. Siri will work with UK, US and
Australian English as well as French and German
at launch, but Apple is promising to add more
languages over time. There's no doubt Apple has
spent a lot of resources on developing Siri, it's
just that every single voicecommand orspeech
recognition system we've ever used over the year
has proven to have some kind of issues. Siri
offers a lot of advanced features that we haven't
seen from other voice command programs and
it's clear that Apple is taking advantage of
the CPU power on offer from the A5 SoC. Things
like reminder can be set to a specific location
and Siri remember who specific people are. We'd
presume that there's something of a learning
curve here where some things have to be set up
manually before Siri can do some of the tasks
on offer,butatleastsomeofthefunctionalityappearsto
bepretty handy. That's about it for the iPhone
4S, it'll be available in black or white and
it'll of course run iOS 5. The 16GB model is
going forUS199,the32GBforUS299andamuchhopedfor64
GB version for US399. At the same time the 8GB
iPhone 3GS is now available for free while
there's a new 8GB iPhone 4 available for US99,
all prices includes a two year contract tie-in of
course. The iPhone 4S will be available for
pre-order on October 7th with initial
availability in the US, Canada, Australia,theU
K,France,GermanyandJapanonthe14thwith another22cou
ntries-includingSingapore- addedonthe28th and
another 70 countries before the end of the year.
It seems like the iPhone 5 rumours weren't true
after all For more detailed coverage from the
event, we suggest you hit up Engadget. Fujitsu
launches its own version of an Ultrabook Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/fujitsu-launches-its-o
wn-version-of-an- ultrabook/13685.html October
5th, 2011 In as much as Intel's Ultrabooks
have their merits, we can't help but wonder why
anyone would get over something like say, the
new Fujitsu Lifebook SH76/E, as here we
have an ultra-light 13.3-inch notebook with a
full fat CPU and a 6-cell battery. It's not the
only one of its kind either, as Toshiba
has beenofferingasimilarmachineforquitesometimenow
inthe shape of its Portege R830 and older
R730. In as much as Intel's Ultrabooks have
their merits, we can't help but wonder why anyone
would get over something like 5
6
October 5th, 2011 say, the new Fujitsu
Lifebook SH76/E, as here we have
an ultra-light 13.3-inch notebook with a full fat
CPU and a 6-cell battery. It's not the only one
of its kind either, as Toshiba has beenofferingasi
milarmachineforquitesometimenowinthe shape of its
Portege R830 and older R730. The Lifebook SH76/E
weighs in at a mere 1.34kg, that's about the
same weight as Acer's new Ultrabook. What
we didn't mention is that this is with the
optical drive fitted, slide it out and replace it
with a weigh saver and the Lifebook SH76/E is a
mere 1.22kg, that's lighter than many netbooks.
Adding a bit of extra weight is a secondary 27W
battery pack that can also be fitted in lieu of
the optical drive and combined with the standard
72Wh 6-cell battery pack, Fujitsu claims
18.2h battery life, although the standard battery
is said to be good for up to 13.7h of usage
without the optical drive installed.
This pretty much blows away the
Ultrabooks in terms of battery life and we
haven't even gotten to the feautres.
For starters, the Lifebook SH76/E comes with a
Core i5-2520M
Published by VR-Zone Luxa2 announces its iPhone
5 cases ahead of Apple's launch Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/luxa2-announces-its-ip
hone-5-cases- ahead-of-apple-s-launch/13684.html O
ctober 5th, 2011 We're not sure this
was the smartest move in history,
but Luxa2, a division of Thermaltake has sent out
its press release about its new iPhone 5 cases
showing off a total of 13 different designs.
Although the images doesn't give away too much
in terms of details, there's one front shot of a
dummy unit which suggests that Apple decided to
keep the round button for at least one of its
rumoured two new models that are expected
to launch later today US time. We're not sure
this was the smartest move in history,
but Luxa2, a division of Thermaltake has sent out
its press release about its new iPhone 5 cases
showing off a total of 13 different designs.
Although the images doesn't give away too much
in terms of details, there's one front shot of a
dummy unit which suggests that Apple decided to
keep the round button for at least one of its
rumoured two new models that are expected
to launch later today US time. If nothing else
it's a great way of getting some free
publicity, as iPhone's cases are a dime a dozen
these days and although Luxa2 has come up with a
couple of slightly unusual looking cases such as
a wooden one and a braided one, the other
are fairly generic in terms of look, although six
models appear to the made of clear plastic with
various patterns.
CPU which is clocked at 2.5GHz but which will
turbo all the way up to 3.2GHz. There's space for
a pair of SO-DIMMs and up to 8GB of RAM can be
fitted, although it ships with 4GB as standard.
Storage comes in the same of a 128GB mSATA SSD
and this is partly what helps to keep the weight
down, but thenagain,manyUltrabooksareexpectedtoshi
pwithmSATA SSD's. Connectivity isn't bad either,
as Fujitsu has managed to fit a pairofUSB2.0ports,
asingleUSB3.0port,aD-subconnector, an HDMI
port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an SD card
slot, a singleaudiojackandevenanExpressCard/34slo
t.Addtothat 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and optional WiMAX
support and this is far more impressive than your
average Ultrabook. We should alsomentionthatthedis
playhasatypicalnotebookresolution of 1366x768. So
ok, the Lifebook SH76/E might not be
quite as thin as the Ultrabooks at 16.6mm at
its thinnest and 23.2mm at its thickest, but
we're quite happy to live with that slightly
thicker profile considering all the extra
features. There's only one problem, the
asking price, as the Lifebook SH76/E will
hit retail in Japan later this month for 180,000
Yen (S3,075/US 2,345) about twice the price of
Acer's Ultrabook. 6
7
October 5th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone
LG launches Optimus LTE, first 4G HD smartphone
in Korea Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/lg-
launches-optimus-lte-first-4g-hd- smartphone-in-k
orea/13683.html October 5th, 2011 If the
dummy fitted to the cases turns out to be
anything like
the real deal, which we'd expect it to be this
close to launch, then we're back to a metal
back with a plastic Apple logo. The logo is
used to improve the antenna signals which
would be blocked by the metal back otherwise. The
camera doesn't appear to have changed in any
significant way as far as the design is
concerned, but that's about as much as we can
tell from the pictures. The
volume buttons have changed into a slim
line rocker designanditappearsasifthelockswitchha
sbeenmovedright next to the camera on the
opposite side of the volume rocker. As far as the
front of the phone is concerned, well, it
doesn't lookthatdifferent,butit'spossiblethatApple
hassuppliedthe casemanufacturerswithdummyunitsthat
don'tgiveawaythe rumouredfrontre-design.Makewhatyo
uwantofthis,butthe wait is almost over.
LG Korea has announced the launch of their
new Optimus LTE smartphone, which claims to be
the first mobile device in the country to lead
Long Term Evolution (LTE) with high definition
IPS display technology. Unfortunately, no word
as to when this phone will be available outside
Korea though. LG Korea has
announced the launch of Optimus LTE, which claims
to be the first mobile device in the country to
offer 4G connectivity with the highest resolution
IPS display available on a smartphone. The LG
Optimus LTE features a brilliant 4.5-inch "True
HD IPS display which claims to
provide higher resolution, brightness and
clarity, showing natural colors. It is
equipped with a 1.5GHz dual-core
processor, runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread mobile
operating system and comes with a high capacity
1,830 mAh battery. On top of that, the smartphone
also offers seamless content sharing through 7
8
October 5th, 2011 HDMI and DLNA. Availability
of the LG Optimus LTE in markets outside of
Korea has not been confirmed. GeForce 600
branding leaked in 285 BETA drivers Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/geforce-600-branding-l
eaked-in-285- beta-drivers/13682.html October
5th, 2011 In the latest unreleased 285
BETA drivers, the expected GeForce 600
branding has surfaced. The marketing
names leaked are NVIDIA GeForce 610M and NVIDIA
GeForce GT 630M. The GeForce 610M is likely to be
an entry level GPU while the GeForce GT 630M
could very well be a GK107 SKU. In the latest
unreleased 285 BETA drivers, the
expected GeForce 600 branding has surfaced.
The marketing names leaked are NVIDIA GeForce
610M and NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M. The GeForce 610M
is likely to be an entry level GPU while the
GeForce GT 630M could very well be a GK107
SKU. Between GK107 news and these leaks, it seems
evident that NVIDIA is concentrating on small
mobile GPUs to debut it's next-gen line of
GPUs. Nokia Ace and Sabre specs leak Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/nokia-ace-and-sabre-sp
ecs- leak/13681.html
Published by VR-Zone 5Megapixel auto focus
camera. The only novel feature here
is interchangeable back covers, a typical Nokia
feature. The Ace on the other hand will be
Nokia's flagship phone, but we have a hard
time getting excited about a single core 1.4GHz
Windows Phone 7 device, even though Nokia is
said to be kitting it out with a 4.3-inch AMOLED
display and an 8Megapixel Carl Zeiss branded
camera with auto focus. It's also said to have
16GB of storage, a 1,800mAh battery and HSPA
connectivity. Nokia will of course launch
all of its upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices
with the Mango release of the OS. Wecan'tbutfeelal
ittlebitsorryforNokia,asitsnewhandsets will be
running last year's hardware by the they
arrive in quantity in the market. It's less than
three months left of this year and the handsets
aren't expect to launch at the earliest towards
the end of this month. Nokia World 2011 has
been suggested as a potential launch platform and
that takes places on the 26th and 27th of October
in London. At this rate, Nokia is willingly
giving away its market share to its competitors,
as thecompanysimplydoesn'thavecompetitiveproducts,
unless ofcourseyouonlycountotherWindowsPhone7hands
etsthat is. AMD and Intel's upcoming platforms
get certified by the PCI-SIG Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/amd-and-intel-s-upcomi
ng-platforms- get-certified-by-the-pci-sig/13680.h
tml October 5th, 2011
October 5th, 2011 We don't generally
browse the PCI-SIG's website, but we
happened upon some interesting information
somewhat by accident as we were searching
for something unrelated. It seemslikethePCI-SIG
hascertifiednotonlyAMD'supcoming Trinity APU,
but also Intel's upcoming 2012 desktop
and mobile platforms, although it's not what you
think. We don't generally browse the
PCI-SIG's website, but we happened upon some
interesting information somewhat by accident
as we were searching for something
unrelated. It seemslikethePCI-SIGhascertifiednoto
nlyAMD'supcoming Trinity APU, but also
Intel's upcoming 2012 desktop and mobile
platforms, although it's not what you think. The
certification list covers PCI Express
2.0 compliant hardware and both AMD's
Trinity APU with associated reference
platform and Intel's Maho Bay and Chief
River motherboard platforms have passed
certification. Does this mean we won't see
PCI Express 3.0 support from
either companynextyear?Well,no,itjustmeansthatboth
platforms are compliant with the current
standards and that they can operate at speeds of
5GT/s or GB/s if you prefer.
Details of Nokia's upcoming Windows Phone 7
handsets are starting to appear if we're to
believe the rumours. As with every other
Windows Phone handset maker, Nokia seems to be
limited to the same Qualcomm SoC and in this case
it's the MSM8x55 depending on CDMA/UMTS support,
even though the rumours are only mentioning a
1.4GHz processor without specifying the
model. Details of Nokia's upcoming Windows
Phone 7 handsets are starting to appear if
we're to believe the rumours. As with every
other Windows Phone handset maker, Nokia seems
to be limited to the same Qualcomm SoC and in
this case it's the MSM8x55 depending on CDMA/UMTS
support, even though the rumours are only
mentioning a 1.4GHz processor without specifying
the model. The Sabre appears to be similar to the
already leaked SeaRay, as both handsets are
said to feature a 3.7-inch
display, although with Sabre being the lower-end
handset it gets to make do with a standard
LCD display over the AMOLED display fitted
in the SeaRay. Sabre is also said to
feature
8GB of internal storage, 25GB of free SkyDrive
storage and a 8
9
October 5th, 2011 We should also
mention that Intel's Sandy Bridge-E and
Ivy Bridge CPU's are as yet not on the
list and in case of all four listed
products, it's only the x16 slot that has been
tested according to the slim information provided
on the PCI-SIG website. However, looking at the
list it doesn't look entirely complete, as there
are several current products missing from the
list. In related news, Asus has finally
announced its first PCI Express 3.0 enabled
motherboards. VR-Zone has kept out of the
bickering that's been going on between the
various motherboard manufacturers with regards
to Gen 3 support or not, but we would
just like to highlight the fact here that
Asus is making similar claims to Gigabyte with
regards to compatibility and has a list of
older P67, H67 and H61 motherboards alongside
most of its Z68 boards. The only bad news is that
owners of the Maximus IV Extreme-Z won't
be getting Gen 3 support, although Asus claims
that the board will work with Ivy Bridge CPUs.
For the full list of supported motherboards, head
over to the Asus website. Acer ASPIRE S3
Ultrabook Review Source http//vr-zone.com/articl
es/acer-aspire-s3-ultrabook- review/13679.html
Published by VR-Zone The
Ultrabook was the most talk-about
subject at the COMPUTEX 2011 computer expo in
Taiwan this year. And a number ofmanufacturers
also took the opportunity to launch their
Ultrabook at the recent Intel Developer
Forum (IDF) 2011. Before we proceed, let's look
at what is an Ultrabook. At the COMPUTEX 2011,
the chip giant proposed the idea of making the
notebook PC more portable and user-friendly
with improved endurance to meet the needs of
users for at least a day. But most importantly,
the price would have to be below US1,000 . The
Acer ASPIRE S3 from Taiwan claims to be
the first ultrabook on the market and it was
officially launched on 28 September with
announced availability details,
specifications and pricing, listed below for your
reference. Specifications
October 5th, 2011
Aspire
Aspire
S3-951-2464G33iss01 S3-951-2464G23iss02
Processor
Intel Core i5-2467M 1.6GHz Turbo Boost 2.3GHz
Intel Core i5-2467M 1.6GHz Turbo Boost 2.3GHz
Chipset Display Memory Storage Battery
Intel UM67 Chipset Intel UM67 Chipset 13.3- inch
13.3-inch (1366x (1366x768)
169 768) DDR3 4GB x 1 DDR3
4GB x 1 320GB 7mm SATA 240GB SSD HDD 20GB
SSD 3 cell / 6 hours 3 cell / 7 hours
The Ultrabook is a new category of thin
and lightweight ultraportable laptop (defined by
Intel) that are equipped with new Sandy
Bridge/Ivy Bridge based Consumer
Ultra-Low Voltage (CULV) Intel processors,
integrated graphics and SSD storage. Taiwanese
manufacturer Acer has recently launched their
ASPIRE S3 Ultrabook in Taipei, and VR-Zone
managed to get one in for review.
Ports
USB / HDMI / memory card reader
USB / HDMI / memory card reader
Wireless Bluetooth Webcam
802.11 b / g / N 802.11 b / g /
N Bluetooth 4.0 Bluetooth
4.0 1.3-megapixel 1.3-megapixel
Others
1.33kg / 4th gen Dolby Digital/ 13mm
1.33kg / 4th gen Dolby Digital/ 13mm
9
10
October 5th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone - 1000Hz Ultrapolling /
1ms response time
Aspire
Aspire S3-951-2464G33iss01 S3-951-2464G23iss02
Pricing
NT34,900 NT (approx. US1,140)
44,900 (approx.
- 5 independently programmable Hyperesponse
buttons
US1,466) Razer unveils Transformers 3 gaming
peripherals with movie DVD/Blu-ray
release Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/razer-
unveils-transformers-3-gaming- peripherals-with-mo
vie-dvdblu-ray-release/13678.html October 5th,
2011 Besides the Transformers 3 DVD/Blu-ray
movie release, you can now own a piece of limited
edition Transformers 3 gaming peripheral from
Razer. Razer, with license from Hasbro, has
unveiled their new range of Transformers 3
gaming
- On-the-fly sensitivity adjustments - 60 120
inches per second and 15g of acceleration -
Zero-acoustic Razer gaming grade Ultraslick mouse
feet - Gold-plated USB connector - 7-ft
lightweight, braided fiber cable - Approx. size
in mm 128(L) x 70(W) x 42.5(H) Sandy Bridge-E
should hit C2 stepping after launch Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/sandy-bridge-e-should-
hit-c2-stepping- after-launch/13677.html October
5th, 2011
peripherals. We knew that Intel's Sandy
Bridge-E chips were big and complicated to
make, but what we didn't expect was that
Intel was going to continuously keep running
into problems. The current C1 stepping is
apparently having problems with VT- d, not a
major issue for most consumers' maybe, but
it's a huge problem when it comes to Xeon chips
and as such Intel is working on the C2 stepping
to fix this "errata".
We knew that Intel's Sandy Bridge-E chips
were big and complicated to make, but what we
didn't expect was that Intel was going to
continuously keep running into problems.
The current C1 stepping is apparently having
problems with VT- d, not a major issue for
most consumers' maybe, but it's a huge
problem when it comes to Xeon chips and as such
Intel is working on the C2 stepping to fix this
"errata". The only good news here for Intel, if
you look at that way, is that its current Extreme
Edition CPU's don't support VT-d, neither does
the Sandy Bridge K-SKU CPU's, so as far as
the consumer platform is concerned it looks like
there won't be any further delays, but the
initial batch should be C1 stepping rather than
C2. The C1 stepping should be in production
by now, or by the latest by next week, although
we don't know when Intel will kick off
production of the C2 stepping, but it's very
possible it won't be until next year as
qualification samples of the C2 stepping isn't
expected until the very end of the year. As we've
mentioned before, Intel will only certify the
Waimea BayplatformforPCIExpress2.0atlaunch,duetoth
efactthat there aren't enough third party cards
to test with. Some PCI 10
Razer, under license from Hasbro, has
unleashed a unique Transformers 3 Dark of the
Moon Collectors Edition product line now
available on DVD and Blu-Ray. The four
uniquely designed Razer DeathAdder mice in
the form of OPTIMUS PRIME, BUMBLEBEE,
MEGATRON and SHOCKWAVE, claimtoofferunparallel
edgamingperformance.Alsoincluded in the product
line is a dual-sided Razer Vespula mouse
mat whereby one side represents the AUTOBOTS with
a speed- enhancing surface, and the other,
the DECEPTICONS with a control-enhancing
surface. You can showcase your favored allegiance
as you annihilate opponents with your
preferred style of swiping. An exclusive laptop
case designed by Razer is also available in four
iconic TRANSFORMERS brand colors, delivering a
stylish and eye-catching storage solution. Price
US59.99 Availability North America (Retail
and Razerzone.com) Available Now Rest of
the World Q4 2011 Product features - Ergonomic
right-handed design - 3500dpi Razer precision
3.5G infrared sensor
11
October 5th, 2011 Express 3.0 devices are still
likely to work, but Intel doesn't guarantee
compatibility. This makes us wonder if the
current 6-series motherboard with Gen 3 switches
will actually work properly once cards and more
importantly, Ivy Bridge CPU's arrive. Wealso have
some good news for those wantingto continue
to useWindowsXP,theWaimeaBayplatformwillbecompatib
le with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of
Windows XP, although Intel won't be providing
Rapid Storage drivers for the 32- bit
version of XP and as such the standard Windows
drivers will be handling things. The platform
will also be supporting Windows 8 once Microsoft
launches it. We can't but feel sorry for the
motherboard manufacturers as well, as we're
hearing that Intel has jacked the price of the
X79 chipset up by 20 percent compared to the X58
chipset, which puts the X79 chipset somewhere in
the US70 region. This is of course the list
price and with various discounts and what not,
Intel might very well be selling it for far less.
However, we're looking at a chipset that
offers nothing new over the X58 chipset in
terms of features and it's the size of
any of the 6-series chipsets, i.e. it should be
cheaper to manufacture
Published by VR-Zone come up with this
backwards solution, but it really looks like just
yet another artificial limitation that is
likely to upset consumers. We've also got
full details with regards to the
graphics resolutions that are supported as well
as confirmation of the clock speeds. The N2800
(and D2700) has the GPU clocked at 640MHz while
the N2600 (and D2500) gets to make do with a
400MHz GPU clock, although the render clock is
running at a slower 200MHz for all models. All
four CPUs support eDP/DisplayPort, HDMI
1.3a, LDVS (single channel) and
D-sub/analogue display connectivity. However,
when it comes to supported resolutions things
get complicated. For the case of simplicity
we've included the table provided by Intel,
but it's very clear that the
mobile versions are artificially held back when
it comes to the display resolution of the
netbook/notebook, although considering most
notebook displays have a resolution of 1366x768
from 11.6 to 15.6-inches, this isn't a huge
issue. What is strange though is the
DisplayPort limitation for external displays
for the N-series CPUs and you're better off using
HDMI in this case. Note that only two displays
can be used simultaneously.
than the X58 chipset which consists of the I/O
Hub and the ICH10R. Now if there only was some
competition Intel reveals Atom N2X00- series
details ahead of launch Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/intel-reveals-atom-n2x
00-series- details-ahead-of-launch/13675.html Octo
ber 5th, 2011 Oneofthemostimportantaspectsofthen
ewAtomprocessors is hardware video decode
support and Intel has implemented supportforMPEG2
,WMV,H.264andVC-1ateither720p60m 1080i60 or
1080p24 for videos encoded at up to 20Mbps.
Sadly there's no support for MPEG4 (or rather
MPEG4 part 2 as H.264 is MPEG4 part 10), so DivX
and similar formats are still lacking hardware
decoding. In its wisdom, or rather lack thereof,
Intel won't be offering hardware decode for
Flash from version 11.0 and onwards. In other
words, this is not a platform for the future. In
as much as the new Atom platform is a huge
upgrade in many ways, we can't help but
feel disappointed about how little Intel
really has added. It's very clear that Intel is
scared that its Atom platforms will eat away
market share from its Celeron and Pentium branded
processors. AMD's only battle in this market
space is to gain consumer approval, as its
entry level Fusion platform with the E and
C-series APU's are easily outperforming Intel's
Atom processors where it matters for most
consumers. We doubt that Intel will have a hard
sell, but we don't think its Atom processors will
have the same market share as in the past, as the
platform just isn't competitive any more.
There isn't much left in terms of secrets
when it comes to Intel's upcoming
N2X00-series of mobile Atom processors, but
what we didn't already know, Intel has now
managed to unveil itself thanks to a datasheet
that the company published ahead of the CPU
launch. It's a simple mistake, as the
same datasheet covers the Atom D2X00-series
and although the two CPU families are very
similar, there are some differences beyond the
mobile and desktop aspects. There isn't much
left in terms of secrets when it comes
to Intel's upcoming N2X00-series of mobile
Atom processors, but what we didn't already
know, Intel has now managed to unveil itself
thanks to a datasheet that the company
published ahead of the CPU launch. It's a simple
mistake, as the same datasheet covers the Atom
D2X00-series and although the two CPU
families are very similar, there are some
differences beyond the mobile and desktop aspects.
For starters we'd missed he fact that the Atom
N2600 only supports 2GB of RAM, whereas the N2800
happily accepts 4GB, just like its desktop
counterparts. On top of that the N2600 only
supports a single DIMM while the other
three Atom models happily take two. We're not
sure why Intel has 11
12
October 5th, 2011 Corsair H100 Water
Cooler Review Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/
corsair-h100-water-cooler- review/13674.html Octob
er 5th, 2011 Even though computer water
cooling started off about fifteen years ago,
it was not until a couple of years ago
when companies first released closed loop,
ready to run liquid based coolers for PC
components. One of the first companies which
released such a liquid based cooler a couple of
years ago was Corsair. Today we are going
to have a look at the latest and largest
liquid based CPU cooler Corsair
ever released,theHydroSeriesH100.TheH100featuresad
ualfan radiatorandCorsairboaststhatthecoolercandel
iverextreme performancewewillfindoutifthatclaimis
trueinthisreview. Even though computer water
cooling started off about fifteen years ago, it
was not until a couple of years ago
when companies first released closed loop,
ready to run liquid based coolers for PC
components. One of the first companies which
released such a liquid based cooler a couple of
years ago was Corsair. Today we are going
to have a look at the latest and largest
liquid based CPU cooler Corsair
ever released,theHydroSeriesH100.TheH100featuresad
ualfan radiatorandCorsairboaststhatthecoolercandel
iverextreme performancewewillfindoutifthatclaimis
trueinthisreview. ASRock Z68 Extreme7
Gen3 Review Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/as
rock-z68-extreme7-gen3- review/13629.html October
5th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone ASRock
was established in 2002 to compete against Tier
2 motherboard makers like DFI, ABIT, and ECS.
Traditionally many think of ASRock as ASUS's
entry level board maker, as ASUS is
thought of as catering to the high-end
market segment. While things aren't so clear
anymore as to who owns who, it is pretty much
accepted that ASRock isn't owned by ASUS any
longer, but they still seem to buy in bulk
and thus we see a lot of the same parts
used, even parts that are exclusively made for
ASUS. In fact after ASUS split with Pegatron,Pegat
ronusedASRocktocompeteagainstASUS.To make things
even stranger it seems like ASRock is still
using some of ASUSs RD, foundries, as well as
buying in bulk with them. While officially they
are not the same company, they suredohavemanycommo
nsimilarities.Itseemsthatperhaps ASUS didn't know
or maybe wanted ASRock to become what it has
become today, a motherboard brand which has come
a long way in very little time. With the
introduction of LGA1155 based chipsets ASRock
shot through its lower tier status and is now
competing head to head with GIGABYTE and ASUS.
The way ASRock is able to do this is with lower
prices, since ASUS and ASRock share a lot of the
same parts, ASRock is able to obtain parts at
a bulk price/contracts that they couldn't
negotiate on their own.
Then their parent company Pegatron shares
foundries with ASUS, so when ASUS outsources to
Pegatron they can use the technology ASUS used
to manufacturer that board. It is not as devious
as that sounds, and its really a great thing for
ASRock fans. Today we venture into ASRock's
lastest top-of-the-line Z68
board which is in a class of its own a feature
packed beauty with an affordable price tag.
Follow us as we take a good deep look at
what makes the board what it is, from its
unique technologies to what makes it roar.
Follow us to answer questions like, how do
you get PCI-E 3.0 with an NF200? How is
the VRM on the Extreme7 Gen3 comparable to
other boards? How is this board priced
lower than other NF200 bearing
boards? Introduction
Yet this Z68 Extreme7 Gen3 has a 3 year warranty,
2oz copper PCB (something pretty much unique
to only a few ASRock boards),JapaneseSolidCaps
(thataresprayedgoldtoindicate good quality?), as
well as some technologies that make
this reviewerwonder,aretheytryingtocompeteagainstt
heZ68X- UD7 and the Maximus 4 Extreme-Z? To
begin the review a block diagram of the Z68
platform 12
13
October 5th, 2011 Compare
d to the earlier P67, the Z68 chipset adds Intel
HD Graphicssupport,aswellasIntelSmartResponceTechn
ology (SSD Caching). Intel should have
initially released the Z68 chipset, as its
gains from P67 are very minimal.
This motherboard also has Lucid Virtu technology
which allows for switchable graphics, DVI, HDMI,
D-SUB, and DisplayPort are all avaible. ASRock
doesn't do everything like ASUS, first
they don'tusetheIntelPHY,insteadtheyuseBroadcomcon
troller, the first time i have seen one on a 280
board. They also use a PLX bridge chip to better
the use of the 8 PCI-E 2.0 lanes that the PCH
offers, this allows them to add another 16x
(4x pghysical) slot to the board, while
simultaneously running 3 x USB 3.0 and 2 SATA
6GB/s controllers. Sony Ericsson
introduces Xperia active and Live
with Walkman Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/s
ony-ericsson-introduces-xperia- active-and-live-wi
th-walkman/13673.html October 5th, 2011 The
Sony Ericsson Xperia active, designed for
the active lifestyle users, was showcased in
June with the Xperia Ray and Xperia Txt. Today,
the company has officially launched the phone in
Singapore, together with the Sony Ericsson
Live with Walkman that promises great audio
enjoyment for music lovers.
Published by VR-Zone Sony
Ericsson has announced the launch of two new
Android smartphones - Xperia active (above left)
designed for users with an active lifestyle, and
Live with Walkman, an Android smartphone that
delivers superior music experience. Sony Ericsson
Xperia active Running on the latest Android 2.3
Gingerbread, the Xperia active is a tough Android
smartphone for an active sports and outdoor life.
This phone is dust-proof and water resistant
and incorporates wet finger tracking to ensure
the phone works perfectly even if the the
screen or a users fingers are wet. The
Xperia active also features Reality Display with
Mobile BRAVIA Engine, 5-megapixel rear camera
that can capture high definition videos, and a
powerful 1GHz processor. Pre- loaded with sports
apps that enable users to easily track
their fitness levels, users can set their
training route using the built- in GPS, Barometer
and Compass. In addition, on-screen heart rate
and pulse can be monitored in real-time (enabled
by ANT wireless networking technology), while
the SportyPal Pro app can monitor real-time
performance. Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman The
Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman has a
dedicated Walkman hardware button that
provides instant access to the music player.
The phone also runs the latest Android
2.3 Gingerbread and users can like, share and
discover content through Facebook integration
while the infinite button allows consumers to
connect to friends, photos, music and videos. The
Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman has a stylish
curved design, a glossy finish and a
mineral glass display. It also features a
3.2-inch screen, 1GHz processor,
front-facing camera for video calling and a
5-megapixel AF rear camera that can capture 720p
HD video recording. The Sony Ericsson Live with
Walkman also comes with Sonys xLOUD
that enhances audio output. Pricing and
availability The Sony Ericsson Live with
Walkman is now available in Singapore in the
colours Black and White at a recommended retail
price of S398 before telco subsidies. The Sony
Ericsson Xperia active will be available in
Singapore from 1 October 2011 tomorrow in Black
with Orange band, at a recommended retail price
of S498 without contract. 13
14
October 5th, 2011 Norton Mobile Security
Lite offers Android users from protection
physical and online crime Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/norton-mobile-security
-lite-offers- android-users-from-protection-physic
al-and-online-crime/13672.html October 5th,
2011 Android users can now secure their
mobile devices from physical and online
crime with the free Norton's
Mobile SecurityLite.Thenewsecurityapplicationoffer
sselectedanti- theft features with powerful
anti-malware to keep your data safe even if you
lose your phone. Norton by Symantec
has unveiled the availability of Norton Mobile
Security Lite, a free security application for
Android- basedsmartphones.TheNortonMobileSecurityL
iteclaimsto seamlessly combine selected
anti-theft features with powerful anti-malware
that gives users security even if their phone
is lost, stolen or compromised by malware. Key
features On Norton Mobile Security Lite -
Anti-theft The average adult in
Singapore loses his mobile phone 1.6 times in
5 years and 50 percent reported concerns over the
loss of privacy and sensitive information. Norton
MobileSecurityLiteallowsuserstolocklostorstolen ph
ones, preventing strangers or thieves from
accessing vital information or running up their
mobile bill. - Anti-malware Scans all files and
app updates downloaded to the mobile device and
automatically detects and removes threats without
slowing you down. - Automatic LiveUpdate
Automatically downloads and installs
security updates keeping you a step
ahead of cybercriminals. Pricing and
Availability Norton Mobile Security Lite is
now available for free in EnglishontheAndroidM
arket.Foruserswhowantadditional
Published by VR-Zone Sony Ericsson
announces Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
first to Android on Xperia PLAY Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/sony-ericsson-announce
s-lara-croft- and-the-guardian-of-light-first-to-a
ndroid-on-xperia-play/13671.html October 5th,
2011 Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY owners who
are also fans of Lara Croft games would be
pleased to know that Lara Croft and the Guardian
of Light will be available on Android, and
first on the Xperia PLAY smartphone. Read on for
the details. Sony Ericsson is
adding more titles to its Xperia PLAY phone and
with a partnership with world renowned
Square Enix. The partnership will bring much
loved titles such as Lara Croft and the
Guardian of Light exclusively to Android on the
Xperia PLAY in November 2011. More established
game titles from Square Enix will follow in the
coming months. The Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY has
been made available to more consumers around the
world. The smartphone has recently gone on sale
in the US on the ATT network and on the
14th September, the company announced that Xperia
PLAY will be launched in Japan with NTT DOCOMO in
October 2011. LaCie launches the LaPlug, lets
you access USB drives over the net Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/lacie-launches-the-lap
lug-lets-you- access-usb-drives-over-the-net/13670
.html October 5th, 2011
protection such as the ability to block unwanted
calls or text messages or block phishing
websites used to steal personal information and
money, there is the option to
upgrade to the full featured Norton Mobile
Security for an annual subscription of
S19.90. If product design is more important to
you than what you get for your money, then LaCie
is most likely a familiar brand to you. However,
the company does managed to come up with 14
15
October 5th, 2011 some quirky bits of hardware
from time to time and its latest addition, the
LaPlug is just one of those things that could
be immenselyuseful,butsomehowturnsouttobefairlypoi
ntless at the same time. If product design is
more important to you than what you get for your
money, then LaCie is most likely a familiar brand
to you. However, the company does managed to come
up with some quirky bits of hardware from time to
time and its latest addition, the LaPlug is just
one of those things that could be immenselyuseful,
butsomehowturnsouttobefairlypointless at the same
time. InessencetheLaPlugisacompactNASboxat119x119x
37mm, except that by now you've most likely
realised that by being so small there's no space
for an internal drive. Rather than doing a NAS,
LaCie put together a box that has both
Gigabit Ethernet and support for 802.11b/g/n
Wi-Fi where the quirky bitisthatithasfourUSB2.0por
tsforexternalstoragedevices. Three of the ports
are around the back for more permanent connectivit
y and one is on the front. In addition to being
able to accept storage devices the LaPlug also
accepts printers for sharing over the
network. The neat trick is
that LaCie provides software with the LaPlug that
allows you to access the attached devices
even when you're not at home, well, at
least as long as the LaPlug is connected to
the internet somehow. It's also possible to
get access to the LaPlug via a web browser, but
this isn't always themostconvenientoptioninourexpe
rience.TheLaPlugalso supports UPnP and DLNA and
will stream media to any other DLNAdevice.BeinganA
pplefriendlycompanyLaCiehasalso thrown in support
for Apple's Time Machine backup
software. TheproblemisthatLaCieexpectsyout
opayUS74.99(S97) for the LaPlug, for that kind
of money you can wide range of wireless routers
with a USB port or two built in. So ok, most of
Published by VR-Zone them aren't likely to have
Time Machine support built in, but they're likely
to have more advanced features and you do get a
router included as well. We can't but help to
feel that LaCie priced itself out of the market a
bit here, although then again, we'resuretherewillb
eplentyoflesstechnicallyinclinedusers that would
be more than happy to spend that kind of
money for easy network access to their data
stored on multiple USB drives. Samsung unleashes
multiple mobile building blocks Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-unleashes-mult
iple-mobile- building-blocks/13669.html October
5th, 2011 It's actually quite amazing how
many products Samsung makes and there's no
wonder that the company is starting to have
such a dominant place in the mobile market
space. The company announced no less than
five new products related to mobile
products, a new HD CMOS sensor,
a 16Megapixel CMOS sensor, faster 64GB eMMC flash
memory, 3Xnm LPDDR3 memory and a new 1.5GHz
Exynos SoC manufactured using a 32nm High-K
Metal Gate low-power process. It's actually
quite amazing how many products
Samsung makes and there's no wonder that
the company is starting to have such a
dominant place in the mobile market space. The
company announced no less than five new
products related to mobile products, a
new HD CMOS sensor, a 16Megapixel CMOS
sensor, faster 64GB eMMC flash memory, 3Xnm
LPDDR3 memory and a new 1.5GHz Exynos
SoC manufactured using a 32nm High-K Metal
Gate low-power process. The HD CMOS sensor is
maybe not the most impressive of the
announcements, but the S5K8AA as it's called is a
tiny 1/8.2-inch CMOS sensor with a 1.2Megapixel
resolution and the entire camera modules is a
mere 2.8mm deep. The trick here is that it'll do
720p30 video or 480p60 and combined with backside
illumination it should make for better video
call quality in slim handsets and
tablets. Ontheotherendofthespectrumisthe1/2.3-inch
16Megapixel CMOS sensor called the S5K2P1, that's
the same size sensor as in the recently
launched Pentax Q interchangeable
lens compact and larger than that found in many
budget digital cameras. Although this
backside illuminated sensor was designed
with high-end smartphones in mind, it can
also be used with digital cameras and
camcorders and it shows that phones are
getting very close to entirely replacing
entry level digital cameras, at least as long as
you're not worried about having the ability
to zoom. Samsung makes some impressive
claims for the S5K2P1 as well, as it's
meant to shoot 16Megapixle images at 30fps, or
8.3Megapixel pictures at 60fps, all without any
shutter lag effect in 169 format. 15
16
Published by VR-Zone Canon Singapore
launches 23 imaging products for consumer and
enterprise markets Source http//vr-zone.com/arti
cles/canon-singapore-launches-23-imaging- products
-for-consumer-and-enterprise-markets/13668.html Oc
tober 5th, 2011 Canon Singapore had
a massive product launch for the second
half of 2011 today, with 23 imaging products
ranging from printers to projectors and digital
cameras. And no, the company did not reveal any
Canon mirrorless camera, despite Nikon unveiling
theirs last week. The Canon
PowerShot S100 (left) placed together with
the PowerShot S95 The Canon PowerShot S100
compact digital camera was among the 23
products that were showcased at the event.
The successor to the popular S95 comes in black
or silver, and now comes with a grip for better
handling. The Canon PowerShot S100 will be
available in early November, with pricing
details to be announced closer to availability
date.
October 5th, 2011 Movingonwegettoaproductyou'regoi
ngtowantinthesame phone as the 16Megapixel
camera sensor, namely 64GB of eMMC NAND
flash. Samsung's latest eMMC NAND flash
uses atoggleDDR2interfaceandismanufacturedusingSam
sung's 2Xnm process. Samsung claims
sequential read speeds of 80MB/s and write
speeds of 40MB/s which the company claims is
a threefold improvement over fast microSD
cards. No-one's going to complain about faster
storage memory on their phones, right? On the
subject of memory, we swiftly move on to
Samsung's 3Xnm LPDDR3 memory which is available
in 4Gbit (512MB) chips, which might not seem
like a lot, but it's the first DDR3
1,066MHz memory designed for use in
smartphones and tablets. Not only is it faster
than LPDDR2, but Samsung also claims that it uses
20 percent less power which equals to better
device battery life. Sadly Samsung's LPDDR3
memory won't go into mass production until
sometime next year, but it should hopefully be
ready in time for the onslaught of new quad core
ARM SoC's such as Nvidia's next gen Tegra
model which will be able to take advantage of
LPDDR3 memory. Finally we have yet another first,
Samsung's new Exynos 4212 ARM Cortex-A9 SoC which
is built on Samsung's 32nm High- K Metal Gate
low-power process, something the company has
co-developed with Global Foundries. By
moving from 45nm to 32nm, Samsung has
managed to boost the clock speed from 1.2GHz
to 1.5GHz with the added benefit of
the Mali-400MP graphics core being boosted
from 267MHz to 400MHz something Samsung claims
will boost the graphics performance by up to
50 percent. Of course moving from 45nm to
32nm brings with it the added benefit of lower
power usage and Samsung claims that the power
usage is down by up to 30 percent. Samsung also
threw in support for a few additional video
codecs, 1080p video encoding and on-chip HDMI 1.4
support. The Exynos 4212 should be available
from next quarter, although we have a feeling it
might take a little bitlongeruntilweseedevicesbase
donit,atleastfromanyone but Samsung. If that's
not an impressive range of announcements
all at once, we don't know what is and we can
see why Apple is so concerned about Samsung. It's
become clear that Samsung is a major force in
the market and the company is
seemingly putting a lot of effort into becoming a
leader in the mobile
marketspace,notonlyintermsofproducinghigh-enddevic
es, but also when it comes to offering the best
components that goes into the devices as well. By
having its own components echo system, Samsung
doesn't have to rely on partners
either, something that can seriously hold a
company back at times. That said, it can be
a dangerous gamble to be too over reliant
on your own abilities too, but then again,
Samsung doesn't seem to rely solely on its own
components, as recently launched versions of
the Galaxy S II in the US
featured Qualcomm processors. Still, we can't
wait to see what's next from Samsung. 16
Slide 1