NVIDIA intro wired 3D Vision glasses

COMPUTEX Taipei 2011: NVIDIA today announce an addition to the NVIDIA 3D Vision product family; NVIDIA 3D Vision wired glasses. The 3D Vision glasses that have been out since release have been wireless ones but NVIDIA are aiming toward getting these bad boys on as many heads as possible, wired glasses are now available for only $99.

The new glasses will include a 10-foot USB2.0 cable (with NVIDIA styling of black and green) and will enable anyone with an NVIDIA 3D Vision-capable monitor and system to enjoy NVIDIA's advanced active-shutter technology, which allows gamers and 3D enthusiasts to enjoy some of the best quality 3D content available today.

Phil Eisler, general manager of 3D Vision at NVIDIA says:

"3D Vision provides gamers and enthusiasts with the world's largest ecosystem of 3D products and features, 3D fans have been waiting for more affordable glasses, and we're expecting our new 3D Vision wired glasses to hit the sweet spot for them."
artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19815/nvidia_intro_wired_3d_vision_glasses_lower_price_but_annoying_cable/index.html

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Google unveils Wallet

Google's Wallet has finally been unveiled, with Google saying "Your phone will be your wallet". This is what Google Wallet and Google offers will be capable of, by combining payments and deals into one package. It's the future of paying for things, really. Google Wallet is not a single thing, it's a cake mix of multiple products rolled into a single thing. It's an Android app, it's a way of paying for things with credit or debit cards by using your phone.

It's a coupon collector and loyalty card system, it's another way for merchants to let you pay and offer up deals. It has tentacles into other Google services such as Shopper and Google Offers. The core technology uses wireless NFC and more specifically, MasterCards's PayPass system, so you'll be able to use it anywhere that offers PayPass.

At the moment, Citi's the sole banking partner with Sprint as the carrier partner. At the moment, you're limited to a single phone and credit card for the full Google Wallet experience. Only a Nexus S 4G and Citi MasterCard will give you the "full" experience, although you can fill up the Google pre-paid card that comes with every wallet using any credit or debit card. Google are saying that GoogleWallet is "more secure than your wallet", well I don't know about that, my wallet gets my ass-time than my chair.

      

The reasoning behind this is that Wallet never displays your full credit card details, it requires a PIN to access and the data is encrypted. If you lose it, the cards can be de-provisioned over-the-air which is quite the feature. There's a fair amount of security built into the phone's NFC chip (which stores and transmits the credit card info). Such as, the NFC antenna is turned off when the screen is off - this means it's completely secure in your pocket again "laser-attacks" (pew pew).
artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19785/google_unveils_wallet_super_secure_nfc_tech_made_useful/index.html

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Minecraft Goes Mobile, FTW x Infinity

Indie-game sensation Minecraft will hit both Android and iOS later this year, and will be unveiled at this summer's E3. Evidently the game will only be available on Sony's new Xperia Play handheld, but will be gradually introduced into the rest of the mobile ecosystem.

No concrete knowledge right now for the actual release date, but I'm sure we'll hear all about it following that gigantic game conference in Los Angeles this year.

artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19772/minecraft_goes_mobile_ftw_x_infinity/index.html

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Dell unleashes new XPS 15z

 Dell have finally released their aimed-at-the-Apple-MacBook-Pro notebook in the form of the Dell XPS 15z, a 15-inch, powerhouse of a system that looks virtually identical to the stylish-yet-expensive MacBook Pro. Dell's XPS 15z starts at a decent $999 and can be ordered today. The XPS 15z features both Core i5 and Core i7 options from the second-generation Core architecture, weighs in at 5.54 pounds and is under an inch thick.

Dell is making claims that it is the thinnest 15-inch PC on the market (key word there being PC). Display options come in the form of 1366x768 standard or the option of upgrading to a 1920x1080 screen. The XPS 15z can be optioned with 8GB of RAM and features the Intel HM67 chipset. Two GPUs are on the block here, the GeForce GT 525M with Optimus technology including 1GB of RAM. For those who want some oomph in gaming performance, the same GPU is offered but with 2GB of RAM.

Battery wise, we have an 8-cell, 64WHr polymer battery. Finishing off the notebook we have a plethora of details, a 1.3MP HD resolution webcam with digital array mic for video chat and recording, Wi-Fi in the form of the standard a/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and Intel Wireless Display tech. HDMI 1.4, mini DisplayPort, Gigabit Ethernet, three USB3.0 ports and an eSATA port. Finally, a 9-in-1 memory card reader and a great looking chiclet keyboard which is backlit and spill resistant. The trackpad also supports multi-touch with gestures.

artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19764/dell_unleashes_new_xps_15z/index.html

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Nokia Windows Phone With dual core processors:

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NVIDIA cocoons GeForce GTX590, revises hardware and will unleash the Butterfly in June

NVIDIA's Cheech and Chong edition of the GeForce GTX590 enjoys benchmarking until it went Up In Smoke. NVIDIA plans to solve this issue by throwing the GeForce GTX590 into the gym for the next few months and revising various pieces of the card so it doesn't fail, furthermore so it is better competition against the AMD Radeon HD6990.

This change in hardware will include new inductors which means a replacement baseplate is needed, sounds easy, doesn't it? But, this effects the sizing and dimensions of current GTX 590 waterblocks. This means 3rd party cooling solutions won't work on this new Butterfly-edition GTX590, until then the GTX590 stays in it's cocoon slowly evolving into a green beast that is sure to get a thrashing by reviewers, enthusiasts and green lovers on release.
artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19710/nvidia_cocoons_geforce_gtx590_revises_hardware_and_will_unleash_the_butterfly_in_june/index.html

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Samsung unveil 10.1-inch, 2560x1600 capable display

The inner-geek (well, ok, it's not so much inner, more everyday-geek) really loved seeing this news, Samsung have unveiled a high-resolution, 10.1-inch display that supports a maximum resolution of 2560x1600 that should power next-gen tablets including the next-gen iPad and Android-powered devices.

Samsung's new display is just a tech demo at the moment as it is not ready for mass production. What it does demonstrate is that high-resolution, high-pixel density tablet displays are possible without crazy power requirements that would normally be included. Samsung could also opt to use this new display tech in their own devices (Galaxy Tab Ultra-HD 10.1 maybe? - Contact me Samsung if you like that name). Considering all the lawsuits Apple were flinging at Samsung, if I were Samsung I wouldn't be giving out this tech in a hurry.

But, on the flip side Apple would most likely want 50 million of these screens, making Samsung a nice pile of Dineros. This new display is set to be shown off at the SID Display Week 2011 trade show next week in LA.
artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19699/samsung_unveil_10_1_inch_2560x1600_capable_display/index.html

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No iPhone 5 This Summer, Expect iPhone 4S

Eric Savitz of Forbes reported today on a research note penned by analyst Peter Misek of Jeffries & Co:

"According to our industry checks, the device should be called iPhone 4S and include minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support."

I just want to say it right now: TOLD YOU SO.

Misek went to write that information indicated Apple would nevertheless be announcing Sprint, T-Mobile, and China Mobile as new carriers. The iPhone 4S will not, I repeat not, have an LTE chip. HSPA+ isn't bad, but it would be nice to get real 4G. Also would be nice to, you know, not have to buy a new phone every 6 months. Can't Apple take a page from Chromebook and release some tech that only gets better with time?
artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19692/no_iphone_5_this_summer_expect_iphone_4s/index.html

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iPad 2 backlight bleed, LG-produced panels are to blame

There have been various reports of some iPad 2's having bad backlight bleeds with yellow spots that start bleeding out from the edges of the screen whenever something dark is displaying on the screen. It has been found out that this only applies to LG-produced panels.

Both Samsung and LG are manufacturing screens for Apple's iPad 2 when it launched and as soon as the defect was detected (how it was not detected before selling it at retail is beyond me for a company like Apple) production was halted by LG. LG have acknowledged and fixed the defect and will begin shipping panels in the next fiscal quarter.
artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19626/ipad_2_backlight_bleed_lg_produced_panels_are_to_blame/index.html

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Apple now worth 5x more than in 2006, and nearly 2x as much as Google

Five years ago, Apple was a successful company with the iPod and its Mac line of computers. But it had not yet launched the iPhone. It had not yet launched the iPad. Back then, Apple’s yearly profit was $2.4 billion. In 2010 that number had risen to $16.6 billion. And in the first quarter of 2011, Apple has already made a $6 billion profit, well on its way to eclipsing previous years. It’s become a cash machine.

Apple is riding a wave of continuous success, and the stock market simply loves it. The value of the company has skyrocketed.

That’s the part we will take a closer look at in this article. How well has Apple done compared with other big tech companies in the last five years, i.e. 2011 compared to 2006, the year before Apple launched the iPhone?

Comparing Apple with other tech companies

To give you an idea of how much the value of Apple has increased in the last five years, we’re going to look at its market capitalization (“market cap”) and compare it with how some other big tech companies like Google and Microsoft have fared in the same time period.

(Market cap is a measure of a publicly traded company’s size and worth. It’s the number of shares times the share price, i.e. how much it would cost to buy all shares in the company. In this article, when we talk about what a company is “worth,” we mean market cap.)

The companies are sorted by their current market cap, biggest at the top.

As you can see in the above chart, none of the other companies we included even come close to the increase in market cap that Apple has seen over the past five years. This even though we included companies from all the different kinds of markets where Apple competes.

A few interesting observations:

• Apple is now worth 5.3x more than in 2006.
• Google is now worth 1.4x more than in 2006.
• Oracle is now worth 2.3x more than in 2006
• Microsoft is worth 8% less than it was in 2006.
• The biggest loser of this bunch? Nokia, which is now worth just 32% of what it was worth five years ago.

  • Apple’s rise compared with Google and Microsoft

  When examining how the market cap has changed for these companies in the last five years, a couple of very interesting things stand out that give us a nice perspective on how fast Apple has grown compared to its competitors.

  • In 2006, Google was worth twice as much as Apple. In 2011, they have traded places, with Apple now worth nearly twice as much as Google (1.9x to be exact).
  • Another sign of how times have changed: In 2006, Microsoft was worth 4x as much as Apple. Now, Apple is worth 1.6x as much as Microsoft.

  That’s a pretty impressive track record. In just five years, the positions have completely changed.

  Conclusion

  Apple’s revenue keeps growing, its profits keep growing, and it’s selling its products to an ever-growing user base. The incredible success of Apple’s iOS devices has helped pull the entire company up another notch (iOS devices now make up 65% of sales). So the company is definitely not running on fumes.

  It of course remains to be seen if Apple can keep this up, but for now, things are looking good.

  Now, if we had only bought a big lump of Apple shares back in the day… Sigh.

  A disclaimer: We here at Pingdom are techies, not financial analysts. If you make investments based on this article and end up losing money, don’t blame us.
• artcal sourse::http://royal.pingdom.com/2011/05/05/apple-now-worth-5x-more-than-in-2006-and-nearly-2x-as-much-as-google/

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ASUS make official statement on Eee Pad Transformer shortage

One thing I want for an early Christmas present (apart from my two front teeth) is the new ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, but alas, there is a shortage. We've posted about it over the past couple of days but now ASUS have come to the microphone and have said a few words. We previously heard out of ASUS' expected 300, 000 units per month, only 10, 000 units were being produced, ASUSTek spokesperson David Chang disagrees.

ASUS are pumping out 100, 000 Transformers this month and 200, 000+ units will flow onto the streets in June. Chang also expects volume to increase rapidly in June with Chang saying "If the demand continues to increase substantially then we will have to continue to ramp up production in order to fulfill our customers' demand." The Transformer has been quite popular so far and seems to be quite the hot item on the market right now.

ASUS just didn't expect this high of a demand for their tablet so the shortage is being blamed on it's high demand. This is great news for ASUS, for customers - it just requires a little more patience.
artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19618/asus_make_official_statement_on_eee_pad_transformer_shortage/index.html

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RIM Announces Two Brand New Smartphones: BlackBerry Bold 9900 & 9930, Now With New OS

RIM are still holding onto the smartphone market and have shown this by debuting a couple of new smartphones that RIM are claiming to be the thinnest and most powerful Blackberry devices yet. The new smartphones are also powered by the new Blackberry 7 OS, the two models? Blackberry Bold 9900 and 9930.

Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO of Research in Motion has said:

" The new BlackBerry Bold smartphones and BlackBerry 7 OS are inspired by millions of customers around the world who want the ultimate combination of performance, functionality and style. These fully-loaded and beautifully crafted smartphones offer a highly refined user experience with blazingly fast performance, a brilliant touch screen and an outstanding typing experience. "

RIM are stating that the new phones are only 10.5mm-thick and that the materials used on the new smartphones are optimized for quality and durability. Both new Blackberry devices include 1.2GHz processors, use new Liquid Graphics Touch screens, support 4G HSPA+ mobile networks and also NFC technology.

The new Liquid Graphics touchscreen is a key feature of the devices and is powered by Blackberry OS 7, the screen offers responsive touch navigation and is up to scratch with mobile gaming also. RIM is claiming the screen is good for up to 60 frames per second performance for video and also gaming. The screen has a DPI of 287.

The 9900 and 9930 are pretty much identically specced - a 2.8-inch screen with a 640x480 resolution, a QWERTY keyboard (what!) and an optical track pad. They also feature 8GB of on-board storage, a microSD card slot with support for up to 32GB cards and a 5-megapixel rear camera that is capable of recording 720p video. Finally, we have 802.11a/n Wi-Fi and of course, Bluetooth.

The biggest news is probably the new Blackberry 7 OS, the new OS has improved browsing online, voice-activated searches and the ability to manage a user's personal content separately from their business content. The new browser in the OS supports HTML5 video and other elements.

BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 Specifications:

• 115 x 66 x 10.5 mm, approximately 130 g
• 2.8" capacitive touch screen display - VGA (640x480), 287 dpi resolution
• Ultra-easy QWERTY keyboard, optical trackpad
• 1.2 GHz Processor, 768 MB RAM
• 8 GB on-board memory, plus microSD slot supporting up to 32 GB cards
• NFC technology
• 5.0 MP camera, supports 720p HD video recording
• Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), Digital Compass (Magnetometer), Proximity Sensor
• Built-in GPS / aGPS
• Dual-Band Wi-Fi® - 802.11 b/g/n at 2.4 GHz and 802.11 a/n at 5 GHz
• Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR support
• Wireless Network support:
o 9900: Tri-Band HSPA+, Quad-Band GSM/EDGE
o 9930: Dual-Band CDMA/EV-DO Rev. A, Dual-Band HSPA+, Quad-Band GSM/EDGE
• 1230 mAh removable, rechargeable battery
• BlackBerry 7 OS

* Features OpenGL 2.0 support for developers.
artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19581/rim_announces_two_brand_new_smartphones_blackberry_bold_9900_9930_now_with_new_os/index.html

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Intel X79-based boards to be at COMPUTEX 2011

Intel's X79 Express chipset is set to receive some love from motherboard makers at COMPUTEX Taipei 2011. Lucky SOBs will be able to catch a glimpse of demos running at stalls. Intel X79 boards are set to be ready as early as August and Sandy Bridge-E processors roughly one month later.

What is funny is that it doesn't bring a heck of a lot to the table, some stand out things are: PCIe Gen 3, Quad-Channel DDR3 - yet no USB3.0 support, shame.

Below, a run down of what the new desktop chipset and Sandy Bridge-E processors will offer:

Sandy Bridge-E CPU Feature Overview

Up to 6 cores and 12 threads
32-KB instruction and 32-KB data L1 cache per core
256-KB shared instruction/data L2 cache per core
Up to 15 MB L3 cache (up to 2.5 MB per core) shared among all cores
Up to 40 PCIe Gen 3 Lanes (2x16 & 1x8)
4 lanes of DMI2/PCI Express 2.0 interface
4 Channels DDR3-1600 (1 DIMM per Channel)
Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 (thermal control is the only limiter)
130W TDP
LGA2011 Socket

Sandy Bridge-E comes in 3 SKUs :

Sandy Bridge Extreme Edition : 6 cores / 12 threads, 3.3GHz clock, 15MB L3 cache (2.5MB per core), Max. OC
Sandy Bridge E : 6 cores / 12 threads, 3.2GHz clock, 12MB L3 cache (2MB per core), Max. OC
Sandy Bridge E : 4 cores / 8 threads, 3.6GHz clock, 10MB L3 cache (2.5MB per core), Limited OC

Intel X79 Express Chipset (Patsburg-HEDT) Overview

10 SATA 6Gbps ports with SAS capability
4 SATA 3Gps ports
PCIe 3.0 x4 uplink for dedicated storage bandwidth
8 PCIe 2.0 lanes
14 USB 2.0 ports
Integrated Gigabit Ethernet MAC (Lewisville PHY)
Intel Rapid Storage Technology enterprise 3.0
SAS RAID support (0/1/10)
SAS Expander support
SATA RAID support (0/1/10/5)
Write Journaling
Open Source Linux support
100MHz BCLK
Supports processor, memory and chipset overclocking
Supports Intel Extreme Tuning Utility 3.0 (XTU)
8-layer PCB, 2oz copper recommended
artcal sourse:http://www.tweaktown.com/news/19574/intel_x79_based_boards_to_be_at_computex_2011/index.html

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