Eee PC With Optical Drive

The original idea of the netbook, at least in modern terms, was for a light, no-frills, barebones PC that was used to access and communicate on the internet. After all, that’s why it was called a ‘net’book.

Like in many other product categories, companies are not only competing on price, but also in features. Just as how the Honda Civic grew far enough from its humble origins that it’s no longer the entry-level offering, it seems netbooks are growing closer just becoming notebooks.

According to Digitimes, Asus will next month launch the Eee PC E1004DN, which will have an optical disc drive. The E1004DN reported to sport an Intel Atom N280 CPU paired with GN40 chipset, a 120 GB hard drive, and will retail between $531 and 590 -- sitting straight inside the territory of budget notebooks.

In May Asus is expected to launch the aesthetically-oriented 1008HA, which could also encroach on full notebook ground.

There’s no arguing that today’s netbooks are more capable and feature-filled than products from just a year ago, but are netbook makers losing sight of the original philosophy behind the concept?

by: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-eee-netbook-optical-drive,7406.html

Nvidia's GeForce GTX 275 Specs Revealed

Although the specifications were not officially announced, details regarding the upcoming GeForce GTX 275 have surfaced.

There's nothing juicer than a good rumor, especially when gamers are looking for quality, performance, and value. There's certainly a lot of talk about Nvidia and ATI GPUs lately, with leaked specs, tasty rumors and thorough speculations circling the industry every day. However, when evidence presents itself without pictures or proof from official sources, sometimes information can be nothing more than a little hoopla and high hopes.

Fudzilla, claims that it scored a few details regarding the upcoming GeForce GTX 275. The site reports that the GTX 275 actually looks like a GTX 295 with a higher clock. By comparison, the GTX 275, featuring a 55nm GT200 GPU, clocks in at 633 MHz with a 1164 MHz memory clock; the GTX 295 has a core clock speed of 576 MHz and a memory clock of 999 MHz. However, both cards provide a 448-bit memory interface and uses GDDR3 memory. Additionally, the GTX 275 will share a trait with the GeForce GTX 285 as well, both offering 240 shaders.

Sporting a single GPU, the GeForce GTX 275 will be a dual-slot card with the usual CUDA, PhysX, and 3-way SLI support, selling for $249 when it ships during the second week of April. For the price, the card will certainly offer an impressive amount of power although the Radeon HD 4890, set to hit shelves around the same time, will give it a run for its money. With a core clock of 850 MHz and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory, the meatier ATI offering will more than likely be the dominant card if the price isn't set too high.

Still, until Nvidia dishes out the official info or the GeForce GTX 275 actually surface, fans will just have to suffice with supposed facts and rumors.

ATI's HD 4890 doesn't come on April 6th

According to the info we've gotten our hands on, ATI's HD 4890 will be launched on Thursday, April 9th and not on Monday April 6th.

We heard the April 6th date before, but our sources are telling us the new date is April 9th. The new date reportedly isn't a delay, and as far as we could find out, the launch date was never supposed to be 6th of April in the first place.

AMD used the "week of April 6th" as a guidance for its partners and someone most probably mistook it for a launch date. The new date is April 9th, and Thursday is the D-Day for the HD 4890 card. The RV740 should come at the end of April or early in May, but the launch is too far to speculate about the precise date.

PC Gaming News

Leaked Wolfenstein Multiplayer Screens?
Apparently, there's a load of "leaked" environmental screenshots from Raven's upcoming Wolfenstein title over on Photobucket, taken from the multiplayer portion. While Activision could not "confirm their authenticity" (thanks Shack), the copyright information at the bottom right corner could or could not mean that these screens are genuine. Still, they're cool to look at and gets us pumped up for the game's summer release.

Unreal Engine 3 Goes MMOG
This morning Epic Games said that it will sport new Unreal Engine 3 features next week at the Game Developers Conference, revealing an integrated MMOG back-end environment (Atlas Technology), a new content browser and search engine, the Unreal Master Control Program, and the Unreal Lightmass, a new global illumination solver. As for the Atlas Technology aspect, announced today by Epic Games China, the UE3 engine now supports MMOG content creation that is already licensed by developers in North America, Asia and Europe. “The increasingly competitive MMOG landscape is forcing developers to commit to exceptional production values. UE3 combined with Atlas Technology gives development teams a firm foundation to help them bring their products to market,” said Jay Wilbur, vice president of Epic Games.

New Add-On Scenario for Final Fantasy XI Soon
This morning, Square Enix said that the first of three add-on scenarios for Final Fantasy XI will go on sale March 23. Called "A Crystalline Prophecy - Ode of Life Bestowing," the content will cost $9.99 via the PlayOnline viewer but won't be accessible until early April. According to Square Enix, the creation of the three upcoming content packs is led by Masato Kato, the mastermind behind the Final Fantasy XI stories and scenarios as well as the first expansion pack, Rise of the Zilart. As for the new content pack, the story goes like this: "One day, a giant crystal appeared in the skies above Jeuno, triggering a series of unexplained happenings across the land. Now, adventurers will set forth to unravel the mysteries of this primordial crystal that holds the secret of Vana’diel’s past."

Three Kingdoms: The Battle Begins Launches Today
Uforia announced that its new MMO Three Kingdoms: The Battle Begins really begins tonight -or at least its cash shop- at 8 PM Pacific Standard Time. The company said that players who participated in the open beta last week will be able to keep and play with that character. However, changes were made to the PK balance system to make for more even gameplay. "Three Kingdoms: The Battle Begins has received a great response in just the few short weeks since we announced it and held some beta tests," said Mike Min, Game Operations Producer of Uforia. "Now we are inviting the community and fans and MMO players out there to come and enjoy the full Three Kingdoms: The Battle Begins experience."

Wallace and Gromit Demo
Telltale Games released a playable demo of Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures, located over on FilePlanet (meh) and Yahoo Games for now, with more websites taking on the download burden tomorrow. According to the company, the series will launch next week, however the demo pieces a few scenes from the upcoming first episode. Players can check out the demo with either a keyboard or gamepad, and the demo even supports Italian, Spanish, German and French. Don't forget, through Monday, March 23 we're offering a really great deal for people who preorder the season," says the company. "You can get the entire four episode series for $26 -- that's 25% off the regular $34.95 price."

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/PC-Gaming-News,news-30633.html

Nvidia spent $43.6 million on faulty graphics chips

In the last fiscal year Nvidia spent $43.6 million on warranties and product replacement claims, due to the lousy die packaging. We wrote about this before and you might remember that although the problem was existent on desktops as well, it's the laptop thermals that escalated the problem, whereas desktops happily chugged along thanks to superior cooling solutions.

Nvidia apparently set aside $196 million to deal with the warranties and replacement costs, which leaves $152.4 million still available. Nvidia also sent software updates to its vendors and the updates made the fans run more often in order to improve thermals and not stress these components to the point of breaking.

Still, the original $196 million might have been less than the company expected to pay for the slip-up, but the company still might have to cover the lawsuits from investors and angry customers, so they're still not in the clear.

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12637&Itemid=1

Windows 7 Build 7057 Leaked

With Windows 7 being the new hotness that could make things spiffy for many new (and some old) computers whenever it ships, every new build just adds to the anticipation.

Making its way through the intertubes as we speak is Windows 7 build 7057. Rejoice -- Microsoft is making progress! Deciphering the file name of the disc image indicates that this build was compiled on March 5, 2009, reports Neowin.

Interestingly enough, the About Windows screen indicates that this evaluation copy is good for a year, expiring in March 2010. Though run this unfinished version of Windows 7 would be assured that the final version, perhaps even for retail, will be available before the evaluation license expires.


As a better indication than anything else that the Release Candidate is just around the corner is the EULA that refers to the build 7057 as “Release Candidate 1.”

At this point we’d expect that development on Windows 7 is more about fine tuning and bug squashing rather than new features, but there are a few things that SuperSite picked up as new, such as new desktop themes and user account images.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/windows-7-beta-5075-rc,news-30617.html

First Nvidia Ion in Q2 2009

Acer is the first one to leak its Ion design and we´ve heard that people like Zotac might have a reference nettop design out at some point. They are not alone, there will be more of them.


Our well informed sources have confirmed that the first Ion designs should be out in Q2 2009, while others will follow in Q3. Everyone making Atom based systems is interested, but it looks like that most OEMs want to see what happens to the first one that brings the design out.

Intel is a nasty player and partners know that. The big question is, do you really want to upset Intel and possibly hurt your business in 2009?

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12595&Itemid=1

Bad Symantec update leads to trouble

Problems started around 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday, when Norton Internet Security and Norton Antivirus 2006 and 2007 users started receiving error messages connected to a Symantec software update that tried to download a program called PIFTS.exe. "In a case of human error, the patch was released by Symantec 'unsigned,' which caused the firewall user prompt for this file to access the Internet," wrote Symantec spokesman Dave Cole in a forum post explaining the problem.
Users reported that Norton's own firewall software was popping up error messages asking them if they wanted to install the PIFTS.exe file. Norton's firewall would have let it pass, had it been digitally signed.

The update was available for about three hours and was pushed out to a small, "limited number" of Norton users, said Jeff Kyle, a group product manager of consumer products with Symantec.

PIFTS (Product Information Framework Troubleshooter) is a diagnostic program that Symantec periodically sends out to users to anonymously collect information such as the operating system and version number of the product being used in order to get a snapshot of its user base. The troublesome, unsigned PIFTS.exe file is no longer being distributed, but it never represented any kind of security threat, Kyle said. "If a user would have accepted it they should have been fine, and if they declined it they should have been fine."
owever, the trouble was only just beginning.

However, the trouble was only just beginning.
Around 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time, Symantec noticed that its Norton support forums were being flooded with blank messages that had PIFTS.exe in their subject line. Within three hours there were 600 posts about PIFTS.exe. The posts contained no text, only subjects such as "IF PIFTS.EXE WAS HERE, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?" and "OH GOD YOU GOT CHOCOLATE IN MY PIFTS."

Symantec began deleting the messages, assuming they were from spammers.

Soon the SANS Internet Storm Center had picked up on PIFTS.exe and noted that Symantec discussion-group messages were being deleted. Noting that messages mentioning the mysterious file name were being deleted from Symantec's support forums, SANS said that something "truly bizarre was going on."

By now, Norton users were becoming worried. "Norton Users Worried By PIFTS.exe, Stonewalling By Symantec," read a Slashdot post on the topic.

"Whether you believe this is something malicious or not, it is worrying the lengths the company will go to stop people from asking questions about PIFTS.exe," wrote one poster to the Abovetopsecret.com Web site. "If you have Norton on your computer, I currently advise you to not allow pifts.exe through your firewall."

Then the hackers stepped in. By midday Tuesday, criminals began posting malicious Web pages that would pop up high on Google searches for PIFTS.exe.

"With parts of the Internet flustering over the Symantec / PIFTS.exe debacle, hackers have set out to poison search engines in an attempt to cash in on unsuspecting computer users," wrote Graham Cluley, a senior technology consultant with security vendor Sophos. Cluley said that three of the top five Google results for a pifts.exe search led to pages that redirected users to malicious Web pages, which tried to install fake anti-virus software on victims' systems.

Late Tuesday afternoon, these malicious results were still turning up high in Google searches for PIFTS.exe.

"Of course, the fake anti-virus scan is not related to Symantec or the PIFTS.exe file," Cluley added. "It's just that the hackers are using the interest surrounding that file at the moment to generate traffic to their dangerous Web sites.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/09/03/11/Bad_Symantec_update_leads_to_trouble_1.html

Rumors Heat Up About Apple Netbook

Reports that Taiwanese company, Wintek, would be supplying touchscreen panels to Quanta computer (who would be responsible for manufacturing the Cupertino company’s newest laptop), hit the wire early yesterday morning and people have been speculating ever since with little tidbits are trickling through from supposed Apple sources.

Citing people “close to the situation” CNN says two sources told Dow Jones Newswires that, while the specifications and functions are still being evaluated, Apple is indeed working with Taiwan's Wintek and Quanta Computer. The two also revealed that these netbooks are likely to be between 9.7-inch and 10-inch models.

Yesterday’s report was something an awful lot of people took with a grain of salt. Sure it might be credible information, but it could just as easily be a lot of hot air over nothing. With Dow Jones jumping on the bandwagon it’s definitely going to kick the rumor mill into gear.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-macbook-nano-netbook-mac,7231.html

Nvidia plans a 2GB GTX285

Since Radeon HD 4870 already comes in 2GB, and the HD 4890 will likely also come in 2GB versions, Nvidia doesn’t really have any other choice than to launch its 2GB card in the same market segment.


The only trouble is that Nvidia’s Geforce GTX285 2GB will end up much more expensive than Radeon 4870 2GB but it should also end up faster.

Radeon 4870 2GB is selling for €250 in Europe, while Geforce GTX 285 2GB should be selling for $399 Suggested Etail Price. We expect the 2GB Radeon HD 4870 to sell for about $250 to $300 in the US.

The biggest problem for Geforce GTX 285 2GB is the fact that the Radeon 4870 X2, that also has 2GB memory, sells for under $399, and it should end up faster than new 2GB GTX 285.

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12533&Itemid=1

"The Pirate Bay" Case. Losers or Winners?

It's no secret that piracy on the net is rampant and avid computer users can easily obtain their favorite software releases without paying for them. How many users are willing to openly admit that they use a downloaded copy of Windows XP or Vista?--Likely not many. The case of the Pirate Bay is one that embodies the "scene" in a big way. The industry is waiting patiently for the verdict of its epic case.

The question of the day is: Do you think The Pirate Bay will win its case?

We all know that the media industry heavily targets TPB as the primary source of its financial woes.

The industry's argument: TPB is a full fledged pirating site, connecting users to illegal music downloads.
TPB's argument: TPB doesn't host any illegal files, and the users are the ones doing the actual torrent transfers.

John Kennedy, chairman of the board for the IFPI recording industry association, recently admitted that he really didn't have a good idea of how TPB actually works, nor did he have an idea of how BitTorrent works. Despite the IFPI's arguments, comments like these from the prosecution don't really help its case. Consequently, TPB and its tight community has made a mockery of the IFPI.

Many users say that they actually purchase more music because of available MP3 downloads through sites like TPB. For example, perhaps one may have downloaded an album from a band that they had never listened to; liked the music, and then went and purchased related band material or even attended concerts. Are you one of these folks?

RV790 to become Radeon HD 4890

Multiple sources have told us that they learned RV790 might be branded Radeon HD 4890 and this card should launch at some point in April.

It is definitely going to be faster than Radeon HD 4870 and it beats GTX 260, even the 55nm one, and we are quite sure it will come close to GTX285 performance, but there is a realistic chance Nvidia might still be faster with the 285. Bear in mind that HD 4890 is the name that ATI is telling that to many people, but it can change this in a heartbeat. They did it before with 38x0 when everyone expected a 2x00 generation card.

As we said last week, the RV790 chip is not the same as RV770, it has some architectural improvements and should run faster clock to clock, but we don’t how many fixed details. As a notebook version of the chip is already out in the wild and should be shipping in April time in Asus notebooks. This means that the desktop chip is much closer than many expected.


Did we forget to mention that the RV790 chip is 40nm?

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12486&Itemid=34

CEBIT: Recession Cuts Out Riff-Raff

Everyone knew this year’s CeBit would be smaller than previous years. However, recent numbers suggest that rather than cut numbers in general, the recession has merely trimmed the fat off CeBit attendance.

Citing organizers, PCWorld reports that the fair saw a near 20 percent drop in visitors for 2009, but also says that those who did turn up to the six-day event in Hanover were, on average, a higher quality of attendee than in the past.

Organizers of the show said that nearly 1,000 exhibitors pulled out of CeBit 2009 in the last quarter of 2008. It also announced that next year’s show will be one day shorter and end on a Saturday, a change made at the request of many exhibiting companies at the show who say it is easier to travel on the weekend before a new work week starts.

In all, Hanover played host to CeBit’s 4,300 companies from 69 countries and 400,000 attendees. Kicking off the show was California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger who gave a pre-show/recession pep talk to those in attendance.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/cebit-recession-schwarzenegger-attendance-exhibitors,7222.html

Seagate, AMD Show Blazing Fast SATA 3

During a demonstration at the Everything Channel Xchange Conference in New Orleans, Seagate demoed the new 6 Gbps SATA 3 standard. According to the demo, the SATA2 drive (a 7200.12 Barracuda) topped out around 288 MB/sec, running just below the standards top theoretical speed. The SATA 3 drive, a Seagate Barracuda SATA 3 prototype, reached a staggering 589 MB/sec, more than double the speed of the SATA 2 setup.

"The increasing reliance of consumers and businesses worldwide on digital information is giving rise to gaming, digital video and audio, streaming video, graphics and other applications that require even more bandwidth, driving demand for PC interfaces that can carry even more digital content," said Joan Motsinger, Seagate's VP of Personal Systems Marketing and Strategy. "The SATA 6Gb/second storage interface will meet this demand for higher-bandwidth PCs."

New standards always make consumers nervous. New standards, in some cases, mean new hardware and new cables. In the case of SATA 3, the new drives will be 100 percent backwards compatible with SATA 1 and 2, and will use the same cables for easy integration. So if you find yourself with a new motherboard that sports SATA 3, hooking up an older SATA 2 hard drive packed with all your music and photos will be a snap.

According to the SATA-io website, SATA 3 (or SATA Revision 3.0) will be available in the first half of this year. AMD has said it plans to support the new standard with an upcoming revision of its 700 series chipsets. While no word from Intel has been received, expect SATA 3 on several chipset revisions as well as the new P55 motherboards coming out in a few months.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Seagate-AMD-SATA3-Standard,7223.html

CEBIT 2009 news - "Pocket PC" by Asus

Asus has showcased its Eee Box PC B206 small size PC at CeBIT, and this 1L-sized thingy can do HD video thanks to ATI's Radeon HD 3450 graphics card with 256MB of DDR2 memory.

The rest of the specs include Intel´s Atom N270 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB of SO-DIMM DDR2 memory, 160GB HDD SATA II hard drive /10GB Eee Storage, Gigabit LAN, 802.11 bgn WiFi, Bluetooth, Card Reader, Realtek ALC662 Azalia audio chip, four USB 2.0 ports and one HDMI port with DVI-D via adapter.

The dimensions of this little thing are 222x178x26.9mm and it surely looks great, at least much better than some other bulky nettops.





by: Fudzilla

CEBIT 2009 news - Sapphire to launch a 2GB HD 4870 shortly

Sapphire representatives have confirmed that the company's Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870, 2048MB GDDR5 card should be available shortly.

The card is already listed here, and it will be selling for €250, and despite the fact that 2GB memory won’t really speed things up, it might have a good selling chance. The general public believes that more memory is always better and it is hard to argue with this myth.

The card has VGA, DVI, HDMI, uses the PCIe 2.0 interface and boasts a fancy new Vapor-X cooler look. This will be a nice refreshment to the RV770 chip that should last just a few more months, better said weeks, as the new and a bit faster 55nm faster card is just around the corner.

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12419&Itemid=65

by: Fudzilla

CEBIT 2009 news - One of the fastest GTS 250 comes from a small vendor

Passing through the exhibit hall which hosed Asian companies, we saw Axtrom's GTS 250 card with a non-reference cooler.

The sizable heatsink with three heatpipes and a quite large fan is there for a good reason. Axtrom's card is one of the fastest GTS 250 cards around, clocked at 760MHz for the core, and a memory clock of 2240MHz. It also features an HDMI out, along with DVI and VGA connectors.

Right next to the card we could see an identical card with a different sticker. You've guessed it, the Geforce 9800 GTX+.



Along with Nvidia cards, we saw a wide array of Radeons. Almost all use the triple heatpipe cooler and look very similar.

by: Fudzilla

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12457&Itemid=75

CEBIT 2009 news Dual Socket 1366 Motherboard by Asus

During CeBIT Germany today, the Taiwanese computer giant showed off its newest motherboard. Dubbed the Z8NA-D6, this newest mainboard will allow for two LGA1366 processors to be used in the same system.

Asus also claims that at 12-inches by 9.6-inches, the Z8NA-D6 is the world's first dual socket ATX motherboard, which allows for it to be used in virtually any ATX computer case (note: Intel's Skulltrail is an Extended ATX mobo). The power connector is another point of interest. The 24+8 pin connection allows for both ATX and SSI power supplies to be used, the latter of which is traditionally used in servers.

The motherboard is based on Intel's 5500+ICH10R chipset, and can support all 1366 processors, including the upcoming Xeon 5500s. Supported memory includes up to 48 GB of RDIMM or 24 GB of UDIMM, with ECC support. The one shortcoming of this board is the lack of PCIe 2.0 x16 slots. With only one on the Z8NA-D6, you can forget about any sort of SLI or Crossfire setup. As for other expansion slots, the Z8NA-D6 comes with two PCIe x8 slots, one PIKE slot, and a PCIe x1 slot, which will likely be used for a soundcard. Like any other Asus mobo, expect this one to come with RAID software already included on the board.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-nehalem-xeon-motherboard,7211.html

CEBIT 2009 news: USB Stick or Fashiob Accessory?

USB sticks are becoming fashion items. The chic new data storage media being exhibited at CeBIT 2009 come complete with stainless steel casings, sparkling stones and silver chains.

The new "MEM Drive" range from TakeMS can be worn simply as fashion accessories, but these USB sticks can also store large volumes of data.

They boast capacities of between 8 and 16 gigabytes and the plug & play function enables them to be plugged straight into any USB 2.0 interface.

Power Supply Calculator

Do You how much power does your computer "eat"? no?

use this calculator to find out:


http://www.antec.outervision.com/

CEBIT 2009 news - Nero Adds NVIDIA® CUDA™ Acceleration

Nero, creators of liquid media technology, today previewed the latest version of Nero Move it, which now features support for the NVIDIA® CUDA™ architecture, at the CeBIT trade fair. Available as a free update to current Nero Move it customers in April, this new version includes impressive accelerated video encoding times and a decrease in CPU usage to enable users to enjoy even faster file transfer time. By using CUDA technology to tap the massive parallel processing power of NVIDIA Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), Nero Move it makes tasks such as customizing an HD video for an iPod, go from hours to minutes. Even more time can be saved when creating full HD video content in the H.264 video compression standard.

“Nero Move it is designed to allow consumers to effortlessly convert and share digital media content among a variety of popular entertainment devices. Shifting specific video processing tasks from the CPU to the GPU enables consumers to complete their content transfers in a fraction of the time,” said Michael Steele, general manager of visual consumer solutions, NVIDIA. “People now expect to interact with technology in a more natural and visually appealing way. Whether it’s with photos, video, or 3D graphics, the GPU is the perfect processor to enable the best experience.”

The standards-based Nero Move it technology allows even non-technical consumers to quickly and easily convert music, videos, and photos from one file format to another for use across a broad range of supported portable devices. Nero Move it is designed to move content between the PC, mobile phones and smartphones including the Apple® iPhone™ 3G, T-Mobile G1™, iPod® devices, digital cameras, camcorders, PlayStation® Portable devices, and social networking web sites.

"Nero Move it empowers users to take control of their video, music, and photo libraries. By utilizing NVIDIA CUDA technology, and the subsequent accelerated video encoding time, we have made it even easier and faster for consumers to freely move their content between their mobile devices," said Charly Lippoth, chief technology officer, Nero AG. “By leveraging our core technology expertise and platform neutral approach, Nero Move it users can transfer their content to hundreds of compatible devices and take their multimedia content with them wherever they go.”

Nero Move it is currently available worldwide with a suggested retail price of $49.99 USD and via online download from the Nero Online Shop. The version of Nero Move it with support for NVIDIA CUDA will be available to consumers in April 2009. For further information about Nero Move it and other Nero products, please visit www.nero.com.

CEBIT 2009 news

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) today announced the availability of the SuperSpeed USB Platform Interoperability Lab (PIL), providing USB 3.0 developers the opportunity to test host and device interoperability and ensure that devices perform correct USB 3.0 electrical signaling and link level transactions. Additionally, the lab will test conformance to the Framework defined in the USB 3.0 specification. The PIL will provide USB technology expertise to early host/device manufacturers as well as platforms with early implementations of host and device components for performing interoperability testing.

The SuperSpeed USB PIL will provide opportunities for parties interested in testing and developing SuperSpeed USB solutions. A prototype SuperSpeed USB software stack and test tools running on Windows will be made available to those testing at the SuperSpeed USB PIL.

Silicon vendors, IP vendors, device and host vendors, as well as companies developing SuperSpeed USB PHYs, can all benefit from visiting the PIL. Vendors can register their products for testing by visiting the SuperSpeed USB PIL Web site.

Test tools at the lab will evolve based upon feedback and learnings gained from attending developers, and will be made available to early adopters. Developers will continue to have access to the tools throughout their development process. Tests developed at the SuperSpeed USB PIL will become components of the SuperSpeed USB certification program.

To visit the SuperSpeed USB Platform Integration Lab, return the completed SuperSpeed USB PIL Visit Request Form to admin@usb.org.

Transcend Unveils Shock-Resistant Portable HDD

Sunday Transcend Information revealed a swank looking portable hard drive that might actually take a kicking and keep on ticking.

The StoreJet 25M-R is the latest from Transcend Information's StoreJet line of portable hard drives, blending superior coolness with an anti-shock construction that will not only wow your friends, but take a serious beating from the younger ones in the house (especially those who think laptops are mere jumping pads). With an attractive blend of crimson red and jet black, the StoreJet 25M-R may actually come across as a fashionable purse, so buyers beware.

Transcend's StoreJet 25M-R comes in two mega doses: 250 GB and 320 GB. Both units feature a high-speed 2.5-inch hard drive, Transcend's "OneTouch" Auto-Backup button, and the company's free StoreJet data management software. "Transcend’s StoreJet 25M-R does much more than simply protect data against impact damage," the company said in a press release, "it also makes storing and backing-up files easier and more productive."

The actual drive, hides within a rugged hard casing topped with a vibration-absorbing anti-slip silicone outer shell that evenly distributes the force of an impact (or drop kick if kids are involved). The outer shell also serves as a "grip," preventing the drive from slipping or falling. It's shapely yet attractive figure features gently rounded edges and a smooth exterior finish that provides a "pleasant tactile feel." As a last line of defense, a complete array of internal hard drive suspension dampers holds the drive in check and protects user data. Finally, the StoreJet 25M-R even meets U.S. military drop-test standards (MIL-STD-810F 516.5 – Transit Drop), however the two-year warranty does not cover in-home consumer testing.

"The StoreJet 25M-R is a perfect example of Transcend’s commitment to creating high-tech products specifically tailored for consumers who not only value technological innovation, but also style and fashion," the company said.

Transcend did not offer price points for either hard drive, however its StoreJet 25 Classic 250 GB drive costs around $75 USD. Western Digital's My Passport Elite 250GB 2.5-inch external hard drive is also in the same price range, costing $89.99 on Newegg.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Transcend-Portable-Hard-Drive,news-30488.html

New Nvidia Drivers For Windows 7 Beta

Nvidia shows once again that it's on the ball with the Windows 7 beta, as the company just released new 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 beta drivers.

The drivers offer international support for Geforce 8, 9, and 200-series DirectX 10 GPUs, and for GeForce 6 and 7-series DirectX 9 GPUs. As stated, the update comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors, with both being WDDM compliant. Based off the 181 driver series, this weeks release is listed as version 181.71.

Release highlights are as follows:

• Installs WDDM v1.1 for GeForce 8, 9, and 200-series DirectX 10 GPUs.
• Installs WDDM v1.0 for GeForce 6 and 7-series DirectX 9 GPUs.
• Supports Direct3D, Direct2D, and DirectWrite.
• Supports Nvidia CUDA - Compute Unified Device Architecture.
• Supports Nvidia PhysX (this driver package automatically installs PhysX System Software version 9.09.0203 for all GeForce 8, 9, and 200-series GPUs).
• Supports Nvidia SLI on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL applications.

If you're interested in giving these bad boys a shot you can grab the 32-bit version here, or the 64-bit version here.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk

New Updates for Windows 7 beta

From TechReviewSource.com's Microsoft Insider:

Next week, Windows 7 beta users will get a variety of updates, only they aren't really updates.

Instead, Microsoft said it will be sending the patches to test the operating system's updating mechanism. These updates won't actually add new features or update anything.

Starting February 24, Microsoft will be releasing up to 5 test updates to PCs running the Windows 7 Beta (Build 7000) via Windows Update. These updates allow us to test and verify our ability to deliver and manage the updating of Windows 7 as Microsoft typically verifies servicing scenarios during a beta.

Clickfree HD325 (320GB)

External backup drives are really important these days with all of the important information that we all have stores on our computers. Just think about it...what would you do if you lost all of your financial documents, photos, e-mail contacts, and more? With the Clickfree HD325 you get file backup protection and 320GBs of space to backup all of your precious files. It is both Mac and PC compatible and connects using a USB 2.0 interface for fast file transfers.

The Clickfree HD325 is a nice little external hard drive which is designed nicely and looks pretty standard. The front (or top-side) of the device has 2 indicator lights, one for power and hard drive activity. The top-edge has the power input and mini-USB input port. Overall, the HD325's black and silver design make it look pretty sleek and its slim design looks very nice.

The Clickfree HD325 is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista (32- and 64-bit) and Mac OS X 10.5. The only interface on the device is USB 2.0, which is plenty fast for most users, although we would have liked to see maybe eSATA for even faster connections. The cable included with the HD325 is a Y-shaped dual-connection which allows for another USB connection for systems that require additional power to run the drive, but most newer computers won't need that additional connection.

When you plug the Clickfree HD325 into any compatible Windows computer, the drive will start to look for files to backup, such as music, video, picture files as well as e-mails and Microsoft Office files (Excel, PowerPoint, and Word) and will begin to back them up once it has found them all. Keep in mind that this device does not backup the entire system, such as applications and operating system files, but just those irreplaceable files that cannot be replicated. Once the initial backup is completed, which may take a little while depending upon how many files you have, each additional backup only takes a few minutes because it only backs up files that have changed since last backup.

With a Mac computer, it must be running the latest version of OS X, version 10.5, but the backup process is exactly the same. However, when you first plug it in, a little icon appears saying "Start Clickfree Backup". When you click it, it will setup the drive for Mac use because it comes setup for Windows out of the box. Once this is complete, the backups work just the same as on Windows (and as described above) and will run subsequent backups automatically. If you ever want to go between platforms, meaning between Windows and OS X, the drive will have to be reformatted.

Perhaps the best use of the the Clickfree HD325 is the ability to backup multiple computers all on one drive. Again they have to be computers of the same platform, either OS X or Windows, to prevent the drive from having to be reformatted. This makes the Clickfree perfect to plug into your computers every week or some other regular interval to make sure they are all backed up and safe.

When you want to restore files because of accidental deletion, drive failure, etc., the process on both the PC and Mac is identical. Just click on the search button and you can look for the category the file would be under, such as documents, and then select the files and it will automatically transfer the file(s) back onto the system in a new folder. Files can be restored cross-platform from the Clickfree and from one computer to another as well.

Overall, the Clickfree HD325 is extremely simple to easy and an almost no-brainer for easy backup of important files. The setup is minimal and the automatic backups make sure your files are always safe. It does lack the advanced scheduling options of other pricier backup solutions, but it still does the job.

by: http://www.techreviewsource.com/content/view/255/1/

How to Copy Your iPod to a New Computer

If you have ever had the misfortune of suffering a computer crash or hard drive failure, then you know how stressful it can be when you face the reality that all of your data may be lost. This situation often becomes even more depressing if you have also lost all of your purchased music or downloaded music in your iTunes library. Yes, some of it is recoverable by re-ripping CD's to a new or repaired computer, but the purchased music is lost forever...or is it?

You suddenly remember that your entire music library (or at least your favorite parts of it) are still on your iPod. You decide you will just download it all from your iPod to your new computer. The problem you encounter, however, is that the iPod is not setup to transfer in that direction. It only transfers from the PC to the iPod and not the other way around. Your depression returns and you start searching for solutions.

That might be the scenario that brought you to this article. You have hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars worth of music that you have purchased sitting there on your iPod and you cannot get it on a new computer without the risk of iTunes erasing it all...for good.

There is good news though. There are numerous computer software programs on the market today that allow you to easily copy everything on your iPod back to a new computer. No matter if you are a PC or Mac owner, you can still save your valuable data.

One program to consider is Lenogo's iPod to Computer Transfer. The manufacturer offers versions for both PC and Macintosh users and it is compatible with all version of the iPod and iPhone.

Another good one to consider is iPod 2 Computer from the Boys Down Under. This is an easy to use program, but is only available to customers running Windows.

To Read Reviews of the Best iPod to Computer Transfer Software and More, Visit the Video Format Converter Guide Now at http://videoformatconverter.net/category/ipod-transfer-software/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Albert_Eshbach