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May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

VR-Zone.com | Stuff for the Geeks! VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.

Google announces partner Chromebooks Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-announces-partnerchromebooks/12169.html May 11th, 2011

Not entirely unexpected, Google's first Chromebook partners will be Acer and Samsung and both companies have a model that will go on sale in the US on the 15th of June. Surprisingly the two models are quite different in terms of not only in terms of features, but also cost. In fact, the only similarity is the fact that they're both black and running Google's Chrome OS. Not entirely unexpected, Google's first Chromebook partners will be Acer and Samsung and both companies have a model that will go on sale in the US on the 15th of June. Surprisingly the two models are quite different in terms of not only in terms of features, but also cost. In fact, the only similarity is the fact that they're both black and running Google's Chrome OS. Acer's Chromebook is an 11.6-inch netbook as far as the specifications goes, as at its core is an unspecified dual core Atom processor. For whatever reason there's no mention of system memory or storage space, although we wouldn't expect either to be particularly huge, especially as the Cr-48 only came with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The screen should have a resolution of 1366x768 pixels as far as we can tell, but there's no explicit mention of the resolution apart from it being "HD".

Other parts of the specifications include dual band Wi-Fi, optional 3G (most likely cost option), an HD webcam, two USB 2.0 ports, a memory card reader a pair of audio jacks and surprisingly an HDMI port. There's also a "full size Chrome keyboard" and the Acer Chromebook is using an Acer "floating island" type keyboard and it also has an "oversize fullyclickable trackpad". The battery is said to be good for up to 6h of continuous usage, not a huge surprise considering this is pretty much a netbook and the whole thing weighs in at a very portable 1.34kg. Samsung's Chromebook on the other hand is slightly larger at 12.1-inches it's surprisingly using a 16:10 display with 1280x800 resolution. Maybe this is a good way of getting rid of old stock? We're looking at another unspecified dual core Atom CPU here and once again no mention of memory or storage capacity. As with the Acer, the Samsung sports dualband Wi-Fi, optional 3G, an HD webcam, two USB 2.0 ports, a memory card reader, but seemingly only a single audio jack and a "mini-VGA port" which is kind of frustrating.

May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

Samsung has gone for a chiclet keyboard design and once again an "oversize fully-clickable trackpad". The battery life in this case has been upped to 8.5h which is pretty decent, although the weigh has also gone up a little bit to 1.48kg. Design wise the Samsung looks nicer that the Acer on the pictures, but we're somewhat sold on the HDMI port and the smaller size and lighter weight of the Acer. Where the Acer really wins though is on price, as it should retail for US$349 (S$432), although this is without 3G, whereas the Wi-Fi only Samsung model is US$429 (S$531) with the 3G model going for $499 (S$618). It's worth keeping in mind that at least in the US, owners of a Chromebook get 100MB of 3G data free every month for two years from Verizon, although an unlimited day pass is a steep US$9.99 (S $12) and 1GB of DATA is $20 (S$25) a month, with 3GB for US$35 (S$43) and 5GB for a massive US$50 (S$62) a month.

Intel Z68 gets official, own brand motherboard too Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-z68-gets-official-own-brandmotherboard-too/12168.html May 11th, 2011

In case you haven't been paying attention to what's going on in the motherboard market for the past week or so, today is the official launch of Intel's Z68 chipset (note. This entirely depends on what time zone you live in). We've already covered many of the motherboards announced today, but Intel does of course still have a line of its own motherboards and alongside the new chipset announcement, the company also launched the DZ68DB motherboard. In case you haven't been paying attention to what's going on in the motherboard market for the past week or so, today is the official launch of Intel's Z68 chipset (note. This entirely depends on what time zone you live in). We've already covered many of the motherboards announced today, but Intel does of course still have a line of its own motherboards and alongside the new chipset announcement, the company also launched the DZ68DB motherboard. The Z68 chipset doesn't really hold any secrets by now and Intel didn't really seem to make much of a fuss about the whole launch. The interesting thing will be to see how many people will consider spending US$100 (S$124) for the Intel 311 series SSD designed for Intel's Smart Response technology. You could of course use any SSD, but the faster the better really. It's somewhat surprising that Intel only launched on motherboard today though and it's not even their high-end models.

The DZ68DB is part of Intel's media series of motherboards rather than the extreme series. Intel should be launching the DZ68BC at a later stage though and this is part of the extreme series and should end up taking the top LGA-1155 board position ahead of the DP67BG. We're somewhat mystified by the DZ68DB as we can't really see this board having much appeal unless you fall in the category of users that needs the power of a graphics card once in a while. However, in this case it would be wiser to spend your money on an H67 board. So what we have here is a board that has a pretty good rear I/O layout with six USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports (via a Renesas host controller), a FireWire port, Intel Gigabit Ethernet (of course), an eSATA port (from the chipset), 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PIDF out and last, but not least, a DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI port. Intel has obviously decided to drop all types of legacy connectors here with no PS/2 or D-sub connectors in sight.

However, the board itself doesn't impress much and as a matter of fact, this might as well have been a mATX board as the lower half of the PCB is almost void of components. It's also interesting that on what should be a high-end board for a company that has removed PCI support from its chipset; we have a board with no less than three PCI slots. The board also has a single x16 PCI Express slot and two x1 PCI Express slots. There are three SATA 3Gbps and two SATA 6Gbps ports on the board and not very much else apart from a set of four headers for an additional eight USB 2.0 ports spread around the board. The VRM design is also very basic and by the looks of it we're looking at a 4+1 phase design. Price wise the board is listed with one retailer in the US for about US$135 (S$167) which is pretty decent, but considering the uninspiring board layout, we'd pick something else to be honest. That said, as with so many other Z68 boards, Intel does 2

May 11th, 2011

supply a copy of Lucid Logix Virtu software with the board which is at least something. In related news, Digitimes reports that top tier Taiwanese motherboard makers are expecting to ship 350,000-400,000 Z68 motherboards before the end of May. Gigabyte is expected to be shipping the bears share of this and it might turn out that the company's claim of an 80 percent market share will come true, as Asus in only expecting to ship 30,000 boards and MSI and ASRock will only managed 15,000 together, if we're to believe Digitimes numbers.

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Intel will exhibit a range of mobility products and technologies at the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) Nangang Exhibition Hall from May 31-June 4. DATES: Opening Ceremony: Tue.-Fri., May 31-June 3 (9:30 a.m-6 p.m.) Sat., June 4 (9:30 a.m-4 p.m.) WHERE:

Intel to Showcase Latest Technology on Mobile Computing at COMPUTEX 2011

Intel Exhibition Showcase at Computex Booth M0410 TWTC Nangang, 4F (Address: No. 1, Jingmao 2nd Rd., Nangang District, Taipei City, Taiwan)

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-to-showcase-latest-technologyon-mobile-computing-at-computex-2011/12167.html May 11th, 2011

PRESS ACTIVITIES: Computex Opening Keynote Tuesday, May 31, 2-3 p.m. (Reception: 1:30â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2 p.m.) Intel is hosting a series of events over at COMPUTEX Taipei 2011 to unveil and showcase its latest hardware and software technology innovations spanning a spectrum of mobile personal computing devices. Intel will exhibit a range of mobility products and technologies at the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) Nangang Exhibition Hall from May 31June 4.

Speaker: Sean M. Maloney, executive vice president and general manager of Intel Architecture Group TICC, 3F Plenary Hall (Address: No. 1, Xin-yi Rd., Sec. 5, Hsin-yi District, Taipei City, Taiwan) PC Client Event Grand Hyatt Hotel, 3F, Ballroom A (Address: No. 2, Song Shou Rd., Hsin-yi District, Taipei City, Taiwan) PC Client Event Post-Keynote Press Q&A Session Grand Hyatt Hotel, Crane Room, 3/F Intel Speaker:

Intel Corporation is hosting a series of events to unveil and showcase its latest hardware and software technology innovations spanning a spectrum of mobile personal computing devices. Intelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence at Computex 2011 will kick off with the opening keynote address by Sean Maloney, executive vice president and general manager, Intel Architecture Group, at the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC), 3F Plenary Hall, on May 31.

Shmuel (Mooly) Eden, vice president and general manager of PC Client Group Netbooks and Tablets Event: Companion Computing Gets Personal Wednesday, June 1, 3-5 p.m. (Reception time: 3-3:30 p.m.) Grand Hyatt Hotel, 3F, Ballroom A Netbooks and Tablets Event Post-Keynote Press Q&A Session Grand Hyatt Hotel, Crane Room, 3/F Intel Speakers: 3

May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

Douglas L. Davis, vice president and general manager of Netbook and Tablet Group

CPUs have a 65W TDP and 2MB L3 cache. The graphics clock on these models start at 850MHz with a turbo clock of 1GHz.

Douglas W. Fisher, vice president and general manager of Systems Software Division

No word on a launch date or pricing as yet, but it's possible that they'll arrive alongside the Pentium G CPUs which are

Intel Booth Guided Tour for Media

expected to launch on the 22nd of May. The Celeron's should be priced below US$64 (S$79) as that's the expected price of the Pentium G620.

Thursday, June 2, 10-11 a.m. Booth M0410 TWTC Nangang, 4F Computex Taipei Executive Speech 2011 Speaker: Boyd A. Davis, vice president of Intel Architecture Group and general manager of Data Center Group

The Daily VR-Zone News Summary - 11 May 2011 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/the-daily-vr-zone-news-summary--11may-2011/12165.html May 11th, 2011

Marketing TICC, 3F, Banquet Hall Source : http://newsroom.intel.com/community/ intel_newsroom/blog/2011/05/10/media-alert--intel-atcomputex-taipei-2011

Intel's Celeron G440, G530 and G540 specs are out Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-s-celeron-g440-g530-and-g540specs-are-out/12166.html May 11th, 2011

In the midst of Intel's Z68 chipset launch, details have emerged of three upcoming budget CPUs from Intel, its first Gseries Celeron CPUs. What we're looking at here are one single core CPU and two dual core CPUs which will be Intel's new entry level Sandy Bridge processors and a step down from the soon to launch Pentium G-series of CPUs. In the midst of Intel's Z68 chipset launch, details have emerged of three upcoming budget CPUs from Intel, its first Gseries Celeron CPUs. What we're looking at here are one single core CPU and two dual core CPUs which will be Intel's new entry level Sandy Bridge processors and a step down from the soon to launch Pentium G-series of CPUs. The most basic model will be known as the Celeron G440 and this is a 35W TDP single core 1.6GHz CPU with 2MB L3 cache. This almost seems too basic by today's standards and we have a hard time seeing anyone being interested in buying this CPU. It has a claimed graphics clock of 650/1000MHz in standard/ turbo mode. Next up we have the dual core Celeron G530 and G540 where the only difference is clock speed, as the G530 is clocked at 2.4GHz whereas the G540 is a smidgen faster at 2.5GHz. Both

In today's news roundup: AMD has admitted that it is willing to reconsider its 'x86 everywhere' strategy if market conditions change drastically, in spite of it having no intention to license ARM technologies for use in producing ARM processors at this point of time; ASUS has announced the launch of two new selfdesigned graphics cards, the Radeon HD 6770 DirectCU and HD 6750 Formula; Motion Computing's enterprise-centric CL900 tablet is finally available for ordering in the US at the starting price of US$899; Microsoft has reportedly sent at least two employees packing from its offices over the alleged leak of the beta builds of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system, making it one of the more high-profile sacking cases to occur over at Redmond; Square Enix has announced a Dragon Quest Wii collection which will consist of the original Famicom versions of Dragon Quest I, Dragon Quest II, and Dragon Quest III, and their respective Super Famicom (SNES) versions, specifically Dragon Quest I & II and Dragon Quest III, and Fans of Portal 2 can now start modding the game and creating their own test puzzles now that Valve has released the official game authoring tools for download Hardware news Cooler Master Storm Enforcer Mid Tower Chassis Review Description: A couple months back I took a look at the Cooler Master Test Bench V1.0, but it seems like it has been a while since I had a look at a case from CM. The last couple of cases I looked at were the HAF-X, CM690II and the Storm Sniper. The Sniper had some very cool features and a style all its own, keeping most of what made those cases a success while adding a fair bit of individualism to this new concept. Aesthetically this case looks like no other I have seen and almost looks like the case is in motion with the rounded design and stamped in designs in the steel. Kingston X58 Triple Channel kit 2250Mhz Cas 9 Review @ Madshrimps Description: At the latest MSI MOA Benelux qualifier we were allowed to play with MSI's Xpower board, some 980X ES CPUs and some pretty high specced Kingston rams. The 2250Mhz CL9 triple channel kit seemed very interesting for a spin in the 4

May 11th, 2011

Madshrimps Lab. Could these blue beauties come close to the almighty Corsair Hyper IC based GTX2s ? What's the use for such a high MHz kit for a daily user ? Is this kit Bloomfield friendly ? A lot of questions warped through my brain. Time to open the box and find some answers EK Water Blocks EK-FC580 GTX Nickel @ Hardwareoverclock.com Description: The summer is not so far away, also the high temperatures of the hardware components, specially the video card. A great alternative will be a water cooler, for example the EK Water Blocks EK-FC580 GTX Nickel. This cooler has an extreme high flow path design and unique increased cooling surface over GPU keeps all your graphic cards components cool even at highest graphical loads and over clock. We have tested this sample on a GTX 570 in a comparison between other alternative VGA coolers. GIGABYTE Z68X UD4 Review @ Vortez Description: So what do we get from GIGABYTE if the video outputs aren’t present? Well with the Z68 chipset we have the new Touch BIOS, SSD caching and we have been told – better overclocking. So today we will be putting the Z68-UD4 on our test bench and putting it through its paces within synthetic and gaming benchmarks in order to reveal to our readers whether there is any great advantage of moving to this new chipset over P67. Ethernet Aims for Terabit Description: IEEE 802.3 – among friends know as Ethernet – has formed a working group to look beyond 100 Gbps speed. Currently the group is soliciting input at expects to report some time next year. There is, however already a divide between power users and silicon suppliers. End customers like Facebook and Google cannot wait to get a higher speed version of Ethernet and is lobbying for 1 Tb/s as soon as 2013. They are countered by silicon suppliers who would like to move to 400 Gbps in the first instance. OCZ IBIS 240GB Review @ ocaholic Description: If you take a look at the SSD market, searching for a really powerful product, then you'll definitely take the OCZ IBIS into account. With a throughput of 740 MB/s read and 720 MB/s write this drive shows serious throughput rates and also the claimed 120'000 IOPS are massive. AMD May Reconsider Its Opinion About ARM Processors . Description: Advanced Micro Devices does not close the doors to ARM and may reconsider its x86 everywhere strategy if the market requirements change drastically. Even though the company is not working on a deal to license ARM technologies, AMD admits that its vision is generally similar to ARM's when it comes to heterogeneous multi-core computing. ASUS announces self-designed Radeon HD 6770 DirectCu and HD 6750 Formula graphics cards Description: ASUS announced the launch of the new selfdesigned HD 6770 DirectCU and HD 6750 Formula graphics cards. Both are equipped with the ASUS-exclusive Super Alloy Power technology that delivers a 15% performance boost along with a lifespan that is 2.5 times longer than conventional graphics cards. Consumer Electronics and Software news

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Google Finally Delivers On Promise Of Admin-Free Chrome Frame Installs For IE Description: Today at Google I/O in San Francisco, Google developers Amit Joshi and Alex Russell took the stage at a breakout session to announce an important milestone: a version of Chrome Frame that doesn’t require admin rights to install. While this might not jump out at you as a huge thing, it’s big news for millions of users stuck working at offices or schools with older machines where admins won’t allow them to upgrade to newer, modern browsers. And some 30 percent of these users were not even able to install plug-ins for IE. Now there’s a way around that with the new dev build of Chrome Frame. You can install this within IE without needing admin access. Adobe Takes Wowza to Court Over Flash Patents Description: Adobe is taking Wowza Media to court, suing it for patent infringement related to its Flash Media Server. Adobe filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California last week, alleging patent infringement, false advertising and unfair competition. Google To Lease Chrome Laptops for $20/Month Description: Google will begin leasing Chrome laptops for $20 per month in a “student package” that includes both hardware and access to online services, a senior Google executive has reportedly told Forbes. The report aligns with earlier rumors that Google would begin offering Chrome OS-based notebooks for between $10 and $20 per month this summer. The official announcement is expected to hit the wire sometime Wednesday. Motion Computing's CL900 tablet now available for order, starting at $899 Description: It's been a while since we first laid eyes upon this rugged little guy, but Motion Computing's CL900 tablet is finally available for orders, starting at $899. Designed with enterprise markets in mind, the 2.1-pound Windows 7 slate runs on a 1.5GHz Intel Oak Trail Atom Z670 processor and rocks a 10.1-inch, 1366x768 multi-touch display that's shielded in Corning Gorilla Glass. Seated atop that display is a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, with a 3.0-megapixel sensor keeping watch over the backside. Boasting a thickness of 15.5mm, the device also offers up to 2GB of RAM (along with a 30GB or 62GB SSD), promises a battery life of up to eight hours and houses a USB port, SD card slot and Bluetooth 3.0 module. Lenovo spoils own ThinkPad X1's May 17 launch with video Description: Lenovo effectively pre-announced the ThinkPad X1 on Wednesday with a video (below). The minute-long ad was short on details but confirmed the backlit, spillresistant keyboard and Gorilla Glass screen. The PC builder also pledged a May 17 release date. Microsoft Employees Fired Over Windows 8 Leaks Description: The recent leaks of Windows 8 suggests that there are sources within Microsoft that are letting out copies of the work-in-progress operating system. According to a well known leak tracker, as characterized by WinRumors, Microsoft has fired two employees that the company believed to be leaking the beta builds. Gaming news 5

May 11th, 2011

Square Enix announces Dragon Quest Wii collection Description: With the Dragon Quest franchise being insanely popular in Japan, it was only a matter of time before publishers Square Enix formally announced that a collection of the series' earlier games is in the works. According to the official site, said collection will be released on the Wii and will contain all five past titles on one disk. The games on the collection are the original Famicom versions of Dragon Quest I, Dragon Quest II, and Dragon Quest III, and their respective Super Famicom (SNES) versions, specifically Dragon Quest I & II and Dragon Quest III. SoulCalibur V Announced Description: At a press conference in Dubai just now, Namco officially announced SoulCalibur V. While no details were revealed just yet, the game is slated for a 2012 release. We do know that more info and a teaser trailer will be coming soon, so stay tuned for those. Alright Modders, Let's Get Modding: Valve Releases Portal 2 Authoring Tools Description: Admit it: while playing through Portal 2, you couldn't help but devise your own devious test lab puzzle. Well, now is your chance to make that turret-bot filled vision a reality. Valve has released the Portal 2 Authoring Tools on Steam.

Can't afford Microsoft's Surface? Try Pioneer's WWSDT101 alternative instead Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/can-t-afford-microsoft-s-surface-trypioneer-s-wws-dt101-alternative-instead/12164.html May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

Unlike Microsoft's Surface and Surface 2 tabletop PCs which were available in 30-inch and 40-inch touchscreen displays, Pioneer's WWS-DT101 boasts a gigantic 52-inch display that is capable of full HD resolutions, thus making it the largest known tabletop PC known to exist today. However, in Pioneer's case, bigger does not necessarily translate to better; while Microsoft's 40-inch Surface 2 multitouch display supported up to a maximum of 50 simultaneous contact points', the WWS-DT101 is only capable of recognizing up to 10 contact points at any time. That being said, do you remember the little demonstration made by Microsoft which showed off how users can place data storage devices on Surface and its contents would 'spill' onto the display for easy collaboration? Well, it would seem that Pioneer has been hard at work in replicating this function in the WWS-DT101. Which, in hindsight, makes perfect sense when one takes into account that the WWD-DT101 is meant to be used as a digital conference system, and the ability to share files by simply sliding them around a tabletop PC's display is definitely a huge time saver, no matter how one looks at it. However, Pioneer has once again managed to one-up Microsoft's Surface by adding tablets such as iPads to the list of supported devices in its collaboration process, as shown in the image below:

A long, long time ago in a news posting made way, way back in January, we spoke a little about Microsoft's new Surface 2 tabletop PC and how it could potentially change the way businesses handle their digital collaborating needs. As it turns out, there is a new contender in the tabletop PC game today which is supposedly capable of performing the same tasks as Microsoft's Surface, and it comes in the form of Pioneer's new WWS-DT101 'discussion table' PC that was launched today in Japan. Microsoft's Surface tabletop PC is definitely one of the more interesting PCs out there to exist in the market today, and we are sure that Apple and Google will be hard pressed to come up with a suitable product to compete against it if Microsoft was willing to release the product for sale to endusers instead of limiting its purchase to enterprise customers. However, it would seem that Microsoft is about to face some competition in its own market segment very soon, thanks to the introduction of Pioneer's own tabletop PC, the WWSDT101, which is supposedly capable of performing the same functions as Surface.

What is more amazing though, is the fact that Pioneer, like Microsoft before it, was able to pull off such features using nothing more than the standard PC software and hardware to power the tabletop PC. Yes, you read that correctly; hidden under that pretty and flashy-looking user interface is the same Windows 7 operating system that we all know and love today, while the giant touchscreen is powered by none other than a standard Intel Core i7 processor paired with 6GB of system RAM. 6

May 11th, 2011

As is the case with most enterprise products, Pioneer has chosen not to set a fixed price on the WWS-DT101. Instead, the company has seemingly adopted an 'open pricing' model for the tabletop PC, which suggests that the WWS-DT101's pricing may vary based on the results of negotiations between Pioneer and its prospective clients. The PC is expected to start shipping in late July, so there should be plenty of time for customers to start making their way to the negotiation tablet with Pioneer.

NEC unveils Atom-powered tablet running Windows 7 for business users Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nec-unveils-atom-powered-tabletrunning-windows-7-for-business-users/12159.html May 11th, 2011

Mention the words 'tablet PC' to most consumers and chances are the mental image they will conjure about such a device is one that runs on ARM processors and comes preloaded with an operating system that is anything but Microsoft's Windows. While that may be true in the consumer space, it would appear that things are notably different in the enterprise space; apparently, there is enough demand for tablets running on Windows 7 for NEC to justify rolling out its own Windowspowered tablet for business users. Japan, meet NEC's VesaPro Type VT slate PC. Let's not deny it; Windows 7 is an astounding operating system that works wonders on almost any PC available on the market today. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the relatively high hardware requirements and touch-unfriendly user interface of its OS means that Windows 7 is essentially a no-go as far as consumer tablets are concerned, especially when touchscreen computing is starting to become mainstream for highly mobile devices. However, things are usually different in the enterprise space, and based on the looks of it, tablets loaded with Windows 7 are apparently doing well enough in various areas for OEMs to justify their continued production. More importantly, it seems that NEC is keen to carve out a slice of the business tablet market for itself as well, having just launched its own Windows 7-powered tablet, the VersaPro Type VT, today in Japan.

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that is not x86 or x86-64 based. Therefore, it should be of no surprise that the VersaPro Touch VT will be powered by Intel's Atom processor. To be more specific, it will be Intel's recently-launched Z670 Oak Trail processor that will be providing the computational horsepower needed to run Windows 7 smoothly on the NEC VersaPro Type VT. Clocked at 1.5GHz, Intel claims that the Z670 processor has been specially designed for use on tablets and is supposed to be capable of supporting 1080p video playback with some help from the onboard Intel GMA 600 graphics core; as such it should be powerful enough to support a desktopgrade operating system like Windows 7 without any major performance hiccups. In addition, NEC has also announced that the VersaPro Type VT sports a 10.1-inch touchscreen display that has a native resolution of 1280 x 800, is pre-loaded with the 32-bit version of Windows 7 Professional, and will feature a user-removable battery pack. Last but definitely not least, the company also claims that the tablet utilizes a 64GB SSD for data storage purposes and can be used with a docking station to provide a desktop-esque experience for the user, as shown in the image below:

The NEC VersaPro Type VT is expected to be available for purchase by business users in summer, with the pricing to be confirmed at a later date.

Icy Dock Debuts USB 3.0 EZDOCK Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/icy-dock-debuts-usb-3.0-ezdock/12163.html May 11th, 2011

Icy Dock has released the MB881U3-1SA, a USB 3.0 docking station supporting one 2.5" and 3.5" SATA/ IDE HDDs and SSDs. It features a USB 3.0 interface, removable aluminum stand for mobility, and works with both PC & Mac systems. The easy to use MB881U3-1SA is bundled with a low profile power adapter for 3.5 drives and is expected to hit store shelves soon. ICY DOCK PRESS RELEASE

As most of us will undoubtedly know by now, Windows is incapable of running on any other processor architecture 7

May 11th, 2011

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Shuttle Announces SX58H7 Pro LGA1366 Mini PC barebone Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/shuttle-announces-sx58h7-prolga1366-mini-pc-barebone/12162.html May 11th, 2011

Introducing Icy Dock's new MB881U3-1SA USB 3.0 2.5 & 3.5 SATA and IDE hard drive adapter with docking station functionality. Icy Dock has taken another one of its tried and true products and taught it some new tricks. It features the new USB 3.0 interface for up to a 5 Gbsec transfer rate. The MB881U3-1SA is perfect for any DIY user or IT Professional in need of a quality hard drive adapter. The hard drive adapter will work with both 3.5 & 2.5 SATA drives and IDE drives and use them on a USB 3.0 interface. The 2.5 SATAIDE drives can be powered with the USB cable alone. A small power adapter is included for faster or bigger 2.5 hard drives or 3.5 hard drives. Using the USB 3.0 interface will maximize not only the SATA drives but also the IDE drives readwrite speeds not found on other USB 2.0 products. The MB881U3-1SA will accept almost any size of 2.5 3.5 IDE and SATA hard drives.

Shuttle has unleashed the XPC Barebone SX58H7 Pro, targeting gamers on the lookout for high-performance SFF desktops. Measuring 326 x 208 x 189mm, the stylish barebone comes in a black aluminum enclosure and boasts an X58 motherboard, four DDR3 memory slots (up to 16Gb), dual PCI-Express x16 slots (for SLI/ CrossFireX), four SATA ports, three drive bays, two Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, I.C.E. (Integrated Cooling Engine) heatpipe technology, a 80-PLUS certified 500W PSU, audio connectors, two USB 3.0 and eight USB 2.0 connectors. The XPC Barebone SX58H7 Pro is available from major retailers and e-tailers now at a MSRP of EUR 444.00 (excl. VAT). SHUTTLE PRESS RELEASE

Product Features •

Perfect hard drive adapter with docking station functionality in USB 3.0 speeds.

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USB bus power for 2.5 drives.

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Low profile power adapter for 3.5 drives.

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Detachable docking platform to use while on the go.

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Compatible with both 2.5 & 3.5 SATA hard drives and supports hot swap.

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Compatible with both 2.5 & 3.5 IDE hard drives.

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Supports USB 3.0 connection for maximum performance.

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Plug & Play USB 3.0 with backwards capabilities to USB 2.0 for quick connection

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for any computer system.

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User friendly screw-less and tool-less design just plug in the hard drive and play.

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Exposed working HDD stands in the air vertically for fast heat radiation.

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Aluminum alloy stand is detachable for portable use.

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Designed for PC & Mac systems.

Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH, the European subsidiary of Shuttle Inc., one of the leading developers and manufacturers of compact PC solutions such as the world-renowned XPC Mini-PC Barebones, today launches its 2011 model with Intel X58 Express chipset and support for all Intel Core i7 processors (LGA1366). The Shuttle XPC Barebone SX58H7 Pro cuts an elegant figure with a black aluminium chassis, case and front panel. It also boasts two heatpipe cooling systems – ideal for ensuring optimal heat dissipation and high stability. Owners of this powerpack have a choice to fit either two singleslot graphics cards or one dual-slot graphics card. Two PCIex16-2.0 slots offer an enormous bandwidth and a separate Mini-PCIe-x1 slot allows the installation e.g. of a WLAN module.

May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

for DVD-R+R DL and DVD+RW, 6x for DVD-RW, 48x for CDR, and 24x for CD-RW".

A further important innovation is the provision of external and internal ports to the latest standards. Shuttle's SX58H7 Pro has 2x USB 3.0 (up to 5 Gbits) and 2x SATA 6 Gbits. External storage media and internal drives (hard disks or SSDs) can now run at maximum speed. In addition, at the front and rear are 8x USB 2.0, 2x eSATA and 1x eSATAUSB 2.0 ports as well as eSATA power supply. Two 1000 Mbit network cards on the mainboard of the SX58H7 Pro offer maximum reliability or maximum data transmission speed. The teaming function enables the activation of failover or load balancing. With the 80-PLUS-certified 500 W power supply unit, a maximum configuration with 6-core processor, 16 GB DDR3 RAM, one or two modern graphics cards and three drives is possible at any time. A comparable configuration was presented live at CeBIT 2011 and silenced the skeptics. The technical possibilities offered here within a space measuring just 32.6 x 20.8 x 18.9 cm are simply astounding, states Tom Seiffert, Head of Marketing & PR at Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH. Although we'd be hard pushed to win an energy-saving competition with the SX58H7 Pro, in the performance per cm³ category this PC is streets ahead of its rivals. The XPC Barebone SX58H7 Pro is available now. Shuttle's recommended retail price is EUR 444.00 (ex VAT).

Lite-on Unveils USB 3.0 Bluray Writer Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lite-on-unveils-usb-3.0-blu-raywriter/12161.html May 11th, 2011

Lite-on, manufacturer of numerous OEM PC parts, has introduced the eHBU212 external Blu-ray writer in Europe. The writer boasts a USB 3.0 interface, 8Mb of cache memory, LightScribe support, Smart-Burn and Smart-X technologies, and support write speeds up to "12x for BD-R, 8x for BD-R DL, 2x for BD-RE (DL), 16x for DVD-R+R, 12x for DVD-RAM, 8x for DVD-R+R DL and DVD+RW, 6x for DVD-RW, 48x for CD-R, and 24x for CD-RW". The eHBU212, bundled with CyberLink's Blu-ray Suite, can be pre-ordered from selected resellers and distributors at a MSRP of €165. News via [Techconnect]

ADATA Announces New PSU Series Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/adata-announces-new-psuseries/12160.html May 11th, 2011

Taipei based ADATA Technology, the world’s 2nd largest vendor of DRAM Modules, has unveiled the BN series of PSUs. These 80 Plus Bronze certified units feature active PFC and comply with the European Energy Using Products Directive (EuP) and The American Energy Star 5.0 standard. Available in 400W, 450W, 500W and 550W capacities, they can be purchased from authorized retailers and e-tailers now. ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of highperformance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, today announced the launch of its latest series of power supply for personal computers. The BN Series is targeted towards consumer and professional users who are looking for economical solutions in energy efficient power. With 80 Plus Bronze certification, the BN series offer up to 85% efficiency, while the 95% Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) minimizes power loss. The series comes in four wattage models to meet a wide range of individual user needs, and all models meet both the European Energy Using Products Directive (EuP) and The American Energy Star 5.0 standard. 9

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The units run quietly and emit extremely low levels of interference. An interesting aesthetic touch on what is often a bland system component is the patented design pattern on the laminated steel shell. The innovative surface coating process yields an attractive textured appearance. Availability ADATA BN Series power supply units are now distributed through selected distributors and resellers.

Sharp introduces 3D AQUOS Phone SH-12C for Japan Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sharp-introduces-3d-aquos-phonesh-12c-for-japan/12158.html May 11th, 2011

Granted, mobile phones with 3D-capable displays are not the norm yet, but it is only a matter of time before more OEMs start hopping onto the bandwagon and rolling out devices that will see 3D-enabled smartphones eventually becoming the new mainstream. However, those who prefer to live their digital life on the bleeding edge of technology would probably take delight in the fact that there is a new player in the market for 3D-capable smartphones, and it comes in the form of Sharp's new AQUOS Phone SH-12C. Smartphones sporting 3D-capable displays are more of a novelty than a mobile communication tool today due to the fact that consumer, carrier and software support for such devices is still at its infancy. However, it is also widely understood that the world is slowly but surely moving towards 3D, and that it is only a matter of time before such smartphones eventually take their place as the new 'standard' mobile communication tool. And it will seem that Sharp is looking to accelerate the adoption rate of 3D-enabled smartphones with the announcement of its own 3D smartphone, the AQUOS Phone SH-12C.

Not much about the SH-12C has been revealed by Sharp; indeed, the only thing we know about the SH-12C is that it has both rear and front-facing cameras, is (obviously) preloaded with Google's Android operating system, while the 4.2-inch

Published by: VR-Zone

capacitive touchscreen display is 3D-capable and boasts a native qHD resolution of 960 x 540. However, the company neglected to mention the exact version of Android that the phone will be shipping with, although the image above seems to suggest that the SH-12C may be getting some (heavilycustomized) Gingerbread love right out of the box instead of the older Froyo. That being said, it would seem that the dual 3D cameras situated at the SH-12C's rear might just happen to be the smartphone's real draw. Capable of capturing images at a remarkably high resolution of eight megapixels, the dual cameras can also be used to capture 3D HD videos at the maximum resolution of 720p. Last but not least, Sharp did not provide any information about the smartphone's price in its press release, but suffice to say a smartphone that boasts both a 3D camera and a 3Dcapable display is definitely not going to be the most affordable mobile communications device on the market. However, the company did mention that the SH-12C will be released for retail in Japan on May 20 via NTT DoCoMo. As for the rest of the world...well, let's just say that watching pigs grow wings and fly would be a good way to pass the time while waiting for the SH-12C to show up on the shelves.

StarHub and M1 announce iPad 2 offering; SingTel unveils iPad 2 price and availability Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/starhub-and-m1-announce-ipad-2offering-singtel-unveils-ipad-2-price-and-availability/12156.html May 11th, 2011

Earlier this week, StarHub and M1 have announced that they would be offering the Apple iPad 2, though there have been no word on the pricing and availability. Today, SingTel unveiled their iPad 2 offering, the price and its availability.

SingTel has announced it will offer iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G in Singapore on May 14, this Saturday. The telco operator will offer iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G models with select tariff plans on a two-year contract, as well as a range of attractive data plans for iPad 2 without a contract. Here are the data plans:-

May 11th, 2011

Panasonic announces its latest addition to the Toughbook family - the CF-53 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/panasonic-announces-its-latestaddition-to-the-toughbook-family--the-cf-53/12157.html May 11th, 2011

Panasonic's Toughbooks make for popular notebook PCs among military and business users for obvious reasons, but most consumers who desire a notebook with bleeding-edge hardware usually tend to shy away from them because of their last-gen specifications. However, this is all set to change with Panasonic's newest addition to the Toughbook family, the semi-rugged CF-53, which is powered by...yep, Intel's Sandy Bridge platform. Looks like good things really do come to those who have the patience to wait, after all. Most of us are slaves to our notebooks when it comes to being productive while on the move, but more often that not, the cheap notebooks which most of us use as our primary mobile workhorse are seldom, if ever designed to handle the abuses of the outside world. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to claim that an 'accidental' mishap that involves physical trauma is more than sufficient to see screen, body and battery part company from the device that was previously called a 'notebook'. In fact, such mishaps are the main reason rugged notebooks like the Panasonic Toughbook are in such high demand among careless professionals, and leave it to Panasonic to delight Toughbook fans with its latest addition to the lineup - the semi-rugged CF-53.

Published by: VR-Zone

Acording to the press release issued by Panasonic, the 14-inch Toughbook CF-53 is packs a multitouch-capable touchpad that is 25% larger than the ones found on previous versions of the Toughbook and an "adjustable backlit keyboard" that is meant to assist users who often use their notebooks under poor lighting conditions. Additional features present on the CF-53 include the use of a spill-resistant keyboard, a "high-definition LED display" and the ability to survive 30-inch drops on six faces unscathed, due to it passing nine MIL-STD-810G tests. Finally, the CF-53 will come standard with USB 3.0, VGA and HDMI ports and an SDXC card reader, along with an integrated 3G modem from Qualcomm. However, the CF-53's real draw stems from the fact that it is powered by Intel's Sandy Bridge platform, and Panasonic has confirmed that the CF-53 will be available in three different configurations. The US$1,599 model is due for shipment in August and will feature an Intel Core i3-2310M processor clocked at 2.1GHz, a 320GB mechanical hard disk with a platter speed of 5400rpm along with 2GB of memory. The i5 model, on the other hand, costs US$1,899 and is expected to start shipping in June. It will pack an Intel Core i5-2520M vPro processor clocked at 2.5Ghz (3.2Ghz on TurboBoost), a high-performance mechanical hard disk with a platter speed of 7200rpm and 320GB of storage and 4GB of memory. In addition, a touchscreen-capable version of the i5 model is available, although it will only start shipping in July and will set consumers back by US$2,449.

A sneak peek at Asus' Maximus IV Gene-Z Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/a-sneak-peek-at-asus-maximus-ivgene-z/12153.html May 11th, 2011

Asus unveiled a tiny picture of its Maximus IV Gene-Z in its Z68 motherboard announcement, but it didn't really give away a lot of details. However, VR-Zone can now offer some more detailed pictures of the board, albeit we have as yet not managed to get hold of a decent picture of the entire board. On the other hand, the pictures we have do give a good idea of 11

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Published by: VR-Zone

what the board has to offer in terms of hardware features and they're a lot more detailed than the first picture. Asus unveiled a tiny picture of its Maximus IV Gene-Z in its Z68 motherboard announcement, but it didn't really give away a lot of details. However, VR-Zone can now offer some more detailed pictures of the board, albeit we have as yet not managed to get hold of a decent picture of the entire board. On the other hand, the pictures we have do give a good idea of what the board has to offer in terms of hardware features and they're a lot more detailed than the first picture. The board also has a set of Voltage readout points for overclockers and of course X-Fi 2 SupremeFX audio. We can't really tell how many power phases the board has, but we'd hazard a guess at something like a 12-phase design judging by the size of the heatsinks. Overall a pretty decent little board with plenty of features, although what remains is the one question we all would like to know, how much is it?

First up we've got a larger picture of the one supplied with the press release which still isn't all that detailed, but a lot better than the tiny one we've seen so far. It's clear from this picture alone that the board has a single HDMI port, but let's have a closer look shall we?

In related news, Asus has also confirmed via it's Asus ROG forums that we'll be seeing the Maximus IV Extreme-Z at a later stage, alongside the P8Z68 Deluxe and the P8Z68.

Lian Li releases new casing Cowry PC-U6 Although the close-up we have of the rear ports doesn't reveal everything, it's clear that we have one special USB 2.0 port here, most likely for Asus' ROG Connect. There's also a CMOS reset button around the back and beyond that it looks like we were pretty much spot on, even based on the tiny picture provided alongside the announcement. The Ethernet controller is from Intel, and it has two ASMedia USB 3.0 host controllers.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lian-li-releases-new-casing-cowry-pcu6/12148.html May 11th, 2011

Very often, we see computer cases in the shape of the dull looking cuboid, but Lian Li's latest Cowry PC-U6 casing is set to dispel the conventional looks. Read on.

Around the front we were also spot on, although it's now clear that the board also has a pair of pin headers for four USB 2.0 ports. There's also a POST80 debug LED and a power and reset button at the bottom of the board. Interestingly the PCI Express x4 slot is open ended, so on theory a full-length card could be fitted to it. 12

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From a designer's point of view, the Cowry PC-U6 certainly scored a few points. Its design is sleek and really stands out from other regular cases. Although it is a mid tower chasis, the specifications show that it can only mount Micro-ATX / MiniITX motherboards. This is probably why they only included 2 x 140mm intake fans by the side of the case.

Published by: VR-Zone

At the Google I/O conference, the company has announced the new Android mobile operating system (Ice Cream Sandwich), and revealed that the next Nexus smartphone will be launched in Q4 this year. Andy Rubin, senior vice president of Mobile at Google, said that the next Nexus smartphone can easily run Android "Ice Cream Sandwich" platform. This means that the Nexus phone will only be ready closer to the end of this year. From the current development of smartphones, it would be no surprise if the Nexus phone incorporate dual-core processor. It is anyone's guess whether Sony Ericsson would be the manufacturer tasked to make the new Nexus smartphone, seeing HTC and Samsung had already made one for Google.

Lian Li have included dust filters within the casing for easy cleaning and a tool-less system for easy mounting. There is also a little knob for the fan control found at the back of the case. Its SRP is estimated to be US$349 (S$430). See the full specifications and introductory video of the Cowry PC-U6 Case at the Lian Li website.

New Nexus phone will incorporate Android "Ice Cream Sandwich" platform Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/new-nexus-phone-will-incorporateandroid-ice-cream-sandwich-platform/12150.html May 11th, 2011

At the recent Google I/O conference in San Francisco, the search engine giant has revealed that the next Nexus Android smartphone is scheduled to launch in Q4 this year and will run the new Android Ice Cream Sandwich. The question is, will Sony Ericsson be the next manufacturer to build the phone (after HTC and Samsung)?

The biggest feature of the next version of Android mobile operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich, is that it will support both tablet and smartphone devices. Google wants to fulfil "One OS Everywhere", be it on the smaller screen smartphones or the tablets with larger displays.

Updated:Gigabyte reveals Z68 board with mSATA connector Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/updated-gigabyte-reveals-z68-boardwith-msata-connector/12151.html May 11th, 2011

Here's a surprise, Gigabyte is going to have more Z68 motherboards and we'll be seeing boards with an mSATA connector on them which will accept mSATA SSDs. Talk about spoiling it on the day of the launch of the much anticipated Z68 motherboards. Well, ok, it's not that big of a deal, but it's a neat feature and we can see other board makers follow suite. Here's a surprise, Gigabyte is going to have more Z68 motherboards and we'll be seeing boards with an mSATA connector on them which will accept mSATA SSDs. Talk about spoiling it on the day of the launch of the much anticipated

May 11th, 2011

Z68 motherboards. Well, ok, it's not that big of a deal, but it's a neat feature and we can see other board makers follow suite. The mSATA connector was developed for tablets and thin and light notebooks, but it works just as well on a desktop motherboard. It's pretty much a mini PCI Express connector, although rather than having PCI Express and USB interfaces, it does as the name suggests have a SATA interface. This allows for extremely small, but standardised SSDs to be installed in small devices, yet more flexibility compared to soldering the chips onto the PCB or using a non-standard connector or SSD.

Gigabyte has so far only provided a single picture via its Facebook page of the new board and it doesn't reveal much at all about the board itself. The SSD in question is the mSATA version of Intel's Larsen Creek SLC SSD, also known as the 311 series. What details we can see from the board is that it has at least one x16 PCI Express slot and the mSATA connector is located between it and the CPU socket which is a somewhat unusual place to fit anything beyond a x1 PCI Express slot. Of course the model name has been handily cropped out of the picture as well, so all we know for a fact is that it's a Z68 board. Interestingly though, the blue PCB is suggesting that this is an entry-level motherboard, as Gigabyte's higher-end boards have black PCBs these days. That said, it could just be that this is a prototype on the blue PCB and final boards will have a black PCB. Update: Gigabyte has now announced the model names of the board with the mSATA connector and there will be four models, all launching sometime in June. The models are the Z68XP-UD3, Z68XP-D3, Z68AP-D3 and Z68P-DS3 suggesting that all four models are fairly far down in Gigabyte's range as well as lacking display connectivity. On top of that the model names give away that all three boards are full size ATX boards of which only one is part of the Ultra Durable 3 series, i.e. the other three models don't have 2oz copper layers in the PCBs. The P in the model names are obviously an indicator for the mSATA connector. We'd expect to see the boards on display at Computex.

Google unveils Android 3.1 at Google I/O 2011 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-unveils-android-3.1-at-googleio-2011/12147.html

Published by: VR-Zone May 11th, 2011

It is old news that the next version of the Android operating system will be known as Ice Cream Sandwich (hmm, yummy) and that it will supposedly be released to OEMs sometime in Q4 this year. But in spite of that, Google has somehow managed to push out an update for its tablet-centric build of Android known as Honeycomb in its Google I/O 2011 keynote address before it gets merged with Gingerbread to form Ice Cream Sandwich. So what can consumers look forward to the first major update to Honeycomb?

Honeycomb-totting tablets are still few and far between on the market, but it is clear that Google is trying its best to fix the major bugs and issues that have been reportedly found on its tablet-centric build of the Android operating system. However, it seems that Google may have outdone even itself this time, now that it has finally taken the wraps off what is essentially a major update for tablets running on Honeycomb in its Google I/O 2011 developer conference held at San Francisco.

According to various reports, one of the major refinements made to Honeycomb in version 3.1 is centred around the operating system's user interface. Google claims that the updated user interface in Android 3.1 is now more intuitive and efficient for consumers to use, due to the implementation of various features such as improved transitions between the system and installed apps, while the Launcher's animations have been tweaked to allow for "a smoother and faster transition to and from the Apps list". In addition, the user interface in Android 3.1 now features consistent audio feedback, while the ability to resize widgets has also been added to the mix. 14

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Published by: VR-Zone

Another new feature which Google was quick to boast of in Android 3.1 is its newfound compatibility with a wide range of USB accessories. Examples of such accessories include digital cameras, keyboards, computer mice and even that controller from your favourite video game console. However, Google was quick to add that its support for USB accessories is greatly dependant on the components used in the corresponding devices, and that Android support for these devices is purely up to the manufacturers' discretion. Last but not least, the other new features present in Android 3.1 includes a faster web browser with an improved user interface, an updated Gallery app which supports the importing of images directly from digital cameras via PTP , the introduction of new features for WiFi connectivity, such as WiFi Lock and Preferred Network Offload and a new Movies app which allows users to rent movies directly from the Android Market.

Specifications CPU Chipset Graphics Memory

Expansion Slots

The Motorola XOOM will be the first tablet to receive the Android 3.1 update, which will be rolled out to owners of the device by as early as today. Also, word has it that the GoogleTV is slated to receive the update some time in summer, although there is no word on when non-XOOM tablets will be able to obtain the update. And with Ice Cream Sandwich due for release in the fourth quarter of 2011, it seems that Android 3.1 will be the first and last major update for Honeycomb before both the tablet-optimized and smartphone-optimized versions of Android are unified back into a single common release.

ECS HDC-I Review Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ecs-hdc-i-review/12031.html May 11th, 2011

We take a look at the latest AMD Brazos motherboard from ECS. Featuring USB 3.0, WiFi and Bluetooth, how well does the ECS HDC-I compare with the other E-350 motherboards reviewed so far? To date, we've looked at MSI's and Asus' AMD E-350 motherboards. Today we'll be adding another board to the club, ECS' HDC-I. ECS may be better known for no-frills solutions targeted at consumers on a budget, but the ECS HDC-I doesn't seem to fit this mold. Instead, its list of features looks to be on par with the others we've seen so far.

1 x Mini PCI Express x1 slot Storage 1 x eSATA 6Gbps Audio Network

AMD Dual-Core Processor E-350 AMD Hudson M1 FCH (A50) Integrated AMD Radeon HD 6310 2 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM, Max. 8 GB, DDR3 1066/800 SDRAM 1 x PCIe x16 slot (x4 bandwidth) 4 x SATA 6Gbps VIA VT1708B 8-channel High Definition audio CODEC Atheros AR8151 PCIe Gigabit LAN

Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11b/ g/n (single antenna with rear bracket included) Rear Panel I/O 1 x RJ45 LAN connector 1 x Audio port (Line-in,4x Line-out, SPDIF out) 1 x D-sub(VGA) 1 x DVI Port 6 x USB 2.0 2 x USB 3.0 1 x Bluetooth 3.0 adapter 1 x HDMI Port 1 x eSATA 6Gbps 1 x S/PDIF Out (optical) 5 x Audio jacks Internal I/O Connectors and 1 x CPU Fan connector Headers 1 x Chassis Fan connector 4 x USB 2.0 header 1 x Front panel audio header 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector Form Factor Mini-ITX (170x170mm)

May 11th, 2011

Dell to release UltraSharp U2412M / U2412HM, U2312HM and U2212HM soon

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No mirrors glossy coatings for these panels (matte anti-glare is here to stay), and the monitors will accept DVI-D and DisplayPort connections. All three models will be pushed out of the door by the end of the year, with the U2412M (or U2412HM) expected to appear first in Q3.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/dell-to-release-ultrasharp-u2412mu2412hm-u2312hm-and-u2212hm-soon/12134.html May 11th, 2011

Dell regularly refreshes its high-end LCD products approximately every one year and a half. Recent product listings and driver releases on Dell's support site reveal that the replacement for the UltraSharp U2410, the U2412M (or U2412HM), is on track for a Q3 2011 release, along with two other smaller-sized models, the U2312HM and U2212HM.

Hotels.com introduces two new apps for iPhone and Android phones Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hotels.com-introduces-two-new-appsfor-iphone-and-android-phones/12146.html May 11th, 2011

Hotels.com has recently introduced two new smartphone apps for the iPhone and Android phones. The apps lets users log in to their account, search for their accomodation options and do their booking.

Last week, the folks over at HKEPC unearthed a monitor driver meant for Dell's upcoming high-end 24-inch UltraSharp LCD, which will be called the U2412M, according to the filename. This week however, FlatpanelsHD and TFT Central have both suggested that the U2412M will be called the U2412HM, and Dell will be replacing the current U2311H and U2211H with the U2312HM and U2212HM respectively too around the same time frame as the 24-incher. TFT Central went on to explain that the 'H' in the model name signifies a 16:9 screen aspect ratio, and the 'M' an e-IPS panel classification. It is suggested that the new U2412HM 24incher will use an e-IPS panel, move away from the 16:10 format and adopt a 'more common' 16:9 ratio and native resolution of 1920 x 1080. Also, the use of White-LED (WLED) backlighting in the new monitor would mean reverting to a standard NTSC gamut. Next, the smaller-sized 23-inch and 21.5-inch models will be replaced with the U2312HM and U2212HM. These two e-IPS panels will be W-LED backlit, have a 16:9 aspect ratio and a native display resolution of 1920 x 1080.

Hotels.com, a hotel booking website, has launched two new smart phone applications for the Apple iPhone and Android phones. The two new applications, which are available in over 30 languages, allow users to search and book from over 135,000 hotels around the world, with 20,000 accommodation deals. The apps act as an extension of the Hotels.com website, allowing travellers to log in as either a guest, or create a Hotels.com account from inside the app. User can search for accommodation options, browse two million user reviews, access hotel deals and book and manage their choices. The ‘sign in once’ feature, which applies to both apps, automatically remembers previous users’ log in details to avoid hassle of the need to log in every time. Even without a data connection, all past and future bookings can be accessed

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displaying a hotel address, phone number and map with just one touch.

Club 3D introduces 1200W Power Supply Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/club-3d-introduces-1200w-powersupply/12137.html May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

Other accessories include a carrying bag and velcro strips for cable management. The CSP-X1200CB has 80-Plus® Silver certification and highly durable & reliable 105°C and 85°C capacitors. See the full specifications at the Club 3D website.

Nikon announces discontinuation of COOLPIX S4100 and S6100 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nikon-announces-discontinuation-ofcoolpix-s4100-and-s6100/12145.html May 11th, 2011

Club3D's has introduced the CSP-X1200CB 1200W power supply. Aimed at enthusiasts, it supports multiple graphics cards and has a semi modular design. It also features a 135mm fan to ensure ample cooling.

Club 3D has announced its latest power supply, the CSPX1200CB. This 1200W behemoth is aimed at hardware and overclocking enthusiasts intending to run multiple graphics cards and high-end processors.

Today, Nikon has issued a statement that they will be discontinuing their COOLPIX S4100 and S6100 compact digital cameras. The reason is due to issues with production and supplies. Read on for the official world wide announcement.

Nikon has decided not to embark on sales of the COOLPIX S6100 and COOLPIX S4100, which were announced on February 9, 2011. Though these two models were announced in February, it has been determined that steady production and supply of these models will be difficult. For this reason, sales of the two cameras have been discontinued in Asia. We sincerely apologize to all those affected by this decision, and especially to those who had intended to purchase the camera, as well as our retailers and others whose business will be affected by the inconvenience this decision may cause.

ZiiLABS announces new ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 media processors for Android The CSP-X1200CB has four dedicated +12V rails capable of dishing out a total of 40A/1020W. There are sufficient PCIe power connectors for multiple graphics cards. A semi modular design reduces cable clutter, and a 135mm fan keeps the power supply cool even under load.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ziilabs-announces-new-zms-20-andzms-40-media-processors-for-android/12143.html May 11th, 2011

When Creative launched its ZiiO tablet last year, many techies were understandably more interested in the unique ZiiLabs 17

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stemcell processor that was being used to supply the ZiiO's processing power, as opposed to being interested in the tablet as most average consumers would be. As it turns out, ZiiLABS is not content with having only one processor to compete in the highly competitive ARM space, for the company has just announced two new additions to its processor lineup today. Creative's ZiiO tablet may not have the sleek finish and smooth curves that form an integral part of most mainstream tablets' design elements today, but Creative sure did manage to get some heads turning when the ZiiO was first launched. After all, providing the ZiiO's processing power was a unique ZiiLABS ZMS-08 media processor which utilized a StemCell media processor, as opposed to the other typical ARM-based chips supplied by many other companies which utilized Mali or NVIDIA GPUs. However, it is clear that ZiiLABS has not been standing still with StemCell while other companies such as Qualcomm, Samsung and NVIDIA were basking in the limelight with their newer, more powerful SoCs. In fact, the company seems set to compete head-on in the high-performance segment of the market with its new ZMS-20 and ZMS-40, which it touts as the most powerful additions to the Zii line of energy-efficient media processors.

Published by: VR-Zone

the chips is expected to be carried out sometime in the third quarter of 2011. Unfortunately, the company made no mention about details on expected sampling and shipment dates for the ZMS-40, only claiming that the detailed specifications for the chip will be made available at a later date. The full specifications for the ZMS-20 StemCell media processor are as follow: ZMS-20 Key Features • Dual 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores with Neon • ZiiLABS flexible Stemcell media processing capabilities o

Low-energy SIMD architecture performance media acceleration

48 x 32-bit floating point media processing cores for 26GFlops of compute

High Profile H.264 video playback at 1080p@30fps

Wide range of accelerated video codecs including H.264, VC1 and VP8

High Definition, low latency video conferencing

Optimised OpenGL ES 2.0 for robust 3D graphics acceleration and application compatibility

Accelerated OpenCL 1.1 (desktop integrated into Android NDK

High Dynamic Range (HDR) Image Processing

High-quality Recognition

150 MPixel/sec image processing

Adobe Flash 10 acceleration

Integrated HDM1 1.4 with 3D stereo support

Text-to-Speech

for

high

profile)

and

Voice

• 1GB addressable memory According to the official press release. the ZMS-20 and ZMS-40 media processors have been specially engineered for the high-resolution tablet computing markets, and it clearly shows. ZiiLABS claims that the ZMS-20 media processor sports a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 MPcore pocessor clocked at 1.5GHz, but it is the graphics-related portion of the ZMS-20 that takes the cake. Indeed, the ZMS-20 boasts 48 StemCell processing cores that are designed to deliver "stunning 1080p high profile video playback, immersive OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics, HD video calling and a rich desktop browsing experience including Adobe Flash Player", and is expected to perform up to eight times faster than the existing ZMS-08 system-on-a-chip used in Creative's ZiiO tablets. On the other hand, ZiiLABS did not release any specifications for its quad-core ZMS-40 SoC. However, the company claims that the ZMS-40 will be clocked at the same speed of the ZMS-20 at 1.5GHz, and will feature 96 StemCell cores for handling graphical and media-related tasks, thus bringing the total number of processing cores available in the ZMS-40 to an unheard-of number of 100.

DDR2/3 at 533 MHz for low-cost

LPDDR2 for maximum memory bandwidth and low-power

64-bit wide memory bus

• Quad independent video controllers supporting 24-bit displays and cameras • 3V3 and 1V8 I/O’s reduce peripheral power consumption • Dual USB 2.0 HS OTG (Host/Peripheral) controllers with PHY for low system cost • Three independent SDIO/MMC controllers • Extended battery life with robust Dynamic Power Management and Instantaneous On • Xtreme Fidelity X-Fi audio effects • Enhanced Security: 256-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) and TrustZone

Last but not least, ZiiLABS has confirmed that the ZMS-20 SoC is now available for sampling, and volume shipment of 18

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Over 23,000 BitTorrent users may face legal actions from illegal downloads Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/over-23-000-bittorrent-users-mayface-legal-actions-from-illegal-downloads/12141.html May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

Biostar has just announced the Biostar TZ68A+ motherboard using the Intel Z68 chipset. Features include Biostar's exclusive BIO-Remote2 and Charger Booster utilities, a 5phase power supply design with 100% solid capacitors, and Lucid Virtu GPU Virtualization. Biostar has just announced its Z68 motherboard. The Biostar TZ68A+ features Biostar's exclusive BIO-Remote2 and Charger Booster utilities. Biostar has also engineered a 5phase power supply design with 100% X.D.C solid capacitors.

Yes, you read right. Another lawsuit has been filed against illegal Bit Torrent downloaders, and approximately 23,000 of them in the US. This could well be the biggest downloading case in US to date.

The TZ68A+ has onboard HDMI, DVI and VGA outputs. It supports Lucid Virtu GPU Virtualization, allowing the user to take dynamically switch between Intel HD Graphics and a discrete GPU for different tasks.

According to online reports, over 23,000 users in the US may face lawsuits for illegal Bit Torrent movie downloads. Apparently, a federal judge has allowed the U.S. Copyright Group, a plaintiffs' organization formed by indy film producers, to force ISPs to unveil the IP addresses of every user who illegally downloaded the film. To top it all, these file sharers were found to have downloaded the 2010 movie "The Expendables" starring popular action stars like Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundren and Jason Statham. This could be the largest illegal-downloading case in U.S. history. The 23,000 BitTorrent users may have to decide whether to pay the Copyright Group several thousand dollars to settle or face possible damages of up to $150,000 per infringement.

The Biostar TZ68A+ also features USB 3.0 support and sixchannel HD Audio. Six SATA ports (including two SATA 6Gbps ports) are available for use with Intel's SSD caching feature.

Biostar Reveals Z68 Motherboard Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/biostar-reveals-z68motherboard/12144.html May 11th, 2011

See the full press release below: BIOSTAR announces new Z68 motherboard - â&#x20AC;&#x153;TZ68A +â&#x20AC;? Taipei, Taiwan, May 11, 2011 - BIOSTAR MICROTECH INT'L CORP., A professional manufacturer of motherboards, introduces Intel Z68 chipset based motherboard that supports Intel 19

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2nd generation Sandy Bridge processor family, it is special designed for advanced gamers and overclocking fans. BIOSTAR “TZ68A+”, the only solution supports both built-in graphics and external overclocking among Intel Sandy Bridge processors; it is also equipped with Lucid Virtu GPU Virtualization – a dynamic switching between built-in processor graphics and high-end 3D performance discrete graphics cards. Moreover, it also fully supports Intel Smart Response Technology – enabling SSD like performance with HDD capacity. BIOSTAR “TZ68A+”, is ATX form factor with black color PCB design; it adopts Intel’s latest Z68 B3 stepping chipset and BIOSTAR exclusive BIORemote2 & Charger Booster utilities. For the on board power supply, “TZ68A+” uses a 5-phase power supply design with 100% X.D.C solid capacitor. For the memory, “TZ68A+” provides 4 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3 2133 (OC) and features a one-phase power supply independently. For storage, it provides 4 x SATA2 and 2 x SATA3 disk interfaces. For the extended slots, “TZ68A+” provides 2 x PCI-E x16 2.0 display card slots, supporting dualcard mode. Furthermore, various IO interfaces are available including 2 x USB2.0, 2 x USB3.0, PS/2, HDMI+DVI+HDCP, RJ45, and 6 channel HD audio outputs.

Published by: VR-Zone

markets respectively. These lower cost alternatives will also use the SandForce SF-2200 controller found in OCZ's top-end Vertex 3.

The Agility 3 is available in 60GB, 120GB and 240GB sizes, while the Solid 3 is available only in 60GB and 120GB sizes. The 60GB option is targeted for use as a boot drive. For best performance, OCZ recommends that the drive be used with a SATA 6Gbps controller. Both drives come with a 3-year warranty. We have quoted below OCZ's specifications for 120GB drives across its three SSD product lines: Solid 3 120GB Max Performance • Max Read: up to 500MB/s • Max Write: up to 450MB/s • Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 20,000 IOPS Agility 3 120GB Max Performance • Max Read: up to 525MB/s

About BIOSTAR Group BIOSTAR was established in 1986, ranked Top 20 most valuable international Taiwanese brand in 2008 with an estimate brand value of US$ 46 million. BIOSTAR has enriched its competence in the design and manufacture of motherboards, and will continue serving its customers with the best quality and services.

OCZ Announces New Value SSDs: Agility 3 & Solid 3 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ocz-announces-new-value-ssdsagility-3--solid-3/12142.html May 11th, 2011

• Max Write: up to 500MB/s • Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 50,000 IOPS Vertex 120GB Max Performance • Max Read: up to 550MB/s • Max Write: up to 500MB/s • Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 60,000 IOPS

See the full press release below:

OCZ Technology Announces the Agility 3 and Solid 3 SATA II

New SSDs Deliver SATA 6Gbps Speeds with Outstanding Balanc

SAN JOSE, CA?May 10, 2011?OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasd

OCZ has updated its range of solid state drives (SSD) with the Agility 3 and Solid 3. These are targeted at the mainstream and budget markets, and will also use the SandForce SF-2200 controller found in OCZ's top-end Vertex 3. OCZ has updated its range of solid state drives (SSD) with the Agility 3 and Solid 3, targeted at the mainstream and budget

?With increased availability of SATA III platforms, the de

Agility 3 and Solid 3 SSDs feature the leading-edge SandFo

May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

you answer, the greater the opportunity to win. One lucky fan will be drawn from each theme category. The six lucky winners will and be able to options, collect their prizes 3atand the Solid MSI Booth Available in a new boot-drive size 60GB capacity as well as 120GB 240GB Agility 3 SSDs fea (#L607) during Computex 2011. These prizes include the MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) mainboard, MSI 560GTX-Ti Hawk graphics card, Kingston 2133/4GX (Genesis XMP Special Grey Series) http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-agility-3-sata-iii-2-5-ssd.htmlhttp://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-solid-3-sata-iii-2 Memory and Tt eSPORTS Gaming Acessories. Don’t forget to invite your friends to join!

Great prizes for MSI Fans at Computex 2011 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/great-prizes-for-msi-fans-atcomputex-2011/12140.html May 11th, 2011

MSI hosts the “Star Fans Come To Meet” event on the MSI Fan Club Facebook Fanpage from May 11 - May 26 in order to connect with fans. Join MSI Fan Club and answer the questions on the event page, and you will have the opportunity to win the great prizes from MSI at Computex 2011. These prizes include the MSI P67A-GD65 (B3) mainboard, MSI 560GTX-Ti Hawk graphics card, Kingston 2133/4GX (Genesis XMP Special Grey Series) Memory and Tt eSPORTS Gaming Acessories.

Leading mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI hosts the “Star Fans Come To Meet” event on the MSI Fan Club Facebook Fanpage from May 11 - May 26 in order to connect with fans. Join MSI Fan Club and answer the questions on the event page, and you will have the opportunity to win the great prizes from MSI at Computex 2011. A major IT event in Taiwan, Computex 2011 will take place in Taipei from May 31 - June 4. As a leading IT manufacturer in the world, MSI will undoubtedly take part in this great IT occasion. At Computex 2011, MSI will display its mainboards and graphics cards in six different themes for consumers to learn about the new technology and product features of 2011. MSI Fan Club provides consumers with the latest product information on Facebook, and now it has organized the “Star Fans Come To Meet” event during Computex 2011 for fans to get the latest information on MSI products and even win great prizes from the MSI booth. Be sure to visit the MSI Fan Club site, and answer the questions related to the six thematic sites to win great prizes from MSI Fan Club and other leading component manufacturers at Computex 2011. The more the questions

Adobe launches Photoshop Touch apps for the Apple iPad Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/adobe-launches-photoshop-touchapps-for-the-apple-ipad/12138.html May 11th, 2011

Adobe has launched their new Photoshop Touch apps, designed for the Apple iPad tablet device - Adobe Color Lava, Adobe Eazel and Adobe Nav. The apps are available for purchase on the Apple App Store.

Adobe has announced the availability of their new Adobe Photoshop Touch apps – Adobe Color Lava, Adobe Eazel and Adobe Nav – for the Apple iPad. The apps were developed using the Photoshop Touch Software Development Kit (SDK) to demonstrate the potential for new interaction between Photoshop and tablet devices. Adobe Color Lava for Photoshop, Adobe Eazel for Photoshop and Adobe Nav for Photoshop offer fun and interactive experience of touch devices with the power and precision of Photoshop by enabling users to create custom color swatches, paint directly onscreen and drive popular Photoshop tools from tablet devices. Photoshop is a part of the recently announced Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 product family, enabling designers and developers to create for popular and emerging smartphone and tablet platforms. Current Photoshop CS5 owners can download a free update to enable new interaction between Photoshop and tablet devices.

May 11th, 2011

- Adobe Color Lava allows creatives to use their fingertips to mix colors on the iPad, creating custom color swatches and themes to transfer back into Photoshop. - Adobe Eazel takes advantage of cutting-edge painting technology by letting digital artists create rich realistic paintings with their fingertips, and introduces a new kind of interaction between “wet” and “dry” paints. These paintings can then be sent directly to Photoshop CS5 for compositing or for taking the artwork further. - Adobe Nav increases workflow efficiency by letting users select and control Photoshop tools using the iPad as the input surface, customize the toolbar, browse and zoom in on up to 200 open Photoshop files, or easily create new files. - Adobe Photoshop Touch Software Development Kit (SDK) enables developers to build tablet applications that interact with Photoshop from Android, BlackBerry PlayBook and iOS devices.

COMPUTEX : be quiet! to unveil new line of PSUs, SilentWings Fans and CPU Coolers Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/computex--be-quiet-to-unveil-newline-of-psus-silentwings-fans-and-cpu-coolers/12135.html May 11th, 2011

be quiet! will attend this year's Computex in Taipei and present ten new exclusive products. Updates and extensions of existing models can as well be expected as some brand new products. The highlights are the new Straight Power and Dark Power Pro models, the extension of the SilentWings fan family and new CPU coolers with 135mm fans.

be quiet!, Germany's marketleader for computer power supplies, will attend this year's Computex in Taipei. The company uses this event as a stage to present ten new exclusive products. Updates and extensions of existing models can as well be expected as some brand new products. The highlights are the new Straight Power and Dark Power Pro models, the extension of the SilentWings fan family and new CPU coolers with 135mm fans. Dark Power Pro P10 and Straight Power E9

Published by: VR-Zone

in its tenth revision and engineers again gave their best for this new edition. It comes with a 80-Plus-Platinum certification, which guarantees the highest possible efficiency and is still very rare within the market. Revised Dark Rock coolers und new SilentWings fans Even in cooling, there's a lot to come from be quiet!. Though the German brand just launched into the CPU cooler market, they already present new models in Taipei. There will be revised Dark Rock coolers with new 135mm fans as well as two new coolers. The very popular SilentWings fans will have an update to and will surprise the public with their new abilities and look.

Third Attack Attempt On Sony PlayStation Network Thwarted Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/third-attack-attempt-on-sonyplaystation-network-thwarted/12133.html May 11th, 2011

Another bad day for Sony? CNET is actually claiming that Sony managed to thwart the would-be hackers and stopped a third attack, but it’s all thanks to them! "CNET has learned that our publication of the group’s plan may have caused Sony to secure the remaining servers this group claims it had access to, shutting off any avenues for another attack.", the company said. And continues: "On Thursday we reported that a group of hackers believed to be involved in the intrusion on PlayStation Network was planning yet another attack on Sony, this time on an unspecified company Web site, with the goal of posting any information they could find somewhere online. The hackers said at the time that they were planning another wave of cyberattacks against Sony in retaliation for its handling of the PlayStation Network breach. An observer of the Internet Relay Chat channel used by the hackers told CNET about the hackers' plans." "Apparently Sony saw that article because the last server that I could access is offline now…its probably (sic) being patched like the other servers. There goes our window." Sony has shut down PSN, Qriocity, and Sony Online while it does a total rebuild of the security systems. Overall, the personal information of more than 100 million Sony customers has been exposed in the breach. Sony has promised to compensate customers with free ID theft monitoring, as well as free content and 30 days of free access to the premium version of PSN.

Looking at power supplies, visitors can get a look at the new versions of the Dark Power Pro and Straight Power series, which will set new efficiency and performance records, when they are releases. The top model, called Dark Power Pro P10 is 22

May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

Review : Akasa Helix Notebook Cooler Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/review--akasa-helix-notebookcooler/12132.html May 11th, 2011

Akasa first started off in 1997, making them one of the first high performance computer cooling solutions manufacturers. Today Akasa has diversified into other market areas but the company still offers a great range of cooling related products. Today we are going to review a simple but interesting product, the Helix aluminium notebook cooler. What makes the Helix special is...

Although a little bit on the early side, Asus has announced its Intel Z68 chipset based motherboards without giving away too much information. Currently the only board listed on the manufacturer's website is the P8Z68-V Pro, although the announcement did at least give us an early glance at the Maximus IV Gene-Z, Asus' ROG mATX board. The picture of the board is tiny and it's hard to make out a lot of details, but from what we can see it's clear that the Maximus IV Gene-Z has a pair of PCI Express x16 slots as well as a single x4 slot. The space between the x16 slots is taken up by what mostly appears to be capacitors. There are no additional SATA ports on this board, so the 4+2 SATA 3Gbps/6Gbps standard Intel chipset ports is all you get. The board appears to have a front header for a pair of USB 3.0 ports as well which is a nice addition.

...not the aluminium body but that it features a massive 20cm fan which is still powered from a single USB port. Application Material Outline dimension Fan dimension Fan speed Fan air flow Fan air pressure Voltage rating USB cable Weight Available colours Product code

17" - 15.6" Notebooks / MacBooks Aluminium facia panel 380 x 296.5 x 54mm 200 x 200 x 20mm High speed 800 RPM, low speed 500 RPM 63.7 CFM 0.44mm H2O 5V DC 600mm 910g Anodized black or brushed aluminium AK-NBC-31BK , AKNBC-31AL

Asus announces its Z68 boards Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-announces-its-z68boards/12131.html May 11th, 2011

Around the back we can see a PS/2 port, what appears to be eight USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, a pair of eSATA ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an HDMI port and 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF out. The board will come with Lucid Logix Virtu graphics switching software in the box, but apart from that we don't know much else about the board. Hopefully it won't be too long until we have more details on this board and Asus other upcoming Z68 products.

ViewSonic launches the ViewPad 4 and V350 in Taiwan Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/viewsonic-launches-the-viewpad-4and-v350-in-taiwan/12130.html May 11th, 2011

On Tuesday, ViewSonic launched two new smartphones, although the company prefers to call one of them a tablet for some reason. Apparently ViewSonic has an arbitrary limit that devices with screens 4-inches and below are smartphones, whereas devices with screens 4.1-inches and above are tablets. 23

May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

As such we have the ViewPad 4, 4.1-inch "tablet" and the V350 3.5-inch smartphone. Earlier today ViewSonic launched two new smartphones, although the company prefers to call one of them a tablet for some reason. Apparently ViewSonic has an arbitrary limit that devices with screens 4-inches and below are smartphones, whereas devices with screens 4.1-inches and above are tablets. As such we have the ViewPad 4, 4.1-inch "tablet" and the V350 3.5-inch smartphone.

Overall the ViewPad 4 ticks most of the boxes it should tick to be a competitive Android smartphone, although for whatever reason ViewSonic decided to launch it with Android 2.2, but promises that itäll work with 2.3 without mentioning an actual date when the upgrade would become available. At least ViewSonic refrained from messing around too much with Android and itäs pretty much a stock build with a few extra apps thrown in, which is a good thing in our opinion.

The ViewPad 4 is actually a pretty decent handset, even compared to most competitors as it sports a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 SoC which has been paired up with 512MB of RAM and 2GB of storage memory. Add to this an 800x480 4.1inch capacitive touch screen, a 5 Megapixel camera with LED flash that shoots 720p video, a VGA resolution front camera, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, aGPS, every sensor you could ever need, a micro SD card slot and even a micro HDMI port and you got a pretty decent handset.

The design of the handset itself is somewhat unusual with the silver part at the bottom with the ViewSonic logo on it. The tiny, side mounted power button is another strange design quirk and we can see this becoming a potential long term problem, as the one button you donät want to stop working on you is the power button. All said and done, it comes down to the price and ViewSonic has priced the ViewPad 4 at in Taiwan a very competitive NT$14,900 (S$641) which is all things considered more affordable than its competitors.

Microsoft agrees to buy Skype for $8.5B However, it doesnät stop there though, as ViewSonic has kitted out the ViewPad 4 with a tri-band WDCMA radio which supports the 900, 1900 and 2100MHz frequencies and offers HSDPA speeds of up to 14.4Mbit/s. Thereäs of course support for quad band GSM as well, just in case. The battery is rated at 1,400mAh which is said to last up to 400h in standby. The handset measures 122x66x10mm (HxWxD) and weighs in at 143g.

Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-agrees-to-buy-skypefor-8.5b/12129.html May 11th, 2011

Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy the popular Internet telephone service Skype SA for $8.5 billion in the biggest deal in the software maker's 36-year history. Buying Skype gives Microsoft access to a user base of about 170 million people who log in to Skype every month, using 24

May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

the Internet and Skype usernames as a complement to the traditional phone network and its phone numbers. Microsoft said it will marry Skype's functions to its Xbox game console, Outlook email program and Windows smartphones. All of these platforms already have other options for Internet calling, but the addition of Skype users would expand their reach, making them more useful. Microsoft said it will continue to support Skype on other software platforms.

The Daily VR-Zone News Summary - 10 May 2011 Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/the-daily-vr-zone-news-summary--10may-2011/12128.html May 11th, 2011

The sellers include eBay Inc. and private equity firms Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz. Skype users made 207 billion minutes of voice and video calls last year. Most of that usage is free calling from computer to computer, which has made it difficult for the service to make money since entrepreneurs Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis started the company in 2003. An average of about 8.8 million customers per month, or just over 5 percent of the user base, pay to use Skype to call out to the regular phone network. The vast majority of paying Skype users is in Europe, where high country-to-country rates for traditional phone calls make Skype more popular than in the U.S., where state-to-state calling is cheap. Skype is the largest provider of international calling services in the world, surpassing any single phone company, according to research firm TeleGeography. Skype lost $7 million on revenue of $860 million last year, according to papers that the company has filed since announcing its intentions last summer to launch an initial public offering of stock. The IPO was later put on hold. Skype's long-term debt, net of cash, was $544 million at the end of 2010. The Skype takeover tops Microsoft's biggest previous acquisition — a $6 billion purchase of the online ad service aQuantive in 2007. Microsoft said Skype will become a new business division headed by Skype CEO Tony Bates, who will report directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Although it makes billions from its computer software, Microsoft has been accustomed to losing money on the Internet in a mostly futile attempt to catch up to Google Inc. in the lucrative online search market. Microsoft got so desperate that it made a $47.5 billion bid to buy Yahoo Inc. three years ago, but withdrew the offer after Yahoo balked. Yahoo is now worth about half of what Microsoft offered. Microsoft can well afford to buy Skype: On March 31, it had a cash hoard of $50.2 billion. Microsoft would be Skype's second large-company owner. EBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005, but its attempt to unite the phone service with its online shopping bazaar never worked out. It wound up selling a 70 percent stake in Skype to a group of investors led by private equity firms Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz for $2 billion 18 months ago. Besides eBay, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, Skype's other major shareholders are Joltid and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

In today's news roundup: Preview of the new GIGABYTE Z68UD4 motherboard with subtle undertones of matt grey on the heatsink ; ASUS P8Z68-VPro is the manufacturer's flagship model regarding Intel's upcoming Z68 chipset, and it gets reviewed; Adobe's three Photoshop CS5 companion applications for iPad -- Adobe Ezel, Nav and Color Lava -- are now available for purchase on the App Store; Next week, you'll be able to use your Paypal account to purchase content on your Xbox 360 system; Sony has delayed the relaunch of its online PlayStation video game network, and If you enjoyed the Thor movie and plans to get the game, read on for the God of Thunder review . Hardware news Description: While the original Tempest was a very well received case, NZXT did not rest on their laurels and made some improvements creating the Tempest EVO. This case is designed with the PC enthusiast and/or gamer in mind. Description: Deepcool has added an addition to the array of thermal compounds out there, and it isn’t one to be overlooked. While not being the absolute best out there, the Z5 still has lots to offer, especially for anyone looking to replace their stock thermal compound with something that can offer much better performance, at a very reasonable price. It’s estimated to be roughly $10 for the 3 gram tube. Description: GIGABYTE redesigned their motherboards this year with the introduction of Sandy Bridge and now endorse a stealthy black paintjob on all major ports, sockets and lanes with subtle undertones of matt grey on the heatsink. Description: The Black Element looks to be a strong contender in the world of gaming. It has a ton of features that any gamer would love to have. The main features push it towards a good MMO or RTS gamer mouse. Description: Today we are looking at a chassis that may be a mid tower, but takes traits from a couple of the later cases I just looked at; the Dragon Rider, and Dragon Slayer chassis exteriors. You will soon see the similarity in the exterior, along with a cool little lockable door on the side to give access to your hard drives.. Description: The P8Z68-VPro will be ASUS' flagship model regarding Intels upcoming Z68 chipset. Therefore it's able to score with a long featurelist. But first of all we will check out if it is able to convince from a layout and design perspective. Description: The V.REX L-1200 is yet another tempting product by 3R System and although it doesn’t bring anything 25

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new and not already seen with their cases still it does feature way more room for cable management, USB 3.0 ports, 5 preinstalled fans, top 3-way fan controller and the latest version of their HDD noise killer 2.

Published by: VR-Zone

HP Singapore had unveiled the new TouchSmart 610 all-inone PC in March, and we at VR-Zone managed to get one in for review. So is this all-in-one PC as good as other full desktop systems? Read on.

Consumer Electronics and Software news Description: Adobe's three Photoshop CS5 companion applications for iPad -- Adobe Ezel, Nav and Color Lava -- are now available for purchase on the App Store. Description: Sources say Sony Music and Universal proved to be bottlenecks for the cloud-based service, which allows users to upload music to a personal online storage locker, from where they can stream and download files to Internet connected devices. Description: Firefox 4's share shot up 11% the first day after Mozilla started offering users the upgrade last week, and climbed 30% in four days. Description: Next week, you'll be able to use your Paypal account to purchase content on your Xbox 360 system. Microsoft reportedly plans to begin rolling out a new update to the Xbox 360 on May 19, and one of the biggest changes will be the addition of Paypal. Description: Epson has created a well-rounded projector with the EX7200. It has versatile connection options that make it ideal for both corporate and home environments. The ability to use the remote control as a wireless mouse comes in handy, while support for USB drives to view JPG images allows quick viewing of photos. Description: Although physically sizeable, Samsung Sens R540 isn’t too heavy, which means that it’ll sit in anyone’s lap or on a desk just as easily. The production quality is marvellous, there are no screeches or “breathing room”, everything fits nicely and gives an impression of firmness and reliability. Gaming news Description: Sony has delayed the relaunch of its online PlayStation video game network. It had previously said the network would resume normal operations by the weekend. Description: The first part of Mileena and Kitana's story focused on the mythology of the series. This second part delivers more centralized action and character.

The desktop PC has evolved over the years from the rectangular tower to trendy chassis designs, and now we have the all-in-one systems whereby the hardware components are usually incorporated to the back of the display. No more fuss about those medium tower chassis and not to mention, an all-in-one PC helps to save space in your home or office too. Introduced in 2007, the HP TouchSmart series comprised of tablet PC laptops and touchscreen all-in-one desktop computers and the TouchSmart 610 is the latest addition to the family and boasts a 23-inch HD wide LCD touchscreen display. Yes, it has a touchscreen that lets you draw and write onwith your finger. Before we move on, here's a quick look at the HP's specifications:CPU Memory Hard disk Screen Graphics Display resolution Connectivity

Description: Thor: God of Thunder hammers out an experience that is absolutely awful in every way.

HP TouchSmart 610 Review: A stylish and smart all-in-one PC Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hp-touchsmart-610-review-a-stylishand-smart-all-in-one-pc/12062.html May 11th, 2011

HP TouchSmart 610 Intel Core i3-560 @ 3.33GHz 4GB DDR3 RAM (Up to 8192MB) 1TB SATA (Up to 2TB) 23-inch HD wide LCD AMD Radeon 5570 1920x1080 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, 10/100/1000BaseT LAN, 6x USB 2.0, headphone, microphone, 6-in-1 card reader Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit

Nufront shows off new highperformance, ARM Cortex A9based SoC Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nufront-shows-off-new-highperformance-arm-cortex-a9-based-soc/12127.html

May 11th, 2011 May 11th, 2011

Nufront has been touting an overclocked, ARM Coretx A9based SoC that runs at the blazing speed of 2GHz for quite some time already, but it is only now that the company has started to show off the aforementioned SoC's capabilities when used to power a tablet. So what does Nufront's overpowered SoC has to offer for tablet devices, besides its unheard-of speeds? Read on to find out more.

Published by: VR-Zone

acceleration for full HD videos as well as integrated controllers for SATA2, USB2, Ethernet and other standard I/O ports. On top of that, Nufront has reportedly tested the NuSmart 2816 SoC by using it to power a tablet of its own making which features an 8-inch display and runs off Android 3.0. According to reports, the tablet was easily outperforming even NVIDIA's Tegra 2 SoC, which is recognized as one of the fastest SoCs available today.

A long time ago, way back in September last year, a company known as Nufront showed off what was essentially a superpowered version of a System-on-a-chip (SoC) based off the ARM Cortex A9 microarchitecture. Known back then as the NuSmart 2815, the SoC boasted various unique features such as its use of a dual-core processor and an unheard-of speed of 2GHz, all at a puny power consumption of 2w. Fast forward to the present, and it appears that Nufront has been hard at work in further refining the NuSmart 2815 it showed off back then, and its results come in the form of what appears to be the direct successor of the NuSmart 2815 - the NuSmart 2816 SoC. Which, once again, has been based off the ARM Cortex A9 microarchitecture.

No information about the NuSmart 2816's power consumption has been revealed, although it is very possible that the chip is not expected to be significantly power-hungrier than the NuSmart 2815, which had a rating of a mere 2w, due to both the 2816 and 2815 having many features in common. More importantly, Nufront has been keeping quiet about when its first batch of NuSmart 2816 chips will be ready for sampling (if at all), so suffice to say there is a distinct possibility that the NuSmart 2816 may never see the light of day outside of China. But if it means anything, it would seem that the NuSmart 2816 will be built off a 40nm process.

Microsoft announces Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-announces-windows-azuretoolkit-for-ios/12125.html May 11th, 2011

*image is for illustration only While very little detail was known about the NuSmart 2815 when it first saw the light of day, Nufront has apparently released significantly more information about its NuSmart 2816 SoC and its various capabilities. Like its predecessor, the NuSmart 2816 is capable of breaking the maximum clock speed limit of 1.5GHz specified by ARM due to Nufront having signed a licence agreement with ARM which gives the company the right to make its own modifications to the processor. As such, the NuSmart 2816 is capable of attaining clock speeds ranging from 1.6GHz to 2.0GHz, thus making it the fastest A9-based SoC to exist. In addition to its high clock speeds, the NuSmart 2816 also comes with various other features built into it. These features include an integrated multi-core 2D/3D graphics processor, 64bit DDR2/3-1066 memory controller, hardware

If Steve Ballmer's little dance and "developers, developers, developers" chant made onstage years ago was anything to go by, it should be no surprise that Microsoft clearly ranks developers high on their list of people they need to spare no expense in pleasing. And from the looks of it, it seems that Microsoft's love for developers have not faded in the slightest bit even after so many years; apparently, in an effort to win more developers for its Windows Azure cloud platform, the software giant is willing to show some love to its competitors by porting its Windows Azure Toolkit to both iOS and Android. It is an open secret that Microsoft loves developers a lot. Or at least, Steve Ballmer does, especially if one remembers that it was Ballmer himself who broke into a little dance and started chanting "developers, developers, developers" in one of his presentations many years back. Fast forward to the present, and it would seem that the software giant's love for developers has not diminished in the slightest bit over the 27

May 11th, 2011

Published by: VR-Zone

years. In fact, the company is still actively trying to court even more developers for its Windows ecosystem, and its latest act involved attempting to sway mobile developers into creating apps for its Windows Azure cloud platform by releasing its Windows Azure toolkit for Apple's iOS operating system.

According to the blog posting made on the Windows Azure blogs in MSDN, the Windows Azure toolkit is aimed at "enabling developers to build native experiences on multiple platforms using Windows Azure", and the release of the iOS version of the toolkit is "the next step in the process". The iOS toolkit will contain various resources such as a compiled Objective C library needed to work with services running in Windows Azure, as well as the full source code for the aforementioned library (along with an Xcode project file), sample iOS applications and the all-important documentation. If the developer in you is interested in getting this toolkit for your iOS-powered device and giving it a go, do take note that Microsoft is not making the toolkit available for download in the form of a tarball. Instead, developers will have to head over to Github to pull the required libraries needed for use at the following links: Furthermore, Microsoft has revealed that it is working hard to extend the same love to Android developers as well. And to prove it, the software giant showed off a screenshot of prerelease version of the Windows Azure toolkit running on the Android emulator provided by Google's Android SDK, with the final release build slated for a June release