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Archive for May, 2010

Vidabox announces partnership w. Get digital, inc.: dealers can offer servers pre-loaded with clients’ purchased digital content

May 31st, 2010

VidaBox LLC, a leading manufacturer of Blu-ray, DVD, and audio server hardware is proud to announce their partnership with Get Digital, Inc., a service provider for encoding disc-based media libraries into computer file formats. Dealers wishing to offer VidaBox servers preloaded with a customers’ media collection can now utilize Get Digital’s archiving services, saving tremendous time and labor, while offering a complete, superior end product.

“Based on dealer feedback, one of the biggest challenges in media server installations may sometimes be having their clients load all of their purchased discs,” says Steven Cheung, President of VidaBox, LLC. “For example, customers with large music CD collections can take several days, or even weeks, of non-stop archiving for everything to be loaded onto the server. Afterwards, there are inevitably some metadata inaccuracies or missing cover art that need to be addressed, making it a very labor intensive process. Get Digital’s services take care of all that, allowing dealers to offer their clients a server with preloaded content that is ready to enjoy right away.”

Installers can send their customers’ entire disc collections to Get Digital, who will digitally encode and “groom” the content, assuring perfect metadata accuracy for all of the discs. VidaBox will coordinate the integrator’s server order with Get Digital, so that their client will receive a system with all of their content preloaded and ready to enjoy at the end. As an added bonus, integrators will receive a referral fee for every conversion project.

“Get Digital is pleased to partner with VidaBox and provide dealers with a simple way to load content to their servers,” stated Doug Strachota, co-founder of Get Digital, Inc. VidaBox has been a pioneer in integrating the best solutions for Media Center systems, combining movies, music, TV, and more into one simple interface. Get Digital extends the simplicity of these servers by quickly loading entire media libraries for secure storage, minimizing any setup or installation time, and maximizing the value VidaBox systems provide.”

Get Digital’s encoding and archiving services are available now. For details on Get Digital’s services and offerings, please visit their website at http://www.getdigitalinc.com, or call 317-567-5065. For information on the VidaBox line of digital entertainment and control hardware solutions.

Source:http://www.hometoys.com/news_detail.php?id=17607896

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Posted in Hardware News

Tags: computer Hardware

Asus ready to launch Asus UL20FT with next gen ULV processor

May 31st, 2010

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Asus reportedly plans to update its 12.1 inch Asus UL20a notebook by swapping out the Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor for Intel’s latest ULV chipset. Details are a bit scarce at the moment, but SemiAccurate reports that the new model will be dubbed the Asus UL20FT and that it will be available with a choice of processors.

What we do know is that Asus will offer the UL20FT with a choice of two different CPU’s, the Celeron U3400 and the Core i3 330UM, both of which are low power mobile processors. The Celeron U3400 should have a clock speed of a mere 1.02GHz and lacks support for Turbo Boost, while the Core i3 330UM is slightly faster at 1.2GHz, although again, this CPU shouldn’t have Turbo Boost support, unlike the Core i5 UM processors. On a brighter note, Asus has implemented its Turbo33 technology which allows both CPU’s to be overclocked by up to 33 percent.

The UL20FT will come with up to 4GB of DDR3 1066MHz memory, up to 500GB of hard drive space and it will of course also have Wi-Fi and onboard Ethernet. The 12.1-inch screen has a resolution of 1366×768, the same as its larger siblings. At 1.56kg this notebook is competing with netbooks in terms of weight, although we’d expect it to be somewhat more expensive. The final price will of course depend on a combination of the hardware and operating system, as Asus will offer the UL20FT which a choice of various Windows 7 versions. We’ll bring you more details of Asus’ new notebooks from Computex, as the company should launch a wide range of new models at the show.

There’s no word on pricing or availability — or whether the computer will look any different than the UL20A. But Asus is expected to show off the new model at Computex next week, so we should have more information soon.

Source:http://techpinger.com/2010/05/asus-ready-to-launch-asus-ul20ft-with-next-gen-ulv-processor/

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Tags: Asus Processor

MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte release drivers to allow PC iPad charging

May 31st, 2010

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Back in April, more specifically, on the exact day the iPad launched we told you that numerous reports had begun making their rounds of users being unable to charge their iPad through USB ports on PCs while Mac users were having no problems. This led many users to believe that Apple was intentionally punishing PC users, but this was not the case.

When asked why exactly iPads weren’t charging on most PCs and were charging on all Macs, Apple responded that the iPad will charge through USB only when the computer is capable of providing enough power. In other words, if you have an underpowered USB port, the chances of you being able to charge your iPad through it were slim to none.

Luckily, MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte have announced that they will be launching software developed for their hardware that will allow users to charge their iPad through any USB port. The way this works is the software detects which USB port you have your iPad plugged in to and then diverts a big more juice to said port effectively making it able to charge an iPad.

Like I said before, this software was developed specifically for MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte hardware but videos (much like the one below) have surfaced that show users testing out the software on a plethora of different devices with varying degrees of success.

Now, there’s no telling if the software will have any adverse effects on your rig if it’s not using MSI, ASUS or Gigabyte hardware so if you’re one who needs to try out new things like this, you’re going to have to do so at your own risk. Theoretically, there is a chance of the software not being compatible with the hardware resulting in improper power allocation thus resulting in fried hardware.

You wouldn’t want that, now would you?

Source:http://nexus404.com/Blog/2010/05/31/msi-asus-and-gigabyte-release-drivers-to-allow-pc-ipad-charging/

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Posted in Hardware News

Tags: Drivers iPad

Apple to direct subsidies to Foxconn workers

May 31st, 2010

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Apple is planning to redistribute some of its product profits back to Foxconn workers, claims a Chinese news site. Foxconn is one of principal manufacturers of Apple hardware, but has been accused of maintaining sweatshop-like conditions, with low pay and mandatory overtime, including hours so long that workers only have time to sleep and eat outside of their shifts. At least nine Foxconn workers have successfully killed themselves in recent months.

The change in Apple policy is said to be the result of a corporate investigation exploring the connections between suicides and factory working conditions. Low wages have allegedly been identified as the major problem, and so Apple is now reported to be redirecting between 1 and 2 percent of its device profits back to Foxconn workers in the form of a direct subsidy. The first product to fall under this program should be the iPad; while Apple has been paying Foxconn about 2.3 percent of the price of an iPad, this number is expected to increase to 3 percent, roughly the cost of the aluminum back.

Foxconn may be under intense pressure from Apple to deliver large shipments. Even though the latter company has sold over 2 million iPads to date, demand is still going unmet, and the number of countries with the tablet is only scheduled to expand. Still more work is likely underway for the fourth-generation iPhone and other products.

Source:http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/05/31/said.to.stem.from.internal.investigation/

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Tags: Apple Hardware

Future computers will be human-like

May 31st, 2010

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In the years ahead, it is not impossible that our computers will be more human than machine, as a group of Japanese and American researchers have recently built a parallel computer made of organic molecules.

The researchers been trying to imitate human brain’s behaviors in order to make a computer processor that relies more on hardware to solve problems and reduce the excessive processing time that comes from using complex software. To build their processor, electric pulses were transmitted into the layers of organic material, to then bring information and create circuits between the molecules that can compute.

Biological processor is believed to solve complex problems faster due to better memory and the brain-like parallel computing. The team wishes to succeed their goal, using algae nevertheless.

Source:-http://www.24worldnews.com/future-computers-will-be-human-like/17124/

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Tags: Computers future

Asus EEE pad

May 31st, 2010

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The new EEE Pad from Asus has been revealed at the Computex 2010 event. The EEE Pad is basically a tablet with nothing but a touch screen. The whole device is about 10 and 12 inches in diagonal length and runs Windows 7. The 10 inch version has Windows Embedded Compact 7 and the 12 inch version has probably the Windows 7 Home Basic or some other full version of Win7.

The 12 inch version of the EEE Pad boasts an Intel Core 2 Duo CULV processor. This processor would have the power of the Core 2 Duo but the power consumption of an Atom. Thus the 12 inch version is the real attraction. The processor and other specs of the 10 inch version are not known yet but it would probably have a dual core version of the Atom processor.

The EEE Pad comes without any keyboard or track pad thus making tasks that require intensive typing quite difficult with a touch screen keyboard. To remedy this Asus has announced to launch a docking system for the pad that would contain a keyboard and mouse. For portability however, the built in software for typing should prove adequate.

It is known at this time that the EEE Pad would have at least one USB port, not more though because the thickness of the pad is extremely less and to keep it that way extra hardware for the USB was avoided. Still one USB port is quite enough for tasks associated with ultra portable computers.

Source:-http://news.puggal.com/asus-eee-pad-39464/

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Tags: Asus iPad

ASUS Pre-Computex 2010 Seminar.

May 31st, 2010

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ASUS Pre-Computex 2010 Seminar.
Computex which is held every year in Taipei, Taiwan provides a platform to all hardware manufacturers (big and small) to show their lasts innovative technologies. Asus being one of the top of the line hardware manufacturers including motherboards, graphic cards, etc held a pre-computex conference where it announced the products it will launch for the users on Computex. Here’s a little intro about Asus itself:

This Computex we will look at a new high-end motherboard from Asus named Crosshair Formula IV which is an addition to its ROG (Republic of Gamer) Line of motherboards. The motherboard will feature new technologies such as Core Unlocker, Turbo Unlocker and Turbo Key II forming the premise of their TPU core logic, ASUS are bringing overclocking into the mainstream market. The motherboard is based on the AMD 890 FX chip and the motherboard has the AM3 socket which supports the AMD Phenom II, Athlon II and Sempron 100 Series processors.

The motherboard offers some of the latest innovations by Asus for their ROG line of motherboards such as ROG connect/RC Bluetooth and Extreme OC zone tools which make you forget about the manual OC and let you OC through a Bluetooth enabled device for OC but user can still OC the traditional way if he wants too. The motherboard also has the latest USB 3.0 and Sata 6gb/s ports.

The motherboard also comes with the Lucid chip. Now to many people it may sound new but Lucid is actually a company which was working on developing a chip which would enable multi-GPU solution on any platform and using any graphics card. It didn’t bode well for AMD or Nvidia who saw their own multi-GPU implementation being threatened, more so for Nvidia who required license fees for SLI. But for the consumer it was looking promising, and the prospect of being able to add any additional GPU to their system for a boost in performance was close to becoming a reality.

But Lucid’s first chip “Lucid 100” was a total failure due to scaling issues. But with Intel’s funding the company came back with the Lucid 200 chip. This time it got 100% scalability with reference SLI and Crossfire setup and was a success for Muti-GPU setups and according to Asus claims the Lucid 200 setup performs better than AMD’s native crossfire setup. The motherboard will offer 5 pci-e x16 2.0 slots out of which three run at x16 and other two will run at x8 speed and user can add up to 4 Graphic cards for multi-gpu setup.