Archive for November, 2010

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Gartner cuts PC sales forecast

November 30th, 2010
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Market researchers are scaling back forecasts for global sales of personal computers, blaming an uncertain economic outlook in some markets and competition from tablet devices such as Apple Inc’s iPad.

Research firm Gartner cut its 2010 forecast on Monday, just as the crucial holiday sales season was getting under way for PC makers like Hewlett-Packard Co, Acer, Dell Inc and Lenovo.

Gartner said it expected consumers and businesses to hold off on buying PCs in the near-term as they seek to save money.

It said it now expected PC shipments this year to rise 14.3 percent to 352 million units, and it pegged next year’s growth rate at 15.9 percent. It had previously forecast growth of 17.9 percent in 2010 and 18.1 percent in 2011.

“These results reflect marked reductions in expected near-term unit growth based on expectations of weaker consumer demand, due in no small part to growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad,” Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner, said in a statement.

He said he expected media tablets to displace about 10 percent of PC units by 2014.

Market researcher IDC said it was seeing a similar trend, though a spokesman said sales were still poised to grow in the double digits. IDC will update its forecast in mid-December.

Data from Gartner and IDC are watched closely to gauge the strength of the PC market.

Separately, Gartner said worldwide shipments of servers, or computer systems used by large organizations, rose 14.2 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier. HP led with 32.1 percent of overall revenue in the server market, with IBM a close second with 30.2 percent, Gartner said.

Of the top five vendors, only Oracle suffered a decline in third-quarter revenue, Gartner said. Oracle, the world’s third-largest software maker, has been trying to step up its competitive edge in hardware following its $7.5 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems earlier this year.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tech-News-Hardware/Gartner-cuts-PC-sales-forecast/articleshow/7014180.cms

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Sandisk, nikon and sony propose industry standards for next-generation high-speed memory card format

November 30th, 2010
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SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), Nikon Corporation and Sony Corporation today announced the joint development of a set of specifications that addresses the future requirements of professional photography and video markets. The three companies proposed the specifications to the CompactFlash® Association (CFA)1, the international standards organization, with the intent to standardize the format.

Professional photography and High Definition (HD)2 video applications require a new generation of memory cards capable of processing significantly larger files. To address the imaging industry’s future speed and capacity demands, SanDisk, Nikon and Sony proposed a new card specification whose performance and storage capabilities surpass those of existing memory cards. Once accepted, the new format will enable exciting new possibilities in the professional imaging and video markets.

The proposed specifications achieve data transfer rates of up to 500 megabytes per second (MB/sec)3 (theoretical maximum interface speed) using the highly versatile PCI Express4 interface. The increased speeds will enable imaging and video applications that could not be accomplished using the current CompactFlash specification’s Parallel ATA (PATA)5 interface. CF6.0, released in November 2010, offers maximum performance of up to 167MB/sec.

The new specifications’ faster speeds enable continuous burst shooting of massive RAW images. The enhanced performance also allows users to quickly transfer storage-intensive high-resolution photos and videos from the card to a computer. The specifications combine high-speed data transfer with low power consumption via a power scaling system to extend battery life.

In addition to industry-leading performance capabilities, the new memory card specifications also meet the future capacity and durability requirements of professional imaging applications. The proposed new format has the potential to extend theoretical maximum capacities beyond two terabytes (TB)6, making it especially useful for high resolution images and HD video applications. Similar in size to a CompactFlash® card, the new format’s access control function and highly durable form factor produce a combination of physical ruggedness and reliability that is indispensable for professional usage models.

“This ultra high-speed media format will enable further evolution of hardware and imaging applications, and widen the memory card options available to CompactFlash users such as professional photographers,” said Mr. Shigeto Kanda, Canon, and chairman of the board, CFA. “This next generation format is expected to be widely adapted to various products, including those other than high-end DSLRs.”

“The ultra high-speed media, which will be realized by this new card format, will expand the capability of digital SLR cameras and other professional digital imaging equipment,” said Mr. Kazuyuki Kazami, operating officer, vice president and general manager, development headquarters, imaging company, Nikon Corporation.

Source:http://www.benzinga.com/press-releases/10/11/b650602/sandisk-nikon-and-sony-propose-industry-standards-for-next-generation-h

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Gigabyte geforce gtx 480 super overclock review

November 30th, 2010
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Introduction

Gigabyte is a brand that is well-known to most PC gaming hardware enthusiasts. Formed in 1986 in Taipei, it has grown to be one of the largest and most respected PC component manufacturers in the industry. Gigabyte’s product lines include motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, power supplies, computer cases, notebooks, netbooks, Barebones PCs, and even mobile phones.

Today, we are taking a close look at one of Gigabyte’s brand new flagship video cards which was just released only weeks ago this month (November) poised to bring new life into the GeForce GTX 480 : the GeForce GTX 480 SOC (GV-N480SO-15I).

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 GPU

Launched on March 25, 2010, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 is NVIDIA’s first DirectX 11 GPU. Known as Fermi, the GTX 480 is built on a 40nm process and boasts 480 CUDA cores. It also packs 60 Texture units and 48 Raster Operators (ROPs.) The reference Graphics Clock is 700MHz, while the CUDA cores are supposed to operate at 1401MHz. The GTX 480 utilizes GDDR5 memory and NVIDIA’s reference design calls for 1536MB of it to be configured at 3.696GHz on a 384-bit bus. This gives the GeForce GTX 480 a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 177.4GB per second. The GTX 480 is rated to run at a maximum of 250 Watts, and the GPU’s thermal threshold is 105 degrees Celsius.

The GeForce GTX 480 launched with an MSRP of $499 USD. Since then, etail prices have fallen by about $100 in the face of stiff competition from AMD.

Gigabyte GTX 480 SOC

The Gigabyte GTX 480 SOC is most definitely not a reference design GTX 480. It has an aftermarket cooling device with three cooling fans, an advanced custom PCB design, and an MSRP of $469 USD. It is a factory overclocked video card. Out of the box, the graphics core is clocked at 821MHz, the shader core is clocked at 1641MHz, and the memory is clocked at 950MHz, or 3.8GHz DDR.

The Gigabyte GTX 480 SOC features Gigabyte’s Extreme Dual BIOS technology, which has two different BIOS chips on-board. On this video card, one BIOS is for normal operation, and the second BIOS is designed to overcome cold bug issues when using LN2 cooling.

Gigabyte calls the cooling device found on the GTX 480 SOC “Windforce 3X”. The “Windforce” cooling devices feature fins designed to reduce turbulence, quiet PWM fans to increase power efficiency, and copper heat pipes for improved thermal conductivity. “The Windforce 3X” features three PWM fans, two of which are set at inclined angles toward the center fan. It also features three copper heatpipes.

The GTX 480 SOC features 14-phase PWM. There are twelve phases for the GPU, and two for memory. That is twice the PWM phases for the GPU compared to NVIDIA’s reference design. This feature helps to improve power consumption efficiency and increase overclocking capacity.

It also features Gigabyte’s “Ultra Durable VGA+” collection of high-quality PCB components. “Ultra Durable VGA+” refers to extensive use of copper interconnects within PCB layers, “Tier 1″ memory modules, Japanese solid capacitors, ferrite core chokes, and low RDS(on) MOSFET switches. Low RDS(on) MOSFET switches help to reduce wasted power and improve efficiency of power regulation circuitry.

The Gigabyte GTX 480 SOC comes in a very glossy black box with much simpler art than we have come to expect from video card manufacturers. The front of the box shows some information regarding the video card’s technology and warranty, but has no information that most consumers need to make an off-the-shelf purchasing decision.

The sticker on the side of the box, however, does have some of that necessary information. The back of the box has all the information and badges that we are accustomed to seeing on the front of the box, and then some. There are a lot of graphs, illustrations, and descriptions of various parts of this video card’s special features. There is also a small preview of Gigabyte’s OC Guru overclocking software and a list of system requirements in very tiny text.

The GTX 480 SOC’s soft bundle includes a user’s manual and a driver CD, which also contains Gigabyte’s OC Guru software. The accessory bundle includes a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, a DVI to VGA adaptor, a dual-Molex to 8-pin auxiliary power adaptor, and a dual-Molex to 6-pin auxiliary power adaptor.

The video card prominently features a large cooling device covered by a black brushed aluminum shroud. The cooler features three fans with translucent smoky plastic fins and reflective Gigabyte logo stickers. The outer two fans are tilted at a slight angle, leaning in toward the center fan. The cooler covers nearly the entire front surface of the video card, leaving only about a one-half-inch strip of uncovered blue PCB on the rear end of the card. On the top edge of the video card, one chromed heat-pipe is exposed.

This video card requires the use of an 8-pin auxiliary power connector and a 6-pin auxiliary power connector. It has two SLI bridge connectors and the business end sports two dual-link DVI ports and one mini-HDMI port. The back of the card features five large black devices which are NEC Proadlizers. The Proadlizer is a low-impedance capacitor array designed to increase current output capacity of the power supply circuitry and improve overall efficiency by reducing wasted power.

Finally, the cooler fan hubs are covered with stickers which appear black at first, but reveal their colorful design under bright direct lighting.

The Competition

For this evaluation, we are comparing the Gigabyte GTX 480 SOC with two video cards: a reference NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 and an ATI Radeon HD 5870. The reference GTX 480 will be configured with NVIDIA’s reference specification, with the GPU clocked at 700MHz, the shader core at 1401MHz, and the memory at 3.696GHz. In this way, we will see what performance advantage Gigabyte’s factory overclocking brings to the table, if any.

The ATI Radeon HD 5870, on the other hand, will receive a common overclock so that we can more properly come closer to the pricing of the Gigabyte GTX 480 SOC since there is such a disparity in price between the video cards. There are many overclocked Radeon HD 5870’s now that are still cheaper than the Gigabyte GTX 480 SOC (such as this one which we have evaluated). We are overclocking to a common factory overclock we found that are available in etail, 875MHz on the GPU, and 4.9GHz on the memory. It is not a tremendous overclock, but it is in-line with factory overclocks found on reasonably priced Radeon HD 5870 video cards.

The fact is that these overclocked video cards are still cheaper than the Gigabyte GTX 480 SOC we are evaluating, but they are at least closer in pricing than just a regular stock Radeon HD 5870 which have dropped tremendously in price. Also, this is currently the fastest single-GPU video card AMD has to offer right now, and is a more logical comparison at this time. Although, that will be changing here in a few weeks.

Source:http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/11/29/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_480_super_overclock_review/

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New potato unveils wireless headset TuneLink Auto

November 29th, 2010
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New Potato Technologies released TuneLink Auto for iPhone (News – Alert), iPod touch and iPad; the device works with all A2DP Bluetooth capable iPhone, iPod touch and iPad models, the company stated.

TuneLink is universal, operating over FM or direct connect to the car’s auxiliary (AUX) input. The TuneLink Auto [app]cessory for in-vehicle audio provides a wireless link between the user’s iOS device and vehicle sound system. Offering an all-in-one car audio experience, TuneLink allows users to experience their music through their car speakers without the hassles of wired connections.

The company has delivered solutions and technologies for a wide range of applications including mobile device accessories, electronic toys, video games, videoconferencing, interactive television, computer graphics, presentation systems, industrial automation and control, and a full suite of software solutions for PC and embedded systems.

“In our view, a great car solution should be heard and not seen,” stated Stuart Ross, CEO of New Potato. “We have created TuneLink to be small, portable and stealthy to serve this vision. We have delivered a high fidelity Bluetooth car audio solution with new innovations such as automatic reconnect, our audio sharing modes, and our exclusive Humbuster noise eliminator.”

TuneLink brings real innovation to a digital audio accessory market that is crowded with clunky docks, cabled solutions, and poor-performing dongle-based FM transmitters by incorporating a best-of-class Bluetooth transceiver, FM transmitter, and advanced fast-charge isolated USB charging port.
The TuneLink hardware device is controlled by a free application downloaded from the iTunes App Store. Using TuneLink is as easy once the app is downloaded.
Recently, the company announced the release of LiveRider. LiveRider claims to be the first wireless cycling computer and mounting system intended for iPhone and iPod touch. Before its launching, during the 2nd edition of the AppsFire App Star Awards, LiveRider was identified as a winner thereby highlighting the pioneering and useful nature of the product. LiveRider exploits the sophisticated features of the iPhone and iPod.

Source:http://wireless-headsets.tmcnet.com/topics/bluetooth-mobile/articles/121691-new-potato-unveils-wireless-headset-tunelink-auto.htm

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Logitech wireless solar keyboard K750 review

November 29th, 2010
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Pros:

Never needs batteries, can be recharged by sunlight or artificial light
Thin (1/3-inch) and easy to move or carry
Concave keys make typing more comfortable
Officially only supports Windows but also works with Mac OS X
Cons:

Can’t adjust the angle of the keyboard
Lacks special context menu button found on most Windows keyboards
Flimsy plastic legs prop up the keyboard
If you’re already convinced that wireless keyboards give you more flexibility, you’ll have no problems understanding the appeal of Logitech’s latest wireless keyboard. However, the biggest problem with any wireless keyboard has been the need for batteries that tend to run out just when you need the keyboard the most. Fortunately, Logitech’s Solar Keyboard K750 eliminates the problems of batteries by including two built-in solar panels that can generate power in both sunlight and artificial light.

The built-in solar panels can generate power even under artificial lights.

To preserve power, there’s an on/off switch along with a button that can show if the keyboard can generate power from the current lighting conditions or not. Press the lighting condition button and if the current lights are strong enough to power your keyboard, you’ll see a green light appear next to a smiley face picture. If the lighting conditions are too weak to power your keyboard, a red light will appear next to a frowning face picture.

A smiley or sad face light appears to indicate the lighting conditions for recharging your keyboard.

If you’re running Windows, you can download an optional program that can visually show how much power remains in your keyboard. Although this power monitoring program only runs on Windows and the keyboard only officially supports Windows, you can use the keyboard with a Macintosh as well.

Besides eliminating the need for batteries, Logitech further reduces the keyboard’s environmental impact by packing the K750 keyboard in a recyclable cardboard box. The box contains the keyboard itself, a USB Unifying Receiver, a USB adapter, and a cleaning cloth.

The Unifying Receiver plugs into any USB port and provides the wireless connection needed to connect the keyboard to the computer. This Unifying Receiver works with Logitech’s other wireless devices such as their wireless mouse or trackball, so if you already have a wireless Logitech device, you only need to plug a single Unifying Receiver into your computer.

To make it easier to plug the Unifying Receiver into a USB port, the keyboard also comes with a USB adapter, which simply extends a USB port to make it easier to plug the Unifying Receiver in. If you can comfortably plug the Unifying Receiver into a USB port, then you can set aside this USB adapter.

Setting the keyboard up is as simple as turning it on and plugging the Unifying Receiver into your computer. The keyboard is amazingly thin and light, making it easy to move or carry wherever you need it.

The K750 keyboard is surprisingly thin.

You can lay the keyboard flat or prop it up at a fixed angle on two thin plastic legs. Unfortunately, these two plastic legs only adjust the keyboard at a fixed angle. Even more disturbing is that these plastic legs don’t feel especially sturdy. Accidentally sit on the keyboard while it’s propped up and these plastic legs are likely to snap off or break.

Tiny plastic legs pop out to prop the keyboard at a fixed angle

Typing on the K750 keyboard is amazing comfortable due to the concave nature of each key, which allows your fingertips to rest inside each key for maximum comfort and accuracy. The keyboard provides the exact same layout as ordinary keyboards including twelve function keys at the top of the keyboard, a T-shaped cursor keypad, and a separate numeric keypad on the far right.

Curiously, the keyboard only offers the special Windows key on the left side of the space bar. Where most keyboard offer the Windows key and a context menu key on the right of the spacebar, the K750 keyboard displays a special Fn key.

Instead of a Windows and context menu key, the K750 keyboard displays an Fn key.

Pressing this Fn key lets you use the top row of function keys. If you omit pressing this Fn key, then the top row of function keys default to controlling a hardware feature of your computer such as adjusting the volume or fast forwarding an audio file.

The K750 keyboard is not only comfortable to type on, but its wireless feature makes it capable of controlling your computer from a distance. Its built-in solar panels eliminate the biggest headache of wireless keyboards, which normally requires replacing batteries periodically.

If you want a wireless keyboard that’s environmentally-friendly, powers itself through sunlight or artificial light, and provides maximum comfort for typing, then the K750 is definitely in a class of its own.

You can buy the Logitech K750 at Logitech for $79.99.

Source:http://www.gadgetreview.com/2010/11/logitech-wireless-solar-keyboard-k750-review.html

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Apple, ASUS top PCWorld satisfaction survey

November 29th, 2010
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Apple has garnered yet another win in a customer satisfaction survey — this time it’s PC World conferring the honors onto Cupertino, as Apple has topped both the laptop and desktop categories for most reliable and well-supported computer products. PC World says that Apple also did well in its smartphone category (with, of course, the iPhone), but that the antenna issues and a few other problems with the iPhone kept it from being listed at the top of the category. Still, PC World has nothing but praise for Apple, which is well-known both for solid, perfectly built hardware, and a software experience that rules out as many questions as possible.

This of course fits everything we’ve heard anecdotally about Apple in the past — while of course there are sometimes issues from computer to computer or in certain experiences at the Apple Store, most of Apple’s products are extremely reliable. Even when they’re not, 9 times out of 10 we’ll hear about Apple just outright replacing them for customers, under warranty or otherwise.

Asus also joined Apple at the top of the survey for both desktops and notebooks, and down at the bottom, PC World says that Dell and HP both show “troubling” figures for customer support. Both of those companies still saw increased earnings this past year, but problems in their customer support departments and cheaply made hardware have earned them reputations for trouble.

Source:http://www.tuaw.com/2010/11/29/apple-asus-top-pcworld-satisfaction-survey/

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iPad, smartphones dragging down PC sales

November 29th, 2010
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Gartner has lowered its 2010 and 2011 global forecasts for PC shipments, saying sales will be lower than expected due to growing interest in Apple’s iPad and other tablet computers. The research firm said Monday that PC makers are on track to ship 352.4 million units this year, up 14.3% from 2009. Gartner had predicted in September a 17.9% increase.

Gartner also lowered its 2011 forecast to 409 million units, a 15.9% increase from this year. The firm’s earlier estimate was for an 18.1% increase.

Gartner analyst Ranjit Atwal said the lower estimates are based on slower consumer sales. The drop is “due in no small part to growing user interest in media tablets such as the iPad.”
“Over the longer term, media tablets are expected to displace around 10% of PC units by 2014,” Atwal said in a statement.

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Because the majority of potential challengers have yet to reach the market, the iPad is the biggest cause among tablets of slowing PC sales. The flat computer with a 9.7-inch diagonal touch screen accounts for more than 95% of the consumer tablet market today. That percentage could change as tablets hit the market from Hewlett-Packard, Samsung Electronics, Acer and others.

Along with tablets, future smartphones, which are expected to be more capable than devices in the market today, will also hurt PC sales, Gartner said. Such non-PCs offer better on-the-go computing. While it would seem that laptops would be most affected by these ultra-portable devices, desktop sales also will be impacted, as cloud-based applications make it possible to use tablets and smartphones to do tasks that once required a PC.

Gartner analyst George Shiffler blamed the PC industry for current trends, saying it has focused too much on driving sales through lower prices, and not enough on innovation. “As the PC market slows, vendors that differentiate themselves through services and technology innovation rather than unit volume and price will dictate the future,” he said.

However, the new generation of mobile devices is here to stay, Gartner said, and businesses and consumers will look to these less expensive devices to do more mobile computing, thereby waiting longer to replace PCs as their importance diminishes.

Other factors affecting the PC market include expected purchasing trends in emerging markets, where PC sales are growing much faster than in mature markets. Gartner believes there is a good chance that consumers in emerging markets will leapfrog PCs in the future and move directly to alternative computing devices.

Source:http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/smb/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228400158

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