AT Radeon 9600 Pro PC amp; Mac Edition

As the world leader in discrete graphics for both the Mac® and PC platforms,ATI Technologies Inc, is introducing the Radeon® 9600 Pro PC and Mac Edition,the first graphics card to support both platforms. While maintaining all the keysoftware features for Mac OS™ X and Windows® XP that users of ATI products forthe Mac and PC have come to rely on, the Radeon 9600 Pro PC and Mac Editionoffers dual-link capabilities to support ultra high-resolution flat panelmonitors like the Apple® 30-inch Cinema Display. The AGP based Radeon 9600 ProPC and Mac Edition is available for $ 199 MSRP.

This new card features one of ATI's most popular graphics processors for AGPsystems - the Radeon® 9600 Pro - and includes 256MB of dedicated high-speedmemory, has 128-bit memory interface and advanced DirectX® 9.0 shader supportwith floating point precision. Users will experience tremendous graphicsperformance, plus the ability to drive ultra high-resolution monitors up to2560x1600 resolution or better thanks to the card's dual-link DVI displaysupport.

"By providing one card as a solution for two distinct platforms, ATI is makingpurchasing decisions easy for the computer user. There is no confusion as towhether the card will work in a Mac or a PC, because the Radeon 9600 Pro PC andMac Edition will provide incredible performance and image quality in both," saidRich Heye, Vice President, Desktop Discrete Graphics, ATI. "As ultra-highresolution monitors have become increasingly popular for mainstream users, thedual-link functionality has become an important feature of graphics cards andATI is unmatched in the consumer space at this price."

The dual platform Radeon 9600 Pro PC and Mac Edition is AGP 2.0 compliant,compatible with both AGP 4X and 8X systems, including Apple's Power Mac® G4series, Power Mac G5 and tens of millions of PC's sold over the last few years.The card can be booted in either platform and software drivers are included forboth. ATI Displays, the fully optimized Mac OS® X OpenGL driver, featuresadvanced capabilities such as Versavision™, enabling screen rotation fromLandscape to Portrait mode. For PC users, the Radeon 9600 PC and Mac Editionwill feature ATI's award-winning Catalyst™ Control Center, where users canpersonally tweak settings to fit their needs.

Apple iPhone 5 scheduled to retail on 13 September

Even though Steve Jobs have kept mum on any details about the new iPhone 5, test centres, OEM parts manufacturers and operators have revealed a little of what they know about the new handheld. According to Gene Munster, managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, the next generation iPhone could be announced on 24 August, and goes on retail on 13 September.

The dates information isnt leaked from Apple, but Munster revealed that based on the companys habit, it is approximately 79 days interval from Apple iOS update to the new iPhone hardware; and 99 days from the software distribution to the exact date of sales.

This means that if Apple is going to announce the new version of iOS at WWDC on 6 June, it will be on 24 August for the official announcement and 13 September for the retail date. Hopefully, if this is true, there will not be any more delay on the new iPhone 5.

Source: imobile.com.cn

Asus launches R.O.G. desktop with Ivy Bridge, GTX 680 and more

Were far from sold on Asus range of desktop systems and its R.O.G. series has yet to really impress, but the new CG8580 does at least have some pretty decent specs to say the least. This time around Asus has pulled out all the stops and gone with an Ivy Bridge CPU, a GeForce GTX 680 graphics card, Xonar DX audio and even a pair of SSDs in RAID, although most of these features are optional.

The CG8580 will come with a Core i7-3770K CPU overclocked to 4.6GHz, between two and 16GB of DDR3 1600MHz memory and a choice of graphics cards which consists of a GeForce GTX 560 Ti – or two in SLI – or a GTX 680. Amusingly, Asus hasnt specified which motherboard it has kitted out the CG8580 with and theres not even a mention of chipset, but wed presume its the Z77 chipset.

The default configuration will have a hard drive and Asus claims that it will offer models with up to 10TB of storage space. A pair or 128GB SSDs in RAID 0 is also available as a cost option, although we do hope that the SSDs Asus use is a lot faster than four times as fast as a hard drive as per the claims in the company website. The standard audio solution is via a Realtek ALC892 audio codec, but optionally one of Asus Xonar DX cards can be fitted.

Expansion slots consist of three x16 PCI Express slots, two x1 PCI Express slots and two PCI slots. The system also has four SATA 3Gbps and four SATA 6Gbps ports, four USB 3.0 ports, eight USB 2.0 ports, a PS/2 port, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF out, DVI, D-sub and HDMI out and a front card reader as well as a pair of 3.5mm jacks for a headset. A 700W PSU is also part of the package as well as an unspecified optical drive – the pictures are showing a Blu-ray drive – a hot-swappable drive caddy, a keyboard, an Asus gaming mouse and a Wi-Fi card.

Asus bundles the CG8580 with Windows 7 Home Premium 64, Office 2010 starter and a copy of LucidLogix Virtu MVP. This is all good and well, but what we have a hard time understanding is Asus choice of chassis. Theres nothing about Asus R.O.G. chassis that makes us want to buy this system and the outright ugly rear-end of the chassis doesnt help the overall look of it. That said, we all have different taste and were sure there are people that disagrees with us, but wed suggest having a look at it in person before going ahead and ordering one of these systems. Due to the various configurations theres no word on price, but the CG8580 should be available as of right now.

Source: Asus

Apple ordered to give HTC settlement details to Samsung

A judge has ordered Apple to hand over details of its settlement with HTC to rival Samsung, the latest victory for the South Korean electronics giant.

HTC settled with Apple earlier this month, carving out a ten-year deal to share each others patents. Details of the deal were not revealed, but analysts believe HTC was forced to pay out between $5 and $20 on each handset it creates.The exact nature of the settlement will now be disclosed to Samsungs lawyers, not the public at large, and it is expected that it will deal with some of the same patents at the heart of Samsungs own dispute with Apple.This will give Samsung an edge in any kind of negotiation to end the close to 20 lawsuits the companies are engaged in, but Samsung has previously indicated that it has no intention on settling, despite a whopping $1.05 billion damages payment it was ordered to pay to Apple earlier this year, a ruling it is now appealing.Apple has also had a run of bad luck with its legal battles, including losing an appeal in the UK and being forced to publish an apology on its website, not to mention a failed attempt to dismiss a case launched against it by Motorola, now owned by Google. This latest setback, however, could pave the way for even more losses on Apples side of the patent war.Source: BBC

ATi R520 Core Exposed

It is interesting to see how the upcoming ATi R520 core based on90nm micron process looks like. Seems like the R520 core is slightly smallerthan the 0.13 micron R480 core though it is packed with many more transistorsthan the latter.

Asus reveals two budget friendly P8Z77-V motherboard models

If you like many others have found Asus range of P8Z77-V motherboards a bit on the expensive side, then the new P8Z77-V LK and P8Z77-V LX models might be what youve been waiting for, as both of these just announced models will end up just below the P8Z77-V LE in Asus range of Z77 motherboards. Weve seen LX and LE boards in the past from Asus, but the LK is a new budget model we havent seen in previous generations.

Were not entirely sure what Asus is trying to achieve by offering so many models as right now we have no less than seven P8Z77 SKUs if we include the Premium, plus two mini ATX, one ITX, the Sabertooth, the WS and soon to be two Maximus V boards with a potential third launching at Computex. Thats no less than 15 models in total and as youll see with these two new additions, only very minor features differ.

The P8Z77-V LX is the new entry level model and it has a smaller PCB at 305x218mm and gone are fancy features like heatsinks on the MOSFETs. Still, its not quite the scrape of the barrel, although Asus hasnt really included any extra features either. You get the standard six Intel SATA ports, two x16 PCI Express slots that can operate in dual x8 mode, two x1 PCI Express slots and three PCI slots. Theres no TB_Header on this board, as it doesnt have the required x4 PCI Express slot, something it shares with the P8Z77-V LE. No extra USB 3.0 controllers are to be found here either, so you have to make do with a header for two internal USB 3.0 ports, as well as six USB 2.0 ports.

The rear I/O isnt terrible with a PS/2 port, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, three audio jacks, optical S/PDIF out and a D-sub, DVI and HDMI port. Price wise this board comes in at around US$140, not an incredible saving compared to the P8Z77-LE, but it might get cheaper over time.

For an extra US$5-10 you could pick up the P8Z77-V LK which has a slightly larger PCB at 305x224mm, yet is still smaller than the P8Z77-V LE at 305x244mm. The overall feature set of the P8Z77-V LK is similar to the P8Z77-V LX, but here you get angled SATA connectors which a bonus compared to the P8Z77-V LE, although no extra SATA controller is present. The slot layout has also been improved by adding a x4 PCI Express slot in lieu of a PCI slot, but we cant spot a TB_Header on this model. Asus has also kitted out the P8Z77-V LK with an ASMedia USB 3.0 host controller for a total of six USB 3.0 ports and a small heatsink on part of the MOSFETs.

Around the back you get a PS/2 port, two USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, six audio jacks, an optical S/PDIF and a D-sub, DisplayPort, DVI and HDMI connector. The only thing you lose out compared to the P8Z77-V LE is an eSATA port, but price wise this board is about $10-15 cheaper than the P8Z77-V LE and if you dont need the extra eSATA and SATA ports, wed go for the P8Z77-V LK out of the two. One other thing that we noticed is that neither of these two new models features Asus TPU, USB BIOS Flashback or USB Charger+, so youre trading off some features for cost. Both models should be available as of now.

Source: Asus

Apple took 43 of industry's revenue in Q2

Apple shipped only about 6 percent of the industry’s smartphones and tablets, but according to the second quarter report from Raymond James, it took in about 43 percent of the industry’s revenue.

Samsung, Apple’s rival in the smartphone and tablet market, outsold Apple’s iPhone two to one, but that didn’t mean the South Korean tech giant made more money.

If you think Apple taking in 43 percent of the industry’s revenue is an astonishing number, this number is just as amazing: Apple generated 77 percent of the industry’s operating profits.

Supposedly, Apple’s innovation has helped the Cupertino based tech company garner immense profit even though it’s not selling as many products. Analyst Travis McCourt of Raymond James said:

“Ultimately, profits are the feedstock of innovation; and, innovation drives profits. Until Samsung starts generating more profits than Apple, we would not be overly concerned with who has the unit share lead. Remember, HP and Dell still sell a lot more PCs than Apple sells, but does it matter?”

Apple is currently battling Samsung in U.S court over patent infringement issues, and the court’s decision may ultimately decide whether or not Apple will remain on top. The Apple vs. Samsung case is expected to last at least a month.

Source: All Things D

ASUS K8N-E Deluxe nForce3 250GB Board

ASUS K8N-E Deluxe is based on the NVIDIA nForce3 250GB chipsetwas spotted at Akiba Japan. There are 3 versions of the nForce3 250 family;nForce3 250, nForce3 250GB and nForce3 Pro 250 core logic that supports754/939/940-pin 64-bit AMD processors and HT up to 1000Mhz. ASUS K8N-E Deluxeboard supports 754-pin Athlon 64, 3 DIMM slots up to 3GB of DDR400 SDRAM, 4Serial ATA ports (2 native and 2 by Silicon Image), ALC850 7.1 Audio controller,AGP 8x, 5 PCI slots, USB 2.0, 2 ATA-33/66/100/133 channels with RAID 0,1 and 0+1support, integrated Gigabit Ethernet and hardware firewall capability. Themotherboard manufacturers are expected to display their nForce3 250 boardsduring CeBIT and boards availability in April.

ASUS U46SV Launches in Europe

ASUS U46SV comes with an Intel Core i5-2410M 2.3GHz processor, up to 6GB of memory RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics card, 500GB harddisk drive, DVD writer, card reader and a USB 3.0 port. Other features include a LED backlit 1366 x 768 display, 0.3-megapixel webcam and Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. The U46SV laptop is currently retailing for€799 ($1,387) in Europe.

Source: TCMagazine

Apple releases iOS 4.3 update

Apple has just released iOS 4.3 to the public, just a days ahead of the originally scheduled Friday launch. This new release brings a number of improvements to the iOS experience, most notably, Safari speed performance, personal hotspot for iPhone 4 and customizing the iPads side switch to serve as either a mute or screen orientation lock toggle.

This update contains new features and improvements, including the following:

* Personal Hotspot
- Share iPhone 4 cellular data with up to 5 devices (combination of up to 3 Wi-Fi, 3 Bluetooth, and 1 USB)

* iTunes Home Sharing
- Play music, movies, and TV shows from a shared iTunes library on a Mac or PC (requires iTunes 10.2)

* New AirPlay features
- Play videos from the Photos app including the Camera Roll album, iTunes previews, enabled third-party apps and websites on Apple TV
- Play slideshows from Photos on Apple TV using transitions available on Apple TV

* Faster Safari performance with Apple Nitro JavaScript engine

* HD video out using the Apple Digital AV Adapter
- View 720p HD videos from Videos app, iPod app, Photos, YouTube, Safari, Keynote, and enabled third-party apps on an HDMI display

* Ping features
- Push notifications for comments and follow requests
- Post and Like songs directly from the Now Playing screen
- Parental controls

* New Settings
- Messages setting for number of times to repeat an alert
- iPad side switch setting to lock screen rotation or mute audio notifications and sound effects

* Single tap conference call dialing with a pause to send a passcode

* Bug fixes

You can get your copy of iOS 4.3 through iTunes now.

Source: Apple

ASUS Finally Launched ROG XG Station

ASUS, leading provider of high-performance graphics solutions, today launchedthe world´s first VGA and multimedia docking station – the ASUS ROG (Republic ofGamer) XG Station. With extremely detailed and impeccable design, the XG Stationhas attained the honorific of being conferred with the red dot design awardhonourable mention 2008. The XG Station is also bundled with the EN8600GT/HTDP/256Mgraphics card, and equipped with an Express Card interface – seamlesslyintegrating notebook computing with powerful PC graphical power. It alsoincorporates 4 USB 2.0 ports and Dolby Technology – doubling as a USB hub thatdelivers true AV enjoyment.

Reddot Design Award Honourable Mention
With more than 7,000 submissions from 60 countries, the international reddotDesign Award ranks among the largest and most renowned design competitions inthe world. In the first time in the history of these prestigious awards, thejury of design experts have honoured 137 products that have stood out from theothers through especially refined and detailed solutions. The ASUS ROG XGStation is certified to be one such honourable mention, and is recognized as aproduct that sets itself apart from the competition with its successful designsolution for providing a unique user experience.

Engage Mobility with Powerful Graphics Processing
With the explosion of popularity of high-performance, powerful laptops in recentyears, there is an ever-increasing desire for computing users to utilize thesame laptop computer at home, in the office, and also on the road. However, inorder to conserve space, weight, and functionality, many of these sophisticatedlaptops have made sacrifices in terms of graphics, audio or processing power. Byproviding the power of a dedicated 3D graphics engine, users simply have toconnect the XG Station to any LCD monitor, connect to the notebook via anExpress Card connector, and then they are ready to game in with enhancedgraphics. This setup easily provides users with a complete mobile notebookcomputing solution while retaining the advantages of high powered 3D gaming andmultimedia experiences.

Sensational A/V Enjoyment
The XG Station also features enhanced audio and video functions withincorporated Dolby Technology – which encompasses Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtualspeaker, Dolby Digital Live, and Dolby Pro LogicIIx. This allows dynamictrue-to-life quality audio to be achieved during PC gameplay, music or videoplayback. The Dolby Headphone enables 5.1 surround sound through any pair ofheadphones, while the Dolby Virtual speaker lets users experience 5.1-channelsurround sound from just two speakers. Dolby Digital Live enables users to enjoyaudio from the PC or game consoles through their home theater setups, and DolbyPro LogicIIx transforms any stereo or 5.1 channel source into 6.1 or 7.1 channelsurround sounds. Furthermore, with the XG Station, real-time overclocking can beeasily controlled with the ergonomic knob design for simple GPU clock speedadjustments – providing the best audio and video experiences.

Large Information Display and Easy Controls
With the adoption of a large LED screen, the XG Station is designed with ease ofuse in mind. This easy-to-read screen provides clear displays of critical systemstatus statistics that include:
• System master volume
• GPU clock speed
• Current GPU temperature
• Dolby® Headphone feature status
• Current actual Frames Per Second (FPS)
• GPU fan speed indicator
The XG Station also utilizes a dedicated control panel to let users control thesettings through a GUI based interface; and can also easily switch modes betweenthe notebook screen and the external LCD monitor.

Fast and Upgradeable Graphics Power
The XG Station is the world´s first docking station to provide a standard PCIExpress slot for additional graphics computing power for notebook computers todeliver VISTA Premium graphical performances. It also conveniently accommodatesfuture graphic upgrade possibilities for technologies such as HDCP. Labexperiments made on a notebook based on Intel 945GM and 965GM graphics connectedto the XG station with an ASUS EN8600GT graphics card showed an astounding 12and 6.7 times faster graphics acceleration respectively.

Specifications

ASRock Z68 Extreme4 and P67 Fatal1ty Performance Previewed

We are pleased to check out two upcoming boards from ASRock which Chris Lee, marketing director of ASRock is proudly holding.

On the right is the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 board which is unveiled recently and sports nice features likethree x16 PCIe slots, two SATA 6Gbps ports,on-board power and reset buttons, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports for the front and two at the back. Apart from the heavily touted XFast USB feature that boosts your USB performance, another key feature highlighted is that this board comes bundled with theLucidLogix Virtusoftwarethat intelligently switch between Sandy Bridge iGPU and discrete graphics depending on applications usage.

On the left is the ASRock P67 Fatal1ty Performance board, a cheaper counterpart to the P67 Fatal1ty Professional board. As you can see, this board design is pretty different from the Professional and chipset cooler is less elaborated. The CPU VRM area is noticeably step down and has onlyone PCIe x16 slot instead of 3 on the Professional as well as two SATA3 ports instead of 6. Instead, it has three PCI slots and three PCIe x1 slots. On the rear IO panel, it has 2 USB 3.0 ports, a single LAN port, and of course a Fatal1ty mouse port. ASRock P67 Fatal1ty Performance is great for gamer who wants a relatively cheap solution with decent features that looks good.

Last but not least, ASRock is planning the Z68 Fatal1ty Professional too and you should see it later in May.

AMD Roadmap Updates

ModelsH1 2004H2 2004H2 2005Athlon 64 FXSledgeHammer
(0.13, 1MB L2, DC DDR400)
939-pin FX-53 "CG" (2.4Ghz) - JunSan Diego
(90nm, 1MBL2, DC DDR500?)
FX-55 "D" (2.6Ghz) Toledo
(90nm, DualCore, 2MB L2, DC DDR2-667?)Athlon 64Newcastle
(0.13, 150mm2, 512KB L2, DC DDR400)
939-pin 3500+ "CG" (2.2Ghz) - Jun
939-pin 3800+ "CG"(2.4Ghz) - JunWinchester
(90nm, 83mm2,512KB L2, DC DDR500?)
4000+ "D"(2.6Ghz)4200+ "D" (2.8Ghz) - Q1ClawHammer 754
(0.13, 192mm2,DDR400)
754-pin 3700+ "CG" (2.4Ghz, 1MB L2) - JunSon ofDuron?
maybe it is just Paris or it is Core "E"Paris
(130nm SOI, 256KB L2)
Athlon 33V - 1.8Ghz
Athlon 36V - 2.0GhzPalermo
90nm SOI