Logitech today introduced a new product category for unified communications (UC) and Web conferencing: the all-in-one audio and video ConferenceCam. The Logitech BCC950 ConferenceCam is the first communications tool to combine a full HD webcam with a high-quality, omni-directional full-duplex speakerphone in one USB device, enabling small groups to collaborate in conference rooms, closed offices or shared work spaces.

The BCC950 ConferenceCam features a full HD webcam with motorized pan, tilt and zoom for easily bringing everyone into the picture - either from a control pad on the device or with a convenient remote control. The control pad or the remote can also used to answer calls, end calls, adjust the volume and mute the microphone.

AREA introduced the SD-DSCV, a VGA down-scan converter device, that lets you convert your PC's VGA output to legacy/TV-compatible outputs such as Composite and S-Video. The converter supports output resolutions up to 1024x768 pixels, with TV formats such as PAL and NTSC. What's more, the VGA connection isn't interrupted, and VGA output can run simultaneously with the other analog outputs. Measuring 91 x 66 x 24 mm, the device requires an external DC power input, but instead of a bulky AC adapter, AREA included a USB-DC cable, that lets you plug the device to a USB port, and draw power from it. Slated for April 09, the SD-DSCV from AREA is priced as low as 4,980 JPY (US $59.4).

Yesterday, we reported on Intel's embarrassing gaffe at demonstrating racing game F1 1 2011 running on a prototype ultrabook with an Ivy Bridge processor, where it was really just a video. Since then, AnandTech has seen that game play on an Ivy Bridge notebook just fine, but the best proof has come now, where they got hold of the actual ultrabook at the centre of the controversy and tested it with that game. The result? It works just fine, like we suspected. It looks like Intel just need a little PR makeover, is all. Video proof follows.

That Dodgy Intel Ivy Bridge DX11 'demo' at CES 2012 (UPDATED)

Word has been flying round the internet about Intel's dodgy Ivy Bridge DX11 'demo'. Intel's Mooly Eden, VP, PC Client Group was attempting to demonstrate a racing game on a prototype laptop - 'ultrabook' - fitted with an upcoming 22 nm Ivy Bridge processor with a racing wheel attached and allegedly rendering DX11 graphics. However, as is very apparent at the start, it's actually a video, because the control panel for the free VLC video player pops up for a few seconds. Eden then 'drives' a car and after a few seconds puts up one hand and then the other, because as he says "they are driving it from backstage". However, there was no one driving the game "backstage", as it was just a video and Eden doesn't say anything about this at any point in the presentation.

This gives conspiracy theorists lots of ammunition, as perhaps the game was actually played on a high powered desktop PC with NVIDIA or AMD discrete graphics cards? What game was it? Eden doesn't say. "IB can't really do these graphics!" they cry and so on. Sure, man 'didn't' go to the moon, either... However, we believe that while yes, there was a bit of deception going on, it was nothing more than a white(ish) lie. Why? Because Ivy Bridge comes out in April and people aren't going to forget this demo. They will immediately put IBs DX11 graphics to the test with similar games and if it doesn't deliver, Intel will have a lot of egg on its face. Here's what Intel had to say about this demo in an official statement:

MSI is rolling out its new generation GT685-the ultimate gaming machine. In addition to featuring the Intel second generation Core i7 quad core processor, it is the first laptop to sport the nVidia GeForce GTX 580M, the world's fastest discrete graphics card, 32G DDR3 of memory, and accelerated dual hard disk architecture. It comes with Dynaudio and THX TruStudio Pro smart wrap around sound as well as a full HD screen. You'll be impressed by how smoothly online 3D games play and with the edge that your new GT685 gives you against opponents.

The machine won the CES 2012 award for product innovation, seen by many as the highest honor of the high tech industry. MSI, where designing high-end record-breaking gaming notebooks is par for the course, will continue to design faster, more powerful notebooks that follow in the tradition of its gaming NBs best epitomized in the MSI GT685. The GT685 utilizes the wildly anticipated nVidia GeForce GTX 580M top-end discrete graphics card which boasts 384 more CUDAs (Compute Unified Device Architecture) than the previous generation with advanced 256 bit broadband and 2GB GDDR5 of display memory. You will be awed by how smooth 3D games run and the new edge you enjoy in battles will help you rack up wins.

The original 8-bit Commodore 64 computer was very popular in the early 1980s, but the original company eventually closed down in the 1990s, having launched their 16-bit Amiga range in the meantime as the C64s successor. For a while now, replica C64 models, packed with the latest PC technology, have been made by Commodore USA, a different company that has purchased the original Commodore brand.

Since last summer, they have been selling a replica for $999 powered by an Intel CPU. This PC, called the C64x Ultimate (model number: C64x-UL) included a dual core Atom D525, NVIDIA Ion 2 graphics, 4 GB RAM and a 1 TB hard drive. A barebones version is available for $349 without a motherboard, just the keyboard and case, allowing the customer to add their own hardware into the retro box. However, Commodore USA has now upgraded their offering with a considerably more powerful CPU. This version is the C64x Extreme (model number: C64x-EX) which includes a 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7-2720QM CPU, mini-ITX motherboard and PSU, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, DVD writer (slot loading) 2 TB 7200 RPM HDD, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The back panel has the following ports: legacy PS/2, USB 2.0 x5 (one eSATA combo) USB 3.0 x2, Ethernet and three audio jacks. Video connectivity is looked after by HDMI, DVI-D and VGA outputs.

Guru3D reports on a post from NVIDIA tech support on NVIDIA's forums regarding TDR issues (Timeout Detection & Recovery problem (display stopped responding but has successfully recovered)). These problems centre around Battlefield 3 and Windows Media Centre, which NVIDIA can't reproduce, so it looks like the problems may be with specific card models. NVIDIA rep ManuelG posted:

The 1UP article is short and sweet, so I'll quote it in full, after the jump. Essentially, Steam activation codes have gone out to invited beta testers. This is a private beta, so testers cannot discuss their experiences with the public unfortunately and it all goes live on October 5. Specs seem quite reasonable too, so the game should play quite smoothly on midrange hardware. This looks like a cool game worth waiting for, so check out the video.

MSI just rolled out its CR430 multimedia laptop computer with the new generation AMD dual-core E-450 CPU and AMD Radeon HD 6320 discrete-class display chip under the hood. The new processor and graphics chip mark a huge improvement over previous generations with power that puts them on par with discrete graphics card. What's more, the CR430 also sports SRS PC Sound with superior cinema-class stereo surround sound, which coupled with MSI's exclusive Cinema Pro image enhancement technology, maximizes display performance to provide you the ultimate multimedia experience.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, points out that in addition to offering outstanding performance and top-of-the-line sound, the CR430 multimedia laptop computer comes with a chicklet keyboard and nickel-plated touchpad keys with a nice, solid feel. The multipoint touchpad can be used to scroll as well as to change the size of and rotate pictures, making your digital life just that much more enjoyable.

MSI is unveiling its new generation top-of-the-line GT683DX gaming computer, featuring the ultimate in performance and hardware. It packs Intel's second generation Core i7-2630QM quad core processor, nVidia's latest and greatest GeForce GTX 570M discrete graphics card, four DDR3 memory slots, accelerated dual hard disk architecture, as well as Dynaudio and THX TruStudio Pro smart wrap around sound. Taipei-MSI just introduced the GT683DX gaming laptop with powerful hardware, including Intel's 2nd generation Core i7-2630QM quad core processor and nVidia's newest GeForce GTX 570M discrete graphics card (1.5GB GDDR5 display memory), representing a 20% improvement in performance over other discrete graphics cards currently on the market to deliver hiccup-free graphics even when you play the latest high-resolution games. It received a record 12,475 points when it was tested in the performance mode on 3DMark Vantage.

Club 3D B.V. releases the new Radeon HD 6450 1GB DD3 Noiseless Edtition, the industry second generation of DirectX 11 capable graphics card.This new card features a heatsink cooler design aimed at the HTPCs users and with UVD3 (Universal Video Decoder), improved tessellation engine and higher clock speeds makes the perfect fit for users who are looking an entry level card that is affordable and packs a punch. Offering a low profile card customers can expect this card to be bundled with 2 Low Profile brackets like usually offered by Club 3D on Low Profile items.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class award-winning Turbo NAS servers, VioStor NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Media Players today announced the availability of the new V3.4 NAS management software. The V3.4 NAS management software is embedded into the NAS as V3.4 firmware, which enhances several key aspects of the QNAP Turbo NAS units allowing owners to maximize their investments in a QNAP NAS. New enhancements in V3.4 include:

SAPPHIRE Technology, the largest manufacturer and supplier worldwide of graphics solutions based on AMD technology is announcing the first products in a second generation of video cards to support the advanced graphical features of Microsoft DirectX 11 and delivering spectacular video clarity, speed and visual effects, including over multiple monitors and 3D stereoscopic displays.

The SAPPHIRE HD 6800 series features the second generation of graphics technology from AMD designed to support all the features of Microsoft DirectX 11 and DirectCompute 11. The new GPU's are built in AMD's 40nm process to deliver high performance with low power consumption. Advanced hardware features include an enhanced Tesselation unit, dedicated HDR Texture compression, multi-threaded communication with system CPU cores, embedded support for many of the DirectCompute 11 instructions, 3D stereoscopic support and HDMI 1.4a.

ASUS is proud to unveil an array of display products catered towards the needs of different market segments. The Designo ML Series LED monitors, the VG236 and PG276 3D monitors, the PA246Q professional monitor and LED projector will all be showcased at Computex 2010 at the Taipei International Convention Center (TICC).

Since its launch, the Designo MS and LS LED monitors have received numerous accolades that include the Japanese Good Design Award, and the iF China Award. These monitors' award-winning lines are matched by the true-to-life Full HD visuals showcased on their mercury-free LED-backlit panels. These monitors deliver the industry's contrast ratio benchmark of 10,000,000:1 thanks to ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio (ASCR) Technology. Together with a 2ms (gray-to-gray) response time and ASUS Splendid Video Intelligence Technology, which optimizes color fidelity with five pre-set modes (gaming, theater, night view, scenery and standard), the Designo Series displays provide sharp and crisp visuals for almost every situation.

NVIDIA today announced that a range of NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics solutions are certified by Adobe for Adobe Creative Suite 5 software, and truly unleash the real-time video editing and effects processing capabilities of Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.

This breakthrough version of Adobe Premiere Pro leverages the parallel processing architecture of NVIDIA GPUs and their hundreds of cores to allow film and video professionals to work unconstrained. Users can now create compelling, multi-layer projects with a virtually limitless number of HD or higher resolution video clips, then apply sophisticated visual effects and color correction, while still being able to view the output instantly.

By utilizing NVIDIA Quadro solutions, productivity is enhanced many times over by eliminating the wait for preview renders any time a change is made, and by being able to view projects at full resolution without skipping frames.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading PC and Mac technology company, announced today the OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro, the largest capacity, fastest bus powered portable storage solution on the market. The Mercury On-The-Go Pro is a high-performance, 500GB 7200RPM pocket-sized portable storage solution for Mac or PC users featuring FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and/or USB 2.0 interfaces for data transfer speeds up to 100MB/s. With its 500GB of storage capacity, the Mercury On-The-Go Pro can hold up to 500,000 JPEG photos, 250 DVD movies, 38 hours of digital video, or 175,000 MP3 songs.

The Mercury On-The-Go Pro 500GB 7200RPM line features three models, including a "Triple Interface" model for FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0; a "Combo Interface" model for FireWire 400 and USB 2.0; and a USB 2.0 model priced starting at $189.99.

Intel announced that its researchers have crossed an important milestone in the ongoing Tera-Scale project the company flagged-off last year. The company has just developed an ultra low voltage special-purpose video encoding accelerator. Built on the 65 nm CMOS, the device could accelerate video compression, and encoding at speeds in excess of 10-times that of what general-purpose execution manages while consuming as low as 220mV. The company however, did not go into specifics on products based on the technology.

ASUS today proved that TV quality and CPU bandwidth do not have to be trade-offs with the launch of its new ASUS My Cinema-EHD3-100/NAQ/FM/AV/MCE RC PCI-express Dual TV card. Designed for users seeking to watch and record both digital (ATSC/QAM) and analog (NTSC) TV channels simultaneously without taking a CPU hit, the ASUS My Cinema-EHD3-100/NAQ/FM/AV/MCE RC is embedded with a MPEG2 hardware encoder that dramatically reduces CPU loading while guaranteeing high quality video. With the ASUS My Cinema-EHD3-100/NAQ/FM/AV/MCE RC PCI-express Dual TV card, any PC can easily be turned into a smart multimedia center.

NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor), the ultimate tool for NVIDIA video cards tweaking, was updated today towards version 5.0. Using NiBiTor graphics card enthusiasts can change the boot up message text & color, GPU/shader & memory clocks, hidden features like SBA (Side Band Addressing) and much more. All this is to gain some extra performance or just to customize your card the way you want it. This new version is built upon the logic of the previous version, with some minor fixes. It adds support for a couple more new NVIDIA video cards (the full list is below) and a voltage IC Option in the program.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) 5.0

The company slogan change, from "Smarter Choice" to "The future is fusion" marked a major shift in core-Strategy for AMD. The company now focuses on delivering solutions, more so than mere products, with a solution comprising of several products working together to let the PC serve a purpose. One such solution is the AMD Maui entertainment platform. Maui platform makes AMD hardware work with AMD's own Live! Media Center software to deliver a complete home-theater PC solution.

On the hardware front, Maui includes a qualifying AMD Athlon X2 or Phenom series processor, a motherboard based on the AMD 7-series chipset with integrated graphics. Video is handled by the 7-series IGP, while audio is handled by a special audio component-riser card that has pre-amp circuitry onboard, which enables users to connect speakers in the 5.1 channel configuration directly to the motherboard. Future models would bring in 7.1 channel support. The first motherboard to use this design, is the MSI Media Live DIVA 5.1 780M.

Today, at the NVISION 2008 conference, NVIDIA Corporation in conjunction with Pegasys Inc., makers of TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress multi-format video encoding software, showcased a technology demonstration to optimize video processing with the massively parallel architecture of the GPU.

Using NVIDIA CUDA technology (a C-like programming language programming for the GPU), Pegasys is taking advantage of the parallel processing capabilities of an NVIDIA GeForce GPU to create a GPU-enabled beta version of TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress software. The software is used to dramatically increase video decode and processing speed by as much as 446% on a GeForce GPU.

Whilst Microsoft is in the middle of what The Inquirer calls a "hostile takeover" of Yahoo, Yahoo decided to buy a company of their own. Maven Networks recently accepted a $160 million offer to be bought out by Yahoo. It is very likely that this move was to increase the value of Yahoo. It should be noted that Yahoo was in talks with Maven long before the whole Microsoft-buying-Yahoo debacle. As part of the acquisition, Yahoo gets some fine deals with CBS Sports, Gannett, News Corp, Hearst and Sony Pictures. Yahoo will not lay off any of Maven's 70 employees, despite laying off nearly 1,000 of their own. Another large benefit to Yahoo acquiring Maven will be the sudden boost of places where Yahoo can shove their advertisements, further increasing revenue. Whether or not this is enough to fend off the "hostile takeover", we'll have to wait and see.