News for "2009"

AMD today reported revenue for the third quarter of 2009 of $1.396 billion. Third quarter 2009 revenue increased 18 percent compared to the second quarter of 2009 and decreased 22 percent compared to the third quarter of 2008.

In the third quarter of 2009, AMD reported a net loss attributable to AMD common stockholders of $128 million, or $0.18 per share, which includes a net favorable impact of $54 million, or $0.08 per share, primarily from a $66 million gain from the repurchase of debt as described in the table below. AMD's operating loss was $77 million.

In the second quarter of 2009, AMD had revenue of $1.184 billion, a net loss attributable to AMD common stockholders of $330 million and an operating loss of $249 million. In the third quarter of 2008, AMD had revenue from continuing operations of $1.797 billion, a net loss attributable to AMD common stockholders of $134 million and an operating income of $122 million.

Cooler Master has a full line-up of impressive live demos and products on display at COMPUTEX 2009 Nangang exhibition hall on 1F, I1224, I1323. There is also the private meeting area for customers and the press on 4F, 402a.

The recently released mid-tower beast HAF 922 finally lets loose to show off its unbeatable look and High Air Flow structure. Also from the HAF family is the full tower HAF 932, with live demo to show-off a spacious and thermal superiority by housing a quad graphic card system.

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leading manufacturer in high-performance DRAM modules and Flash application products, presenting its entire XPG - Xtreme Performance Gear product line and latest XPG Series DRAM modules with superior conductive technology in Nangang Exhibition Hall during Computex Taipei 2009.

As the success of presenting the leading XPG Xtreme series DDR3-2133X v2.0 DRAM module in the industry at CeBIT 2009, A-DATA presenting its XPG Plus Series v2.0 and Gaming Series v2.0 DRAM module with superior thermal conductive technology and characteristics heat sink design at Computex 2009.

Manufacturers branching out in to different segments seems to be the in thing to do at the moment and XFX is no exception as leaked slides on the forums of Legit Reviews, reveal that XFX are getting ready to announce their first power supply line at Computex Taipei 2009 next month. The first of which has been dubbed the 850 W Black Edition (XPS-850W-BES), which follows suit of many of their Black Edition graphics cards. It is a modular PSU featuring 88% effeciency and sports a 70A single 12v rail capped at 840 W. It would seem XFX are taking this seriously as the combined output across all of the wattage caps is in excess of 1,000 W. According to the slides the PSU features 105°C Japanese brand capacitors, +/-3% voltage regulation, solid polymer caps, and a 135mm ball bearing fan. Using a combination of fixed and removable cables the XFX 850 W Black Edition has 4 PCI-E 6+2 Pin connectors, 11 SATA connectors and 8 Molex connectors.


Source: Legit Reviews

Futuremark Corporation today announced a new competition for PC overclockers everywhere. The contest will see game, DIY, and overclocking enthusiasts from Europe, Asia and the Americas competing for the "Lord of Overclocking" title for their region. With Futuremark anticipating over 200,000 entries the online contest will be the largest overclocking competition ever staged.
Competition Home Page

The contest will run from May 18th to June 14th with prizes on offer for the top weekly and overall winners in each region. Furthermore one overall top winner will also be invited to attend the MSI Master Overclocking Arena 2009 event in Beijing, China in September 2009.

Laying to rest months of speculation surrounding the launch date of Windows 7, Microsoft categorically stated that it is readying the OS to ship in time for the holiday shopping season (aka Christmas 2009 shopping season). "With early RC testing and extensive partner feedback we've received, Windows 7 is tracking well for holiday availability," says Bill Veghte, senior VP of the Windows Business at Microsoft. The launch comes ahead of what was earlier speculated, "three years after the launch of Windows Vista", putting it sometime early 2010. Windows 7 launch will be accompanied by the company's release of Windows Server 2008 R2. While the company is yet to provide an actual release date, a recent statement from Acer's Bobby Watkins saying that it would reach retail by October 23 sounds plausible. It comes after the "back to school" season, and weeks ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Source: TechConnect Magazine

In a conversation with Pocket-lint, Acer's UK MD Bobby Watkins, has said that Windows 7 will be available pre-loaded on their upcoming All-In-One Z5600 PC from the 23 October 2009. Any of these models which come pre-loaded with Vista which are purchased up to 30 days before this date are also eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 7.

"23rd October is the date the Windows 7 will be available. There is a 30 day upgrade time so that customers don't wait to buy a new computer, so if you buy during that 30 day period, you'll get a free upgrade to Windows 7", Bobby Watkins, Acer's UK MD told Pocket-lint.

The Z5600 comes with a built-in touchscreen which one would presume is the reasoning behind Acer's decision to start pre-loading their AIO PC with Windows 7, so as to take advantage of the new OS's capabilites. Also mentioned was the fact that the new Asus Eee Top shipping at the end of september will be in store for people to "touch and feel".

There is still no official word from Microsoft on the matter, but although Windows 7 may be released to manufacturing from the end of October, it could still be a long wait to the expected date of January 2010 for Windows 7 to hit retail.

Source: Pocket-lint

In a move that signals a firm and ongoing commitment to advanced semiconductor technology leadership, IBM, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd., GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Infineon Technologies, Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., and STMicroelectronics have defined and are jointly developing a 28-nanometer, high-k metal gate (HKMG), low-power bulk complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technology.

The low-power, 28nm technology platform can provide power-performance and time-to-market advantages for producers of a broad range of power-sensitive mobile and consumer electronics applications, including the fast-growing mobile Internet device market segment. The favorable leakage characteristics of the HKMG technology result in optimized battery life for the next generation of mobile products.

Intel Corporation today reported first-quarter revenue of $7.1 billion, operating income of $670 million, net income of $647 million and earnings per share (EPS) of 11 cents.
"We believe PC sales bottomed out during the first quarter and that the industry is returning to normal seasonal patterns," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "Intel has adapted well to the current economic environment and we're benefiting from disciplined execution and agility. We're delivering a product portfolio that meets the needs of the changing market, spanning affordable computing to high-performance, energy-efficient computing."

Talks with potential investors regarding a solution to keep Qimonda in operation will continue beyond the end of March 2009. "Various investors have signaled their interest, but as yet there are no binding offers on the table. As anticipated, it will not be possible to reach a conclusive solution by the end of March," announced preliminary insolvency administrator Dr. Michael Jaffé today after a meeting with the creditors committee.

The employees of the insolvent Qimonda AG and Qimonda Dresden OHG will be able to claim compensation by means of statutory insolvency payments until the end of March 2009. By the end of March, the bankruptcy court in Munich will also have received the preliminary insolvency administrator's report on the basis of which the court will make a decision on whether to open insolvency proceedings.

Deteriorating world economy claims another victim in the tech world: NVISION, the annual flagship visual-computing promotional event by NVIDIA for 2009 is reportedly called off, according industry observer DigiTimes. NVISION draws parallels with MacWorld Expo, an event that showcases Apple technologies.

NVIDIA hosts the NVISION event ideally in the third quarter of an year. NVISION '08 was held in between August 25th and 27th, at the San Jose Convention Center, California, United States. The economic decline has reduced the number of attendees considering visiting the show, says NVIDIA. It was added that the company would hold several smaller forums in the coming fall.


Source: DigiTimes

Super Talent is showing off a few new products as well. The Luxio flash drive is a luxury unit and comes in black, silver or wood-grain. Capacity wise, it tops out at 64 GB and features both hardware and software encryption. Super Talent ships the unit with a stylish leather case. Then there is the new Godfather stick in a rubber chasing. We have seen the first of this series at CES and, while the rubber version is not on display at CeBIT, it should be available in retail.


Super Talent is also displaying ECC DIMMs. These are intended for the server market and while a lot of companies are showing of DDR2 versions, this is the DDR3 version. Then you will also find triple-channel kits at their booth, with golden heatspreaders.

Source: Super Talent

Corsair is showing off their first case design, a full tower unit with an aluminum front and steel structure. It has a unique layout as well as a lot of one of a kind features. The case allowes for perfect cable management, will be able to fit a triple radiator, has four hot-swap SATA bays including the drive trays and a unique cooling layout. The case should be availble in Q2 for around 300 €. Corsair is also planning a smaller version of the case.


Then there is a small new product, which is basically a USB dock, which comes with a backup button and the appropriate software. It can be used with any flash drive, but Corsair has designed it specifically for their own units.

Source: Corsair

We managed to drop by the Akasa booth as well and they also have several new products. Firstly there is an active notebook cooler, with an adjustable angle. It can be had either with a black metal mesh or silver one. The side holds the power switch, a single USB port and a dial to adjust the fan speed, while the rear has another four port USB 2.0 hub.


Akasa is also presenting their newest series of fans, with very unique fan blades, which supposedly push around 30% more air than straight ones. They are rated at a mere 13 db(A) and are currently only available as 120 mm variants. Their "Freedom" series is also being expanded with a CPU cooler and a GPU cooler. The latter is intended for the GT200 series of GPUs and Akasa is actually showing one off in a demo system cooling an EVGA GTX 280.

Source: Akasa

There are a few things to see at the A-DATA stand. Let us start with the memory modules. The company has three different Tri-Channel kits on display. They range between 1800 and 2133 MHz. The latter comes bundled with a clip-on heatsink & fan top and A-DATA is running it at CL8. They are also offering DDR2 SO-DIMMs aimed at the Gamer market. These come in two versions. One runs 800 MHz at a tighter timing of CL4 while the other uses a mere 1.6 to 1.7V to operate at 800 MHz CL5.

Arctic Cooling has a very open booth at the show and they have a few demonstration to show what their Fusion 550R (550 Watt) power supply is capable of. They are loading all rails and generating around 570 W, still managing to keep everything stable and cooling it with a single 80 mm fan. Then they have a system in which they are utilizing all kinds of different Arctic Cooling products in combination with the Fusion 550R power supply. Lastly, there is a system with two passively cooled 9800 GTX+ inside their chassis.


Arctic Cooling is also working on a compact, portable notebook cooler, which should be out in Q2. It is powered soley by USB and also has four USB 2.0 ports and the fan speed can be adjusted with a dial in the back. Last but not least, they are showing off cooling solutions created for specific manufacturers. There is a 9500GT from Axle with an enclosed single slot cooling solution from Arctic Cooling.

Source: Arctic Cooling

Glacialtech is also present here at CeBIT, with a small booth. But it is packed with a few nice new additions. There are two new notebook coolers, one called the X-Wing R1 and the other called Glacial Pad G1. Both are actively cooled and the R1 can be had with different color edges. It also has multimedia controls up front which use the USB connector to interface with the notebook.

DFI is showing off all of their mATX boards aimed at the gaming enthusiast. These come in all kinds of flavors, sporting all available CPU sockets and also offering multi GPU possibilities. Their newest addition is the X58 based one, which has all the features of an ATX board but gives the user the possibility to pack everything into an mATX chassis.

The CoolIT Systems booth has grown considerably in size, over the years. Even though their booth is not as big as at CES, the crowd is basically running them down. The Domino A.L.C cooler - of which you can expect a review soon - is being accepted by the public and the industry quite nicely. They are showing off two custom made PCs, which are made by Kobalt Computers. Both are cooled by CoolIT technology. The one which really impressed me - both due to build quality and the amount of CoolIT hardware used is the black unit. These two are probably the craziest systems I have seen this year around.

Source: CoolIT System

OCZ is making some waves with their Z Drive, which is a PCIe based SSD enclosure for four hard drives. They have a unit up and running in white, while it is also displayed in a black color. The Z Drive is intended to be used with four SSDs, which allow for some insane speeds. The entire unit is interfaced with a PCIe x8 and requires two Molex connectors. But wait - there is more!

G.Skill did not have a booth in the public area last year. This time around, they have such a presence and are showing off their newest DDR3 line-up. Gone are the tiny and fairly noisy fans. Gone is the rainbow line-up of colors for heatspreaders. The compnay has really cleaned up their product line and is opting for different looking heatspreaders for their different type of memory. The very successful PI series has been expanded to DDR3 as well. G.Skill is also introducing three differently named triple channel kits. The fastest, running at 2133 MHz with CL9 is called Trident and can be viewed in a running system, with a base clock of 133. The second model is named "Perfect Storm", runs at 2000 MHz CL7. The last is the afore mentioned PI Black series, running at 1800 MHz CL7. All of these modules are actively cooled with various clip-on or screw-on fans.

The DDR2 memory also features a similar active cooler and the PI series is available with up to 1200 MHz CL5 as a 4 GB Kit.

Source: G.Skill

We all remember the move from SD cards to SDHC. These offer more space in the same physical package, but are not backwards compatible. Now that SDHC is reaching is maximum capacity, a new format has been announced back in January, called SDXC. It will support up to 2 TB capacity, while keeping the same form factor. Walking the show floor, we found Pretec quietly displaying a 32 GB card at their booth. Remember, while older cards work in SDXC card readers and devices, you will need a new reader or device to use SDXC cards. Déjà-vu anyone?

Source: TechPowerUp

Scythe is displaying quite a few new cooling solution as well as some prototypes. Let us start with the concepts first. The "Godhand" is an extremely large CPU cooler, which hovers over the top half of the mainboard. Then there is a large, passive block with heatpipes. This unit is intended for midrange GPUs and can handle around 60W of heat. Then there is a large version of the Kama Cross, simply called Kama Grand Cross.

There are several manufacturers showing off P55 based boards at CeBIT. We have posted some of the boards which were mentioned at other websites, but Jetway is also throwing their offering into the pool. The board uses bright colored slots on a black PCB. There is an unknown slot next to the memory modules - named CNF 1. The board features 14 USB 2.0, 7 SATA, 1 eSATA, two PCI x16 slots for GPUs and a third named "HD Display slot".

Source: Jetway

Kingmax is showing off various watercool flash devices, as well as some memory products. The sealed units are hanging in small aquariums. The company is offering SDHC, microSDHC and USB flash devices with this attribute. There are a few more interesting things, hit the"Read full story" link for more.

The CES '09 aftermath has just died down and we are in Germany right now, getting ready for the CeBIT 2009. Having had the chance to walk the show floor today already, watching the manufacturers build their booths, there seems to be a cautiously optimistic vibe in the air. We do expect a few surprises and will try our best to let you know about them - with a lot of pictures of course!

Source: CeBIT

The ability of AMD's Phenom II X3 processors dole out an additional core thanks to flaws in BIOS programming, has been one of the most interesting events in the computer enthusiast industry this month. A simple toggle of an option would unlock the disabled core, appreciating the value of the processor. It was earlier known that only chips belonging to 0904 (fourth week of 2009) batch of the processors would be able to respond to the mod successfully, but now, a fresh finding by German website Hartware.net suggests that even chips made in the 51st week of 2008 batch responded to the mod, and the fourth core could be enabled. Hartware.net used Biostar's TA790GX A2+ motherboard for the feat.

Meanwhile, the only entity that stands to lose due to this rather bizarre "phenomenon" has stepped in. AMD has reportedly requested motherboard manufacturers to not to release motherboards with the "buggy" BIOS, and to devise a fix for the issue immediately. Manufacturers are requested to release fixed BIOS updates. Evidently Phenom II X3 could cannibalize higher quad-core chips by the firm. The company is yet to release an DDR3-supportive quad-core chip based on the Deneb core with the entire 6 MB cache enabled.


Sources: Hartware.net, OCWorkbench

Ubuntu's contribution to propagating Linux to the client platforms (general desktop/notebook) is invaluable. Its developers are known to codename major builds of the OS after animals. An upcoming version, 9.10 has been codenamed "Karmic Koala", after the cute and cuddly animal from south-east Australia. Going by Ubuntu's six-month development cycle, 9.10 should follow 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" slated for this April, and should be coming out by October.

The new client-version is expected to be netbook-friendly, with having significantly lower boot times. The target booting time for 9.04 is 25 seconds, while the developers hope to improve that figure further with 9.10. The developers will be integrating features from Intel's Moblin platform in order to improve performance on Atom-based devices. The Server Edition based on Ubuntu, which is steadily gaining in adoption, yet lagging behind offerings from market heavyweights such as Red Hat and Novell, will also get its share of improvements, one of the most important of them being enhanced support for cloud-computing.

In an exclusive interview with the guys at Neowin.net, Microsoft have confirmed, that provided no serious problems arise, they are on track to release Windows 7 RC on April 10. As yet the only changes which are known about, are User Account Control (UAC) fixes which prevent malware from disabling UAC all together.

More information about the development of Windows 7 comes from Geeksmack, with their email conversation with Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft Senior Vice President of Windows. Sinofsky said, "We have received an amazing amount of feedback, many suggestions for new features too, during the beta—over 500,000 suggestions just from the Send Feedback button." What was also interesting to note, "... by far the most humorous element has been that the build numbers blogged about are higher than our current build. Today's build is 7046, but it hasn't completed yet :-)"
Sinofsky is also said to have spoken to Ars Technica, and said that, "The build will be available broadly".

Sources: Neowin.net , Geeksmack , Ars Technica

The Intel Developer Forum (IDF) serves as a platform for technologists to discuss Intel technologies and products based on or around Intel technologies. With China and Taiwan being almost the epicenters of consumer electronics manufacturing and development, Intel began holding annual events in the two countries, apart from the event at San Fransisco, United States. The IDF schedule for 2008, for example, included events in Shanghai, China and Taipei, Taiwan.

Fresh news emerging from Taiwan, sourced by industry observer DigiTimes suggests that Intel canceled IDF Taiwan 2009, originally slated for November, later this year. The company is holding this as part of its cost-reduction efforts to counter the global economic slowdown. The move comes as a surprise to Taiwanese computer hardware firms affiliated with Intel technologies, as the company has been hosting the IDF Taiwan event since the year 1996. Additionally, the company plans to restructure the IDF Beijing event scheduled in April from a two-day event to a one-day event focusing on China. Intel however clarified that it will continue to maintain its cooperation with the Taiwanese to sustain the country's industrial growth, which it hopes to achieve through presence at the Computex event. The main event held in San Fransisco, however, will not be affected. The company hopes to maintain the event in the same proportions as it was, in the past.

Source: DigiTimes

Intel pushed its performance supremacy lead further up with the introduction of the Nehalem micro-architecture. The introduction served as a milestone event in the company's history, where it sought to rearrange various components of the PC, by moving certain parts of the chipset to the processor package. In the months to come, with the introduction of the Ibex-Peak platform, the company hopes to migrate even more components from the system core-logic to the CPU package. A lot of engineering potential is unlocked due to the modularity of the various components of a Nehalem-derived CPU.

At the upcoming International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) event, Intel plans a decent set of technology demonstrations and papers. The advance program information document shed some light on Intel's itinerary. In session 3 held on February 9, Intel will present papers on its 8-core Xeon processor, following which is a session on 45nm IA processors. The session is on processors built with features characteristic of the Nehalem micro-architecture, in having integrated memory controllers, a coherent point-to-point interconnect, and up to 8 processing cores. Interestingly, the description included a note on the power consumptions, ranging from "sub-10W to 130W", which leads us to believe Intel to have plans on making derivatives of the Nehalem micro-architecture with some very low energy footprints. Another interpretation would be that a new breed of processors could have idle power consumptions as low as <10W. Currently the most energy-efficient Nehalem-based processor known to be in the works is the Xeon L5520 that has identical features to those of the Core i7 series while having a clock speed of 2.23 GHz and a rated TDP of a mere 60W.

Source: X-bit Labs

Having reacted rather sharply to the ongoing global economic slump by planning massive workforce and production cuts, one would expect Intel to be conservative with its development potential. In a contradiction to just that, a recent conversation EETimes had with Mark Bohr, director of Intel's technology and manufacturing group, the director said that the company is on course with its plans to introduce the newer 32 nm silicon fabrication technology by late 2009.

"The 32 nm technology is getting ready to go into the manufacturing phase, we are lining up fabs to support it and we expect great demand. We are on track for shipping products in the fourth quarter and have 22 nm technology in development for 2011" said Mr. Bohr. The conversation previewed some of the papers Intel plans to present at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference that convenes next week.

Intel follows a "tick-tock" model of product development cycle, wherein, the company designs new microprocessor designs and silicon fabrication technologies in alternation. In each cycle, an architecture gets to be made on at least two successive fabrication technologies before itself being succeeded by a newer design. Currently Intel employs the 45 nm High-K metal gate manufacturing technology, on which it introduced later variants of the Core 2 series CPUs, and has introduced its Nehalem architecture, with Core i7 being its first commercial implementation.

Source: EETimes

Weakening demand, deteriorating economy and product launches by the dozen have led to ASUS, one of the largest manufacturers of computer hardware to suffer overstocked inventories. A local daily in Taiwan in a recent report suggests that the company is planning to reduce its inventories by as much as 30% in Q1 2009. ASUS currently holds US $1.33 billion-worth inventory, which it plans to reduce to $1.03 billion.

In the process, the company may incur losses amounting of around 20% amounting to roughly $35.5 million for the fourth quarter last year due to depreciation, the paper noted. Inventory levels of motherboards and graphics cards by ASUS may be sized down to the levels of 8~10 weeks, with those of pre-built PCs expected to be lower. The company also reduce its operating costs by 10%. In the wake turbulent economic weather the world over, ASUS will be employing new strategies to face fluctuations in exchange rates.

Source: DigiTimes

A few days ago, we covered the release of an NVIDIA graphics update from Apple, which was intended to address issues when using the Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter on MacBook Air, MacBook and MacBook Pro and improve cursor movement and playback of HD videos running on systems with NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT or GeForce 9600M graphics. Within just two days of the update being posted, the page and downloads were removed from Apple's site, for initially unknown reasons. It seems that not long after the update was released, the Apple discussion forums started filling up with people having either the same, or in some cases, worse problems following the graphics update. According to CNET, "This issue only affects those with the MacBooks, MacBook Airs or MacBook Pros redesigned in October, and it seems to only be a problem when running the integrated graphics on those machines."

Source: CNET

CoolIT is showing off a few very interesting concepts and implementation of their cooling technology. The first is a PC which is completely cooled by such a system. The prototype is hand made but features high-end components in a unique formfactor. To control all aspects of the system there is a special PCB, to which you may connect multiple fans among other things. Then there is the notebook cooling prototype. It actually pushes cooled air into the notebooks air vents, to be exausted by the internal cooling fan.

One device, which I forgot to take a picture off, is their Domino ALC CPU cooler. It is a pre-filled and ready to go liquid cooling solution. But fear not, we will have a review of the system shortly.

Source: CoolIT System

Microprocessor mogul Intel, has been fairly invincible to the ups and downs of world economy, in its 40+ years of existence, owing to the market position it has been holding since the success of its microprocessor technologies. For the first time in 87 quarter fiscal years, the company is bracing itself for a red-quarter, meaning losses.

Intel's CEO Paul Otellini thinks that with the company seeing profits go down by as much as 19% in Q4 2008, one can expect only the worse of Q1, with an ailing world economy coupled with the expected fall in sales post the winter shopping season. The company is exercising all means to cut operational costs while attempting to meet sales targets, though it is not looking at workforce reductions as an option just as yet.

Source: Nashville Business Journal

Kaspersky Lab, a leading producer of secure content management solutions, announces the release of a technical prototype of Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows 7. The prototype is based on the new antivirus engine which provides complex antivirus protection from all types of Internet threats.

The new technical prototype of Kaspersky Anti-Virus is designed to secure computers running under Windows 7. The beta test version of Microsoft Windows 7 operating system was released at the beginning of January 2009. Kaspersky Lab simultaneously released its technical prototype providing greater efficiency and complex antivirus protection for the new operating system.

Bloomberg reports that Intel is planning on releasing a new, higher-capacity solid state drive, which will provide users with up to 320GB of storage capacity. In Q4 this year, the company will begin selling a total of eight new drives with capacity of 320GB, that will be part of Intel's Extreme and Mainstream SSD series. The chips used for these drives will be build using 32-nanometer production technology, Intel’s most advanced manufacturing method for the time being. The source also clamins that Intel has already contacted its partners and informed them for the new drives.
The world's largest chipmaker also plans to introduce a new product called "Braidwood" that's slated for Q4 2009 too. It will include as much as 16GB of flash memory that will create “better responsiveness and boot-up time.” Though it's unclear whether this solution will be integrated into Intel based motherboards or it will stand for an optional separate storage drive, made only for installing operating systems.

Source: Bloomberg

EVGA is also showing off a few very interesting items. The first being a remote thin client. This unit gives you the ability to access a PC from an outside location, while the machine itself remains in a secure location. All the data is transmitted through a network connection. This includes the display information over DVI. The thin client can drive two DVI based displays, USB and audio. Read on for information on the X58 Classified board.

QNAP is showing off their newest NAS enclosures. The first is a single hard drive enclosure, which also acts as a media center. It is one of the few out there, whiche manages 1080p output. It has all the usual connections as well as HDMI. There is a remote control included and the user interface is very clean and easy to use. But this is not the only new product - read on...

In Win is showing off quite a few new and interesting items. There are several new cases and hard drive enclosures. The first one does not yet have a name, but come with 11 expansion bays, has a screwless system in place for the drives, a bottom mounted PSU and is water cooling ready. In Win is one of the companies with bold case designs in many aspects. The second chassis is called the BS653. It also has a very unique outer design with up to 9 external expansion bays, removable hard drive cage and bottom mounted power supply. The last mid-tower case is called "X-Fighter" and has a unique air vent design, as well as animated LED lighting. Hit the "Read More" - for more!

We got to take a look at Sennheisers newest offering: the HD800. This unit is their new flagship part and even though I am no audiophile: they sound amazing. The materials have been kept as light as possible, while the vibration of the unit has been nearly eliminated, giving you the best possible sound quality. The ear drums are not completely sealed, but give you an amazing soundstage.


You will also find their new portable series, which is intended for the audiophile music lover on the go. The HD218 gives you great sound quality with a normal, but powerful bass, while the HD228 adds further bass. The high end HD238 goes a step further, giving you even more "umpf" for your money.

Source: Sennheiser

There are two new cases at the Silverstone booth. The first beeing the Raven, which is their new high end enclosure. It is quite large an features clean cut, but very modern design. The interesting aspect is the mainboard placement. It fits into the case at a 90 degree angle, with the usual rear connections facing upward. the cables are then routed out the back of the chassis. The second case is from the Precision series and also features a clean look. This unit is intended for the mainsteam user. Lastly the one thing of interest is the cooling used in their demo systems. It is the Noise Limit Silentflux passive cooler. As you can see in the image, it is cooling an i7 with the help of the surrounding fans.

Source: Silverstone

Razer has been talking about a wireless mouse for quite some time now. I first heard about it around 2 years ago. The company is showing off the new Mamba mouse. This unit can be charged either per USB cable or on the cradle. You may also choose to use the unit as a wired mouse or as a wireless unit. It holds a 5600 DPI sensor and the battery will last you for 14 hours of continuous gaming or around 72 hours of casual gaming. The second introduction is the Carcharias headset. It is based on the more expensive Megadolon unit, featuring the same looks and technology within the headset. Instead of the 7.1 surround sound, the Carcharias offers stereo sound instead. The Mamba mouse can be pre-ordered for 129.99 US Dollars, while the Carcharias is available now for 79.99.

Source: Razer

Today, Congressman Joe Baca (D-Rialto) introduced legislation that mandates all video games with an Electronics Software Ratings Board (ESRB) rating of Teen (T) or higher be sold with a health warning label. The Video Game Health Labeling Act of 2009 creates a new rule within the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which forces games with a T rating or higher to be sold with a simple warning label, reading: "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior."

"The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families, and to consumers - to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products," said Rep. Baca. "They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. Meanwhile research continues to show a proven link between playing violent games and increased aggression in young people. American families deserve to know the truth about these potentially dangerous products."

In response to the trend towards increased integration and lower power consumption in the global computer market, MSI released an all-new "Wind NetOn" product line and officially announced its intention to focus its efforts on the All-in-One computer market in 2009. The new Wind NetOn lineup emphasizes on an integrated one-piece design, environmentally friendly energy-saving features and a stylish exterior that deliver satisfactory performance at reasonable prices without taking up extra space.

ASUS, a world-leading company in the new digital era, has been a staunch supporter of environmentally-friendly computing. Staring from 2000, ASUS has initiated the GreenASUS project, which focuses on four Green Home Runs—Green Design, Green Procurement, Green Manufacturing, and Green Service and Marketing. Since then, ASUS has constantly strived to in its efforts to be more environmentally-friendly. In 2004, ASUS launched the world first lead-free motherboard, and phased in lead-free manufacturing process to all product lines. This year, ASUS will be the first in the IT industry to launch Halogen-free product processes across its major product lines.

Asus has a large booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center as well. They are showing off their large line-up of EeePC branded unit. The big surprise is the new PC - the D200, which comes in a very small form factor and features a small LCD screen up front. It also comes with 2GB of memory an Atom N270. There is also a gigabit router built into the system.

Crucial & Lexar have a large, open booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center. They are showing of some of their products, including DDR3 memory, USB flash drives and memory cards. There is a new line-up of such cards, which is intended for HD capable video camcorders. These do not only have the speed needed to play back such video, but also the write performance to record it in real time. Read on for their new flash drives and DDR3 memory

Logitech made a big splash at the "CES Unveiled" event this year. They showed off the new G series mouse - the G9x - and the G13 and G19 keyboards. The mouse is an upgrade to the G9 and comes with a 5000 dpi sensor. It is priced at up to 90 Euros, which may be a bit much for some. Read on for information and pictures of the new keyboards.

Super Talent is showing off their Pico series. It now comes in Zinc, Gold and Silver. On top of that they have extended the series with a miniscule unit, which also has a cover on the USB plug side. On top of that the manufacturer is now also offering a "The Godfather" themed line-up. While others offer Disney variants, Super Talent have chosen a topic which should be of interest to all those who know the classic movie.

Besides the USB 3.0 demonstration, visitors attending the 2009 CES at Las Vegas may also take a look at PQI's booth, where the company will have on display their full range of Solid State Drives, USB Flash Drives (UFD), Memory Modules and Flash Memory Cards. Among these will be four brand new and never seen before products - 1.8-inch microSATA SSD S518, Express Card SSD S520, 2.5-inch SATAⅡ SSD S525 and e-SATA Combo Card S530. The 32GB Express Card SSD S520 utilizes PCMCIA form factor that supports both USB2 and PCI Express connectivity. Users have the option of using it as a portable USB flash drive or to extend their PC / laptop storage capacity. The 64GB e-SATA Combo Card S530 has an e-SATA connection interface and reaches a maximum read speed of 90MB/Sec. Finally, both PQI's 1.8-inch microSATA SSD S518 and 2.5-inch SATAⅡ SSD S525 are available with a maximum capacity of 128GB. They are also suitable for installation into PCs, laptops or mobile workstations. Expect more information on each drive at CES 2009.


Source: PQI

Symwave, a semiconductor supplier of high-performance analog/mixed-signal connectivity solutions for the PC, consumer and mobile devices, today announced collaboration with Seagate to demonstrate Symwave's USB 3.0 storage controller device designed to comply with the SuperSpeed (USB 3.0) specification revision 1.0. The technology demonstration is the world's first consumer product application of USB 3.0 and will take place at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada from January 8-11, 2009. The demonstration will showcase streaming data to and from a commercially available external storage device at speeds previously unattainable with legacy USB technology.

Well, another year has come and gone and I here in Austria just moved on to the year 2009. We, the entire staff of TechPowerUp!, would like to take this opportunity to thank you for stopping by on the website on a regular basis and wish all of you a happy new year. May it be the best one yet and we hope to be able to welcome you in our forums, our front page or as a user of our tools in the new year as well.

All the best,
W1zzard, DarkSaber & the entire staff at TechPowerUp!