Silicon Power unveils the E20 SSD

Shane McGlaun | Storage | Nov 30, 2010 12:02 PM CST

When it comes to SSDs, there are a ton of companies on the market that we can choose from. Silicon Power is one of the companies that seems to be offering up a new SSD every time I look around. The latest new SSD to come from the company is called the E20 and the SSD is really fast. The E20 uses a special RAM cache function to speed the drives operation and reduce bottlenecks.

The SSD has a DRAM cache that enhances the read and write performance of the storage device. Silicon Power claims that the SSD is good for read speed up to 250MB/s and write speed up to 230MB/s. The write performance of the SSD is boosted further by using Windows 7 TRIM functionality. The drive uses a 2.5-inch form factor and it is offered in multiple capacities. The capacities include 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB.

The SSD also has SMART support ad uses a circuit current sensor to tell when power is fluctuating to the drive and help prevent your data from being lost. Other features include wear leveling, RoHS compliance, resistance to shock and vibration, as no noise production. The SSD measures 100mm x 69.85mm x 9.5mm. Pricing is unknown at this time.

Continue reading: Silicon Power unveils the E20 SSD (full post)

Corsair launches new high-performance DDR3 RAM

Shane McGlaun | RAM | Nov 30, 2010 11:20 AM CST

Corsair has announced that it has launched some new RAM that might be perfect for the next enthusiast or gaming rig you are building up. The new RAM is in the Vengeance series of DDR3 and is aimed at making for some great overclocking on current and coming Intel platforms. All of the Vengeance modules run at 1.5V.

The RAM will be offered in single, dual, and triple channel modules kits and will come in capacities from 4GB up to 16GB. The entire line has the same aluminum heat spreaders of thermal performance and has a cool appearance as well. The RAM really does look good too; it reminds me of the suit in Crysis for some reason.

The RAM will be offered in different speeds with 1600MHz and 1866MHz kits. The 1866MHz is only offered in a dual DIMM 8GB kit. Pricing ranges from $74.99 for a single 4GB DIMM up to $305.99 for a kit of four 4GB DIMMs for 16GB total.

Continue reading: Corsair launches new high-performance DDR3 RAM (full post)

BlackBerry Empathy concept design - feels your emotions

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Nov 30, 2010 12:01 AM CST

Have you put your mind back together after glimpsing at the picture? Because it would typically blow your mind looking at it. The design is something that has never really been done before and obviously it's a concept - so we might never see this in the retail market.

Doesn't stop you from dreaming though, don't dream too much though as this phone will detect your emotions. No, seriously it will. A RIM-sponsored design project at the Art Center College of Design are talking about how they have designed the Empathy to detect the emotion of it's user and his or her contacts.

It's not clear how it does this, but one of the crucial bits to this tech is the biometric feedback ring (as seen in the picture), unfortunately this ring is not the 6th ring and will not let you let your powers combine to call upon the help of Captain Planet.

Continue reading: BlackBerry Empathy concept design - feels your emotions (full post)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX570 outed by Palit

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Nov 29, 2010 7:09 PM CST

NVIDIA are on a roll, and that roll is down a green hill made of money and good times. Palit's sales sheet for the GTX570 has been distributed ahead of NVIDIA's official launch of the upcoming GTX570 on December 7th.

The GTX570 has the same number of cores as the older GTX480, but has them clocked 32MHz faster. It's down to 1.28GB of memory from 1.5GB and that 1.28GB of memory is down to a 320-bit bus.

Keep in mind that there are abundant stocks of the GTX480 in most places and getting rid of them will be hard. It was not that popular to begin with and considering the GTX580 is everything the GTX480 was meant to be, who would buy a GTX480 over the GTX5x0 cards unless it was uber-cheap? Now, I will not knock back any free GTX480's - I have a 1200W power supply and 4-way SLI board waiting, so feel free to send me some, ok NVIDIA? ;)

Continue reading: NVIDIA GeForce GTX570 outed by Palit (full post)

Google Earth 6 released - makes trees 3D!

Anthony Garreffa | Connectivity & Cloud | Nov 29, 2010 7:00 PM CST

Google has released Google Earth 6, with it comes a variety of upgrades and improvements. Most important is Street View is now deeply integrated into Google Earth which allows users to fly from space to whichever street Google has Street View imagery of.

In order to do this, pickup the Pegman icon docked right next to the navigation controls and drop Pegman wherever you see a blue-highlighted road.

With the update comes more historical imagery, which allows a user to see photos of the location in a timeline (from 1945 to present) for those who are interested.

Continue reading: Google Earth 6 released - makes trees 3D! (full post)

Toshiba unveils new PowerTV with internal battery

Shane McGlaun | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Nov 29, 2010 2:06 PM CST

I live just outside of one of the largest cities in my part of Texas. Even with me so close to a metropolitan area, my house is on a rural power co-op and that means that the power goes out if a dog up the street farts twice in a row. The thing that really pisses me off about the power going to so much is that it always happens right in the middle of something I want to watch. More than power outages though the power will brown out for a bit and make the TV turn off. I really hate that.

Toshiba has unveiled a new TV line that is cool called the PowerTV. This is the first set on the market that has an internal battery. When the power goes out the battery in the TV kicks on immediately to keep your set running and you watching TV. It sounds like a TV with an integrated UPS like the one I use on my computer. That should mean that the battery would keep the set going if a brownout happens as well.

The PowerTVs will come in several screen sizes and the battery can power the set for two hours per charge. The TV uses LED backlighting to save power and has signal boosting tech to help you get a signal OTA. That last bit is important since your cable box lacks a battery so in an outage only the tuner inside the set will work.

Continue reading: Toshiba unveils new PowerTV with internal battery (full post)

Sony heads back to Japan with eReader line

Shane McGlaun | Mobile Devices | Nov 29, 2010 12:02 PM CST

eReaders are huge in the US today and they are popular around the world. Sony eReaders have been on the market much longer than popular devices like the Kindle and Nook have, but early on Sony eReaders didn't catch the eye of users in Japan. Back in 2007, both Sony and Panasonic pulled out of the eReader market in Japan. Despite the market not being enough for them in their home countries, Sony has been selling its eReaders in the US for a long time now.

Sony is now set to go back to its home market with its eReaders. Sony will offer a 5-inch screen eReader in Japan starting on December 10 for 20,000 yen or $240. A 6-inch screen version of the reader will be offered for 25,000 yen. Reuters reports lack of content was the main reason the Sony readers failed originally. The popularity of eReader rivals and tablets like the iPad has to be another factor pushing Sony back to its home market.

Sony has big plans for its Japanese eReader re-launch too. It plans to sell 300,000 readers in the first year back on the market and grab up 50% of the Japanese market by 2012. Japan now has about 1.2 million titles in its Reader Store in America that presumably would be available in Japan along with Japanese language titles.

Continue reading: Sony heads back to Japan with eReader line (full post)

Clear 4G launches in LA today

Shane McGlaun | Mobile Devices | Nov 29, 2010 11:00 AM CST

I'm not happy at all with the speed of the wireless networks in my area. All of the major wireless carriers in the country offer 3G here in my city, but the connections are all very slow. The 3G connections here are patchy at best and offer speeds more like dial up than the blazing fast broadband connections some parts of the country have. While I still wait for better 3G coverage, many places are already getting 4G coverage.

Clear has announced today that the latest area to get 4G WiMax coverage with its new 4G network is Los Angeles. The faster network launches in the LA area just in time for Cyber Monday and the fast speed will make for blazing fast online shopping and will be a great gift that any geek would be happy to get on Christmas Day.

Clear's 4G network is about 3x as fast as your typical 3G connection. Clear now covers about 11 million people in LA and Orange County. Clear is also offering a big sale on the Clear Spot 4G connection device. Shoppers can pick one up today for $20 with that price good online only until midnight today. Buyers will also get 50% off their first two months of service.

Continue reading: Clear 4G launches in LA today (full post)

Asus Eee note EA-800 set to launch this week in Taiwan

Shane McGlaun | Mobile Devices | Nov 29, 2010 10:04 AM CST

Asus has more products on the market today that you can shake a stick at. The company got its start long ago but for most of us here in the US the Asus brand only became familiar when the netbook craze took off. Asus is always adding new gear to its line of offerings and has a new Eee Note EA-800 device that will land in Taiwan this week. The device is designed to let users take notes using a tablet style device.

The tablet has a price that works out to $230. It has some very nice features as well with an integrated camera and mic that will let you record notes and take pics. It has a 3.5mm headphone jack so you can listen privately to things you record or music. The screen of the tablet is 8-inches, it has a resolution of 1024 x 768, and the battery promises 13.5 hours of continuous use.

The only downside to the device for folks looking for a cheap tablet alternative is that its screen is monochrome. The operating system for the device is Linux. The same Eee Note tablet will hit other countries ultimately winding up in the US in Q1 2011. I'm not sure about this deice, it's not far off in price from other tablets on the market right now with more capability.

Continue reading: Asus Eee note EA-800 set to launch this week in Taiwan (full post)

A peak at Acer's dual 14-inch touchscreen notebook

Anthony Garreffa | Peripherals | Nov 28, 2010 11:20 PM CST

Ever felt like the need for a dual-screen laptop? Well, Engadget have had a sneak peak at some new Acer hardware - as they announced a range of new devices at a New York press conference last week, the message they were putting across? Keyboards are out, Kenny Powers is in (and by Kenny Powers, I mean touchscreen keyboards instead of the physical keys).

Acer announced a range of tablets, with most of them Android-powered. Sizes of the tablets ranged from five to ten-inches each. Acer's Iconia laptop is the gem here - ditching the usual keyboard on a laptop for a 14-inch touchscreen which matches the main display. This is not something Acer are releasing and forgetting about, Acer has hinted this might be a change for them and it will be a first in a series of products that will unravel over the next few years.

Obviously this has been tried before but with the iPad and various other tablets and smartphones upgrading over themselves every few months, it's only a sign of things to come. A full touchscreen keyboard sounds weird, but people who had used it said that after a few minutes of changing the orientation of where their fingers pressed on the touchscreen, that it started to feel normal.

Continue reading: A peak at Acer's dual 14-inch touchscreen notebook (full post)

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