ATi Mobility Radeon X1700, X1450 amp; X1350

ATI Technologies Inc. (TSX:ATY)(NASDAQ:ATYT) has developed a family ofnotebook graphics to meet the complete needs of mobile professionals-fromcreating vivid presentations, to watching high definition videos to playingtheir favorite video game on their flight home. ATI's Mobility Radeon X1700®,Mobility Radeon® X1450 and Mobility Radeon® X1350 Balance performance withlonger battery life to transform notebook PCs into high-powered mobileentertainment systems and Windows Vista-ready workstations.

ASUS will be the first to market with the Mobility Radeon X1700 graphicsprocessor, with its newly launched high-performance notebooks, including theMobile TV, Mobility, Multimedia and Entertainment notebook series.

"Today's mobile notebook users demand desktop-class processing performance withexceptional digital multimedia capability," said Tony Chen, general manager ofASUS Notebook Business. "ATI's Mobility Radeon X1700, with its powerful 3D,video, and power saving technologies, is an ideal solution for our Vista capablenotebooks to deliver a true-to-life digital entertainment experience."

"With the imminent arrival of Vista and consumers buzzing about high-definitionvideo, the demands on the graphics processor are enormous and no lightweightcard can handle it," said Jon Peddie, president, Jon Peddie Research. "ATI's newMobility Radeon graphics processors are Windows Vista-ready and up to the taskof handling today's power-intensive HD and multimedia applications."

The Mobility Radeon X1K family optimizes performance for the mobile world,providing advanced functionality for running graphics-intensive businessapplications, high-definition multimedia content and digital entertainment.Features include:

Longer Battery Life - Long flights and marathon offsite meetings just got moreproductive. The Mobility Radeon X1K family balances productivity with strongperformance. Built to include ATI's Powerplay™6.0 power management technology,the Mobility Radeon X1K family of graphics processors automatically adjusts thebalance between performance and power consumption based on the workload. Througha combination of hardware and software, Powerplay optimizes the clock speed andvoltage of the Mobility Radeon graphics core depending on the user'srequirements.

Experience High-Definition Content Like Never Before - High-definition contentis fast becoming the new reality for digital entertainment. The Mobility RadeonX1K family is ideal for media-intensive tasks such as digital content viewing,editing and creation. Advanced video processing and acceleration makes HD DVDplayback smooth, and the powerful graphics core easily handles the latest 3Dgames. ATI's Mobility Radeon X1K family also includes Avivo™ video and displaytechnology and HD-DVD/H.264 and Blu-ray video playback to deliver crispgraphics, smooth video and dazzling color fidelity through the notebook LCDdisplay.

Ready for Windows Vista™ - With Microsoft Windows Vista on its way, the MobilityRadeon X1K family delivers the premium Vista experience, including thesophisticated Windows Aero™ user interface, Windows Flip 3D and flawlesshigh-definition content playback. Not only does this ensure that notebookmanufacturers and users get the most from their mobile computing investments,but it also allows users to take advantage of the best that Windows Vista has tooffer.

"With the Mobility Radeon X1K family, ATI continues its commitment to offeringmobile users unrivaled dedicated graphics performance without sacrificing longbattery life," said Phil Eisler, senior vice president and general manager,Integrated and Mobile Business Unit, ATI Technologies, Inc. "As we enter the eraof high-definition content, ATI is at the forefront; driving innovation thatallows notebook manufacturers and consumers to realize the true potential ofHD."

ASUS showcases class-leading motherboard and notebook designs at CES 2011

ASUS'new motherboards feature Dual Intelligent Processors 2 technology, which consists of twin embedded co-processors that ensure optimized energy consumption and enhanced performance controls not available in other motherboards. Additional ASUS exclusives include the mouse-controlled EFI BIOS interface, BT GO! Bluetooth management and the AI Suite II application center that is the pinnacle of user functionality and control.

In addition to the P8P67 Series, ASUS has developed a complete array of new motherboards based on the P67 chipset that include the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Maximus IV Extreme, the heavy-duty TUF Series SABERTOOTH P67 and the P8P67 WS Revolution workstation motherboard. Truly innovative from the ground up, the new ASUS P67 series of motherboards is the first and only choice for performance, stability and reliability.

Setting a new standard: ASUS Dual Intelligent Processors 2 with DIGI+ VRM

Consisting of the Energy Processing Unit (EPU) and TurboV Processing Unit (TPU), this unique technology delivers a potent combination of streamlined system-wide energy consumption and enhanced PC performance. Second-generation Dual Intelligent Processors 2 technology adds the innovative DIGI+ VRM design to set a new standard in digital power management. DIGI+ VRM replaces analog voltage regulator module (VRM) controllers with a digital programmable microprocessor that fully integrates Intel's VRD 12 CPU power delivery system to eliminate digital-analog conversion. Since it works at such a fundamental level, DIGI+ VRM improves PC performance from the ground up, improving overclocking capabilities while increasing power efficiency, system stability and reliability.

Putting power control in the user's hands

DIGI+ VRM includes a user-friendly interface that makes digital power control immediately accessible. Five fine-tuning modes offer increased precision for loadline, CPU current, VRM frequency, power-phase and duty control settings. Enhanced digital controls allow users to make extremely precise adjustments for increased efficiency and overclocking potential. By enabling VRM frequency mode spread spectrum, DIGI+ VRM lowers CPU power and cuts EMI radiation by half for enhanced system stability.

The degree of flexibility and reliability offered by the exclusive DIGI+ VRM design gives users access to a new standard of digital power control and delivery. Combined with the Dual Intelligent Processors 2 architecture, it ensures ASUS P8P67 series motherboards are the ideal platform for the second generation Intel® Core™ processors and P67 chipset.

All-new Intuitive Controls

All P8P67 and P8H67 series motherboards include ASUS exclusive EFI, giving users' access to a BIOS that features intuitive mouse control and an extremely user friendly graphical interface. Unlike the old text-based interfaces of traditional BIOS versions, EFI BIOS makes it easy to manage a PC's resources and offers support for future technologies that traditional BIOS' are unable to provide.

Based on extensive ASUS research and user feedback, the most frequently-accessed functions of the BIOS have been integrated into the EFI BIOS EZ Mode, which enables expedited system supervision, performance settings and even drag-and-drop boot priority management.

Full range of added features

ASUS innovation and forward thinking extend to every aspect of crafting a new motherboard, and so the P8P67 Series includes the exclusive BT GO! Bluetooth manager. This enables fast and easy connectivity with Bluetooth devices and offers users seven functions- folder sync, BT Transfer, personal manager, shoot and send, BT to Net, music player and the unique BT Turbo Remote. The latter is especially unique, as it turns synced Bluetooth devices into a remote control for PC-based media player software. With BT Turbo Remote, users can even reset and shutdown their systems via Bluetooth device without having to be near the PC itself.

AI Suite II, another ASUS exclusive, offers one-stop access to a whole host of system management, monitoring and enhancement utilities, giving users a convenient and logical way of making the most of their PC experience.

Users also benefit from the inclusion of super-fast USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s and hardware-accelerated Intel Gigabit LAN, resulting in motherboards that offer the latest technological innovation for a truly spectacular computing experience.

ASUS Upcoming Notebooks For Singapore

W5Fe – World 's First SideShow Notebook

The compact 12" wide notebook with cutting-edge SideShow, external auxiliarydisplay on the LCD cover, offers high mobility with quick and easy data accessconvenience. Known for its strong engineering strength, ASUS once again takesthe lead into the new Vista era.

RSP: S$ 3,298 (GST Included)

Availability: End April


S6Fm – Limited Edition White leather notebook

Winner of three major design awards, including RedDot, iF China and G-Mark,the S6 Limited White Edition is the perfect gift for those who demand powerfulcomputing with sensational luxury. The compact design still offers rich featuresthat satisfy digital entertainment needs as well as processing capabilities withhigh mobility and style.

RSP: S$ 3,888 (GST Included)

Availability: End May


U1F – Slim & lightweight with exterior piano painted LCD cover

The compact 11.1" widescreen U1F is tailor made for metropolitanprofessionals to stay on the move with style. From the exterior piano paintedLCD cover, stainless contour and carbon fiber alloy housing to genuine leatherbound palm rest, the U1 exudes luxury with unique sophistication.

RSP: S$ 3,988

Availability: TBA

ASUS Sues Gigabyte Green War Turns Into Legal War

ASUS and Gigabyte have entered into a legal tussle officially and below isthe statement issued by ASUS :

ASUS condemns the defamatory and false accusations raised by ourcompetitor, Gigabyte. Gigabyte, without a full understanding of ASUS´engineering design and methods, has made false accusations against ASUSmotherboards´ EPU features and the quality of ASUS´ motherboards´ components.Also, in a press briefing presentation, Gigabyte used a photograph with blown-up(exploded) capacitors and led the audience to believe it was an ASUS product, tosupport its false allegations that ASUS uses questionable quality components.However, the image was found to be taken from a photograph of a VGA cardmanufactured by another vendor. The action of misrepresenting a third partyproduct to be an ASUS product is truly defamatory and clearly outside the realmof decent competition.

ASUS takes pride in its innovations, which are measured against the higheststandards in the industry at all stages of operation - from project development,engineering, manufacturing to service. Through a combination of the bestquality-controlled components and processes, ASUS delivers state-of-the arttechnology breakthroughs to meet customers´ needs. Every breakthrough is theresult of huge R&D engineering efforts. Hence, while it is common to havecompetition among companies, the use of the above mentioned methods aredefamatory and condemnable. ASUS deeply resents Gigabyte´s action. Yesterday(May 22nd 2008), ASUS has reported such acts to the Fair Trade Commission ofTaiwan. Today (May 23rd 2008), ASUS has officially filed a lawsuit againstGigabyte for those defamatory acts.

ASRock's Z77 Extreme9 gets official, priced

The first of the super-premium Z77 motherboards has arrived, ASRocks Z77 Extreme9 and it comes with a price to match. As loaded with features as this motherboard is, it looks like ASRock missed out on one must have feature for this segment – or at least so it appears – namely Thunderbolt.

Despite this little miss on ASRocks behalf, the Z77 Extreme9 is loaded to the brim with features and it defiantly one ups MSIs recently announced Z77A-GD80 and Intels DZ77RE-75K, at least as long as you dont need/want Thunderbolt connectivity. That said, were still waiting for Asus P8Z77-V Premium and whatever Gigabyte is working on thatll slot in above the Z77X-UD5H.

However, were not here to talk about the competition right now, as its time to take a closer look at the Z77 Extreme9. For starters, the board has no less than five x16 PCI Express 3.0 slots with the second slot being the main slot when a single card is being used. Thanks to a PCI Express bridge chip of some kind, the Z77 Extreme9 will also work in dual x6 or four x8 modes using slot one, three, five and seven, where one and three are used for dual x16 mode. The sixth x16 slot operates at PCI Express 2.0 speeds and offer four lanes of bandwidth. Theres also a single x1 PCI Express 2.0 slot and a mini PCI Express slot that houses a dual-band combo 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 card.

The board also has the standard four SATA 3Gbps and two SATA 6Gbps ports via the chipset, but ASRock has added another four SATA 6Gbps ports via a pair of ASMedia ASM1061 controllers. The board also has headers for four front USB 3.0 ports via an Etron EJ188 host controller, six USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port and a serial port of all things. You also get features like a POST80 debug LED and a power and rest button.

Around the back of the board we have a PS/2 port, no less than eight USB 3.0 ports of which four are via a second Etron EJ188 host controller, two USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, a FireWire port, a pair if Gigabit Ethernet ports courtesy of a couple of Broadcom controllers, 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF out, an HDMI port and a clear CMOS button.

An interesting addition is the bundled front USB 3.0 port drive bay module or Wi-SB Box as ASRock calls it. Not only is it home to two USB 3.0 ports, but it also houses the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antennas and a pair of LEDs to indicate that its transmitting data. Theres also space for a 2.5-inch drive to be mounted in the module.

On a whole, not a bad board, but the pricing is a bit off-putting, albeit not much more than other super-premium motherboards. In Europe the board is retailing for around €320 (US$410/S$520), or about €20 more than a Core i7-3770K. That said, Asus P8Z77-V Premium has also found its way online and should retail for around €400 (US$515/S$650), or about as much as a cheap computer these days.

Source: ASRock

Asus MeMic for the Eee Pad MeMO revealed

With tablets being all the rage these days, one of the biggest problems is not connectivity, but rather making voice calls. No-one wants to hold a 7-inch+tablet to the side of their face, as it simply just makes you look stupid. Asus has come up with what looks like a very reasonable solution to the problem with its MeMic which is a Bluetooth “handset” that connects to its Eee Pad MeMO tablet and handles voice calls.

The MeMic is about the size of a traditional candy bar phone, albeit without a keypad and with a translucent display, much like the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness. The display is for caller ID information and most likely also for things like navigating contact lists etc, although its not quite clear how it all works at the moment, as the units on display at CeBIT didnt actually work.

The MeMic can also work like a more traditional Bluetooth headset if you attach a wired headset to it, as it has a 3.5mm jack in the bottom. Its charged via a micro USB port and theres a little hole for a lanyard at the bottom so you can hang it around your neck if you so wish. On the front it has a call and end call/power button, a back button and what appears to be a four-way navigation pad with a select button in the middle. In addition to handling calls, the MeMic will also allow you to stream music over Bluetooth and control media playback functionality of the tablet.

The MeMic is said to be bundled with Asus 7-inch Eee Pad MeMO when it arrives sometime in June this year and wed expect it to launch at Computex, since this is Asus home show. Its not clear if the MeMic will be bundled with all models of the MeMO, nor has Asus said if itll sell the MeMic on its own or if itll be possible to use it with other Android devices, but were sure more details will trickle out this week at CeBIT.

Source: Engadget

ASUS ROG iDirect Overclock from your iPhone or iPad

Still overclocking your PC in old-fashioned way? Let ROG iDirect bring you the whole new tweaking experience on your iPhone / iPad! Thanks to the Bluetooth card that's coming with selected ASUS Republic of Gamers motherboards, you'll be able to monitor your PC, tweak parameters such as voltages and frequencies in real time wirelessly from your iPhone / iPad!

Features

Overclocking: Allows to overclock your PC on-the-fly using the Apple iPhone /iPad.Enthusiasts haveaccess to all tuning and tweaking options required for overclocking.
Hardware Monitor: Monitor system information, component temperatures, voltages, frequencies, and fan speeds, all in real-time.
Remote Control: Remote access to restart and shut down your PC

--> Click here to download the application directly from the App Store.

More screenshots

Apple Mac App Store officially opens

Applehas announcedtheir Mac App Store is now open for business with more than 1,000 free and paid apps.It brings the App Store experience to the Mac users such that they cansearch fornew apps, buy them usingtheir iTunes account, download and install them in just one step. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard users through software update as part of Mac OS X v10.6.6.

Apps are sorted in various categories includingEducation, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity andUtilities. Users can browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, see favorites, search categories and look up top charts for paid and free apps, as well as user ratings and reviews.

Entirely new apps, as well as current Mac favorites, are available from developers such as Autodesk, Ancestry.com and Boinx. iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand apps from Apple’s popular iLife ‘11 suite are available individually in the Mac App Store for US$14.99 each, and Pages, Keynote and Numbers apps from iWork are available for US$19.99 each. Aperture 3, Apple’s powerful photo editing and management software, is available for US$79.99.

Popular games like Angry Birds (US$4.99) and Peggle (US$9.99) are also available on the Mac App Store.

Update: According to Apple Insider, just hours of the official launch of the Mac App store, software pirates have found a way to illegally install and run paid apps. It seems that by replacing the receipt and signature files in some of the paid app packages, with the receipt from a free app, lets the app to run normally in some cases. However, that doesn't apply to every app, but those that don't follow Apple's App validation advice.

Source: Apple Insider

ASUS announces availability of new O!Play Mini Plus set-top box in Singapore

ASUS has announced the availability of its new set-top box for home theatre systems, the ASUS O!Play Mini Plus, in Singapore. According to ASUS, the new O!Play Mini Plus is designed to designed to offer access to a multitude of online services for endless entertainment from both video and social media websites, along with many other media-related features.

In an official announcement made by the company yesterday, ASUS claimed that the new O!Play Mini Plus set-top box will feature built-in support for various online media streaming and social networking services, such as “Mediafly, Dailymotion, Facebook, YouTube, Picasa, Flickr (and) thousands of internet TV and radio stations. ASUS has also touted the new O!Play Mini Plus set-top box as being the worlds first device to support Acetrax, the most popular online video on demand service in Europe.

On the specifications side, it would appear that the new O!Play Mini Plus set-top box has got just about everything an average user will need to get the system working right out-of-the-box. According to ASUS, the device will feature built-in support for gigabit Ethernet and WiFi N connectivity, while utility tools such as O!Direct and O!MediaShare enable users to stream media files from a variety of devices straight to an HDTV without complicated setups, as well as stream content from a desktop PC or notebook to the TV.

Full specifications for the new O!Play Mini Plus set-top box are as follow:

No details about the O!Play Mini Plus set-top boxs pricing has been announced by ASUS at this point.

Apple 64GB iPhone 4 prototype spotted

While Apple has yet to announce the new iPhone (which may be called iPhone 5), it seems that a prototype ofa 64GBiPhone 4 has been spotted at a Foxconn manufacturing plant. According to a Hong Kong-based website, youwould notice that the phone (above picture) has its storage capacity and model number marked with "X"s.

The prototype phone claims to be running iOS 4.1, and not the latest version 4.3. Regardless, itis unlikely thatApple will go mass market with a 64GBiPhone 4 as it is probably too expensive, and that the new iPhone 5 could be announced soon. Thecurrent Apple iPhone 4 comesin 16GB and 32GB configurations.

Source: Apple Insider

2012-12-21-494

Adobe holds CS5 workshop, demonstrates various new additions to its software suite

Barely a week since the launch of Adobe's latest Creative Suite 5 (CS5) Master Collection software set, the folks at Adobe have organised a workshop to demonstrate some of its new and handy features.

Heading the workshop was Adobe consultant, Nelson John, who demonstrated various new features that can be found in CS5. In this article, we will be focusing mainly on Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Flash.

Photoshop:

'Content Awareness' was one of the key feature which Nelson talked about in his demonstration with Photoshop, whereby the program will automatically make intelligent decisions on how to modify an image with minimal user input.

An example of the new 'Content Awareness' feature can be found in the images below, where Nelson recreates a complete landscape from a badly edited image file:

In addition, Nelson also introduced the Mixer Brush, which allows for artistic blending of various colours in an image file, as shown below.

2012-12-21-309

9 out of 10 people have not read Google's new privacy policy

Nine out of ten people have not read Googles new privacy policy, a study by Big Brother Watch and YouGov has revealed.

Despite Google plastering links and notices to its new privacy policy all over its numerous websites and services, only 12 percent of Google users have read the changes.Even more worryingly, a whopping 47 percent of British adults did not know that a new privacy policy is coming into effect on 1 March, despite 92 percent of online British users employing Google on a regular basis.Only 40 percent of users think Google should implement the policy change this week. This is likely because they want more time to read it, or are simply content with how things are run now.The policy change will take Googles roughly 60 separate privacy policies and replace them with a single unified policy that contains more detail, a move which the company claims will make it simpler and easier to understand Googles stance on privacy.“The impact of Google’s new policy cannot be understated, but the public are in the dark about what the changes actually mean,” said Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch. “Companies should not be allowed to bury in legal jargon and vague statements how they may monitor what we do online, where we use our phones and even listen to what we say in calls. This change isn’t about Google collecting more data, it’s about letting the company combine what’s in your emails with the videos you watch and the things you search for.”Big Brother Watch has contacted the UKs Information Commissioner to ask for an investigation of Googles privacy policy change and whether or not it breaks UK data protection law. The Article 29 Working Party has filed a similar request with the data protection authorities of other European Union member states.“If people don’t understand what is happening to their personal information, how can they make an informed choice about using a service?” added Pickles. “Google is putting advertiser’s interests before user privacy and should not be rushing ahead before the public understand what the changes will mean.”You can read the new privacy policy here.