Maxit Mag

Nokia have unveiled their latest XpressMusic cellphone, the Nokia 5630. This slim candybar runs the Symbian S60 operating system. It is also the slimmest and lightest N-Gage device yet at just 12mm thin and weighing only 83g.

Nokia 5630 comes loaded with a 3.5mm headphone connector, stereo Bluetooth, FM stereo, Internet radio and also includes a 4GB microSD card. It also offers a 3.2 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and 4x zoom. The new animated Contacts Bar lets you interact with up to 20 contacts directly from the home screen. The ’say and play’ feature lets you speak the name of an artist of track to automatically play it.

Wireless connectivity includes HSDPA as well as HSUPA for high-speed uploads and downloads. It would allow users to exploit internet services such as widgets, Ovi Share and Nokia Messaging.

Nokia 5630 XpressMusic is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2009 for around 199 Euros.

Iomega has introduced StorCenter Pro ix4-100 network attached storage based on enterprise-class EMC storage technologies. Meant for small businesses and remote offices, it easily integrates with existing infrastructure for expanded storage, file-sharing and backup of critical business data.

The four-drive NAS is based on the EMC LifeLine software, a fully-developed Linux operating environment and suite of applications. The device delivers fast data throughput, multiple RAID configurations and RSA based enterprise security protection features. It can support up to 25 networked users.

Available in 2TB or 4TB capacities, the ix4 provides centralized storage to business users lets them share, secure and protect their data. Users can access files from any networked Windows PC, Linux workstation or Macintosh computer for easy file-sharing, data backup and print-serving.

The StorCenter Pro ix4 can be configured with RAID 5, RAID 10 and JBOD. The four SATA II hard drives are hot-swappable. It also offers four USB 2.0 ports for adding printers or external hard drives. The Bluetooth capability allows users to upload contacts, photos from a cell phone or pocket PC while the Picture Transfer Protocol allows automatic transfer of photos from digital cameras via one of the USB ports.

The 2TB StorCenter Pro ix4-100 NAS Server is now available worldwide for $799.95 while the 4TB StorCenter Pro ix4-100 will be available later this for $1,299.95.

CyberPower has introduced its Gamer Dragon series; a set of three custom-built, high-def desktop workstations based on AMD’s new Phenom II X4 CPU.

The series includes the entry-level Gamer Dragon 8000, the mid-range Gamer Dragon 9000 and the high-end Gamer Dragon CrossFire X Ultimate. All three Gamer Dragon models include AMD Phenom II X4 CPU; AMD 790GX motherboard; 4GB PC6400 DDR2/800 memory; ATi Radeon video graphic cards; SATA-II hard drives and Blu-Ray or DVD optical drives, and Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium edition.

The Gamer Dragon 8000 features AMD Phenom II X4 920 Quad-Core CPU, ATI Radeon HD 4850, 4GB DDR2 RAM and a 500GB SATA II hard drive, 20x DVD rewritable drive, 16X DVD-Rom drive. It is available for $805.

The Gamer Dragon 9000 offers Asetek Liquid Cooling System, 1 TB SATA II hard drive and a faster Radeon’s HD 4870 512MB video card and Blu-Ray player. The price of this configuration is $1139.

The pro-model Gamer Dragon CrossFire X Ultimate system features the AMD Phenom II X4 940 Quad-Core CPU. It also offers a pair of super fast ATI Radeon HD4870 2GB 16x video cards running CrossFire X mode. It includes Blu-Ray Player, 12in1 Flash Media Reader and NZXT Khaos black full tower case with dual 800-watt power supplies. The CrossFire X Ultimate system is priced at $2235.

Gamer Dragon series are available direct from CyberPower. The users can custom-configure each model in the family.

Sony has announced finger vein authentication technology called "Mofiria." Sony says it offers higher accuracy on personal identification and forgery resistance because it uses the veins inside the human body. Finger vein patterns differ from person to person and do not change over the years. The user-friendly technology can be mounted on mobile devices such as a personal computer or mobile phone.

Mofiria uses a unique method where a CMOS sensor diagonally captures scattered light inside the finger veins. The captured finger vein image, and data from the pattern is compressed into the size of one-tenth to store in memory. The position of a placed finger is automatically and simultaneously corrected. Sony claims authentication accuracy of less than 0.1% for the FRR (False Rejection Rate) and less than 0.0001% for the FAR (False Acceptance Rate). Identification takes only about 0.015 sec using a personal computer CPU and about 0.25 sec when using a mobile phone CPU.

Sony says it plans to commercialize mofiria in the 2009 fiscal year, incorporating it into mobile devices, gateway security systems and solution services.

Hitachi has announced the CinemaStar C5K500, a 2.5-inch hard drive available in capacities up to 500GB. Sporting a halogen-free design, the CinemaStar drive is designed for use in continuous “24x7” applications. It is meant to be used in DVRs, set-top boxes and surveillance systems.

The drives feature a low read/write power specification of 1.4W, which is 22 percent lower than previous models. Hitachi says its SmoothStream technology enhances streaming functionality in digital video applications. It also features technology to provide time-limited error recovery, enhanced thermal monitoring capabilities and silent-seek acoustics for ultra-quiet operation.

“The explosion of digital music and photos, combined with widespread access to high-definition television content, is driving DVR capacity requirements to new levels,” said Brendan Collins, vice president, Product Marketing, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. “The new CinemaStar drive will allow DVR manufacturers to deliver compact DVRs with all the capacity and features of larger form factor products.”

The 5,400 RPM drive will be available in capacities ranging from 160 to 500GB. Expected to ship in the second quarter of the year, the pricing of CinemaStar C5K500 has not yet been announced.

QNAP has introduced TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS, the world's first 4-bay intel atom-based network attached storage.

The TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS features low power Intel 1.6GHz CPU and 1GB DDRII memory. It supports dual Giga LAN and offers five USB 2.0 ports. The device also supports RAID 0/1/5/6/5+spare configurations, Online RAID Capacity Expansion and Online RAID Level Migration. It offers data protection with AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, automatic policy-based IP blocking, instant SMS and email alert, and SSL secure certificate.

"The TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS presents a new definition of high scalability, high redundancy, large storage capacity and high stability NAS in the current market. The 4-bay NAS supports up to 6TB storage capacity which can be further expanded by connecting external hard drives to the five USB ports and two eSATA ports. Yet, the NAS is able to maintain low power consumption by the energy-saving Intel CPU which allows 24x7 operation in the business environment," says Troy Lin, Product Manager from QNAP

The TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS also provides a wide array of server functions like file server, FTP server, DDNS support, Web server with built-in phpMyAdmin, Joomla, MySQL/ SQLite, editable php.ini, MySQL server and printer server. The device enables file sharing across Linux, Mac, and Windows platforms.

QNAP has not said anything yet on the price or availability of the TS-439 Pro Turbo NAS.

In case you've been stuck without broadband for the last month or so, you might not have heard that Guerilla Games epic first person shooter is due to hit the shelves on the 27th February - you have booked the day off work right? Well the reviews are coming in thick and fast and the verdict is - awesome! We should be bringing our verdict to you very soon but in the meantime here's some links to wet your Killzone 2 appetite. Bon appetit.

IGN Killzone 2 Review

EuroGamer Killzone 2 Review - good one

1Up Do the Killzone 2 dance

A recent press release announced the upcoming arrival of A-Train 8 for all you locomative fans. The railroad simulation is due to be released on the 27th of February. It's got some stiff competition as that date also happens to be the worldwide release date for Killzone 2 - the hotly anticipated shooter from Sony. It's a tough call to make - maybe you should buy both.

"The A-Train brand has become one of the most respected and sought after titles and with A-Train 8, as manager of a railroad company, elected as mayor of your city, you will have your time engaged with many motivating tasks. The aim is to create the best public transport systems possible, manage them and adapt fares to successfully improve your city though the year, taking into account the different seasons and the effect they could have on the system you create! Create cities as realistic as you wish and the choice of options and parameters are as impressive as the structures offered. You can choose from any of the main monuments which include Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower or even the Empire State Building. See the setting you have created spring into life and watch the city vibrantly take on a persona you have personally adapted. A-Train is a simulation with its graphical interface that is unsurpassed in terms of details and virtual authenticity; all orchestrated with simple and intuitive mouse and keyboard key strokes and movements"

More screenshots over at Gamers Hell

EA has unveiled the details of three new Need for Speed games that will be published over the next 12 months. EA says the new games will provide ‘unique and customized experiences’ for the racing fans by establishing three independent series; simulation, action and arcade racing.

Need for Speed: SHIFT is designed to deliver a true driver’s experience, delivering an authentic and immersive driving experience. The game is developed by Slightly Mad Studios in collaboration with executive producer Michael Mann at Black Box and senior vice president Patrick Soderlund at EA Games Europe. It will be released on PS3, Xbox 360, PSP and PC in fall 2009.

The second game, currently known as Need for Speed: NITRO, will be released exclusively for the Wii and Nintendo DS. Developed by EA Montreal, the game features a variety of licensed cars which can be fully customized to let the game reflect the player’s taste and personality.

Need for Speed: World Online has been designed exclusively for the PC. Co-developed by Black Box and EA Singapore, this one is a free-to-play title giving fans access to licensed cars, parts and multiple game modes.

“We recognize racing videogame fans are very passionate and unique - they want customized gameplay experiences,” said Keith Munro, vice president of marketing, Need for Speed. “Each game provides a deep, engaging and rich racing experience. We’re giving players the option to choose the best racing title that suits their style of gameplay.”

CalDigit has announced CalDigit VR, the two drive RAID system offering impressive performance, and superior quality in a sleek and easily upgradable enclosure.

The quadruple interface of CalDigit VR supports USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and eSATA drives. It has two hot swappable drive modules for easy replacement and expansion. The storage device offers speeds up to 220MB/s in RAID 0, and over 100MB/s with RAID 1 protection.

An environmental monitor provides detailed information about temperature, fan RPM and hard drive health. The all aluminum enclosure of CalDigit VR provides additional heat dissipation. It comes with software that provides easy management, monitoring, diagnostic repots, email notifications, and firmware update capabilities.

It also includes a security lock as well as locking drive modules. It also provides password protection against unauthorized changes to the sensitive data.

The CalDigit VR is priced at $500 for the 1.28TB model. A 4TB model is also expected to be released soon.

Alesis has introduced TapeLink USB, a digital-archiving dual-cassette tape deck. It allows users to transfer cassette recordings on hard disk or flash, CD or iPod.

TapeLink USB is a dubbing and playback deck that connects directly to a computer via USB. It offers CD-quality 16-bit, 44.1 kHz audio output for secure digital archival. The device offers two different dubbing modes, normal or high-speed dubbing. It works with metal and CrO2 tapes, while LED level-meter presents visual level reference. Full auto stop saves irreplaceable older tapes from breaking.

It comes bundled with three applications; EZ Tape Converter to make transfer simple and convenient, Audacity audio-editing software and BIAS SoundSoap professional noise-reduction software to removes hiss, room noise and other background noise.

The Alesis TapeLink USB tape deck is available now, and has an estimated street price of US$199.99.

LaCie has announced d2 Blu-ray Drive that burn Blu-ray discs up to 8x standard data writing rates.

The LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive can pack up to 50 GB of data, or four hours of high-definition video, on a single Blu-ray disc. The drive features a pair of firewire 400 and USB 2.0 connectivity for high-speed throughput between the drive and a PC or Mac.

“With the doubling of the speed to burn Blu-ray discs, video professionals will be able to spend more time creating content and less time on production,” said Christelle Dexet, Multimedia Product Manager for LaCie. “And for those who need to safely store large quantities of information for extended periods of time on secure removable media, the LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive is an ideal solution.”

The LaCie d2 Blu-ray Drive comes bundled with the newly revised Easy Media Creator 10 and Toast 9 Titanium software, that lets users master video and audio files onto Blu-ray, DVD and CD discs. Users can also schedule backups for data files, edit videos, create audio mixes and much more.

It supports a dozen Blu-ray, DVD and CD formats, including BD-ROM, BD-ROM AACS, BD-R, BD-RE, DVD±R, CD-R and others. It also records DVDs at up to 16X, CDs up to 48X, and supports dual-layer DVD recording for up to 8x.

The drive is available now with the cost starting at $449.99.