Maxit Mag

 

Nokia has launched three new models in the entry- to mid-level segment. The new models include the Nokia 6700 classic, the Nokia 6303 classic and the Nokia 2700 classic.

Leading the new collection is the Nokia 6700 classic, which “shares the same 'DNA' as its predecessor, the Nokia 6300,” according to Soren Petersen, Senior Vice President, Nokia.

The Nokia 6700 comes with a 5 megapixel camera, assisted GPS navigation with Nokia Maps, and high speed data access. It offers precisely crafted parts with a full metal keymat, and is expected to retail for around EUR 235.

Further down the price bracket is the Nokia 6303 classic. It sports 3.2 megapixel camera, large 2.2 inch screen, and pre-loaded Nokia Maps. Users can plug any music accessory into the standard 3.5 mm audio jack and have a fully fledged mobile music player. It will cost just 135 Euros, before taxes and subsidies.

Nokia 2700 classic, at an estimated price of EUR 65 before taxes and subsidies, is one of most affordable, full featured handsets. It features an integrated digital music player and a 2.0 megapixel camera and offers up to 2GB of storage via the memory card slot.

Nokia expects to ship all three devices in the second quarter of 2009.

 

Samsung has announced the development of the world's first four gigabit (Gb) DDR3 DRAM chip. The part is built using 50 nanometer (nm) process technology.

Samsung says the 4Gb DDR3's high density combined with its lower level of power consumption will provide a reduction in electricity bills. It will also offer a reduction in maintenance fees and repair fees involving power suppliers and heat-emitting equipment.

The 4Gb DDR3 DRAM operates at 1.35 volts (V), thus improving its throughput by 20 percent over a 1.5V DDR3. Samsung claims in 16GB module configurations, 4Gb DDR3 can consume 40 percent less power than 2Gb DDR3 because of its higher density. Its maximum speed is 1.6 gigabits per second (Gbps).

By applying dual-die package technology, the new chip can deliver modules of up to 32GB - offering twice as much capacity as memory modules based on the previous highest chip density of 2Gb.

Samsung had announced the development of the world's first 50 nm-class 2Gb DDR3 DRAM in September 2008.

According to the market research firm International Data Corporation, DDR3 DRAM market will account for 29 percent of the total DRAM market in 2009 and 75 percent in 2011.

 

Super Talent has announced an SSD specially designed as an upgrade for the Asus S101 Eee PC.

The Windows model of the Asus S101 Eee PC comes with just 16GB of local storage. Super Talent’s upgrade SSDs available in 16GB, 32GB or 64GB capacities allow the S101 user to double or quadruple the storage capacity in his netbook.

Super Talent says the new SSD has been rigorously tested in their compatibility labs for both performance and functionality. All the three drives delivers 90 MB/sec max sequential read speeds and up to 55 MB/sec write speeds. These have a SATA Mini PCIe interface to attach to the S101.

Joe James, Super Talent’s director of marketing noted, “You can never have enough storage space. This is sure to be a popular upgrade for the S101.”

All three models are available for purchase now, with the top-end 64GB version priced at $169. The pricing for the other two models have not yet been given.

 

Acer has unveiled the new Ferrari 1200 notebook series designed to deliver mobile computing superiority in an exclusive style. Manufactured with carbon fiber, the F1-themed Ferrari 1200 is the perfect travel companion.

Powered by the powerful AMD Turion X2 Ultra dual-core mobile technology with up to 4 GB of dual-channel DDR2 RAM, the Ferrari 1200 supports an intensive gaming or multimedia applications. A large capacity Serial ATA hard disks provides users with plenty of storage space and allows the system to boot up and load applications faster.

It presents wide-aspect 12.1 Acer CrystalBrite LCD with white LED backlight display. It also includes a bundled Bluetooth wireless mouse and optional Xpress VoIP phone. It offers Acer InviLink Wi-Fi Cerfitied network connection, Acer CrystalEye webcam and Acer PureZone technology to provide the highest VoIP call quality, even in noisy environments. The integrated Acer Bio-Protection fingerprint solution ensures enhanced network and data security.

The Ferrari 1200 notebooks will have Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Home Premium preinstalled. Pricing and availability details not yet made available by Acer.

 

Western Digital has announced the latest addition to its environmentally friendly, cool and quiet, WD Caviar Green hard drive family - the world's first 2 terabyte (TB) hard drive.

The new 3.5-inch platform is based on WD's 500 GB/platter technology (with 400 Gb/in2 areal density) with 32 MB cache, producing drives with capacities of up to 2 TB. The Caviar Green drives are designed for use in USB/FireWire/eSATA external hard drives, desktop computers, workstations, and desktop RAID environments.

WD uses a number of advanced technologies to enable the speed, capacity and performance of Caviar Green hard drives. StableTrac technology secures the motor shaft at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration. The IntelliPower fine-tunes the balance of spin speed, transfer rate and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance. The No Touch ramp load technology is designed to ensure the recording head never touches the disk media resulting in significantly less wear to the recording head and media, as well as better drive protection while in transit.

"Saving power without sacrificing storage capacity is what consumers want, and what many businesses are requiring today. With the launch of the new WD Caviar Green 2 TB hard drive, customers receive the additional capacities needed to operate today's highly advanced programs and high-resolution digital files while using less power than typical drives with similar performance and capacities," said Jim Morris, WD senior vice president and general manager of client systems.

The WD Caviar Green 2 TB is available at select resellers and distributors for $299.00 USD.

 

AMD has announced widespread availability of five new low-power 45nm Quad-Core Opteron HE processors, each with 55-watt ACP. AMD says these new highly efficient processors will help meet the industry’s rising demand for low power, cost-saving data center technology.

The 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron HE chips will be available in eight server systems from HP. Rackable Systems will also have Quad-Core AMD Opteron HE processor-based servers available immediately and additional systems from global OEMs including Dell, Sun, and other solution providers are expected later this quarter.

The 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron HE processor has speeds ranging from 2.1 to 2.3 GHz. AMD claims server platforms based on these new AMD Opteron HE processors can offer up to 20% lower idle power compared to similarly configured competing systems, helping cut energy costs without compromising any of the processor features of the standard power options.

“In the current economic environment, datacenter managers are under more pressure than ever to reduce costs without compromising the latest features or performance,” said Patrick Patla, general manager, Server and Workstation Business, AMD. “The new Quad-Core AMD Opteron HE series processor offers unrivaled performance-per-watt and cost-efficiencies for a wide range of configurations without a potential front-side bus bottleneck.”

AMD have also announced two new high-performance Opteron processors, the 2.8GHz 45nm Quad-Core AMD Opteron SE processors. At the 105-watt ACP thermal envelope, these new processors are immediately available in three new systems from HP and other AMD technology partners.

 

Asus has introduced F50 and F70 range of notebooks offering the users multimedia features and extensive multitasking capabilities on the move.

The ASUS F50 and F70 range of notebooks comes standard with high definition audio quality and a 16:9 Full High Definition display for high contrast rate, brightness and color saturation. An HDMI port allows users to connect their notebooks to larger external LCD displays.

The ASUS F50 and F70 range of notebooks also features the ASUS Express Gate, allowing users to boot up quickly. It also offers instantaneous access to a built-in icon-based operating system that runs commonly-used applications such as Skype, a music player, an email client and an Internet browser.

ASUS says F70SL is the world's first 17.3" notebook with 16:9 golden aspect ratio for cinematic viewing, while the dual hard disk drives providing up to 1 TB in storage space.

ASUS F50GX is currently the world's thinnest and lightest 16" notebook in the market equipped with the NVIDIA 9400M G chipset that delivers discrete graphics card performance.

There is no information on the pricing yet.

 

Transcend has announced its new 2.5” portable hard drive, the elegant and sleek StoreJet 25F. Designed for business travelers, it offers a designer gloss diamond pattern and lustrous metallic finish and measures only 113.8mm x 80.9mm x 15.9mm.

The StoreJet 25F has up to 500GB of storage space so users can easily transfer, store, and share important files and data. Its useful anti-slip rubber feet provide a stable base for resting on a table or computer case.

The StoreJet 25F uses a high-speed USB2.0 interface to provide data transfer rates up to 480Mb per second, with the convenience of true “plug and play” operation. The StoreJet 25F also offer StoreJet elite data-management tools featuring Website AutoLogin, Mobile Favorites with NoTrace internet browsing, Secret-Zip file encryption, Mobile E-mail, Online Update and intelligent backup scheduling, security, and file compression functions.

The Transcend’s StoreJet 25F supports all commonly used operating systems, including Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Mac, and Linux.

No word on the price of the Transcend StoreJet 25F yet, though it is apparently available now.
 

 

HTC has announced the new Touch Cruise, its latest personal navigation handset with inbuilt GPS. Touch Cruise boasts a new, more compact design and a host of new capabilities to offer a richer and more intuitive experience in one powerful package.

It offers HTC Footprints, an application experience that enables people to permanently chronicle their special moments by capturing a digital postcard on their phone. Footprints identifies each postcard with its specific GPS co-ordinates, and auto-names each postcard with its general location or area.

“Just as we have seen GPS technology transform how people navigate to new places, we are now seeing location-based applications like HTC Footprints changing how we interact and carry our memories,” said Peter Chou, President and CEO, HTC Corporation.

The HTC Touch Cruise boasts a compact and sleek design with a 2.8 inch QVGA display. It provides fingertip access to phone, contacts, email, messaging, calendar and GPS applications. It also features Wi-Fi b/g and A-GPS, together with Bluetooth 2.0 and a 3.2-megapixel fixed-focus camera.

The HTC Touch Cruise is also an advanced in-car navigation system with an easy-to-use, one-touch interface that provides seamless turn-by-turn directions.

HTC says the Touch Cruise will be available across all major global markets in spring 2009.

 

Transcend has announced SSD18M, the stylish new 1.8-inch portable solid state drive (SSD). The SSD18M presents fashionable good looks with its chic gloss diamond pattern fascia and offers high-capacity mobile storage convenience.

The SSD18M features both eSATA as well as USB 2.0 connection interface. It is made of reliable NAND flash memory that contains no moving parts, thus eliminating the possibility of mechanical failure resulting from vibration and shock. It also provides substantial weight savings and reduced power consumption.

Its new high-speed eSATA interface provides a maximum read speed of 90MB/s and write speeds of 50MB/s, while its USB2.0 interface assures maximum compatibility with all types of notebook and desktop PCs.

Available in capacities of 32GB, 64GB and 128GB, the Transcend SSD18M portable solid state drives are backed by a two-year warranty.
 

 

OCZ has unveiled the Apex SATA II 2.5” Solid State Drive (SSD) Series, its midrange offering for enthusiasts, system builders, and mainstream computer users demanding the latest technology.

OCZ says the Apex Series SSDs have an excellent 1.5 million hour mean time before failure (MTBF), thus ensuring the reliability. The SSDs offers read speed up to 230 MB/sec and write speed up to 160 MB/sec.

“As the adoption of SSD drives continues to ramp, it is our goal to enable everyday consumers to take advantage of the benefits of solid state drives,” said Eugene Chang, Director of Product Management at OCZ Technology Group. “The new Apex Series is positioned at the center of our lineup and features an updated controller and internal RAID design to deliver superior performance to mainstream consumers at a very aggressive price.”

The Apex series SSD drives are available in storage capacities of 60GB, 120GB, and 250GB. Though the OCZ terms the series as ‘affordable midrange offering’, the price have not yet been announced.
 

Sandisk has joined hands with LG Electronics to develop a MicroSD card that can be loaded with content and then locked for use only in approved handsets.

Sandisk demonstrated the new technology for mobile phones that enables mobile network operators (MNOs) to offer their customers multimedia-rich services using removable flash memory cards. The content preloaded in these cards can only be used in approved handsets.

According to Sandisk, network operators can freely distribute preloaded content on removable memory cards, while restricting the accessibility of such premium content to only their network subscribers. This valuable content protection service is made possible by enabling memory cards to authenticate user credentials via data on the SIM card.

Sandisk demonstrated the new technology using the new LG KC910 Renoir handset. Sandisk says it brings flexible storage-based services to network operators by allowing IP connectivity to the memory card in the handset. The memory card serves as a network node that is remotely manageable by the operator using industry-standard TCP/IP and OMA Smart Card Web Server.

“With this advanced technology, handset manufacturers and MNOs will be able to meet the increasingly sophisticated demands of consumers who want easy access to premium content on their mobile devices,” said Amir Lehr, senior director, business development, SanDisk.