VR-Zone Tech News for the Geeks Aug 2011 Issue

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Published by VR-Zone
August 4th, 2011 VR-Zone.com Stuff for
the Geeks! VR-Zone Stuff for the Geeks is a
bi-weekly publication covering the latest
gadgets and stuff for the geeks. Interesting
mSATA adapter launches in Japan Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/interesting-msata-adap
ter-launches-in- japan/13213.html August 4th, 2011
Want to use an mSATA SSD for some SSD
caching action, but don't have the right
motherboard? Well, even if you just want to use
an SSD for caching and don't have the
right motherboard, this can be a hassle. An
adaptor has appeared in Japan that allows for an
easy solution for those inclined to get SSD
caching on their system and it's a rather
peculiar looking setup. Want to use an
mSATA SSD for some SSD caching action, but
don't have the right motherboard? Well, even if
you just want to use an SSD for caching
and don't have the right motherboard, this
can be a hassle. An adaptor has appeared in Japan
that allows for an easy solution for those
inclined to get SSD caching on their system and
it's a rather peculiar looking setup. The company
behind the adaptor is called Kuroutoshikou
and it's a company that tend to come up with all
sorts of unusual bits of hardware. Inthis
casewe're looking at a fairly standard
Kuroutoshikou's card has an mSATA slot for the
SSD and a SATA 6Gbps connector to which the hard
drive is attached. For most users this is just an
extravagant way of setting up SSD caching, as
using a 2.5-inch SSD would most likely cost less.
However, if you have a compact case, or a low
profile case with limited drive space, then this
card would very well come in handy. At 3,980 Yen
(S61) it's not the cheapest route to go either,
but it's at least reasonably competitively
priced compared to a similar RAID
card. Gigabyte's G1.Sniper2 features PCI Express
Gen 3 support Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/
gigabyte-s-g1.sniper2-features-pci- express-gen-3-
support/13212.html August 4th, 2011
size PCI Express x1 card with a Marvell
9130 SATA 6Gbps controller on it. It
features what Marvell calls
HyperDuo technology which allows for easy setup
of SSD caching. This chip is already available on
a few RAID cards, but this is where things get
interesting. One feature that so far has been a
bit of a secret with regards to Gigabyte's just
launched G1.Sniper2 motherboard is that
it features PCI Express Gen 3 support, or
rather, it has a set of digital switches that
should support PCI Express 3.0 unless somethingis
drasticallychangingbynowandtheintroduction ofInte
l'sIvyBridgeprocessors.Wealsoscoredsomeexclusive
hands on pictures of the board, so click on
through for those. One feature that so far has
been a bit of a secret with regards to
Gigabyte's just launched G1.Sniper2 motherboard
is that it 1
2
August 4th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone
features PCI Express Gen 3 support, or rather, it
has a set of digital switches that should support
PCI Express 3.0 unless somethingisdrasticallychang
ingbynowandtheintroduction ofIntel'sIvyBridgeproce
ssors.Wealsoscoredsomeexclusive hands on pictures
of the board, so click on through for
those. Nothing has
really changed since the board first made
an appearance, but it's officially up on
Gigabyte's website as of today. One feature we
like is the bundled front panel that not only
adds a pair of USB 3.0 ports to the front of your
case, but also a powered eSATA port and the
somewhat slightly less useful Quck Boost button
that automagically overclocks the
system.Anotherfeatureweweren'tawareofandthathasbee
n long coming is the fact that all of the fan
headers on the board are of the 4-pin type, or in
other words, all the fan headers support PWM fans.
The G1.Sniper2 is only the first of many
motherboards to come from Gigabyte that will
feature digital switches with PCI Express Gen 3
support. Over time the company will
transition all of its dual x8 PCI Express
slot motherboards to these
switches. So in other words, expect new
revisions of your favourite Gigabyte
motherboards in the next few months. As
a side note with regards to PCI Express
3.0 support, in theoryevery6-serieschipsetmothe
rboardshouldsupportPCI Express 3.0 if the
board in question only has a single
slot connectedstraighttotheCPU.Thatsaid,evenboard
swithPCI Express 2.0 switches will allow the top
slot to operate at Gen 3 speeds, although at
reduced bandwidth. Then again, none of this is
any good until Intel launches Ivy Bridge in March
or April next year and that's when we'll find
out how compatible
things really are, as currently no-one can say if
it'll all work as intended.
So what about the G1.Sniper2? Well, we've already
reported about it and even posted a few
pictures of the board and
now we have a few hands on pictures as well as
one of the packaging.Theboardcomesinafancydisplayb
ox,asitrightly should as this is a premium
product. 2
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August 4th, 2011 LG unveils Optimus 3D and white
Optimus 2X in Taiwan Source http//vr-zone.com/ar
ticles/lg-unveils-optimus-3d-and-white- optimus-2x
-in-taiwan/13210.html August 4th, 2011 LG
Electronics has announced the
availability of two new additions to
its Optimus line of Android-powered smartp
hones in Taiwan today, the Optimus 3D and a
white variant of the Optimus 2X smartphone
which was recently introduced to the market
this year. According to the company, the new
Optimus 3D smartphone is capable of bringing
the 3D cinema experience to users, a feat made
possible by the technology used to power it. More
details after the break...
Published by VR-Zone LG
has also claimed that the Optimus 3D
smartphone will featuredual-rear-facingcameraswhi
chcanbeusedtocapture videosorstillimagesineitherst
ereoscopic3Dorconventional 2D, while the
captured content can then be outputted to a
larger external display such as television
sets via the built- in HDMI-out port, or
by streaming the content via a
local network, an option made possible due
to the Optimus 3D boasting support for
DLNA. LG Electronics has
announced the availability of two new
additions to its Optimus line of
Android-powered smartphones in Taiwan today, the
Optimus 3D and a white variant of the Optimus
2X smartphone which was recently introduced
to the market this year. Touted as the world's
first smartphone to make use of what it calls
its "naked eye 3D technology", LG claims
that the Optimus 3D smartphone does away with
the need to make useofspecialized3Dglasses,thusall
owingforthe"immediate appreciation" and sharing
of 3D content, such as video files or still
images. This is made possible by the smartphone's
use of a 4.3-inch glassless 3D display that is
capable of displaying content at WVGA resolutions
(800 x 480). 3
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August 4th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone
Oh, and one more thing the smartphone is
reportedly capable with Google's 3D YouTube video
streaming service as well. Here
are a few more pictures of the press event that
took place in Taipei today The Optimus 3D will
initially ship with version 2.2.2. of the Android
operating system preloaded into it, although LG
has announced that it intends to provide users
with an upgrade path to Gingerbread some time in
the future. The phone will also reportedly be
pre-loaded with three 3D games, namely NOVA,
Asphalt 6 and Let's Golf 2, while up to seven
more 3D titles will be made available for
download at no charge. The hardware
specifications for the LG Optimus
3D smartphone are as follow
Last but definitely not least, LG also
unveiled a white variant of its Optimus 2X
smartphone in Taipei 4
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August 4th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone August 4th,
2011 Sapphire has released the HD
6950 TOXIC Edition, which at 880MHz core
clock is supposedly the fastest
factory overclocked HD 6950 in the
world. Sapphire has released the HD 6950 TOXIC
Edition, which it claims to be the world's
fastest HD 6950. As far as we can tell, this
claim is true at the moment. The core clock on
this card has been pushed all the way to 880MHz,
which is on par with reference HD 6970
speed. Memory clock is a decent, if not
outstanding, 1300MHz.
AMD Radeon HD 6950 Core Clock
800MHz
Sapphire HD 6950 TOXIC Edition 880MHz
Memory Clock 1250MHz
1300MHz TheHD6950TOXICEdition'sheatsinklook
srathersimilarto the reference AMD design, which
also uses a vapor chamber and a blower
fan. Sapphire has also retained the dual
BIOS feature, which is good news for BIOS
modders. This feature was implemented in the
reference design but taken out by some other
vendors, presumably to cut costs. Sapphire
also includes a custom overclocking
utility. No information
about pricing and global availability has
been announced for either smartphone.
Sapphire Releases World's Fastest HD 6950 Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/sapphire-releases-worl
d-s-fastest-
View the original press release below
hd-6950/13209.html SAPPHIRE TOXIC model is
fastest HD 6950 yet! SAPPHIRE Technology - the
world leading supplier of graphics
solutions, mainboards and other PC 5
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August 4th, 2011 products - has just
announced the SAPPHIRE HD 6950 TOXIC Edition,
the fastest production card in its class. The
SAPPHIRE HD 6950 TOXIC Edition ships with
clock speeds of 880MHz for the
core and 1300Mhz (5.2 Gb/sec effective) for the
memory making it the fastest production
HD 6950 on the market. This has
been achieved by building the card on a
high specification PCB with digital VRMs
for excellent power regulation and 8
6 pin power connectors. It has a high
performance cooler featuring a Vapor Chamber,
blower fan and a new perforated backplate
to increase airflow out of the system
case. Like the standard HD 6950, the
SAPPHIRE HD 6950 TOXIC Edition boasts
true DX 11 capability and the
powerful configuration of 1408 stream
processors and 88 texture processing units.
A Dual BIOS feature allows enthusiasts to
experiment with alternative BIOS profiles
and settings. Performance can be
further enhanced with SAPPHIRE TriXX - the
company's dedicated overclocking tool which
allows memory and core clock speeds and
voltages to be modified and monitored and is
available free to download. With its two
DVI, one HDMI and two
mini- DisplayPort outputs, the SAPPHIRE
HD 6950 TOXIC Edition supports a wide
range of monitor configurations, including
AMD Eyefinity with up to four screens.
The SAPPHIRE HD 6950 TOXIC Edition has the
latest Gen3 on-board hardware UVD (Unified Video
decoder), considerably reducing CPU load and
delivering smooth decoding of Blu-ray(tm) and
other video content for both VC-1 and
H.264 codecs, as well as Mpeg files. The
UVD can decode two 1080p HD video streams
simultaneously and display HD video in high
quality with Windows Aero mode enabled. The card
has HDMI 1.4a which also supports Stereoscopic
3D output. The SAPPHIRE HD 6950 family is
supported by AMD's DirectX 11 WHQL certified
graphics driver which delivers support for all
of the key DirectX 11 level features
required for newgamingexperiencesandacceleration
ofthelatest generation of browsers, transcoding
and other high performance applications (AMD
APP acceleration). For more details please
visit www.sapphiretech.com Skype 2.1 for
Android gives video call for more
Android devices Source http//vr-zone.com/article
s/skype-2.1-for-android-gives-video-call- for-more
-android-devices/13207.html August 4th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone Good news for Skype users
on Android waiting patently for video call
support.An additional 17 devices were supported
on their latest Skype 2.1 for Android.
Good news for Skype
users on Android waiting patently for video call
support on their mobile device. An
additional 17 devices were supported on their
latest Skype 2.1 for Android. For folks who
are using Android devices not listed
above but you are on Android 2.2, you
could try some luck with enabling video
calling in your Skype settings by going
to "Skype settings" after launching the app
and select "enable video calling". Ofcourse,ifyo
udonotseethesettings,youareoutofluckand do not
meet the minimum requirements set by Skype Next
generation Apple iPhone is said to be
4G-capable Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/nex
t-generation-apple-iphone-is-said- to-be-4g-capabl
e/13206.html August 4th, 2011 6
7
August 4th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone
Looks like the next generation iPhone is surely
arriving, with many rumors about the phone
brewing almost every week. Well,thistime,itseem
sthatChinaMobilehas"confirmed"the new iPhone is
going to be 4G-capable. Now, the question
is, willthenewphonebeanentirelynewiPhone5,oranimpr
oved iPhone 4 (such as iPhone 4S or
4G)? Avatar Kinect is a new social
entertainment experience that brings your
avatar to life. Avatar Kinect can capture
your facial expressions and voice so that when
you smile, nod or speak, your avatar will do the
same. You can invite up to seven friends to join
you in 24 imaginative virtual stages
discuss the latest celebrity gossip or news on
the Talk Show Stage, try out your hysterical
comedy routine on the Performance Stage, or
wager who will win the big game in the Sports
Party Stage. On top of that, you can
share the fun by capturing
According to GizChina, China Mobile was
reported to have reached an agreement with
Apple to bring its 4th generation TD-LTEmobiledata
connectiontothenextgenerationiPhone. Although
the news isn't exactly new, it could hint
that the next generation iPhone would be an
iPhone 4S type device, with 4G capabilities,
rather than a brand new iPhone 5 design. This
would make sense with some of the rumors
that the next generation iPhone, which could be
the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, (or iPhone 4G) has
actually started carry network testing. Regardless
of whether it would be a new designed iPhone 5
or just a rehashed, improved version of the
iPhone 4, many users are waiting for the phone's
arrival. Avatar Kinect and Kinect Sparkler
promise more fun on Xbox Kinect Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/avatar-kinect-and-kine
ct-sparkler- promise-more-fun-on-xbox-kinect/13205
.html August 4th, 2011 Aside from dancing
and motion-gaming on the Xbox Kinect, you can
have more fun with the new additions of
Avatar Kinect and Kinect Sparkler in Kinect Fun
Labs. Avatar Kinect captures your facial
expression so that your avatar will do the same,
and you can have talk shows with friends
with your avatar. Kinect Sparkler lets you do
finger drawing onscreen with sparkler, and you
can even draw in 3-D.
animatedvideosyoucanpostonlineforyourfamily,friend
sor fanstoenjoy.TheKinectsensorcanrecordyoursessio
nwitha producerseditorialeye,followingyourperform
ance,zooming and panning, just like a real TV
production. Share your video recordingwithfriendsb
yuploadingittoKinectShare.comand downloading it
to your computer. You can also post it to
your favorite social networking sites like
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Avatar Kinect is
available for free to all Xbox LIVE Gold members,
but to celebrate its release, Avatar Kinect
has been unlocked for all Xbox LIVE members (Free
or Gold) to enjoy from 25 July to 8
September. Kinect Sparkler
was launched in Kinect Fun Labs on 28 July
and it transforms simple finger painting into an
aerial light show, using brand new Kinect tech
such as background removal and detailed finger
tracking. Use your body as a stencil and
your fingers to paint with light or write
with sparklers, turning your room into a canvas.
You can also draw in 3-D, moving the
sparklers in front of and behind
your foreground image, and then view your
creation from multiple angels by moving your
head. Share your masterpiece with friends and
family by uploading it to KinectShare.com.
Kinect 7
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Published by VR-Zone Since our last update,
many of you have asked how the bootloader
unlocking process will actually work,
and in particular why HTC's most recently
released devices still have a locked
bootloader. Rest assured we're making
progress toward our goal to roll out the
first software updates in August to support
unlocking for the global HTC
Sensation, followed soon by the HTC Sensation 4G
on T-Mobile and the HTC EVO 3D on Sprint.
Because unlocking the bootloader provides
extensive control over the device and
modifications may cause operation, security
and experience issues, new devices will
continue to ship locked but will support
user- initiated unlocking using a new Web-based
tool. So how will this work? The Web tool,
which will launch this month, requires that you
register an account with a valid e- mail address
and accept legal disclaimers that unlocking
may void all or parts of your warranty. Then plug
in your phone to a computer with the Android SDK
loaded to retrieve a device identifier token,
which you can then enter into the Web tool
to receive a unique unlock key via e-mail.
Finally, apply the key to your device and
unlocking will be initiated on your
phone. We're excited to bring bootloader
unlocking to developers and enthusiasts, and
we feel this new Web tool will meet your
needs and continue to provide customers with the
best experience. Thanks to the community for
supporting these efforts! That'sright,HTCwillb
egivingyouthefreedomtounlockyour bootloader, only
after you accept a disclaimer notifying that "all
or parts" of your warranty may be null and void.
Freedom comes at a price, what do you
think of this HTC's take on unlocked
bootloaders ? Ultrabooks too expensive according
to Taiwan notebook makers Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/ultrabooks-too-expensi
ve-according- to-taiwan-notebook-makers/13201.html
August 4th, 2011 Apple's recently
launched MacBook Air starts at US999 and the
Taiwanese notebook makers are very concerned
about Apple's pricing and claim that unless
Intel lowers its CPU prices for its ULV
models, Ultrabooks will end up way past Intel's
suggested US1,000 starting price point. We're
having a feeling of déjà vu here with the failed
CULV platform which wasn't quite as big as a
failure as it's been made up to be, but it was
another platform that was simply too expensive.
August 4th, 2011 SparklerwillbeavailableinKinectFu
nLabsfor240Microsoft Points. Randi Zuckerberg
Leaves Facebook Source http//vr-zone.com/article
s/randi-zuckerberg-leaves- facebook/13204.html Aug
ust 4th, 2011 Randi Zuckerberg, the
sister of founder Mark Zuckerberg, has decided to
leave Facebook to start her own company. In
an interview with Mashable, Randi quoted that her
resignation is a natural extension and had been
considering the move for a really long
time" NonewsonwhowillbesucceedingherpositionbutRan
diwas the director of marketing in Facebook, a
major role in this top social media company. Her
new company, RtoZ Media, will be focusingastherole
tohelpcompaniestobecomemore"social" HTC to
unlock bootloaders with a trade-off Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/htc-to-unlock-bootload
ers-with-a- trade-off/13203.html August 4th,
2011 Remember how HTC's locked
bootloaders could be such a pain? Everyone
was pleased when HTC announced that they are
going to unlock bootloaders on their mobile
devices. Well here is a update from the company
on their facebook. Remember how
HTC's locked bootloaders could be such
a pain? Everyone was pleased when HTC announced
that they are going to unlock bootloaders on
their mobile devices.
Well here is a update from the company on their
facebook. 8
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August 4th, 2011 Apple's recently launched
MacBook Air starts at US999 and the Taiwanese
notebook makers are very concerned
about Apple's pricing and claim that unless
Intel lowers its CPU prices for its ULV
models, Ultrabooks will end up way past Intel's
suggested US1,000 starting price point. We're
having a feeling of déjà vu here with the failed
CULV platform which wasn't quite as big as a
failure as it's been made up to be, but it was
another platform that was simply too
expensive. It's easy to point fingers at Apple,
but in this case we can't but wonder if some of
the notebook manufacturers have over- reached in
terms of what they thought they could produce
at a certain price point. The notebook makers are
now putting pressure on Intel to lower its CPU
prices for them to be able to hit the target
pricing for Ultrabooks. Part of the problem is
said to be changes in the production process as
most, if not all components will be soldered
onto the main PCB of the Ultrabooks to help
reduce weight and thickness. SSDs are also
required to meet the slim profile alongsideli
-polymerbatteriesandseveralotherchanges.Even so,
Intel's CPUs are said to bear about one third of
the total cost of an Ultrabook, which sounds a
bit steep. Intel has a fairly limited range of
ULV processors, but even so Intel's ULV Core i5
models have a list price of US250 which is only
a quarter of the US1,000 price point. In all
fairness
Published by VR-Zone August 4th,
2011 VR-Zone was one of the regional media
invited to Bangkok, Thailand to witness the
launch of Philips new consumer C, E and
V-Line, and the business P, B and
S-Line monitors by MMD. At the event,
MMD also showcased Philips'newErgoSensortechno
logythatclaimstohelpcorrect a user's posture, as
well as their 27-inch 3D monitor. For those who
do not know, MMD (Multimedia Displays) is
a wholly-owned company of TPV which claims to be
the largest manufacturer of PC monitors and
LCD TVs in the world. And MMD markets Philips
monitors under the global brand license agreement
with Philips. Today, MMD announces the launch of
their new C-Line (which is the premium range),
E- Line (Essential range) and V-Line (Value
range) consumer monitors B-Line (Business),
S-Line (Standard or Small Business)andP-Li
ne(Professional)businessmonitors.TheP- Line,
B-Line and S-Line business monitors are available
now at all MMD distributors.
Intel is hoping to get machines in the market for
less than this, butthere'stheOEMCorei3-2357Mwhichw
esadlydon'tknow what Intel is charging for, but
it'll be substantially less than US250 and if
we'd make an educated guess this CPU should end
up somewhere around the US200 mark. Intel also
has a couple of budget friendly dual core ULV
Celeron models at US134 and although they're not
very attractive in terms of performance, the cost
is comparatively low. The question is if the
notebook makers are willing to make this kind
of a trade-off, especially after the
low-end CULV notebooks failing to gather any
kind of momentum and in the end even the high-end
models ended up being sold at close to cost. A
repeat of this situation would be a disaster for
the notebook makers and this seems to be the main
reason why they'rebeingsocautiousabouttheUltrabook
marketsegment. That said, some innovation would
go a long way to convince consumers to go for an
Ultrabook over a regular notebook, despite the
slightly higher price. We have a feeling that
one reason why Apple's 13.3-inch MacBook Air is
so popular is because of the higher resolution
screen, an option that's rare to see on
Windows notebooks and it's not exactly a
super innovative feature. Philips launches
new consumer and business monitors Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/philips-launches-new-c
onsumer-and- business-monitors/13194.html
9
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August 4th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone
The Philips Moda is a 23.6-inch LCD monitor,
under the C- Line of premium consumer monitors,
has a two-tone elegant finish with a die-cast
pure aluminium stand. The Moda has backlit
controls with two HDMI input and a VGA
connector. According to the company, there
is no DVI input as it is phasing out and
did not catch on consumers. Also
showcased at the event was the
prototype Philips ErgoSensor technology
which MMD claims to be the first
in the world to offer a true optimized
ergonomic viewing experience on their display.
With an integrated camera above the display, the
monitor uses advanced detection
technology tomeasureauser'sinterpupillarydistance
whethertheirhead is in an inclined position
detects how long the user has been sitting in
front of the display etc, and gives appropriate
advice to the user. At the rear of the monitor
are USB, DVI and VGA connectors.
MMD also introduced a pure white version
of the Philips Moda (right picture) as well
as one with the proprietary Lightframe
technology. The Philips Moda is scheduled
to be available next week the white
version in October and the one with
Lightframe in December (just
before Christmas). At presstime, the 23.6-inch
Philips Moda (model 248C3LHSB) will be retailing
at an S349 the 21.5-inch E- line(model227E3LPHS
U)atS229,andthe27-inch(model
273E3LHSB) at S489. Philips ErgoSensor
monitor The ErgoSensor can only
detect a single user at any one time, and
thus if there are few users crowding in front of
the monitor,thedisplaywillnotbeabletoprovideaccur
ateadvice. According to a MMD executive, the
ErgoSensor monitor takes approximatelylessthantwo
minutestodetectandmonitorthe userandanattentionpr
omptwillpopupatthebottomrightof the screen to
inform the user. The Philips ErgoSensor
monitor is scheduled to launch from December
this year. No pricing information is available
at press time. More to come.. Motorola
publishes specifications of upcoming DROID
Bionic smartphone on website Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/motorola-publishes-spe
cifications-of- upcoming-droid-bionic-smartphone-
on-website/13200.html 10
11
August 4th, 2011 August 4th, 2011 Now this
has got to be one of those classic "Oh no they
didn't!" cases in action, although most people
would probably have not expected Motorola, of all
companies, to have made such as slip-up.
Apparently, the company has somehow managed to
leak some precious information about an upcoming
DROID Bionic smartphone on its own website.
Needless to say, the mistake was discovered
and the website's content modified to appear
as if the information never existed, but not
before its screenshots have started circulating
around the depths of cyberspace. Have you
been lusting for more information
about Motorola'supcomingBionicsmartphone?Well,theg
oodnews is that users do not have to wait any
longer in order to find out what kind of
specifications Motorola's upcoming DROID Bionic
smartphone will sport when it is finally
released, for it seems that Motorola has somehow
managed to accidently post up the complete
specifications for the aforementioned smartphon
e on its developer page, well ahead of
schedule. Nice.
Published by VR-Zone has pointed out that
the original Bionic only had 512MB of
memory and utilized a Tegra 2
system-on-a-chip (SoC) for its processing needs,
whereas the phone that was listed on Motorola's
developer homepage boasted a 1GHz
Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 dual-core
processor and 1GB of memory. In addition, the
leaked specifications from Motorola has
also revealedthattheupcomingBionicwillbeaCDMA-only
mobile phone which boasts built-in support for 4G
mobile broadband connectivity via LTE, HDMI 1.4,
along with 4GB of secure storage and 9GB of
non-removable shared storage. Lastly,
the smartphonewillalsofeaturea4.3-inchcapacitiveto
uchscreen display that sports a native resolution
of 960 x 540 (qHD), an eight-megapixel
rear-facing camera, a VGA camera for the front
and most importantly, will be preloaded
with version 2.3.4 of the Android operating
system. Now, all we need is for Motorola to
conveniently "leak" out some information about an
expected release date, along with pricing
details, for the upcomingBionicsmartphoneandeveryt
hingwillbejustright. Oh, and just one more
thing Motorola has already pulled the
information about the DROID Bionic smartphone
from its developer page, as we would have
expected. But thanks to the power of screenshots
and the Internet, a copy of the
full specifications sheet has been published by
Droid-Life, which you can access from this link
if you are interested in finding
out more about the upcoming smartphone. Stronti
um Gamma 115GB Matrix 120GB SSD
Review Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/stront
ium-gamma-115gb-- matrix-120gb-ssd-review/12848.h
tml August 4th, 2011 Just about every
memory manufacturer has jumped on the solid
state drive bandwagon - and Singapore-based
Strontium is no exception. We take a look at two
SSDs from Strontium's Matrix and Gamma product
lines. Singapore-based memory manufacturer
Strontium is one of the more recent entrants to
the consumer SSD market. They currently have
two SSD product lines the Gamma
series, which uses the SandForce SF-1222
controller, and the Matrix series, which uses
the Marvell 88SS9174-BLD2 controller. Today,
we'll be looking at the Strontium Gamma 115GB
and Strontium Matrix 120GB. Both drives are
backed by a three year warranty. According to
a report published by Droid-Life, the
model number for the Bionic that was
listed on Motorola's specification page may
be referencing the older XT865 which is already
available for sale on the market, but that is
more of a typographical error on Motorola's
part, as the XT865 sports specifications
which are vastly different from those that
were listed out on the site. For example,
Droid-Life 11
12
August 4th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone Random 4K
write performance of 50,000 IOPS (4K aligned)
Random 4K write performance of 50,000 IOPS
(4K aligned)
Power Consumption Warranty Temperature
Active lt 2.0W Idle lt 0.5W 3 years Operating Temper
ature 0C 70C Storage
Active lt 150mW 3 years Operating Temperature
0C 70C Storage
Temperature -20C 85C 0C55C / 95 RH,
10cycles 1,500G, duration 0.5ms, half
sine wave 20G peak, 102KHz with 3axis gt1,000,000
Hours
Temperature -20C 85C 1,500G,
duration 0.5ms, half sine wave 2 500 Hz at
3.1G gt1,200,000 Hours
Strontium Strontium Gamma
115GB Matrix 120GB SandForce SF-1222
Marvell 88SS9174- BLD2 Supports
Supports 1.5/3.0Gbps SATA 6/3.0Gbps
SATA I/II interface III/II
interface Supports SATA Fully
Compliant 3.0Gb/s NCQ and with
ATA/ATAPI-7 AHCI commands Standard
Humidity Operating Shock Vibration MTBF
Controller Interface
Fully Compliant
Supports SMART
Form Factor
2.5"
2.5"
with ATA/ATAPI-7 (Self-Monitor Standard
Analysis and Reporting Supports
SMART Technology) (Self-Monitor Analysis and
TRIM support (O/S
Compliance
Fully Compliant with RoHS directive CE and
FCC compatibility
Fully Compliant with RoHS directive CE and
FCC compatibility
Reporting support
required) Technology) Supports Secure TRIM
support (O/S Erase and Write support required)
Protect function
LG unveils two new Cinema 3D TVs in Korea Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/lg-unveils-two-new-cin
ema-3d-tvs-in- korea/13199.html
August 4th, 2011
Supports Secure Erase and Write Protect function
Supports Dynamic and Static Wear Levelling
Supports Dynamic Data integrity
and Static Wear
under power-
cycling ( gt 6,000 times)
Levelling Data integrity under power- cycling (
gt 6,000 times) Supports F/W upgrade function
LG Electronics has announced the
availability of its new Cinema 3D-capable,
LED-backlit high-definition television sets
(HDTVs), the 47-inch 47LW9800 and
55-inch 55LW9800. Touted as the
"crown-jewel" of 3D-capable television sets,
the Korean electronics company has claimed that
the new LW9800 series of HDTVs boast
the most advancedtechnologiesandfeatureseverdev
elopedbyit.More details after the break...
Flash Performance
25nm MLC Maximum sequential read speed 280
Mbps Maximum sequential write speed 270 Mbps
25nm MLC Maximum sequential read speed 415
Mbps Maximum sequential write speed 175 Mbps
LG has announced the availability of its
new Cinema 3D- capable, LED-backlit
high-definition television sets (HDTVs), the
47-inch 47LW9800 and 55-inch 55LW9800. The
new HTDVs have been claimed by LG to be
the "crown-jewels" of 3D-capable television
sets, and that they both feature the most
advanced technologies and features ever developed
by the company.
12
13
August 4th, 2011 According to
the official press release issued by LG,
the new 47-inch 47LW9800 and 55-inch 55LW9800
3D-capable LCD TVs sport what the company
calls its NANO FULL LED and TruMotion 480Hz
technology. LG claims that
its NANOFULLLEDlightingtechnogymakesuseofanextreme
ly thin film printed with minuscule dots to
disperse light more evenlyacrossthescreen,withther
esultbeingbrighter,clearer and smoother pictures,
while TruMotion 400Hz ensures that images
displayed by the telvision "stay silky
smooth, no matter how fast the action". In
addition, LG has also claimed that
the 47LW9800 and 55LW9800 will make use of
the company's passive "Cinema 3D" display
technology which is reportedly capable of
eliminating common symptoms of discomfort
experienced by users who own television sets
which make use of the conventional active
3D technology, such as dizziness
or disorientation. This has made it possible
for the Korean electronics company to deliver
affordable and comfortable 3D glasseswhichareaffor
dable,lightweightandbatteryfree,thus ensuring
that user comfort is not affected. Lastbutdefinite
lynotleast,LGhasaddedthatthenew47-inch 47LW9800
and 55-inch 55LW9800 3D-capable LCD TVs
will comebundledwithvariousSmartTVfeatures,suchass
upport for online connectivity, multi-screen
display and the inclusion
Published by VR-Zone August 4th,
2011 The Logitech Revue may have made
the headlines recently over its drastic price
drop from US249 to US99 , but that does not
mean that all is not going well for the Google
TV set-top box, at least where end-users and the
hacker comunity areconcerned.Apparently,someenterp
risingdevelopershave managedtosuccessfullyflashthe
Revuewithversion3.1ofthe Android operating system
(Honeycomb), well before Logitech plans to roll
out its own official Android 3.1 firmware
update come summer this year. So
Logitech has slashed the price of its
Revue Google TV set-top box by almost 60
from US249 to US99. While that might
sound like a typical response for any
company whose product is not doing very well on
the market, it would seem that the latest bit of
news regarding the Revue might be just the
kind of information that could potentially
help renew consumer interest in Logitech's Google
TV set-top box. Apparently, a group of
enterprising hackers have somehow managed to
flash the Revue with a custom Android 3.1
ROM (aka Honeycomb), and details on how to do so
have somehow managed to leak onto the
Internet, complete with pictorial evidence. And
yes, this custom ROM apparently comes preloaded
with the Android Market app.
of a built-in web browser to allow it to access
the Internet, along with a Smart Motion Remote
Control for operating the TV set. No information
about pricing and global availability for
the aforementioned television sets has been
released at this point of time, although LG
claims that the products were first launched
in Korea two days ago. Hackers
successfully flash Logitech Revue with Honeycomb
3.1 Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/hackers-su
ccessfully-flash-logitech- revue-with-honeycomb-3.
1/13198.html If you will remember our earlier
article, we mentioned that Logitechhasalreadyplan
nedtorolloutasoftwareupdatethat will see
existing Revue set-top boxes gain access to both
the Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) operating system and
the Android 13
14
August 4th, 2011 Market at once. However, with
the Revue now going for as low as US99, we
really would not be surprised to hear
of consumers actually purchasing one of
those Revues just to satisfy their curiosity
by trying to see if they can flash
the device'sstockfirmwarewithacustombuildoftheHone
ycomb operating system Toshiba unveils new
standard- height, 1TB hard disks
for notebooks Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/
toshiba-unveils-new-standard- height-1tb-hard-disk
s-for-notebooks/13197.html August 4th,
2011 Well, that sure didn't take very
long. In less than two weeks after we published
the news of Western Digital's success in rolling
out what was probably the world's first
standard- height, 1TB-touting mobile hard
disks for notebooks, out comes Toshiba with
its own variant of such a hard disk, the
MQ01ABD100, which the Japanese company has
claimed is specially designed for devices
such as high-performance notebooks and hard
disk-based media recorders. Rememberthenewswepost
edsometimebackaboutWestern Digitalunveilingwhatwas
probablytheworld'sfirststandard- height mobile
hard disk that boasted as astronomical
storage capacity of 1TB? Well, the good news is
that users who are
Published by VR-Zone Ac
cording to Toshiba, the new MQ01ABD100
hard disk sports an areal density of
744Gb/in2 and boasts a power consumption of
no more than 0.55 watts when idle,
along with a 25 improvement in energy efficiency
over its more- conventional hard disk models such
as the MK7559GSXP. In addition,Toshibaclaimsthatth
enewMQ01ABD100harddisk produces lesser noise
as well, peaking at 24dB during
seek operations, and features standard
specifications such as 8MB of cache, a platter
speed of 5,400rpm, support for version 2.6 of the
SATA specification and a maximum shock tolerance
of up to 8,820 m / s2 when non-operational (3,920
m / s2 when operational).
in need of a new high-capacity hard disk
but want more options to choose from will
probably have much to look forward to. This
is because Western Digital's Scorpio
Blue hard disk has found itself a new
competitor in the market for standard-height
mobile hard disks boasting 1TB of storage space,
and it comes in the form of Toshiba's latest
product, the MQ01ABD100.
14
15
August 4th, 2011 No details about pricing
and availability for the new MQ01ABD100
hard disk has been announced by Toshiba at this
point of time, although Akihabara News is
claiming that the device is expected to debut in
Japan come mid-August this year. Japan to start
selling Microsoft's new Touch Mouse next
month Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/japan-to
-start-selling-microsoft-s-new- touch-mouse-next-m
onth/13196.html August 4th, 2011 Remember
the Microsoft Touch Mouse that was first
unveiled at CES this year? You know, the one that
reportedly supports three-finger gestures, is
supposed to be available for sale only in the
second half of the year and is said to
be the direct competitor to Apple's Magic
Mouse? Well, it seems like the wait for the mouse
to finally reach our shores may soon be at an
end, now that Microsoft has announced the
availability of the new Touch Mouse in
Japan. Approximately seven months ago, we ran a
story describing whatwasessentiallyMicrosoft'sansw
ertoApple'smultitouch- capable Magic Mouse,
the Microsoft Touch Mouse, which first
debuted at CES, and was touted to
be capable of supporting gestures made by
up to a maximum of three fingers.
Unfortunately, Microsoft did not release any
concrete details about the mouse's release date
at that point of time, preferring to simply claim
that consumers could expect to see thedevicehitret
ailshelvesstartingfromthesecondhalfofthe year.
Published by VR-Zone The specifications of
the mouse have remained mostly unchanged
since its initial debut way back at CES this
year it makes use of Microsoft's signature
BlueTrack technology, which is reportedly
capable of allowing users to utilize
the Touch Mouse on virtually any surface, while a
nano receiver serves as the link which connects
the mouse to one's PC. In addition, the touch
sensors on the Microsoft Touch Mouse are also
said to be capable of recognizing different
finger sizes, a trait which could potentially
allows users to map various flicks and gestures
to different fingers. Last but definitely not
least, ITmedia has claimed that
the Microsoft Touch Mouse draws power from two AA
batteries and is reportedly capable of providing
up to three months of uptime on a fresh set of
batteries. Oh, and it is available in any colour
you want, as long as it is black. Old Twitter
users to be upgraded to New Twitter
this week Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/old-
twitter-users-to-be-upgraded-to- new-twitter-this-
week/13195.html August 4th, 2011 Areyoustillusin
gtheoldTwitterinterfacewhichhasnowbeen dubbed by
many as 'Old Twitter'? Well, if you are, you
might want to actually start getting used to the
new interface which the popular microblogging
service has rolled out way back last year the
company has confirmed that it plans to upgrade
all existing Old Twiiter users to the new
interface by this week. Well, change is never
easy, right? Well,lookslikeTwitterhasfinallydecide
dtogetseriousabout its plans for upgrading the
user interface for its popular online social
networking and microblogging service. Apparently,
we have just received word from the company
itself that the new
Twitter user interface, which was first unveiled
to users way back in September last year, will
soon take over as the default interface when
users access Twitter, and that the Old
Twitter interface will be going the way of
the dinosaur when that happens "this
week". And if you thought we were making this
up, this official tweet from the company
itself that was seemingly made only
a should dispel all remaining doubt that the UI
change due to take place within this week,
although Twitter has seemingly decided to not
provide an exact date for the global rollout
of the New Twitter interface. Fast forward
to the present, and it seems that the
long wait for Microsoft's new Touch Mouse might
soon be at an end, especially if this latest
announcement made by the the Redmond giant's
Japan office is of any indication.
Apparently, the Touch Mouse is expected to be
made available for sale in Japan come September
this year, and that it will reportedly
be retailing at the price of 7980 yen, or
approximately US103. 15
16
August 4th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone
August 4th, 2011 That being said,
Twitter's latest move will probably irk
many userswhohavegrownaccustomedtotheOldTwitterint
erface, although one really cannot fault the
popular microblogging platform for 'forcing' the
New Twitter interface down on its user base. For
one, Twitter has been taking pains to
remind peoplesinceJunethisyearthattheswitchtothene
winterface was imminent by adding a browser-top
alert informing them that the upgrade to New
Twitter was expected to take place "very, very
soon". Well, at the very least, Twitter
had the decency to make the eventualswitchasgradua
landlow-keyaspossiblebyallowing users to hold
on to Old Twitter up till now, even
though New Twitter was officially unveiled way
back in September last year. This, along with
the use of constant browser-top reminders
informing users that New Twitter will
eventually take its place as the default
user interface for the popular microblogging
platform means that critics cannot
blame Twitter for pulling a "Facebook" on its
user base and suddenly making an abrupt UI change
without any notification. More images of ASUS
MARS II Dual-GTX 580 Graphics Card Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/more-images-of-asus-ma
rs-ii-dual- gtx-580-graphics-card/13192.html
16
17
August 4th, 2011
The ASUS MARS II is a dual-GTX 580 graphics
card. It will feature a core frequency of
816MHz, shader frequency of 1632MHz, a memory
frequency of 4008MHz, 3GB of GDDR5 memory and
1024 CUDA cores. The ASUS MARS II graphics card
is reported to have a limited quantity of 1000
units with a price tag of 1,000 (S1,714)
each. High Power Performance Pro 750W PSU
review Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/high-po
wer-performance-pro-750w- psu-review/13193.html Au
gust 4th, 2011 Today we bring you the
review of another high quality power supply from
High Power, the subsidiary company of Sirfa.
For those unaware of it, Sirfa is one of the most
reputable PSU OEMs today and a good percentage of
the high performance power supplies currently
available are based on their designs and
manufactured by them. Some weeks ago we had a
look at one of their very high output
products, the Direct12 BR 1kW power supply
today we are going to test and review
the Performance Pro series 750W unit and
see how well High Power can deliver in the
mainstream market.
Published by VR-Zone OEMs today and a good
percentage of the high performance power supplies
currently available are based on their
designs and manufactured by them. Some weeks ago
we had a look at one of their very high
output products, the Direct12 BR 1kW power
supply today we are going to test and review
the Performance Pro series 750W unit and
see how well High Power can deliver in the
mainstream market. 80 PLUS BRONZE
Certified - Offer 85 minimum efficiency at
50 load Single12VOutputRail-Offersmaximumco
mpatibility with latest components. Dual
Case Fan Connectors - Two Additional
connectors dedicated for 8cm, 9cm,
12cm, or 14cm fans. AI Temperature
control unit manage fan speed accordingly to
keep temperature and acoustic level at
optimal. Golf-Surfaced Fan - Whisper quiet
13.5cm golf- surfaced fan brings more
airflow volume with less noise
than convention. Japan- made Main
Capacitors - Longer lifespan
than electrolytic capacitors Honey Comb
Structure with the Best Ventilation
- Optimum design structure made to maximize air
flow to minimize thermal increase, air
resistance, and noise level.
24PinconnectorwithNylonSleeve-Thecableissleeved
for an improved airflow and help create a neat
and easy installation. PCI-ExpressPowerConn
ectors-Providededicated12V for high end dual
graphic SLI or Crossfire Connection.
Patented Easy Swap Connector - Quick
and Easy installation.
EuP2010Lot6Compliant(SystemIdlepowerusageless th
an 1W) RoHS Compliant - made
with hazardous - free components RoHS
is the Restriction Of the use
of certainHazardousSubstancesinelectricalandelec
tronic equipment. This has been a standard
in Europe and is now becoming a standard
in the world. Not only lead, but
cadium, mercury, hexavalent
chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), and
polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame
retardants are limited as well. What you
see is what you get. NO Tweaks! -
True Wattage Rating is the industry's way
of designating a power supply model's wattage
capacity. It is based on the total DC output
wattages that a power supply can continuously
provide. Kingston To Ship HyperX SSD Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/kingston-to-ship-hyper
x- ssd/13190.html
Today we bring you the review of another high
quality power supply from High Power, the
subsidiary company of Sirfa. For those unaware of
it, Sirfa is one of the most reputable PSU 17
18
August 4th, 2011 August 4th, 2011
Published by VR-Zone Considering that
DisplayPort isn't directly compatible with
DVI and HDMI (both of which are very similar to
each other), adapters like these will be needed.
There are already plenty of adapters available
in the market, but none quite like
these. Kingston is shipping their
HyperX SSD which will feature the SandForce
SD-2281 controller, SATA 3 interface allowing
a read speed of 555MB/s and write speed of
510MB/s. It also
has a random 4k read of 95,000 IOPs and a random
4k write of 70,000 IOPs. The HyperX SSD will be
available in 120GB, 240GBcapacitieswhichwillretail
forUS270(S325)andUS 520 (S626)
respectively. Zotac launches DisplayPort to dual
HDMI adapters Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/
zotac-launches-displayport-to-dual- hdmi-adapters/
13191.html August 4th, 2011
Each of the new adaptors plug into either a mini
DisplayPort or a standard size DisplayPort
connector and then give you a pair of HDMI ports
in the other end. This in itself might not sound
all that special, until you realise that you can
run a pair of HDMI screens of a single
DisplayPort connector. This is potentially very
useful for someone with a motherboard
with integratedgraphicsthatwantstorunthreescreens,
something that isn't possible without adding
a graphics card in most cases. Plug in one of
Zotac's new adapters and you can, at least as
long as your motherboard has one DisplayPort and
at least one other display interface.
If there's one market where things moves slowly,
as in slower thanpaintdrying,thenit'sthedisplayint
erfaceindustryasit's theyear2011andwe'restillusing
adisplayconnectorthatfirst came out in 1987,
namely the good old D-sub. This was meant to be
replaced by the DVI port and more recently both
ports were said to be replaced by the DisplayPort
connector by 2015 or there abouts. So what does
this have to do with anything? Well, Zotac has
come up with a pair of nifty adapters
for anyonethathappenstoownapairofHDMIequippeddispl
ays and a graphics card with only a DisplayPort
connector. There is a drawback though, Zotac's
adapters are limited to
1920x1080 resolution per screen, but at least
there's support for spanning so 3840x1080 is
doable. The adapters also work with notebooks
and we can see quite a few notebook users being
interested in these, as you don't tend to have a
wealth of display interfaces on notebooks and
this makes it tricky to run morethanonedisplay.Itm
ightnotbetheperfectsolution,but it's still a much
better one than what's currently available.
No word on pricing as yet, but we'd expect the
new adapters to be more expensive than current
single port adapters. Update The price for
either adapter is US50 which seems a bit on the
steep side.
If there's one market where things moves slowly,
as in slower thanpaintdrying,thenit'sthedisplayint
erfaceindustryasit's theyear2011andwe'restillusing
adisplayconnectorthatfirst came out in 1987,
namely the good old D-sub. This was meant to be
replaced by the DVI port and more recently both
ports were said to be replaced by the DisplayPort
connector by 2015 or there abouts. So what does
this have to do with anything? Well, Zotac has
come up with a pair of nifty adapters
for anyonethathappenstoownapairofHDMIequippeddispl
ays and a graphics card with only a DisplayPort
connector. So ok, it's hugely unlikely that this
will ever be the case, but
it's good to see a company that's willing
to move forward. 18
19
August 4th, 2011 OCZ to launch Z-Drive R4
SSD with capacity of over 3TB Source
http//vr-zone.com/articles/ocz-to-launch-z-drive-
r4-ssd-with- capacity-of-over-3tb/13187.html Augus
t 4th, 2011 OCZ is going to launch its
Z-Drive R4 SSD soon which was first seen at the
Computex 2011. The SSD will be available
in various capacities from 480GB to 3.84TB.
Published by VR-Zone It appears that we have a
lot to look forward to from Sony's digital camera
division later this month, as the company
is expectedtolaunchnolessthanfournewcamerasofwhich
two are Alpha models and two are NEX models.
Pictures of both of the NEX models have now
appeared, alongside pictures of several new
lenses and details of some new accessories. The
announcement is expected to take place around the
23 or 24 of August, but the new cameras are said
to not be available until October at the earliest
with Asia apparently getting first dibs. The
big news in today's leak is the first, if
albeit tiny pictureofSony'supcomingNEX-5Nandalth
oughitlooksvery similar to the current NEX-5 it
has a slight angle on the top and the pixel count
has gone up from 14.2 Megapixels to
16.1 Megapixels.
The other big news is a front view of
the NEX-7 which is a larger camera than
the NEX-5N by a fair amount which can
easily be seen by the large amount of camera that
is still surrounding the lens. In all
fairness it's not going to be a huge
camera, but we can see Sony swinging things
around and calling this the world's smallest
exchangeable lens camera with a built in
viewfinder. OCZ will be launching its
latest PCIe SSD, Z-Drive R4, which allows up to
2,900MB/s read speed, 2700MB/s write speed and
350,000 IOPS for 4K random write. In one
of the demonstration shown at the Computex 2011,
multiple Z-Drive R4 in Raid 0 configuration was
able to churn out more than one million IOPS for
the Iometer 4KB random read test. TheOCZZ-DriveR4u
seseightSandForceSF-2281controllers
which are internally configured for Raid 0, runs
on a PCIe x8 card and will be available in two
variants, the C series (480GB to 3.84TB) and R
series (800GB to 3.2TB). Sony's next gen NEX
cameras and more unveiled ahead of the
launch Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/sony-s-
next-gen-nex-cameras-and- more-unveiled-ahead-of-t
he-launch/13188.html August 4th, 2011 It
appears that we have a lot to look forward to
from Sony's digital camera division later this
month, as the company is expectedtolaunchnolesstha
nfournewcamerasofwhichtwo are Alpha models and
two are NEX models. Pictures of both of the NEX
models have now appeared, alongside pictures
of several new lenses and details of some new
accessories.
Several new lenses are also expected for the NEX
compatible E-mount. We're fairly certain a lot of
consumers have been waiting for a zoom lens for
the NEX range and Sony is set to deliver this
with a new 55-210mm f/4-6.3 lens with OSS.
Then we have a 50mm f/1.8 lens again with OSS and
finally a Zeiss branded 24mm f/1.8 lens. The
NEX-5N is also said to get an external XGA
resolution OLED viewfinder which is sadly
not backwards compatible with the older NEX
models. Another interesting development is
something called the LA- EA2whichisatranslucentmir
roradapterforsomeoftheNEX cameras that accepts
Alpha mount lenses and pretty much turns the
NEX cameras into one of Sony's SLT cameras.
It's said to add much faster auto focus, although
at the cost of battery life. As for Sony's
Alpha models, the A77 is expected to
sport 24 Megapixels, very fast auto focus
and 11 cross type AF points. The new
electronic viewfinder is meant to be a
huge improvementoverthecurrentSLTcamerasfromSonyan
dthe A77 is said to be offered bundled with a new
16-50mm f/2.8 SSM lens. The more affordable A65
model is said to feature the same sensor as the
A77, but it won't have the same high speed frame
capture capability. The A77 is expected to
cost 19
20
August 4th, 2011 around US1200-1300 without the
kit lens which adds about US200-300 to the price
tag. ViewSonic announces availability of
24-inch, 3D- capable V3D245 monitor in
the US Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/viewson
ic-announces-availability- of-24-inch-3d-capable-v
3d245-monitor-in-the-us/13183.html August 4th,
2011 ViewSonic has announced the
availability of its new 24-inch, 3D-capable
V3D245 monitors in the US. The monitors,
which boast support for NVIDIA's 3D Vision
technology, have been touted by the company to be
capable of delivering "great color accuracy and
picture detail for unsurpassed 3D image
quality" and is designed to appeal to "gamers,
movie buffs and photo enthusiasts". ViewSonic
has announced the availability of the new
LED-
Published by VR-Zone To top off the package,
ViewSonic has also claimed that the V3D243's
built-un support for NVIDIA 3D Vision
technology allows users "to play more than 550 3D
games in full 1080p, 60 fps resolution, view 3D
videos and photos, and stream 3D web content"
when the monitor is hooked up to a PC
which utilizes a supported GeForce graphics
card. Alternatively, users can also make use
of the built-in HDMI-in port to connect
various media devices such as the "latest Blu-ray
3D players" or video game consoles. Last but
definitely not least, the company has confirmed
that the monitor will also feature an "integrated
two-watt SRS Premium Sound audio
speakers provides consumers the ultimate
multimedia entertainment display". No information
about global availability has been announced at
this point of time, although ViewSonic has
confirmed that the V3D245 3D monitor, along
with the bundled pair of NVIDIA 3D Vision
active stereo 3D glasses, will be available for
sale in North America come mid-to-late
August at the estimated retail price of
US499. More Symbian "Belle" screenshots surface
online Source http//vr-zone.com/articles/more-sy
mbian-belle-screenshots- surface-online/13180.html
August 4th, 2011
backlit V3D245 monitor which boasts a 24-inch
display, along with support for 3D display via
the use of NVIDIA's 3D Vision technology. Noki
a may have already committed itself to
transitioning towards Microsoft's Windows
Phone 7 mobile operating system, but if
you thought that the Finnish communication corpor
ation's desicion would result in the quick and
decisive deathofitsexistingSymbianoperatingsystem
,well,youcould not have been further from the
truth. Apparently, word has it that Nokia is
already hard at work on the next iteration
of the Symbian OS, which has been dubbed as
Symbian Belle, and the latest leaked screenshots
of the operating system are suggesting that
"Belle" might offer a much more flexible
user experience over "Anna". Have you heard
about Symbian "Belle"? Well, for those
who are not aware, "Belle" is reportedly
the codename for Nokia's upcoming successor to
the Symbian operating system, of which "Anna"
is the version that is currently in