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Personal Computing
Microsoft wants us to hear it on the Vine
By Darren Quick
04:00 April 30, 2009 PDT
With the Facebook and Twitter social networking juggernaut rolling ever onwards, Microsoft is looking to jump on the bandwagon with its new social web app called Vine. While sites such as Facebook and Twitter use the global span of the internet to let users connect with people from all corners of the globe, Vine makes its focus local, concentrating on keeping users in touch with family, friends, activities and major events in their community, including disasters and emergencies. Read More
GE develops 500GB disc using holographic technology
By Darren Quick
22:05 April 28, 2009 PDT
Many pundits proclaimed Blu-ray would be the last optical disc based storage medium we would see before the seemingly inevitable move towards Flash-based drives and online storage. Apparently GE isn’t buying into that prediction, forging ahead with the development next generation optical storage technology that can store a massive 500GB of data before Blu-ray has even gained widespread adoption with consumers. Read More
Greener computers talk in their sleep
By Darren Quick
23:48 April 27, 2009 PDT
Computers are often left running so they stay connected to a network or the Internet – be it to ensure remote access, availability for virus scans and backup, maintaining presence on instant messaging (IM) or voice-over-IP (VoIP) networks, or for file sharing and downloading. Although such tasks mean the PCs are relatively idle, they remain in awake mode and draw more power than they really need. Now computer scientists at UC San Diego and Microsoft Research have created a plug-and-play hardware prototype for personal computers that induces a new energy saving state known as "sleep talking", which provides much of the energy savings of sleep mode and some of the network-and-Internet-connected convenience of awake mode. Read More
Ultimate 3D design navigation tool
By Paul Best
00:14 April 27, 2009 PDT
To the untrained eye, the 3Dconnexion SpacePilot PRO looks and sounds like a pretty slick game control. But you’d be wrong. The mouse is, in fact, a serious tool for design engineers to navigate about and control three-dimensional computerized models. Read More
Samsung N120 joins Samsung’s mini notebook lineup
By Darren Quick
22:26 April 23, 2009 PDT
The flood of mini notebooks and netbooks that threatens to bury us shows no sign of abating, with Samsung announcing another addition to its mini notebook lineup. Joining the recently featured N110 is the N120, which includes most of the features found on the N110 in a slightly larger form factor. Read More
2-in-1 Mobile Broadband Card caters for ExpressCard and PC Card slots
By Darren Quick
00:14 April 22, 2009 PDT
Here at Gizmag we love gadgets that can transform from one thing into another - be it from a chair to a bed or a car to a boat... if it's 2-in-1, it's sure to get our attention. While possibly not on the same level as these examples, Sprint’s new Sierra Wireless AirCard 402 should come in handy for owners of multiple laptops with its ability to connect to mobile broadband via both ExpressCard and PC Card slots thanks to a locking 2-in1 adapter. Read More
MSI Wind Top AE1900 touch-enabled all-in-one PC
By Mike Hanlon
18:29 April 21, 2009 PDT
Due for its first public showing next week at EcoFocus in New York is the next-generation MSI Wind Top AE1900 desktop PC, a touch-enabled all-in-one PC with 18.5” widescreen and surround sound. It'll be interesting to try the Wind Top with its touch-enabled applications and webcam-optimized motion capture games, but we suspect that the ergonomics involved in continually lifting one's arms to touch the screen will soon kill the novelty value and users will be plugging in the color-matched keyboard and mouse that comes with it. One day, no doubt, all PCs will come without a keyboard – don't throw the keyboard and mouse away just yet though. Read More
The USB card reader with a twist or two
19:33 April 15, 2009 PDT
The clever folk at Brando have come up with a card reader reminiscent of Rubik's Cube. Okay, the USB 270° x 270 Cubic Card Reader doesn't offer the color or mind-addling challenge, but it does twist. And it's something novel to sit next to your computer. Read More
Gigabyte gets all touchy-feely and swively with new touchscreen netbook tablet
By Darren Quick
18:11 April 15, 2009 PDT
Gigabyte’s T1028 manages to straddle a few categories with its netbook size and specs, touchscreen capabilities and rotating screen, which gives the netbook a tablet look and feel. The new model sports a 10.1-inch WSVA 1024 x 600 display, while under the hood beats an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz processor, Intel 945GSE graphics chipset, 1GB RAM (expandable to 2GB) and 160GB SATA HDD. Read More
FON shares the love with the new La Fonero 2 router
By Mick Webb
21:19 April 12, 2009 PDT
FON, the world’s largest Wifi community, continue their ethos of give and take with the release of the La Fonera 2 router. The self-confessed “hippie-love-in” style products work as such – a user purchases the router and once connected to the internet, gives away a small part of their bandwidth via a second public facing connection. This network can be accessed for free by other FON owners. In return for this show of generosity the user can then access other FON hotspots anywhere in the world. This latest addition also boasts Bit Torrent and Network Storage capabilities. Read More
Samsung’s latest N110 netbook claims 9.5 hour battery life
By Darren Quick
05:42 April 7, 2009 PDT
The netbook marketplace is getting more and more competitive and following hot on the heels of the recently released ASUS Eee PC 1000HE is Samsung’s latest entry into the market, the N110 mini notebook. The N110 boasts many of the features of the 1000HE including a 10.1-inch screen, 160GB HDD, 1GB of RAM and claims of up to 9.5 hours of battery life in a unit that is slightly thinner and lighter than its ASUS competitor. Read More
ViBook expands screen real-estate via USB
22:27 April 5, 2009 PDT
We've previously written at length about the productivity benefits associated with multiple desktop screens and the latest offering to cross our desk in this arena is the ViBook from Village Tronic. Bundled with its exclusive desktop managing software, this device allows the user to extend their desktop onto five additional screens, utilizing the USB port instead of the DVI socket on the back of your graphics card. Read More
AMD claims world’s most powerful GPU with the ATI Radeon HD 4890
By Darren Quick
19:57 April 2, 2009 PDT
To meet the ever increasing graphical demands of modern games AMD has introduced the ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics card that boasts a staggering 1.36 TeraFLOPs of compute power, GDDR5 memory, and engine clock speeds capable of nearly 1GHz. Read More
NVIDIA SLI Multi-OS empowers world’s first virtualized graphics workstation
By Darren Quick
00:19 April 1, 2009 PDT
NVIDIA has introduced the NVIDIA SLI Multi-OS, a technology that allows users and visualization applications, for the first time, to take full advantage of multiple NVIDIA Quadro GPUs from a single graphics workstation in a virtualized environment. NVIDIA claims their new technology provides application performance nearly identical to systems configured with a dedicated operating system and GPU while delivering cost savings, more efficient workflow and maximized productivity in markets such as digital content creation, sciences, manufacturing, and oil and gas. Read More
USB cup warmer a hot little number
By Mick Webb
20:48 March 29, 2009 PDT
The humble USB device has come a long way in a short time and over the years we have seen the technology used to power a growing array of peripherals from weather stations to personal aroma diffusers, now a device that will heat things up around the office - literally - the USB cup warmer. Read More
Western Digital increases MyBook HDD's capacity to 2TB
By Darren Quick
19:52 March 26, 2009 PDT
With people’s hoarding of digital media, both legal and illegal, reaching epidemic proportions, capacities of storage devices to store all this digital goodness have steadily increased. Probably the most popular means of storing large amounts of data has been external hard drives. They are portable, relatively cheap and offer a fuss free way to increase a system’s storage capacity. So in an inevitable move Western Digital has expanded its My Book family of external hard drives to include a 2 TB capacity, the largest available capacity in a single-drive system. Read More
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE boasts 9.5 hour battery life
By Darren Quick
19:57 March 25, 2009 PDT
Asus have launched the latest addition to their Eee PC line, the Eee PC 1000HE, that comes equipped with the new Intel Atom N280 processor and boasts a battery life of 9.5 hours thanks to the incorporation of Asus’ Super Hybrid Engine (S.H.E) battery conservation technology. Read More
Shuttle X50 all-in-one PC
By Darren Quick
21:49 March 23, 2009 PDT
Shuttle’s new X50 is an all-in-one PC that features a 15.6-inch touch-enabled display with 1366 x 768 resolution and is designed to be versatile enough to suit a variety of settings including digital signage and kiosks. The unit also features a convertible stand that can be flipped upward to reveal a carry handle, or it can be removed completely for VESA mounting. Read More
The ultimate in top-tier social networking: Facebook for the filthy rich
By Darren Quick
01:27 March 17, 2009 PDT
Groucho Marx famously said he wouldn’t want to be a member of any club that would have him as a member. That means he probably wouldn’t have been rushing to join Affluence.org, even though he’s one of the select few with would’ve had enough cash to meet the entry requirements. Described as, “Facebook for the filthy rich”, by its founder, Scott Mitchell, Affluence.org requires members to have a verified net worth of at least USD$3 million or an annual household income of USD$300,000. Read More
Facebook homepage goes Twitter-style, users go bananas
By Loz Blain
00:03 March 16, 2009 PDT
Social networking site Facebook is rolling out its second set of major interface changes in the last 12 months - accompanied by the usual cries of protest from its user base. The most notable change is the new live feed page, which gives a long list of status updates - which will soon include not just mutual friends, but updates from one-way "fan" relationships you may have with bands, brands and celebrities. Sound familiar? Is Facebook the new Twitter? Read More
Innovative ‘caseless’ computer housing concept from BMW
By Darren Quick
21:43 March 15, 2009 PDT
Although obviously best known for its cars and motorbikes, BMW also creates yachts, aircraft and trains, and has now turned its design expertise to a computer gaming tower with the ‘Level 10’ concept for Thermaltake, a manufacturer of computer housings and components for individually configurable high-end computers. Read More
Dell’s all-in-one Studio One 19 PC with multi-touch
By Darren Quick
20:46 March 12, 2009 PDT
Dell has embraced the migration of the PC from the study with their new all-in-one Studio One 19 system that is designed to be as home in the living room or kitchen as it is in the study. The new system features optional multi-touch and facial recognition security capabilities, the option of Intel Celeron, Dual Core Celeron, Pentium Dual Core, Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad Core Processors, either nVidia GeForce 9200 or GeForce 9400 integrated graphics and up to 4GB of RAM. Read More
Seagate and AMD demonstrate 6GB/Sec Serial ATA Hard Drives
By Darren Quick
21:04 March 11, 2009 PDT
It’s not all Flash based memory in the world of new storage devices. Traditional HDD’s still have some life in their platters and Seagate and AMD have teamed up to give good old Serial ATA (SATA) HDD’s a speed bump with the first public demonstration of next-generation high-speed data transfer 6Gigabit/second units for bandwidth-hungry desktop and laptop PC applications including gaming, streaming video and graphics multimedia. Read More
LaCie takes USB keys literally
By Darren Quick
00:53 March 10, 2009 PDT
As portable USB drives have gone forth and multiplied across the planet they have evolved into all sorts of different shapes and sizes. We’ve seen credit card shaped drives and even coin shaped drives and all varieties in between. Now LaCie has announced a range of USB drives designed to appear right at home on your key-ring. Read More
ASUS announces U and UX Series notebooks
By Darren Quick
23:02 March 5, 2009 PST
ASUS has unveiled its new U and UX Series range of notebooks which feature AI Light sensor technology to automatically adjust the brightness of the LED backlit screen, plus a newly adopted illuminated ‘chiclet’ keyboard that lets cave dwelling users type in the dark. Read More
Freedom Glen
- November 25, 2009 @ 02:47 UTC
