Sony Intros Dual-Core Walkman Z in Japan

Japanese-Swedish mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson already brought Google's Android operating system to its popular series of Walkman handsets, and it seems that Sony too felt the need to make a similar move with the release of a new device in its Walkman line-up that runs under the same mobile platform.

Targeted at the Japanese market, the new Sony Walkman Z also comes with a large 4.3-inch touchscreen display, in addition to offering support for the great music capabilities than all of the Walkman products packed before it. 

The new handset is based on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, and will arrive on the market in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB flavors. 

Moreover, it is powered by a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 application processor, with each core clocked in at 1GHz, complemented by 512MB of RAM, which should offer enough performance capabilities for users to install applications and games on it. 

The specifications list of the new Sony device also includes HDMI-out, along with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity capabilities, DLNA and FM Radio receiver. The handset will not arrive on shelves with a photo snapper included in the package. 

However, it is expected to land on shelves with a wide range of multimedia features, including a video and music players, as well as DLNA client, photo viewer, noise canceling software, and fast access to applications and games. 

Apparently, Sony plans on having the new device priced starting at 28,000 yen (around $363) for the 16GB version. The 32GB flavor will go for 33,000 yen ($429), while the 64GB model will go for no less than 43,000 yen (roughly $559).

Sony's Walkman Z is expected to arrive on shelves in two color flavors, namely red and blue. Unfortunately, it appears that Sony did not include 3G connectivity with the new device, nor communication capabilities, which might have been greatly appreciated, that's for sure.

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AMD Scores World Record for Fastest CPU

Those who thought Advanced Micro Devices was lagging behind Intel and had nothing surprising up its sleeve might revise their thinking once they learn that one of its upcoming chips actually entered the Guinness book of records just thanks to sheer speed.

Advanced Micro Devices has a very good reason to be happy right now, if not even a trifle smug and vindicated.

So far, the media's view on what the Sunnyvale, California-based company has in the pipeline has been, for the most part, cautiously optimistic.

It turns out that people actually do have enough cause to really look forward to AMD's next CPU line, given the company's most recent accomplishment.

Simply put, AMD just made the Guinness book of world records for having the fastest ever central processing unit.

This happened on August 31, 2011, in Austin, Texas, thanks to Team AMD FX, a group of elite overclockers that collaborate with AMD technologists.

Upon taking the upcoming 8-core FX desktop chip and pushing it as high as the team deemed sane (or, at least, within the bounds of chip survivability probability), the item held at 8.308 GHz.

“We applaud AMD for their entry into Guinness World Records for achieving the Highest Frequency of a Computer Processor,” said Freddie Hoff, adjudicator for Guinness World Records, who is presenting the award today at the AMD Fusion Zone, a technology showcase in San Francisco, Calif. “We congratulate everyone involved in this record-breaking achievement.”

If anything, this will restore the aura of awe that the AMD FX line of processors was always meant to project, though it remains to be seen if the situation lasts. After all, Intel probably won't want to let things stay as they are, not without some counterattack.

“The record-breaking processor speed that resides in the AMD FX CPU clearly demonstrates performance gains for the new AMD ‘Bulldozer’ multi-core architecture, which will provide x86 computing power for this CPU and future AMD Accelerated Processing Units,” said Chris Cloran, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Group at AMD. 

“Along with world-record frequencies, the AMD FX processor will enable an unrivaled enthusiast PC experience for the money – extreme multi-display gaming, mega-tasking and HD content creation.”

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BlackBerry Bold 9790 Emerges in New Photos

BlackBerry 7 OS already arrived on the market on a number of no less than four new mobile phones, but it seems that more of them might soon make an appearance on shelves, and that the BlackBerry Bold 9790 might be one of them. 

The smartphone was just spotted in a photo that puts it next to the recently made available BlackBerry Bold 9900, and some info on its specifications list also emerged into the wild. 

The yet-unannounced BlackBerry Bold 9790 is smaller than the latest Bold model from Canadian handset vendor Research In Motion, but it is said to arrive with the same hardware specifications as the latter. 

Basically, is will boast the same fast 1.2GHz application processor, along with the touchscreen display that was introduced to the Bold series on BlackBerry 9900, and the same 5-megapixel photo snapper on the back as the already available handset. 

Moreover, rumor has it that the upcoming mobile phone will also include 8GB of internal memory, along with the option to expand it by up to 32GB via a microSD memory card slot. 

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 is also expected to bring forth NFC capabilities, as well as all of the connectivity options that RIM packed inside the newly released Bold smartphone. 

Codename Bellagio, the Bold 9790 will also boast a smaller design, which should result in better battery life when compared to the predecessor. 

It will include the new JM-1 battery when made available for purchase, rumor has it. 

Unfortunately, no other details on the new mobile phone emerged for the time being, but it is expected to arrive on shelves before the end of the ongoing year, which means that it might not be too long before RIM decides to go all official with it. 

In the meantime, have a look at the photos that the guys over at BGR published with the new BlackBerry Bold 9790.

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Nokia Car Mode App for Nokia N9 and Symbian Belle Devices

Today, Nokia announced a new application specifically designed for its smartphones, namely the Nokia Car Mode software, which was meant to provide users with easier access to Nokia Drive, as well as to traffic updates and more while behind the wheel. 

The new mobile application, set to become available for download via the Ovi Store in the near future for all of the Symbian Belle smartphones from the company (the Nokia 600, Nokia 700 and Nokia 701), as well as for the Nokia N9, is based on Qt, and was presented at the IAA (Internationale Automobil Ausstellung).

The new Nokia Car Mode is the very first commercially available application that offers support for MirrorLink, a standard smartphone-to-car connectivity platform previously known as the Terminal Mode, which is supported by over 20 major global brands from different industries within the Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC).

MirrorLink provides users with the possibility to connect smartphones to in-car displays and car controls systems, so that they can control the smartphone via the car dashboard. 

Commercially available products compatible with MirrorLink that have been presented at IAA include the Nokia Car Mode and the new ICS-X8 dashboard-mounted unit from Alpine, which offers support for Nokia smartphones. 

The Alpine ICS-X8 can provide users with the possibility to retrofit MirrorLink capabilities and Bluetooth hands-free phone, and to use various features of the handsets on a large 7-inch high-resolution display.

“MirrorLink and Nokia Car Mode are a big leap forward in allowing car drivers to access their favourite smartphone services,” said Floris van de Klashorst, director, Automotive Services of Nokia's Location & Commerce business. 

“Via MirrorLink users have comfortable and safe access to maps, music and telephony on their phones when they're in their cars even while driving. In the future, MirrorLink will enable plenty of other popular features since we're only at the beginning of what we can do by linking smart devices with vehicles. We expect developers to come up with innovative new applications optimised for use in cars.”

The new Nokia Car Mode mobile application is expected to arrive in the Ovi Store starting with the fourth quarter of the ongoing year.

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PNY Liquid Cooled GTX 580 Now Available in Europe

After it announced at the beginning of June that it has developed a special all-in-one version of the GTX 580 that uses water cooling in order to keep the temperatures of the GPU in check, PNY has now finally made official this liquid cooled graphics card to its European customers.

This solution was developed together with Asetek and, according to PNY, is able to provide up to 30% cooler temperatures and quieter acoustics that the reference Nvidia design thanks to its custom water cooling system.

The improved thermal performance also allowed PNY to raise the operating frequency of the GF110 core from Nvidia's recommended 772MHz to 857MHz, while the memory speed was also increased a bit to reach 4212MHz.

All these changes were done without bringing too many modifications to the reference Nvidia PCB, and the card still features one 8-pin and one 6-pin PCI-E plugs for getting its required power while video output is handled by a pair of dual-link DVI ports and an HDMI port.

"Designed to increase performance while reducing noise and temperature, PNY's Liquid Cooled Graphics offers the fastest factory-overclocked card currently on the market at 857 MHz," said Jonathan Filleau, Marketing Manager, Consumer Products EMEA at PNY Europe. 

"The simple all-in-one design offers a powerful, yet easy to install and cost-effective gaming solution that's backed by the PNY warranty. 

“This highly anticipated graphics option will enable more enthusiast gamers to experience gaming in a whole new way," concluded the company's rep.

The XLR8 Liquid Cooled GTX 580 can be purchased right now from various European retailers and it carries a price tag of £469.

The GTX 580 is Nvidia's fastest single GPU solution released to date and packs 512 CUDA cores, 64 texturing units, 48 ROP units and a 384-bit wide memory interface which connects to 1.5GB of GDDR5 video buffer memory.

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How To Root Samsung Galaxy S Firmware I9000XXJVS

On yesterday articles, we have downloaded and flashed the all new Samsung Galaxy S firmware I9000XXJVS and the next step is to root it and get the powerful SuperUser benefits, here is how to do this using popular ChainFire root using ODIN (just download the Google Android 2.3.5 compatible root file CF-Root-XX_OXA_JVS-v4.1-CWM3RFS.tar from the links below and flash using ODIN with settings as shown below).

ODIN Configuration To Root I9000XXJVS

ChainFire Root For I9000XXJVS [File : CF-Root-XX_OXA_JVS-v4.1-CWM3RFS.tar Size : 6.73 MB]

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Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 M3 Available for Download

Early adopters should get ready for the first taste of Windows 8, and no, it’s not the Beta development milestone. 

Instead, as I was expecting, Microsoft is sharing a pre-Beta Milestone 3 (M3) release of the next major version of the Windows client. 

What the software giant is offering testers is a Windows Developer Preview. And just as with the new Internet Explorer Platform Preview releases, the first Windows 8 bits are designed for developers looking to already start building projects tailored to the OS. 

In fact, the availability of the Windows 8 Developer Preview should be taken as an invitation from Microsoft to all developers. An invitation to explore all the new developer opportunities that Windows 8 catalyzes. 

According to Microsoft, Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 M3 downloads are planned to go live later this week via the new Windows Dev Center. 

Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102.winmain_win8m3.110830-1739 was compiled on August 30, 2011, some two weeks ago, and still belongs to the Milestone 3 stage of the development process. 

According to Steven Sinofsky, President, Windows and Windows Live Division, a lot of work has already gone into building Windows 8, including 2 million installs internally, 9.3 million performance tests, 1 trillion telemetry data points analyzed, and in excess of 380,000 hours of compatibility testing. 

Just a reminder, Windows 8 will deliver the same full PC experience whether it’s running on traditional computers or tablets / slates and additional next-generation form factors. 

Featuring support for ARM-based chipsets, but also for x86 and x64 CPUs, Windows 8 is optimized for touch devices and that’s why the new Metro UI Start Screen takes center-stage pushing the desktop to the background. 

Windows 8 comes with Internet Explorer 10 (IE10), a new Metro platform for immersive applications, enhanced performance, its own Windows Store, and so much more. 

Sinofsky made it clear that there are hundreds of new features in Windows 8 that await to be discovered, so early adopters should download Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 M3 as soon as it becomes available and start testing. 

UPDATE: "You probably want to try out the preview release—and you can. Starting at 8PM today, Seattle time, you can download all of the code that attendees at BUILD received. This includes 32 or 64 bit x86 builds, with or without development tools. The releases also include a suite of sample/SDK applications and the SDK (please note these are merely illustrations of potential apps, not apps that we intend to ship with Windows 8). The ISOs are linked to from http://dev.windows.com. You download with a Windows Live ID (which you might want to use to test out some of the new roaming features)," Sinofsky said.

Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102.winmain_win8m3.110830-1739 Milestone 3 (M3) is available for download, download link below:

Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 M3 - 32 bit

Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 M3 - 64 bit

Windows 8 Developer Preview Build 8102 M3 - 64 bit with developer tools

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Intel Atom E6xx Supports Android 2.3 Gingerbread

The Atom line of CPUs from Intel is poised to welcome a new member early next year, although this won't exactly be its major step on the smartphone front, despite its repeated statements that it was working on something of the sort.

Intel may not take pains towards leaking information on its products ahead of time, but whether it likes it or not, rumors and reports emerge anyway.

The latest of its product lines to fall under the watchful gaze of market watchers is the Atom CPU series.

Apparently, the Santa Clara, California-based chip maker intends to unleash a new processor in January, 2012.

One might expect this to be the fabled smartphone chip that Intel has been saying it will eventually bring forth.

Unfortunately, this is not the case, since the unit is actually intended for digital signage, in-vehicle systems, fitness equipment and retail.

Then again, the newcomer will support the Android 2.3 operating system, otherwise known as Gingerbread.

Considering this, one might very well say that the Atom E6xx, as the unit is known at the moment, might be a step towards achieving the goal of smartphone support.

Intel has been saying that it wants to offer smartphone x86 processors for quite a while now, about as long as ARM has been meaning to make chips powerful enough to challenge Intel on the PC front.

The competition didn't actually spark for real until the tablet appeared and NVIDIA built the Tegra 2 SoC (system-on-chip).

The Qualcomm Snapdragon has also acted as a driving force in ARM's slow but sure push into the field of larger electronics, so Intel has a bigger reason than ever to push its own projects forward faster.

Time will tell whether or not the IT giant succeeds in making the push on the smartphone front in time.

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Foxconn Quantum Force X79 Motherboard Gets Pictured

Motherboard makers are starting to get ready for the upcoming release of Intel's first Sandy Bridge-E desktop processors and one of the first to showcase an LGA 2011 solution for these CPUs is Foxconn with its Quantum Force X79.

A pre-production version of this board has also been showcased at Computex fair in June of this year, but, since then, Foxconn has made a few changes to the layout of its X79 offering.

These include the rearrangement of some of the expansion slots, a finalized design for the heatsink over the X79 chipset, and a slight rearrangement of the area next to the front-panel headers.

Just like most other LGA 2011 motherboard that we have come to see until know, the Quantum Force X79 is equipped with four DIMM slots situated right above and bellow the CPU socket.

Right next to these, Foxconn has placed the board's expansion slots, which include four PCI Express x16 slots, a PCIe x4 slot as well as a legacy 32-bit PCI slot.

Only two of the PCI Express slots available work in an x16 mode, as the remaining two have only 8 PCIe lanes routed to them.

The motherboard is however compatible with 3-way Nvidia SLI and AMD CrossFireX graphics card setups.

Storage is provided by no less than 14 SATA ports, but some of these will be removed in the final version of the board.

Other features include USB 3.0 connectivity, support for the enterprise version of Intel's Rapid Storage Technology (IRST), and a 14-phase CPU PWM with DrMOS MOSFET transistors.

Intel's Sandy Bridge-E processors are expected to debut in mid-November and the initial CPU batch will include three chips, two featuring a six-core design and a quad-core model. The Foxconn Quantum Force X79 is also expected to debut in Q4 2011. (via VR-Zone)

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You Don’t Want to Miss Windows 8 BUILD – Watch the Keynote Live

Anaheim will be the center of the Windows universe all of this week, with the Windows 8-centric BUILD conference kicking off as scheduled tomorrow, September 13th, at 9:00 AM PT. 

Microsoft plans to share a preview of Windows 8, as well as product plans with developers attending the event, the company confirmed at the end of last week.

At the time of this article the software giant has yet to reveal the full details of what devs have to look forward to, but believe me, BUILD is not an event that you want to miss. 

Those of you that didn’t make it out to sunny Anaheim, California, can still access the BUILD sessions online, but ahead of such content becoming available, Microsoft will stream the opening keynote live tomorrow morning. 

BUILD is the first place to dive deep into the future of Windows, the Redmond company stressed when the conference’s site was launched, promising that it will show developers how this operating system changes everything. 

“BUILD is where the full spectrum of hardware and software developers, from startups and entrepreneurs to those who work for the world’s biggest brands, come together to get a deeper understanding of Microsoft’s product roadmap,” said Walid Abu-Hadba, corporate vice president of the company’s Developer and Platform Evangelism Group (DPE). 

“At BUILD, developers will see there’s an opportunity to deliver new and exciting experiences and applications that are going to reach millions and millions of users.”

The new and exciting experiences and applications that Abu-Hadba is talking about involve developers being able to use HTML5 and JavaScript for the Windows 8 projects, a piece of info that the company shared back in June, 2011. 

“Developers are looking for ways to build a tighter relationship between a brand and its customers and create new types of ways to interact,” added Jamin Spitzer, senior director of platform strategy in Microsoft’s Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE) Group. 

“For the people who grew up with the Web, or grew up building applications for mobile devices, exploiting the PC and building experiences on the world’s most powerful devices is an amazing opportunity,” he said.

Get ready for September 13, 2011, it’s going to be a historic day for Windows 8.

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