CES 2012: Sony Unveils Xperia S with PlayStation Certification and 12MP Camera

Shortly after introducing the AT&T-bound Xperia ion, Sony is back with yet another Android-based smartphone, the Xperia S. Although the Japanese handset maker did not reveal the exact release date of the phone, Xperia S is expected to hit shelves in Q1 2012. The phone will be available in both black and white color schemes in select markets. The Xperia S price tag will be announced closer to the launch date. Sony Xperia S will be delivered with Android 2.3 Gingerbread at launch but an Ice Cream Sandwich update will be pushed soon after. According to Sony, the Android 4.0 for Xperia S will be deployed in Q2 2012. Furthermore, the Xperia S features PlayStation certification and Near Field Communications (NFC) support that allows users...

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Garmin Launches “Smartphone Link” App for Android Phones

Garmin has just announced the availability of “Smartphone Link” application for Android devices. The software creates a smooth experience between a compatible Garmin personal navigator and an Android smartphone. The application is compatible with all Bluetooth enabled 2012 Garmin devices including nüvi 2475LT, 2495LMT, 2595LMT, 3490LMT and 3590LMT. However, Garmin stated that all these nüvi models, except the nüvi 3590LMT, require a software update, which is available here. With “Smartphone Link” users will be able to communicate and share data obtained from the Garmin personal navigation device (PND) via the Android smartphone.  In addition, the application allows nüvi users to add live services, including traffic information, traffic...

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Intel Core i7- 3820 Will Reportedly Launch on February 13

The 13th of February will mark the arrival of Intel’s first and most probably only quad-core processor based on the high-performance Sandy Bridge-E architecture, the Core i7-3820, according to a recent report published on the Web. Contrary to its older brothers, the Core i7-3930K and 3960X, Intel’s upcoming quad-core processor is based on a new Sandy Bridge-E die that packs “only” 1.27 billion transistors, compared to the 2.27 billion transistors found in Intel’s six-core parts. Together with the reduction in transistor count, the chip also has a smaller die that measures 294 square millimeters, making it roughly two thirds the size of the Core i7-3960X and i7-3930K (these chips measure 435mm2). Moving on to its specs, the four cores installed...

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CES 2012: Nokia Lumia 900 Officially Unveiled, Coming Exclusively to AT&T

Nokia, Microsoft and AT&T have finally taken the wraps off the Nokia Lumia 900. The smartphone will be exclusively available via AT&T “in the coming months,” in matte black and cyan. No word on the pricing yet, but Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop mentioned that the company plans to “enter aggressively” on the North American market, which might indicate that the Finnish handset maker is willing to price its products cheaper than before. The third Nokia handset to run Windows Phone operating system, Nokia Lumia 900 is the first to comes with LTE support. The smartphone allows data downloads up to 50Mbps on AT&T’s 4G LTE network, or HSPA downloads up to 21Mbps. Nokia Lumia 900 sports a brilliant 4.3-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display...

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CES 2012: Canon PowerShot G1-X 14.3MP Camera Makes Its Debut

While most of us were expecting for Canon to unveil a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera at this year’s CES, the company has instead announced a new PowerShot G-series snapper that improves upon the specs of the previous G12. The most important addition brought by Canon to its new G1 X is the inclusion of a larger CMOS sensor that measures no less than 1.5-inch (18.7 x 14mm) in size. Sporting a resolution of 14.3MP, this sensor is nearly as big as the APS-C models used in full-size DSLR and some of the best mirrorless cameras around.  Thanks to this modification, the G1 X should feature better low light performance than the G12, but in case that isn’t enough Canon has also increased the maximum ISO available in the camera to 12,800. The...

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Fujitsu ARROWS ES IS12F Waterproof Smartphone Available in Japan via KDDI

Shortly after taking Motorola RAZR's crown and becaming the thinnest Android smartphone available on the market, Fujitsu’s new ARROWS ES IS12F smartphone made its debut in Japan and is now available for purchase through KDDI and Okinawa Cellular Telephone.  Even though the ARROWS ES IS12F incorporates the latest water-resistant technology, the phone is only 6.7mm thick and weighs a mere 105g (battery included), which turns it into one of the world's thinnest smartphones. According to Fujitsu, the device was built in collaboration with Corning to make it super strong and rigid. In this regard, the smartphone employs Corning Gorilla Glass and a scratch-resistant “Ultra Toughguard” coating, which offers the phone extra-protection against...

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Ballistix Sport, Tactical and Elite Memory Launched by Crucial

Crucial has already said its piece on the solid-state drive market so it was only a matter of time until it made a move on the RAM segment.  With the 2012 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012) less than a day away, Crucial formally released its latest batch of memory products.  They aren't just any kits either, but a trio from the Ballistix line, aimed at gamers and overclockers.  Ballistix Elite stands at the top, with a capacity of 8 GB and a clock speed of 1,866 MHz.  The kit's modules support Intel XMP (Xtreme Memory Profile) and come with extruded aluminum heat spreaders, plus black PCBs and integrated thermal sensors.  Thus, they are meant for users who intend to play with clocks and voltages...

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Nikon D4 Available for Pre-Order from J&R, Adorama, Ritz Camera & Jessops

Amazon may have reached its pre-order quota for Nikon’s D4, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t still place a reservation for a D4 of your own. In fact, no less than three retailers in the US and one in the UK have the upcoming full-frame DSLR up for pre-order. As Nikon Rumors has tipped us, this list includes J&R, Adorama and Ritz Camera, while those living across the Atlantic can get it from Jessops. In the US pricing for Nikon’s new creation is set at $5,999.95, while in the UK you would have to get £4799.95 out of your pocket to get one. These are some impressive price tags indeed, but it seems like that full-frame 16.2MP sensor, 1080p 30fps video recording and the new 91,000 pixel RGB 3D Color Matrix Meter III sensor are definitely...

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Official Ice Cream Sandwich ROM for Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY Leaks

Although Sony Ericsson was not among the first to officially reveal its plans for Ice Cream Sandwich upgrades, it is certainly among the few who managed to deliver early builds of the operating system for a few of its smartphones. However, it appears that an XDA forum developer who goes by the name of DooMLoRD has just leaked an official build of the Ice Cream Sandwich for Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY smartphone. Keep in mind that this is just an early build of ICS and lots of things might not work, but the folks over at XDA Developers are willing to fix some of the issues as they’re discovered by those who flash the ROM. This ROM was pre-rooted with superuser and busybox and Trebuchet launcher have been installed afterwards.  The following...

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RIM Makes BlackBerry 7.1 OS Official

Today, Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion went official with the latest version of its mobile operating system, namely BlackBerry OS 7.1.  The new platform release is meant to offer increased socialization features to users, so that they benefit from more ways of staying connected with their friends and family while on the go.  Users will be able to discover new things at ease with the new OS release, while also being able to share them with their contacts.  Moreover, they will benefit from updated applications, including new versions of BBM, BlackBerry Traffic, and BlackBerry Travel.  BBM has reached version 6.1 and features BlackBerry Tag integration, enabling users to invite friends to BBM through simply...

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Sapphire Finally Launches X79 Pure Black LGA 2011 Motherboard

More than six months after showcasing the X79 Pure Black for the first time, Sapphire has announced the launch of this LGA 2011 motherboard that should soon be available worldwide at an yet undisclosed price point. Despite the long time that has passed since its first official showing, Sapphire’s creation has suffered a limited amount of modifications. As a result, its most distinctive feature still remains the inclusion of six PCI Express x16 slots (a mix of Gen 2.5 and Gen 3.0) that are compatible with AMD CrossFireX setups (Nvidia SLI setups are not supported as Sapphire doesn't own such a license).  Since the PCI Express controller integrated inside the Sandy Bridge-E processors has only 40 PCI-E lanes available, Sapphire had to...

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Asus Branded Radeon HD 7970 3GB Makes Appearance

Asus couldn’t have been missing from the Radeon HD 7970 launch party, so the Taiwanese hardware maker has recently unveiled its own Tahiti XT creation targeting performance enthusiasts and gamers everywhere. Asus’ graphics card doesn’t seem to differ in any way from AMD’s reference design for the HD 7970, which was to be expected as graphics chip makers usually force their partners to adopt this design in the first few months after a new high-end GPU is released.  Despite this, Asus did however opt to bundle the card with its own GPU Tweak software that allows users to change the voltage fed to the Tahiti XT GPU in order to increase the overclocking potential of the card. Speaking of the Tahiti XT core, this is based on AMD’s new Graphics...

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First Tizen OS Screenshots Leak, Samsung I9500 Tipped for MWC 2012

Tizen OS is an unannounced mobile platform that was born from the MeeGo project. Currently, the Tizen operating system is developed by Samsung, Intel and several developers who worked on the MeeGo platform.  Although this is an open-source project, it appears that Samsung will have the upper hand here, as the Korean handset manufacturer plans to announce the first smartphone to run the Tizen OS next month, at Mobile World Congress 2012, in Barcelona. Until today, Tizen OS was a bit of a mystery, but courtesy to the folks over at SamMobile we now have the first screenshots of the mobile platform. However, according to the person responsible for this leak, this is an alpha release of the operating system. In the same piece of news, Tizen...

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1GHz Overclocked Radeon HD 7970 Announced by XFX

XFX is the first company to announce a custom designed version of the AMD Radeon HD 7970, which will be launched in the company’s Black Edition line and will arrive sporting a 1GHz overclocked Tahiti XT GPU. The card is based on a XFX proprietary design and includes two large fans (presumably 92mm) for dissipating the heat produced by the card while running. Thanks to this advanced cooling setup, XFX was able to push AMD’s graphics card over its reference frequencies and clocked the GPU at an impressive 1GHz while the memory is now working at 1425MHz (5.7Gbps data rate). To put things in perspective, AMD’s recommended operating frequencies for the Radeon HD 7970 are set at 925MHz and 1.375GHz (5.5GHz effective), respectively. AMD’s Radeon...

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