ARM’s Next Gen 64-bit Processor Will Be Called Atlas and Apollo

Processors licensor ARM Holdings, has recently disclosed the code names of its upcoming CPUs based on the company’s v8 architecture which are the first ARM cores to bring support for the 64-bit instruction set.

ARM has chosen to go with a pair of classical names from the Greek mythology for its next-generation high-end processing cores, which will be dubbed Atlas and Apollo, according to EETimes.

From the info that was made available by ARM at this point in time, we know that both chips are being designed for likely implementation in 20-nm manufacturing process technology, while addressing applications from servers down to smartphones.

"We expect Atlas, Apollo to come into volume in 2014 and at that time it will be a 20-nm world out there," said Warren East, ARM’s chief executive officer.

As the company previously revealed, the ARM v8 architecture will consist of two main execution states, AArch64 and Aarch32, the former enabling its chips to run 64-bit instructions.

This approach will also allow chips based on the ARM v8 architecture to fully support software developed for 32-bit ARM v7a processors.

The move to 64-bit should enable ARM to bring the advantages of energy-efficient 64-bit computing to new applications such as high-end servers and computing.

So far, ARM has four licensees for this new architecture, including AppliedMicro and Nvidia, although the latter also plans to release its own 64-bit ARM processor design with the introduction of Project Denver.

The first 64-bit ARM processors are expected to make their appearance later this year, while the actual server prototypes running on the new architecture are scheduled to arrive in 2014.

In addition to Atlas and Apollo, ARM will also release a pair of next-generation graphics cores code named Skrymir and Tyr as well as an ultra-low power ARM processor core dubbed Flycatcher.

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Asus Transformer TF300T Tablet Breaks Cover

We all knew that Asus planned to release a new Transformer TF700 tablet this summer, but now a picture making its way from China comes to reveal that the company is also getting the TF300T ready.

Apart from what we can tell from the image below, little else is known about this tablet which sports a textured rear panel with a red coat of paint.

If we were to guess however, we would say that the TF300T packs the same Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core SoC as the Transformer Prime, but it could arrive running a different operating system, probably Windows 8.

If this will indeed be the case we might be looking at Asus’ first Microsoft-powered 10-inch tablet, which, dare we say it, doesn’t look half bad.

More info about this should be available in the coming months, so make sure to return to dannzfay News regularly if you want to keep up to date with the TF300T.

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Nikon 1-Series Cameras to Get 4K Video Support and Brighter Lenses

Nikon’s 1-Series cameras have proven to be quite popular in the short time since they’ve been out, but despite their success the Japanese company doesn’t plan to rest on its laurels.

According to a high ranking Nikon official, the company has already started thinking about the improvements it will bring to its next-gen of interchangeable lens cameras.

Tetsuya Yamamoto, Nikon's head of development, talked to DPreview about these plans during CES 2012, where he revealed that quite a few improvements would make their way into the next-gen 1 System cameras.

The most important of these is the addition of 2K and 4K video recording, as Yamamoto believes that the 10.1MP sensor fitted inside the 1-Series bodies is powerful enough to support this feature.

Furthermore, the company’s rep also talked about the need for a set of brighter lenses with faster auto-focusing, while the V1 successor could also receive manual AF control and in-camera RAW editing support.

The Nikon V1 and the J1 started selling at the end of October 2011, and both of these include a 10.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, dual-core EXPEED processing engine, a 1200fps slow motion capture mode, as well as a 10fps burst shooting mode.

Full HD video capture is also supported, users having the option to choose between 1080/30p or 1080/60i, with the movie files recorded being capped at 29 minutes.

Compared to its smaller brother, the J1 also adds a built-in flash, auto-noise reduction on movie clips and a 73-point auto-focus system, all fitted inside a magnesium alloy chassis.

The 10.1MP image sensor installed in both of these cameras, uses the newly introduced CX form factor (13.2mmx8.8mm) with a crop factor of 2.7x, which is significantly smaller than the sensors used by Nikon's competitors, most of them going for Micro Four Thirds or APS-C, while ISO speed is limited at 3200.

Sadly, Nikon’s rep hasn’t mentioned when the company plans to unveil the successors of the V1 and J1, or if these will coexist with the current models.

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Fujifilm X-Pro1 Shows Up on Amazon, Priced at $1700 (1,293 EUR)

Fujifilm might not have officially released the X-Pro1 yet, but this hasn’t stopped Amazon from listing the retro-looking ILC camera on its Website.

Scheduled to arrive later this month, the X-Pro1 will apparently set you back a whopping $1,699.95 (about 1,290 EUR) for the body only, with the 18mm f/2.0 and 35mm f/1.4 lenses being priced at $500 (380 EUR) each.

For those of you that like to get even closer to the action, Fujifilm also sells a larger 60mm (91mm equivalent) f/2.4 macro lens for $600 (457 EUR).

While the $1,700 price tag is definitely high for a camera this small, the retro looking X-Pro1 does come with some pretty high-end specs including a 16MP APS-CMOS sensor sporting a new filter array and proprietary EXR processor, as well as with a hybrid viewfinder.

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Nokia Still Top Phone Maker, IDC Reports

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia has been losing market share lately, mainly due to the transition from the Symbian OS to Windows Phone, but it appears that it still managed to retain the top position on the mobile market. 

The latest data coming from IDC shows that Nokia remained the top handset vendor in the world in 2011, and that it maintained the position in the fourth quarter of the year as well. 

In Q4 2011, Nokia brought to the market its first Windows Phone devices, the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710. Although they had a slow start, Nokia still managed to sell 113.5 million devices in the timeframe, based on data from the IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. 

Samsung came in second with 97.6 million phones sold in Q4, while Apple grew to the third place with 37 million devices. LG Electronics fell to the fourth place with 17.7 million units, while ZTE ended the quarter on the fifth place with 17.1 million sold devices. 

In the last three months of 2011, the worldwide mobile phone market grew 6.1 percent on a yearly basis. A total number of 427.4 million units were shipped in the timeframe, compared to 402.8 million units in the same period the year before. 

"The mobile phone market exhibited unusually low growth last quarter, which shows it is not immune to weaker macroeconomic conditions worldwide," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. 

"The introduction of high-growth products such as the iPhone 4S, which shipped in the fourth quarter, bolstered smartphone growth. Yet overall market growth fell to its lowest point since 3Q09 when the global economic recession was in full bloom." 

IDC also notes that feature phones registered a steep decline in the three-month period. However, even if smartphones enjoy increased popularity, feature phones still account for the largest chunk of shipments. 

"Feature phones accounted for a majority of shipments from four of the five market leaders during the quarter," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends team. 

"Even though their proportion is eroding, feature phones maintain their appeal on the basis of price and ease of use.”

For the full year, the mobile phone market experienced a growth of 11.1 percent in 2011, down from the 18.7 percent growth experienced the year before.

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Nikon Coolpix P510 Offers Massive 42x Zoom, 1080p Video & Built-in GPS

If the Coolpix L810 that we presented yesterday can’t get you as close to the action as you would have liked, Nikon also has the P510 for you, which can offer a massive 42x zoom.

Equivalent in the 35mm world with a 24-1000mm lens, this VR stabilized Super Zoom also features a backlit 16MP back-lit CMOS sensor, with all the high-speed, multi-shot image processing modes one would require.

Geo-tagging your pictures is also as easy as it gets since the P510 has a built-in GPS, which is accompanied by a 921k-dot 3-inch vari-angle LCD, 1080p video recording support, a 100-3200 ISO range (expandable to ISO 6400 - Hi1) and stereo sound recording.

If all this sounds tempting to you, the P510 should become available later in February, for $429.95 (328 EUR).

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NFS: The Run Italian DLC Out Now, Fresh Screenshots Also Available

Electronic Arts has finally released, in a rather stealthy way, the Italian DLC car pack for its Need for Speed: The Run racing game on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

The Run appeared last year and, although it promised to deliver a Hollywood-style story, it ended up disappointing racing game fans with the paper-thin plot and forgettable characters. Seeing as how its gameplay was still top notch, managing to keep players interested in the game, EA started deploying DLC for the racing game.

After the Signature Edition content, the company has now released the Italian DLC, which brings seven new cars from the European country, as well as new events for the Challenge Series.

The cars included in the DLC are the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, the Pagani Zonda R, the Maserati MC12, the Lamborghini Diablo SV, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera, the Maserati Granturismo MC Stradale, and the Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione.

The add-on didn’t receive that much attention, as the first details appeared last week, but it’s now available for download on the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms. You can check out the cars in all their glory below.

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Samsung Galaxy S III Might Be Launched in April

The successor of Samsung’s flagship Android-based Galaxy S II might not make an official appearance before April this year, some of the latest reports around the Internet suggest. 

Samsung has previously confirmed that the mobile phone, supposedly called Galaxy S III will not be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, but did not offer info on when the device might be launched. 

New reports, however, suggest that it could arrive in April, roughly two months after the MWC closes its gates in Barcelona. 

Packing a quad-core application processor inside, along with a Super AMOLED Plus HD display and 4G LTE connectivity, the handset will prove a true successor for the last year flagship phone. 

Moreover, the Galaxy S III is expected to arrive on shelves with Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, the same as Galaxy Nexus did last year.

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Download New Firmware for Canon EOS-1D and EOS 5D DSLR Cameras

Today we're bringing you two new pieces of code for two of Canon's professional line cameras, the EOS-1D and EOS 5D.

These DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflection) cameras had some firmware errors reported by users and the new firmware seems to have eliminated them. First of all, for the EOS-1D, the 1.0.4 firmware fixes the network error which used to occur when using the wireless file transmitter. 

Then it's the sudden disconnection between the EOD-1D and the computer, when using the EOS Utility to shoot movies and the DSLR would not recognize the wireless transmitter.

The EOS 5D firmware version 2.1.1 addresses two other errors: some mistakes in the Dutch language menu screen and the continuous/ Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) shooting being stopped after capturing the first image.

Both pieces of firmware are available for Windows and Mac, and here are the links:

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV WFT-E2II A/B/C/D Firmware 1.0.4 for Windows
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV WFT-E2II A/B/C/D Firmware 1.0.4 for Mac
Canon EOS 5D Mark II Firmware 2.1.1 for Windows
Canon EOS 5D Mark II Firmware 2.1.1 for Mac

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NAVTEQ Map and Location Content Part of Nikon COOLPIX AW Camera

Nikon has released the COOLPIX AW100 camera, the first member of the COOLPIX AW series specifically meant for outdoor users.

One wouldn't think this product has any truly unique quality, not until attention is drawn to the integration of NAVTEQ's map and location content.

Simply put, owners of the camera will, among other things, see their exact location on the map display (pre-loaded), use the GPS system to geo-tag images and see where restaurants, tourist attractions, hotels and shops are located.

"With more and more consumers looking to integrate 'location' into their daily lives, our comprehensive global map coverage will now offer Nikon users an opportunity to combine their location and imaging experience," said Kirk Mitchell, vice president, Asia Pacific, Sales. 

Nikon's new camera is shock-proof, waterproof and cold resistant as well. Unfortunately, the price has not been revealed, but stores around the world (Except China and South Korea) should have it up for order soon, if they don't already.

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iPhone 5 with G/G Touch Panel Dropping at WWDC 12 - Report

A new report from Taiwan claims the new iPhone 5 will put Apple’s smartphone refresh trend back on track. The company will unveil the next-generation handset this summer, during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, according to Daiwa Securities.

The analyst firm is quoted by the Chinese-language Commercial Times as saying that Apple is expected to showcase its new iPhone 5 at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) held in June 2012.

Last month, a leak from the Moscone Center - where Apple typically hosts its annual developer gathering - suggested that Apple had booked the venue between June 10 and June 15.

Daiwa Securities indicated to the Commercial Times that the iPhone 5 would continue to use glass to glass (G/G) touch panel technology. The panel suppliers are TPK Holding and Wintek, according to the securities house.

People who are eager to attend this year’s event can employ WWDC Alerts to get notified when tickets go on sale - they usually get snagged in the first day of availability.

The tool is the brainchild of two developers (Anthony Herron and Aaron Wardle). Here’s them explaining how it works:

“WWDC Alerts will notify you via call and SMS as soon as we know the tickets are on sale regardless of your timezone. Whilst this isn't a fix for those at vast altitudes in metal tin cans, there should hopefully be less anxiety about leaving the house as the date draws near and the tickets are made available. You're welcome.”

Herron and Wardle promise that your details won’t be forwarded to anyone and that you’ll be contacted only about the tickets - nothing more, nothing less, adding “We don't even want to know your name.”

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First Intel Micro-Server Atom Chip Detailed

Looks like Intel is not lagging in its development of micro-server central processing units, having just started sample shipments of its first Atom-based system-on-chip. 

Anyone wondering what exactly Intel was working on besides the recently benchmarked Core i7 3770K high-end Ivy Bridge CPU (and its family) now have their answer. 

Right to the point, the Santa Clara, California-based company has begun shipping samples of its first system-on-chip devices based on the Atom micro-architecture. 

It is aimed at so-called micro-servers, a market segment where ARM also wants to establish a presence as soon as possible. 

When speaking of the chip, Jason Waxman, general manager of Intel’s data center group, said that the newcomer was “at a performance, power and cost level we like.” 

The man also said that they already had an idea of what to offer with the successor of this processor. 

“In 2013 we plan a part an order of magnitude above it,” the general manager said. 

Operating on 10W of energy, the new chip is based on the Cedarview micro-architecture (constructed on the 32nm process technology) and has two cores. 

Furthermore, it boasts 64-bit support, virtualization technology, error-correcting code and the PCI Express interface, plus Hyper-Threading. 

SeaMicro and Habey are just two of the companies that will design products based on it (the other server players haven't been specifically mentioned). 

“We take nothing for granted and expect ARM licensees to be formidable competitors,” said Andrew Feldman, founder and chief executive of SeaMicro.

“With 90 percent server market share, the ball’s in Intel’s court to be best in class, and we will use processors customers are demanding.” 

Intel has an advantage in the fact that there are no 64-bit ARM chips on the market yet, but this situation isn't going to last for long. Now we can only wait and see how the Atom SoC and Xeon units coexist with rivals.

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AMD Opteron 6200 CPUs Power Cray’s New Midrange Supercomputers

Cray, one of the most renowned names in the HPC market, has just announced that the company has revamped its system lineup with a series of new affordably priced machines, targeting the midrange supercomputing market.

Released by the company into the Cray XE6m and Cray XK6m lines, the new systems are based on AMD’s Opteron 6200 processors, which can be seconded by Nvidia’s Tesla general purpose GPUs.

For connectivity purposes Cary opted for its own Gemini high-speed interconnect, while on the software side of things the supercomputers run Cray Linux Environment.

Furthermore, the new offerings feature enhancements to Cray's Cluster Compatibility Mode (CCM), which gives customers the ability to run applications from Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) without modification.

Introduced in April 2010, CCM is a fully standard x86 Linux environment that allows for simple, out-of-the box installation and running of parallel ISV applications without porting, re-linking or recompilation. 

"The Cray CX line was a success for us as it allowed us to reach a new segment of users in a broader set of industries," said Peg Williams, Cray's senior vice president of high performance computing systems. 

"For some time, customers have been looking for us to combine the strengths of both of our product offerings into a single architecture and we've now accomplished that goal. 

“By adding the final pieces to the puzzle -- low starting prices, broad ISV applications support, scalability and a tightly integrated architecture -- we now have an ideal supercomputing product to successfully meet the needs of the midrange market," concluded the company’s rep.

The Cray XE6m and Cray XK6m systems are available for purchase as we speak, with prices starting at $200,000, slightly more than 150,000 EUR.

According to the company, these new systems target researchers, scientists and engineers, as well as customers who were previously served by the Cray CX line.

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iPad 3 Prototype Reveals Its Secrets via iBoot Utility

A prototype iPad 3 device has yielded a number of photos which contain enough information to confirm that the device is based on a quad-core A-series chip and that, at least in one version of the tablet PC, it will be capable of LTE connectivity.

The images come from a person who claims to be in possession of an iPad 3 prototype. Originally published by BGR, the photos show details about Apple’s next tablet revision, such as the device model, and some other hardware characteristics.

To obtain and display these details in a manner that’s readable to everyone, this person reportedly connected their prototype iPad 3 to a computer running a development and debug tool called iBoot.

Thanks to iBoot, the following information was revealed: 

1. The model numbers are J1 and J2 (iPad3,1 and iPad3,2) - designations which indicate slight variations between two devices of the same generation. For example, 3,1 should be the WiFi-only version of the iPad 3, whereas 3,2 should be the LTE-capable model.
2. Speaking of which, one model indeed appears to have Wi-Fi and GSM/CDMA/LTE capabilities
3. Finally, the next iPad will be based on a quad-core A6 processor. The model number is S5L8945X. For comparison, the A4 was S5L8930X and the A5 is S5L8940X, according to BGR.

This is not the first time it is being speculated that the iPad 3 will boast a quad-core chip that’s even more powerful than the A5 currently housed in the iPad 2. In fact, it’s only the next logical step for Apple.

According to a report coming from a Japanese blog that deals with Apple rumors, Apple will hold an event this month and another event in March. It is the latter event that will see the iPad 3 unveiled, according to that source.

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LevelOne Builds Powerline Network Adapter with Wi-Fi Support

LevelOne has announced the arrival of a networking product that plays a three-pronged role, being the sort of hybrid that doesn't often get released. 

LevelOne has launched a product that can most accurately be described as a merger between an Ethernet switch, a Powerline adapter and a Wi-Fi access point. 

For those not very familiar with the term, Powerline adapters are devices that can create a network through the power cabling of a building. 

The LevelOne PLI-3411 is one such adapter, but as already mentioned, it also acts as a switch and wireless network hub. 

The company seems to have bet on reasonable pricing more than it did on performance. The product page makes things quite clear on this. 

European online stores should have the PL-3411 up for order at about 70 Euro, or $95, which is not that high a sum, all things considered. 

After all, this is, in the end, a very versatile product, enabling a wireless network to be extended to more remote areas of the home or office. 

In any other situations, it would take extra Ethernet cables to achieve such a feat. 

There is also the possibility of linking wired devices into a smaller network without having to send data over the Powerline link. 

That said, the Wi-Fi maximum data transfer rate is 300 Mbps (handled by two antennas), while the switch works at 10/100 Mbps and the Powerline at 200 Mbps. 

Furthermore, there is a small off-switch for the Wi-Fi, which can shut down the wireless network without interfering in any way with the devices linked to the PL-3411 through physical means. 

Finally, the Powerline network should automatically be established as soon as two adapters are plugged into the home's or office's power grid. 

This is the case with D-Link's 200Mbps PowerLine Mini adapters and TRENDnet's compact 200Mbps Powerline TPL-306E adapter as well, to name a couple.

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Leaked Benchmark of Intel Core i7 3770K CPU Surfaces

Intel's most powerful central processing unit from the upcoming Ivy Bridge collection is going to be known as Core i7 3770K and has been benchmarked, apparently. 

The benchmarking results that have made their way to the Internet originate with OBR-Hardware, which is not the most reliable of sources. 

Still, even though some of the rumors that started there turned out to be well off the mark, such things tend to often be unfounded by default. 

That said, OBR-Hardware claims to have tested the upcoming central processing unit on a Z68 chipset motherboard loaded with a new UEFI/BIOS that included Ivy Bridge support. 

The processor was an engineering sample that used the C0 stepping and was clocked at 3.5 GHz, while the Turbo Boost upper limit was 3.9 GHz. 

Long story short, the tests showed a superiority of about 9% compared to the Core i7 2600K and, by extension, a likely improvement of 6-7% over the Core i7 2700K. 

For those that want more specifics, the tests included both single-threaded and multi-threaded benchmarks. 

It bears noting that Ivy Bridge was never about extra performance in terms of raw processing might, hence the arguably modest rise in computing scores. 

Instead, Intel chose to focus on making the graphics side better, while reducing the die size and power requirements. 

While featuring the Intel GMA HD IGP (integrated graphics processor), the TDP (thermal design power) of Ivy Bridge will be 18W below that of Sandy bridge (77W instead of 95W). 

Nevertheless, even if this leak shows somewhat similar results to previous reports, Intel's in-house projections are a bit more ambitious. 

On that note, the Ivy bridge SKUs working at 65W (low-power CPUs) will probably have much higher frequencies than their SB counterparts, which also consume 65W. 

The exact results are on the adjoining table but, as stated above, don't put too much stock on them just yet. Certainty will reign only after the units launch in April, alongside Z77 motherboards.

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Galaxy S II Plus Benchmarked with 1.5GHz CPU, Android 2.3.5

In addition to the already confirmed successor to Samsung’s Galaxy S II, the one that the South Korean mobile phone maker is set to unveil to the world in the first half of the year, we might see another handset launched in the series, one that has yet to receive a formal confirmation. 

Supposedly dubbed Galaxy S II Plus, the smartphone was already spotted on benchmarking websites, featuring hardware specs that place it above the flagship Galaxy S II model. 

While the Galaxy S III, supposedly the actual successor of Galaxy S II, won’t be unveiled this month at the Mobile World Congress, the Galaxy S II Plus should make an official appearance at the event in Barcelona. 

The guys over at Pocketnow claim that the handset has already been seen in the An3DBenchXL’s benchmark database, and that it indeed featured the Galaxy S 2+ moniker. 

Courtesy of the speed-testing tool, we also learn some of the hardware specifications the device will arrive on shelves with, such as the better 1.5GHz dual-core application processor, compared to what Galaxy S II had to offer. 

However, the device would feature a display capable of the same 480 x 800 WVGA resolution as the predecessor (Samsung even launched upgraded Galaxy S II models in the US, packing them with faster CPUs). 

It would not be the first time that Samsung chose to launch an upgraded flavor of a flagship device. Galaxy S received a similar treatment when the handset vendor launched Galaxy S Plus, a device packing a 1.4GHz single-core processor, up from the 1GHz CPU inside the original. 

Galaxy S II Plus has made an appearance online a few days ago, when it was rumored to have been set for launch in the first half of the year, along with the aforementioned Galaxy S III and with Galaxy Note S, the successor of world’s largest Android smartphone.

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MSI Z77A-GD65 Ivy Bridge Motherboard Pictured

We got a first glimpse of the Z77A-GD65 motherboard for Ivy Bridge processors over a month ago, at this year’s CES 2012 fair, but now a new picture of MSI’s creation reached the Web, showing the final revision of the board.

Not much has changed since our initial encounter with the MSI board, as the company just added a pair of heatsinks on top of the VRMs and PCH controller, leaving the rest of the PCB unaltered.

If we were to take a look under those PWM heatsinks, we would notice that MSI’s creation uses a 9-phase VRM design in order to feed power to the CPU, which should be more than enough for even the fastest Ivy Bridge processors.

The board’s expansion features include three PCI Express x16 slots, four PCIe x1 slots, as well as eight SATA ports, as Tech Power Up’s picture reveals.

Four of these support SATA 6Gbps transfer speeds, two driven by the Intel Z77 chipset, while the other two are controlled by a third-party chip.

As far as the PCIe x16 slots are concerned, only the first of these can work at full x16 speeds as the second one has only eight PCIe lanes routed to it. These are however compatible with both CrossFireX and SLI setups.

Moving to the back, the connectivity options available include everything that we expect to see from a high-end Z77 motherboard, such as three video outputs (DVI, VGA, and HDMI) and an eSATA port.

MSI has also added two USB 3.0 ports that are driven by the Intel PCH, while two more such high-speed connectors can be routed to the front of the case by connecting them to the provide on-board header. 

No details regarding pricing are available at this time, but the MSI Z77A-GD65 is expected to arrive in April 2012, together with Intel’s new Ivy Bridge processors.

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Alleged Images of Galaxy S III Emerge

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung is gearing up for the release of a successor for its Galaxy S II smartphone, one that might arrive on shelves under the name of Galaxy S III. 

The company has already confirmed plans to launch the Galaxy S II successor in the first half of the ongoing year, during a Samsung hosted event, but did not offer specific info on the handset. 

However, what appears to be the Galaxy S III smartphone has just made an appearance online on  Chinese website xda.cn, providing us with both images and specs of the upcoming device.  

Before having a look at them, we should warn you to take these with a big chunk of salt. It might all prove to be nothing more than a simple rumor in the end. 

The images attached to this article allegedly show a prototype device that packs a 4.6-inch Super AMOLED Plus 3D touchscreen display capable of delivering a 1280x720 pixels resolution. 

By all means, this could be a device totally different than the Galaxy S III, though that does not eliminate the possibility that Samsung would still launch it. 

After all, the leading handset vendor did confirm plans to bring to the market mobile phones that sport flexible displays, and this could be one such prototype. 

As for the Galaxy S III, it is also said to arrive on shelves with a quad-core application processor inside, an Exynos chip complemented by 2GB of RAM. On the back, the new device should sport a 12-megapixel photo snapper. 

Moreover, rumor has it that the new device would run under Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. Since it is now a Google phone, it could also sport Samsung’s TouchWIZ interface. 

Galaxy S III is expected to be officially unveiled to the world sometime in the first half of the current year, though it won’t make an official appearance at the MWC this month.

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Sony Xperia S Full Specs Revealed in Whitepaper, No SD Card Slot Included

Sony Xperia S is about to make its entrance on the smartphone market. Unveiled earlier last month during the International Consumers Electronics Show (CES 2012), the handset is expected to arrive in stores in March. 

Although the handset maker officially announced most of the Xperia S specs, at launch, there’s one more thing that needs to be clarified. Last month Sony released the whitepaper of the Xperia S, which contains enough information for anyone looking to buy this smartphone.

The latest information on the Xperia S specs sheet comes via UK-based retailer Clove, which received an official Whitepaper of the phone with more details on the smartphone. However, just by reading the second page of the document, one can see that this concerns the first version of the phone.

Furthermore, Clove’s Whitepaper says that the latest technical documentation can be found on Sony’s developer site. We have taken the matter further and found out what appeared to be the same document published by Clove.

Still, the second page of the document that can be downloaded from Sony’s developer site says that this is the second released version. Although there are minor differences between the two Whitepapers, neither mentions that Sony Xperia S comes with an external SD card slot.

In addition, the first version of the Whitepaper mentions that the phone features “1 to 1.5GB” of internal memory, while the second released Whitepaper says that Xperia S packs “up to 1.8GB” of internal phone storage.

Sony Xperia S has also been confirmed to embed 1GB of RAM and 32GB eMMC flash memory. There’s also a 12.1-megapixel camera on the back, which features LED flash, autofocus, 16x digital zoom and full HD (1080p) video recording.

It is also worth mentioning that the smartphone does not feature a replaceable battery and it only supports MicroSIM cards.

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Titan Prepares the Siberia TTC-NC55TZ(RB) CPU Cooler

Titan Technology has just introduced a veritable beast of a cooling module, one whose ravenous hunger for hot air will make short work of any possibility of a CPU overheating.

There are entry-level, mid-range and high-end coolers, and then there are beasts that will make jaws drop even among the most hardcore of enthusiasts.

The new product that Titan Technology has come up with fits into the last of those three categories very easily, as far as we can tell.

After all, it is not every day that someone gets to see the sort of asymmetric design that the Siberia series TTC-NC55TZ(RB) possesses.

In fact, even just CPU coolers that can also keep the heat off other parts of the motherboards are fairly rare nowadays.

That said, the newcomer has two heatsinks held in their asymmetric aluminum fin tower design by the copper heatpipes.

Said heatpipes are five in number and connect the fin stacks to the nickel-plated copper base.

One of the fin stacks propagates along the plane of the motherboard, while the other is placed perpendicular to this one.

As one can guess by now, this is easily one of the most unusual coolers out there, some might even say the most strange-looking.

The stack parallel with the mainboard is the larger one and is cooled off by a fan with a diameter of 140 mm. The rotary speed is of 700 to 1,800 RPM (rotations per minute) and the air flow produced is of 34.78 to 89.43 CFM.

Meanwhile, the other stack is chilled by a 120mm fan, whose speed of 800 to 2,200 RPM generates 24.23 to 66.2 CFM of air. Both feature PWM controls and 4-pin plugs.

Finally, the whole thing measures 200 x 130 x 162 mm (7.87 x 5.11 x 6.37 inches) and weighs 755 grams (1.66 pounds). Both AMD (AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2) and Intel CPUs (LGA1155/LGA1156) are supported, all for a price of 6,980 JPY ($91.6 / 69.58 Euro).

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