CeBIT 2012: Asus Presents High-End P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX Motherboard

Over the years, we have become accustomed to Asus’ high-performance motherboard designs, but few of them were more outrageous than the P8Z77-I Deluxe mini-ITX LGA 1155 board that the company recently showcased during the CeBIT 2012 fair. Built around Intel’s Z77 chipset, the most prominent feature of the P8Z77-I Deluxe is its VRM power module. In order to save precious PCB space, Asus decided that the entire VRM of its creation should be placed on a vertical printed circuit board. This is the first mini-ITX motherboard that we have seen to date to use such a setup and, according to Asus, the eight power phases included in its design should allow the P8Z77-I Deluxe to overclock just as well as your average full-size Z77 board. Users who require...

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Sony LT29i Hayabusa Arriving in Korea and Japan in June

Rumor has it that Sony wants to release some of its LTE-enabled smartphones earlier than expected. The latest semi-official document leaked online pointed to a July release for the so-called Sony LT29i Hayabusa. However, a Sony official hinted at a possible June launch for the Sony LT29i Hayabusa, which is one of the company’s upcoming smartphone that features LTE support. According to the folks over at Ameblo.jp, citing a Korean blog site, Sony will either officially announce the LT29i Hayabusa in June or will actually release the smartphone on the market. Although the smartphone will be initially released in Korea and Japan, there’s no telling if it is available outside these two countries as well. The first Sony LT29i Hayabusa benchmark...

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New Sony Xperia Phone (Model MT25iA) Emerges

Following the launch of no less than four new Xperia devices at the beginning of the year, Sony is gearing up for the release of more smartphones, one of which should feature model number MT25iA.  Nothing has been officially confirmed on this mobile phone, but it has already been spotted on the AnTuTu benchmark, which appears to confirm its existence.  The handset is expected to arrive on shelves with a 1GHz application processor inside, complemented by 341MB of RAM.  At the moment, the mobile phone is running under Android 2.3.4, but there is the possibility that Sony would load the newer Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on it as well. However, the one thing that seems to be certain right now is that this will be an entry-level...

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CeBIT 2012: MSI Presents R7970 Lightning Graphics Card

MSI’s high-performance Lightning series of graphics cards will soon get a new addition in the form of the R7970 Lightning, a highly-customized Radeon HD 7970 solution targeting enthusiasts and overclockers alike. The graphics card was showcased by MSI at the company’s CeBIT 2012 booth where it was spotted by the guys from Lab501. Pictured above, the card uses the latest iteration of MSI’s TwinFrozr cooling system, which has five copper heatpipes to draw the heat away from the GPU into a massive aluminum heatsink topped by two 90mm fans. The PCB was also heavily modified from AMD’s reference design and it now features a 16-phase PWM, independent memory power, and Military Class III components (Hi-c CAP, SFC, Solid CAPs). Since we are dealing...

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Asus ROG Maximus V Formula Intel Z77 Motherboard Detailed

Besides the Maximus V Gene that we presented a little bit earlier today, Asus’ Intel Z77 ROG motherboard series also includes the ATX-sized Maximus V Formula that was recently detailed during a preview event held by the company. The introduction of the Maximus V Formula marks the return of water cooling to the ROG platform, a feature which has been absent from this series for quite some time now. With its new Formula motherboard however, the VRMs are now fitted with a special heatsink that can be added to the liquid cooling loop used for the CPU and video card(s). Moving to the board’s expansion options, these consist of three PCI Express x16 slots (two of these are PCIe Gen 3.0 and SLI/CrossFire compliant), an open-ended x4 PCI Express...

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Gigabyte U2442N and U2442V Ultrabooks Inbound

Gigabyte finally has two ultrabooks to its name, the U2442N and U2442V, whose time of arrival and prices are completely unknown even now.  The company introduced them just a short time ago in Hannover, Germany, having secured a spot at this year's CeBIT show (2012).  Like all ultrabooks, they are very thin mobile personal computers whose performance is higher than that of netbooks but lower than or equal to that of actual notebooks.  The U2442N is what one might call the stronger of the two, putting more emphasis on performance that energy conservation.  As such, it uses standard voltage central processing units from the Intel Core i5 and Core i7 lines.  Storage space is provided by either a solid state drive (SSD)...

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CyanogenMod 9 Brings ICS with LTE to Motorola DROID 4

Owners of a Motorola DROID 4 device can now download and install Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on their mobile phones, courtesy of a CyanogenMod 9 ROM.  The ROM was announced on the XDA-Developers forum by member Hashcode, and packs not only the latest flavor of Google’s mobile operating system but also support for Verizon’s LTE network, it seems.  According to its maker, the ROM is quite stable and has a lot to offer to those who will choose to download and install it on their devices.  However, there are some issues that need attention, including problems with the phone’s camera, which will work with errors.  Additionally, the ROM’s developer notes that HW Video Codecs are still work in progress, and that Bluetooth...

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HP Z-Series Workstations Pack up to 512GB of RAM and Intel Xeon E5 CPUs

HP has just announced that it has refreshed its line of Z-Series workstations to include Intel’s latest Xeon E5 processors based on the Sandy Bridge-EP architecture as well as a maximum of 512GB of RAM system memory. The massive amount of memory is only available in the flagship Z820 workstation by populating the 16 DIMM sockets with high-capacity 32GB ECC DDR3 modules. In addition to the impressive memory amount, the Z820 can also be fitted with two Xeon E5 CPUs in order to deliver a total of 16 physical computing cores (32 virtual via Hyper-Threading), 14TB of high-speed storage and up to dual Nvidia Quadro 6000 graphics cards.  Just like its more beefier counterpart, the Z620 can also be fitted with dual Xeon E5 processors for up...

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Gigabyte Brings P2542G Gaming Laptop to CeBIT 2012

It turns out that ultrabooks aren't the only things that Gigabyte brought along to its CeBIT 2012 booth in Hannover, Germany. Though the U2442N and U2442V are drawing their fair share of admirers, the P2542G notebook is revealed to be experiencing a momentary bout of fame as well, even if it is still un-priced and un-dated. Then again, the item is, in the end, a notebook unlike most of the ones roaming shops nowadays, both within and outside the Internet. The P2542G is a machine powered by an Intel quad-core Core i7 Ivy Bridge central processing unit. Said CPU is accompanied by up to 16 GB of DDR3 RAM (random access memory) and supplemented by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M discrete graphics (2GB memory). Many laptops of our time make do with...

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VIA Reintroduces Two Boards, Now Supporting QuadCore CPUs

It looks like VIA are up to setting new trends when it comes to the world of small-format computers/ motherboards. Two 2011-based motherboards come back with a new blast, supporting quad-core processors and promising a new level of computing performance: EPIA-M900 and M910. This motherboard can host either the QuadCore E-Series processor, or the 1.6 GHz dual-core VIA Nano X2 E-Series CPU. Users can take advantage of the VX900 Media System Processor (also known as MSP), loaded with the ChromotionHD 2.0 video chip, allowing better performance for the high-definition multimedia. VIA EPIA-M900 can accommodate up to 8 GB DDR3 and sports a hefty array of connectors, at least for its diminutive 17 cm x 17 cm size: LAN, HDMI, VGA, no less than 4...

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Apple Foregoes iPad 3 Dubbing in Favor of "iPad HD" - Reports

Reports are coming from all over the place that Apple has somehow decided to ditch the rather predictable iPad 3 moniker in favor of a new dubbing - iPad HD. Sources talking to VentureBeat said “Apple’s next-generation iPad will be called the iPad HD, not the iPad 3.” This person is actually described as a “reliable” source that has proven track record. Moreover, the same person allegedly told the site that Apple is sourcing “7.1-inch screen components in preparation for a smaller iPad release later this year.” CNet corroborates the first half of the story, saying that they’ve also heard that “the next iPad uses the HD moniker instead of […] ‘iPad 3’”. This information reportedly came from “a developer who’s previously provided reliable...

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Fujitsu's Stylistic M532 Business Tablet

For all of you out there wondering what Fujitsu is doing about all its business customers, the company has prepared a new product based on NVIDIA's Tegra 3 platform.  The Stylistic M532 is not another one of those media tablets that everyone has grown accustomed to hearing and reading about.  Instead, though it has a set of hardware components that don't stand out overmuch, it is sold with software precisely aimed at business users.  Among the applications that buyers get to use are Norton Tablet Security (protects against malicious Android apps) and Absolute CompuTrace (tracks the tablet in case of theft and encrypts the stored files).  Additionally, Fujitsu implemented Citrix, VMWare and Microsoft Virtual Desktop support...

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ASUS TUF Sabertooth Z77 Motherboard Has Thermal Armor

Some photos of a new ASUS motherboard have made their way to the Internet, alongside most relevant information on it, except pricing and availability, alas.  The mainboard in question, according to the report on VR-Zone, is called Sabertooh Z77 and is part of the TUF line.  The overall design is not that strange in terms of layout, with two PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (working in dual x18 mode) and a single PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (in x4 mode).  There are three PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots as well, plus the now standard number of SATA ports.  Specifically, there are four SATA 6.0 Gbps connectors (two of which are linked to the Intel chipset), and four SATA 3.0 Gbps connectors.  This makes sure there is always the possibility...

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Nokia World 2012 Confirmed for September 25-26 in Helsinki

Nokia World 2012 has just been announced and the Finnish company confirmed that for the first time the event would be held in Finland. Helsinki, Nokia’s own home turf, will be the city that will host Nokia World event this year, which is set on September 25-26. The event will be held in the Helsinki Exhibition & Convention Centre and is not open for public, so expect more details from Nokia in the following weeks. Apparently, the timing of Nokia World could not be better, as Helsinki has been designated as the World Design Capital for 2012, for which Nokia is one of the partners. According to the Finnish company, “speakers are crème de la crème of the mobile world: Nokia’s leaders, experts, partners and other stakeholders.”  For...

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CeBIT 2012: Fujitsu Presents Ivy Bridge Equipped UH572 Ultrabook

During a press event held at this year’s CeBIT fair, Japanese notebook maker Fujitsu has announced the introduction of the 13.3-inch Lifebook UH572 Ultrabook based on Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge processors. The Lifebook UH572 is the company’s second Ultrabook after last year’s SH76/E which was based on Intel’s current Sandy Bridge processors. Like all other Ultrabooks announced so far, the UH572 is also characterized by its thin-and-light chassis, which Notebook Italia found out weighs a mere 1.6kg.  Despite its light weight, both the lid and the bottom of Fujitsu’s latest creation use a sliver metal cover that adds a touch of style to the UH572 Ultrabook. Moving past the looks of the Lifebook UH572, we get to see that Fujitsu’s ultra-thin...

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Asus ROG Maximus V Gene Intel Z77 Micro-ATX Motherboard Pictured

Asus prepares to add another motherboard to its Republic of Gamers (ROG) product line for hardcore gamers, the Maximus V Gene LGA 1155 board that is based on Intel’s upcoming Z77 Express chipset designed for the chip maker’s Ivy Bridge processors. Just as it is the case with all the other Republic of Gamers series motherboards, the Maximus V Gene will include an important number of advanced features like AMD CrossFireX and Nvidia SLI support, ROG Connect support and an on-board Supreme X-Fi sound chip. In addition to the two PCI Express x16 slots that are required for dual-GPU setups, Asus has also included an open-ended PCI-E x4 slot. Right next to it, users will find the on-board Power and Reset buttons as well as a BIOS debug LCD (placed...

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MSI Showcases Intel Thunderbolt Equipped Z77A-GD80 Motherboard

At this year’s CeBIT 2012 fair, motherboard makers have presented a wide range of LGA 1155 solutions based on the upcoming Z77 Express chipset, but few of these are more feature rich than MSI’s Z77A-GD80 which comes with support for Intel’s Thunderbolt interconnect. The layout of the board presented by MSI today greatly resembles the prototype showcased at CES 2012, but in the meantime it has also received the addition of some black and blue heatsinks. These cover the motherboard’s 22-phase VRM as well as the Intel Z77 chipset, and feature a low-profile design, so they won’t interfere with long graphics cards or third-party CPU coolers. Moving to the expansion options available in the Z77A-GD80, MSI has installed the usual three PCI Express...

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