New BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) 6.2.0.33 Now Available for Download in Beta Zone

Another week, another update for BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). Last week Research In Motion deployed a pretty consistent update for the messaging application, which only included lots of bug fixes. It looks like there's a lot that needs to be fixed within BBM, as the developers continue to deliver updates that correct some of these issues. The latest update bring BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to version 6.2.0.33 and, once again, fixes quite a number of bugs: Missing BBM icon on OS 5.0; Issues scrolling up through older messages on OS 6.0; Issue selecting all the text by scrolling up/down in the inline display name and personal message fields; Scrolling quickly in the inline edit view allowed the focus to move out onto your avatar; Pressing...

Read more »

Android 4.0 ICS for DROID RAZR and RAZR MAXX Confirmed for April 4

Although Motorola has yet to offer an exact release date for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX, it appears that Verizon is hinting to possible April 4 release. The folks over at AndroidPolice have just published a leaked Best Buy document, which confirms that three smartphones available for purchase through Verizon Wireless will receive a software update that will bring the operating system to Ice Cream Sandwich. The document mentions that DROID RAZR (32GB and 16GB) and DROID RAZR MAXX will get the Android 4.0 ICS update on April 4. In addition, HTC Rezound will also receive the update two days later, on April 6. For the time being, it's unclear how accurate is the information, but we should expect...

Read more »

BlackBerry Curve 9220 Full Specs Revealed, Simulator Now Available for Download

As expected, Research In Motion is about to launch several budget-friendly smartphones in the following months to expand its BlackBerry 7 portfolio even further. The first low-end device to hit shelves if BlackBerry Curve 9220, which has already leaked several days ago. Even though we didn't know anything about its specs until today, we assumed that its features couldn't be so impressive. Shortly after Research In Motion announced its quarterly financial results, the Canadian company came forward with a short announcement that details BlackBerry Curve 9220 specs sheet. Firstly, the Curve 9220 will be shipped with BlackBerry 7.1 OS out of the box, so users would not have to wait for the latest update released by RIM. Secondly, the smartphone...

Read more »

HIS Reveals Radeon HD 7850 fan 2 GB Graphics Card

After we got the GeForce GTX 560 SE from Yeston, a card that suits mainstream users instead of hardcore gamers, we get to look at the somewhat more expensive HIS Radeon HD 7850.    Priced at $301.05 / 225.6 Euro (and possible lower on other retailers), it is fully detailed here, so we won't list all the features and specs.  We'll still mention the essential performance numbers though.    The GPU has a clock speed of 860 MHz for the GPU and 4,800 MHz for the memory (2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM).    Meanwhile, the memory interface is of 256 bits and the iTubro software can be used to tweak the clocks.    Furthermore, the product features VGA, DisplayPort and dual-link DVI outputs, plus a single-fan cooler...

Read more »

Sharp Tablets Getting McAfee Security Software by Default

In order to differentiate its Android tablets from all others, Sharp has decided to pre-load them with security software, even though it isn't actually doing it for free, regardless of what it says. Sharp is one of the many providers of Android tablets, which means that it needs some means of making its products stand out. According to a new press release, the latest such means is a security suite developed by McAfee. To be more specific, McAfee Mobile Security will be installed on all Android slates from now on, or most of them anyway. The announcement says the feature is free of charge, and it is true, but not really: users will have only a free trial of 30 days, after which they will have to pay for a one-year subscription that's 2,980...

Read more »

Micron and Oracle Settle DRAM Price Fixing Lawsuit

Marking one of the rare cases when an antitrust lawsuit actually ends instead of being started, Micron and Oracle have reached a settlement in their antitrust battle.  With all the legal fights going on, there are few occasions where we can actually sit back and say that progress is being made. As such, Micron and Oracle are actually part of the minority in terms of IT companies that face each other in court. And by minority, we mean to say that the times we hear about companies settling their differences are fewer and far between than the ones where a new lawsuit is filed. Oracle filed a suit against Micron a while ago, saying that the latter participated in a conspiracy to increase DRAM prices. It also accused Micron of having...

Read more »

Sparkle Launches GeForce GTX 560 SE Graphics Card

We've written about many GeForce GTX 680 graphics cards these past two weeks, but now we get to offer some information on a board that will better suit the needs of the masses. Not that the 680 doesn't have what it takes for it, but it is definitely not something most people can afford, even with its price advantage over AMD's Radeon HD 7970. Sparkle is the one making the formal introduction of the GeForce GTX 560 SE. One would argue that the company is a bit late to the party. Still, we have to admit that launching something like this just when people are getting their fill of top-tier models can come across as a timely breath of fresh air. That said, the product is powered by the GF114 graphics processing unit (GPU) and suited up in a...

Read more »

Script: FixedHeaderTable

FixedHeaderTable is a lightweight jQuery plugin for adding fixed headers to long HTML tables. Besides this, the plugin has other plenty useful features when creating data-grid like tables that hold lots of data. Developers can also create fixed footers as well, add zebra style rows, clone the header column names to the footer row for easy data detection, and even create fixed column(s) for tables that are more wide than long. Documentation and demos are available on the plugin's homepage, and with the download package as well. FixedHeaderTable is currently developed through its GitHub account, and new versions are constantly being released. Download FixedHeaderTable here (ZIP), or here (TAR)...

Read more »

Xyratex Intros OneStor 2584

In today’s data world you can never have enough storage space, but most of today’s storage solutions seem unstructured, lacking expansion options and are generally not dense enough. Xyratex has just introduced OneStor 2584 on their official website, a storage solution that shows much promise when facing these issues. The OneStor 2584 is really dense as it offers a capacity of up to 84 SAS or SATA hard disk drives in 3.5” format. The official press release also mentions support for the same amount of 2.5” hard or solid state disc drives. The odd thing is that they don’t mention and thus seem not to have any capability of installing a larger number of drives if the drive format is of smaller volume. We’re hoping to see these types of professional...

Read more »

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Pushed to April for Xperia Smartphones

Today, Sony has officially confirmed that it will start the delivery of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for its Xperia series only in mid-April.  The roll-out was initially expected to start sooner than that, but the company won’t have the OS upgrade available for users for the next two weeks, it seems.  In mid-April, owners of Xperia arc S, Xperia neo V and Xperia ray will start receiving the update, the company announced. The deployment will continue over 4-6 weeks.  In May/early June, the company will start to roll out this upgrade to other handsets in the series, including Xperia arc, Xperia PLAY, Xperia neo, Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia active and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman. Apparently, the update...

Read more »

MediaTek Releases Wi-Fi-Bluetooth Combo Chip

MediaTek has formally announced the MT7650, a wireless chip that combines the benefits of two distinct wireless communication technologies. The new chip combines MAC/Baseband/Radio 802.11ac Wi-Fi with Bluetooth 4.0+HS all in a single chip. No doubt this is a result of the resource merge of MediaTek and Ralink. At any rate, the new chip is intended for mobile consumer platforms, and this means everything from small phones to large laptops. That is to say the list of products that will benefit from this all-in-one wireless chip includes phones, tablets, gadgets, netbooks, ultrabooks, notebooks, etc. “The demand of high quality digital-content streaming and sharing has increased rapidly. At the same time, peer-to-peer data communication is...

Read more »

Samsung Receives Pre-Orders for 10 Million Galaxy S III Units

Samsung’s Galaxy S III smartphone is expected to prove a highly popular device right from the start, the latest reports on the matter suggest.  Apparently, the handset vendor has already received pre-orders for more than 10 million Galaxy S III units from its partners, which sounds more than impressive for a yet unannounced phone. In comparison, Samsung managed to ship a number of 5 million Galaxy Note units in only five months after the phone’s official launch.  Of course, the large screen that this handset sports makes it fit only for a reduced number of users, something that won’t happen with Galaxy S III.  Not to mention that the forthcoming device will build on the impressive success that the Galaxy S II smartphone has...

Read more »

AVADirect Uses NVIDIA GTX 675M Graphics in Clevo P270WM Gaming Notebook

AVADirect's Clevo P270WM gaming notebook has received a new graphics update in the form of the latest mobile GPU from NVIDIA, or one of them. Alas, the GTX 675M is not something that can truly qualify as a next-generation graphics chip. After all, instead of the Kepler architecture, it is a rebranded GTX 580M. Still, an update is an update, so people who want a gaming notebook may as well give the Clevo P270WM at least a cursory glance. DirectX 11 support, 3D Vision, PhysX, 3DTV Play, HDMI support, dual-link DVI connectivity and the NVIDIA Optimus technology are among the features that AVADirect felt was appropriate to specifically name. Go here to see all the parts and/or to pre-order, but remember to bring at least $2256.35. That sum translates...

Read more »

Meet Gigabyte G1.Sniper 3

It's really a pleasure to present to you the first of the new Sniper series motherboards, the G1.Sniper 3, as it packs the latest technologies developed in the Gigabyte labs and looks very good, as well. The G1.Sniper 3 comes with an all-digital power controller and precise auto voltage regulator, sworn to deliver the best current for the CPU, HD Graphics chipset, memory and VTT, using 4 individual channels linked to 4 power zones. This ensures that the current flow is as close as possible to the manufacturer's specifications in most scenarios, and this spells stability and reliability. Gigabyte G1.Sniper 3 is an Intel Z77-based board and boasts support for 4-way CrossFireX and 4-way SLI for the ultimate scalability and versatility, while...

Read more »

iPhone 5 to Use Power Management Chip by Dialog Semiconductor - Report

An Asian source is reporting that Apple may use power management chips designed by Dialog Semiconductor and manufactured by TSMC, making their way into the next-generation of iPhones. Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes cites a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report as saying that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) “has secured orders from Dialog Semiconductor for its power management chips used in Apple's upcoming devices.” TSMC has reportedly cut into the supply chain for the iDevices that are currently available to the market by providing foundry services for Broadcom, CSR, Cirrus Logic and Qualcomm. The backend services for the Dialog chips manufactured at TSMC will reportedly be provided by Siliconware Precision...

Read more »

Raspberry Pi Delayed Due to CE Certification

Raspberry Pi is getting a much harder start than previously predicted. After some problems with the hardware, it now seem that the CE compliance testing will be setting the launch date a little but further than expected.  According to the developers of Raspberry Pi, from The Raspberry Pi Foundation, both RS Components and element14/Premier Farnell have informed them that they are not able to distribute the Raspberry Pi until it has received the CE mark. The Raspberry PI Foundation hoped that if the board is not a finished product, given the fact it has no casing and it will probably be used mostly in development, they would not need a certification, but the volume of the first shipment, 2000 pieces, is too large for this exemption. As...

Read more »

One Laptop per Child Gets Funding from Islamic Development Bank

It wasn't long ago that we learned about the first batch of XO 1.75 laptops and, now, the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) nonprofit organization has more good news to impart. In its latest press release, OLPC reveals that it can go ahead and carry out a similar distribution of laptops in Cameroon, a nation in West Africa. 5,000 XO laptops will be shipped in total, thanks to the funds provided by the Islamic Development Bank. "We are delighted to be working with the Islamic Development Bank on the financing of projects that support our mutual objective of fostering economic development and social progress," said Rodrigo Arboleda, chairman and CEO of the One Laptop per Child Association.  "We are seeing tremendous interest in OLPC throughout...

Read more »

AMD Powers the New PlayStation 4

American CPU maker AMD is rumored to be the manufacturer of choice for Sony’s new game console main processor and the GPU. Many of you would think that this is the first AMD-made chip in a game console, but that is not the case. It may be the first AMD-branded chip, but it’s definitely not the first time the AMD team has worked on a game console. Twelve years ago, AMD’s graphics division ATI acquired a graphics chip design company called ArtX Inc. The team at ArtX is mainly responsible for the graphics processor used in Nintendo’s GameCube entertainment console. It was called Flipper and by 2002 ATI was already announcing the shipment of their 12 millionth GameCube GPU. Flipper was a 162 MHz chip with 3MB of integrated 1T-SRAM, running at...

Read more »

EVGA's X79 Boards Get New BIOS

It seems like the Intel X79 chipset hasn't caught THAT much; with major manufacturers surfacing a rather small number of motherboards built with this specific chipset and the recent wave of Z77 and H77 gear, the X79 might have already lived its life. Nevertheless, BIOS support for the X79 boards will carry on a while, and here's the latest for the EVGA boards. Revision 35 is intended for the X79 SLI, X79 FTW and X79 Classified boards, and brings improvements in the memory compatibility. This new BIOS comes with 2400MHz memory support and enhanced memory overclocking , while fixing the "6A" coldboot issue and helping with the BIOS cleanup. Like with any BIOS update, users are advised to refrain from restarting or interrupting their PCs while...

Read more »

No Price Cut on AMD's Radeon HD 7970, Unfortunately

NVIDIA's release of the GeForce GTX 680 was considered, by some, the herald of price reductions on AMD's side of the field, but those holding such hopes will have to cope with disappointment.  For those who want a recap of the situation, NVIDIA's launch of the new GK104 Kepler-based video adapter was welcomed by people on both sides (its own and AMD).  As odd as it sounds, AMD loyalists had a reason to rejoice because, since the Kepler board is both faster and cheaper, it meant a likely reduction in Radeon prices, to maintain the competitive edge, or at least a semblance of balance.  Alas, going by what HardwareCanucks has reported, there are definitely not going to be any modifications to the average selling price of the...

Read more »

Android 4.0.4 Factory Images Released for GSM Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus

Following the release of Android 4.0.4 AOSP code for the GSM flavor of Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus only a few days ago, Google has also made available for download the full OS images for these devices.  Through these, compatible devices can be restored back to stock, if anything went wrong while you were installing something else on them.  One thing that should be noted right from the start is that you will wipe your devices clean when installing these images. The phone will be brought to a factory default state.  “We've just made the factory image for Galaxy Nexus GSM/HSPA+ available for download,” Google’s Jean-Baptiste Queru notes in a post on Google Groups. “This file, once unarchived, contains the bootloader, baseband, and...

Read more »