The “First” Nvidia GTX 690 Picture Was a Fake

Once Nvidia’s teaser has appeared on the company’s facebook page, a lot of speculation took over the internet about the new card. Trying to profit from the lack of information, or maybe in an attempt to compensate for this year’s lesser number of April Fool’s Day jokes, some guys decided to fake a picture of a standard GTX 680. By now, we all know that there are less than four more days until Nvidia’s surprise will be unveiled and  the teaser will be replaced by a real picture of the new product. The GTX 690 is expected to pack two Nvidia GK 104 GPUs and will come with a very high power consumption. The cooling system must be an advanced one, but the board will likely be cooler than older Nvidia dual GPU solutions...

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Affordable BlackBerry Curve 9220 Goes on Sale in Indonesia

Launched in India last week, RIM’s BlackBerry Curve 9220 has just made its debut in Indonesia. The smartphone can be purchased for only Rp. 1,999,000 ($215 USD or 165 EUR) from authorized partners PT. Teletama Artha Mandiri, PT. Selular Media Infotama and PT. Comtech Cellular. BlackBerry Curve 9220 is one of the cheapest BlackBerry 7 solutions offered by Research In Motion. In fact, the smartphone is powered by RIM’s BlackBerry 7.1 operating system out of the box. The handset features a dedicated BBM key, allowing for quicker access to RIM’s popular mobile social network.  Moreover, Facebook for BlackBerry and Twitter for BlackBerry apps are included, as well as Social Feeds, which offers users the ability to...

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Panasonic Puts Ivy Bridge Into the ToughBook CF-53

Japanese company Matsushita Corporation, own or the well-know Panasonic brand, has reportedly updated its famous Panasonic ToughBook model with Intel’s new Ivy bridge CPU. The notebook's specifications apparently remained the same, but the use of the new mobile processor will result in a slight increase in performance next to a significant decrease in power consumption. The ToughBook CF-53 comes with Microsoft’s Windows 7 Professional 32 Bit operating system and a standard 4 GB or DDR3 random access memory. It has a14” inch LED High definition screen with a resolution of 1366 by 768 pixels. There is also an optional model that comes with a touch screen technology called Panasonic CircuLumin. Only the keyboard is water resistant...

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Your iPhone Is Tracking Your Every Move, Says Forensic Examiner

Mark McLaughlin, a digital forensic examiner with the Los Angeles-based Computer Forensics International, has a clear message for iPhone owners: “if you're trying to hide where you've been, leave the iPhone at home.” Computer Forensics International has issued a report to inform Apple customers about the privacy concerns surrounding their sleek handsets. Mark McLaughlin explains that "iPhones record every step you take and when you took it," adding that examiners arm themselves with this location data  to draw a Google map of the route and the exact time a person was in a location, “down to the second." “iPhones are the premier member of the smartphone family that record bucket loads of data and are built on a mobile...

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) Now Available via Best Buy for $250 USD (190 EUR)

Samsung has just launched the affordable Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) Android tablet in US. The slate is now available for purchase through Best Buy for only $250 USD (190 EUR). Unveiled back in February at the Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) is powered by the latest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system integrated with TouchWiz UX user interface. Although Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) was announced along with the Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1), the latter has yet to make its debut on the market.  According to the latest hearsay, Samsung stopped production of the 10.1-incher in order to tweak the slate’s specs sheet to make it more competitive at launch.  In this regard word is that the South Korean...

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HP, Dell, ASUS Will Release Ultrabooks Without Optical Drives

One of the tricky parts about making ultrabooks is adding an optical drive, as there simply aren't many such products that fit the very thin form factor. In fact, even the slot-in, slim versions are unsatisfying for some product makers, especially when factoring in the prices. After all, slimming down any PC component leads to a higher price most of the time. In their quest to somehow solve this problem, ASUS, Dell and HP have decided to do away with ODDs altogether. At least, this is what a recent report from Digitimes claims, referring to models whose screens have 15-inch or longer diagonals. Apple's assumed decision to skip on the optical drive when making the new MacBook Pro is mentioned as the cause behind this...

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Script: Adaptive Images

Adaptive Images is a small PHP script for implementing responsive design principles to web images. It works by sniffing the visitor's screen size and automatically resizing the image to fit the user's viewport. A smart idea indeed, since devices accessing the Web have diversified so much that there's no more clear-cut favorite when it comes to screen resolution. We now have small smartphones, intermediary-sized tablets, classic desktop screens, wide-screens and even 50+ inch TVs. For this, a powerful solution was needed to smooth out differences in rendering modes and to present images in a proper way to all users. And so, Adaptive Images was born. The script does not require any markup changes and can be installed in a matter...

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G.Skill Unveils TridentX DDR3 Memory Kit for New CPUs

Since Intel has finally deigned to formally launch the Ivy Bridge, 22nm central processing units, hardware meant to pair with it is appearing as well. There are quite a few third-generation CPUs on Intel's website right now, divided into Core i5, Core i7 and Core i7 Extreme series. We have written about them here. Needless to say, with the Santa Clara, California-based company's announcement, makers of motherboards and memory are opening the metaphorical floodgates as well. Thus we lay our eyes upon the G.Skill TridentX DDR3 memory kit series. As is easy enough to guess, even without glancing at the clocks, the RAM (random access memory) is intended for overclockers. Speaking of which, the frequencies can go as high...

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MSI's New Android Tablet Arrives at FCC

Taiwanese hardware manufacturer MSI has reportedly sent the company’s new Android tablet over at the FCC for certification. The device is called MSI MS-0N0J1 and is likely to be an affordable one, judging by the operating system used, Google’s Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It is built using a single core ARM Cortex A8 CPU running at 1GHz with 1 GB of DDR3 memory at its disposal. MSI’s affordable tablet has a 10-inch panel with standard 1024 x 768-pixel display resolution. In terms of storage, it features a 8 GB SSD and a microSD card slot for further capacity. On the connectivity side, it comes with a pair of USB ports, a mini HDMI output, a headphone jack, a built-in microphone and stereo speakers.  The rear and...

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Google Drive Launch (Semi-)Official, Leaked by French Google Blog

Google Drive is definitely debuting any second now. In fact, Google leaked the info itself by publishing the blog post announcement on its French blog. The post is gone now, but not before someone managed to get a copy. TechCrunch has a full translation of the post detailing all the information. Of course, there's not much to be surprised about, with all the leaks and rumors so far, but it's good to hear it from the horse's mouth, as the saying goes. As expected, there will be a Drive desktop app, for Windows and Mac. No word on Linux, but don't get your hopes up. An Android app is also launching, actually the updated Docs app, for tablets and phones. An iOS app will be debuting in the coming weeks, as soon as Apple is...

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AMD Will Release Radeon HD 7990 in June

The rumor mill has been turning and turning while trying to grind out all possible details about the AMD Radeon HD 7990 dual-GPU graphics card.  So far, we have a pretty clear picture of what the card with two Tahiti 28nm chips will be able to do.  The video board has 6 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, 6-monitor EyeFinity, 4,096 Graphics CoreNext stream processors and probably two 8-pin power plugs.  What we didn't know all that well was the launch date.  We still don't know it, exactly, but DonanimHaber has provided a pretty narrow window.  According to their sources, AMD has chosen Computex 2012 as the time and place.  That is early June in Taipei, Taiwan (the show will last from June 5 to June 9).  All...

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X-ES Adopts Intel's Ivy Bridge CPUs

Intel walked up to the stage and released more than 13 CPUs, despite what reports and rumors kept saying.  Sure, there were thirteen Core i7 units, but there were also an i7 Extreme Edition and a bunch of Core i5 CPUs.  Of all those, the Intel Core i7-3615QE (2.3GHz clock speed) and Intel Core i7-3612QE (2.1GHz) are of import here.  Both of them are quad-core units that X-ES has chosen to use in its newest single-board computers (SBCs): XPedite7470 3U and XCalibur4401.  The former is a VPX SBC, while the latter is a CompactPCI SBC.  Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. (X-ES) has also promised to add support for the dual-core Ivy Bridge central processing units, whenever they become available.  In...

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Inno3D GTX “Ice Dragon” Cooler Has Fan Customization

After seeing the Gigabyte WindForce 5X, which has no less than five fans, we get to look at the pictures of the Inno3D “Ice Dragon” graphics card cooler.  Set to be used by the GTX 680 iChill, the “Ice Dragon” cooler features the “HerculeZ” customization design.  Users themselves get to choose how many of the three possible fans to use and how to place them (there are six combinations).  What's more, the impellers can be of different kinds as well.  That the fans and heatsink are very easy to take apart and clean is just a side benefit.  Speaking of parts, there are five heatpipes connecting the GPU base with the two aluminum fin stacks (there are 120 fins in total).  No real clue when...

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Nokia Starts Tango Update Rollout for Lumia 710 and 800C, Brings Internet Sharing

It appears that Nokia has started to push the Windows Phone Tango update for Lumia 710 and 800C in some regions.  As much as we liked both smartphones, neither allowed users to tether their 3G connection, which is why the Finnish company promised it would correct this in a future update. Windows Phone Tango, also known as Refresh, brings the long-awaited Internet Sharing capability to these two smartphones, allowing users to share their Wi-Fi connection with other Wi-Fi enabled devices. Last week, ROM build 1600.3029.8773.12111 for Nokia Lumia 710 was spotted in China. This update promises support for 256 MB devices and MMS enhancements.  It also includes several bug fixes and overall improvements. Three new applications,...

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First AMD Brazos 2.0 Laptop Spotted

MSI is apparently on a roll lately. The company seems to be enjoying many firsts this week. We managed to spot one of the company’s newest netbooks powered by the much-anticipated AMD Brazos 2.0 platform. We’re talking about an urealeased CPU, called AMD E2-1800, that has two cores working at 1,700 MHz. It also comes with 2 x 512 KB of Level 2 Cache and has 64 Bit support. The maximum heat dissipation is rated at a very modest 17 watts TDP, while the integrated memory controller supports DDR3-1333 memory. The integrated graphics processing unit (iGPU) is called Radeon HD 7340 and works at a default speed of 523 MHz, but since it benefits from Turbo technology, it can clock itself up to 680 MHz. The E2-1800 is a replacement...

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Intel’s Ivy Bridge HD4000 Overclocked by 40%

Intel could have offered us a much better iGPU in the Ivy Bridge. The die size was small enough to allow something like this and the architecture is so simple now that doubling the functional units would have resulted in literally double the performance. Intel is famous for not caring about the client's needs and for concentrating mostly on fractionizing any performance improvements it offers in many small increments, for which the company will charge “an arm and a leg.” If it can get away with such lackluster performance, why would it diminish profits with more than 10% to increase the customer’s benefit by 100%? It’s likely that if it were possible, the company would charge 100% profit for just 10% consumer benefit. Apple...

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Fanless Tech Starts Shipping the NOFAN CR-95C Copper Cooler

Fanless Tech sent us an email telling us about the new copper version of its successful  CR-95C cooler design we’ve presented here earlier. Unlike the standard version that uses a combination of aluminum and copper, the NOFAN CR-95C COPPER is, obviously, a pure copper solution. The immediate advantage, besides the good looks, is the fact that the copper version is able to tackle with heat coming from any  CPU with a TDP of maximum 100 watts. In fact, the NOFAN CR-95C COPPER will be able to cope with even faster CPUs, as the TDP rating is always conservative as far as Intel is concerned. We’d say that, during normal use, or, especially when underclocking, even 115W TDP CPUs can be used with the new fanless cooler....

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28 nm SOI Manufacturing Tech Is Here to Stay, Soon Will Show 50% to 550% Improvements

French company Soitec is a manufacturer and developer of Silicon On Insulator wafers that is headquartered in Bernin, France. SOI technology is well known to the computer enthusiasts all over the world, as this is the technology AMD used to manufacture its CPUs since the 2003 K8 architecture. The initiator of SOI was in fact IBM, and they’ve had a close collaboration with AMD on SOI. The difference between the SOI 28nm wafers and the bulk 28 nm manufacturing process is the fact that SOI offers less leakage current, less power consumption and, consequently, less heat dissipation. It may be a little more expensive, but when you want your CPUs to work at 4 GHz instead of 2 GHz, you’ll probably look at anything but the bulk 28...

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Vodafone UK Confirms Samsung Galaxy S III

Although Samsung has yet to officially announce the Galaxy S III, Vodafone UK took it on its own and announced it would carry the smartphone in the coming months. The UK-based carrier put up a dedicated page for those who are interested to purchase “the next Galaxy” device, which is available here. Unfortunately, Vodafone UK does not reveal any additional details on the upcoming smartphone, instead it advises customers to “register for updates.” To recap, Samsung plans to announce its next-generation Galaxy family phone on May 3, in London. It’s unclear whether or not the smartphone will be tagged with the Galaxy S III name or Samsung will use “the next Galaxy” branding. The latest Samsung Mobile UNPACKED 2012 application...

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iPhone 5 Home Button Leaked

A seller of iPhone parts in China has begun offering “iPhone 5” home buttons which exhibit a distinction when compared to the hardware on current-generation Apple smartphones. TrueSupplier, another hardware vendor, is also selling the goods. TVC-Mall is selling both black and white variants of the "iPhone 5" home button, stating that they’re “different from iPhone 4S”.  “…the iPhone 5 home button is round in the centre and square outside as the pictures show. The two parts are indivisible,” says TVC-Mall. It is believed that this design particularity will be invisible to the user, as only the round side of the button will protrude through the surface of the handset. TrueSupplier lists the item as “Home Button Key for Apple...

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Samsung Galaxy S III Name Spotted in Official UNPACKED Event App

We already reported yesterday on the first “next Galaxy” teaser video officially released by Samsung, which is meant to hype up the upcoming announcement of the Galaxy S III. Today, the South Korean company launched its UNPACKED application for Android devices, which offers new information regarding Samsung's upcoming launch event, which is set to take place on May 3, in London. The description of the application mentions a certain “galaxy s3,” which is probably the name of “the next Galaxy” device that Samsung plans to unveil early next month. The UNPACKED app provides users with the latest details on the events while they’re on the go, including press releases, teasers, event location and schedule and more. Samsung Mobile...

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Intel's Official Ivy Bridge CPU Announcement Finally Live

Intel ended up taking its sweet time making its official announcement, but at least now we know for sure that the third-generation Core series central processing units are live.  Then again, that isn't a totally accurate way of putting it, since sales haven't started. That will only happen on April 29.  Nevertheless, the company's press release is out and the product database on the official website now features 22nm-based, 3D Tri-gate transistor-equipped Core i5, Core i7 and Core i7 Extreme Edition CPUs.  There are six Core i5 chips, only one of which is equipped with the Intel HD graphics 4000 integrated GPU (Intel Core i5-3570K Processor, 6 MB Cache, up to 3.80 GHz, 77W TDP).  All the others make...

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