Nvidia touts thirty Tegra 3 smartphone designs for 2012, faster LTE with Icera i500 and next-gen 'Grey' processor

Nvidia says its Tegra 3 system-on-chip is doing exceptionally well: the company claims 30 smartphones are slated to sport the quad-core silicon this year, double the 15 design wins that Tegra 2 had in 2011. Nvidia GM Mike Rayfield delivered the news at the company's annual investor meeting today, and he emphasized that many of these phones will be less expensive, too: 13 of them have a transfer price (not to be confused with a retail price) of under $300, compared to zero such phones last year.

Nvidia's building steam on the LTE networking front as well. This morning, Nvidia announced that its first LTE modem, the Icera 410, has been certified for AT&T's LTE network, which means that Qualcomm might have some competition (at least in the tablet space), and Mike Rayfield just introduced its successor: the Icera 500. While he didn't provide many details, he told investors that the i500 will have next-gen LTE speeds beyond what we've seen thus far, and it will be the modem paired with the company's next-gen Tegra processor for "Grey," the company's first integrated LTE silicon. We won't see Grey until next year, but Nvidia promises that its standalone Icera LTE technology will arrive later in 2012 with the aforementioned Icera 410.

Via The Verge

Google set to release new range of ICS devices

Hand firmly grasping hat? Good. The Wall Street Journal is reporting on quite the bombshell today, noting that Google is about to cause its carrier partners in the States all sorts of grief -- indirectly, of course. Just weeks after placing its heralded Galaxy Nexus on sale for $399 unlocked, the report states that said move is only the beginning of a new initiative. Likely to be formally revealed at Google I/O, the mega-corp is planning to partner with a variety of OEMs (rather than just one at a time) in order to have up to five Pure Google (read: Nexus) devices available at once. Better still, the whole stable will ship with Android 5.0 (Jelly Bean) and will be sold directly from Google in unlocked form to consumers in America, Europe and Asia.

The move is significant in a myriad ways. For one, more unlocked Nexus devices means more choice when it comes to carrier selection. Furthermore, the move is likely to quell fears that certain partners may have about Google making Motorola Mobility its favorite after a $12 billion acquisition. Not surprisingly, Google's not commenting on the matter, but sources "close" to the situation say that the company's hoping to have the 5.0 cadre on sale by Thanksgiving -- you know, just in time for Black Friday and the looming holiday shopping season. We're all guessing that this will address the growing "app situation" head-on; by making a push to eliminate carrier-infused bloatware (while also providing early Android OS access to more partners), we're hoping that the whole "skinning" dilemma is addressed, too.

Engadget

Samsung releases Galaxy S III

1 day ago

1 day ago

After leapfrogging Apple as the world's biggest phone marker just recently, Samsung has released an update of it's most popular phone model the Samsung Galaxy S series of phones.

Among the key changes are the hardware specifications that are being updated and some nifty nice features like allowing you to pick up a call just by holding the phone to your ear and not to switch off the screen when you are reading text on the screen.

For someone that is willing to hold out, you should wait as they might be releasing an offical phone for the refresher of the Google Nexus line of phones.

MemoRight FTM Plus Slim 7mm 240GB Solid State Drive Review‏

Tweaktown has published a new review of the MemoRight FTM Plus Slim 7mm 240GB Solid State Drive. It is described as one of the SSD with the thinnest profile on the block, with it targeting the Ultrabook segment.

Tweak Town

Samsung comes out tops in phone market

Research firm IDC is reporting that Nokia has been dethroned as the world's biggest phone maker bySamsung. In the first quarter of the year, Samsung shipped 98.3 million mobile phones, with Nokia andApple in second and third place. In the smartphone-only charts, the Korean company shipped 42.2 million of its Android and Windows Phone handsets, while Cupertino shipped 35.1 million and Nokia shipped a paltry-by-comparison 11.9 million.

Samsung, Apple and companies outside the top 5 all made big gains in the smartphone space, while Nokia, RIM and HTC all felt their numbers drop. Unsurprisingly, companies with big stakes in dumb phones suffered, with Nokia and LG losing big chunks of their market share to the big two and stalking horse ZTE, which has bested LG for fourth place. After the break, we've got the official tallies that you can pore over.

Velocity Micro Announces the Immediate Availability of Desktop PCs Powered by 3rd Generation Intel® Core® Processors

Velocity Micro®, the premier builder of award winning enthusiast desktops, laptops, peripherals, and the remarkable line of Cruz™ tablets announces the immediate availability of 3^rd generation Intel® Core® processors on select Gaming, Home & Office, and Workstation systems, starting at just $849. By pairing an expert level of engineering with Intel’s latest processor generation, Velocity Micro continues to make some of the fastest, most efficient, most reliable PCs in the world.

“Intel’s 3^rd Generation Core Processors are a perfect fit to Velocity Micro’s enthusiast mentality as we continue to strive to build the best finely crafted desktops, tablets, and peripherals on the market,” said Randy Copeland, President and CEO of Velocity Micro. “The speed and power efficiency of these new processors will be a huge hit with our customers.”

Key features of 3rd Generation Intel Core Processors include:

·         Built-in visuals which include a suite of visual enhancements that provide everything you need to enjoy a smooth, seamless, stunning experience on your PC

·         Improved energy efficiency, allowing for innovative system designs and enabling more energy-efficient platforms that can meet ENERGY STAR requirements

·          Unlocked 3rd gen Intel Core processors feature top-of-the-line speed, especially when overclocking

“Velocity Micro has always had a cutting edge product lineup, frequently offering Intel’s latest processors to their enthusiast customers on launch day,” said CJ Bruno, Intel VP, GM Intel Americas. “We’re excited that Velocity Micro has continued that tradition by making the 3rd Gen Intel Core processors available in their industry-leading performance desktop offerings.”

Velocity Micro systems now powered by 3^rd Generation Intel Core Processors include the Raptor™ Z90, Vector™ Z20, and the Edge™ Z40, an Editors’ Choice selection from both CNET and PC Magazine. For more information on these systems, to custom configure a Velocity Micro desktop, or learn more about Velocity Micro’s complete line of consumer electronic solutions, visit www.velocitymicro.com.

Giada releases new nano motherboard

The versatile new NI-HM65T Nano ITX motherboard from Giada puts the power of a desktop computer into the tiniest possible space, just 12cm across. This tough but tiny powerhouse is perfect for industrial control, monitoring and automation tasks, and embedded applications, or even for home and office use. Built around Intel's HM65 Express chipset and the Sandy Bridge platform, this motherboard brings its users high performance and connectivity, while keeping power costs low. It provides all the industry-standard features of a desktop PC, but in a tiny 12cm by 12.8cm Nano ITX package, just a fraction of the size of an ordinary PC. Powered by Intel's fast Core i7，i5, i3 or Celeron 867 CPUs, with by up to 4GB of memory, plus onboard integrated sound, video and graphics support, the Giada NI-HM65T can easily handle almost any computing task. For industrial control and automation applications, the NI-HM65T offers rock solid reliability, and full compatibility with key industry standards, with a COM header to ensure support for legacy hardware. This extremely low profile board uses a 25mm high mini-ITX backplate, to reduce system space requirements. With the creation and integration of their own PCI extension on the rim of the motherboard, Giada offers customers with specific requirements the ability to design and manufacture custom add-on boards for additional expandability. On board there are two Mini PCIe slots. One can support a WiFi and/or Bluetooth card while the other allows users to add a mSATA or a high-speed internal SSD drive. The reliability and durability of an internal SSD drive is perfect for challenging operating environments where dust or vibration might make traditional hard disk drives unsuitable, such as factory floor or external digital signage – as well as offering enhanced performance and lower power consumption for everyday applications. Each board has undergone strict quality control tests, include 5 complete 24 hour tests at 65 C, and testing at -15 C for to ensure suitability for very low temperature environments. Nickel core inductors and solid capacitors are used to further enhance reliability and stability. In addition to the mSATA drive, a 6Gb/s SATA 3 port supports a wide range of storage devices, including traditional hard disk drives, SSDs, and CD/DVD/BD optical drives. There is a SO-DIMM memory slot for up to 4GB of speedy 1066MHz or 1333MHz DDR3 DRAM. There are two fast USB 2.0/1.1 connectors on the back panel. These can be used to connect devices such as keyboards, mice, printers, and cameras. USB can also be used to supplement the internal SATA disk drives with additional removable mobile storage for backup purposes, mass data transfer, or storing video, photos, and audio. The NI-HM65T supports Gigabit LAN for connection to a high speed network. The NI-HM65T has graphics support integrated on board, with HDMI and VGA video outputs. The board also offers vivid 5.1 channel surround sound from the ALC662 audio interface, with a digital output S/PDIF connector for unimpaired audio quality even in environments with high EMI levels. The board's audio and video capabilities make it an ideal choice for dedicated embedded applications such as Smart TV controller or set top box.  The NI-HM65T provides superior performance while keeping operating costs very low. Shenzhen JieHe is very happy to be bringing this extremely versatile new mini-PC to the worldwide market. The company welcomes inquiries from new and existing customers throughout the world.

A 3D printer at an affordable price point

The release of 3D printers have entinced many home users to get a printer to try it out, however at the thousands of dollars price tag, it is really out of reach for many of us. 

Former Markerbot Exc have released a sub $500 3D printer that would soon hit the stores and allow home users to get one 3D printer. 

The printer, which is now up for pre-order, can print plastic pieces up to 6" x 6" x 6", and "all you need to supply is a computer and power."