Intel revealed 29 new CPUs for the 2nd Generation Core processor family

 

 

The chip-giant Intel have just announced their new Sandy Bridge mobile and desktop line of processors dubbed to be the 2nd Generation Core processor family or to make it simple and timely with "Intel Core 2011 processors". Don't feel the gluttony of 29 new CPUs in total with sweetened desserts of new integrated graphics options which will be called "processor graphics" from now on. We checked in some interesting links after the break.

Check out this links prior to Intel Core 2011 processors:

Read - Engadget

Read - Pocket-lint

Read - Information Week

And run down this links for the early testing results:

Read - Laptopmag

Read - PCworld

SOURCE: Techgeeze

A New Line Of USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drives From Silicon Power

Silicon Power has just introduced to us a new line of USB 3.0 portable hard drives dubbed as the Stream S10. These new 2.5-inch hard drives coming in 320GB, 500GB, 640GB and 750GB capacities, and feature a simple curvaceous design that is inspired by Italian sports cars, a USB 3.0/2.0 interface and are bundled with a 60 day trial version of Norton Antivirus.

Unfortunately, there’s no word on pricing and release date at the moment.



SOURCE: Silicon Power

Acer Iconia - Dual Touchscreen Laptop

Great news hit us this week: Acer Iconia, a cool dual touchscreen laptop will be released in January. Touchscreen may be great feature, but is may also become a great lack. The laptop features two average 14 inch screens displaying 1366×768 pixels resolution and both of them are touchscreen. You can use all your fingers together to use the touchscreen as it features all point multi touch input.

Acer has demonstrated many features and uses for the second touchscreen and one of the coolest is extending pictures and documents from the first screen. Of course you will be able to do different tasks together in the two screens and anytime you want the virtual keyboard to appear you will need to put your palm and five fingers together on the lower screen and the keyboard will appear instantly. There are other gestures also whom can bring different apps and turn things on and off and you easy customize your gesture inputs and their results manually. Acer is also working on developing many touch friendly applications to use with this laptop.

Choosing an OS for this laptop must have been a tough decision for Acer. Windows 7 is still not known as a very much user-friendly OS for touch screens, but the other operating systems are still not proven to be useable for a full featured laptop. So they are using Windows 7 as the OS and added their own software with it to make it more user-friendly. To keep up with the social networking trend they have also put a lot of social networking features in it. They have used a social networking hub with which you can bring all your social networking feeds together similar to desktop client TweetDeck or other Adobe Air apps. Many consumers will love facebooking on the bottom screen and watch a movie on the top screen as this is one of the coolest features of this device. That may be point of buying this device too.

link: www.itsgadget.com

Microsoft beats out Apple for top technology innovator of 2010

TheStreet laid it on the line and called out Microsoft as its #1 technology innovator for 2010. Forget about the iPhone 4, the iPad and the iPod touch, Microsoft and its Xbox 360 is the game changer of the year. TheStreet points out that the Xbox 360, Xbox Live subscription service and now the Kinect have exploded onto the scene in 2010. Long the ridiculed console with its nagging red ring of death, the latest generation of the hardware, the Xbox 360 Slim, has all but eliminated this troublesome problem. With reliability issues out of the way, Xbox 360 console sales have skyrocketed. Since the launch of the 360 slim, Microsoft's Xbox console has outsold the Nintendo Wii. An amazing feat when you consider that the Wii held the #1 position for several years straight.

Microsoft's position as the top innovator was bolstered by the release of the Kinect. This controller-free motion adapter for the Xbox 360 trounced the PlayStation Move in early sales. In its first week and a half of sales, Microsoft sold a staggering 1.5 million Kinect devices and is on target to sell five to six million by the end of the year. While its installed user base may slightly trail that of the PlayStation Move, the Kinect's rate of adoption is significantly faster. The Move currently boasts of 4.1 M users and, similar to the Kinect, is expected to reach five million by the end of the year. While The PlayStation Move, which launched in mid-September, and the Kinect, which launched in early November, will reach the same millstone at the same time, the Kinect was able to achieve this goal within eight weeks. The Move took a whole 3.5 months.

The third ace in the hole for Microsoft is its Xbox Live subscription. The yearly subscription service is the gateway to Xbox 360 online gaming and is necessary for Netflix customers that want to stream media to their TV via the Xbox. The Xbox Live service is also tightly integrated into Windows Phone 7. On this mobile platform, you can play games and share both achievements and points with your gamer profile on your Xbox console. In the future, the Windows Phone platform may become a mobile extension of a game, allowing you to control troops or deploy weapons while you are out and about. Both now and in the future, an Xbox Live subscription is a must have for serious and casual gamers alike.

So what do you think, do these three factors combined earn Microsoft accolades as the top technology innovator in 2010? or is Apple and its magical iPad getting the short end of the stick?

Exclusive Review: Microsoft Arc Touch mouse

Microsoft Arc Touch mouse

Over the past couple of days, Neowin got a chance to look at the Microsoft Arc Touch mouse. The small, portable, sleek looking design really gets your attention. The bendable mouse is curved for comfort and lies flat when off for easy storage.

Look and Feel

The overall look of the Arc Touch mouse is very appealing to the eye. This mouse caught my attention, making me want to test this device out. The mouse has a shiny black finish, with a unique small grey stripe for the touch scroll wheel. As stated previously, when in use the mouse is used in its familar curved posistion. When the device is turned off, it lays flat allowing for easy storage.

Parts of the Arc Touch, like the body, feel really smooth and built with quality, while the front of the mouse has that cheap plastic feel to it. However, there aren't many mice out there that do feel as durable and strong. Compared to other portable mice, this actually feels fairly nice in your hand.



Functionality and Performance

After using the mouse for a couple of days, I started to get the feel for the device. The tracking on my wood desk was slightly off, when compared to my Microsoft wireless laser mouse 7000. There was some steady issues while using programs like Photoshop, and if you have ever used Photoshop, you know exactly how important accuracy and smooth fluid movements are.

The performance of the Arc Touch really depends on how much interference is between the mouse and nano snap-in transceiver. The mouse features a 2.4Ghz 30-foot wireless range, more than an ample range for you to work with on your laptop or even desktop computer.

The mouse doesn't stack up when compared to the Microsoft wireless mouse 7000, but it is on the same level of performance, if not more, than the Microsoft wireless BlackTrack laptop mouse (3500).

The under belly of the mouse has a simple, yet very effective feature, a magnet. The magnet allows you to stick your nano transceiver to its belly, giving you more portability without the thought of losing it.

Cost and Conclusion

After a quick search on BestBuy.com, the pre-order price for the Microsoft Arc Touch mouse was listed at $69.99 USD, a fair price for the mouse.

My overall thought of the mouse is a fairly positive one. It does take some getting used to, but so do all other mice. This isn't a gaming mouse, if that's what you're in the market for, but it is a fantastic portable laptop mouse. The only real downside to the mouse is the feel.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

* Lightweight, making it easier to carry around as a portable mouse.
* Sleek design.
* Better accuracy than most wireless mice.

Cons:

* Left and right click buttons feel cheap.
* Not really suitable as a desktop, gaming mouse.
* No back and forward buttons


Source: neowin

New MacBook Air Looks like a Composition Notebook

Don't ever leave your Macbook Air unattended on a coffee shop, cause in a snap it could be gone, however we've told you about the BookBook case that not just protect your Macbook but hides it from public by looking an old hardbound book, now that's tricky. However, today we got a composition notebook skin, that gives fairly new camouflage for your precious Macbook Air.

I just find this great for the new Macbook Air as it appears to be that thin enough to look exactly like a composition notebook. Ooh, we wonder what's for iPad?



Source: techgeeze

Microsoft opens its biggest store, across from Apple

Today Microsoft opened its biggest Microsoft Store yet, and directly across from an Apple Store. This is Microsoft's sixth location, with a seventh planned in Bellevue, Washington on November 18, just down the road from Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond.

The brand new Microsoft Store in Bloomington, Minnesota, located inside the Mall of America is 8,600 total square feet, and features all Microsoft electronics and software, including Xbox 360 slim, Kinect, Windows Phone 7, Office 2010, Windows 7 and even Microsoft Surface.

Microsoft's store opening kicked off at 9AM, where thousands attended to witness the opening ceremonies and ribbon cutting. The three-day celebration will feature a performance by Kelly Clarkson today, with Kinect events and prizes tomorrow and Windows Phone 7 available in stores on Monday.

Microsoft also opened a brand new store on Thursday in Oak Brook Mall, in Chicago, Illinois. Celebrations for the Oak Brook store were similar to that of the Mall of America store, which featured performances from Colbie Caillat, and NFL star Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears, and MLB star Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs.