A New York dentist fined a customer for posting a negative review online, which raised concerns about anti-defamation contracts that protect businesses from such feedback. The customer, Robert Lee, sued the dentist, leading to the cancellation of the controversial contract by the medical law agency that issued it. The case highlights the potential abuse of these contracts and the importance of protecting consumers' rights to free speech and truthful reviews.

1. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
VR-Zone.com | Stuff for the Geeks!
That would have been all well and good were it not for the fact
VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication that the dentist then overcharged him, sent his records to the
covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks. wrong insurance company, and refused to provide a new copy
of those records so he could give them to his actual insurance
company.
Dentist fines customer for
posting negative review online The incident was so bad for Lee that he decided to post
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/dentist-fines-customer-for-posting- a negative review of Makhnevich's practice on both Yelp
negative-review-online/14116.html and DoctorBase, saying: “Avoid at all cost! Scamming their
December 1st, 2011 customers!”
Of course, the anti-defamation agreement meant that he was
required to never say a bad word about his dentist, no matter
how poorly he had been treated.
A New York dentist has fined a customer for posting a negative
review online, highlighting the underhanded nature of anti-
Makhnevich then sent Lee a number of $100 fines, alleging
defamation contracts and how they are being abused to ensure
he had infringed her copyright. It is not exactly clear why the
a company's good reputation in spite of poor treatment.
dentist went with this argument, as the case appears to be one
of contract violation rather than copyright infringement.
The case raises significant questions over the rampant use of
anti-defamation contracts among certain businesses, which
employ underhanded legal wrestling to ensure that their
reputation remains intact, regardless of the actual treatment
of customers.
Lee filed a lawsuit against Makhnevich, which has resulted in
the medical law agency Medical Justice Services, which wrote
the contract in question, cancelling it and telling all of its
clients to stop using it.
Lee's lawyer, Paul Alan Levy, said: “It is outrageous that a
patient would have to sign away his constitutionally protected
right to get treatment for a toothache.”
A New York dentist has fined a disgruntled customer for
posting a negative review online after it was revealed that he
had inadvertantly signed an anti-defamation contract before
having a toothache addressed.
Safari was fastest then, now
the slowest according to
The bizarre case began when 42-year-old Robert Lee visited Futuremark's Peacekeeper
Stacy Makhnevich's dental practice to deal with a bad Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/safari-was-fastest-then-now-the-
toothache and tooth infection. Lee claims he was given slowest-according-to-futuremark-s-peacekeeper/14112.html
a contract to sign, the terms of which included an anti-
defamation clause, which he said he questioned, but ultimately
agreed to in order for Makhnevich to treat his pain.
1

2. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 1st, 2011 • Firefox is most popular with Peacekeeper users,
accounting for almost 30% of all results.
• Chrome has held the title of fastest browser since May
2009 but Opera is closing the gap.
According to Futuremark, with the updated Peacekeeper, even
Futuremark has released a new version of the Peacekeeper, the most outdated of hardware will have a proper place in
which is a web browser benchmarking program to keep up- benchmarking.
to-date with the increasingly recognized HTML5 standards.
Along with this new release, Futuremark also reveals some
interesting data on how the browsers landscape has changed Samsung announces PM830
over the last two and a half years. Read on to find out more.
series of mSATA SSD's for
Ultrabooks
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-announces-pm830-series-of-
msata-ssd-s-for-ultrabooks/14115.html
December 1st, 2011
Samsung has been a long time OEM/ODM of notebook SSD's,
least not to Apple, but not the company has announced that
it's about to break into the Ultrabook market with its new
PM830 series of mSATA SSD's. The company also has a model
for hard drive caching, suitable for Ultrabooks, notebooks and
Leader of performance benchmarking software Futuremark desktops.
has just released their latest version of the Peacekeeper, a
freeware to measure and compare web browser operation
Samsung has been a long time OEM/ODM of notebook SSD's,
speeds.
least not to Apple, but not the company has announced that
The Peacekeeper is completely reconstructed to support it's about to break into the Ultrabook market with its new
HTML5 standards, and can accurately compare any browsers PM830 series of mSATA SSD's. The company also has a model
on a large variety of hardware configurations. It utilizes for hard drive caching, suitable for Ultrabooks, notebooks and
JavaScript functionality to assess the speed of the browser, desktops.
which is a good thing, as it is one of the most common
The PM830 series will be available in capacities of 64, 128
programming languages for websites today. Through this
and 256GB, with a 32GB version for hard drive caching. The
method, Internet connection speeds and latencies will not
drive uses Samsung's latest 20nm class toggle mode DDR
affect scores for each comparison.
NAND flash and Samsung is promising read speeds of up to
Hardware comparisons can be made with the Peacekeeper via 500MB/s and write speeds of up to 260MB/s over a SATA
a control browser used across all devices to be benchmarked. 6Gbps interface. The press release didn't mention which SSD
This is due to the fact that the power of the processor is highly controller was being used and the picture below doesn't reveal
associated with the browser performance. any details beyond the Samsung NAND flash.
Here are some interesting facts that have surfaced through
data collected from Peacekeeper over two and a half years
period:
• 2.6 million results submitted since Peacekeeper
launched in March 2009.
• 3140 different browser versions tested.
• Safari was fastest when Peacekeeper launched. It is now
the slowest on Windows and Mac.
• IE has shown the greatest improvement with an average
score increase of almost 450%.
• Safari has shown the least improvement, just 160% faster
in two years on Windows systems.
2

3. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The revelation came at the Reuters Global Media Summit,
where Antoine Brachet, marketing chief of Total Immersion,
said that his company is working closely with Intel on its
chipset to introduce some augmented reality features like
gesture recognition.
This is a highly significant move, as it means that augmented
reality technology would come as part of the hardware itself
and not require software downloads to work, which will help
with the growth and adoption of the technology.
Intel invested in Total Immersion in March, signalling a vote of
confidence in the relatively new augmented reality sector. That
investment might pay off with a new feature that Intel can tout
over competitors, but Total Immersion has not limited itself to
In addition to that, Samsung has also included 256-bit AEI Intel, as it also inked a recent deal with rival chipmaker Texas
encryption to keep the data safe for government people that Instruments.
leave their notebooks in the back seat of taxis. Samsung is only
planning on selling the PM830 to OEM partners which is a
shame, as it looks like it could prove to be a nice upgrade option Augmented reality works by overlaying real life images and
for some Ultrabooks and what not. It looks like the future of videos with digital information, including text and graphics.
notebooks SSDs is mSATA, for better or worse. For example, check out this magician's use of augmented
reality to enhance a card trick.
Intel and Total Immersion plan
augmented reality chips Augmented reality has yet to expand to become a major
consumer technology, but it has shown a lot of potential, with
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-and-total-immersion-plan-
augmented-reality-chips/14114.html
UK supermarket chain Tesco introducing it to help people see
December 1st, 2011
products before they buy them online.
It is not yet clear when we will see the new Intel chips,
but Brachet suggested that it would be between two and
three years, depending on how well consumers accept the
technology.
Chip giant Intel is teaming up with Total Immersion to
introduce augmented reality features into its upcoming
computer chips, potentially giving it a further edge over the
competition.
ZiiLABS to showcase Android
4.0 based JAGUAR tablet at
CES 2012
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ziilabs-to-showcase-android-4.0-
based-jaguar-tablet-at-ces-2012/14111.html
December 1st, 2011
ZiiLABS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Creative Technology
Ltd. is ready to break the ground at CES 2011 with
their JAGUAR reference tablet based on the latest Android 4.0
(Ice Cream Sandwich). Equipped with quad-core Cortex-A9
Chip giant Intel is teaming up with Total Immersion to based ZMS-40 media processor, it is touted to possess Blu-ray
introduce augmented reality features into its upcoming quality high-profile 1080P H.264 and WebM support. Read on
computer chips. to find out what it is capable of.
3

4. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Media processor and platform company, ZiiLABS has Corsair Vengeance SO-DIMM modules make use of high layer
announced that they will be showcasing their JAGUAR count PCBs (higher number of PCB layers contribute to greater
reference tablet with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich at the electrical and signalling stability), the PCBs are colored black,
upcoming Consumer Electronics Show 2012 which will start to give them a premium feel. There's no room for a thick
from 10th of January. heatsink, but Corsair used millimeter-thick metal plates to
serve as heatspreaders.
The JAGUAR is said to “deliver a comprehensive range of
OEM ready 7-inch and 10-inch tablet solutions that combine
excellent performance, battery life and industrial design”. It
features two variants of the Cortex-A9 processor which is the
ZMS-20 Dual-Core and the ZMS-40 Quad-Core processors.
ZiiLABS is confident of the new tablet's media capabilities,
thanks to its Blu-ray quality 1080p High-Profile H.264 video
capabilities and WebM support. It also provides high quality
video conferencing capabilities via its dual camera system,
and uses standard APIs such as OpenCL and Renderscript to
perform real-time image processing.
Corsair will be launching three kits consisting of these
Corsair Intros Vengeance SO- modules, two of which are 8 GB (2x 4 GB), and one being a
DIMM Memory Modules single 4 GB module kit. Among the two module kits, there's
a DDR3-1866 MHz kit, and a DDR3-1600 MHz one. The
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/corsair-intros-vengeance-so-dimm-
lone module kit consists of a DDR3-1866 MHz stick. The
memory-modules/14110.html
modules don't require more than 1.5 volts DRAM voltage,
December 1st, 2011
though achieve their rated speeds at rather loose timings, by
desktop standards of course. Part numbers and specifications
are tabled below.
Size Speed # of DIMMs Part Number
Corsair introduced a new line of DDR3 memory modules 8GB 1866MHz, 2 CMSX8GX3M2A1866
in the SO-DIMM form-factor, targeting high-performance 10-10-10-27,
notebooks, gaming notebooks, and mobile workstations. 1.5V
Corsair's new modules promise to bring a similar level of 8GB 1600MHz, 2 CMSX8GX3M2A1600
tuning headroom as their bigger standard DIMM cousins. 9-9-9-24, 1.5V
Corsair's Vengeance family struck a fine middle-ground 4GB 1866MHz, 1 CMSX4GX3M1A11866
between the overclockability of its high-performance yet 10-10-10-27,
expensive Dominator series, and the affordability of its XMS3 1.5V
series. For obvious reasons of space and electrical constraints,
Corsair couldn't port the design ideology of Dominator to the Thi La, Vice President of Memory Products at Corsair, says
SO-DIMM form-factor, but doing so for Vengeance seemed "As more complex applications and games are available in
possible. Hence, Vengeance SO-DIMM family. the market, many laptop users are looking for an easy way
to improve their system performance in order to have the
best experience.Our new Vengeance high-performance laptop
4

5. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
memory kits allow performance-minded customers to boost
their memory performance and capacity in an instant."
Although launched, we don't have prices of these kits at hand,
as they are not listed on popular stores just as yet.
Cubitek Has Big Aluminum
Case Plans for 2012
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/cubitek-has-big-aluminum-case-plans-
for-2012/14109.html
December 1st, 2011
Pictured above is the main facade. You can find four exposed
5.25-inch drive bays, and a dust-protected inlet for the 200
mm intake fan. You can also get an idea of the outer texture of
the aluminum body, dark brushed aluminum.
Cubitek wants to play in the big league of premium all-
aluminum PC cases, targeting almost every consumer form-
factor: ATX mid-tower, EATX full-tower, HPATX, micro-ATX,
and even mini-ITX. All part of the company's new ICE series,
these cases will be fabricated with extruded aluminum that's
as much as 3 mm thick in some parts, making the cases both
sturdy, and radiate heat better. We got to take a peak at each
of these.
The series starts off with the most common PC form-factor,
the ATX mid-tower. The ATX Ice is larger than most mid-
towers, treading very close to being categorized a full-tower.
It measures 230 x 508.5 x 513 mm (WxHxD), weighing in
at 7.1 kg (net.). As mentioned earlier, Cubitek designed these
cases with aluminum sheets as thick as 3 mm to give them the
sturdiness of 1 mm thick SECC steel.
The internals don't used anodized aluminum, rather exposed.
This helps with radiating heat. Although some cable
management holes are rubber-valved, there are some wide
open holes, such as the one next to the PSU bay, a cutout
over the CPU socket area (to help with handling coolers with
backplates), and one on the top-left corner of the motherboard
tray (for CPU power capbles. You can immediately tell that
Cubitek's Ice cases are not tool-free.
5

6. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
South Korean scientists Hyun Gyu Park and Byoung Yeon Won
have found a way where by people can place a sample of their
own saliva on their touchscreen for analysis of their health.
“Since these touchscreens can detect very small capacitance
changes, we thought they could serve as highly sensitive
detection platforms for disease biomarkers,” the scientists
mentioned.
Through the demonstration of a prototype screen, they
managed to show that the detection of various concentrations
of bacteria is possible.Improvements still have to be made to
allow the system to sense different kinds of bacteria, and giving
a more accurate assessment of the disease involved. Perhaps
we can hope that when the technology is ready, people with
severe or prolonged illness can monitor their own health status
comfortably from home, as well as diagnose a serious issue
early enough to receive help with this kind of convenience.
There's nothing "loud" about the rear panel. You find the
usual PSU bay at the bottom, a 120 mm grilled fan exhaust,
two rubber-valved holes for water cooling tubing, and the Apple iPhone 4 on fire, twice
expansion slot bays. Beating the ATX specification, there Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-iphone-4-on-fire-
are eight bays instead of seven. This should help with twice/14106.html
multi-graphics card setups in which one of the graphics December 1st, 2011
cards occupies the bottom-most expansion slot of an ATX
motherboard.
Spit on your phone for good
In two bizarre accounts, two separate Apple iPhone 4 ignited
health themselves in dangerous proximity to users, but ultimately
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/spit-on-your-phone-for-good- causing nothing more than the inconvenience of losing the
health/14108.html phone and some disruptions of the moment. Will Apple find
December 1st, 2011 out if this is just a duo of accidents or a flaw in manufacture
process?
Technological advancements empower our phones to do so
many things, but soon you can spit on your phone to know if
you're down with flu, quite literally. A new developement from
Korean utilizes capacitative screens like those on smartphones
to detect the presence of bacteria.
6

7. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Apple’s iPhone 4 is hot, by every sense of the word. In
one week, two iPhone 4 have been reported to combust
spontaneously, but luckily no one was hurt. In the latest
incident, a lady by the name of Ayla Mota had her iPhone
charging as she slept, when the phone suddenly released Andrew Koh, senior director and general manager,
sparks and smoke. While the phone was dangerously close consumer imaging and information products division, Canon
to her, she was awakened quickly enough and resolved the Singapore, who is also the lead spokesperson for Project
situation before any harm came to her. Homecoming, gave an insight on the background of
Just a few days before, a similar situation occurred onboard a the recycling initiative. Started in Japan in 2008, six
flight in Australia, which was dealt with by the flight attendant printer brands (Epson, Canon, Brother, Dell, HP and
promptly, ensuring that no one was hurt. It seems a little too Lexmark) came together, with cooperation from Japan Post
close to be taken as coincidence, but it is good to keep in mind Office, to provide convenient location for public to recycle
that Apple’s iPhone 4 has one of the largest market share in their cartridges. The project was called "Ink Cartridge
the world, so this statistics amount to nothing more than one- Satogaeri" (which directly translated to Homecoming). In
off incidents. While the Cupertino company has yet to make a Singapore, Project Homecoming is an expansion to this
public statement about the incidents, it can be expected that similar scheme and is first in the region to launch. Public
thorough investigation and compensation be carried out. simply needs to go to one of the 13 designated libraries - Ang
Mo Kio, Bedok, Bishan, Bukit Merah, Geylang East, Jurong
Regional, Jurong West, Marine Parade, National Library @
Victioria Street, Queenstown, Tampies Regional, Toa Payoh
and Woodlands Regional - and dispose their ink cartridges or
toners into the recycling box (picture below).
Project Homecoming, In case you are wondering why HP has been left out from
Singapore's first joint the original recycling intiative, that is only because the
company has their own Planet Partners program. HP has
recycling initiative, launched also introduced the industry’s first “closed loop” ink cartridge
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/project-homecoming-singapore-s-first- recycling process, combining plastic from post-consumer
joint-recycling-initiative-launched/14107.html recycled original HP ink cartridges and other sources, such as
December 1st, 2011 recycled water and soda bottles, in the manufacturing of new
original HP ink cartridges.
This afternoon, five major printer companies - Brother, Canon,
Dell, Epson and Lexmark; with support of National Library
Board and National Environment Agency, jointly announced
the launch of Project Homecoming, Singapore's first joint
brand ink and toner cartridge recycling initiative.
7

8. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
According to Elaine Ng, chief executive officer of National December 1st, 2011
Library Board (NLB), at least one recycling bin can be found
at 13 designated libraries. There are plans to introduce the
recycling bin to the remaining 10 libraries in Singapore,
though that would be the next phase of the project.
Increasingly, our phones are becoming our best assistants.
A recent discovery, however, begins to question just how
much of our privacy is compromised as a factory-installed
program is found to reveal every infomation from our phone
to the respective companies that made it. Are our personal
infomation as safe as we think it is?
Recently a program has been unveiled to be embedded deep
into some Android phones which records just about every
single thing a user can do with his or her phone. All the data
goes back to the hardware manufacturers of the phone, which
includes account passwords, credit card numbers and other
sensitive infomation. There is also no way to opt out of being
monitored.
This discovery was first made when an Android developer
Trevor Eckhart used a packet sniffer program to track all
data that enter and exit his HTC EVO 4G smartphone. At
the center of all this is the software developer Carrier IQ, the
company that created this monitoring method for almost all
mobile device manufacturer. Upon realizing that Trevor had
branded their software as a “rootkit” (a term equivalent to
malware) in community sites, Carrier IQ promptly sued him,
only to back off when an International digital rights advocacy
organization Electronic Frontier Foundation stepped in to
help Trevor. In their apology letter to Trevor, Carrier IQ
mentioned that their software does not record keystrokes,
amongst other inputs, but a video circulated by Trevor shows
that this is not true.
As of now, there is no easy way to remove the program
other than to install a new operating system on your phone.
That, of course, generally involves removing the warranty
from the phone, so it is not a good solution for most people.
For now, much remains to be seen from the response of
various companies responsible for the implementation of such
You may be spied on by your a program.
own phone
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/you-may-be-spied-on-by-your-own-
phone/14105.html
8

9. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
and larger battery capacities ascending with screen sizes.
Lenovo storms China with The Android Honeycomb 3.2 mobile platform completes the
three new mobile devices package for these two tablets.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lenovo-storms-china-with-three-new- While the prices are not known yet, Chinese sources state that
mobile-devices/14096.html the LePad S2005 may be for sale within the week.
December 1st, 2011
Intel planning wireless dock
for Ultrabooks using WiGig
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-planning-wireless-dock-for-
ultrabooks-using-wigig/14104.html
Lenovo has announced three new mobile devices for the
December 1st, 2011
Chinese market. The LePad S2005, S2007 and S2010 are the
new tablets and phones to represent the Chinese company, but
will they meet the mark of their fellow countrymen?
It looks like Intel is having big plans for Ultrabooks, at least
as far as docking stations are concerned as beyond the wired
Thunderbolt docking stations we've already reported about, it
appears that Intel is also working on a wire-free option. The
peculiar thing here though is that Intel is planning on using
WiGig technology courtesy of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance.
It looks like Intel is having big plans for Ultrabooks, at least
as far as docking stations are concerned as beyond the wired
Thunderbolt docking stations we've already reported about, it
appears that Intel is also working on a wire-free option. The
peculiar thing here though is that Intel is planning on using
WiGig technology courtesy of the Wireless Gigabit Alliance.
Never heard of WiGig before? Let us give you a quick
introduction as to what WiGig is. The Wireless Gigabit
Lenovo has recently unleashed a trio of tablets in China. The Alliance consists of a wide range of technology company's
LePad S2007, LePad S2010 and LePad S2005 are set to help including among others, Intel, AMD, Broadcom, Cisco, NEC,
the Chinese company gain grounds in their own country. Marvell, MediaTek and Qualcomm to mention a few of the
In accordance to the data network available in China, all key hardware manufacturers, although many others such
the tablets are WCDMA enabled to access data network via as Microsoft, Nvidia, Dell, Samsung, Nokia, Panasonic and
Chinese telco Unicom. Toshiba are also involved. What these companies are working
The LePad S2005 is a worthy mention as it belongs to the on is an extension of the 802.11 standard that will allow for
emerging category of devices that comes between a phone wireless speed of an expected 7Gbps in the end, some then
and a tablet, owing to its 5-inch screen, which is similar to times faster than what 802.11n is expected to peak at.
Dell's Streak 5 and Samsung's Galaxy Note. It has a Low WiGig is transmitting at 60GHz, otherwise known as Ultra
Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon Display with a resolution Wide Band, although it's also backwards compatible with the
of 800 by 480, featuring a 178-degree viewing angle. This 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands, but the highest speeds are only
phone is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB expected at very short range using the 60GHz band. So what
of memory, giving it processing capabilities on par with most does this have to do with a docking station for Ultabooks? Well,
high-end smartphones. Other specifications include a 1.3- to keep things simple, it allows for a high-speed, short range
megapixel front camera, a 5-megapixel rear camera, WiFi wireless signal to be used to connect the Ultrabook to the dock
connectivity, High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) sans any kind of wires. There are some limitations though, as
support and a 1650mAh battery. It is said to come with you'd still have to plug in power to the Ultrabook sooner or
Android Gingerbread. later and in Intel's specification you still have to plug in the
The LePad S2007 and S2010 are tablets with 7-inch and 10- Ethernet cable into the Ultrabook itself if you want to take
inch screens respectively. Each of them possesses a 1280 by advantage of Intel's network features such as vPro.
800 resolution In-Plane Switching display with a contrast
ratio of 1500 to 1. They run on 1.5GHz dual-core processors
and 1GB of memory, with other similar hardware to that
of LePad S2005 except for the 8-megapixel rear cameras
9

10. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
going to start to see some serious competition in the entry-
level notebook segment once Microsoft launches Windows 8
for ARM.
The Exynos 5250 is but a stepping stone for Samsung, yet
the company claims that it offers twice the processing power
over one of its Cortex-A9 based Exynos chips clocked at
1.5GHz, or some 14,000 DMIPS compared to 7,500 DMIPS.
Beyond that, Samsung has doubled the memory bandwidth
to 12.8GB/s, twice than not only of current dual core Cortex-
A9 ARM processors, but also twice that of Intel's latest Atom
processors.
Samsung didn't specify the graphics core in the press release
The upside of going wireless is of course the fact that you
but the company did mention that the GPU used is more
don't need to plug anything in to the system to dock it.
than four times faster than what we presume is the ARM
WiGig should also provide enough bandwidth to cope with
Mali-400 MP used in its current Cortex-A9 based processors.
just about everything you'd need from a dock including display
That said, we're not sure that's going to be good enough
interfaces, USB connectivity and audio. The downside is
as Samsung is making some bold claims of WQVGA or
increased cost, as not only do you need a WiGig compatible
2,560x1,600 resolution support and you're going to need one
chip in the Ultrabook, but also in the dock. Of course in the
beefy GPU to run 3D stuff at that kind of resolution. Samsung
future we might see displays with built in WiGig support into
also claims that the extra memory bandwidth is needed to be
which you'd plug an external mouse and a keyboard and that
able to handle these kinds of resolutions. That said, on devices
would be all you'd need, rather than having to connect it all to
with 3D displays, we're still expecting to see resolutions of
yet another device.
1,280x800 as that would be exactly half of WQVGA, ideal for
Considering that the WiGig standard has anything but 3D displays in other words.
launched as yet, it seems like this solution is one for the
future, but it's nonetheless interesting to see where things
might be heading. One thing appears fairly certain though,
Intel is set to make Ultrabooks succeed, one way or another
and if consumers don't want them, then business users will
have to take them as a replacement for sub-notebooks which
have been quite popular with people that travel a lot.
Samsung announces the first
ARM Cortex-A15 based SoC
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-announces-the-first-arm-
cortex-a15-based-soc/14101.html
December 1st, 2011 But wait, there's more, a lot more. The Exynos 5250 also sports
an embedded DisplayPort interface that supports panel self-
refresh technology which in simple terms means that static
pages doesn't require the GPU to be powered up so that they
can be displayed, instead this is handled by the frame buffer in
the timing controller. Shall we keep going?
If there was every any doubt that ARM based processors were
going to be limited in terms of performance, Samsung's new For those interesting in snapping pictures and video the
32nm Exynos 5250 Cortex-A15 based 2GHz dual core SoC Exynos 5250 should impressive with the ability to shoot
should put a lot of doubters minds at rest. This is but a first 8Megapixel stills at 30fps and 1080p video at 60fps. There's
step of what we can expect over the next couple of years from also a hardware video codec, HDMI 1.4, USB 3.0 connectivity
the ARM camp and we have a feeling that the x86 guys are (finally!) and SATA, eMMC4.5 and eSD3.0 support so there's
going to start to see some serious competition in the entry- no shortage of storage options available for the device makers.
level notebook segment once Microsoft launches Windows 8 Although Samsung claims that the Exynos 5250 was designed
for ARM. specifically for high-end tablets, we can easily see this chip
ending up in some Android or Linux based notebooks in the
not too distant future, especially when you consider the SATA
If there was every any doubt that ARM based processors were support as it makes it easy for the notebook makers to use
going to be limited in terms of performance, Samsung's new standard components. The Exynos 5250 is currently sampling
32nm Exynos 5250 Cortex-A15 based 2GHz dual core SoC to Samsung's customers and is expected to go into mass-
should put a lot of doubters minds at rest. This is but a first production in Q2 next year which means that by this time next
step of what we can expect over the next couple of years from year we should have products in the market sporting the new
the ARM camp and we have a feeling that the x86 guys are
10

11. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
processor. It will be interesting to see how much better the same shield as the Fatal1ty cards, but with a blue tinted
ARM Cortex-A15 core performs and what kind of device the window. We're not entirely sure what else has changed, but
hardware makers can come up with. Creative Japan is touting this as a mid-range model. It comes
bundled with a 3.5mm to dual RCA cable and an optical
Toslink cable as well as Creative's Media Toolbox software,
Creative announces additional something you don't get with the basic Recon3D model.
Sound Blaster Recon3D cards
in Japan
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/creative-announces-additional-sound-
blaster-recon3d-cards-in-japan/14100.html
December 1st, 2011
We've already seen the Sound Blaster Recon3D and Sound
Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Professional, but it looks like Japan
is getting an exclusive on no less than two additional models,
the Sound Blaster Recon3D Professional Audio and the Sound
Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Champion edition. Both cards are
of course based on the new Sound Core3D chip from Creative
which the company was touting as a quad core audio processor It also appears that all the two new models will be bundled with
a little while ago. a "beamforming microphone array" in Japan which is meant
to allow for clearer sound during things like voice calls or video
conferencing. The two new cards aren't expect to arrive until
We've already seen the Sound Blaster Recon3D and Sound
January, so we might see them in other regions as well by then
Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Professional, but it looks like Japan
and sadly Creative Japan didn't provide any pricing for the two
is getting an exclusive on no less than two additional models,
new addiotions.
the Sound Blaster Recon3D Professional Audio and the Sound
Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Champion edition. Both cards are
of course based on the new Sound Core3D chip from Creative Report: Production of AMD's
which the company was touting as a quad core audio processor
a little while ago. desktop Trinity APUs from
The Fatal1ty Champion is quite similar to the Fatal1ty March 2012
Professional and the main difference as far as we can tell is Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/report-production-of-amd-s-desktop-
the inclusion of a front mounted I/O bay that appears to be trinity-apus-from-march-2012/14099.html
identical to the one supplied with the older Sound Blaster X- December 1st, 2011
Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion series. Apart from that the two
cards appear to be identical.
AMD's next-generation A-Series APUs for desktops are set to
enter mass production in March 2012. First to production will
be 65W APUs, to be branded A10-5700, A8-5500, A6-5400
and A4-5300 series. Higher performance 100W APUs will
be produced two months later, from May 2012, branded as
A10-5800 and A8-5600 series.
Considering the 65W APUs go into production with a two
months headstart, we can expect the 65W Trinity SKUs
to release before their 100W counterparts. However, AMD
may choose to hold out for a simultaneous release. Previous
rumours suggested that Trinity may release before Ivy Bridge,
but this report concludes a release around the same time-
frame, if not later, than Ivy Bridge.
The Professional Audio version on the other hand ends up New to the A-Series will be a new segment - A10, while the A8,
somewhere between the Sound Blaster Recon3D and the A6 and A4 segments from Llano will continue. AMD expects
Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Professional, as it has the improved supply for Trinity thanks to higher yields and greater
11

12. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
number of wafer starts at GloFo's 32nm. The report did not
mention details about Trinity's notebook release - arguably
the most important market for Trinity. All information thus
far suggests the market maintaining status-quo, with Intel
retaining CPU performance leadership abd AMD continuing to
offer far superior graphics and good price/performance ratio.
Before Trinity releases, AMD's Llano range will see a final
refresh with A8-3870K, A6-3670K, A8-3820, A6-3620 and
A4-3420 set to release in January 2012.
Cedar Trail-M In December
After All?
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/cedar-trail-m-in-december-after-
all-/14098.html
December 1st, 2011 Sources in the industry are still optimistic about Atom's
future. Despite dwindling netbook sales, there is still room
for it, particularly in the emerging markets. The Atom
netbook ecosystem suffered a huge setback earlier this year,
with Samsung deciding to discontinue selling netbooks. The
development left netbook at the hands of only two notable
companies who can deliver in large volumes, Acer and
Faced with increasingly tough competition from ARM- ASUStek.
powered tablets, mediocre Q3 2011 sales (-32% YoY), and In December 2011, ASUS will unveil 10-inch netbook models
other difficulties, launch of 32 nm "Cedar Tail-M" Atom based on Cedar Trail Atom processors, the Eee PC 1025C
processors has so far been a troubled affair. At one point this and Eee PC 1025CE. By the end of this year, ASUS will have
month, there were even strong indications that the new Atom shipped an estimated 4.6-4.8 netbooks, and is expected to ship
chips won't make it before Christmas. A fresh report, however, 4-4.2 in 2012. Acer's volumes will be similar to ASUS', sources
comes brings back some hope for a December 2011 launch. note.
Faced with increasingly tough competition from ARM-
powered tablets, mediocre Q3 2011 sales (-32% YoY), and
other difficulties, launch of 32 nm "Cedar Tail-M" Atom
processors has so far been a troubled affair. At one point this Australian court overturns
month, there were even strong indications that the new Atom
chips won't make it before Christmas. A fresh report, however, Samsung Galaxy Tab ban
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/australian-court-overturns-samsung-
comes brings back some hope for a December 2011 launch.
galaxy-tab-ban/14097.html
Intel's Atom N2800 and N2600 processors designed for December 1st, 2011
netbooks and ultraportable mobile PCs might still be launched
by Intel in December 2011, according to a recent report by
DigiTimes. Sources told the industry observer that any delays
in the launch of the new chips could have only been because
of weak demand for Atom processors and chipsets, since
the target platforms of these chips are reeling with intense
competition from tablets and other mobile computing devices
running ARM processors. An Australian court has overturned a preliminary injunction
that banned the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab in the country,
but Apple has indicated that it will appeal the decision, which
could lead to further difficulties for Samsung.
An Australian court has overturned a ruling that banned the
sale of Samsung's Galaxy Tab in the country, giving the Korean
consumer electronics giant some relief in a hotly contested
patent battle.
The Federal Court ruling said that there was little evidence
to suggest that Samsung's tablet computer infringed a
touchscreen patent that Apple had secured a preliminary
injunction on.
12

13. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The court went further by dismissing the original ruling as
“clearly wrong”, according to a report by the Associated Press. Berg Little Printer prints in a
The full bench argued against Federal Court Justice Annabelle big way
Bennett's October ruling, stating that she failed to properly Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/berg-little-printer-prints-in-a-big-
assess Apple's case, which the court now believes would be way/14095.html
unlikely to win if the matter went to trial. December 1st, 2011
Berg Little Printer doesn't produce a whole lot of photographic
prints in a minute, but it can bring concise news to you by your
bedside, along with some social gossips, if you want. Check out
how this small box can pack a big surprise.
Bennett's preliminary ruling banned the sale of the 10.1-inch
version of the Galaxy Tab, based on Apple's long-standing
claims that it “slavishly copied” its design for the iPad. Berg, a design studio based in London, has recently unveiled
a new printer. No, it is not your typical consumer fare that
shows off its infinitely dense dots-per-inch rating or its ultra-
Today's decision comes just in time for the lucrative Christmas fast print speeds for the fast-paced and impatient workforce.
shopping season, which Samsung will be keen to take The Berg Little Printer is a lifestyle product which may attract
advantage of. people with its fun and personal take on printed matters. No
bigger than a Rubik's cube, it serves up your daily subscription
of various contents such as news, puzzles, social updates,
However, Apple said that it will appeal the ruling at the messages sent from friends, and much more, with the press
Australian High Court, so the injunction will remain standing of a button. All of them will be neatly styled into receipt-sized
until Friday to allow time for that to take place. prints. Management of the subscription can be carried out
easily with its included smartphone app, while contents are
distributed to the printer via wireless connection and Cloud
The Galaxy Tab is largely seen as the primary competitor technology.
to the iPad, leading some, including the European Union's
Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia, to question The printer itself comes in a minimalist package bearing
the potentially anti-competitive nature of these kinds of urban-style design, a rising trend in design-oriented
injunctions, which have also resulted in a sales ban of the communities. Inside, an inkless thermal printer head does
Galaxy Tab in Germany. the work and takes away the need to replace cartridges. The
prints produced take after the style of graphic design which
includes “visual cues from traditional halftone lithography
Samsung indicated that it was happy with this latest turn of and modern pixel art”. Berg’s product does seem like an
events, claiming that it proves Apple's case lacked any legal elegant marriage of advanced technology and modern styling
merit. primarily motivated by human intuition. While it may not be
the thing for every geek out there, it is likely to have a fair
amount of market appeal, especially to ladies. Unfortunately,
pricing and availability details have yet to be revealed, but you
can sign up on their mailing list to get the latest updates.
13

14. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Intel delays Ivy Bridge to Q2
2012
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-delays-ivy-bridge-to-
q2-2012/14088.html
December 1st, 2011
Few months ago, rumors due to process problems appeared
that Intel is going to delay the launch of their 22nm Ivy Bridge
processors from January to March 2012. Ultimately, even the
rumors of that March delay came untrue: Intel pushed the Furthermore, the platform just needed development time
launch into the second quarter of 2012. to complete the complete 2012 platform (Maho Bay) and
Intel processors for 2012 carry the codename Ivy Bridge. These processor (Ivy Bridge). This wasn't helped by a wave of and
22nm processors will be known as the 3000 series, for example process problems and retirements that recently started to
Core i3-3200, i5-3330 or the i7-3770 (regular and K, S, T happen at Intel, as the original baby boomers (joined Intel in
editions). The clock speeds will vary from 3 to 3.5GHz, while 1970 and 1980s) are beginning to leave the company.
the models now officially support the prevailing DDR3-1600 Additionally, the company needs time to develop drivers for
memory standard. the graphics part. After all is said and done, the new Ivy
Bridge processors should debut in April-May 2012 timeframe
alongside Maho Bay platform i.e. B75, Q75 and Q77 chipsets.
Android Ice Cream Sandwich
coming to LG phones
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/android-ice-cream-sandwich-coming-
to-lg-phones/14087.html
December 1st, 2011
The parts were scheduled to debut in January 2012, but as LG has promised updates of Android Ice Cream Sandwich to
the time passed by, Intel wanted to extract as much money as their top-tier phones, but will they fail to meet the mark again
possible from the existing Sugar Bay platform and the Sandy as they had with Android Gingerbread? Read on to find out
Bridge architecture, with both bringing record profits for the which of your phones will be blessed with the new OS.
company. Bear in mind that Sandy Bridge lost almost a quarter
after the infamous chipset recall at the beginning of 2011. Intel
marked a billion dollar loss with the recall costs and obviously
decided to milk the existing products for as long as possible.
The fact that AMD's Bulldozer processors failed to light up
the market only increased that reason. Ivy Bridge will come to
market only when necessary to do so.
A good number of smartphones from the LG Optimus series
released in 2011 have been promised upgrades to Android 4.0
14

15. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). The release dates of the updates noise-canceling headphones that reduce ambient noise and
are not known yet, but the Korean company has said that they comes with a detachable cable with in-line microphone
will unveil their upgrade schedule by December, along with a for voice communication on the iPhone. The concealed
list of additional phones that will be receiving the new OS. microphones in the ear-cups pick up surrounding noises and
these are electronically negated, effectively reducing the noise
Amongst the family of Android elite models, it was mentioned
by up to 85%. With the absence of unwanted sound, the finely-
that the Optimus 2X, Optimus Black, Optimus 3D and the
tuned 40mm Neodymium drivers offers great details of music
Optimus LTE will be graced by the highly anticipated software
or entertainment. The Creative HN-900's audio cable also
from Google. LG will also follow up with updates for as
comes with an in-line microphone and switch for a convenient
many phones as they can, which is good news for owners of
one-click call function for voice communication on the iPhone.
older phones. LG’s Facebook page mentions: “We are also
If the headphones run out of battery power, they can still
continuing to evaluate the ICS OS to determine whether it is
be used in the passive mode without the noise-cancellation
compatible with the functionality, features and performance
function.
of other LG smartphones to make the ICS OS available on as
many LG smartphones as possible.” The Creative HN-900 noise-canceling headphones are
currently available at the Creative online store at
These are big promises to be kept, as the owner responses
sg.store.creative.com and The CREATIVE Stores outlets at
following the annoncement show that previous update cycles
International Business Park, Marina Square and authorised
of Android Gingerbread for many of their phones are either
dealers in Singapore from end Nov 2011 onwards at the
slow or lacking. Hopefully, LG would take this opportunity to
suggested retail price of S$129.
fulfil their promises and regain more customer confidence.
Celebrate Christmas with
Creative announces HN-900 Limited Edition SOUL
headphones with active noise- by Ludacris SL-150CS
canceling for clear voice calls headphones
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/creative-announces-hn-900- Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/celebrate-christmas-with-limited-
headphones-with-active-noise-canceling-for-clear-voice-calls/14094.html edition-soul-by-ludacris-sl-150cs-headphones/14093.html
December 1st, 2011 December 1st, 2011
Looking for a new headphones this festive season? Check out
Creative Technology has recently announced their new the limited edition SOUL by Ludacris SL-150CS headphones
HN-900 headphones with active noise-canceling technology in chrome finish.
and full-size ear-cups that can reduce ambient noise by up
to 85%, offering superb audip experience anc clear voice
communications.
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, the person behind the brand "SOUL
by Ludacris" personal audio products, together with his
design team, has created a Limited Edition of the SL-150CS
headphone in chrome.
Creative Technology has recently announced the new Creative This beautiful SL-150CS headphone comes with two different
HN-900 noise-canceling headphones, a set of full-size active detachable 3.5mm headphone cables. The standard 3.5mm
15

16. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
headphone cable with two ring sleeves allows the user to use the primary graphics interface. Results will be comparable
the SL-150CS as a stereophonic headphone for audio playback, through Futuremark's ORB database.
compatible with all 3.5mm jack audio devices. The additional
in-line 3.5mm headphone cable with three ring sleeves comes
with a built-in remote control and microphone, and allows the Seagate announces second-
user to enjoy heart-thumping stereophonic bass to his or her
favorite music and audio tracks, while providing the capability
gen Momentus XT
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/seagate-announces-second-gen-
to answer phone calls on Apple iOS devices such as iPhone,
momentus-xt/14092.html
iPad and iPod as well. The SL-150CS is a headphone that folds
December 1st, 2011
down easily, and comes with a semi-rigid pouch for portability
and protection.
3DMark 2012: Android devices
invade a Windows world
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/3dmark-2012-android-devices-invade- For Seagate's sake we hope that the second time is the charm,
a-windows-world/14089.html as its first generation of Momentus XT hard drives with a
December 1st, 2011 small SLC SSD cache didn't exactly take the world by storm.
Currently the new Momentus XT is only available in a single
size of 750GB, plus 8GB of SLC NAND flash of course,
although the real change is actually the software part and here
Following on the footsteps of the recently announced Seagate has spent a lot of time optimizing things.
"3DMark for Windows 8" benchmark, Futuremark has
revealed that the company is developing a new 3D benchmark
called "3DMark for Android". You've guessed it right, For Seagate's sake we hope that the second time is the charm,
Futuremark is developing one 3D benchmark to rule them all. as its first generation of Momentus XT hard drives with a
small SLC SSD cache didn't exactly take the world by storm.
We have received press release stating that Futuremark
Currently the new Momentus XT is only available in a single
Corporation is announcing the foundation of its Benchmark
size of 750GB, plus 8GB of SLC NAND flash of course,
Development Program for tablets powered by Android
although the real change is actually the software part and here
operating system.
Seagate has spent a lot of time optimizing things.
The first product coming out of that BDP is a next-generation
Seagate claims that the new Momentus XT is close to 70
benchmark "3DMark for Android" (working title), with the
percent faster than its predecessor and up to three times faster
goal of becoming an industry standard gaming benchmark for
than a comparable hard drive of the same size. That said, at
tablets. With this announcement, its official that the targeted
the moment the caching only applies to read performance and
platforms for 3DMark 2012 are both Android 4 tablets and
even in this case only under ideal scenarios where the SSD part
Windows 8 devices - an interesting prospect.
of the drive has a chance to cache the data. Even so it's no
Futuremark wants to attract "companies involved in the slouch compared to other mechanical drives, although it's no
manufacture of Android powered devices are invited to join match for an SSD. For a few benchmarks of the Momentus XT,
Futuremark's Benchmark Development Program to play a head over to StorageReview.com.
critical role in the development of 3DMark for Android, from
initial specification to final delivery."
Jukka Mäkinen, CEO of Futuremark said, "in 2012 we will
bring 3DMark to the Android platform with a professional
grade benchmark that can be trusted by manufacturers,
suppliers and vendors to provide the definitive measure of
gaming performance on Android while showcasing the very
best in real-time graphics and effects."
We also caught up with Oliver Baltuch, President of
Futuremark about the promised result compatibility between
the two. While the benchmark development is in very
early stages, the company wants to have comparable results
between the two platforms and in about a year from now,
the traditional "AMD vs. Intel" or "AMD vs. NVIDIA" debates
might take a backseat to "3DMark Android 4 vs. 3DMark
Windows 8".
The benchmark will measure gaming performance using CPU,
GPU rendering and physics tests, using OpenGL ES API as
16

17. December 1st, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The Momentus XT does have one upside compared to most
SSD caching solutions, it's platform agnostic thanks to all
the software being stored in the drive firmware. Apparently
Seagate will be offering future upgrades for the Momentus XT
that will allow for write caching as well, although 8GB of flash
is still a fairly small amount even compared to Intel's Smart
Response which requires a minimum of 18GB of SSD storage
space. Beyond all this, the current price point is all wrong, as
Seagate is asking for US$245 (S$320) for the Momentus XT,
money that would easily buy you a fast 120GB SSD these days.
Ok, so there's a trade off in terms of storage space, but overall
you'll get vastly better performance.
17

18. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
VR-Zone.com | Stuff for the Geeks!
VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication
covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.
Australians use Facebook in
the bathroom, in church, and
during sex
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/australians-use-facebook-in-the-
bathroom-in-church-and-during-sex/14154.html
December 6th, 2011
Australians use Facebook during some of the most intimate
moments of life, according to a recent survey, suggesting that
social networking is becoming a growing obsession.
Australians use Facebook and other social networks while in
the bathroom, in church, and during sex, according to a recent
survey, suggesting that social networking is an obsession for Somehwat surprisingly, however, 21.5 percent of people use
some. social networks while in the bathroom, which might make you
think twice about borrowing someone's phone to make a call.
Social media marketing firm Tick Yes conducted the survey
of close to 900 people and found out some surprising things Even more shocking is that 3.2 percent log onto Facebook,
about people's online habits. Twitter and other social networks in a place of worship, such
as a church, synagogue or mosque. This will probably be the
next big faux pas instead of snoring during a sermon.
We all know that people check social networks at work, and
this was confirmed in the report, with 51.6 percent logging on
during office hours. And finally 2.8 percent of those asked said they used social
networks while having sex. Out of those, nearly two thirds were
men. We can only imagine what they were tweeting about.
41.9 per cent check status updates and tweets while watching
TV, which is probably driving television advertisers crazy.
It is not surprising then that 4.9 percent admitted that they
were addicted to social media. We expect the real number is
33.8 percent use social media while in bed and 23.3 per cent
probably much higher than that.
use it during meals. We might also see the shopping lists of
14.8 per cent of people, who might be better off browsing price
comparison websites instead. “The survey confirms a number of things,” said Peter
Applebaum, managing director of Tick Yes. “We weren’t
surprised that Facebook is far and away the most popular
social media site, nor that almost half of those surveyed said
that their social media usage has increased in the last year.
But what did raise a few eyebrows is the extent to which
Australians will stop what they’re doing – however enjoyable
it may be – to respond to a tweet or post or update.”
1

19. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
$10 billion factory in South Korea. It hopes to have its Chinese
plant open by 2013.
Source: Press Release
Image Credit: Wiki Commons
Samsung to build Flash Bose announces SoundLink
memory chip factory in China Wireless Mobile speaker in
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-to-build-flash-memory-chip- Singapore
factory-in-china/14153.html Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/bose-announces-soundlink-wireless-
December 6th, 2011 mobile-speaker-in-singapore/14149.html
December 6th, 2011
Samsung has revealed plans to build a Flash memory chip
factory in China as the lucrative smartphone and tablet
computer markets continue to grow.
Samsung has revealed plans to build a Flash memory chip Bose and Atlast Sound & Vision, Singapore's premium audio
factory in China as the smartphone and tablet computer visual retailer and distributor, have launched the SoundLink
markets continue to grow. Wireless Mobile speaker in Singapore. The SoundLink
The Korean electronics giant will spend upwards of 5 trillion Wireless Mobile speaker Bluetooth speaker that claims to offer
won ($4.5 billion) on the new plant, which will produce 20nm superb audio performance, mobility and durability in a
Flash memory chips. The exact location of the facility has yet compact form factor.
to be decided.
The move signals a vote of confidence in the Chinese market,
which many see as an increasingly pivotal region for electronic
goods. Samsung is already investing in China with plans to
build a factory that will produce flat-screen TVs, one of its
strongest industries.
The plans will need to be approved by the South Korean
government, which monitors foreign investment made by
Korean firms. However, it appears likely that it will be given
the go-ahead.
Samsung is a major player in the memory market, producing
Flash chips for a number of portable devices, including Apple's
highly successful iPhone and iPad ranges. The expansion into
China will help secure deals with Huawei and ZTE, both of
which are increasing tablet and smartphone output.
Samsung has also increased chip production at its other plants,
including its only foreign facility in Austin, Texas, and a new
2

20. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
With the Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile speaker, According to Dr. Michael Tien, CEO of Atlas Sound & Vision,
you can connect wirelessly with your Bluetooth-enabled introduced the Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile speaker and
smartphone, tablet or other devices and stream music at said that the Bluetooth connectivity works even up to 10m
the touch of a button. It measures two-inches thick, and away. "There are three key benefits that Bose has focused on
can fit easily in your bag or briefcase. It is equipped with and put their effort to, on the SoundLink Wireless Mobile
a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery that provides power for speaker. First, it's quality sound to enjoy your music wherever
more than three hours at high volume, and more than eight you go; second is spontaneous mobility to take your music
hours at typical listening levels. anywhere and easy to set up; and third is elegant durability
whereby it looks great, works well and lasts for a long time,"
It has an integrated cover that unfolds easily into a stand
Tien said.
for instant setup, and once opened, the system is ready to be
played. Close the cover and the system shuts off automatically.
At the top are buttons including volume controls, mute,
Bluetooth (for pairing), Aux and power. The Bose SoundLink
Patent Wars: HTC phones to
Wireless Mobile speaker also comes with Auxiliary input, face ban in USA?
micro USB port for firmware upgrades and power connector. Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/patent-wars-htc-phones-to-face-ban-
in-usa-/14150.html
The Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile speaker with the
December 6th, 2011
standard trim level and dark gray Cordura nylon cover is
selling at S$549, while the LX model with a premium trim level
and a dark brown leather cover is retailing at S$639. Accessory
covers in nylon (bright red or royal purple) and leather
(burgundy or tan) are available separately at S$59 and S$99
though the color options are not available yet at press time.
The SoundLink Wireless Mobile speaker can be purchased
from selected partners and the Atlas Experience Audio Visual HTC smartphones may soon be barred from being imported
Boutique @ TripleOne Somerset, and Bose @ Millenia Walk. into the US due to a patent infringement dispute with Apple.
For more information, go to www.bose.com or www.atlas- This is a big problem for the Taiwanese based handset maker
experience.com and will send shockwaves throughout the entire Android
ecosystem.
The patent war between electronics giants Samsung and Apple
have dominated headlines for quite a while now, but it seems
that a new development might cause a big impact to the entire
Android ecosystem - Taiwanese handset maker HTC may face
a import ban in the US market due to technologies which
infringe on Apple’s patents.
Specifically, the said patent states of a “system and method
for performing an action on a structure in computer-generated
data”. An example is the ability to search and highlight a
contact number on a website which is opened from the web
browser of the mobile device, which can then be followed by a
tap to make a phone call to that number.
3

21. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Another infringement details a “real-time signal processing to the moon, where it will utilize Martin's patterns running on
system for serially transmitted data”, which is frankly, all NVIDIA Tegra 3 hardware.
encompassing in modern day tele-communications. There is still a lot of work to be done, but seems like NVIDIA-
If the ban is passed by a six-member panel at the International powered hardware just might win the $30 million prize.
Trade Commission in Washington next week, HTC will take a
big beating of its holiday sales, which will hit the company’s
market share. Apple iTV in three sizes
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-itv-in-three-sizes/14140.html
The rest of the (Android) industry can only hope for a major
December 6th, 2011
patent reform movement by the Obama administration soon...
NVIDIA Goes to the Moon with
CUDA and Tegra 3
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-goes-to-the-moon-with-cuda-
and-tegra-3/14146.html With a long trail of speculations following the possible
December 6th, 2011 emergence of an Apple branded television, a new insider
infomation suggests that it will come in three sizes, including
a 32-inch and 55-inch model. Will this be enough to go head-
to-head against Microsoft's recent television-oriented updates
for Xbox 360?
Semiconductor products are used on numerous scientific and
military projects. However, this is the story we just had
to share with you. NVIDIA Tegra 3 is heading where no
contemporary semiconductor chip has gone before - to the
Moon.
While there is a lot of discussion on forums what manufacturer
does what, regardless of if we talk about cars or soccer teams,
there is no denying that sometimes, something magical is
happening with the semiconductor products.
A privateer team called Synergy Moon is getting ready for their
entrance for the Google Lunar X-Prize challenge, a $30 million
competition of privateer teams who are working on launching
a rocket into space putting human crew in an orbiter around
Earth. This is followed by a sending a rover to land on the
Moon.
An insider report originating from Japan suggests that Apple
will be producing three sizes for the Apple iTV, which includes
a 32-inch and 55-inch model. Much of the speculations
are aligned with another separate piece of unconfirmed
information that Japanese electronics maker Sharp is now in
charge of making LCD screens for Apple. It is also possible that
they will introduce their IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide)
In order to develop the lunar rover, Team Synergy Moon screen eventually, which is capable of competing against
was joined by Martin Peniak, young scientist famous for his OLED screen technology.
work on the Mars Rover Simulator developed in conjunction
with ESA (European Space Agency). Impressed with an article With the existence of Siri as a viable candidate for the Apple
about neural network using NVIDIA's GPU acceleration, iTV's primary input interface, it is easy to see how the pieces
Martin selected CUDA to be the base of all future work. of the puzzle are nearly complete for it to come forth and
dominate living room spaces. Rumours are still rumours,
One of his projects is the Tesla Lunar Rover and Tesla however, as it is not the first time that Apple had revealed a
Surveyor, both of which are going to utilize multiple Tegra product that is different to what the associated speculations
systems to achieve autonomy of movement while had suggested. The truth will be revealed next year as it is said
Currently, the launch is scheduled for December of next year, that the Apple iTV will go on sales then.
consisted out of Earth orbiter inhabited by astronauts such Looks like the flames of another television war is about to
as team leader Mr. Miroslav Ambrus-Kis and documentary be fuelled, just when we thought the platform was becoming
producer Nebojsa Stanojevic, while the autonomous Lander obsolete.
packing several Lunar Rover will be launched from the orbiter
4

22. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Intel's mobile Ivy Bridge CPU
line-up revealed
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-s-mobile-ivy-bridge-cpu-line-up-
revealed/14148.html
December 6th, 2011
We've already seen what Intel has for us as far as desktop
systems are concerned for most of 2012, Ivy Bridge-E not being
part of that roadmap, but what about the mobile market space?
Well, we have plenty of details for you with regards to what
Intel has in store, ranging from high-end Extreme Edition
models to new Ultrabook processors. So what about the CPUs? Well, Intel is planning a wide range
of new models and starting at the top we have the 2.9GHz quad
core Core i7-3920XM, a part which is 200MHz faster than the
We've already seen what Intel has for us as far as desktop current Core i7-2960XM, although the top turbo frequency is
systems are concerned for most of 2012, Ivy Bridge-E not being only 100MHz higher. Not much else appears to have changed,
part of that roadmap, but what about the mobile market space? although the IGP is now of course based on the new Intel HD
Well, we have plenty of details for you with regards to what Graphics 4000 architecture.
Intel has in store, ranging from high-end Extreme Edition
models to new Ultrabook processors.
Let's start with a brief overview and then go into more details.
As with the current mobile product range, Intel will offer
standard Voltage CPUs and low power models, although at
least for the time being it appears that the company has killed
its line of Low Voltage or LV processors that were rated at
25W and instead we'll only see Ultra Low Voltage or ULV
processors rated at 17W, now simply known as Ultra or U-
series processors. The standard Voltage processors will be the
M-series from now on and will come with 35, 45 and 55W TDP.
Do remember that Intel now offers programmable TDP on its
mobile CPUs and this is likely part of the reason as to why Intel
has killed of the 25W TDP models.
Dropping down one step we have two more quad cores, the
2.7GHz Core i7-3820QM and the 2.6GHz Core i7-3720QM,
both models have been given a decent clock speed bump
compared to the fastest Sandy Bridge quad cores and a
400MHz increase compared to the Sandy Bridge launch
models. As with Sandy Bridge there's also a dual core Core i7,
namely the Core i7-3520M which is a 2.9GHz.
When it comes to the Chief River platform we're moving from
three to four consumer chipsets with some new peculiarities
kudos to Intel and its product differentiation schemes. There
are three main chipsets now, the HM75, the HM76 and
the HM77, with the UM77 being specifically for low power
notebooks. The HM75 and HM76 are nearly identical, the
big difference being the HM75 lacking USB 3.0 support, an
omission we don't really understand as it's integrated into the
chipset. The HM77 gains RAID support – something neither of
the two lesser models offer – as well as Smart Response and for
some reason support for two extra USB 2.0 ports. The UM77 is
fairly similar to the HM77, except it only has four SATA ports
of which only one is SATA 6Gbps and it drops four PCI Express
lanes and four USB 2.0 ports. That takes us to a pair of Core i5's, the 3360M and the 3320M
clocked at 2.8 and 2.6GHz respectively, not a huge step up
from the current Core i5 models. What should be pointed out
is that all the dual cores now support DDR3 memory speeds
5

23. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
of 1600MHz; something that isn't the case for Sandy Bridge info coming on the Chief River platform, so stay tuned if you're
based mobile CPUs. It's also interesting to note that all the planning on getting a new notebook next year.
mobile processors so far have higher max graphics clocks than
their desktop equivalents.
LG announces the X-Note
Z330 in Korea
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lg-announces-the-x-note-z330-in-
korea/14147.html
December 6th, 2011
LG Electronics has joined the Ultrabook crowd – if you can call
a handful of companies a crowd that is – with its X-Note Z330
which appears to be limited to the Korean market for now. At
first glance LG's X-Note Z330 could easily be mistaken for an
Asus Zenbook, as the general design is quite similar, but not
It looks like Intel will only offer two U-series CPUs at launch, identical.
the 2GHz Core i7-3667U and the 1.8GHz Core i5-3427U. The
core i7 model will turbo to 3GHz in dual core mode and 3.2GHz
in single core mode whereas the Core i5 will top out at 2.6GHz LG Electronics has joined the Ultrabook crowd – if you can call
in dual core mode and 2.8GHz in single core mode. Both a handful of companies a crowd that is – with its X-Note Z330
models feature a base GPU clock of a mere 350MHz, but it will which appears to be limited to the Korean market for now. At
go all the way to 1150MHz. Note that the Low Voltage CPUs first glance LG's X-Note Z330 could easily be mistaken for an
are missing from Q2'12 as Intel no longer produces any CPUs Asus Zenbook, as the general design is quite similar, but not
in this range. identical.
While we're talking about graphics, as with the desktop Ivy
Bridge processors, the mobile processors also support up to
three independent displays, although one of these will be
the built in display in the notebook, but hopefully we'll see
notebooks with a DisplayPort connector as standard come
next year.
As you've noticed there's nary a mention of lower-end Core
i3 and Pentium processors and the reason for this is simple, The Z330 has a very similar brushed aluminium finish to the
they weren't included in the roadmaps we've seen. As for the Zenbooks, although in LG's case the finish extends out from
Celerons, well Intel is keeping Sandy Bridge here, but we'll see the top corner with the rings spreading from the corner out,
a couple of faster SKUs come early next year, at least in the rather than from the middle out as per Asus' Zenbooks. As with
ultra-low power segment with the introduction of the dual core most Ultrabooks the Z330 is a wedge shape and this means
Celeron 867 which is a 1.3GHz part, but otherwise identical to LG has the same limitations as everyone else in terms of ports,
the current Celeron 857 as well as the single core 797 which is a although we're not entirely sold by LG's combination here, as
1.4GHz part which is otherwise identical to the current Celeron you get a single USB 2.0 port, a single USB 3.0 port, an HDMI
787. port, a combined headphone/mic jack and a micro SD card
As for a tentative launch date we're hearing May for the mobile slot, not exactly an ideal range of options.
platform and as you can see from the slides, this is also what
all but the quad cores are being earmarked for. We're not quite
sure why the quad cores are listed as being available in April,
but it's possible that Intel is doing a staggered launch which
the high-end models being pushed out earlier. We've got some
6

24. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Head of RIM Indonesia
faces possible jail time over
promotion stampede
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/head-of-rim-indonesia-faces-possible-
jail-time-over-promotion-stampede/14145.html
December 6th, 2011
The head of Research In Motion (RIM) in Indonesia faces
possible jail time after a BlackBerry promotion turned into a
That said, LG has also managed to cram 802.11b/g/n Wi- disastrous stampede that left many people injured.
Fi (although sadly only at 150Mbps) with WiDi support and The head of Research In Motion (RIM) in Indonesia faces
Bluetooth 3.0 + HS into the Z330. As the name implies the possible jail time after a BlackBerry promotion turned into a
Z330 has a 13.3-inch screen, although it sports the typical disastrous stampede that left many people injured.
1366x768 notebook resolution unlike Asus' 13-inch Zenbook
which has a 1600x900 resolution display. LG claims to have Andrew Cobham, president director for RIM Indonesia, has
slimmed down the screen bezel to a mere 8mm and as such the been named a suspect for negligence by the Indonesian police,
company claims the Z330 is the size of a 12-inch notebook. LG and he could face up to five years in prison if found guilty.
has managed to get the weight down to a mere 1.21kg, that's
90g lighter than Asus' 13-inch Zenbook.
The move follows a promotion in Jakarta just over a week ago
where the first 1,000 customers of the new BlackBerry Bold
9790 would get the device at half price. 5,000 people showed
up in hopes to grab a bargain, but most were left waiting
for hours, some overnight, as RIM struggled to cope with the
numbers.
There will be two SKUs of the Z330 both featuring 4GB of
RAM, where the first one comes with a Core i5-2456M (1.6GHz
with turbo to 2.3GHz) and a 120GB SATA 6Gbps SSD and
the second one with a Core i7-2637M (1.7GHz with turbo to
2.8GHz) and a 256GB SATA 6Gbps SSD. LG claims a sub 10
second boot time for either model running Windows 7 Home
Premium 64-bit. Cost wise the Z330 is expected to retail for
1.7million Won (S$1,936) for the Core i5 model, with the Core Eventually frustration turned to anger and a stampede broke
i7 model coming in at 2.6million Won (S$2,962) making it out, resulting in many people being crushed and trampled by
one of the most expensive Ultrabooks out there. Check out the the advancing crowd. Over 40 people were injured and 20 were
video below for some additional details. knocked unconscious, making it one of the most disastrous
product launches in history.
Unprintable Content (Video, Flash, etc.)
Cobham is only one of a number of suspects, including security
consultant Terry Burkey and two unnamed individuals, all of
7

25. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
whom have not yet been detained, but are not permitted to
leave the country and are required to report to the police on a The internet firms were reluctant to comment on the issue,
regular basis. but indicated that they would follow any laws on the subject,
but could not decide on what is or is not legal to post online.
This suggests that they are staunchly against the idea of
The idea that RIM might have been negligent in this case
monitoring content and would rather remove illegal material
comes from the belief that it ignored proper safety protocols,
when complaints are made, as is currently the case.
a matter that even the Indonesian government expressed
concern over before the promotion went ahead.
India has been stepping up efforts this year to monitor and
control the transmission of data online, with new rules for
ISPs that require them to delete offensive material, and a plan
India wants Google, Microsoft, for a government-run monitoring unit for websites and social
Yahoo and Facebook to censor networks. The country also tightened controls last year on
encrypted calls and messages over phone networks like that
internet supplied by RIM's Blackberry.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/india-wants-google-microsoft-yahoo-
and-facebook-to-censor-internet/14144.html
December 6th, 2011 This level of censorship has given the country a negative image
abroad, particularly considering the complaints focus on
comments made about political figures, which raises questions
about the possible violation of the right to free speech.
India wants search engine and social networking firms to
censor the internet, claiming that it is “unacceptable” that
offensive content is allowed to remain on their websites.
India wants search engine and social networking firms to
AOC and DisplayLink launch
censor the internet, claiming that it is “unacceptable” that 15.6-inch portable monitor
offensive content is allowed to remain on their websites. Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/aoc-and-displaylink-launch-15.6-inch-
India's acting minister of telecommunications, Kapil Sibal, is portable-monitor/14142.html
meeting officials from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook December 6th, 2011
today to discuss the proposed censorship.
Sibal cited examples where political leaders were, in his view,
unfairly maligned by people online, and he asked that Google
and the others properly monitor what is posted online.
AOC and DisplayLink have launched a 15.6-inch USB 2.0
portable monitor, designed to help anyone running multiple
The monitoring suggestions go so far as to include special applications on their PC or laptop.
people with the responsibility to approve or reject content
before it goes online, instead of the existing monitoring AOC and DisplayLink have launched a 15.6-inch USB 2.0
technology already in place, which Sibal clearly believes is portable monitor, designed to help anyone running multiple
failing to do the job. applications on their PC or laptop.
The monitor, codenamed e1649fwu, employs a DL-125 chip
supplied by DisplayLink and display technology by AOC.
The screen has a maxmum resolution of 1366x768 at 60Hz.
It does not need to be plugged into a mains, as it is powered
directly through the USB port, which means it can feed off a
laptop's battery power when out and about.
8

26. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Notebooks with AMD Radeon
HD 7600M Listed
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/notebooks-with-amd-radeon-
hd-7600m-listed/14141.html
December 6th, 2011
The first 28nm GPUs have been listed by HP and Asus, to
feature in their upcoming notebooks. The listed GPUs are
Radeon HD 7670 and Radeon HD 7690 - both based on the
Thames XT chip. HP has also listed drivers for Radeon HD
7470 on their website, on the eve of the London media event
for AMD's London series of Radeon HD 7000M GPUs.
The monitor is also very light at just over two pounds, making
it not much heavier than a typical tablet computer. It also looks The Thames XT chip features 128-bit GDDR5 memory.
very similar to an iPad or Galaxy Tab, with a sleek design and a PCGamesHardware suggests it utilizes the VLIW-4
fold out and rotatable stand that makes it operate like a picture architecture, while other rumours point to a GCN based
frame. London series. HP Envy 17-3030ew features Radeon HD
7690M with 1GB GDDR5, working with a Core i7 Sandy Bridge
based quad-core CPU. The Asus X53TK-SX058V is a more
The monitor can be used in both landscape and portrait forms, budget oriented notebook, featuring Radeon HD 7670M in
with the image adjusting to the orientation of the device thanks addition to a Llano APU.
to a built-in accelerometer. AMD is expected to officially announce the London - branded
Radeon HD 7000M - series today at a media event in London.
All evidence point to the London series to be the first 28nm
GPUs to launch, and also sets the scene for their desktop
counterparts - Southern Islands - in early 2012.
Xbox 360 updates will focus
on TV
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/xbox-360-updates-will-focus-on-
tv/14139.html
December 6th, 2011
The display will work on most operating systems, including
XP, Vista, Windows 7, OSX Tiger, Leopard and Lion, and many
The new Microsoft Xbox 360 update is yet another step
versions of Linux. It should be a simple case of plug and play.
towards the company's vision of an integrated entertainment
solution. Now, the Xbox Kinect lets you control your television
“With DisplayLink technology, AOC was able to rapidly bring with voice and gesture too. A slew of new content providers
to market this productivity-enhancing, versatile monitor for will bring a new lease of life to the aging system.
both mobile professionals and the home office user,” said
Robert Velez, head of marketing at AOC. “The market for
extended displays is growing rapidly, and this offering with its
low power consumption, cord-independence and value price
makes multi-screen computing more practical than ever.”
Currently the monitor is only available in the US, with a price
tag of $139.
9

27. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Microsoft has announced the much anticipated update to
their Xbox 360 dashboard interface which allows users to
use voice commands and evoke actions such as ‘pause’ or
‘play’ on the television, as well as voice search on the
Internet for relevant videos, music, and games, amongst other
content. The upgrade also enables gesture control which
allows scrolling across options with the wave of the hand.
These new capabilities come with refreshing visual layout,
inspired by Windows Phone.
With a new range of 40 over content providers supporting
Xbox 360 such as online movie rental portal LOVEFiLM and
Internet television Sky Go, consumers will find it hard to be
at a lack of entertainment options despite the ommision of
live television. Microsoft says: “a new technological era in live
TV in the home where the user becomes the remote control
through voice and gesture control”, and added that “the new
software update will create the biggest interactive TV service
in the world”.
The Plantronics Marque M155 claims to be the company's
Plantronics launches Marque smallest headset ever and offers superior audio quality for
hands-free calls. Available in Jet Black and Artic White,
M155 headset in Singapore the Marque M155 weighs just 7g and is compatible with
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/plantronics-launches-marque-m155- both iPhone and Android smartphones. It boasts a talk time
headset-in-singapore/14138.html of up to five hours, standby time of up to nine days and
December 6th, 2011 features Bluetooth 3.0 wireless for pairing with your phone.
This afternoon, Plantronics has announced the launch of the
Marque M155 in Singapore. Designed for iPhone and Android
smartphones, the compact headset offers voice-guided pairing
as well as voice recognition for answering or ignoring calls
hands-free.
10

28. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
and seamless experience. "Smartphones have now become the
de facto standard when you buy a headset communication
device. The message behind the Marque M155 is - just as we are
being introduced the technology in a certain way, and because
you need to look at the phone in order to retrieve information
required, you need a way to enable your smartphone to get
hands-free. So that you can communicate via voice while still
being able to refer to your smartphone. And there is no way to
do it without using an external audio device" Kiew said.
A fact you may not know about Plantronics: The words spoken
by U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong as he stepped on the moon
were transmitted through a Plantronics headset.
Tablet to help elderly
The Plantronics Marque M155 recharges via a micro USB remember the pills, and more
connector at the top, while on the sides are the power switch Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/tablet-to-help-elderly-remember-the-
and volume/mute button. On the front is the call button pills-and-more/14132.html
whereby you can take a call with either a tap, or say "Answer"; December 6th, 2011
reject call with a one second press, or say "Ignore"; redial with
two taps; initiate phone's voice dialing with two-second press;
and even reconnect lost Bluetooth connection with a tap if the
headset cannot automatically reconnect.
According to the company, there are also various apps
Good news for the elderly and memory-challenged has arrived
available on Android Market and Apple App Store, which do
in the form of the Memo Touch tablet, a repackaged version
sound checks, familiarize you with added functionality of the
of Archos 101. The new tablet allows family members to assist
headset including streaming of music etc. The Plantronics
and guide their elderly family members across the day with
Marque M155 will be available from mid December at S$119
reminders and daily task updates from the Internet.
at Apple Stores (EpiCentre, iStudio, Infinite, Juzz1, Macshop,
Nubox), Challenger, Harvey Norman (Funan, Millennia Walk,
Suntec City), Newstead, Sprint-Cass (Changi International
Airport T1, T2, T3), Stereo (ION, Plaza Singapura, Causeway
Point), Funan DigitalLife Mall (AAAs Com, DIGIVUE,
Inforcom Technologies, PK Computers, South Asia) and Sim
Lim Square (AAAs Com, idt Gallery, Million Mobile, Million
Tech, Song Brothers, Vision 1).
We’ve seen tablets for specific groups of people from business-
oriented users to children, but it seems a new flavor has just
emerged. The Memo Touch, a device derived from the Archos
101, is a new tablet for the elderly.
Our senior citizens will be able to benefit from its ability to
keep track of their daily lives through consistent but gentle
reminders to visit the doctor or consume medicine, amongst
other medically related tasks or appointments, while family
members can update the calendar, phone numbers, to-do
notes and share photos or messages remotely from a browser-
Alvin Kiew, senior regional manager, south-east Asia, based interface which is connected to the company website.
Plantronics Singapore, introduced the Marque M155 and It is available at US$299 (S$384) but requires a subscription
said that it is designed as an entry-level headset that is not to the website which comes in a six-month plan of US$174
for the road warriors, but for people who want simplicity (S$223) or a twelve-month package of US$300 (S$385).
11

29. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Luckily, an inclusive three month satisfaction policy ensures social network, because so far it will not let her enter it onto
that customer can choose to refund the tablet or restore it to her profile.
the default Google Android platform.
While it appears a little pricey, this system is a good step Facebook is also censoring her attempts to raise awareness
into discovering ways to take better care of our parents with about the issue, as it refused to create the “Please get my
maximum convenience. hometown Effin recognised” page, telling her that it was
“offensive”. Perhaps what is more offensive is Facebook's
insistence that a genuine name is in some way profane.
No Effin! - Facebook bans
Irish town name for being There are many unusual place names around the world, some
of which mean different things in different languages. While
"offensive" Facebook is obviously trying to avoid people using swear
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/no-effin--facebook-bans-irish-town- words on its website, the process can be taken so far that it
name-for-being-offensive-/14137.html becomes more of an obstacle than an asset.
December 6th, 2011
What is particularly ironic about this incident is that
Facebook's European headquarters is in Ireland and has been
since 2008, but we suppose it has yet to get used to the weird
and wonderful names for certain parts of the Emerald Isle.
Facebook has banned the name of an Irish town, labelling
it as “offensive”, which raises questions over whether or not All we can say about this incident is: what an Effin joke.
profanity filters are causing more problems than they solve.
Facebook has banned the name of an Irish town, labeling Source and Photo Credit: Limerick Leader
it as “offensive”, which raises questions over whether or not
profanity filters are causing more problems than they solve.
Think Different: Apple's Social
The town, Effin, bears the same spelling as a common Media Guidelines leaked
alternative to using a certain “F” word, but it is actually a Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/think-different-apple-s-social-media-
real place in County Limerick in Ireland that has existed for guidelines-leaked/14136.html
hundreds of years. December 6th, 2011
In fact, the name comes from the Irish pronunciation of Saint
Eimhin, a Bishop from early Irish Christian history.
Apple's internal social media guidelines have been leaked,
revealing that it can sack any of its staff for posting on social
networks, websites, and other online communities.
Apple's internal social media guidelines have been leaked,
revealing that it can sack any of its staff for posting on social
networks, websites, and other online communities.
The document shows that working at Apple means that certain
things are off the table when it comes to sharing your views
online.
For example, staff can have their own personal websites, but
none of them are allowed to discuss Apple on those websites,
despite the so-called right to freedom of speech.
A University of Limerick employee, Ann Marie Kennedy, has
been campaigning to get her home town recognised by the Apple will not permit employees to comment on speculation
or rumours, including confirmations or denials regarding new
12

30. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
products and services. This is in line with Apple's tendency to A US judge has rejected an attempt by Apple to get Samsung's
not respond to media inquiries. Galaxy Tab and several smartphones banned in the United
States, signalling a major setback in Apple's legal dispute.
A US judge has rejected an attempt by Apple to get Samsung's
Galaxy Tab and several smartphones banned in the United
States, signalling a major setback in Apple's legal dispute.
District Judge Lucy Koh decided that a ban against the Galaxy
Tab and three Samsung smartphones was not appropriate,
adding that she failed to see how it would stop Apple from
being irrepairably harmed, as the latter claimed in its lawsuit.
The US lawsuit, which was filed in April, is just one of
numerous cases Apple has filed throughout several countries
around the world, most of which have yet to return a verdict.
In case any Apple staff want to participate in Apple fan
communities, that is not permited either, even if they never
reveal that they work for Apple. So no discussing their iPhone
or Mac, even if they want to sing praises about them.
The rules are so strict that Apple said it “retains the right to
discipline (up to termination of employment), or cut ties of any
that do not comply with these regulations.”
There are also guidelines for how employees should conduct
themselves on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. This
landed one Apple worker in deep trouble last month when he
posted negative comments about the company on Facebook,
ultimately leading to his dismissal.
While it is easy to see why Apple does not want its staff
giving it a bad name through their words or actions, this level
of censorship has to be bad for morale, not to mention the There is still potential for a ban in the US, however, as Koh
company's public image. indicated that Apple was likely to prove patent infringement
for the Galaxy Tab and at least one of the smartphones in
question.
Picture Credits: Cult of Mac
However, in a vouch of confidence for Samsung, she also said
US judge rejects Apple that Apple needs to demonstrate that the patents are actually
attempt to ban Samsung valid, which she believes it has so far failed to prove in the face
of Samsung's legal challenges.
Galaxy Tab
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/us-judge-rejects-apple-attempt-to-ban-
samsung-galaxy-tab/14135.html The patent battle between the two technology giants appeared
December 6th, 2011 to initially be going in Apple's favour, with bans secured
in Germany and Australia. However, recent rulings have
sided with Samsung, ending the preliminary injunction in
Australia and now preventing an injunction in the US. The
EU's Competition Commissioner has also expressed concerns
over the German ban.
13

31. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
store user search data, and no Sony Computer Entertainment
Europe proposes global data to hack.
protection laws
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/europe-proposes-global-data-
Kwasny was quite clear that Europe has a good data protection
protection-laws/14129.html
reputation and that the proposals are not designed to replace
December 6th, 2011
the existing convention, but rather to keep the current
framework and update it for the modern world.
She said that the old Convention was “not fully relevant”
anymore, but qualified this by saying that “it's still up to date
The Council of Europe has proposed a revised convention on in the sense that the formulations and the principles are not
data protection, which the majority of European countries will out of date, so it's still matching the reality, but nevertheless ...
be obliged to follow. We interviewed Sophie Kwasny, secretary we can strengthen the individual rights, ... we can increase the
to the Consultative Committee of the Council of Europe data pro-active actions of the private sector on this, so let's do it.
protection convention, about the proposals, the difficulties This will increase the protection in a way it wasn't foreseen
faced, and the potential impact on national sovereignty. 30 years ago, but now that we're tackling this we definitely
think it's necessary to complement the current text with those
The Council of Europe has proposed a revised convention on points.”
data protection, which the majority of European countries will
be obliged to follow.
So far 43 countries employ the existing convention, including
all 27 European Union Member States. A number of other
We interviewed Sophie Kwasny, secretary to the Consultative countries have also expressed interest, such as Uruguay, which
Committee of the Council of Europe data protection would be the first non-European country to accede to the
convention, about the proposals, the obstacles Europe faces convention.
to data protection, and the potential impact of pan-European
laws on national sovereignty.
The United States, Japan, Canada, and Mexico were also
present for talks. However, Kwasny told us that the United
States made it clear that it would be an observer to the
committee, but would not be party to the convention itself, due
to major differences in the way it approaches data protection.
We asked if part of the reason why the Council of Europe is
proposing an update to its convention on data protection is the
fact that there have been so many incidents of privacy abuse by
companies with access to people's information, not to mention
the numerous data breaches of companies throughout the
world by groups like Anonymous.
“I think that certainly the fact that you have more and more
Bringing things up to date privacy issues on the news, it's raised first general public
opinion on those issues, but indeed also the fact that we
know that we have a protective framework which is there,
The Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard but maybe we need to make sure that those cases are not
to Automatic Processing of Personal Data is a somewhat repeated,” Kwasny said. “All those cases have definitely raised
dated international treaty aimed at addressing the right of awareness ... of the fact that some of the legislations in place
individuals to the protection of their personal data. It was did not sufficiently cover some of the new threats to privacy.”
originally drafted in 1981, making this year the thirtieth
anniversary, and Kwasny said that the Council decided that
it would be appropriate to check if the principles of the
Micron teams up with IBM
convention are still fully in line with the modern use of data. for Hybrid Memory Cube
manufacturing
When the original convention was written the internet did not Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/micron-teams-up-with-ibm-for-hybrid-
really exist, nor did the majority of the problems people face memory-cube-manufacturing/14131.html
in terms of the proper use of their data. For example, there
was no Facebook to house personal information, no Google to
14

32. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 6th, 2011 we see this technology being used in all sorts of consumer
devices. The traditional DIMM might very well be a dying
species in the PC ecosystem in the not too distant future,
replaced by something far smaller with much higher capacity.
Acer announces the Iconia
If anyone thought the memory industry couldn't get any worse,
it looks like Micron is about to obliterate the competition with Tab A200 Tegra 2 tablet
its Hybrid Memory Cube (HMC) technology that is built using Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/acer-announces-the-iconia-tab-a200-
through-silicon vias (TSVs) and Micron has now signed an tegra-2-tablet/14128.html
agreement with IBM to start manufacturing. This technology December 6th, 2011
if proven successful in mass production would easily be the
biggest leap in memory technology for the past decade and
maybe even for the next decade.
If anyone thought the memory industry couldn't get any worse, Just in time for the holidays, Acer has announced its Iconia
it looks like Micron is about to obliterate the competition with Tab A200 tablet powered by Nvidia's Tegra 2 processors.
its Hybrid Memory Cube (HMC) technology that is built using The 10.1-inch tablet is a more affordable sibling to the A500,
through-silicon vias (TSVs) and Micron has now signed an although the specifications are in fact quite similar.
agreement with IBM to start manufacturing. This technology
if proven successful in mass production would easily be the
Just in time for the holidays, Acer has announced its Iconia
biggest leap in memory technology for the past decade and
Tab A200 tablet powered by Nvidia's Tegra 2 processors.
maybe even for the next decade.
The 10.1-inch tablet is a more affordable sibling to the A500,
The advantage of stacking the memory chips using TSVs is not although the specifications are in fact quite similar.
only that it takes up one-tenth of the space of a traditional
The Iconia Tab A200 will ship with Android 3.2 initially,
memory chip if you compare how much memory you get in a
although Acer is expecting to start shipping Android 4.0 in
set amount of PCB space. Thanks to some built in logic, we're
January as well as providing an update for those that got the
also looking at reduced latencies, up to a 70 percent reduction
tablet with Android 3.2. The Tegra 2 processor is a standard
in power usage compared to standard DDR3 and a claimed 15
1GHz dual core model and it has been paired up with 1GB of
times performance improvement or more for a DDR3 module
RAM and eight or 16GB of eMMC memory for storage.
built using HMC technology.
Other features include 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 +
EDR, GPS, a 2Megapixel front camera, a micro SD card slot,
a micro USB port and a USB port for USB OTG, a headphone
jack, a G-sensor and a gyrometer. The battery is said to be
The gold layers consist of DRAM with the blue part at the
good for about 8h of usage, the same as the A500. The A200
bottom being the logic
measures 260x175x12.4mm and weighs in at 720g. We're not
In all fairness we're not there yet and prototypes made by entirely sure how much more affordable it'll be compared to
Micron have "only" had a bandwidth of 128GB/s, about 10 the A500, as Acer didn't provide any pricing.
times faster than high-end DDR3 memory. Production will
kick off using IBM's 32nm high-K metal gate process in the
company's facility in East Fishkill, New York; although no
specific date was giving as to when production will start.
The bad news you ask? Well, at least initially it looks like
HMC is destined for the server market, where large amounts of
DRAM is often needed, but we can see it taking too long before
15

33. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
IBM saw a slight decline in market share from 12.8 per cent in
Global external disk storage the third quarter of 2010 to 12.7 per cent this year, but revenue
market grows 10.8 per cent in was up from $667 million to $735 million.
Q3
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/global-external-disk-storage-market- NetApp was in joint second place with a 16.5 per cent increase
grows-10.8-per-cent-in-q3/14127.html in revenue in the third quarter, up from $601 million to
December 6th, 2011 $700 million. Its market share grew from 11.5 percent to 12.1
percent.
HP was next with a 13.1 percent increase in year on year
revenue for the third quarter, up from $575 million to $651
million. It also saw a marginal increase in market share from
The global external disk storage systems market has seen 11 percent to 11.3 percent.
revenue growth of 10.8 per cent in the third quarter, according
to an IDC report, as businesses return to spending on IT
Hitachi and Dell were almost neck and neck in terms of
upgrades.
revenue and market share, which were $505 million and
The global external disk storage market has seen revenue $459 million, and 8.8 percent and eight percent respectively.
growth of 10.8 per cent in the third quarter of this year, However, revenue growth was significantly different, as
according to a report by the International Data Corporation Hitachi saw an increase of 22.1 per cent, while Dell saw
(IDC). a 2.6 per cent drop instead. Market shares also differeed,
The external disk storage systems industry made roughly $5.8 with Hitachi gaining 0.8 percent, while Dell dropped a whole
billion in revenue for the third quarter, making up the largest percentage point compared to this time last year.
chunk of the $7.6 billion in revenue made in the overall disk
storage sector.
Source: Press Release
Much of the strong growth was attributed to increasing
demand for external storage amongst businesses, which IDC
NVIDIA Reaches 7,000
believes marks a return to a business as normal scenario for Employees, Wants (at least)
companies that were previously struggling to cope financially.
However, it said that this high growth is likely to slow and 475 More
return to the same levels seen before the global economic Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-reaches-7-000-employees-
crisis. wants-at-least-475-more/14117.html
December 6th, 2011
Yesterday we posted news about AMD hiring top talent with
the focus on SOC (System-On-a-Chip) engineering team. We
got an email from NVIDIA employee saying they're hiring
too...
If you are in the business of creating and manufacturing great
technology and products, there is no doubt that you need top
people to make it happen. After publishing the news about
AMD hiring top talent in order to deliver on the new product
strategy, we got interested in how other companies are doing.
One of our readers got back to us and said that while AMD is
hiring about 60 job positions (through LinkedIn), his company
is hiring almost 500 people. Given that company was NVIDIA,
we asked around and learned several interesting things.
First and foremost, the company just reached a 7,000
employee milestone. This is the first time in history of NVIDIA
to have 7,000 employees at the same time and they want
EMC experienced third quarter growth of 22 per cent year on to hire at least additional 7%. At the time of writing, there
year, with revenue up from $1.351 billion to $1.649 billion. Its are no less 475 job openings at NVIDIA on LinkedIn Jobs
market share also grew from 25.9 percent to 28.6 percent. Search, with positions in marketing, engineering, support -
16

34. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
the company is evenly hiring across the board and across December 6th, 2011
continents.
Jobs are located in Santa Clara (California), Theale (UK),
Shenzen (China), Moscow (Russia), Berlin, Taipei and many
other locations. NVIDIA has offices in 20 countries, so its
no wonder they need continuous influx of fresh brains. For
example, here are the jobs which we consider most interesting: Western Digital has begun producing hard drives after months
Exascale Program Director, Santa Clara, CA - "NVIDIA of halted production due to extensive flooding in Thailand. The
is searching for a world-class Program Director for an announcement has sent shares skyrocketing as the company
exciting role helping NVIDIA deliver the next generation gears up for the Christmas shopping season.
of supercomputing solutions. This position requires deep Western Digital has begun making hard drives again after
experience and expertise in the management of large and months of halted production due to disastrous flooding in
complex US government funded programs. " Thailand.
Tesla GPU Computing General Manager, Santa Clara, CA -
"You will the primary leader for the Tesla business unit at
The data storage company said it had begun partial production
NVIDIA including business strategy, product development
of hard drives a week ahead of schedule at one of its plants
and cross functional leadership of multiple groups within
in the Bang Pa-in district. This facility had been flooded since
NVIDIA."
October.
WW Tegra Community Manager, Santa Clara, CA - "The
WW Tegra Community Manager serves as the primary point
of contact for the Tegra community to provide initiatives Other Western Digital facilities in Bang Pa-in and
that use community, social networking, advertising and other Navanakorn, which were also damaged, are still being worked
technologies to increase community participation." on at the moment and may not reopen until March of next year
or later.
GPU Infrastructure Architect, Shanghai, China - "The
GPU Infrastructure Architecture group is looking for
top programmers to drive the development of our core
infrastructure for modeling, analysis and debugging in the
development of GPU products. A key part of NVIDIA's The Thailand floods, which began in July, have had a major
strength is our proprietary internal tools & flows for the impact on the storage market, with many of the major hard
modeling, analysis, debug and verification of applications drive makers operating from the country. Supply plummeted,
on various functional and performance simulations of future sending prices through the roof, with many hard drives
chips. " doubling in price.
Field Application Engineer - Automotive, Munich, Germany -
"RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Pre & Post customer sales support for focused embedded
customers (Europe)
* Product testing and qualification at customer premises
* Weekly and monthly project and product reviews - Milestone
updates
* Weekly top 5 issues to management
- Product roadmap reviews"
If you are interested, head to LinkedIn Job Search page and see
what you can find for yourself. If AMD or NVIDIA aren't your
cup of tea, there is always... Intel or Apple. But don't expect big
bucks at Apple, as our sources tend to say. At Apple, you cash The timing of Western Digital's renewed production is
out with your next job. important, as many people will want to buy new hard drives
over the Christmas shopping season. The company revised
Western Digital partially its gross margin forecast for its fiscal second quarter, which
includes the month of December, up from 18 percent to 23
recovers from Thailand floods percent, with an expected revenue of $1.8 billion.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/western-digital-partially-recovers-
from-thailand-floods/14125.html
“The passion, perseverance, ingenuity and execution exhibited
by the WD team has been extraordinary and enabled us to
17

35. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
make substantial progress in partially restoring our operations
in Thailand, well in advance of our earliest expectations
when the floods hit,” said John Coyne, president and CEO
of Western Digital. “Much work remains to be done but we Slim 12.1-megapixel sensor to
couldn't be more pleased with the effort and results thus far,
including tremendous support from our supply partners and
dominate mobile markets
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/slim-12.1-megapixel-sensor-to-
strategic customers.”
dominate-mobile-markets/14121.html
December 6th, 2011
Western Digital's early return to operation could even give it
an edge over rivals like Seagate, which are still experiencing
significant supply issues due to the flooding.
At the time of writing Western Digital's shares were up 8.38
A 12.1-megapixel camera module was revealed by Japanese
percent to $31.70.
manufacturer Sharp recently, sporting a series of features
packaged into a very slim form, suitable for use on compact
Source: Press Release smartphones, which have dominated the mobile market
recently.
Rumour: AMD preparing
Radeon HD 6930
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rumour-amd-preparing-radeon-
hd-6930/14122.html
December 6th, 2011
Not to be outdone by NVIDIA's recent GeForce GTX 560 Ti
448 Core release, AMD is preparing a salvaged GPU of their
own. According to reports from Chinese forums, the new card
will be branded Radeon HD 6930, and based on Cayman. The
The megapixel firefight between phone cameras is about to
HD 6930 will fill in the gap between HD 6870 and HD 6950,
heat up. In the latest report, electronics giant Sharp has
and will retail in the $180-$200 price range.
announced a 12.1-megapixel CMOS camera sensor in the form
of an 11 by 11 by 5.47 millimeter module, pushing the limits of
HD 6930 cuts down 2 more SIMDs over HD 6950, leaving only mobile camera technologies. The system is capable of image-
20 of 24 Cayman's SIMDs ienabled. This translates to 1280 SP stabilization and possesses a backlit sensor, standard auto-
and 80 TMU. ROPs and memory are left untouched to 32 and focus, and full 1080p High Definition video capture. The new
256-bit respectively. The 6930 features a downclock to 750 camera module, also known by its designation RJ63YC100,
MHz, with 1GB or 2GB GDDR5 clocked at 4.8 GHz. The TDP is currently ready for mass production by January. This
is not mentioned, but should requires 2x PCI-e connectors, means that we can expect to see wonderful imaging solutions
suggesting a TDP of over 150W. packaged with newer phones but retaining their slim lines in
the near future.
This is good news, as it is increasingly often to find people
Both pice and performance are expected to fill the gap between taking pictures with their phone cameras than with their
HD 6870 and HD 6950. In doing so, it will also fill in the gap point-and-shoot. When camera technologies become more
between GTX 560 and GTX 560 Ti. advanced while maintaining a small form, mobile imaging
solution becomes a viable option that may be able to replace
traditional cameras in certain market segments. After all who
HD 6930 will surely be the last HD 6000 series product to would want to carry two devices when they can use one to
release, with HD 7000 series rumoured to be announced on achieve the same tasks?
ecember 5th. Like the GTX 560 Ti 448, the 6930 is most likely
to be a limited edition SKU. Judging by AMD's past history,
there's a good chance that the HD 6930 will be China-exclusive
or otherwise available in limited regions.
18

36. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The cause of the malfunction is believed to be similar to the
Phone on fire again. Culprit: kind which caused the iPhones to self-combust. This involves
Samsung GALAXY S II faulty Lithium-ion batteries that accumulate heat to the point
where surrounding material could melt or burn. While it takes
Skyrocket quite a dent to cause a Lithium-ion battery to fail in this
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/phone-on-fire-again.-culprit-samsung- manner, it is also noted that both iPhones had previously
galaxy-s-ii-skyrocket/14120.html visited areas of high altitude before being showing signs of
December 6th, 2011 severe problems.
Until the problems have been fully rectified, perhaps it is wiser
to keep the phone at more common operation elevations.
A Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket nearly burnt the owner
in his pocket due to a malfunction. Is this just seemingly BlackBerry Bold 9790 coming
humorous collection of incidents of very hot phones, or is there
a serious flaw which smartphone makers should look at? to Singapore on 8 December
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/blackberry-bold-9790-coming-to-
singapore-on-8-december/14119.html
December 6th, 2011
For those of you who are waiting for the new BlackBerry
Bold 9790, well, the wait is over. Research in Motion has
announced the launch of the BlackBerry smartphone in
Singapore and will be available from 8 December.
We recently saw a fair share of drama where Samsung
was allegedly copying various Apple's technology and design
from their iPhone and iPad on Samsung's GALAXY series
of mobile devices, but it seems one GALAXY S II Skyrocket
even mimicked the recent string of events where Apple
iPhones caught fire spontaneously. It was reported that the
Long Term Evolution (LTE) enabled smartphone heated up
and emitted smoke while still in the pockets of an independent
developer associated to mobile developer website and forum
XDA.
Research In Motion (RIM) has announced the launch of
the new BlackBerry Bold 9790 smartphone in Singapore.
Featuring a compact design, high resolution touch display and
tactile keyboard, the smartphone will be available in Singapore
on 8 December through authorized partners. Built with
premium materials and finishes, the full-featured BlackBerry
Bold 9790 smartphone is equipped with BlackBerry 7 OS and
powerful 1GHz processor for fast performance when surfing
the web, running apps, working with documents, and enjoying
multimedia content. It comes with 8GB onboard memory and
19

37. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
an expandable memory card slot that supports up to 32GB 178-degree. The tablet also comes with built-in SRS Sound
additional storage. technology for dynamic 3D stereo audio experience, with
superb bass response and wide sound field. And in case you
The BlackBerry Bold 9790 also features built-in support for
didn't know, it won our VR-Zone Editor's Choice.
Augmented Reality and NFC. With the Wikitude Augmented
Reality application, you can find nearby BlackBerry Messenger Price: S$1,099 (32GB 3G model), S$898 (16GB Wi-Fi)
(BBM) contacts, read reviews on restaurants near them, or get Where to buy - AAAs Com Solution, IT Harvest, Microware,
information of interesting landmarks and points of interest. Newstead Technologies, @notebook.com, MC2, Digital Asia,
NFC alows you to make mobile payments, pair accessories or Microware, South Asia, Matrix IT Gallery, Netpro, Best Denki,
read SmartPoster tags with a simple tap of the smartphone. Challenger, Courts, Harvey Norman, Carrefour, Gain City
For pricing information, the company advised checking with
the individual carriers.
Toshiba AT100
VR-Zone Christmas Gift Guide
- Tablets
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/vr-zone-christmas-gift-guide--
tablets/14029.html
December 6th, 2011
Ever since the Apple iPad was introduced to the market, tablets
have become one of the popular technology gadgets for content
consumption; you can use it to surf your favorite web sites,
watch videos or play some games. Well, besides the iPad, there
are other choices that run Google Android as well as Microsoft
Windows 7 operating systems. This week, we look at some of Enjoy a unique multimedia experience with the new Toshiba
the tablet offerings which you could consider getting for your AT100 Android tablet. Available in six colorful back covers -
loved ones this Christmas. Blue Moon, Raspberry Fusion, Lavender Bliss, Silver Sky and
Green Apple - the tablet features a powerful NVIDIA Tegra 2
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer
dual-core processor and 10.1-inch high definition touchscreen
that offers seamless multitasking and superb graphics. The
AT100 also comes with full-sized HDMI, two USB ports and
a SD card reader, and boasts up to seven hours of battery life
for your enjoyment.
Price: S$699
Where to buy: Toshiba authorized retailers
Apple iPad 2
The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer was launched in
Singapore few months back, and is able to transform into a
full-fledged notebook with full QWERTY keyboard with the
optional docking station. Powered by NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-
core processor, the Eee Pad Transformer lets you browses
your favorite webpages at blazing speeds, with fast response
time and superb performance during multi-tasking. It uses Based on the success of the iPad, Apple unveiled the iPad 2
an IPS panel with durable scratch-resistant glass and offers earlier this year which is 33% thinner than its predecessor and
crisp and vibrant images, as well as viewing angles of up to comes equipped with a more powerful dual-core A5 processor
20

38. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
for user to surf the web, check emails, watch movies and behind the scenes. Bear in mind that some of these ads are
multitask quickly and easily. It boasts 10-hour battery life searching not just for one job position, rather several talented
and features two cameras (front and rear) that lets you do engineers at the same time (depending on interview results).
FaceTime video calls, as well as capture images and high Engineers are even looked for on Twitter.
definition videos. If you do not want the black-bordered So, who is AMD looking for? The positions are mostly located
version, the iPad 2 is also available in white, which suits the in Austin (TX), Sunnyvale (CA), Boxborough (MA) and Fort
festive season. Collins (CO) and we have to say that job descriptions are
Price: S$668 (16GB Wi-Fi), S$798 (32GB Wi-Fi), S$848 intriguing. This is just a small sample of jobs available:
(16GB Wi-Fi+3G) Video Architect, Sunnyvale CA - "Responsible for the design
Where to buy: Apple Online Store and development of x86/SSE and GPU-based Software video
codecs, such as MPEG-2, H.264 and SVC"
AMD starts hiring world class SOC Integration Engineer, Austin TX - "Own floor
SoC engineers planning (estimates & actual), C4 planning, packaging
requirements, top level interconnects, implement overlays,
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-starts-hiring-world-class-soc-
full chip assembly along with associated physical verification
engineers/14113.html
of assembled chip for next generation AMD Server and
December 6th, 2011
Fusion microprocessors."
SOC Design Verification Engineer, Austin TX "This position
is for an experienced verification engineer in AMD's
SoC verification group working on next generation high
performance x86 client and server microprocessors. The
location is the Lone Star Design Center in southwest Austin."
After all the doom and gloom of recent cleanup operation System Software Development Engineer, Austin TX - "System
that culled 12% of its workforce, AMD has started to open Optimization Engineering team is seeking an experienced
job positions for engineers, especially ones in the field of SoC system-software developer to join AMD's modeling team for
design (System-on-a-Chip). software-based simulation of AMD's future server, notebook,
In order to go forward, AMD executives know that Wall Street tablet and desktop platforms."
investors won't be impressed with the 1400 layoffs - if the Learning and Development Manager, Austin TX - "The L&D
market success of Apple, Nokia, Intel, BMW, Audi, Airbus (and Manager (Finance Transformation) position will support
the list goes on) show anything is that engineering excellence us in the transformation of our global Finance team.
is what is required for success. Engaging our employees globally, you will support the
AMD's Rory P. Read will announce his Project WIN strategy transformation of the Finance organization through the
at Financial Analyst Day in February 2012, but until then, project management, facilitation, and coaching of the team
some serious head hunting is taking place. Bear in mind that via process and culture change specifically through training
AMD did not just lay people off, the company had internal development, delivery, and sustainment."
reorganization and it was good to hear that several former The list goes on, and if you want to check it out, hit this link. As
"directors of engineering" (GPU, CPU, Memory architects) far as AMD goes, we can only hope that the new faces in AMD
were promoted to VP, CVP and C-level executives. will make their products even more competitive on the market.
Intel's desktop roadmap for
the next 12 months leaked
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-s-desktop-roadmap-for-the-
next-12-months-leaked/14118.html
December 6th, 2011
Generally roadmap leaks tend to entail various snippets here
and there or a few slides, but as it happens, Intel's desktop
roadmap for the next 12 months have turned up online and
although it's far from complete, it gives us a really good
Thus, it comes as no surprise that AMD's LinkedIn page is now look at what Intel is working on. We've tried to sum up the
filled with job posts and there is active recruiting taking place
21

39. December 6th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
most important parts here, although there's far too much
information to cover in a single post.
Generally roadmap leaks tend to entail various snippets here
and there or a few slides, but as it happens, Intel's desktop
roadmap for the next 12 months have turned up online and
although it's far from complete, it gives us a really good
look at what Intel is working on. We've tried to sum up the
most important parts here, although there's far too much
information to cover in a single post.
The roadmap appeared over at HWbot and it's already a
couple of weeks old, but stretches all the way until Q4 of next
year. That said it's not covering every single product Intel has
planned for the desktop space until then and in general the
information should be good for at least the next two quarters.
We've already posted the specifics regarding the Ivy Bridge
processors, but there are some things we'd still like to highlight The only thing we know for sure is that Intel is set to release the
that the full roadmap has made clear. Celeron G460 come the 11th of December which is Intel's first
Sandy Bridge based Celeron processor with Hyper Threading
support. It's a 1.8GHz part with a peculiar 1.5MB of cache;
otherwise it appears to be identical to the Celeron G440.
Moving on to the Atom processors Intel has come up with a
tweaked version of the D2500 called the D2550. It's something
of a hybrid between the D2500 and D2700 with the same core
clock speeds as the D2500 (1.86GHz) but the same GPU as
the D2700 which is clocked at 640MHz rather than 400MHz
for the D2500. The simple reason this model even exists is
because the D2500's GPU is apparently too slow to handle Blu-
ray playback.
There appears to have been some confusion as to what will
launch when as well and we did some asking around to try and
clear things up. The consumer desktop parts will arrive in April
as suggested for quite some time by now, with the Z77, Z75
and H77 chipsets. It looks as if it'll be a slightly limited launch
with Intel focusing on the K SKU CPUs. The business chipsets,
The Ivy Bridge launch in Q2'12 will not consist of the entire the Q77, Q75 and B75 alongside with the standard Wattage
line-up of CPUs, as a few of the models we're already aware of mobile parts aren't expected to arrive until May though, but
won't arrive until Q3, more specifically the Core i5-3570 and it's possible that we'll see the ULV parts for Ultrabooks arrive
3470. As such, if you want the fastest Core i5 at launch, you earlier due to Intel seeing this as the future of notebooks.
have to go with the K SKU. What wasn't part of the earlier
leaks were the lower-end processors and it looks like Intel
will introduce a few Ivy Bridge based models in Q2, with
more arriving in Q3, although no specifics are detailed in this
roadmap. As for the Pentiums we have to wait until Q3 and
only a single SKU appears to be launched then.
As for Sandy Bridge, it looks like Intel will phase out its high-
end Core i7 and Core i5 parts almost immediately after the
launch of Ivy Bridge with the Core i5-2300 being the first one
to go, whereas when it comes to the Core i3 market segment
they get to live on until Q3. As for the Pentiums and Celeron's
Sandy Bridge looks set to be around until at least the end of
next year. Intel should be launcher higher clocked iterations of
many of these CPUs before then, although the roadmap once
again doesn't provide any specifics as to what to expect.
22

40. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
VR-Zone.com | Stuff for the Geeks!
PCI-e power connectors on the PCB - or upto 375W power.
VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication However, both cards are powered by the SIG approved 6-pin +
covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks. 8-pin configuration, powering upto 300W. The two cards are
powered by a 850W power supply. This is no doubt a power
hungry card, and all this power seems to be fed through a
AMD Southern Islands (Tahiti / mammoth 20 phase VRM.
HD 7900) Pictured The first Southern Islands / AMD Radeon HD 7000 series
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-southern-islands-tahiti-hd-7900- 28nm GPUs are set to release in January 2012, most likely
pictured/14183.html around CES 2012 time. Whether it will be the above pictured
December 8th, 2011 enthusiast Tahiti / HD 7900 or the performance Pitcairn / HD
7800, as previously rumoured, remains to be seen.
Microsoft's Bill Gates in talks
with China for safer nuclear
A mysterious picture has been posted by a member of reactors
Beyond3D forums, capturing two next-gen AMD graphics Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-s-bill-gates-in-talks-with-
cards in Crossfire. These new graphics cards are certainly china-for-safer-nuclear-reactors/14182.html
enthusiast (and power hungry) products of the upcoming December 8th, 2011
Southern Islands family, most likely to be Tahiti XT - expected
to be branded Radeon HD 7970.
A mysterious picture has been posted by a member of
Beyond3D forums, capturing two next-gen AMD graphics
cards in Crossfire. These new graphics cards are certainly
enthusiast (and power hungry) products of the upcoming Bill Gates, former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, is
Southern Islands family, most likely to be Tahiti XT - expected in talks with China on how to build a safer and more efficient
to be branded Radeon HD 7970. nuclear reactor.
Bill Gates, former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, is
in talks with China on how to build a safer and more efficient
nuclear reactor.
Gates announced the venture at a talk at the Ministry of
Science and Technology in China, where he said that he is
helping Chinese scientists to come up with a design for a fourth
generation reactor that will be both cost effective, extremely
safe, and generate very little waste, addressing three of the
biggest concerns with existing nuclear reactors.
Gates' involvement comes through his company Terrapower,
which attempts to find new solutions to energy problems. He
said that Terrapower was still in the early stage of talks with
China's National Nuclear Corporation.
The first visual observation is that these cards are hefty and
approximately 10 inches long - or around the same length as
HD 6970. They contain 12 memory chips (as demarkated on
the picture - the 12th being at the edge of the PCI-e connector),
which suggests a memory interface of 384-bit - a novelty for
AMD/ATI GPUs. There seems to be a provision for 2x8-pin
1

41. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
and asking if they wanted to report any of these. This led
to a situation where the reporting feature could be abused
deliberately to expose private photos.
He expects that that research into the new reactor will cost
upwards of $1 billion, but the payoff could be significant,
as countries around the world struggle to cope with energy
demand, the environmental concern of high carbon emissions,
and the safety concerns of nuclear reactors, demonstrated by
the disaster in Japan earlier this year. “This was the result of one of our recent code pushes and was
live for a limited period of time,” Facebook said in a statement.
“Upon discovering the bug, we immediately disabled the
Part of the new design will involve building the reactor to
system, and will only return functionality once we can confirm
withstand tidal waves and earthquakes, to help avoid a repeat
the bug has been fixed”
scenario of the Fukushima incident.
The most ironic thing about this bug is that it was used to
“All these new designs are going to be incredibly safe,” said
gain access to 14 pictures of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of
Gates. “They require no human action to remain safe at all
Facebook, who has frequently attempted to dismiss privacy
times.”
concerns about his social network. Maybe he will push for
bigger privacy changes after this latest mishap.
Facebook fixes private photo
bug Google to invest $300 million
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/facebook-fixes-private-photo-
bug/14181.html
in Hong Kong data centre
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-to-invest-300-million-in-hong-
December 8th, 2011
kong-data-centre/14180.html
December 8th, 2011
Facebook has fixed an embarassing bug that allowed private
photos, including those of founder Mark Zuckerberg, to be Google is to invest $300 million in a data centre in Hong Kong,
accessed by anyone using the website. as the company launches plans to expand to a number of Asian
Facebook has fixed an embarassing bug that allowed private countries.
photos, including those of founder Mark Zuckerberg, to be Google is to invest $300 million in a data centre in Hong Kong,
accessed by anyone using the website. as the company launches plans to expand to a number of Asian
The bug, which was first discovered by users of a bodybuilding countries.
forum, allowed people to access a number of recently uploaded
photos, even if the user had set them to private or shared them
The Hong Kong data centre will employ 25 full-time staff and is
only with a select group of friends.
expected to be operational by early 2013. The investment will
cover the cost of land, construction and technical equipment.
The glitch worked only if people reported a picture, showing
them additional pictures, which should not have been seen,
2

42. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Hong Kong is a major technology centre in the region and
represents a move into China without having to face the
stricter rules and regulations imposed on the mainland.
Google already has strained relations with the Chinese
government over an alleged hacking of its email servers and
Google's vocal concerns about censorship in the country. This
led to Google redirecting users of the Google.cn search engine
to Google.hk instead.
Luxury phone label Vertu may be sold by Nokia soon as the
Finnish company intends to focus on smartphones and devices
for budget consumers. After more than ten years in operation,
Nokia’s luxury division is up for sale, with various private
equity firms and luxury brands already indicating interest.
Vertu phones are known for their use of expensive materials
together with daring and luxurious design language, and the
devices also feature exclusive ‘concierge’ service which allows
owners to make various requests such as making restaurant
reservations and booking hotel rooms, which is the center
piece to the phone’s appeal. Hopefully, we will be able to see
more innovations from them in the face of the burgeoning and
Google also announced plans in September to build data fickle smartphone market even when Vertu lands in the hands
centres in Singapore and Taiwan, which are expected to take of another company.
one to two years to complete. It has not yet revealed what kind
of money it will pump into these.
Compact Flash Association
“We're working as quickly as we can to get this facility
unveils new XQD format
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/compact-flash-association-unveils-
operational so we can keep up with rapid growth in capacity
new-xqd-format/14177.html
demand across the region,” said Simon Chang, head of
December 8th, 2011
hardware operations at Google Asia.
Nokia puts Vertu up for sale
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nokia-puts-vertu-up-for-
sale/14179.html A new Compact Flash format, dubbed “XQD”, is in the
December 8th, 2011 pipework and will be available for licensing soon. The
XQD claims to improve almost every aspect of media
recording, primarily with faster write speeds, larger capacity,
and flawless high definition video recording.
Smartphone manufacturer Nokia is currently seeking buyers
for their luxury phone division, Vertu, after more than a
decade since its creation. Amidst the Finnish company’s
restructuring efforts, it seems that Nokia is planning to
dedicate its resources toward the smartphone and devices for
budget users.
3

43. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Compact Flash Association (CFA) has announced a new line barrier. The only existing APU to not receive a direct refresh
of storage solutions under the moniker XQD. The new format is the A8-3510MX clocked at 1.8/2.5 GHz, which presumably
is said to be slightly smaller than the current Compact Flash will continue to fill in the void left between A8-3520M @
(CF) cards but still thicker than the Secure Digital (SD) 1.6/2.5 GHZ and A8-3550MX @ 2/2.7 GHz.
cards. The current CF card we know is fairly large, though it A similar refresh is expected for A-series Desktop APUs in
is more robust and faster than SD cards; the CF card has early Q1 2012. Following these, the next stop for AMD's A-
only managed to dominate the professional market segment. Series will be Trinity, releasing in first half 2012.
CFA intends to refine these advantages by giving the new
format a transfer speed of around 125 megabytes per second
(MBps), which is a 25% improvement, via its PCI Express Microsoft Windows 8 public
data pathway technology. Initial suggestion of XQD include
the capability to go up to six terabytes in capacity and transfer beta scheduled for February
speeds of 600MBps.
2012 release
Adding to the prospects of improvements, XQD seeks to Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-windows-8-public-beta-
be Video Performance Guarantee (VPG) certified, which scheduled-for-february-2012-release/14176.html
means that they can capture perfect high definition video December 8th, 2011
without missing any frames, all done with a write speed of
at least 20MBps. With camera giants such as Nikon being
involved in the development and Canon endorsing the system,
professionals using high-end DSLR cameras can expect the
performance boost from the next generation format in a
matter of months. Microsoft has announced the release of Windows 8 public beta
in February next year. The software giant has recently revealed
AMD refreshes Notebook this during a developer’s conference, and adds that their app
portal, dubbed the “Windows Store”, will also launch together
Llano A-Series range with the beta, and offers free Metro-styled apps.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-refreshes-notebook-llano-a-
series-range/14178.html
December 8th, 2011
AMD has quietly rolled out incremental upgrades to the A-
Series APU line-up for notebooks. This refresh will be the last
for Llano before Trinity ships in H1 2012. In general, most of
the new models increment CPU clock speed by 100 MHz for
both base and turbo, while the GPU part remains unchanged.
Microsoft has announced during a developers’ meeting on
6 December at San Francisco that a public beta version
of Windows 8 operating software will be released in late
February. Based on the announced date, it appears that
The first refresh, A4-3305M, is the only one which does not Windows 8 should be on schedule to launch near the end of
follow the general pattern. It features the same clock speed as 2012. Since last year in September, some 13 million copies of
the A4-3300M, but with only 1MB L2 cache. While branded Windows 8 Developer Preview had been distributed, which is
HD 6480G, the GPU is different from that in other A4 APUs. a considerably large fraction in the entire market of Windows-
Instead of 240 SP @ 444 MHz, A4-3305M features 160 SP @ powered PC, given its infant stage of release.
593 MHz. This suggests that unlike other A4 APUs, which are
quad-cores with 2 cores disabled, A4-3305M is based on the While news of the beta release is certainly delighting, most of
native dual-core Llano die, which features only 160 SP. the limelight during the conference falls on Microsoft’s new
app portal called the "Windows Store", which will launch on
The remaining new models follow a similar pattern - one the same day as the Windows 8 beta. If there is one thing to
model for 35W and 45W APUs each, for A4, A6 and A8 be happy about, it will be the fact that all the apps are free,
series, each advancing clock speed by 100 MHz over exisiting at least for now, though it is reported that all of it will cater
Llano APUs. The top 35W APU will be A8-3520M, with the to the tablet-oriented Metro-styled application, while legacy
45W flagship being A8-3550MX - finally breaking the 2 GHz
4

44. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
applications for Windows 7 or earlier will be sold through the
developers on their own websites.
ASUS Rampage IV Gene
Looking Good
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-rampage-iv-gene-looking-
good/14175.html
December 8th, 2011
Last month, ASUS went all guns blazing with its socket
LGA2011 "Sandy Bridge-E" motherboard lineup, with all three
of its major brands: ROG Rampage, TUF Sabertooth, and its The expansion slot area completely does away with ye olde
mainline P9X79 series. The ROG Rampage series included just PCI slots, it consists of three PCI-Express Gen 3.0 x16 slots,
one model, the top-end Rampage IV Extreme, with Rampage and an open-ended PCI-Express 2.0 x4 slot wired to the X79
IV Formula and a then 'possible' Rampage IV Gene slated for PCH. Among the long slots, the top two are x16 capable, while
later. We now know the Gene is not just possible, but a reality. the bottommost one runs at x8 speed at all times. In terms of
It was detailed in a channel partner presentation by ASUS. SATA connectivity, the Rampage IV Gene gives you a total of 7
internal ports and one eSATA. Among these six internal ports
The Rampage IV Gene is a micro-ATX form-factor (red) are SATA 6 Gb/s, two from the X79 PCH and two from
motherboard based on the Intel X79 chipset, supporting Core an ASMedia-made SATA 6G controller; three internal ports
i7 processors in the LGA2011 package. It aims to give you (black) are SATA 3 Gb/s wired to the PCH. The eSATA port is
everything the X79 platform can, 3-way SLI and CrossfireX wired to the PCH, and runs at 3 Gb/s speed.
included. The top half of the board is laid out like any other X79
motherboard. The LGA2011 socket sits in between two sets
of DDR3 DIMM slots with two slots each, supporting quad-
channel DDR3 memory, with speeds of up to DDR3-2400
MHz by overclocking.
ASUS implemented its SupremeFX III audio solution, which
can also be found on the Rampage IV Formula. It uses a high-
SNR HD audio CODEC (probably ALC898 for all we know),
sitting on a tiny PCB that's laid on top of the board's main
PCB. This isolates the CODEC from the ground layer of the
Despite severe space constrains of the micro-ATX form-factor, main PCB. In conjunction with a 1500 uF capacitor, this design
ASUS did not compromise on the power delivery one bit. The eliminates background electrical noises typically associated
CPU is powered by an 8-phase Extreme Engine Digi+ II VRM with onboard audio solutions. To top it all off, the 8+2 channel
with at least 8 phases, and 4-phase memory VRM, cooled by CODEC is backed by Creative X-Fi MB software that provides
a robust heatsink set that makes use of a heat pipe to spread EAX 5.0 HD, X-Fi Crystalizer, CMSS-3D, and THX TruStudio
the heat around. To the right side of the socket is the OC Zone, Pro.
which gives you consolidated voltage measurement points,
onboard OC control buttons; phase LEDs, and POST code
readout.
5

45. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
generally more intuitive. There's also a new notification bar
at the top which shows when you have new messages and
notifications and you can respond to these without leaving the
Facebook page you're on.
Other connectivity features include an Intel-made GbE
connection, four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear-panel, Last but not least the photo albums have been given an
two via standard USB 3.0 header), a number of USB 2.0 overhaul and Facebook is claiming up twice the performance
ports, and a PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port. PS/2 is still compared to the current photo album, which is quite sluggish
indispensable, as PS/2 keyboards are free from ghosting and to put things in a nice way. It's also meant to be easier to
rollback flaws associated with USB keyboards. This board share pictures, read comments and edit captions from mobile
includes several ROG exclusive features such as ROG Connect, devices and we hope that it'll also be able to rotate pictures in
ROG GameFirst, USB BIOS Flashback, etc. The board is driven the photo album, something that's been missing in the Android
by ASUS UEFI BIOS firmware. Unfortunately, we don't have version.
a specific release date.
Convertible Ultrabooks are in
Facebook announces new the pipeline
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/convertible-ultrabooks-are-in-the-
Android app pipeline/14173.html
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/facebook-announces-new-android- December 8th, 2011
app/14174.html
December 8th, 2011
Intel and partners are said to be showing off some 50
If you're one of the millions of users that are running into all Ultrabooks at CES early next year and some of those are likely
sorts of problems with Facebook's Android app we've got some to feature a convertible form fact that allows for them to be
good news, Facebook has announced a new app for Android used both as notebooks and tablets. This is by no means a new
that should be available by the time you're reading this, or development in the notebook world, but it wasn't a form factor
not long thereafter. The app is a total re-design in many ways, that was expected for Ultrabooks.
although it's hard to see what Facebook has done from the
scarce selection of screenshots provided.
Intel and partners are said to be showing off some 50
Ultrabooks at CES early next year and some of those are likely
If you're one of the millions of users that are running into all to feature a convertible form fact that allows for them to be
sorts of problems with Facebook's Android app we've got some used both as notebooks and tablets. This is by no means a new
good news, Facebook has announced a new app for Android development in the notebook world, but it wasn't a form factor
that should be available by the time you're reading this, or that was expected for Ultrabooks.
not long thereafter. The app is a total re-design in many ways, One problem with building a convertible notebook is that the
although it's hard to see what Facebook has done from the hinge mechanism and the touch panel in the screen adds to
scarce selection of screenshots provided. the overall thickness to the system and Intel has some pretty
Improvements to the new app includes a new menu which is strict restrictions in terms of what qualifies as an Ultrabook.
located on the side that is meant to allow for quicker access Anything with a screen below 14-inches in size can't be thicker
to the news feed, groups, games and apps and to make things than 18mm and for models 14-incher or larger the thickness is
6

46. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
limited to 21mm in Intel's books. As such Intel has generously ·Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) with PF value of 0.99
allowed for an extra 2mm of additional thickness regardless of ·Universal AC input from 90~264V
the screen size for convertible Ultrabooks.
·No more hassle of flipping that tiny red switch to select the
Further to our own findings, Digitimes has corroborated the voltage input!
fact that there will be Ultrabooks with touch screens, although
the publication didn't specify convertibles, but went as far ·A dedicated single +12V rail offers maximum compatibility
as saying that this is expected to be done in preparation for with the latest components
Windows 8 which will come with the touch friendly metro UI. ·Over-voltage and over-current protection, under-voltage
Samples of touch modules are apparently already sampling to protection, and short circuit protection provide maximum
notebook makers, although we're not expecting touch enabled safety to your critical system components
Ultrabooks to be part of the first Ivy Bridge based models since
without Windows 8 it would be hard to convince consumers ·High-quality Japanese capacitors provide uncompromised
and business users alike to go for a convertible Ultrabook. performance and reliability
·Completely modular cable system allows you to use only the
cables you need
Corsair AX650 PSU review
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/corsair-ax650-psu-review/14171.html
·Power supply upgrade and replacement is easy, as the cables
December 8th, 2011
only need to be disconnected at the power supply
·Low-profile, flat cable design reduces air friction and helps
maximize airflow through your computer's chassis
·A seven year warranty and lifetime access to Corsair's
legendary technical support and customer service
·Dimensions: 150mm(W) x 86mm(H) x 160mm(L)
Corsair might have started off as a RAM manufacturer but
today they diversified into several other market areas. One ·MTBF: 100,000 hours
of those areas is the power supply market, with the company ·Safety Approvals: UL, CUL, CE, CB, FCC Class B, TÜV, CCC,
today offering tens of products divided into five different C-tick
product series. Today we are having a look at a product from
their best series, the AX650, a 650W 80Plus Gold certified
power supply of fully modular design. The AX650 is the least C orsair
powerful unit of the series, with Corsair pointing out that it was AX650
designed for enthusiasts requiring a medium wattage power AC 90-264V
supply but will settle for nothing less than top performance. INPUT ~ 15A
Let us see if the AX650 can deliver what Corsair promises. 50/60Hz
DC +5V +3.3V +12V -12V +5Vsb
Corsair might have started off as a RAM manufacturer but OUTPUT
today they diversified into several other market areas. One MAX 25A 25A 54A 0.5A 3A
of those areas is the power supply market, with the company CURRENT
today offering tens of products divided into five different MAX 125W 648W 6W 15W
product series. Today we are having a look at a product from COMBINED
their best series, the AX650, a 650W 80Plus Gold certified WATTAGE
power supply of fully modular design. The AX650 is the least TOTAL
powerful unit of the series, with Corsair pointing out that it was POWER:
designed for enthusiasts requiring a medium wattage power 650W
supply but will settle for nothing less than top performance. @ 50°C
Let us see if the AX650 can deliver what Corsair promises. ambient
temperature
Manufacturer’s features and specifications
New SiSoft Sandra 2012 SP1
·Supports the latest ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 standards and
is backward compatible with ATX12V 2.2 and ATX12V 2.01 brings Optimizations for AMD
systems
Bulldozer, Intel SNB-E and Ivy
Bridge
·An ultra-quiet 120mm double ball-bearing fan delivers
excellent airflow at an exceptionally low noise level by varying
fan speed in response to temperature Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/new-sisoft-sandra-2012-sp1-brings-
optimizations-for-amd-bulldozer-intel-snb-e-and-ivy-bridge/14152.html
·80 Plus Gold certified to deliver at least 90% efficiency at 50%
load
7

47. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 8th, 2011 Samsung has launched a concept demo for a flexible,
translucent AMOLED display that can run 3D, potentially
becoming the next big thing since the iPad.
The Korean electronics giant has already demonstrated
flexible display technology, some as thin as 0.3mm, but this
Prior to taking a Holiday break, we received word from Adrian latest project shows just how far the company could go.
Silasi about the first Service Pack for SiSoft Sandra 2012.
Needless to say, the SP1 brings a lot of improvements to the
While this is still in the early conceptual stage and may
popular benchmark / system utility.
never become reality, the demonstration is pretty impressive.
Samsung shows how a user can bend the screen, which looks
No doubt about it, the past couple of months were quite like a thin piece of plastic. It can be seen through, which means
exciting for the benchmarking community, with new products no more walking into lamp posts while staring at a tablet
debuting from AMD and Intel, as well as next generation screen.
products getting ready to launch in first quarter of 2012.
In order to keep up, SiSoftware released the first Service Pack
for Sandra 2012, and the SP1 brings important improvements,
It can also display glasses-free 3D that is vastly superior to
fixes and performance optimizations.
3D technology that currently exists. In the demonstration it
Probably the most important fixes belong to Cryptography and initially looks like augmented reality, and this might also be a
Memory Bandwidth tests for contemporary AMD Bulldozer proposed feature, but since people on the street appear to react
and Intel Sandy Bridge-E processors, as well as upcoming to the projected image it seems to be much more than that.
Piledriver and Ivy Bridge based processors.
Furthermore, all benchmarks now show IPC (Instructions
It may be years before we see anything like this, but with fierce
Per Clock) in addition to standard aggregate score. This will
competition in the tablet computer sector, Samsung might
certainly help to see what are the benefits and pitfalls of tested
be willing to invest a lot of money to make this a reality.
architectures, as well as how more cores or threads influence
Samsung suggested we could see the first flexible smartphones
the achieved IPC (for example, dual versus quad-core Sandy
and tablets next year.
Bridge with and without Hyper-Threading).
The rest of improvements include:
* AVX2 and further FMA3/FMA4 support: Dhrystone
AVX2, Multi-Media FMA3/FMA4/AVX2, Memory/Cache Chinese court rejects Apple
Bandwidth AVX2.
iPad trademark claims
* Export all User Benchmark Results with 1 click (thanks Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/chinese-court-rejects-apple-ipad-
Michael S @ Lost Circuits). trademark-claims/14168.html
* AMD GP(GPU) Bandwidth fix for Catalyst 11.9+ drivers December 8th, 2011
(not sure reason for change but not getting fixed so worked
around it).
You can download SiSoft Sandra 2012 SP1 from here.
A Chinese court has rejected a lawsuit filed by Apple,
Samsung launches concept which alleges that Proview Technology is infringing its iPad
trademark, spelling potentially disastrous news for the iPad in
demo for flexible translucent the country.
3D display A Chinese court has rejected a lawsuit filed by Apple,
which alleges that Proview Technology is infringing its iPad
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-launches-concept-demo-for-
flexible-translucent-3d-display/14169.html
trademark.
December 8th, 2011
The Intermediate People's Court in Shenzhen said that
Proview had legally registered the iPad trademark in 2000, ten
years before Apple's tablet launch.
Samsung has launched a concept demo for a flexible, The ruling is disastrous for Apple, as it could mean it will be
translucent AMOLED display that can run 3D, potentially forced to change the name of the product in China if Proview
becoming the next big thing since the iPad. counters the lawsuit with a trademark infringement case of its
8

48. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
own. Currently Proview wants 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) for
infringement and may seek a licensing deal with Apple worth
several billion more.
Apple has suffered numerous problems in China relating to
counterfeit goods. A number of fake Apple shops were closed
down in July, but iPhones and iPads remain extremely popular
on the black market.
China is also seen as a pivotal emerging market for
smartphone and tablet sales, with many people in the country
still using the increasingly less popular feature phones. Failure
to tap into this market could have a negative impact on Apple's
revenue growth.
Apple is involved in countless lawsuits around the world
over copyright, trademark and patent infringement, including
numerous cases against rivals HTC and Samsung, but many of
these cases are starting to turn against the company.
Huawei unveils Honor and
Vision in Singapore
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/huawei-unveils-honor-and-vision-in-
singapore/14163.html
December 8th, 2011
Huawei has introduced their new Android smartphones in
Singapore - Huawei Honor and Huawei Vision. Both phones
are running Android 2.3 Gingerbread and are available this
month.
The Huawei Vision claims to be the company's most stylish
smartphone yet, and features 3D user interface and carousel
animation display. It has an aluminium alloy uni-body in
silver and crystal sculptural curve lens, and a 3.7-inch
capacitive touchscreen. The Vision measures 9.9mm at the
thinnest point and weighs a mere 135g. Powered by 1GHz
Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the phone runs Android
2.3 Gingerbread OS, features 5-megapixel auto focus camera
with LED flash and supports 720p video recording. The
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49. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Huawei Vision also comes pre-installed with Shazam and
"Order & Chaos" 3D online game. It is available from selected US court bans Research in
carriers and retail stores at S$438 (w/GST) without contract. Motion (BlackBerry) from
using BBX trademark
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/us-court-bans-research-in-motion-
blackberry-from-using-bbx-trademark/14167.html
December 8th, 2011
A US court has banned BlackBerry maker Research In Motion
(RIM) from using the name BBX for the latest version of
its mobile operating system after BASIS International filed a
trademark lawsuit against it.
A US court has banned BlackBerry maker Research In Motion
(RIM) from using the name BBX for the latest version of
its mobile operating system after BASIS International filed a
trademark lawsuit against it.
The Federal Court of Albuquerque granted a temporary
restraining order against RIM, barring it from using the
trademark at its DevCon event in Singapore, and signalling an
end to RIM's marketing of the BBX name.
The court ruled that while RIM and BASIS are not direct
competitors, their products are “highly related and target the
same class of consumers”.
The sleek and slim Huawei Honor is equipped with 1.4GHz
Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 8-megapixel HDR-
enabled camera for capturing good quality images and videos.
The smartphone run Android 2.3 Gingerbread and features
4-inch full Wide VGA capacitive touchscreen. Powered by a
1,900mAh battery, the Huawei Honor offers up to three days
of normal usage on a single charge. The Huawei Honor is
also DLNA-certified, which means it can interoperate with
other DLNA-certified devices including game consoles, TVs
and digital cameras. Owners of Huawei Honor will also have
access to Huawei CloudDrive (free 16GB) which allows users
to share their files seamlessly; the CloudDrive will be available One of the major reasons for the ruling was that consumers
by end Q1 next year. might be led to wrongly believe that BASIS's software will only
run on RIM's BBX operating system.
The Huawei Honor will retail on 16 December at S$528 (w/
GST) at selected carriers and retail stores. According to the
company, the Honor is upgradeable to Android 4.0 Ice Cream The Court said that “all factors weigh in favour of BASIS”.
Sandwich next year. Unfortunately, no specific dates have
been announced yet.
BASIS had previously asked RIM to stop using its trademark,
but RIM refused, leading to a bitter legal dispute.
10

50. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
BASIS owns the BBX trademark, which represents its Business The opening keynote speech by Dr Marek Michalewicz,
BASIC eXtended software products. These run on a number of Director of A*CRC, as well as technical brief by Stephen
platforms, including the BlackBerry OS. Wong, the Deputy Director, focused on supercomputing
in Singapore as well as next generation large computer
challenges respectively, in a broad sweep from visualising
After the judgement RIM announced that it will now call its when Singapore should have its first petaflop system to the
BBX platform BlackBerry 10. new platforms that we may see in such machines this coming
year.
Image Credit: Techonzo
Event Overview: Next
Generation Computing
Experience Forum 2011 by VR
Media and A*STAR
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/event-overview-next-generation-
computing-experience-forum-2011-by-vr-media-and-a-star/14164.html
December 8th, 2011
Last Tuesday, VR-Media and A*STAR A*CRC held their
inaugural event, the first in a series focused on various aspects
of high end computing. Here we bring the summary and key
highlights.
After a long lull in the processor and system field, where
the usual was just happening, i.e. yet another generation of
Intel Core XX processors taking over the performance lead
from one another, and AMD vs Nvidia on the GPU front, this
past year brought along some refreshing news. AMD Fusion
APU approach is one of them, whose tight integration of CPU
and GPU will likely be followed by other processor vendors
in the 2012 as well. And, since that year is to see stronger
market entry by Chinese RISC CPU vendors as well, the multi-
platform excitement of the years long gone by is likely to come
back again.
Such innovations often find their first home in scientific On the other hand, the two AMD evangelists, Sasa Marinkovic
and research High Performance Computing centre sites - in and Terry Makedon, both themselves GPU gurus from their
Singapore and this region, A*STAR's A*CRC is the leader in ATI days, described the usage and programming benefits of
the field, both in the variety of large systems they have, as well the Fusion approach to a great detail. Their coverage also
as the expert staff strength. VR Media, the parent company of touched on how the end users and everyday consumers would
VR-Zone now presents the new development in system level benefit from the new approach. Other speakers from AMD and
technologies together with A*CRC through a series of events, HP covered the new server CPUs as well as the systems using
the first of which was sponsored by AMD, HP and Kingston to them.
coincide with the launch of 'Interlagos', the server version of
the famed Bulldozer CPU platform.
11

51. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The event saw over 80 HPC experts from Singapore, and a Overall, in the course of a few days after this inaugural event,
few more from the region, gather at A*Star's Biopolis in this the feedback was excellent and we are on course for more such
first of our joint events. After the event, the feedback from events. Our readers are welcome to suggest, from your point
the attendees, especially those involved in system design or of view, what could be interesting topics for the future forums
programming, was that the new programming approaches - we are listening.
like OpenCL for Fusion Systems Architecture open up a lot
of latent unused performance in current systems, enabling
some supercomputing code to even run on laptops, but Creative's new sound cards
the challenges are quite high still on how to extract that
performance in the most efficient way until fully shared
and headphones - a stage for
memory between CPU and GPU is enabled - something the grand comeback?
next generation of GPUs and accelerators should enable. Also, Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/creative-s-new-sound-cards-and-
the heterogeneous computing idea, where the application can headphones--a-stage-for-grand-comeback-/14165.html
efficiently use the different types of CPUs, GPUs, in clusters of December 8th, 2011
hundreds of them both locally and in some kind of 'HPC cloud'
where the different latencies, performance and architecture
types have to be handled, can be a dream from the point
of literally unlimited performance pool available, yet a very
stressful exercise in actually getting to use all that capacity.
After its roughest times in years, Creative seems to be coming
back to what created it, pun intended - the most advanced
sound cards around. The already powerful X-Fi chippery
is now supplanted by their Sound Core3D multicore audio
processor under the new Sound Blaster Recon3D line, and yes
there are matching headphones - all mostly focused on gamers
and movie watchers tis time
Creative went ahead with just two new cards this time, one
a Fatal1ty branded gamer model with metal shield, another
12

52. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
the base feature card - the HD Audio versions, a follow on to
X-Fi Titanium HD, will wait for a later release I guess. The Intel stuffs 'Centerton' Atom
new audio processor has THX hardware acceleration plus a in servers - Repelling the ARM
host of voice enhancement (CrystalVoice) and noise reduction
technoligies implemented. Interestingly, the card's raw signal threat
to noise ratio is 102 dB, more than good enough for gamers Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-stuffs-centerton-atom-in-
and movies, but a little less than the music oriented 109 dB on servers--repelling-the-arm-threat/14166.html
the X-Fi Titanium cards. December 8th, 2011
While ARM started in desktops many years ago, it's mainstay is
now in mobile devices. However, it is aiming at higher ground,
including wrestling away a part of server market from the X86
vendors. What is Intel doing to keep them at bay, and what
impact will it have?
Anyone of the old guard still remembers the 1985 Acorn
Risc Machine, or, in shortform, ARM? From my teenage
Another interesting observation, looking at the cards days, it was a memory of an exciting new processor
themselves, is far higher level of integration in the audio architecture, completely different from its contemporary
processor itself. There are noticeably less ICs and other complex instruction set competitors - just like in modern
electronic circuitry on the board. This may lend the new chip buildings, simplicity was the answer, and complexity was left
even more attractive to mainboard vendors for integration on to the compilers. The first ARM was 32-bit, just like its follow-
the top-end boards as the choice sound chip, directly on the ons 26 years ago now.
chipset's PCIe links. This could in a way be another grand
comeback for Creative, providing the company an alternative After staging a grand revival through the smartphone and
lifeline as high end IC provider for PC system boards. tablet markets, and becoming the definite No. 2 CPU platform
in the world, ARM has now set its sights higher, to the
mainstream mobile, desktop and yes, even server markets.
And that's where it hits the X86 leaders, Intel and AMD, spot
on.
Now, ARM has no software base to speak of in the server
field, and its architecture not only is still 32-bit, but also lacks
all those error correction, reliability and durability features
expected in servers. However, the application specific 'green'
micro servers, used just for serving web page accesses, don't
need any of these. They just require the ability to put hundreds
of energy-saving simple CPUs in a single rack, each serving a
group of web requests in a small local memory, 2 GB - the 32-
bit direct addressing limit after I/O space is taken - being more
than enough for it.
This a relatively small part of server market, and a low-margin
one, an equivalent of generic corporate desktop in the PC
market. But an entry is still an entry, very worthy for ARM CPU
The headphones in this range are also seemingly focused vendors to get a foothold before they are ready for more, once
on the ultimate gaming and video experience, with noise the Windows 8 and, then, the 64-bit ARM arrive.
cancellation, bass amplification and other enhancements
usually reserved for this user base. More on the new hardware
as we get our hands on it soon... So, the danger is there - remember that X86 core consumes
more power and die size than an equivalent performance
RISC, so it needs to be compensated through system design.
On the other hand, Atom is 64-bit from the start, keep in
mind - an enormous benefit when handling any sort of shared
13

53. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
memory mapping between hundreds of processors in a single
server, something impossible for ARM for another 2 years or
so. Not to mention all the X86 software support built over the
years, something ARM will not have in foreseeable future.
And that's where Intel's 2012 answer to ARM comes, in the
form of 'Bordenville' Atom microserver platform around the
'Centerton' chip, optimised from ground up for this segment,
especially at the system level. The quadruple density compared
to even the lowest voltage Xeon, with over 2,000 processors
in one rack, and the simplest ever system design of any X86
processor, are aimed at creating a formidable wall against the
ARM entry into this market.
What impact would this launch have? Well, it hits ARM in the
two weakest spots: lack of 64-bitness and software support.
The extra server features like RAS and virtualisation, which
ARM takes time to implement, are also native here. And,
despite the complexity of the clumsy x86 core, the overall
power consumption per node will be similar to the best ARMs
in class - and this is a 32 nm chip, mind you. Also, for dense
'green' supercomputing, this chip may have some allure, as it
can even allow tight interconnecting of many of them together
via PCIe switches on local boards, then further via InfiniBand
or Ethernet.
On the other hand, the vendors like HP and Dell are anyway
The Centerton chip itself is a simple dual-core 32 nm 64-bit waiting to diversify their offerings a bit, and not just depend
CPU. It contains just two 'Saltwell' multithreaded 1.6 GHz on X86. HP is already promoting such microservers, and
Atom cores with 512 KB L2 cache each, a single-channel ARM will have some foothold, like it or not. Either way, the
DDR3-1333 ECC low voltage memory controller for up to 8 GB 2012 microserver market will be the first battle of the larger
on a single SO-DIMM, and 8 PCIe v2 lanes, with legacy I/O and upcoming high end market war between X86 and ARM.
SMbus included on-die as well. This removes the need for any
sort of chipset. Simply, just use PCIe v2 lanes to attach what
you really wish, like a Gigabit Ethernet, storage controllers like Lenovo launches IdeaPad
SAS, InfiniBand or even one of those PLX PCIe v2 switches
to let multiple processors talk to each other directly over PCIe
Tablet A1 in Singapore
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lenovo-launches-ideapad-tablet-a1-in-
itself at ultra low latency!
singapore/14162.html
December 8th, 2011
With this kind of compact footprint, we are talking about just
5W to 8W total TDP for the whole system on a chip (SoC), and
an enormously efficient footprint with CPU modules just about
the size of a credit card! And this is a chip with full memory
RAS features including scrubbing; with full virtualisation
implemented as well, and 64-bit address space.
Computer maker Lenovo has just released their new IdeaPad
Tablet A1 in Singapore with a very attractive price tag. With a
integrated offline GPS Navigation system, this new tablet may
well be a big bang for bucks.
14

54. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Laptop and computer manufacturer Lenovo has just
announced the launch of the IdeaPad Tablet A1, an 11.95mm At the event, George Staikos, VP of web technologies, Research
thin slate weighing just 400g. The new tablet sports a 7- in Motion, said that the BlackBerry App World has reached
inch 1024 by 600 resolution LCD screen with an integrated over one billion downloads, with over five million happening
0.3-megapixel front and back camera. It comes pre-loaded everyday. And with BlackBerry OS 7 on seven handhelds
with various apps including the full version of Documents including the BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9380
To Go, and is also supplemented with Lenovo App Shop, a which were launched first in Asia. Staikos said that in
dedicated portal for a variety of country-oriented apps as well BlackBerry 7.1, the company will continue to evolve the
as other special selections. One special feature of the IdeaPad platform with the addition of powerful new APIs including
Tablet A1 is the ability to carry out offline GPS navigation, Near Field Communications (NFC). The APIs will open up
which allows it to pinpoint its own location without needing more rich capabilities of the BlackBerry 7 platform and
to depend on the Internet. This makes it a great item to have handheld and application developers.
when traveling in areas without any network coverage. The "BlackBerry 10 is the official brand name of our next
Lenovo IdeaPad Tablet A1 is now available in selected stores generation platform. Initially previewed at DevCon San
for S$299. Francisco just two months ago, it will power the future
generation of BlackBerry smartphones and tablets. Our vision
BlackBerry DevCon Asia 2011 is a single, converged next generation BlackBerry platform
built from the core up, and it will enable most powerful mobile
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/blackberry-devcon-
social communication experiences the world has ever seen.
asia-2011/14159.html
This is BlackBerry 10."
December 8th, 2011
The BlackBerry 10 platform is based on three fundamental
components. The first is the BlackBerry 10 operating system
software that powers phones, tablets, automobiles and
more; connecting people, devices, content and platform
The BlackBerry Dev Con Asia 2011 was supposed to be held together. The second element the BlackBerry 10 services
in Bangkok, Thailand this year, but due to the serious impact that extends the BlackBerry DNA, collaboration and
of rain and floods, the conference has thus been relocated to communication, and enable full access to BBM, enterprise
Singapore. This morning. Research in Motion had made some server and BlackBerry Internet service, from push to
announcements at Dev Con Asia 2011 which include the next payment, security and beyond. And thirdly, BlackBerry 10
generation BlackBerry 10 platform. is a transformational new application developmental bundle.
The native software development kit allows developers to
build high performance BlackBerry experience with best-in-
class HTML 5 implementations. As the company moves to
BlackBerry 10, HTML 5 will be the technology that can rapidly
deliver rich, connected applications across a range of devices.
According to Staikos, HTML 5 is something BlackBerry has
embraced since day one.
15

55. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
NVIDIA's new products include GeForce GT 635M, GT 630M
and 610M. There are no changes whatsoever and are direct
rebrands of GeForce 500M GPUs. The GT 635M replaces all
the variants of GT 555M, GT 540M is rebranded as GT 630M
and GeForce 520MX is now GeForce 610M.
For everyone expecting true next-gen 28nm GPUs with new
architectures, this will be a disappointment. However, due to
greater risk and higher costs with a new and risky process like
TSMC's 28nm, both AMD and NVIDIA have opted to play it
safe for the entry-level and mainstream segments. The true
next-gen will most likely find its way as HD 7700M, 7800M
and 7900M, as well as GT 635M to GTX 690M, in 2012.
Senseg reveals textured touch
screen prototype
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/senseg-reveals-textured-touch-screen-
Alec Saunders, VP of developer relations and ecosystems
prototype/14160.html
development, Research in Motion, introduced the BlackBerry
December 8th, 2011
Jam, which isdesigned to help developers thrive and build
businesses on the BlackBerry platform. Saunders also gave
some statistics about the BlackBerry App World, which is
supported by over 148 markets and growing, with over five
million average daily downloads. There are over 50,000 apps
available, with over a billion downloads reached in June 2011.
Carrier Billing is also available with 20 carriers worldwide, and Soon, our favourite smart phones may not just be good at
26 currencies supported. displaying sharp photos; they may even feel like the object
represented in the photos too. Touch screen technology
AMD Radeon HD 7000M / company Senseg has just unveiled its prototype “Feel Screen”,
a hint that we may soon experience the display with our finger
NVIDIA GeForce 600M tips as well.
mainstream GPUs announced
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-7000m-nvidia-
geforce-600m-mainstream-gpus-announced/14161.html
December 8th, 2011
AMD and NVIDIA have both introduced their first next-gen
products - mainstream GPUs for the Radeon HD 7000M and
GeForce 600M. However, they are next-gen only in branding
- they continue to be 40nm GPUs based on HD 6000M and
GeForce 500M, with the true next-gen reserved for higher end
products. Touch technology company Senseg has just revealed a
prototype touchscreen which is capable of creating a variety
The AMD refreshes include Radeon HD 7600M, 7500M
of physical impressions on the skin, and in essence, applying
and 7400M. The HD 7400M series is based on the same
different textures to the same surface. Dubbed the “Feel
Seymour XT chip powering HD 6400M. The same applies
Screen”, it utilizes electrostatic fields which can be felt by our
for HD 7600M, based on Whistler, which powered HD
fingers to induce a tactile response. According to Senseg, this
6600M/6700M. However, in both cases, the HD 7000M parts
is done by creating and controlling a small attractive force
should end up faster due to higher clocks. HD 7600M should
between the screen and the finger generated from this field,
end up performing more like HD 6700M. HD 7500M is now
thus producing a range of effects such as rough textures, edges
based on 480SP Whistler, over 400SP Capilano for the HD
and vibrations, just to name a few. We can expect to have
6500M, and also introducing GDDR5 memory albeit with
this experience across devices of various screen sizes as the
a 64-bit memory bus (net effect should be similar memory
company states that the system is scalable.
bandwidth). However, some SKUs in the HD 7500M series will
continue to utilize DDR3. The technology has promising applications in enhancing user
interfaces such as creating a touchscreen keyboard that has a
perceptible separation between each key as depicted visually
16

56. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
on-screen. It may also become an important piece in bridging records at 240fps in Quarter Video Graphics Array (QVGA)
tablet technologies to the blind. While the technology is ready quality or 120fps in VGA quality.
to be mass produced by 2012, devices incorporating such As a final touch, an integrated GPS system logs the location
screens will probably appear in 2013 or later. of each photo produced, as well as the journey taken between
the shots, which is a great feature for travellers. The Canon
Canon launches new Powershot S100 will be available in stores today (7 December
2011) at justS$699.
Powershot S100
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/canon-launches-new-powershot-
s100/14158.html
December 8th, 2011 Meizu officially joins the fray
with the MX smartphone
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/meizu-officially-joins-the-fray-with-
the-mx-smartphone/14151.html
December 8th, 2011
After a long wait, the new Canon Powershot S100 is officially
launched in Singapore. With a slew of upgraded features from
its predecessor, the Powershot S100 will represent yet another
step closer to professional photography in a pocket-sized form.
Chinese electronic manufacturer Meizu has officially
announced the release of their MX smartphone. Prior to
this, the Meizu MX had its share of rumours and leaked
photos unveiled on the Internet. It is now confirmed that the
smartphone will feature a 1.4GHz processor and penta-band
network support.
Electronics giant Canon has launched the new Powershot S100
compact camera for photography enthusiasts in Singapore.
The new pocket-sized powerhouse will feature a high
performance lens with an ultra-wide coverage of 24mm, a
5x optical zoom, and a maximum aperture of f/2.0. The
Canon boasts excellent low-light performance together with its Meizu has officially unveiled their new MX smartphone
DIGIC 5 image processor and High-Sensitivity (HS) system. which will add another member to the Google Android
Users can expect increased details, reduced image noise, and army. Arriving in 2012, the 10.3mm thick Meizu MX will
better color accuracy from the Powershot S100. The Multi- come equipped with 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos 4210 dual-core
area White Balance function will also contribute to a natural processor, 1GB LPDDR2 memory, 16GB of storage, a front
appearance of the image when area-specific corrections are facing camera, and a built-in noise cancellation system, all of
applied for a scene with multiple light sources. which is powered by a 1600mAh battery. Contrary to previous
The Intelligent Image Stabilization (IS) system is an rumours, the MX will not feature an optical track pad. Instead,
impressive feature which includes a group of seven IS modes, a physical home button will take its place. The smartphone
all of which can be automatically selected by the system when will serve the needs of frequent travelers with its penta-
a suitable scene is detected. The Powershot S100 is also able band 3G and HSPA plus network support, eliminating the
to record full High Definition (HD) 1080p videos at 24 frames need for different phones for different networks. The MX will
per second (fps) while being zoom-capable across the session. don a highly modified version of Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread
It also comes with the Super Slow Motion Movie mode which
17

57. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
software, though the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update Don't you just hate when your wireless peripherals run out of
is en route. battery? And there's never a spare set around when you need
them either. Well, this may soon just be a bad memory, at
last if Broadcom has anything to do with it, as the company
Report: AMD Radeon HD 7000 has developed a new Bluetooth low energy based chip for
Prices keyboards that the company claims will enable up to 10 years
battery life.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/report-amd-radeon-hd-7000-
prices/14157.html
December 8th, 2011
Don't you just hate when your wireless peripherals run out of
battery? And there's never a spare set around when you need
them either. Well, this may soon just be a bad memory, at
last if Broadcom has anything to do with it, as the company
has developed a new Bluetooth low energy based chip for
keyboards that the company claims will enable up to 10 years
battery life.
DonanimHaber has leaked preliminary pricing information
The chip in question is called the BCM20730 and Broadcom
for AMD's upcoming Southern Islands / Radeon HD 7000
claims that it's backwards compatible with previous Bluetooth
series. The pricing covers Radeon HD 7650 at $119 to the dual-
standards, although presumably at increased power drain. The
GPU 7990 flagship at over $700. In general, pricing for the
BCM20730 is one of the first implementations of Bluetooth
entire HD 7000 range will be above the equivalent HD 6000
4.0, a standard that so far has only shown up in a few mobile
parts they are succeeding.
devices, but which is promising greatly increased battery
The flagship will be HD 7990, a dual-GPU product based on performance at the cost of data transfer speeds.
two Tahiti chips. The pricing is expected to be above $700. The
The BCM20730 emulates a USB HID device and Broadcom
fastest single-GPU HD 7970 will be $499, with performance
claims that thanks to its ZeroTouch configuration technology
exceeding GTX 580 but below today's dual-GPU flagships - HD
there shouldn't be any need for pairing up a device built
6990 and GTX 590. HD 7950 rounds up the Tahiti range at
around the chip to the computer it's being used with. Another
$399.
benefit of Bluetooth 4.0 is a vastly reduced latency from idle
The most popular series is expected to be HD 7800, with HD to an active state. This should make Bluetooth 4.0 peripherals
7870 at $299 and HD 7850 at $199. These price points are feel much more responsive than older Bluetooth devices. One
identical to the very popular HD 4800 series back in 2008. The concern we have though is the vastly reduced data rate, as
mainstream HD 7600 series will be priced at $119 and $179 for Bluetooth low energy is limited to a mere 260Kbps, which
HD 7650 and HD 7670 respectively. doesn't seem ideal for a wireless keyboard, but we'd have to try
DonanimHaber suggests only Tahiti will use the GCN a device out before we can say for certain.
architecture, while all/most other HD 7000 GPUs will be Beyond being used for keyboards, Broadcom is suggesting that
based on VLIW-4. Tahiti will feature 384-bit memory - a the BCM20730 would work well with 3D glasses, mice, game
novelty for AMD/ATI GPUs - tied to 3GB GDDR5. It will controllers and just about any other kind of wireless device
also support DirectX 11.1, which will release with Windows 8. controller. Broadcom has even built in an ARM Cortex M3 SoC
However, there's no mention of whether the other HD 7000 to remove the need for any additional processing being done
GPUs will support DX 11.1. by a third party chip in wireless devices. With a bit of luck it
The first HD 7000 products are expected to be announced at shouldn't take too long until we see some Bluetooth low power
CeBIT 2012, with availability some time in January. Needless devices in the market and we'll hopefully get our hands on
to mention, such reports contain preliminary information and some for testing to see if they're better than older Bluetooth 2.1
a lot of the details are likely to change before the final release. devices in terms of responsiveness and power usage.
Broadcom promises 10 year Intel and Micron announces
battery life for Bluetooth world's first 20nm 128Gbit
keyboards NAND flash
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-and-micron-announces-world-s-
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/broadcom-promises-10-year-battery-
first-20nm-128gbit-nand-flash/14155.html
life-for-bluetooth-keyboards/14156.html
December 8th, 2011
December 8th, 2011
18

58. December 8th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
If all goes well, then we can look forward to much larger SSDs
come the second half of next year as Intel and Micron has
announced that their joint venture IM Flash Technologies will
be launching 128Gbit NAND flash sometime in the second half
of next year. In the meantime, we'll have to make do with
IMFT's 20nm 64Gbit NAND flash which the two companies
announced has gone into mass production.
If all goes well, then we can look forward to much larger SSDs
come the second half of next year as Intel and Micron has
announced that their joint venture IM Flash Technologies will
be launching 128Gbit NAND flash sometime in the second half
of next year. In the meantime, we'll have to make do with
IMFT's 20nm 64Gbit NAND flash which the two companies
announced has gone into mass production. It looks like the latter half of 2012 will be an interesting time
The 64Gbit parts are built using IMFT's brand new 20nm for SSDs and the good news is that IMFT is expecting to sample
process which should for the time being, be the most advanced 128Gbit devices to its partners as early as January. We're fairly
flash memory manufacturing process. However, this is merely certain that Intel and Micron will get first dibs on these parts,
a stepping stone to the 128Gbit parts which are made using the but as long as production quantities ramp as expected, IMFT
same process, but with quite a few technical advances in terms is going to bring some serious competition to Samsung and
of everything else. the other NAND flash makers. Who's up for a smartphone or
a tablet with 128GB of built in storage?
For starters, IMFT is promising terabit storage in a chip using
eight 128Gbit NAND flash devices in a single package and if
you don't know your bits from your bytes, then that is 128GB,
i.e. a standard size SSD on a chip. The 128Gbit chips will also
feature ONFI 3.0 which will boost the interface speed to 333
megatransfers per second which should see SSDs gain further
performance next year as multiple chips are used to make up
SSDs.
With a move to more storage capacity per chip it should
become more affordable to create larger size SSDs for the drive
makers, as you could make a 1TB SSD out of a mere eight
chips. As for concerns about data retention and product life,
IMFT has developed what they call "planar cell structure" that
is meant to make the 20nm chips as reliable as current 25nm
chip if we're reading the press release correct. The new NAND
flash devices are also made using Hi-K metal gate, which is
apparently another first in NAND flash production.
19

59. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
VR-Zone.com | Stuff for the Geeks!
There should be more OEM models coming and we'll keep you
VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication posted as we find out more details.
covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks.
AMD Radeon HD 7900 series
Exclusive: Mobile quad core to launch January 9th 2012
OEM Ivy Bridge processors Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-7900-series-to-launch-
unveiled
january-9th-2012/14209.html
December 12th, 2011
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/exclusive-mobile-quad-core-oem-ivy-
bridge-processors-unveiled/14210.html
December 12th, 2011
Turkish website DonanimHaber have received confirmation
for final release date of the much anticipated Radeon HD 7900
series - January 9th 2012. This puts the big release one day
A week ago we gave you Intel's mobile Ivy Bridge roadmap, before CES 2012 commences.
but it seemed to be missing a few CPUs, specifically the much Turkish website DonanimHaber have received confirmation
expected 35W quad cores. Well, today we bring exclusive for final release date of the much anticipated Radeon HD 7900
details of a few additional mobile quad core Ivy Bridge series - January 9th 2012. This puts the big release one day
processors destined for OEMs, the kind of CPUs that Intel before CES 2012 commences.
doesn't put in its official price list.
The previous rumoured date, Jan 10th, co-incided with CES
2012. However, AMD has decided to release on Monday,
A week ago we gave you Intel's mobile Ivy Bridge roadmap, instead of the traditional Tuesday/Thursday release days.
but it seemed to be missing a few CPUs, specifically the much More details about AMD Radeon HD 7900 / Tahiti can be
expected 35W quad cores. Well, today we bring exclusive found in our speculation round-up.
details of a few additional mobile quad core Ivy Bridge
processors destined for OEMs, the kind of CPUs that Intel
doesn't put in its official price list. Intel lowers Q4 financial
The additional quad core models are similar to the lower- outlook over HDD shortage
end Sandy Bridge quad cores such as the Core i7-2630QM all Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-lowers-q4-financial-outlook-over-
the way up to the 2675QM, models you'll find in notebooks hdd-shortage/14208.html
from big brand name players such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo December 12th, 2011
etc. The OEM Ivy Bridge models are the Core i7-3615QM,
Core i7-3612QM and Core i7-3610QM, all of which sports 6MB
L2 cache, support for DDR3 1600MHz memory and a base
graphics clock of 650MHz which for reference is very similar
to the Core i7-3720QM.
Intel seems to have gone and made things all confusing with its Intel has announced that its financial results for the fourth
model numbering scheme here though, as the Core i7-3615QM quarter of 2011 will be lower than expected due to the hard disk
is a 2.3GHz part with a top turbo boost speed of 3.3GHz and drive (HDD) shortage.
unless there's a typo or two in the information we've seen,
then this CPU is identical to the Core i7-3610QM. The Core Intel has announced that its financial results for the fourth
i7-3612QM on the other hand is slower with a base clock of quarter of 2011 will be lower than expected due to the hard disk
2.1GHz with a top turbo boost speed of 3.1GHz. That makes drive (HDD) shortage.
these by far the lowest clocked Ivy Bridge processors and The chip giant revised its fourth quarter revenue expectations
although we don't have any TDP specifics, we have a feeling down from $14.7 billion to $13.7 billion, showing the
that these are the 35W parts Intel has mentioned in the past. monumental impact the flooding in Thailand has had on its
business.
1

60. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Intel said that PC sales are expected to be higher in the fourth
quarter compared to the third, but added that the entire global
PC supply chain is reducing inventories and microprocessor
purchases due to the HDD shortage, which Intel predicts will
continue into the first quarter of next year.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S is an upgrade version of the
popular Xperia Arc with similar form factor and hardware
components, except that this one is powered by a faster 1.4GHz
Last week IHS iSuppli forecast that there would be by 3.8 processor (to 1GHz of the Xperia Arc). Measuring 8.7mm
million fewer PCs in the first quarter of 2012 due to the slim, the smartphone runs Android Gingerbread 2.3.4, though
HDD supply issue, despite some recovery in the industry by the company has said that the phone will be upgradeable
companies like Western Digital. to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in future. It sports a
4.2-inch Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine, 8.1-
megapixel camera with high definition (HD) video capability,
With Intel feeling the impact of the Thailand floods, we can
and features Sony's Exmor R mobile image sensor that
likely expect other chip makers and companies dependent on
enhances still images and videos even in low light conditions.
hard drive supply to also lower their revenue expectations.
Comes in Pure White, Midnight Blue and Sakura Pink, the
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S is available now from all three telco
Intel will announce its fourth quarter results on 19 January, operators and Sony Ericsson Concept stores.
2012. Price: S$788 (before telco subsidies)
Where to buy - All three telco operators - SingTel, M1 and
StarHub, and Sony Ericsson Concept stores at Junction 8, Ang
VR-Zone Christmas Gift Guide Mo Kio Hub and Parkway Parade Shopping Centre.
- Mobile Phones
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/vr-zone-christmas-gift-guide--mobile-
phones/14143.html
December 12th, 2011
Stand a chance to win a Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
The mobile phone has evolved from being a device to make and
receive calls, as well as send SMS (short message service), to Sony Ericsson Xperia ray
one packed with a wide range of features - built-in camera for
capturing videos and pictures, gaming, accessing the Internet
and email etc. On top of that, the phone manufacturers are also
competing in making their devices slimmer, lighter and with
a decently huge display. Well, if you are looking to upgrade
your phone or planning to get your loved ones a new phone
this Christmas, read on.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S
2

61. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
RIM met with the Indonesian government on Thursday about
progress made since January, but the government claims that
while it fulfilled some requests, it did not go far enough,
especially in regards to its main demands.
Indonesia wants RIM to establish an aggregator and customer
care centres in the country, block pornography on devices, and
give the government access to encrypted data that is being
transmitted on the network.
Designed for youths and especially the ladies, the Sony
Ericsson Xperia ray features a unique quality design, and
claims to offer great ease of use. Measuring a mere 9.4mm
thin, the compact smartphone comes in a stylish and
durable aluminum frame, and sports a 3.3-inch Reality
Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine for superb visuals. The
Xperia ray also packs a powerful 1GHz processor, 8.1-
megapixel camera with Exmor R image sensor for mobile and
high definition video functionality, and runs the latest Android
2.3 Gingerbread operating system. If black isn't your favorite
color, the Sony Ericsson Xperia ray is also available in Gold
and Pink.
Price: S$598 (before telco subsidies)
Where to buy - All three telco operators - SingTel, M1 and
StarHub, and Sony Ericsson Concept stores at Junction 8, Ang
Mo Kio Hub and Parkway Parade Shopping Centre.
RIM said it was receiving mixed messages from Indonesia,
Indonesia threatens to shut
claiming it was never formally asked to build a centre in
the country. It said it complied with all of the government's
down BlackBerry service requests, including a router in Indonesia which acts as an
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/indonesia-threatens-to-shut-down- aggregator.
blackberry-service/14206.html
December 12th, 2011
As for access to encrypted data, an issue that arose in other
regions like India, RIM is working with law enforcement
agencies, but the Indonesian goverment indicated that it was
unhappy that the company won't reveal exactly who it is
working with.
The Indonesian government has threatened to shut down the Indonesia is one the biggest markets for BlackBerry devices,
BlackBerry service in the country as it continues a disputre making this ban potentially disastrous to RIM's revenue. RIM
with Research In Motion (RIM) over access to encrypted call also got into trouble in the country recently after a botched
and text data. promotion led to a stampede.
The Indonesian government has threatened to shut down the
BlackBerry service in the country as it continues a disputre
with Research In Motion (RIM) over access to encrypted call
and text data. Samsung breaks record with
The Indonesian Telecommunication Regulatory Body said 300 million mobile phone sales
that it will cut RIM's BlackBerry data services if it does not Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-breaks-record-with-300-
fulfill the government's demands. million-mobile-phone-sales/14205.html
3

62. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
NVIDIA Project Denver "Lost in
December 12th, 2011
Rockies", to Debut in 2014-15
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-project-denver-lost-in-rockies--
to-debut-in-2014-15/14204.html
December 12th, 2011
Samsung sold over 300 million mobile phones this year,
breaking its company record. The Galaxy S smartphones are
primary contributors to the achievement.
Samsung sold over 300 million mobile phones this year, a
There is a lot of virtual ink spilled over the upcoming NVIDIA
record figure in the company's entire history.
CPU architecture which company calls "Project Denver". Not a
The Korean electronics giant issued a statement on Sunday lot is known though, on when the design is expected to debut.
saying that it had broken its sales record at the end of last
There is a lot of virtual ink spilled over the upcoming NVIDIA
month, which means that the total number for 2011 will be
CPU architecture which company calls "Project Denver". Not
even bigger, thanks to the strong Christmas shopping period.
a lot is known though, when the design is expected to debut.
According to Jen-Hsun's talk at the third quarter financial
The figure is significantly higher than the 280 million sales results conference call, NVIDIA is working on Project Denver
Samsung recorded in 2010, which was a positive year for to "supplement, add to ARM's capabilities by extending the
the smartphone industry. It claims that its Galaxy S series of ARM's architecture to segments in a marketplace that they are
smartphones were primary contributors to the achievement, not themselves focused on".
with the Galaxy S II selling 10 million units alone since its April
It is no secret that NVIDIA sees Project Denver as a processor
launch, another record for the company.
not oriented towards tablets and netbooks, but rather desktops
and high-performance computing. According to information
available, the first product based on the 64-bit Denver
architecture will be Stark, i.e. Iron Man - Tegra SOC set for
introduction in late 2014, with real availability in 2015.
Prior to the debut of NVIDIA's own 64-bit architecture, the
company will launch Kal-El and Kal-El+ (28nm die-shrink),
“We look forward to extending this success going into 2012,” both based on 32-bit ARM Cortex-A9 architecture, followed by
said J.K. Shin, President and Head of Mobile Communications Wayne (Cortex-A15) and Logan, all before Stark comes alive.
at Samsung. NVIDIA is developing Project Denver for better part of
the past decade. The company acquired Colorado-based
Stexar in 2006, with a plan to develop a binary compatible
Samsung is the second largest handset maker in the world, architecture with the x86 instruction set, with or without
behind Nokia, which has been losing market share as Intel's permission/license. The original architecture called for
smartphones overtook feature phones. A decade ago Samsung a similar approach used by Transmeta with a translation
was in fourth place, and if Nokia fails to recover sufficiently layer being the core part of the architecture. However,
with its planned Windows Phone 7 smartphone range, luckily for NVIDIA, then tiny ARM started its ascent into
Samsung could end up creeping into the top spot. the contemporary computing with the new generation of
smartphones. As such, NVIDIA's R&D shifted focus from
being binary compatible with x86 into an extended ARM
architecture. Needless to say, this practically required starting
from scratch.
4

63. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Given that NVIDIA takes four years to develop a new GPU and
that typically, CPU requires five years of development, the first
silicon coming out of Stexar will only come after eight years
of development. One of terms we heard about Project Denver
from a highly ranked executive in a competing firm was "Lost
in Rockies".
Yet, NVIDIA cannot take any chances and needs a proprietary,
ARM-compatible architecture to extract X86 out of their
GPGPU servers. Project Denver is expected to bridge
the performance gap between Tegras oriented towards
smartphones and other mobile devices with the desktop and
server performance requirements. According to Jen-Hsun,
ARM currently has no plans to do that in mid-to-long term.
The project shares similar fate to Intel's own Haswell, which
changed its description and architecture for about four times,
first being on the map as a NetBu(r)st architecture, only to
launch half a decade later as a completely new architecture.
In any case, Stexar team has full support of NVIDIA
management, and Stark should arrive on the market only after
the market accepts 64-bit ARM as a mainstream computing The Deskstar 4 TB (model number: HDS5C4040ALE630) is
architecture. part of the 5K4000 series. It is based on the standard 3.5-
inch form-factor, and features a SATA 6 Gbps interface. It is
designed more with storage in mind, with a spindle-speed in
Hitachi Makes 4TB Deskstar the range of 5400 RPM. As the picture might show you, it
packs 5 platters and 10 recording surfaces. The 5400 RPM
and Touro HDDs Official design brings about energy efficiency of about 28 percent
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hitachi-makes-4tb-deskstar-and-touro- compared to a hypothetical similarly-specc'd 7200 RPM drive.
hdds-official/14203.html Naturally lower spindle speeds also contribute to lower noise.
December 12th, 2011 The Deskstar 5K4000 4 TB packs 32 MB of fast cache, which
should take advantage of the 6 Gb/s interface bandwidth for
high burst speeds.
First spotted in the bylanes of the Akihabara district of
Tokyo last week, Hitachi's uber-capacious Deskstar 4 Terabyte
internal hard drives were finally announced to the world today.
Along with it, Hitachi also announced its Touro avatar, a
portable HDD that makes use of one of these drives.
Increasing hard drive capacities are inevitable, but these are
turbulent times in the hard drive industry, with a huge chunk
of it gone for a swim in the recent Thailand floods. Hitachi got
ahead of bigger players Western Digital and Seagate in being
the first HDD vendor with an internal hard drive with 4 TB of
unformatted capacity. Incidentally, Hitachi was also the first
to market with a 1 TB HDD.
5

64. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
the high-end Core i7-3770K that's been put through its paces in
a somewhat limited selection of benchmarks, but if the results
are anything close to the final CPU revision, then we can look
forward to a decent performance boost over Sandy Bridge.
If you, like us, have eagerly been awaiting the first Ivy Bridge
benchmark numbers then we have good news for you, they've
arrived as an early Christmas present courtesy of Chiphell. It's
the high-end Core i7-3770K that's been put through its paces in
a somewhat limited selection of benchmarks, but if the results
are anything close to the final CPU revision, then we can look
forward to a decent performance boost over Sandy Bridge.
The CPU was fitted to an un-named Z77 chipset motherboard
–an early revision with an early BIOS/UEFI – and paired up
with 8GB of DDR3 1600MHz memory. As we know, the Core
i7-3770K sports Intel HD Graphics 4000 and the integrated
graphics was being used for the tests, so we're looking at early
graphics drivers here too, in best case we're looking at an Alpha
driver here, at least according to information we have at hand
with regards to Intel's driver release schedule and judging by
the driver revision used.
The next launch from Hitachi is the Touro 4 TB, a portable
hard drive that packs the Deskstar 5K4000 launched today.
Measuring 129mm (W) x 183mm (H) x 60mm (D), this drive
provides you capacities that could only be achieved by portable
HDDs twice its volume, because they needed two internal
drives to achieve its capacity. The new drive takes advantage Let's start with 3DMark06, not really the most taxing
of the new USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface to ensure there are benchmark these days, but as you can see from the screenshot
no interface bottlenecks, and that its performance is nearly on below, we got a score of 6841, a respectable improvement in
par with that of the Deskstar running inside your computer. performance compared to the Core i7-2600K which ends up
somewhere around 5000 points, although we had a bit of a
The Deskstar 5K4000 4 TB is priced at US $399.99, and is
hard time tracking down some comparable figures, especially
released to retail markets in limited quantities (go figure!). It
using recent drivers. Looking at the CPU score for 3DMark06
will be released to OEMs in early 2012. The Touro 4 TB, on the
the Core i7-3770K scored 7170 which should be compared
other hand, will be released to the retail channel in January
to about 6700-6800 for a Core i7-2600K, so only a minor
2012, and will be priced at $419.99.
performance increase here.
Moving on we have a couple of runs of Cinebench 11.5 where in
Ivy Bridge benchmarks single core mode the 3.5GHz Core i7-3770K scored 1.65 easily
brought early by Santa besting a Core i7-2600K which scores 1.53 – co-incidentally
the 2700K is barely any faster at 1.54 points here – although
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ivy-bridge-benchmarks-brought-early-
moving on to using all available cores we're looking at a score
by-santa/14202.html
of 7.52 for the Core i7-3770K which is a decent performance
December 12th, 2011
bump over the 2600K which scores just under 7 points
whereas the 2700K scores just over 7 points. Ivy Bridge is by no
means a Sandy Bridge-E beater here where the Core i7-3960X
manages 11.44 points with all cores enabled at stock clock,
although due to the lower clock it only manages 1.58 points in
If you, like us, have eagerly been awaiting the first Ivy Bridge single core mode.
benchmark numbers then we have good news for you, they've
arrived as an early Christmas present courtesy of Chiphell. It's
6

65. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The third and final benchmark is Fritz Chess and here the Core
i7-3770K scores 13869 points whereas a Core i7-2600K scores
around 1000 points slower. None of these numbers are that
20 percent performance advantage Intel suggested Ivy Bridge Dancers can now rejoice as Pioneer releases STEEZ Dance
was going to offer over Sandy Bridge earlier this year, but it Gears series, a line-up of portable audio equipment to power
does seem to line up with the lower end of the spectrum that their groove. The term “boombox” is given a new definition
we saw from Intel's own benchmark figures that were part of with the STEEZ Audio series, consisting of the Type S, Type
the leaked roadmap from a couple of weeks ago. The publisher T, and Type Z portable speakers. Featuring an in-built 4GB
of the benchmarks over at Chiphell is expecting Ivy Bridge storage capacity and connections for iPod dock, USB and
to hit 5GHz quite easily, although none of the benchmarks auxiliary 3.5mm jack, the STEEZ Audio series plays your MP3,
are at anything but stock clock speeds. We've still got another WMA, AAC and WAV music files loud and proud.
four months to wait until we'll know how final silicon behaves The real shine comes from a nice mix of play functions,
alongside final BIOS/UEFI and drivers, but we'd expect a such as Auto Battle Mode, which automatically plays a list
small performance increase between now and then. Hit the of your favorite music of the same genre, accompanied by a
source link below for some additional screen shots. countdown timer to signal the end of the session. Other play
mode features include Tempo Control Function, Dance CUE
Pioneer introduces STEEZ function, and Eight-beat Skip to fast forward or reverse by
eight counts in the music for choreographic practices.
Dance Gears audio solutions STEEZ Portable
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/pioneer-introduces-steez-dance-gears-
audio-solutions/14200.html
December 12th, 2011
A new dedicated line of audio equipment made specially for
dancers has been unveiled by Pioneer. The attention grabbing
series of speakers, music players and headphones celebrate
this urban youth culture by empowering street dancers with
the beat to match theirs skills.
STEEZ Audio
The STEEZ Portable is a music player with a 4GB storage
capacity and touch panel interface. It is equipped with play
functions such as Non-Stop Mix Play for automatic queuing of
similar tracks; Tempo Control Search which queues tracks of
similar temp; Tempo Control; and Bookmark function to add
tracks to the current playlist while listening to music. Pumping
continuous music becomes fast and hassle-free for seamless
dance sessions.
STEEZ Headphone
7

66. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Last week, we visited EVGA's headquarters in chilly Taipei
to check out the latest and greatest creations from Vince
"k|ngp|n" Lucido and crew. It turned out to be a fruitful
affair as new 3DMark 11 world records were being made on
their new Classified range of X79 motherboard and GTX580
Graphics Card. We also snagged a preview of a pre-production
overclocking mammoth Super Record X (Dual Xeon Socket
2011) motherboard.
3DMark Overclocking Legend Vince "k|ngp|n" Lucido doing
what he does best - breaking records at work
The STEEZ Headphone delivers crisp sound with rich low-
pass bass, bringing out dance beats effortlessly. It is easy to
store in your bag with its foldable design, along with a variety
of monitoring styles thanks to its housing reversal and swivel
mechanism built around the drivers.
MIXTRAX
Pioneer brings their experience in producing DJ equipment
by offering the MIXTRAX music management application.
Analysis technology gathers information of all kinds of music
such as melody, beat positions and chorus blocks, thus placing
all music into various relevant categories and enabling the
execution advance play functions. The user-friendly interface The 3DMark 11 WR LN2 Setup - Intel SNB-E 3960X, X79
makes sure import of your library is a breeze. The good news Classified, 4 X GTX580 Classified
is it’s free, right here.
Pricing:
STEEZ Audio TYPE S - S$399
STEEZ Audio TYPE T - S$499
STEEZ Audio TYPE Z - S$699
STEEZ Portable - S$199
STEEZ Headphone - S$99
A Visit to EVGA Labs - X79
Classified 3DMark WR Setup
and SR-X Preview
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/a-visit-to-evga-labs--x79-
classified-3dmark-wr-setup-and-sr-x-preview/14198.html
December 12th, 2011 X79 Classified Motherboard - it will be coming to stores
soon after a slight delay due to Japanese earthquake induced
component shortage.
8

67. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
A sensible and practical UEFI bios layout and design for
overclockers
EVBot for useful Voltage/Temp readouts and control
The GTX580 Classified has a reworked PCB and features 14+3
Phase power design that can deliver over 1000W of power.
kingpincooling.com LN2 pots
9

68. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
memory interface, tied to GDDR5 memory. This should lead to
memory bandwidth around 250 GB/s. Based on the PCB shots
of Tahiti, forum members have used Photoshop to estimate
the die size. As we speculated previously, the die size is
now reported to be similar to Cayman - around 380 mm2.
Considering Tahiti will be manufactured at TSMC's 28nm
process, this puts the estimated transistor count at a whopping
4.5 billion transistors.
Here's another die size estimate from Beyond3D forum :
Rumour: AMD Tahiti / HD 7900
Specifications & Details
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rumour-amd-tahiti-hd-7900-
specifications--details/14199.html AMD's Radeon HD 7900 series has been heavily rumoured
December 12th, 2011 for a release during CES 2012. The release date is now being
pegged at 10th January 2012, Tuesday, and also the day
CES 2012 commences. HD 7800 series is expected to release
in February, with the dual-Tahiti New Zealand / HD 7990
flagship in March. The rest of the HD 7000 series will be
rounded up by Q2 2012.
To conclude one of the quietest years for the GPU
industry, the rumour mill has been working overtime, fueled
by speculation about AMD's upcoming HD 7900 series, Turbo overclocking on High
codenamed Tahiti. 3DCenter has compiled expected and
rumoured specifications, and also mention a tentative release TDP CPUs; the 8-core Intel
date - 10th January 2012.
Sandy Bridge EP example
The Tahiti chip is rumoured to debut the GCN (Graphics Core Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/turbo-overclocking-on-high-tdp-cpus-
Next) architecture, featuring 32 Compute Units with a total the-8-core-intel-sandy-bridge-ep-example/14197.html
of 2048 shaders. TMU count could be 128. The clock speed December 12th, 2011
is likely to be under 1 GHz, providing a theoretical compute
potential of around 4 single precision GFlops. Performance
for Tahiti XT / HD 7970 could be close to today's dual-GPUs
flagships, and considerably faster than GTX 580 and HD
6970.
Both Intel and AMD now include automatic overclocking-style
'Turbo' performance enhancements in their CPUs. Once you
reach the very high TDP territory, like what it is with the
Bulldozer or will be with the upcoming 8 core Sandy Bridge
EP, what would make best sense?
Turbo, Overdrive, call it whatever you want - Intel and AMD
alike figured out the potential of that built in 'headroom' that
is available in most of their CPUs well beyond the stock clock.
The overclocking enthusiast community used it for years now
to achieve some incredible results.
However, we should distinguish between 'suicidal
overclocking' including some LN2 and other exotic deeds,
where the dies become pretty much unusable after sustained
While most of the above information should be considered as exposure to such stresses, and so called 'productive
rumours, what we do know is that Tahiti features a 384-bit overclocking' where a measurable performance enhancement
10

69. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
is achieved by upping the clocks and tightening other application users; and high-frequency traders - will want even
parameters without major voltage increases or other stresses more. After all, let's not forget who bought most of the EVGA
on the CPU or system, leading to expected long term SR2 mainboards over the past year or so.
productive usage at that higher speed. Obviously, the vendors
are interested in the latter one.
When we have such high TDP figures at default, is it better
to just leave things as they are and rely on Turbo, or get an
unlocked version and reach into the overclocking realms with
TDP going beyond 250W per socket? Remember, here you'll
also have a 4-socket version, the E5 4600, which would then
mean a kilowatt just for the four overclocked CPUs...
Based on what could be done with the Core i7 3960X, which
after all is just a reduced 6-cores-out-of-8 version of this
same die, and assuming progressively better cooling and
power delivery to be provided for the full 8-core version,
there is no reason why there can't be 4 GHz 'productive
overclocking' dual-socket Sandy Bridge-EP systems at very
reasonable minimal voltage and system tweaks, providing 25%
performance above the baseline. With further cooling and
tweaks, even 4.3 GHz should be OK for medium to long term
use. Anything beyond that, we need to wait for D-stepping, I
guess.
In summary, Turbo will provide a decent performance hop
Of course, they have to be far more careful with Turbo, since even on super high TDP CPU like the Xeon E5 top of the
it, unlike overclocking, falls within the warranty specs. Its range in the 150W range, however, the cooling and mainboard
automatic adjustments also vary depending on the cooling design choices have progressed so far now, together with the
efficiency, power delivery from the mainboard, and of course overclocking experience, that it would be a pity not to open
the compute load on the CPU. What happens once your TDP up the headroom to those willing to make the best use of it -
at default state reaches 150W, like the upcoming high end of whether to reach new records in suicidal overclocking of 16 full
the Xeon E5 2600 'Sandy Bridge EP' line? cores at one go, or 'productive enhancement' to monetize the
extra GHz for those who need it - engineers, designers, gamers
or traders alike.
At that point, the default speed is already 'hot' in every sense
of the word. Sandy Bridge already implements power spike
control in its Turbo mode management to avoid breaching HP makes webOS open-source
the Icc_max value, and ensures that everything is ran within Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hp-makes-webos-open-
thermal capacity of the CPU die, packaging and voltage source/14195.html
regulation circuitry - all in 1 millisecond sampling intervals. December 12th, 2011
It can also use transient thermal headroom to exceed the
performance further for a limited time.
With all these enhancements, Intel is expected to provide
substantial Turbo power and thermal headroom limits for its
upcoming flagship processors of the Sandy Bridge EP line. If Hewlett Packard has finally come to a conclusion for the fate
we look at the 150W top end part, the one that enthusiasts of their ailing WebOS. In the footsteps of rivaling software
would like to see unlocked in mainboards such as EVGA SR- Android, the company have decided to make WebOS an open-
X, it by default allows for constant usage at 180W TDP, and source project. While developer communities are celebrating
maximum usage at 230W TDP - not to say that, with the right the decision, much remains to be seen if HP will carry out their
mainboard and cooling, it couldn't run consistently at 230W commitments as promised.
as well.
If we assume the starting frequency is, say, 3.1 GHz , and
we can go all the way to 3.5 GHz when using all the cores if
the system power and cooling allow, this by itself is not bad
improvement over the base line. However, three categories of
uses - enthusiasts including gamers; workstation 3-D & HPC
11

70. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Sony Ericsson's rumoured upcoming flagship was sighted yet
again, and this time it is from a Chinese source. The amazingly
thin profile and a mysterious illumination strip along the
bottom of the phone certainly leads one to wonder what
the phone manufacturer is up to this time.
In a surprising turn of events, computer manufacturer Hewlett
Packard (HP) has officially declared their mobile platform
webOS released for for open-source development. This means
that they are taking a similar approach to rivaling operating
system (OS) Android, whereby the entire source code of the OS
is available to consumers and developers to be modified and Yet another image of Sony Ericsson’s smartphone-in-
improved on. The webOS feature various benefits to different development, the Xperia Arc HD (codenamed “Nozomi”), has
segment of its market. Developers will find applications easy surfaced. It is reported to be undergoing carrier tests in Hong
to construct from standard web technologies, while device Kong. From the image, it can be seen that the Xperia UI has
manufacturers will enjoy the seamless integration to multiple been tweaked considerably, while the phone remains true to
devices with its web-centric platform. its predecessor’s slimness. The seemingly illuminated strip
“WebOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to around the phone near the bottom looks like an interesting
be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable,” said Meg Whitman, decoration but perhaps there is more than meets the eye.
HP's president and chief executive officer. “By contributing The source of this leak also claims that the phone will
this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source be announced during the upcoming Consumer Electronics
community to advance a new generation of applications and Show in January. Reports state that the specification of
devices.” the new phone include a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB
It is also mentioned that the resulting developments and new of memory, a 4.3-inch 720p resolution screen, and a 12-
versions of the software can be released in the marketplace, megapixel camera, in line with previous rumours. If all the
suggesting the level at which HP is supporting distributions information turns out to be true, Sony Ericsson might just have
of open-source enhancements. HP promises to deliver ENYO a winner in their hands.
soon, a Javascript app framework with native hardware
acceleration and fast app loading speed, and the rest of
the user space elements after that. With yet another open- OCZ ZS Series 650W PSU
source program, a healthy dose of competition and consistent
innovation will hopefully arise and bring progress to the entire
Review
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ocz-zs-series-650w-psu-
OS ecosystem.
review/14172.html
December 12th, 2011
Sony Ericsson "Xperia Arc HD"
images surfaced again
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sony-ericsson-xperia-arc-hd-images-
surfaced-again/14189.html It has been over half a decade since OCZ has begun marketing
December 12th, 2011 performance power supplies. The company turned into a
major player in the PSU market after they acquired PC Power
& Cooling, a company which specialized on the field. OCZ
currently markets three series: The premium ZX series, the
modular ZT series and the value range ZS series. A few weeks
ago we had a look at the ZT 550, a high performance modular
power supply designed to please hardcore enthusiasts and
modders. Today we are going to put to the test the 650W
12

71. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
version of a ZS series power supply and see what the value
range of OCZ’s power supplies can offer. Thailand floods lead to 3.8
It has been over half a decade since OCZ has begun marketing million fewer PCs in Q1 of
performance power supplies. The company turned into a
major player in the PSU market after they acquired PC Power
2012
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/thailand-floods-lead-to-3.8-million-
& Cooling, a company which specialized on the field. OCZ
fewer-pcs-in-q1-of-2012/14194.html
currently markets three series: The premium ZX series, the
December 12th, 2011
modular ZT series and the value range ZS series. A few weeks
ago we had a look at the ZT 550, a high performance modular
power supply designed to please hardcore enthusiasts and
modders. Today we are going to put to the test the 650W
version of a ZS series power supply and see what the value
range of OCZ’s power supplies can offer.
There will be 3.8 million fewer PC shipments in the first
Manufacturer features and specifications quarter of 2012 due to the disastrous flooding in Thailand over
the last few months, according to a report by market analysis
· 550W, 650W, and 750W Configurations firm IHS iSuppli.
· Single +12V Rail There will be 3.8 million fewer PC shipments in the first
· Continuous output rated at 40°C quarter of 2012 due to the disastrous flooding in Thailand over
the last few months, according to a report by market analysis
· 150 x 160 x 86mm (W x L x H)
firm IHS iSuppli.
· ATX12V v2.2 and EPS12V
· Non-Modular
IHS had previously predicted that there would be 88 million
· 80 Plus® Bronze Certified shipments of PCs around the world in the first quarter, but it
· High Efficiency: 85% at typical load has revised this figure downward to just 84.2 million. 2012's
overall shipments have also been lowered from the previous
· Overvoltage/Overcurrent/Short-Circuit protection expectation of 399 million to 376 million. As a result, global
· Active PFC growth in the PC market will drop from 9.5 per cent to 6.8 per
cent next year.
· MTBF:100,000 hours
· 135mm temperature and load controlled double ball-
bearing fan The primary reason for the drop is a severe shortage in hard
drisk drives (HDD) caused by the Thailand flood. Without
· 3 year warranty backed by OCZ's exclusive
this storage it is impossible to ship ready-made computers to
· PowerSwap Warranty replacement program. consumers and businesses. The shortage has led to existing
HDD prices doubling at most shops.
OCZ ZS
650W
AC 230V
INPUT ~ 10A
50Hz
DC +5V +3.3V +12V -12V +5Vsb
OUTPUT
MAX 22A 22A 46A 0.3A 3A
CURRENT
MAX 130W 552W 3.6W 15W
COMBINED
WATTAGE
TOTAL
POWER: “The PC supply chain says it has sufficient HDD inventory
650W for the fourth quarter of 2011. However, those stockpiles will
Continuous run out in the first quarter of 2012, impacting PC production
during that period,” said Matthew Wilkins, senior principal
analyst of compute platforms at IHS.
13

72. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
There is some hope for the HDD market, however, with
Western Digital recently announcing a return to production
at one of its previously flooded plants, but it will still take a
number of months to restore supply.
IHS expects that by the end of 2012 HDD supply will have
returned to normal or could even surpass normal capacity,
leading to an inventory surplus, which would be an ironic twist
of fate compared to the world's current predicament.
There is a crucial difference from the previous leak - this
More AMD Tahiti / HD 7900 sample consists of 2 x 6-pin PCI-e connectors, as opposed
to the 8-pin + 6-pin configuration previously captured. This
Pictures could suggest that this is either an advanced production ready
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/more-amd-tahiti-hd-7900- sample, or Tahiti Pro, or HD 7950, which should feature a
pictures/14193.html lower TDP than Tahiti XT / HD 7970. This card thus has a TDP
December 12th, 2011 somewhere between 150W and 225W.
Hackers threaten world's oil
supply
Not long after the first pictures of AMD's Tahiti leaked, we Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hackers-threaten-world-s-oil-
have a detailed shot of Tahiti's PCB, which reveals more supply/14192.html
details. The 12 memory chips are clearly visible, confirming the December 12th, 2011
384-bit memory bus. It also offers a first glimpse at the Tahiti
die.
Not long after the first pictures of AMD's Tahiti leaked ,
we have a detailed shot of Tahiti's PCB, which reveals more
details. The 12 memory chips are clearly visible, confirming the
384-bit memory bus. It also offers a first glimpse at the Tahiti
die. Hackers are threatening the world's oil supply in an increasing
wave of cyber attacks, according to top oil company executives,
spelling potential devastation for the economy and the
environment.
Hackers are threatening the world's oil supply in an increasing
wave of cyber attacks, according to top oil company executives.
Oil companies are warning that they are facing more and more
attacks on their systems, which could lead to a situation where
valves are accessed. This could result in a scenario where
oil rigs are set on fire, people are killed, the environment is
damaged, production is halted, and oil supply to industrial
nations is cut, which in turned would have a monumentally
The card most likely features 1.5 GB GDDR5. The 5+1 phase negative financial impact.
PWM is also visible. Most importantly, we get the first glimpse “We see an increasing number of attacks on our IT systems
of the Tahiti die. It is rotated by 45 degrees and covered by and information and there are various motivations behind it
a partial heatspreader. However, the die itself is exposed to - criminal and commercial,” said Ludolf Luehmann, manager
the heatsink. Tahiti is a big chip - at first glance a similar of IT at Shell, Europe's largest oil company. “We see an
size to Cayman. However, it is still visibly much smaller increasing number of attacks with clear commercial interests,
than NVIDIA's previous flagships, GF100/GF110 or GT200/ focusing on research and development, to gain the competitive
GT200b, so AMD continues to dismiss NVIDIA's big die advantage.”
strategy.
The card features 2x CF connectors as well as the dual BIOS
switched introduced with the HD 6900 series.
14

73. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
A French court has refused Samsung's request to ban Apple's
iPhone 4S in the country, the latest twist in an ongoing legal
dispute between the two companies.
A French court has refused Samsung's request to ban Apple's
iPhone 4S in the country, the latest twist in an ongoing legal
dispute between the two companies.
The court said it would not impose a preliminary sales ban
on the latest iPhone, but Samsung can still pursue a normal
lawsuit against Apple over the alleged patent infringement.
Samsung was ordered to pay €100,000 in legal fees, but it
escaped a fine, despite Apple asking for the court to award
damages in its favour.
This might sound like science-fiction to some, but the reality is
that most industries operate on computers that are vulnerable
to attack, and hackers are increasing in numbers, becoming
more knowledgeable, and making more daring attacks on
systems.
The Stuxnet worm, which crippled Iran's nuclear reactors,
showed the potential devastation that could be caused by cyber
warfare. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, this kind
of attack can be replicated on many essential infrastructures
systems, including water supplies, electricity grids, and oil
production and distribution. This is the latest decision in the bitter patent war, with
Riemer Brower, head of IT security at Abu Dhabi Company for Apple alleging that the Galaxy Tab is a rip-off of its iPad and
Onshore Oil Operations, said that the oil industry has so far that several of Samsung's smartphones infringe its patents.
avoided any major incidents, but qualified this by saying that Samsung has responded in kind by claiming that the iPhone
the companies in charge are no longer really in control. 4S uses some of its patented technology.
French court denies Samsung Even if Samsung had won its case in France, it could have
request to ban Apple's iPhone easily been overturned, just as Apple's injunction against sales
of the Galaxy Tab was overturned in Australia last week. That
4S case was further affirmed today with the formal lifting of the
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/french-court-denies-samsung-request- ban.
to-ban-apple-s-iphone-4s/14190.html
December 12th, 2011
Samsung is awaiting the decisions for other injunction
motions against Apple in Australia, Japan, France, and Italy.
15

74. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
cores. The report from Fudzilla also mentions that Vishera
Report: AMD Radeon HD 7800 will be compatible with the AM3+ platform and 900 series
(Pitcairn) in February 2012 chipsets. AMD's earlier Zambezi successor, Komodo, which
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/report-amd-radeon-hd-7800-pitcairn- is reportedly canceled, was planned to fit into the FM2
in-february-2012/14191.html platform, shared with Trinity. AMD is also preparing 1000
December 12th, 2011 series chipsets, with 1090FX and 1070, which will likely be
the chipset of choice for Vishera. Trinity will be the first
AMD product to feature Piledriver cores, releasing in Q2
2012, and will give a good indication to Vishera's performance
characteristics. Vishera will continue to be manufactured at
GloFo's 32nm process, which should hopefully be mature by
Q3 2012. Rumours indicate Vishera will continue to contain 4
Piledriver modules, although the canceled Komodo it replaces
AMD is planning to introduce their next-gen performance was said to feature 5 Piledriver modules.
part, replacing the HD 6800 / Barts series, in February 2012. Intel's Ivy Bridge-E enthusiast CPUs are also slated to launch
The rumoured date is the week of February 20th, the week around the same time, although AMD's Vishera will most
after Chinese New Year. Codenamed Pitcairn, there will be two likely battle Intel's Ivy Bridge quad-core CPUs, particularly
SKUs at launch - Pitcairn Pro and Pitcairn XT, expected to be Core i7 3770K, unless Piledriver brings unexpectedly massive
branded Radeon HD 7850 and Radeon HD 7870 respectively. improvements over Bulldozer.
AMD is planning to introduce their next-gen performance
part, replacing the HD 6800 / Barts series, in February 2012.
The rumoured date is the week of February 20th, the week Samsung to launch monster
after Chinese New Year. Codenamed Pitcairn, there will be two tablet in 2012?
SKUs at launch - Pitcairn Pro and Pitcairn XT, expected to be Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-to-launch-monster-tablet-
branded Radeon HD 7850 and Radeon HD 7870 respectively. in-2012-/14187.html
Pitcairn Pro is rumoured to cost $199, with Pitcairn XT December 12th, 2011
at $299. These are the same price points at launch as the
immensely popular Radeon HD 4800 series, hitting the price/
performance sweet-spots.
The first Southern Islands cards are still expected to be Tahiti /
HD 7900 series, to release at CES 2012. They will be followed
by Pitcairn, with the dual-GPU flagship New Zealand (possibly Korean manufacturer Samsung may be unveilng a new tablet
HD 7990) releasing at CeBIT 2012, in the early March. The with improved specification next year at the Mobile World
first Kepler GPUs from NVIDIA are also expected to show up Congress in Barcelona. Along with a recent announcement of
in March, although rumours suggest NVIDIA might release the Exynos 5250 processor and its whooping 2560 by 1600
mainstream GPUs first, with performance parts coming later screen resolution, the pieces for a new beast of a tablet seems
in Q2. to be in place.
Report: AMD Vishera (next-gen
FX) in Q3 2012
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/report-amd-vishera-next-gen-fx-in-
q3-2012/14188.html
December 12th, 2011
AMD is planning to release their next-gen FX CPUs in Q3
2012. Codenamed Vishera, these CPUs will feature Piledriver
cores, and today's FX-Series Zambezi CPUs with Bulldozer The recent patent war has not dampened the spirits of
cores. The report from Fudzilla also mentions that Vishera electronics giant Samsung as they are reported to be readying
will be compatible with the AM3+ platform and 900 series an 11.6-inch tablet for announcement at the Mobile World
chipsets. Congress in February 2012. The tablet is said to have a
resolution of 2560 by 1600 with a 16:10 wide aspect ratio,
AMD is planning to release their next-gen FX CPUs in Q3
which will position itself to compete effectively with Apple’s
2012. Codenamed Vishera, these CPUs will feature Piledriver
upcoming tablet device, which is rumored to incorporate a
cores, and today's FX-Series Zambezi CPUs with Bulldozer
16

75. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Retina Display. Despite the bigger screen, a thinner bezel will
help to keep the overall size of the tablet within the familiarity
of 10.1-inch tablet users.
From Samsung's recent announcement about their
new Exynos 5250, it is no doubt that the 2GHz processor
will be capable of supporting high screen resolutions,
including this 11.6-inch impressive display. Other features of
the monster tablet may include Android Beam for convenient
media syncing and a wireless docking mode for gaming in
conjunction with a HDTVs, which will probably help Samsung
to compete against the upcoming television race.
Garena launches League To celebrate the launch, Garena will also promote a special
boxed game set for fans and collectors. Only 3000 sets are
of Legends Dominion in available in selected stores (including Comic Connections
Singapore and Malaysia branches) across Singapore and Malaysia, and it costs S$4.90.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/garena-launches-league-of-legends- It comes with a comprehensive Dominion handbook and a
dominion-in-singapore-and-malaysia/14186.html bundle of premium in-game items worth over S$20, such as
December 12th, 2011 the Champion Ranmus the Armordillo, a 10-win experience
boost, a four-win Influence points boost, and 100 Riot point
boost. Players can get their hands on these goodies from
16December.
Game publisher Garena has launched Dominion, a new game
MIPS Architecture Crashes
mode for the popular multiplayer game, League of Legends, ARM, X86 Party: 28nm chips
to operate at 1.5GHz, Run
in Singapore and Malaysia. The refreshing game mode will be
released together with limited-edition boxed sets containing
various character boosts and other goodies. Android 4.0 ICS
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/mips-architecture-crashes-arm-x86-
party-28nm-chips-to-operate-at-1.5ghz-run-android-4.0-ics/14170.html
December 12th, 2011
The debate between "PC Everywhere" and "Post PC" is
currently raging in the boardrooms and between consumers
and there are mostly two bases everybody discusses: X86 or
ARM architecture. Well, not anymore…
Asian online game publisher Garena has launched a new
game mode “Dominion” for their multiplayer game League of
Legends for Singaporean and Malaysian players. The player
versus player (PvP) mode takes place on the “Crystal Scar” map
in which five strategic nodes in a circular formation must be
taken over by two opposing teams. The objective is to secure as
many of these nodes than the opponent. When this is achieved,
it will reduce the opponent’s base points over time. If the base
point of any team reduces to zero, from a start of 500, they will
lose the game. Opposing teams can attack and take away these
nodes to turn the tides of war.
17

76. December 12th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
After spending most of their time outside the limelight, MIPS products next year, and 64-bit is only expected in 2013-2014
Technologies marked a very strong week by announcing timeframe.
that the company successfully started the manufacturing of While MIPS originally worked with their own licensors using
the brand new high-performance, three-way microprocessor less advanced processing nodes, the launch of 28nm part
chip using 28nm-SLP (Super Low Power) process node at which targets as high clock as the fastest clocked Cortex-
GlobalFoundries Fab 1 in Dresden, Germany. A9 speaks volumes. While SOC needs to be bundled with
The chip was a development between MIPS Technologies and a powerful graphics, image processing and connectivity
eSilicon Corporation, with the expected clock between 1GHz as systems, ARM just might find themselves in dead heat
worst-case scenario, while the optimal clock target is 1.5GHz. with MIPS Technologies. Also, bear in mind that Qualcomm
Given that the chip is in manufacturing right now, it will take already heavily modifies Cortex architecture and flat out
about three months to deliver first chips to customers. Still, refuses to specifically name ARM in their marketing
bear in mind the 1GHz minimum, 1.5GHz optimal figure. materials, NVIDIA is developing its own 64-bit ARM-based
architecture… the number of companies using future reference
The week continued with MIPS Technologies making another
Cortex cores in high end parts might drop to just a few players.
joint announcement, this time with Chinese manufacturer
Aionovo (no relationship to Lenovo). Aionovo debuted Good Enough Computing coming back to haunt ARM?
NOVO7, world's first android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" tablet By launching the already mentioned Aionovo NOVO7 tablet,
for the non-subsidized price of $100, i.e. you can expect that the 32-bit JZ4770 is already operating at 1GHz, while the
carriers will be offering them for free with subscription. upcoming 28nm parts are expected to scale to 1.5GHz and
This tablet is powered by Ingenic Semiconductor JZ4770 SoC, beyond. Should the company optimize their 32-bit and 64-bit
containing a single MIPS32-based processor core operating MIPS architecture alongside 28nm-SLP and introduce 20nm-
at 1GHz, paired with Vivante GC860 GPU featuring complete LP and -SLP nodes at GlobalFoundries and TSMC, MIPS
Full HD acceleration (video processing engine). Technologies just might have a ticket to ride to pressure ARM
and their gigantic ecosystem. Naturally, Intel is also coming to
While this 7" tablet won't be sold out of China until
the mix with 22nm based Silvermont, who is set to debut in
at least spring-to-summer period, the magnitude of this
2013.
announcement speaks volumes. Our industry sources working
at companies that manufacture x86 and ARM-based solutions Power consumption also seems to be the strong side of
almost unanimously expressed their concern. If Ice Cream the MIPS architecture. The JZ4770 SOC consumes only
Sandwich ends up working smooth on a tablet for $100, all it 0.25W under 100% CPU and video engine load (1080p
takes is a decent CPU upgrade, capacitive touch-screen instead playback), which is significantly less than ARM competitors.
of the ultra-cheap resistive one and voila, a competitor for the Naturally, as you beef up the GPU and add a second core,
current and future ARM and X86 based designs is born. the power consumption will go up, but still below ARM-
based products. And when ARM posed a question of "good
MIPS is not a small player either. While ARM likes to boast
enough" computing to counter Intel and AMD claims of
that the company ships billions of devices per year, MIPS
high-performance requirements for desktop computing, did
also powers numerous set-top-boxes, TVs, network switches,
the company thought that a competitor might say the same
automotive and avionics systems - competing against ARM.
question to them? Is MIPS making lower power consuming
MIPS Technologies had management issues through their long
parts than ARM for "good enough computing"?
history but things started to change last year, after Sandeep Vij
was named CEO. The company went through reorganization While we won't know the answer for this for quite some time,
and the result is a more nimble competitor. but the battle is on. MIPS vs. ARM vs. AMD vs. Intel.
One of people giving thumbs up to MIPS is Andy Rubin, Senior
VP of Mobile, Google Inc. He stated that he is "thrilled to
see the entrance of MIPS-Based Android 4.0 tablets into the
market". Furthermore, Andy stated that Google wants to see
more high-performance MIPS solutions, as "low cost, high
performance tablets are a big win for mobile consumers
and a strong illustration of how Android's openness drives
innovation and competition for the benefit of consumers
around the world."
MIPS already speaks 64-bit
Unlike ARM, MIPS developed a 64-bit architecture quite some
time ago, with the products based on MIPS64 shipping inside
networking equipment. According to information available,
Cavium Networks, NetLogic Microsystems and even CISCO
are either shipping or evaluating MIPS64 architecture for their
network products. In comparison, ARM is now talking about
64-bit but the company did not announce 64-bit part as of
today. 32-bit Cortex-A15 and derived products will debut in
18

77. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
VR-Zone.com | Stuff for the Geeks!
a very limited launch, with the real availability only coming
VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication on January 9, 2012 - which should be the launch date for the
covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks. Radeon HD 7950.
The interesting bit about the Radeon HD 7950 is that the board
AMD Brings the Launch of is coming out as a custom part, and AMD gave freedom to
partners to clock the part anyway they want, there is flexibility
Radeon HD 7900 Series in terms of amount of memory, 3rd party cooling - just like
GeForce GTX 560 launch, expect a lot of different parts coming
Forward: December 22nd, from all the usual suspects.
2011 As far as HD 7950 availability is concerned, several sources in
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-brings-the-launch-of-radeon- the know gave out conflicting information. One information
hd-7900-series-forward-december-22nd-2011/14255.html floating around claims a limited launch on December 22 for
December 15th, 2011 HD7970 only, with widespread availability of HD7970 and
HD7950 coming on January 9, 2012, and another rumor is
that both HD7970 and 7950 are coming on December 22, 2011,
albeit in very limited quantities. Again, both sides of the coin
revolve around Dec 22nd and Jan 9th.
According to conversations with fellow journalists and AIB The truth will be known on next Thursday, December 22nd.
partners, AMD brought forward the launch of HD 7970, while
the availability and HD 7950 should launch on January 9, 2012
- one day before CES. Microsoft signs up to US and
Last minute decisions can turn in quite a mess when people EU cloud standards for Office
involved aren't afraid to speak up and voice out their concerns.
Yesterday, there was flurry of activity on various chat boards 365
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-signs-up-to-us-and-eu-
between board vendors and journalists, all trying to figure out
cloud-standards-for-office-365/14253.html
what happened.
December 15th, 2011
Microsoft has signed up to US and EU cloud standards
with its Office 365 software suite, making it one of a small
handful of companies that meet data protection and security
requirements for cloud computing in both regions.
Microsoft has signed up to US and EU cloud standards
with its Office 365 software suite, making it one of a small
handful of companies that meet data protection and security
According to the information at hand, AMD wishes to end the requirements for cloud computing in both regions.
2011 year by winning the accolades for the best microprocessor
and the best graphics processor in the world. In order to do
that, the company brought forward the launch of Radeon HD The company has received compliance with the
7970, which was revealed here. As you know, AMD's CEO Rory Data Protection Directive established by the European
P. Read proudly announced that the company started to ship Commission. It has also previously agreed to the Health
the 28nm GPUs for revenue, and there are numerous leaked Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in the US,
pictures, pricing rumors and an alleged specifications slide addressing concerns by some about moving healthcare data to
leak. the cloud.
Now, it looks like the Radeon HD 7970 will launch on
December 22, 2011, bringing a Christmas gift to all the current The ISO/IEC 27001 certification means that Microsoft will
AMD users and those that want to become one. This will be have to agree to yearly audits of its information security policy
1

78. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
by an independent expert and share the results of these with
customers. Transfers were also sent from Seattle to other US locations and
even Brazil and South Korea, showing that vast distances are
not an issue with this latest discovery.
The move will also result in increased safeguards for its online
services, both on a physical, administrative and technical level,
in order to meet the US requirements. The technology used included highly tuned servers running
over a 100Gb/s circuit set up by Canada's Advanced Research
and Innovation Network (CANARIE). The California Institue
“Developing cloud-based productivity tools that meet the
of Technology, University of Michigan, Florida Internatonal
needs of European businesses means more than simply
University, and the European Centre for Nuclear Research
building apps in a browser,” said Jean-Philippe Courtois,
(CERN) also participated.
president of Microsoft International. “Microsoft has a more
complete approach to European data protection and security
laws than any other company, and we’re proud of the work The breakthrough will affect scientific research, big businesses
we’ve done to ensure the widest range of organizations can and consumer life, as the technology could be used by
move to the cloud with confidence — or choose an equally the Large Hadron Collider for physics developments, by
functional on-premises option.” companies like Google and Amazon that depend on high speed
transfers, and by broadband customers who are still struggling
with paltry speeds in the low Megabits.
Microsoft also announced the launch of its new Office 365
Trust Centre, a website which provides detailed information
about the privacy and security policies relating to the latest To put the speeds into perspective, the highest speed available
Office software. in the UK is 1.5Gb/s, and that is only a limited trial by Virgin
Media in East London. Some people are lucky to get 1.5Mb/
Scientists break data speed s, with the average speed throughout the UK being just under
7Mb/s. Within a few years we could all be downloading files at
record with 186Gb/s transfers speeds over 100Gb/s.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/scientists-break-data-speed-record-
with-186gbs-transfers/14251.html
December 15th, 2011
Apple to sell 190 million
iPhones in 2012
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-to-sell-190-million-iphones-
Scientists have broken the world record for data speed over in-2012/14252.html
a long distance with a transfer of a whopping 186Gb/s, the December 15th, 2011
equivalent of sending over 4,000 Blu-ray discs worth of data
in just one hour.
Scientists have broken the world record for data speed over
a long distance with a transfer of a whopping 186Gb/s, the
equivalent of sending over 4,000 Blu-ray discs worth of data
in just one hour.
Apple could sell upwards of 190 million iPhones next year,
The achievement was made by researchers at the University according to a report by financial services firm Morgan
of Victoria in British Columbia and the Washington State Stanley.
Convention Centre in Seattle, who transfered data back
and forth over a 131 mile distance at speeds of 186Gb/s,
significantly faster than the previous 2009 record of 119Gb/s.
2

79. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Apple could sell upwards of 190 million iPhones next year, December 15th, 2011
according to a report by financial services firm Morgan
Stanley.
The Cupertino, California-based company is expected to ship
between 31 and 36 million iPhones in the final quarter of this
year, up to 30 per cent more than other analysts project.
That figure is projected to jump to 41 million in the first quarter
of 2012, with up to 190 million sales predicted for the entire
year, showing that demand is increasing, rather than falling,
for iPhones, despite strong competition from rival Android
smartphones.
Special anniversary edition
GTA 3 now available on
Android and iOS
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/special-anniversary-edition-gta-3-now-
available-on-android-and-ios/14249.html
December 15th, 2011
The popular Grand Theft Auto
III, by game developer Rockstar, is now available as a special
anniversary edition on both Android Market and Apple iTunes
App Store. The game offers high definition graphics with some
improvements from the original, and is priced at an affordable
US$4.99.
Apple is also enjoying high sales for its iPad range, with
forecasts that the company will sell 52 million iPads in
2012. This figure could almost double to 90 million if Apple is
willing to cut $100 off the price-tag, particularly considering
the entry of Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet will present people
with a choice that is significantly cheaper.
Whether or not Apple is willing to reduce its profit margin
remains to be seen, but it might be forced to do so if Amazon
steals a large chunk of its market share.
3DMark and PCMark Graphics Fans of popular Grand Theft Auto (GTA) games could now
and Synthetic Benchmark get their hands on this special anniversary edition of GTA III
which is now available on both Android and iOS smartphones
Files mirrored by VR-Zone.com and tablets. The special anniversary edition of the Rockstar
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/3dmark-and-pcmark-graphics-and- game is almost identical to the original, except that the
synthetic-benchmark-files-mirrored-by-vr-zone.com/14250.html controls are all touchscreen, with graphics enhanced to high
definition, and improvements on the game play including
mission retry and autosave modes. You can purchase the game
at US$4.99 on Android Market or Apple iTunes App Store.
According to the game developer, Galaxy Nexus owners can
also expect to get a version of the game in the near future.
3

80. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The list of support devices include:-
Celebrate Christmas with
Apple - iPad 1, iPad 2, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPod Touch 4th
Generation Atlas Sound & Vision
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/celebrate-christmas-with-atlas-sound--
Android Phones - HTC Rezound, LG Optimus 2x, Motorola
vision/14245.html
Atrix 4G, Motorola Droid X2, Motorola Photon 4G, Samsung
December 15th, 2011
Galaxy R and T-Mobile G2x
Android Tablets - Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Dell
Streak 7, LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy
Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S and Toshiba Thrive
Join Now! GIGABYTE If you are planning to get some superb quality audio products
Battlefield 3 Cup Asia Season for your loved ones this Christmas, check out the offerings
from Bose, brought to you by Singapore distributor, Atlas
1 Online Competition Sound & Vision.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/join-now-gigabyte-battlefield-3-cup-
Bose Companion 5 multimedia speaker system
asia-season-1-online-competition/14247.html
December 15th, 2011
Everything in a nutshell: Battlefield 3
Online Competition, 8v8 Conquest Format, USD$3,400 Prize
Pool, 8 x GTX580 SOC Graphics Cards, and Premium
GIGABYTE gaming peripherals to be won! More details can be
found at http://battlefield.gigabyte.asia
AMD: 28nm GPUs shipping for
revenue
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-28nm-gpus-shipping-for-
revenue/14246.html
December 15th, 2011
Make your music, games and movies come to life with
the surround sound performance of the Bose Companion
5 multimedia speaker system. Featuring a simple, elegant
design, the Companion 5 is easy to use. Users simply have to
At the IT Supply Chain conference, AMD CEO Rory Read connect it to their computers through a single USB port – no
confirmed that AMD has begun shipping 28nm GPUs, fabbed adaptors, no complicated wiring and no sound card upgrade
at TSMC, for revenue. This should come as no surprise, as the required.
release for Radeon HD 7900 - on 9th January 2012 - is just Usual price: S$749
over 3 weeks away. Christmas promo: S$639
At the IT Supply Chain conference, AMD CEO Rory Read
confirmed that AMD has begun shipping 28nm GPUs, fabbed
at TSMC, for revenue. This should come as no surprise, as the Bose MIE2 / MIE2i mobile headset
release for Radeon HD 7900 - on 9th January 2012 - is just
over 3 weeks away.
CEO Rory Read stated, "We are ramping 28nm [products]
with TSMC in Taiwan and shipping the products here and now.
We are very excited about the products".
At this point we have some information about the Radeon
HD 7900 series - some concrete, some speculation. We have
seen pictures, speculatory specifications, pricing rumours and
a purported specifications slide leak. However, as usual, little
information has been publicly announced by AMD.
4

81. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Christmas promo: S$199
Bose SoundDock 10
Enjoy music and make calls on your mobile phone with
high-quality audio with the Bose MIE2 mobile headset.
Featuring proprietary Bose StayHear tips for comfort and
stability on the go, the MIE2 mobile headset ensures a
comfortable fit for hours of listening or phone calls. The Featuring new and existing Bose technologies, the Bose
MIE2 is compatible with any mobile phone, while the MIE2i SoundDock 10 is a digital music system that delivers
is designed exclusively for listening to and control of select audio performance previously unattainable from a one-piece
Apple products, including the iPhone, iPod, iPad and MacBook speaker system for the iPod. Boasting a small, elegant design,
Pro. Its in-line microphone provides access to certain voice the SoundDock 10 maintains dock-and-play simplicity, yet
applications in Apple products, and the in-line remote lets plays from the iPod or iPhone with exceptional clarity across
users adjust volume and navigate through stored music the full musical range, while at the same time delivering the
directly from the headset. low-note performance and volume levels of much larger sound
Usual price: S$199 systems.
Christmas promo: S$169 Usual price: S$1,249
Christmas promo: S$999
Bose On Ear headphones
Video of Samsung GALAXY S
II with Google Android 4.0.1
Ice Cream Sandwich leaked
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/video-of-samsung-galaxy-s-ii-with-
google-android-4.0.1-ice-cream-sandwich-leaked/14243.html
December 15th, 2011
A leaked video of a Samsung GALAXY S II running the
latest Google Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich indicates
Featuring a comfortable design with the added convenience that development for integration is underway. And
of fold-flat earcups and a collapsible headband for increased needless to say, the Korean company will incorporate
portability and easy storage, the Bose On Ear headphone is the their proprietary TouchWiz user interface onto the operating
perfect accessory for music lovers on the move. Earcups rotate system to provide a unique user experience.
front to back and top to bottom, resulting in uniform pressure
on the ears that enhances audio performance and comfortable
An insider report reveals that Samsung is currently working
fit of the headphones.
to integrate the Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich mobile
Usual price: S$225 platform on their GALAXY S II smartphone. The video reveals
5

82. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
that Samsung is still inclined to layer most of their TouchWiz
user interface (UI) over the Android 4.0.1 OS at this point,
which may be a little disappointing to those who prefer the
stock Android experience.
Some nice features were demonstrated such as the lock screen
which now conjures a lock icon at the very spot where the
finger has contact with the screen. The improvement is mostly
cosmetic, however, as unlocking still utilizes the current
method of sliding the finger across the screen. While the home
screen generally looks the same as the current Google Android
Gingerbread version, a new multitasking interface, call forth
by a long-pressing of the home button, appears to make
scrolling and closing running programs more intuitive and
visually pleasant. Now, the obvious use in graphics, with - hopefully finally -
Face unlock was also unveiled with its setup option present 4K resolution displays coming to the PC world, and the extra
in the video, although demonstrations of the setup and usage refresh loads of stereoscopic 3D, comes to mind. However, the
were not shown. It may appear that most of the TouchWiz UI current memory subsystems on high end GPUs actually take
in Android 4.0.1 resembles the current one, but it should be quite a good care of that, aside from of course getting higher
noted that the system is still in development. frame rates with faster memory. What's then the other use
then for this width increase?
Well, GPUs have very very high peak FP compute rates, but
New-generation GPU memory the real performance in FP-heavy code is greatly affected by
bandwidth increases: more for the available memory bandwidth. While a game may get a 5%
FPS boost from a 33% memory bus width jump, a vector FP
compute than for graphics? run may gain over 20% from the same enhancement, all other
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/new-generation-gpu-memory- things staying the same. So, whatever the vendor's primary
bandwidth-increases-more-for-compute-than-for-graphics-/14244.html intentions are for widening the graphics local memory
December 15th, 2011 buses on new GPUs, the extra bandwidth - and yes, extra
capacity headroom from being able to add more chips
and keep things in local RAM - will have the greatest benefit
exactly for GPU compute apps. The impact? More HPC-like
stuff running oh so fast on your PC, and more true HPC
apps running faster on GPGPU arrays.
New GPUs will have even wider and faster memory buses than
their predecessors, with AMD moving to 384 bits from 256
bits, and Nvidia hopping even further, to 512 bits, in their high
Globalfoundries and ARM
end SKUs. But is it more beneficial in the usual graphics tasks, announce 2.5GHz 28nm SoC
or for the future vector FP math jobs in GPGPU operations?
success
You must have noticed by now how the next generation of high Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/globalfoundries-and-arm-
end GPUs, both AMD 'Tahiti' 7900 series and Nvidia 'Kepler' announce-2.5ghz-28nm-soc-success/14241.html
GK100 processors, have further increased their memory December 15th, 2011
bandwidth and even bus width as well. AMD is now one step
up from the 6900 series, with its 256 bit GDDR5 memory bus
being widened to 384 bits in the 7900 series coming early next
month. The Nvidia GK100, a quarter or two later, will have We've already reported about Globalfoundries and ARM's
a 512 bit wide memory bus, a hop from 384 bits seen now relationship when we visited GTC Taiwan back in
in the GTX580 and its Quadro & Tesla brethren. Now, this September and back then the two companies had 2GHz
doesn't seem as complicated a job as widening the CTE over Cortex-A9 test chips up and running. Fast forward three
and over again for our LTA here in Singapore, but it is still quite months and the two have achieved speeds of 2.5GHz, again
a work, as those wider buses require more pins, power drive on test chips, but they've also announced that they've taped
and present board layout challenges to get both the speed and out 20nm technology qualification vehicles based around the
width. Cortex-A9 architecture.
We've already reported about Globalfoundries and ARM's
relationship when we visited GTC Taiwan back in September
and back then the two companies had 2GHz Cortex-A9 test
6

83. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
chips up and running. Fast forward three months and the
two have achieved speeds of 2.5GHz, again on test chips,
but they've also announced that they've taped out 20nm
technology qualification vehicles based around the Cortex-A9
architecture.
The big news here is that we should be able to expect both
32nm and 28nm ARM based processors to be manufactured
by Globalfoundries in large quantities come next year, at
least as long as there are customers. It should be noted
that the current chips are based on Globalfoundries 28nm
high performance technology and the company is expecting
further performance improvements one it moves to its high
performance plus (HPP) platform. The press release talks
about the HPP parts to be for “wired networking applications” The PRADA phone by LG 3.0, finished in classic black, features
rather than smartphones, although the 2.5GHz chips that were a glossy touchscreen on the front and PRADA’s signature
announced should be suitable for a wide range of mobile Saffiano pattern at the rear. Measuring just 8.5mm thin, the
consumer devices. phone incorporates LG’s NOVA high brightness display,
which claims to be one of the biggest and brightest screen
As for the 20nm technology qualification vehicle or TQV, at 4.3-inch and 800-nit brightness. Powered by dual-core
well, Globalfoundries is expecting a 35 percent increase 1GHz processor with dual-channel architecture for superb
in performance and nearly half the power consumption performance, it also comes with dual-band Wi-Fi for high-
compared to a 28nm counterpart, much higher than what speed mobile surfing. The PRADA phone by LG 3.0 also
was said back in September. This isn't likely to be something features an 8-megapixel camera that is capable of 1080p high
we'll see until 2013 of Globalfoundries roadmaps are anything definition video recording, and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
to go by. We're still curious about the fact that the two According to the manufacturer, the phone is also upgradeable
companies hasn't mentioned the Cortex-A15 architecture at to Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich when the update
all, as we're expecting the first SoC's based on ARMs next becomes available.
generation core to arrive towards the end of next year, but
maybe it's not that different to manufacture from the Cortex- The PRADA phone by LG 3.0 will be available for pre-
A9, or the two aren't willing to give away too many details at order in January 2012. Consumers who purchase the
the moment. The good news for Globalfoundries is that the phone through pre-order will also receive a PRADA-branded
company should be able to find a few additional customers accessory with the phone. Details on the pre-order will be
this way, as we're fairly certain that ARM would recommend made available via the LG Singapore homepage and the LG
to go with Globalfoundries over say TSMC due to the closer Mobile Singapore Facebook page.
relationship between Globalfoundries and ARM.
Specifications:
LG and PRADA unveil PRADA Network 2G GSM / GPRS /
phone by LG 3.0 EDGE
850 / 900 / 1800 /
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lg-and-prada-unveil-prada-phone-by-
lg-3.0/14239.html
1900
December 15th, 2011 3G HSPA+ 21
900/1900/2100
Chipset Application OMAP4430
Processor 1.0GHz Dual Core /
Channel
Last month, PRADA and LG announced the renewal of their Memory RAM 8Gb LP DDR2
collaboration to develop the new PRADA phone by LG 3.0, as ROM 1Gb + 512MB
well as released a teaser picture of the phone. Today, the two User 8GB eMMC
companies unveiled the highly anticipated smartphone, which
External Slot Micro SD (up to
is the third model from the partnership.
32GB)
Display Type TFT
Size (Inch) 4.3 inches
Resolution WVGA (800 x 480)
Brightness 800nit
Camera Main 8MP AF
Connectivity Bluetooth 3.0+HS
USB 2.0
7

84. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n which will accept either a 2.5-inch internal SATA hard drive
A-GPS Yes or one of Seagate's GoFlex 2.5-inch hard drives. There's also a
SW Spec OS / UI Android 2.3 USB 2.0 port hidden in here somewhere.
Gingerbread / P UI
Codec Audio: MP3, AAC,
AAC+, eAAC+
Video: MPEG4/
H.264/DivX
Video Recording:
1080P@30fps
Playback:
1080P@30fps
Browser Web-kit based
Features Dimension 127.5 x 69 x 8.5 mm
Battery 1,540mAh / Li-Ion
Speaker 1810
Receiver 1208 As with the Pogoplug Mobile the Series 4 sports Gigabit
Ethernet and an SD card slot, but it also adds a pair of rear
Audio FM Radio
USB 3.0 ports for further storage expansion. We're not sure if
3.5mm Headset the ARM processor inside the Series 4 has received an upgrade
Jack as well, but it's entirely possible that Pogoplug is using the
Color Black same PLX NAS7820 SoC as it did in the Pogoplug Video, a
product that is now discontinued and that sold for twice that of
the Series 4, especially as this dual core ARM11 SoC (ARMv6
architecture) has a PCI Express interface which would allow
Pogoplug launches Series 4, it to connect to a USB 3.0 host controller. It's also entirely
ads USB 3.0 connectivity and possible that we're looking at the same Marvell 88F6192
Kirkwood ARMv5 SoC as found in the Pogoplug Mobile, as this
USM two has SATA and PCI Express support, although it's only a
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/pogoplug-launches-series-4-ads- single core SoC.
usb-3.0-connectivity-and-usm/14240.html
December 15th, 2011
The latest addition to Pogoplugs growing family of devices is
adding quite a few new features and it looks like the company
wants to take a serious slice out of the home storage/home
cloud market with the Series 4. That said, the price has also
gone up and you still have to add your own hard drives, but
at least the Series 4 comes with a little twist to make this a lot
tidier.
Pogoplug is making a big deal out of the fact that its products
The latest addition to Pogoplugs growing family of devices is features infinite storage expansion, although this is only true
adding quite a few new features and it looks like the company in as far as you can plug in additional storage devices until you
wants to take a serious slice out of the home storage/home run out of ports. As with previous products, the Series 4 comes
cloud market with the Series 4. That said, the price has also with 5GB of cloud storage, something that was announced last
gone up and you still have to add your own hard drives, but month by the company. We're not sure why you need to use
at least the Series 4 comes with a little twist to make this a lot another could service when the Pogoplug is meant to be a cloud
tidier. storage device, but such is life and not all things make sense.
The Series 4 Pogoplug appears to be the same as the recently In as much as we think the Pogoplug Series 4 is a neat device,
announced Pogoplug Mobile, but with a few additional especially as it allows you to stream media around your home
features. However, the two are only sharing the same look and or share it over the internet as well as use it as a simple NAS,
basic features as the company has made quite a few changes. we can't but wonder why anyone would be willing to spend US
First of all we're looking at a larger device, as the top comes off $99.95 (S$130) on one when you can pick up a two bay NAS
to reveal a SATA/USM (Universal Storage Module) connector for little more. The ability to share files might be better than
8

85. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
with a basic NAS, but there's no data redundancy and we doubt 0.4 billion below its estimate for 2011. This means that 2012
the performance will be as good as that of even a cheap NAS. could see a decline in growth for Intel as it continues to
struggle with falling demand and other external issues.
Investment firm claims Intel
Q4 cut is not due to HDD
IDT announces low-power
shortage
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/investment-firm-claims-intel-q4-cut-is- timing solution for Intel
not-due-to-hdd-shortage/14237.html
December 15th, 2011
Romley server platform
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/idt-announces-low-power-timing-
solution-for-intel-romley-server-platform/14236.html
December 15th, 2011
Investment firm Normura Equity Research claims that Intel's
decision to revise its fourth quarter sales revenue downwards
was not just due to the hard drive shortage caused by the
flooding in Thailand, but due to a general lack of demand for
Intel chips.
Integrated Device Technology (IDT) has announced what
An investment firm claims that Intel's decision to revise its it claims is the industry's most complete and lowest-power
fourth quarter sales revenue downwards was not just due to timing solution for the Intel Romley server platform.
the hard drive shortage caused by the flooding in Thailand, but
Integrated Device Technology (IDT) has announced what
due to a general lack of demand for Intel chips.
it claims is the industry's most complete and lowest-power
timing solution for the Intel Romley server platform, due for
Nomura Equity Research believes that Intel's downgrade from release next year.
$14.7 billion to $13.7 billion is due to “weak sell-through”
caused by poor performance in the Chinese market, low
The system consists of three chips: a main clock (932SQ4xx),
overall demand compared to ARM chips, and low volumes of
a peripheral clock (9FGP20x), and a Z-buffer (9ZXxxxxx),
ultrabooks.
all of which feature a number of configuration options to
help optimise a motherboard's bill-of-materials to suit the
This contradicts Intel's statement on Monday that the $1 varying sizes and power requirements of cloud computing,
billion shortfall for the last three months of this year is enterprise servers, blade servers, workstations, storage and
primarily due to the lack of hard disk drives, which is causing security appliances.
an overall supply issue for the entire PC chain.
The main clock is available in 64-pin, 56-pin, and 48-pin
versions, while the peripheral clock has an option to come with
wake-on-LAN support. The Z-buffer is available in 19-output,
15-output, or 12-output versions, with an option for a low-
power model.
Nomura admitted that hard drive shortages are a concern, but
it believes that the real issue has nothing to do with that. It
was particularly critical of Intel's failure to compete with ARM,
which it said delivers more power-efficient processors.
Nomura likewise cut its estimate of Intel's fourth quarter
growth to $13.7 billion and also shaved off $3 billion from its
estimated growth for 2012, which is now set at $53.4 billion,
9

86. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
as a standard feature in the next version of Android – while
pulling support for it from iOS.
All three chips enable PCIe Gen3, SAS 12G and QPI 9.6
Gb/s. The Z-buffers also meet the low-drift requirement of
Intel's Romley platform, while the low-power version reduces “The journey has been nothing short of incredible,” said Babak
consumption by up to 1 watt and cuts out 40 discrete Pahlavan, co-founder and CEO of Clever Sense. “Our vision
components, making it more efficient. has only become bigger, and our commitment stronger. With
Google and Clever Sense working together, our entire team
looks forward to building more intelligent, serendipitous and
“Our new family of timing devices provides OEMs the options
magical services!”
and flexibility they need to develop the best-performance and
cost-optimized motherboards,” said Ram Iyer, VP and GM
of the Computing and Multimedia Division at IDT. “These The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
new products complement IDT’s extensive lineup of industry-
leading PCI Express switches, bridges, flash controllers, and
signal integrity products to complete their Romley platform AMD Radeon HD 7970
designs.”
specifications slide leaked
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-7970-specifications-
The chips are now available for sampling via the IDT website slide-leaked/14238.html
or sales representatives. December 15th, 2011
Google buys Clever Sense
to compete with Apple's Siri
personal assistant A slide purportedly to be part of the press deck, detailing
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-buys-clever-sense-to-compete- Radeon HD 7970, has leaked online. As previously rumoured,
with-apple-s-siri-personal-assistant/14235.html the HD 7970 features the GCN architecture with 32 CUs.
December 15th, 2011 A slide purportedly detailing Radeon HD 7970 has leaked
online. The slide resembles AMD's standard presentation
design, and is seemingly part of the press deck held.
As previously rumoured , the HD 7970 features the GCN
architecture.
Google has bought Clever Sense, the developer of personal
assistant software Alfred, a move that will likely see Android
competing directly with Apple's Siri.
Google has bought Clever Sense, the developer of personal
assistant software Alfred, a move that will likely see Android
competing directly with Apple's Siri.
Alfred is a free mobile app for Android and iOS built on the
Clever Sense Platform. It acts very similary to Siri in that it can
find places, such as restaurants and shops, in the real world
and learns more about user taste over time, becoming more The HD 7970 features 32 CU containing 2048 ALUs, clocked
personalised and more accurate. at 925 MHz. This amounts to 3.5 TFLOPS (Single Precision).
TMUs are upped to 128, as expected. However, ROPs remain
at 32 compared to Cayman, which is odd considering the
The software features a score based on how good it is at making memory bus, as we have observed, is 384-bit. Memory speed
a match, and it also provides reviews, directions, and other remains unchanged at 5.5 GHz, meaning a 50% boost in
things you would expect from a personal assistant. memory bandwidth. The TDP is rated under 300W, while the
idle power is incredibly only 3W. This means a 8-pin + 6-pin
power connector configuration. HD 7970 features 4 display
outs - 1x DVI, 2xmini-DisplayPort and 1x HDMI. Finally, the
Google's decision to buy Clever Sense is clearly a reaction to slide mentions the embargo release date - 9th January 2012.
Siri, one of the selling points of the iPhone 4S. Alfred is not
Needless to say, faked slides are nothing new for the rumour
quite as broad in scope as Siri, but it shows great potential for
mill, so the information contained within this slide must
development under Google, which could roll out the software
10

87. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
be considered with caution. However, most of the details consumption by providing a consistent, accurate and reliable
contained are realistic, and the image of the shroud looks testing and measurement tool created with Futuremark's
identical to the leaked pictures. deep experience in quality benchmarking software."
The test consists out of complex suite of benchmark
Futuremark Launches routines which emulate the operations performed by various
applications, such as Windows startup etc. For the first time
Powermark: Good Bye to since we follow Futuremark, the end result is not an index of
MobileMark? some kind, but rather a runtime of the tested product.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/futuremark-launches-powermark-
good-bye-to-mobilemark-/14234.html Nokia to launch 4G-capable
Lumia 900 in February 2012?
December 15th, 2011
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nokia-to-launch-4g-capable-
lumia-900-in-february-2012-/14233.html
December 15th, 2011
After year and a half of work in complete silence, Futuremark
released Powermark 1.0.0. This is the first generation battery
testing benchmark based on PCMark7.
With the advancements of notebooks, reviewers often felt left The Lumia 800 Windows Phone was announced at Nokia
out in terms of software choice for benchmarking. If you need World in October, and was only recently launched in
to benchmark a processor, graphics card or even a whole Singapore. And from online sources, it looks like the Finnish
system such as a desktop or a workstation - the choice of company could be announcing a 4G-capable Lumia 900 in
benchmarks is nearly endless. February next year with a larger touchscreen display.
However, selecting benchmark applications for testing
notebooks is always a challenge… what benchmark is the best LG introduces Optimus LTE
for testing the battery life? For years, the only realistic solution
was to use MobileMark by BAPCo, which solely focused smartphone in Japan
on business applications performance and is not without Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/lg-introduces-optimus-lte-smartphone-
controversy. in-japan/14232.html
December 15th, 2011
Alternative method was to manually create a benchmark by
running infinite loop of 3DMark or a movie or some sorts and
use the chronometer until the battery expires, but this method
was quite tough on testers.
Luckily, after months of development, Futuremark came out
with another benchmark of their own: after having 3DMark
as a reference 3D benchmark and PCMark as a overall system The LG Optimus LTE was recently launched in USA and
benchmark - Powermark is a PCMark7-based benchmark that Korea. And now, the company, in collaboration with NTT
measures complete system performance on a notebook. Docomo, has brought the Android smartphone to Japan.
According to Jukka Makinen, CEO of Futuremark, "Battery
life is critical to delivering a positive user experience.
Powermark helps PC industry OEMs and their suppliers
strike a balance between performance and power
11

88. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The Blackberry Bold 9900 smartphone claims to be
the thinnest BlackBerry smartphone when it was launched a
few months ago. And it looks like Research in Motion has
announced the launch of the white version of the Bold 9900
which would be available in stores this weekend.
Research In Motion (RIM) has announced the Pure White
BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone in Singapore. It claims to
be the slimmest BlackBerry smartphone yet at only 10.5mm,
and the first to offer QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen
display. It is also the first BlackBerry smartphone to include
built-in support for Near Field Communications (NFC) that
can pair with NFC-enabled accessories or read SmartPoster
tags with a simple tap of the phone.
It runs the latest BlackBerry 7 operating system with next
Korean manufacturer LG, in collaboration with NTT Docomo, generation BlackBerry browser that provides significantly
has introduced the Optimus LTE smartphone (model:L-01D) faster, more fluid web browsing experience. Other
in Japan, following the launches in North America and Korea. enhancements to the browser include optimized zooming and
Both LG and NTT Docomo have collaborated to make the panning for smoother web navigation and optimized HTML5
Japanese Optimus LTE unique, with a red color available on performance for incredible gaming and video experiences.
the Japanese edition of LG Optimus LTE that would only The Pure White BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone is
be exclusive to Docomo customers, including the 1seg Digital expected to be available from all RIM’s authorized partners
TV and Near Field Communication (NFC) features. The LG on 17 December 2011. For pricing details, please check
Optimus LTE sports a 4.5-inch True HD IPS touchscreen with respective operators.
(1280x720) that is capable of displaying sharp and crisp
images, is equipped with 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1024MB
Twitter for BlackBerry updates now available on BlackBerry
RAM and 4GB built-in storage, supports up to 32GB micro-SD
App World
card, and runs Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
RIM launches white
BlackBerry Bold 9900
smartphone in Singapore
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rim-launches-white-blackberry-
bold-9900-smartphone-in-singapore/14231.html
December 15th, 2011
12

89. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
bandwidth requirements does affect the component choices
at the board level, especially when it comes to the memory
modules.
Right now, entry-level Brazos and mid-range Llano APU
families form the current spread of AMD Fusion offerings. In
short, they each offer a balanced CPU-GPU combination, with
Brazos combining a very low power dual-core CPU with an
entry level GPU, and Llano having a quad-core Phenom-class
CPU with a mid-range Radeon 6500-class GPU.
From the system architecture point of view, both Brazos and
Llano are not very demanding parts, fitting well within the
expected limitations of their respective target markets. Since
Llano doesn’t have a L3 cache, the benchmark in the reviews
up to now showed quite a bit more load on the memory system
Twitter for BlackBerry update v2.1 is now available on from the combined CPU and GPU access pattern, so you
BlackBerry App World. will very likely notice more substantial overall performance
improvements when integrating faster memory – both lower
Twitter for BlackBerry smartphones v2.1updates include: latency for the CPU-bound apps, and higher bandwidth where
- Multi-Account Support - Have up to five accounts on your CPU and GPU parts share the access paths. Think of it as
Twitter for BlackBerry smartphones app. Switch between a 20% or more performance headroom when moving from
accounts and cross-post Tweets and Retweets from one DDR3-1333 CL7 to DDR3-1866 CL8.
account to another without switching the current account
view. As the first Bulldozer core for the desktop doesn't seem to have
the impact on the market as expected due to its performance
- Enhanced “Share with BBM™” functionality - Easily share issues, the next Fusion APU from AMD will have an updated
Tweets with BBM Contacts and Groups. ‘Piledriver’ core which, hopefully, will address some of the
- View multiple Twitter accounts in a single timeline - View a problems that the initial Bulldozer has. If we do get some
stream of Tweets from up to five Twitter accounts in the Social 20% extra performance there over the current Bulldozer, the
Feeds timeline, or opt to filter individual Twitter accounts. Trinity CPU portion should show good performance jump vs
the current Llano one. Else, we may have a problem...
- Post a Tweet to multiple Twitter Accounts – Publish a Tweet
to one or more Twitter accounts simultaneously using Social
The more critical aspect of Trinity APU is the higher
Feeds.
bandwidth with the CPU portion, as well as tighter
interconnect to the GPU portion, which by itself should
Fusion APUs to continue to be be up to 50% faster than the one in the Llano. At the
same time, the socket compatibility with Llano requires the
memory speed-sensitive? dependence on the very same dual-channel memory system,
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/fusion-apus-to-continue-to-be- restricting any performance improvements there to the usage
memory-speed-sensitive-/14230.html of faster DDR3 modules above DDR3-2000 to provide the
December 15th, 2011 extra bandwidth needed especially to the GPU portion. I would
in fact recommend supporting as fast as DDR3-2400 CL10
memory speeds on this platform to maximise the graphics
performance gains in particular. Why? Well, since the socket
compatibility limits us there to just two memory channels,
speeding that memory up is the only way to obtain more juice.
The current AMD Fusion APUs, Brazos and Llano, do provide
a good balance of integrated CPU and GPU performance, The same bandwidth issue would even more affect the
although the system designers, or the PC assemblers using eventual future Bulldozer based high end APUs for server and
them, should note that there is quite high performance HPC markets, although those are still far, likely not before
dependence on the memory speed used, especially for the 2014 - an eternity in the computer world. Fusion approach key
quad-core Llano. This is expected to be even more the case for benefit, where it will ultimately make the graphics processor
the upcoming 'Trinity' successor to Llano just a tightly attached coprocessors with in-line standard
programming and shared main memory space, just like any
The AMD Fusion philosophy has come to its initial fruition this other execution unit within the CPU, results in both CPU and
past year, with the first two generations, the entry level Brazos GPU having one single main memory pool at the physical
and midrange Llano, having successfully been unveiled by level and, if you have both a fast multi-core CPU and a
now. The challenge of putting together two distinctly different many-core GPU on the same die, with a common memory
processing unit types with nearly opposite performance and
13

90. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
management unit and memory accesses, how fast do you
have to go to maximise the performance? I guess, if it was,
say, a 4-module Piledriver core setup, plus an equivalent of
Radeon HD7700 graphics (with double precision FP extra) on
a single die, as a speculative assumption, we would need six-
channel DDR3-2000 memory for a truly good performance
maximising the execution resources potential.
If an efficient and large - not an AMD strength recently,
though - L3 cache was in place, handling both random CPU
accesses and buffering of GPU streaming loads, then four-
channel DDR3-2400 could still do a fair job. However, either
way, new sockets are the must for AMD to prepare for such
future high end APU infrastructure upfront. Else, we get stuck
like right now with AM3 generation dual-channel memory due
to socket compatibility pressure. The GPU clock for the Core i7-3612QM will also have a
lower max dynamic frequency of 1100MHz, whereas the Core
i7-3615QM and most likely the Core i7-3610QM will come
Intel's Core i7-3612QM verified in at 1200MHz, 50MHz slower than their retail siblings.
as 35W part Other differences between the retail CPUs and the OEM CPUs
include lack of support for vPro, Intel TXT and VT-d, just
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-s-core-i7-3612qm-verified-
like some OEM Sandy Bridge parts. All the other features
as-35w-part/14229.html
appear to remain mostly the same, but it's clear that there's a
December 15th, 2011
disadvantage for some users to get a notebook with an OEM
CPU.
Intel's DX79TO motherboard
Yesterday we broke the news about Intel's mobile quad core finally arrives, disappoints
OEM Ivy Bridge processors and we now have confirmation Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-s-dx79to-motherboard-finally-
that the Core i7-3612QM is a 35W part. Oddly enough the Core arrives-disappoints/14228.html
i7-3615QM and the Core i7-3610QM are not despite being a December 15th, 2011
mere 200MHz faster.
Yesterday we broke the news about Intel's mobile quad core
OEM Ivy Bridge processors and we now have confirmation
that the Core i7-3612QM is a 35W part. Oddly enough the Core
i7-3615QM and the Core i7-3610QM are not despite being a We don't quite know what to say, but Intel's Extreme
mere 200MHz faster. motherboards are getting less and less extreme by every
The only difference between the Core i7-3615QM and the Core iteration and after a slight delay Intel's more affordable X79
i7-3610QM appears to be the packaging, usually something motherboard, the DX79TO has arrived, but it fits more into
Intel doesn't have different model numbers for, but it seems Intel's lower-end motherboard ranges than in the extreme
like the company has decided to change things for Ivy category in our opinion. In fact, the DX79TO is a feature
Bridge. The Core i7-3610QM is a socketed part whereas the stripped DX79SI, something we didn't quite expect, especially
Core i7-3615QM and Core i7-3612QM are BGA parts that as the DX79SI wasn't exactly breaking new territory so to say.
are soldered onto the notebook PCB, much like the Core
i7-3720QM and Core i7-3820QM.
We don't quite know what to say, but Intel's Extreme
motherboards are getting less and less extreme by every
iteration and after a slight delay Intel's more affordable X79
motherboard, the DX79TO has arrived, but it fits more into
Intel's lower-end motherboard ranges than in the extreme
category in our opinion. In fact, the DX79TO is a feature
stripped DX79SI, something we didn't quite expect, especially
as the DX79SI wasn't exactly breaking new territory so to say.
So what are we looking at here? Well, for starters Intel has
gotten rid of the x8 PCI Express slot and in lieu of that you get
a x1 slot. Gone is also the front USB 3.0 ports, the secondary
14

91. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Gigabit Ethernet port, two audio jacks and the optical S/PDIF additional motherboards alongside with pictures, all of which
out. The two lower heatinks appear to no longer be connected we're expecting should arrive before the end of the year from
via a heatpipe, instead a piece of metal connects them and it's Sapphire.
possible that Intel has removed the top PWM heatsink as it's
missing in the manual, but still present in the product brief.
Also missing is the bundled Wi-Fi/Bluetooth ad adapter that
comes with the DX79SI.
The Pure Black 990FX may be late, but at least is has some
Stripping out all of those features makes the Intel DX79TO
competitive features such as six x16 PCI Express slot – in a
a really poor purchase, especially as it's listed for a retail
dual x16 or four x8 configuration with two x4 slots – and nine
price of around US$230 (S$300), i.e. not much cheaper
internal SATA 6Gbps ports. Other features include two front
than the DX79SI which retails for around US$260 (S
USB 3.0 ports – bracket included – a Molex connector for
$340), not to mention plenty of much more feature rich
extra power to the PCI Express slots, a POST80 debug LED,
motherboards from Intel's motherboard partners. It looks like
manually selectable BIOS and a power and reset button.
Intel decided it wasn't worth putting too much effort into its
X79 motherboards, possibly due to the fact that Intel isn't
expecting to sell a ton of them, but the DX79TO really is a
lame duck that should never have been put into production.
Apologies for the poor resolution picture of the board, but it
was the best we could find.
Sapphire readying three new
motherboards, AM3+ launched
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sapphire-readying-three-new-
motherboards-am3-launched/14227.html
December 15th, 2011
Around the back the board has a PS/2 port, six USB 2.0
ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, a Bluetooth 2.1
dongle, a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports via Marvell chips and
7.1-channel audio with optical and coaxial S/PDIF out. The
When it comes to its range of motherboard products, Sapphire
downside is that the board is quite expensive at around €160 (S
has been quite slow to bring new products to market and
$275/US$210) which makes it fairly uncompetitive unless you
today the company finally announced its AM3+ motherboard,
really want a board with the specific slot layout on offer here.
the Pure Black 990FX. However, we have details of three
additional motherboards alongside with pictures, all of which
we're expecting should arrive before the end of the year from
Sapphire.
When it comes to its range of motherboard products, Sapphire
has been quite slow to bring new products to market and
today the company finally announced its AM3+ motherboard,
the Pure Black 990FX. However, we have details of three
15

92. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 15th, 2011
Apple is in talks to buy flash storage company Anobit for
upwards of $500 million in a move that could give it more
control over the storage element of its successful iPhone and
iPad ranges.
Apple is in talks to buy flash storage company Anobit for
upwards of $500 million in a move that could give it more
control over the storage element of its successful iPhone and
iPad ranges.
The Cupertino, California-based company is allegedly in
“advanced negotiations” with Israeli company Anobit to
acquire the firm for between $400 million and $500 million,
according to a report in Israel's financial newspaper The
Calcalist.
Anobit develops flash chips that enhance performance via
So what about the other three models? Well, continuing on the signal processing. These are already used by Apple in its
AMD theme we have the Pure White A55M which unlike what iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air devices.
the name suggests is another black and blue motherboard (no-
one's beaten it up as far as we're aware). This is set to be
Sapphire's budget FM1 motherboard, but at least Sapphire
hasn't skimped on all the features here. The board is a mATX Apple is apparently looking to buy Anobit in order to increase
model and it has a single x16 PCI Express slot, two x1 PCI the memory volume and performance of its devices, which
Express slots and a PCI slot. Add six SATA 3Gbps ports, dual could double with the use of Anobit chips.
BIOS, power and reset buttons and a feature Sapphire calls
Memory Free which appears to be some kind of push button
memory configuration solution and things aren't looking too This marks an unusual departure for Apple, which
bad. traditionally has bought software firms instead of hardware.
It may mean a shift in direction following the death of Apple's
iconic leader Steve Jobs in October.
Anobit also supplies chips to companies like Hynix and
Around the back we find a PS/2 port, four USB 2.0 ports, Samsung, the former of which makes flash memory for the
a pair of USB 3.0 ports via an ASMedia host controller, a iPhone 4S and the latter of which manufactures the A4
Gigabit Ethernet port, three audio jacks for 5.1-channel audio, processor chips for Apple. If the Anobit acquisition goes
a D-Sub, DVI and HDMI port. Note that the DVI and HDMI ahead it would mean that Apple would become a supplier to
ports on this board can most likely not be used at the same Samsung, a move which could either strengthen or worsen
time. One thing that did catch our attention was a pin-header relations between the two companies.
labelled FUSB3 which appears to be for front USB 3.0 ports,
but it doesn't look like the standard USB 3.0 pin-headers, nor
does there appear to be a second USB 3.0 host controller on
the board. That said, the silk screening on the board reads Google launches Street View
PW-A8A75M so it's possible that Sapphire is/was planning an
AMD A75 chipset version of this board and it's possible that for tsunami-stricken Japan
some things will change before launch. regions
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-launches-street-view-for-
Apple in talks to buy flash tsunami-stricken-japan-regions/14225.html
December 15th, 2011
storage firm Anobit
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-in-talks-to-buy-flash-storage-
firm-anobit/14226.html
16

93. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Google has launched Street View for the tsunami-stricken December 15th, 2011
parts of Japan, providing a digital archive of the effects of the
disaster that hit earlier this year.
Google has launched Street View for the tsunami-stricken
parts of Japan, providing a digital archive of the effects of the
disaster that hit earlier this year.
The project involved over 44,000 kilometers of driving in
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has announced the
Googlemobiles to map the affected areas, delivering on a
launch of its Ultrastar C10K900 enterprise storage device,
promise the search giant made in July to deliver a record of
which it claims is the industry's fastest 10K hard drive, touting
events called Build the Memory, a special website that displays
high capacity and strong encryption features.
before and after images of destroyed towns.
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has announced the
launch of its Ultrastar C10K900 enterprise storage device,
Users can check Street View via Google Maps for a 360-degree which it claims is the industry's fastest 10K hard drive.
panoramic view of destroyed buildings and landscape left in
The Ultrastar C10K900 is up to 17 percent faster in
the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country
random performance and 18 percent faster sequentially when
in March.
compared to competitors. It also touts a high-performance
SAS 6Gb/s interface, a 64MB cache buffer, and average
seek times and latency times of 3.8 milliseconds and 3.0
milliseconds respectively.
The 2.5-inch hard drive is available in 900GB, 600GB, 450GB
and 300GB capacities, with the 900GB being one of the
highest for a 10K hard drive.
The images display a month and year from when they
were taken, which could prove valuable for historical work
in documenting the effects of the tsunami. The timestamp
feature, which Google said was much requested, has also been
rolled out to other Street View images across the world.
Some people might see this as an insensitive move by Google,
but the company believes that this digital archive will be
of value to researchers and scientists studying the effects of The device also boasts of good power efficiency, utilising 28
natural disasters. It also ensures that the devastation and loss percent less power than other hard drives, thanks to Hitachi
of life will not be forgotten, and it will hopefully go a long Advanced Power Management technology. This results in an
way to helping prevent such destruction in the event of future operating power specification of 5.8 watts and an idle mode of
natural disasters. 3.0 watts.
The hard drive also comes with Bulk Data Encryption, which
Hitachi launches fastest 10K gives the user the option to turn on self-encryption for
enhanced data security. This meets the Trusted Computing
RPM enterprise hard drives Group Enterprise A Security Subsystem Class encryption
specification.
(Ultrastar C10K900)
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hitachi-launches-fastest-10k-rpm-
enterprise-hard-drives-ultrastar-c10k900-/14223.html
17

94. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Xiaomi M1 smartphone
December 15th, 2011
running Android 4.0 ICS
spotted
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/xiaomi-m1-smartphone-running-
Turkish website DonanimHaber has revealed the European
android-4.0-ics-spotted/14220.html
pricing of AMD's upcoming Radeon HD 7970. As per reliable
December 15th, 2011
sources, the current pricing for the HD 7970 stands at just over
500 Euros.
Turkish website DonanimHaber has revealed the European
pricing of AMD's upcoming Radeon HD 7970. As per reliable
sources, the current pricing for the HD 7970 stands at just over
500 Euros. Given European pricing trends, this could equate
Chinese company Xiaomi is reportedly preparing their M1 to a US retail price of upto $550. If so, the HD 7970 could be
smartphone for an update with Google Android 4.0.1 Ice the most expensive single GPU Radeon ever, and certainly the
Cream Sandwich operating system. Initial reports claim that most expensive since the ATI Radeon X1800 XT launched at
the phone runs well with the new software, while a video shows $500. This also a heavy upswing from HD 5870 and HD 6970 -
some exciting interface enhancements are in the works. the previous fastest single GPU cards - which launched at $379
and $369 respectively.
The Radeon HD 7970 will release on 9th January 2012 with
3GB GDDR5 memory. The HD 7000 series will also bring a 3D
version of Eyefinity to take on NVIDIA's 3D Vision Surround.
Rumour: NVIDIA GK104
Specifications, release in Q1
2012
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rumour-nvidia-gk104-specifications-
release-in-q1-2012/14222.html
December 15th, 2011
Chinese company Xiaomi has been tinkering with their Not long after the rumour mill at 3DCenter came up with
recently launched M1 smartphone and has produced images specifications and details for AMD's Tahiti, they have now
and a video of the phone running on Google Android 4.0.1 Ice moved onto NVIDIA's first next-gen 28nm chip - rumoured to
Cream Sandwich mobile software. be GK104. Succeeding GF114 and the GeForce GTX 560 cards
(except the 448 Core version), GK104 is rumoured to release
Initial reports claim that the phone runs very well with in Q1 2012 with a smaller die than GF114.
Google’s latest operating system (OS), and would be due to be
released very soon. It is also apparent from the video that most Not long after the rumour mill at 3DCenter came up with
of the user interactions are smooth, with advancements in the specifications and details for AMD's Tahiti , they have now
rendering of cascading gallery animations in the home screen moved onto NVIDIA's first next-gen 28nm chip - rumoured to
and a more elaborated widget resizing animation. It will also be GK104. Succeeding GF114 and the GeForce GTX 560 cards
include MIUI V4 user interface, an Android launcher layout (except the 448 Core version), GK104 is rumoured to release
created by a Chinese developer. If the upgrade arrives soon in Q1 2012 with a smaller die than GF114.
enough, Xiaomi M1 may become the first smartphone in China GK104 is reported features between 640 and 768 SP, 80-96
to be powered by Google Android Ice Cream Sandwich, and TMU and either 256-bit or 384-bit memory interface. The
quite possibly the second in the world, just after Samsung performance is likely to be a bit faster than GeForce GTX 580.
Galaxy Nexus. To make an early launch possible, the speculation mentions
GK104 could be a hybrid between Fermi and Kepler, with
the first true Kepler part coming with GK100. GK104 also
AMD Radeon HD 7970 Pricing aims at a die size smaller than GF114, presumably to undercut
Revealed AMD's Tahiti and increase yields for an early release. If GK104
does release in early-mid Q1 2012, as rumoured, it will go
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-7970-pricing-
up directly against Radeon HD 7800 series / Pitcairn, also
revealed/14224.html
releasing around the same time.
Meanwhile, the flagship GK100 chip could release in Q2
2012, with early speculation pointing towards estimated
18

95. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
specifcations of 1024 SP, 128 TMU, 64 ROP and a 512-bit
memory interface, and performance closing in on GTX 590.
Much of the information coming from 3DCenter is contrary
to the previously leaked roadmap by 4Gamers. At this early
stage such contradictory speculation is the norm, and all such
rumours must be taken with a grain of salt.
NVIDIA: Kepler on track, 28nm
samples in house
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-kepler-on-track-28nm-samples-
in-house/14221.html
December 15th, 2011
In a conversation with Fudzilla, a Senior Product PR Manager
confirmed that NVIDIA's next-gen 28nm Kepler GPUs were Dell has unveiled their new Alienware Aurora gaming desktop
on track, and samples were in house. However, there was no computer today, which is said to be the company’s most
specific information as to a timeline of "on track". advanced desktop to deliver extreme gaming performance and
experience that game developers intended for their players.
In a conversation with Fudzilla, a Senior Product PR Manager
confirmed that NVIDIA's next-gen 28nm Kepler GPUs were In a sleek, stylish and compact form factor, the Alienware
on track, and samples were in house. However, there was no Aurora’s chassis houses the new second generation Intel
specific information as to a timeline of "on track". Core i7-3000 series six-core CPUs, factory overclocked with
high performance CPU Liquid Cooling and Active Venting
The PR Manager said, "We are on track with our Kepler system that provides additional heat dissipation during heavy
roadmap. We have 28nm silicon in house now. Our transition gaming; Intel X79 Express Chipset, Quad Channel DDR32
to 28nm is going better than 40nm, and yields are better memory and the latest SATA technology. The desktop also
than our original plan." However, it is worth noting that supports AMD CrossFireX technology, and is capable of
Kepler wasn't specifcally mentioned as sampling - the in house housing two graphics cards to offer beyond 1080p high
samples were simply described as "28nm silicon". definition resolution with immersive multi-display and 3D
While AMD's Southern Islands / Radeon HD 7000 series gaming experience. All Aurora graphics cards use GDDR5
releases first in January, the delay to NVIDIA's competitor graphics memory, and combined with Microsoft’s DirectX 11
is likely to be shorter than the 40nm HD 5000 vs GTX 400 graphics API, complex virtual worlds look to come alive.
generation where AMD beat NVIDIA by 6 months. Fudzilla
suggests that NVIDIA could have its first Kepler GPUs out
some time in Q2 2012. Also, more information may be The Alienware Aurora, like its laptops and desktops siblings,
presented at CES 2012 - also the time for AMD's big release. comes complete with the Alienware Command Center,
which provides intuitive, user?friendly access to exclusive
applications and controls, including AlienFX lighting effects,
Dell launches Alienware Thermal Controls and AlienFusion power management
Aurora gaming desktop PC system. AlienFX allows users to customize the exterior lighting
zones on the chassis with over 25 billion color combinations
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/dell-launches-alienware-aurora-
for a one-of-a-kind personalized experience.
gaming-desktop-pc/14219.html
December 15th, 2011 Pricing and Availability
Alienware Aurora is available now on Dell.com.sg with a
starting price of S$3,499.
Detailed information
2nd Generation 3000 series Intel Core i7 Six Core Processor
Today, Dell launched their most advanced desktop, the Options
Alienware Aurora, which claims to deliver extreme gaming
- New Intel X79 Express Chipset with Unlocked BIOS for
performance and immersive experience to users. In a stylish
Overclocking
compact form factor, the gaming machine supports AMD
CrossFireX technology and is capable of housing two graphics - Single and Dual Graphics Options:
cards for maximum graphics performance. 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 68702
2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 69502
19

96. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
1.25GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti2
1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 5802
3GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 5902
Dual 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6870 - AMD CrossFireX2
Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6950 - AMD CrossFireX2
- 4GB Dual Channel 1600MHz up to 32GB Quad Channel
1600MHz DDR3 Memory Options2
- Up to 2TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive with Native Command
Queuing4 (Standard is 1TB)
- Single and Dual Optical Drive Options; Including Blu-ray
Disc Reader and Burner
- High Quality Audio Options:
Internal High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio with Waves
MAXX Audio Software (Standard)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio (Optional)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium (Optional)
- System Dimensions: height: 16.77” (426mm), depth:
25.39” (645mm), width: 9.85” (250mm); weight: starting at
45lbs (20.41kg)
AMD Enthusiasts Dinner Event
(29th November 2011) Report
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-enthusiasts-dinner-event-29th- Hands-on Battlefield 3 Eyefinity Setup on display with ASUS
november-2011-report/14217.html and Kingston hardware
December 15th, 2011
A few weeks ago, 60 VRForums power users and Sim Lim
Square retailers were invited to our inaugural AMD Enthusiast
Dinner which was held at IBIS Hotel Bencoolen. Along
with the mandatory sumptuous buffet spread, the event was
graced by senior AMD evangelists Sasa Marinkovic and Terry
Makedon, and also attractive lucky draw prizes generously
sponsored by ASUS Singapore and Kingston.
Registration Booth
20

97. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Personal robot for you,
expertise not required
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/personal-robot-for-you-expertise-not-
required/14216.html
December 15th, 2011
Ez-Robot from Canada has recently released a complete Do-
It-Yourself (DIY) robot kit which is suitable for anyone to
assemble and manipulate via an easy-to-use software. The
small but versatile kit has more sensor functions than meets
the eye and will surely give hours of tinkering fun.
EZ-Robot, a Canadian start-up company, has recently released
Lucky Draw Prizes - ASUS HD6970 DirectCU II Graphics
a complete modular Do-It-Yourself (DIY) robot kit capable
Cards, Kingston HyperX SSDs and Memory, AMD Water
of supporting various modifications easily. The kit is suitable
Cooler
to all users, from typical consumers with no programming
background, to the most hardcore tinkerers. Arduino and
iRobot Roomba users will be glad to know that the kit also
supports elements from their systems. The complete setup
comprises of a Bluetooth-enabled wireless robot controller,
EZ-Builder control software, tracking camera, ultrasonic
distance sensor, five servos, a battery pack and other
essentials.
The advantage about having this robot kit is the wide variety of
modification options that are open when building from it. The
fundamental components allow users to add various parts to
create a robot that will look and respond the way they want. A
range of tutorials for these modifications are present here, and
the website also includes some famous robot characters such
as Wall-E and Dalek from television show “Doctor Who”.
High End CPU Battle in 2012:
Back to the Future
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/high-end-cpu-battle-in-2012-back-to-
the-future/14215.html
21

98. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 15th, 2011 and the seeming need to diminish the company's value before
it's bought, saw Alpha literally murdered at the peak of its
prime, for HP to justify its - later proven foolish - Itanium
move, which also killed its own HP-PA RISC architecture. That
reminded everyone of an equally foolish move a few years
earlier by Silicon Graphics, today known as SGI, killing the
MIPS RISC architecture it helped create to subscribe to the
Intel, AMD and, at the very top, IBM, had the total
Itanium story - which we all know how is ending now, and I
performance and feature lead in high end general purpose
advised everyone on that outcome exactly ten years prior to
microprocessors for a decade now. However, few 'strategic
now.
mistakes' that the US microprocessor and system vendors
made a decade ago now haunt them back, as China and Japan
embraced the superior technologies that the US discarded for
For the sake of the later read, do note that MIPS architecture
short-term interests of the time.
was the close second best to Alpha in performance, simplicity,
By now, you are almost certainly used to hear the words Intel intra-core and, see today, inter-core scaling, and it was truly
and AMD, and sometimes IBM, if talking about big machines, 64-bit since 1989!! Alpha was, of course, 64-bit only, without
when it comes to high end microprocessors. These 10 past any 32-bit modes, since 1991, and, guess what, ARM will only
years, the general purpose X86 CPU leadership was with be 64-bit in shipping products in 2013... tells you something,
Intel for 7 years, and with AMD for 3 years. On the other doesn't it? Add that MIPS cores are faster and smaller yet than
hand, IBM firmly had the RISC - and overall - microprocessor ARM, and have vector FP for ages already...
performance lead per socket with its POWER 4, 5, 6 and
Power7 CPU families, of course at the matching prices. Do not Fast forward to 2011: China, which saw the true goodness of
confuse these with much lower performance PowerPC CPUs what were the best CPU architectures of the time, and without
used in PowerMac systems of the past. the 'software support pressures' of companies like Microsoft,
or the corporate plays that saw the best things go, continued
Looking at the current roadmaps, that domination is expected to develop both MIPS - read: Loongson - and Alpha - read:
to continue, with all the Intel Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Shenwei - all this while. With the ground-up approach, and
Haswell and so on microarchitectures being followed by (fast shrinking) semiconductor process gap, it took them a
AMD Bulldozer, Piledriver and so on, and IBM keeping the decade, over multiple generations, to perfect things up. I have
performance lead with Power8 and beyond. Aside the now very seen what Shenwei and Loongson can do, and the commitment
common delays - as you can see in our stories nearly daily - of their teams with the huge resources of central government
things sound pretty simple. Or, do they? behind them. Even at the 65 nm process, the FP power per
socket of each of these CPUs is matching or exceeding that of
current Intel and AMD high end processors. What do you think
Let's rewind the clock back some 13 years ago, to 1998, when they will do at 32 nm, and then 22 nm?
yours truly was busy creating systems based on the 64-bit
The 8-core and 16-core Loongson and Shenwei CPUs may
Alpha microprocessor, the Formula 1 of CPUs for the whole
not have catchy marketing names as their US counterparts,
of late '90s. Being much faster than not just Intel, but also
but they have the performance, low power consumption - the
other processors at the time, yet offering extremely compact
Jinan Petaflop Shenwei system consumes less than 1/3 power
and elegant RISC architecture - simpler than Power or Sparc
per teraflop compared to its US counterpart Jaguar - and clean
or ARM - with comparatively small but fast cores and high
(both technically and legally, IP-wise) vector-enhanced RISC
system bandwidth, coupled with excellent compilers, Alpha
architecture that can ultimately scale well from smartphone
was popular in the high end computing circles - and also in the
to supercomputer. Add to this the indigenous Chinese ARM
nascent 64-bit PC community, since it had native Windows NT
architecture design companies, and you'll see that, despite its
without all the X86 viruses - around the world. Even Samsung
low starting position, China is managing to catch up with the
and Mitsubishi were making the Alpha CPUs, including their
US on the 'trophy prize' high end microprocessor front.
own derivatives.
Japan is not giving up, either - Fujitsu, which for years
designed faster SPARC RISC CPUs than Sun Micro (now
Do note that one of the most interested parties in the Alpha Oracle) the original SPARC creator, used a vector version of
was, of course, China. It even officially licensed the complete its SPARC64 to make a 10 PFLOPs K-system in Kobe, the
Digital-Compaq Tru64 UNIX OS, one of the best at the time, world's fastest this year. The incredibly fast memory and
and the associated software stack. The Chinese saw the benefit interconnect systems come along as well. Interestingly, the
of a superb architecture and its programming model, and, I design approach is similar to the vector-enhanced units that
was told at the time in the internal meetings, would have loved Chinese develop as well. Some common thinking there...
it to continue the development at a maximum pace. Now, as far as I understand from the people in charge, the
2012 may be the year when China starts more aggressively
marketing the fruits of its design. Isn't it an irony that the best
That was not to be then, unfortunately. The US corporate that US design long ago, and then foolishly discarded, now,
shenanigans surrounding the buyout of Compaq by HP and its many years later and IP rights expired, appears new, enhanced
nasty boss at the time, the political pretendent Carly Fiorina, and sped-up, from China, to compete at the global level? Well,
22

99. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
maybe it is about time for some more variety in this business,
or "back to the future".
Next Generation Computing
Experience Forum 2011
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/next-generation-computing-
experience-forum-2011/14201.html
December 15th, 2011
Have you ever wondered how science has those
breakthroughs, like the sequencing of dna or computing
weather patterns? Well, it takes a little more than just Dr Marek Michalewicz commented that most Super
science it takes raw computing power and that power doesn't Computing needs are driven by nationalistic requirements
come cheap as it requires a lot of resources in terms of and since Singapore does not really have a need driven by
manpower and actual electrical power. Imagine the next leap Mission Critical Research, Simulation modeling or Complex
in computing power, the Petaflop may require power from a computations, it is probably the reason why Singapore does
dedicated nuclear power plant. not have a Super Computer.
What do you get when you put six high profile speakers in
the same room to talk about high performance computing? Leica unveils V-Lux 3 compact
You get a heterogeneous group of minds each with their own
ideas on how to make heterogeneous computing work. Each of digital camera
the six speakers will undoubtedly have their own thoughts on Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/leica-unveils-v-lux-3-compact-digital-
pushing the performance envelope. Would any one of them be camera/14213.html
right or wrong or is it one of those cases of any answer could December 15th, 2011
be the right one.
The first part of the morning was graced by Dr Marek
Michalewicz, Director A*STAR Computational Resource
Centre (A*CRC). Dr Marek Michalewicz spoke a little of
the history of computing showing off some interesting Leica has announced a new compact digital camera, Leica V-
virtual models from the past and fast forward to the now Lux 3, which claims to be a versatile all-in-one camera for
with a conceptual image rendering of the Next-Generation creative stills and videos, and an ideal companion to take with
Supercomputer with 705,024 Cores and requires a whopping wherever you go. The V-Lux 3 will be available early next year.
12,659 Kilowatts of power. The computer is the K computer at
RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science.
23

100. December 15th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Intel gets Panther Point USB
3.0 certified
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-gets-panther-point-usb-3.0-
certified/14212.html
December 15th, 2011
Look at that, the USB-IF has issued a press release about four
months early, well at least if you're Intel and don't want details
of your upcoming products out in the open. The press release
is merely an announcement that Intel has passed the USB-IF
certification for USB 3.0, although it's with regards to Intel's
Leica Camera AG, Solms, have introduced the Leica V-Lux upcoming 7-series chipsets as well as the Xeon friendly C216
3 compact digital camera that comes with an extensive range chipset which has not been announced as yet.
of features. The V-Lux 3 features a Leica DC Vario-Elmarit
4.5-108 mm f/2.8 - 5.2 ASPH. 24-fold super-telephoto zoom
Look at that, the USB-IF has issued a press release about four
lens with a wide range of focal lengths equivalent to 25–
months early, well at least if you're Intel and don't want details
600 mm in 35 mm format, which is ideal for photographers
of your upcoming products out in the open. The press release
who enjoy shooting landscapes, architecture, sport, travel,
is merely an announcement that Intel has passed the USB-IF
portraits or wildlife. It also incorporates a newly developed
certification for USB 3.0, although it's with regards to Intel's
12.1-megapixel CMOS image sensor that promises exceptional
upcoming 7-series chipsets as well as the Xeon friendly C216
image quality for all applications. On top of that, the V-Lux
chipset which has not been announced as yet.
3 also has an extensive range of video options and video
quality comparable with that delivered by premium-range The actual USB-IF database lists Intel's single entry by its code
video camcorders. name, Panther Point, but as we all know by now, this is Intel's
7-series chipsets, although the specific model for Intel's next
The Leica V-Lux 3 can capture full High Definition (HD) video
generation of entry level Xeon processors will be known as the
in AVCHD format at 1920×1080 pixels and 60 full frames
C216, something that as far as we're aware, have been under
per second. It is also capable of 24-fold zoom range during
wraps so far. The press release detailed the C216 chipset, but
video recording and has an integrated stereo microphone
didn't point out any specific 7-series chipsets which is a little
with electronic wind noise filter to provide a clear audio.
bit strange, as we know that one of the models in the Intel 7-
Another highlight of the V-Lux 3 is its high-speed burst-
series of chipsets doesn't support USB 3.0.
shooting capability - burst mode of 12 frames per second at
full resolution, or 60 frames per second at a resolution of 3.5- This pretty much makes Intel the last company to receive
megapixel. USB-IF certification for a USB 3.0 host controller, although
we're expecting second generation products from many of
The camera is compact, lightweight and offers simple
the host controller makers come next year, especially if a x2
handling. It has a 3-inch LCD display (460,000 pixel
PCI Express interface becomes reality. There are still a lot of
resolution) that can be twisted and turned in almost any
unknowns with regards to Intel's USB 3.0 implementation as
direction, even in the most unusual angles, and an integrated
well and we're still hearing rumours about it being a two port
handgrip that keeps your shot steady. All its controls are
solution with an internal hub/splitter for a total of four ports,
clearly laid out and simple to use; for example, video recording
although this is something Intel is officially refuting to be the
can be started quickly and easily at the touch of a button on
case. We also heard rumours that Intel had some performance
the top deck of the camera.
issues about five months ago and didn't follow the USB 3.0
Bundled with the V-Lux 3 includes a comprehensive specification to the letter, but again, it's not something we have
software package. The image-processing software Adobe seen first-hand. That said, we should find out soon enough
Photoshop Elements offers users options for viewing, how well Intel's USB 3.0 implementation compares to third
organisation and administration in addition to a wide range party solutions.
of image-processing solutions. The high-quality software
Adobe Premiere Elements is especially designed for video
processing. Both programs are available as free downloads
from the Leica website after registration of the camera.
The Leica V-Lux 3 will be available from authorised Leica
dealers from January 2012.
24

101. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
VR-Zone.com | Stuff for the Geeks!
down in their next batches of hard drives in order to bump up
VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly publication production to deal with the supply crisis, and that this is why
covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the geeks. the warranties are being butchered.
Seagate and Western Digital However, it is far more likely that they simply don't want
to have to replace old hard drives right now when they
cut HDD warranties desperately need to provide new ones to consumers and PC
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/seagate-and-western-digital-cut-hdd- manufacturers to address the market drought.
warranties/14290.html
December 19th, 2011
The question, of course, is whether or not they will increase
the warranty periods to what they were when supply returns to
normal, and if this could become a selling point for some rival
brands that keep their warranty periods intact.
Seagate and Western Digital are cutting their warranties for The lower warranties will likely only add to the problems
hard disk drives as demand and prices soar following extensive facing the HDD market and push more people to buy SSDs
flooding for months in Thailand. instead.
Seagate and Western Digital are cutting their warranties for
hard disk drives as demand and prices soar following extensive
flooding for months in Thailand.
Nvidia selects low-power
Seagate is chopping its warranty period from five years to three LVDS transmitters for Tegra 3
years on its Nearline, Baraccuda XT and Momentus XT drives, Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nvidia-selects-low-power-lvds-
from five years to two years on consumer electronics, and from transmitters-for-tegra-3/14289.html
five years to just one paltry year on a number of desktop and December 19th, 2011
notebook bare drives.
Western Digital is cutting its warranty from three years to two
for its Caviar Blue, Caviar Green and Scorpio Blue drives.
Nvidia will use THine Electronics' low-power LVDS
transmitters on the Tegra 3 platform, making the processor an
The Seagate changes will take effect from 31 December, while
even better fit for power-hungry mobile devices.
the Western Digital ones will come into play on 2 January.
Nvidia will use THine Electronics' low-power LVDS
transmitters on the Tegra 3 platform, making the processor an
even better fit for power-hungry mobile devices.
The THC63LVD827 and THC63LVDM87 transmitters come
in small form at 7mm x 7mm and 5mm x 5mm, in 72pin and
49pin models respectively. Power consumption is 83mW for
the former and 43mW for the latter. They also tout a flexible
input/output mode, power down mode, and the input clock
triggering edge can be selectable by an R/F pin.
The partnership represents a union of world records, as the
The cynical among us might wonder if the manufacturers Tegra 3 is the first quad-core mobile processor and THine's
intend to put inferior components that are more likely to break LVDS transmitters consume the lowest amount of power, up to
1

102. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
two thirds less, compared to similar products, enhancing the We're still about four months away from the actual launch, but
existing low power features of Nvidia's mobile platform. now we have one of the last pieces to the Ivy Bridge puzzle,
pricing. The good news is that Intel seems to be pretty much
sticking to its current pricing structure for Sandy Bridge with
a few minor changes compared to the Sandy Bridge launch
pricing.
According to CPU World we're looking at identical pricing as
for Sandy Bridge for most of the models, with the K SKUs being
the exception from the rule here. The upcoming Core i5-3570K
is US$9 more than the current Core i5-2500K; although it
might be priced the same as the expected Core i5-2550K
suggesting that Intel is trying to squeeze out some more cash
from high-end consumers that want to overclock their system.
"THine has accumulated its high-speed interface technologies
and has achieved the world lowest power consumption of
LVDS transmitters," said Mr. Fumitaka Nishikawa, CTO
and MD of THine. "We are proud that Nvidia recognizes
THine's low power technologies and know-how in high-speed
interfaces for mobile devices. Nvidia has unveiled Tegra
3's record-breaking performance and energy efficiency. By
collaborating with such terrific technologies, THine would like
to contribute consumers' exciting experiences with convenient
battery life."
The other model that gets more price is the Core i7-3770K, at
The technology is significant as mobile devices are becoming least if you compare it to the Core i7-2600K launch price of
increasingly powerful at a rapid rate, while batteries are $317, but it's in fact priced the same as the recently launched
struggling to keep up. Until we get to a stage where batteries Core i7-2700K at $332. As for the rest of the range, well, no
are capable of powering quad-core mobile devices for a long big surprises are expected although the pricing only cover the
time, we will need to rely on manufacturers of the other initial launch models and as such we'll have to wait and see
components to make them as energy efficient as possible. how Intel prices the rest of the range which is expected to
launch later next year.
Volume production of the new transmitters will begin in the
first quarter of 2012. THine also plans to work on further
energy-saving developments for the tablet and smartphone Apple supplier hit by explosion
industry.
in China
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-supplier-hit-by-explosion-in-
Expected Ivy Bridge pricing china/14287.html
leaked, stays mostly the same December 19th, 2011
as Sandy Bridge
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/expected-ivy-bridge-pricing-leaked-
stays-mostly-the-same-as-sandy-bridge/14288.html
December 19th, 2011
Pegatron Corp, a supplier of iPad 2 back panel parts to Apple,
has reported an explosion at its plant in China, which left 61
employees injured, 23 of which needed to be hospitalised. The
incident could affect Apple's supply chain.
We're still about four months away from the actual launch, but
Pegatron Corp, a supplier of iPad 2 back panel parts to Apple,
now we have one of the last pieces to the Ivy Bridge puzzle,
has reported an explosion at its plant in China, which left 61
pricing. The good news is that Intel seems to be pretty much
employees injured, 23 of which needed to be hospitalised.
sticking to its current pricing structure for Sandy Bridge with
a few minor changes compared to the Sandy Bridge launch The company's CFO Charles Lin said that the plant is
pricing. currently closed to production while it carries out pre-
operation inspection. Both Pegatron and Apple indicated that
they were investigating the incident.
2

103. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The plant, which belongs to Pegatron subsidiary Riteng December 19th, 2011
Computer Accessory Co, is in the Songjiang industrial park in
Shanghai. Some machinery is reported to have been damaged,
but it is believed to be minimal.
This could cause supply problems for Apple in the next quarter
if the plant does not go back into production very quickly, but This festive season, ASUS is giving away some great prizes
it will also have a knock-on effect on Apple's image, which has to their Facebook fans. A top prize stand to be won every
become increasingly tarnished by association with poor safety week with prizes including the recently launched ASUS
and working conditions in Chinese factories. ZENBOOK and ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime. So, what
are you waiting for?
This is the latest in a series of accidents at plants in China,
which has raised safety concerns and questions over whether
or not big businesses like Apple should be outsourcing
production to the region.
To celebrate the Christmas and New Year holidays, as well as
to thank fans, ASUS has recently launched a massive giveaway
Apple has particularly been criticised for employing Hon Hai on their official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/
Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, to assemble its ASUS). Fans who joined will be automatically included in eight
iPhone and iPad ranges. Foxconn has gained notoriety for its weekly draws starting from December 12, 2011 to February
poor working conditions, which led to a series of suicides over 5, 2012. Fans who share this giveaway with friends stand a
the last few years. chance to win Super Prizes as well. Prizes include a wide range
of ASUS products including the highly anticipated Eee Pad
Transformer Prime, ZENBOOK, and the PA238Q Pro Series
There were explosions at two of Foxconn's plants in May and display.
September, adding possible safety negligence to the list of In addition to the main prize giveaway each week, ASUS is also
concerns about the company and others like it. Pegatron will giving away a more valuable Super Prize. To win the Super
not want to gain as poor a reputation as Foxconn has over this Prize, the participating fan must invite his or her friends to
latest incident. join. If any one of the friends wins the main prize for the week,
the participating fan will automatically win the Super Prize.*
Don’t miss the chance to win some exciting prizes from ASUS
during the holiday season.
Massive giveaways for
ASUS New Year Facebook ASUS Transformer Prime to
celebration launch in Italy with Android
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/massive-giveaways-for-asus-new-year-
facebook-celebration/14284.html 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-transformer-prime-to-launch-in-
italy-with-android-4.0-ice-cream-sandwich/14283.html
3

104. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 19th, 2011
ASUS has stated that their Italian release for the Eee
Pad Transformer Prime will be delayed, but the tablet will
be preinstalled with the highly anticipated Google Android 4.0
Ice Cream Sandwich. Only the Wi-Fi capable version of the
tablet will be available, however.
2K Games has announced that as of today in Singapore, all
pre-orders of "The Darkness II", the sequel to the million unit-
selling "The Darkness" in 2007, will receive a free upgrade
to the Asia exclusive steel book with lenticular sleeve limited
edition.
Inspired by the supernatural horror comic book series created
by Top Cow Productions, and developed by Digital Extremes,
"The Darkness II" takes players down a brutal and personal
path as Jackie Estacado, wielder of "The Darkness" – an
ancient and ruthless force of chaos and destruction. The
ASUS has just announced that the Italian release of Eee Pad Darkness II is a well of dark and imaginative violence that
Transformer Prime will be delayed to the end of January next breaks from the traditional first person shooter conventions
year, but for good reason. Sources state that the release will with its uniquely stylized gameplay. The fervid Quad-Wielding
come with Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), gameplay empowers players to slash, grab, and throw objects
which gives credibility to the recent reports of ASUS readying at enemies using ruthless Demon Arms, while simultaneously
Android 4.0 upgrades for existing tablets in the coming firing two weapons.
months. Thus far, the only device that is officially known It has been two years since Jackie Estacado, now the
to be running Android ICS is the Samsung GALAXY Nexus Don of the Estacado crime family, used The Darkness to
smartphone. The release will probably make the Transformer kill the men responsible for the murder of his girlfriend.
Prime one of the first tablets with the new mobile operating Estacado continues to have haunting visions of his beloved
system. It has also been confirmed by ASUS that that WiFi- Jenny since her death and tried to cope by bottling up his
only version will be launched, which shadows the release supernatural power, and now The Darkness wants out. A
strategy of Germany, in view of the redundancy of mobile sudden, unprovoked attack on Jackie’s life heralds the start of
data capabilities on tablets whereby smartphones and their a full-scale mob war, which has clearly been orchestrated by
tethering technology can cater adequately. some outside force. The botched attempt opens the door for
The Darkness to re-emerge, and sets Jackie on a journey to hell
Free upgrade to exclusive Asia and worse, as he unravels the mystery behind the attack and
the motivations of The Darkness itself.
limited steel book edition of The Darkness II Asia exclusive limited edition box set will
The Darkness II for all pre- include:
orders in Singapore - Asia exclusive steel book with lenticular sleeve packaging
- Poster illustrated by Marc Silvestri (co-creator and original
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/free-upgrade-to-exclusive-asia-
artist of The Darkness)
limited-steel-book-edition-of-the-darkness-ii-for-all-pre-orders-in-
singapore/14282.html
- Free digital download of The Darkness Origins Volume 1 and
December 19th, 2011
2 trade paperbacks via comiXology (can be read on iPhone,
iPad, iPod Touch, Android, and web provided via redemption
code in-box)
- Exclusive alternate darkling outfit
Have you pre-ordered The Darkness II yet? 2K Games has
- Exclusive talent pack: Gourmet Hearts (provides essence
announced that all pre-orders in Singapore will be entitled to
bonus for eating hearts), Relic Hunter (locates relics within the
a free upgrade to exclusive Asia limited steel book edition of
world)
the first-person shooter game.
4

105. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The Darkness II will be available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation last year, and about 1.1 million of the total are 60-inch LCD
3and Windows PC on 10 February 2012 in Singapore. The TVs.
game can be pre-ordered from leading gaming outlets in
Singapore from December 19, 2011 at the following retail
prices: Jabra Christmas Gift Ideas
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/jabra-christmas-gift-ideas/14280.html
Xbox 360: S$69.90
December 19th, 2011
PlayStation 3: S$79.90
Windows PC: S$59.90
Sharp plans to sell 90-inch
LCD TV in US, 80-inch in China
and Japan Go hands-free this festive season with these wireless Jabra
headsets - Jabra Halo2, Jabra Supreme and Jabra BT2090.
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sharp-plans-to-sell-90-inch-lcd-tv-in-
The headsets give clear conversations as well as let you enjoy
us-80-inch-in-china-and-japan/14281.html
superb multimedia and music from your smartphone and
December 19th, 2011
tablet.
LCD TVs are getting bigger by the months. Japanese
manufacturer Sharp has recently announced plans to sell the
90-inch LCD TV in US, and 80-inch LCD TV in China and
Japan.
Jabra Halo2
Rock out in style to holiday tunes with Jabra Halo2 where
the sound is even more divine now with Virtual Surround
Sound and Power Bass. Never miss a call or beat: this wireless
headband-style headset seamlessly switches between phone
calls and music and offers up to 8 hours of talk time and/
or playtime. Control your music experience directly from the
headset through touch sensors.
According to Japanese media report on a recent interview with
Sharp's president, Mikio Katayama, the company is planning Usual price: S$148
to push their 90-inch LCD TVs in USA next year 2012. The Christmas special: S$133.20
model will be Sharp's largest LCD TV product to date. Sharp is
already selling their 80-inch products in USA, and is currently
the market leader in the country on large-size LCD TVs.
Katayama said that the company is planning to introduce their
80-inch LCD TVs in China and Japan, in the first half of 2012;
Sharp is already retailing their 70-inch in both countries. The
Sharp president also expressed that the company intends to
use the AQUOS branding for large-size LCD TVs.
On December 8, Kozo Takahashi, executive managing officer
of Sharp, North and South America Group, said that it was
thanks to the 60-inch LCD TVs that the company's sales have
exceeded expectations. This year, the sales in US has reached
1.9 million units, which is almost a 40% growth compared to
5

106. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Bluetooth technology headsets but sense it’s time to cut the
cords and go wireless.
Usual price: S$68
Christmas special: S$48
Expensive hard disks boosting
SSD sales?
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/expensive-hard-disks-boosting-ssd-
sales-/14279.html
December 19th, 2011
The effect of last month's Thailand floods is still felt far and
wide in the storage industry as well as the computer market
in general. Prices triple that of usual are still not uncommon
for many hard disk drive types, as the componentry for them
was coming from flood-affected areas - even then, it's hard to
find them. Now, SSDs don't suffer from the same problem, it
Jabra Supreme seems, so what to make out of it?
Got to make calls in between the feasting, partying or chilling Yes, it does seem that there is benefit for SSD sales, even
with loud-talking pals? Top-of-the-line Jabra Supreme has the biggies like Intel have privately acknowledged that. The
active noise cancellation technology that cuts out the din – immediate benefit for them is that, coupled with some SSD
so you hear your caller better, almost as if you’re in a quiet price reductions and X'mas period promotions, having a 120
room. With Noise Blackout and Wind Noise reduction to cater GB-class SSD is now not exactly unaffordable even for a
to noisy outdoor conditions, your caller also hears you loud mainstream PC. A 240 GB one may still feel a little pricey, but
and clear. Use your voice to issue the commands, such as not nearly as much as it was a quarter ago when the price-
making, answering, ending, redialing or rejecting calls, all per-GB vs hard disk was like five times higher. And, when you
without having to touch your phone. HD Voice-ready, Jabra take into account that exponentially higher read performance
Supreme also boasts a 24mm speaker and an advanced design - writes can still be a bit of problem sometimes depending on
patented boom arm that “flips” to power on/off. the controller you're using - and the 'cool' factor of having a
Usual price: S$198 solid state drive to show off, the sales would improve surely.
Christmas special: S$178.20
With the differential being much lower now, having the first
system drive as SSD, and using your old - no extra price to pay -
HDD as the second drive for the paging file and often-rewritten
documents or data, means good sense. However, keep in mind
that, within a quarter, the HDD supply situation should come
back to normal, so SSD vendors better figure out the way to
maximise the use of the current hard disk supply doldrum
before their comparative price benefit diminishes again.
AMD Radeon HD 7770 Pictures
Leaked
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-radeon-hd-7770-pictures-
leaked/14278.html
December 19th, 2011
Jabra BT2090
Need more time to talk even while on the road? Now it's easier A forum member at Rage3D has leaked the first pictures of
than ever to keep those two hands on the wheel while taking AMD's performance GPU - Cape Verde XT - to be branded
a phone call. Jabra BT2090 is designed to be the most user Radeon HD 7770.
friendly, cost-effective, quality headset in town, providing all Cape Verde is the direct replacement to Juniper - first sold
the basic functionality and comfort you need with ease of use. as Radeon HD 5770 and then rebranded to HD 6770. AMD
With BT2090, it’s never the wrong moment for an incoming will finally give its mainstream performance class products an
call. BT2090 is an excellent gift for those unfamiliar with performance upgrade for the first time in over 2 years.
6

107. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 19th, 2011
A month has passed since the relatively uneventful launch
of the Socket 2011 based Sandy Bridge-E and X79 Patsberg
platform. We gave our Editor's Choice award to the madcap
enthusiast oriented ASUS Rampage IV Extreme for its
outstanding engineering and overclocking ability, which is a
tad expensive for most buyers. Fret not though, because if
you're not into setting world records, then the ASUS P9X79
The Radeon HD 7770 reference design inherits its overall Pro we have here today is the next best thing.
design cues from the HD 7970. The standard cooling design Introduction
for AMD GPUs in this range - blower fan at one end - has been
We have previously did a preview of the P9X79 Pro and its
replaced by a large diameter fan pushing air down vertically.
more feature-filled Deluxe brother. Still we'll take a quick look
This design is very similar to the one first introduced with
again...
GeForce GTX 460. The length of HD 7770 is also similar to the
GTX 460 - and by extension HD 5770/6770 - around 8.25".
Don't we just love the ASUS boxes? They never fail to use
hyperactivity-inducing colours and graphics
HD 7770 features 3 display outputs - DVI, HDMI and
miniDisplayPort. Like Juniper XT, it is requires a single 6-pin
PCI-e connector, with a power consumption somewhere in the
early-100s Watts. A single Crossfire connector enables multi-
GPU with a maximum of 2 GPUs. The reference PCB features
4 memory chips - which indicates a 128-bit memory interface,
as in HD 5700/6700. Of course, we can expect the GDDR5
memory to run at a higher frequency.
Back of box
Finally, the Cape Verde die itself is relatively small for this
segment. While Juniper XT weighs in at 166 mm2 and GF116 at
230 mm2, Cape Verde at first glance appears to be well under
150 mm2.
Cape Verde is expected to be the cheapest GCN based product.
Everything below HD 7700 series - from HD 7600 and down -
is expected to be rebrands with minor tweaks from HD 6000
series featuring the VLIW-5 architecture.
ASUS P9X79 Pro Motherboard
Review - The Next Best X79
Choice
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-p9x79-pro-motherboard-review--
the-next-best-x79-choice/13953.html
7

108. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
The Board - Despite being an entry level model, the P9X79 Accessories and Manual
Pro retains the full 8-dimm memory slot configuration that the
platform can support. We particularly liked the large heatpipe
coolers over the VRMs and X79 PCH, which can get toasty
during full load.
Specifications Table
Behind
Specifications P9X79 PRO
CPU Supports Intel LGA2011
Processors
Chipset Intel X79(Patsburg)
Memory 8 x DIMM, Max. 64GB
Quad Channel Memory
Architecture
* Due to OS limitation, when
installing total memory
of 4GB capacity or more,
Windows® 32-bit operation
system may only recognize
less than 3GB. Install a 64-
bit Windows® OS when you
8

109. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
want to install 4GB or more Two months ago, we previewed an engineering sample of the
memory on the motherboard. much anticipated RT-N66U Dual Band Gigabit Router from
Multi-GPU Support Supports AMD CrossFireX™ ASUS which was first spotted at COMPUTEX 2011. After going
Technology, nVidia SLI through some hardware and software changes, we finally have
Technology the final version in our labs to be stripped bare again, and it is
Expansion Slots 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16 expected to hit local retail shelves soon.
2 x PCIe 3.0 x8
2 x PCIe 2.0 x1
Storage Intel X79 chipset :
2 x SATA 6Gb/s ports, white
4 x SATA 3Gb/s ports, blue
Support Raid 0, 1, 10, JBOD
Marvell:
2 x SATA 6Gb/s, white
LAN Intel 82579V Gigabit LAN
Controller(s)
Audio Realtek® ALC898 8-Channel
High Definition Audio
CODEC
- Supports : Jack-detection,
Multi-streaming, Front Panel
Jack-retasking
Audio Feature :
- DTS Surround Sensation
UltraPC
- Optical S/PDIF out port(s)
at back panel
USB Ports USB 3.0 - 6( 2 front, 4 rear)
via 2x ASMedia USB 3.0
controller + 1x VIA USB 3.0
Hub
USB 2.0 – 12 ( 8 front ; 4
rear; 1 white port shared with
USB BIOS Flashback)
Form Factor ATX Form Factor
12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x
24.4 cm )
ASUS RT-N66U Dual Band
Gigabit Router Preview (Final
Retail Revision)
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-rt-n66u-dual-band-gigabit-router-
preview-final-retail-revision-/14242.html
December 19th, 2011
9

110. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
A stand is bundled with the router so that it can operate
upright.
3 Reversed BNC connectors for the antennas, Power Button,
2 USB ports, config reset button, WPS setup button, Gigabit A shot of the power adapter, capable of up to 30W of output
WAN and LAN RJ-45 ports
Back view - the screws for disassembly are under the 4 rubber
feet
Report: AMD to rebrand Low-
end Radeon HD 7000 for OEMs
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/report-amd-to-rebrand-low-end-
radeon-hd-7000-for-oems/14276.html
10

111. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 19th, 2011 AMD products have built a dubious reputation to be supply
constrained most of the times. By splitting the range between
28nm and 40nm, AMD is distributing resources and ensuring
greater wafer starts at 28nm dedicated to the high-end GPUs.
Another reason could be the costly nature of a cutting-edge
process, and low-end GPUs are better off at 40nm. With
Fusion APUs effectively replacing the lower end, the demand
AMD is planning to rebrand their low-end Radeon HD 7000 is decreasing as well. In addition, AMD is also moving these
products, for OEMs only. Every AMD product from Radeon parts to OEMs, and retail availability of the same is unknown.
HD 7600 down will essentially be using GPUs from Northern
Islands and even Evergreen families. As expected, a large
factor behind this significant restructuring is the rise of APUs.
Cascading the reschedules: If
AMD is planning to rebrand their low-end Radeon HD 7000 Sandy Bridge EP comes later,
products, for OEMs only. Every AMD product from Radeon so will Ivy Bridge EP
HD 7600 down will essentially be using GPUs from Northern Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/cascading-the-reschedules-if-sandy-
Islands and even Evergreen families. As expected, a large bridge-ep-comes-later-so-will-ivy-bridge-ep/14275.html
factor behind this significant restructuring is the rise of APUs. December 19th, 2011
AMD and NVIDIA have both announced their low-end "next-
gen" mobile parts - Radeon HD 7000M and GeForce 600M.
Both featured rebrands. While AMD slightly re-specced the
HD 7000M parts, the 600M GPUs were direct rebrands from
the 500M series. The rumour mill had strongly suggested
that the 7000M/600M rebrands were largely foreshadowing a
Now that the cream of the crop of the Sandy Bridge generation
similar fate for the desktop market - so it is not as surprising
moves towards the end of Q1 2012, what's the point of rushing
that AMD is making this move.
its socket-compatible follow-on? After all, time has to be given
for the platform to run its course and the only real competition
is Intel themselves...
Happy with your current Dual 'Westmere' Xeons - especially
if running overclocked above 4 GHz on EVGA SR-2 maybe
- but hungry for more power? Well, you may have to wait a
while longer, since it is still roughly three months till their
successors, the Xeon E5 class Sandy Bridge EP chips in the
Socket 2011 platform appear. These are, as we wrote countless
times here, the true fully enabled 8-core 20 MB L3 cache chips,
unlike their early desktop brethren with some1/4 of the chip
disabled to allow high core speeds with adequate desktop TDP.
To make the platform surely available at that point in time,
Intel is also expected to allow the Patsburg chipset versions
without 6 GBps SAS support to stay on permanently available
and endorsed during the Sandy Bridge EP generation, and the
full feature versions later in 2012. All would support the 10-
core, 25 MB L3 cache follow on Ivy Bridge EP as well.
Talking about Ivy Bridge EP, should we expect it earlier then,
The performance and enthusiast end still continue to feature
since it shouldn't be affected by the Sandy Bridge EP delays?
brand new, GCN-based, 28nm GPUs. From Radeon HD 7900
Well, the deep throats tell us a firm 'no', suggesting roughly
down to HD 7700. However, the rebrands begin with HD
a firm year or even a bit more space between the two. If, say,
7600. Replacing the HD 6670 will be HD 7670 - both based on
Sandy Bridge EP is 'officially' with us three months from now,
Turks XT while Turks Pro will feature in HD 7570. HD 7450
the Ivy Bridge EP may take as much as 18 months from today
will be based on Caicos. The lowest-end HD 7300 series will
to publicly appear on the shelves - yes, we're talking of close to
reprise Cedar - first released as HD 5400 nearly two years ago.
mid of 2013 here, about the same as Haswell desktop platform.
We can expect some minor clock boosts to slightly differentiate
them from their predecessors. The line-up looks sparse with
lots of empty spaces for a good reason - it will be filled by The implications? Well, when purchasing that Xeon E5, go
Trinity APUs. ahead and get the speed bin you really need for a long time,
One of AMD's main problems in recent years has been don't just get the cheapest bin to save money, and then wait
supply, rather than demand. From GPUs, APUs to CPUs, in hope for the Ivy Bridge EP replacement in the same socket.
11

112. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
After all, once the Ivy Bridge EP does appear, the newer chipset Nokia's first Windows Phone 7 device, the Lumia 800
revisions as well as newer boards with optimised memory smartphone, has failed to impress European consumers,
layout to support DDR3-1866 support by Ivy Bridge will be out according to a report by investment research firm Exane BNP
there, so may as well just replace it all. Paribas.
Of those surveyed only a paltry 2.2 percent of people said they
were interested in getting the Lumia, a figure that can't be
Also, count on at least two stepping-based clock-boost updates
reassuring for Microsoft and Nokia, which joined forces earlier
to Xeon E5 within the Sandy Bridge EP generation itself. One
this year in a deal worth $1 billion.
would obviously be the mid-year 'D stepping' as usual, and
the other one - especially if pigs can fly and somehow the Exane cut its prediction of Lumia sales from two million to
competition churns out something truly competitive - would just 800,000 for its launch quarter, a huge drop from the four
be the 'last breath' stepping like the Core i7 990 or Xeon million sales of the N8, Nokia's previous flagship model, in its
5690 from the Westmere generation. That one, as we all know, first three months. The N8 was powered by Nokia's now retired
provided extra one-step clock boost and also further improved Symbian operating system.
overclocking capabilities. In this case, who knows, the PCIe v3
validations could also benefit with further steppings, although
- officially - there may never be anything stated to that extent.
And, yes, the 'unlocked' version for OC on boards like EVGA
SR-X too.
Finally, for the desktop user populace, it is almost definite that
one of these two likely future major steppings will now enable
a true fully enabled 8-core 20 MB L3 desktop Core i7 39XX of a
sort, once the yields and TDP at the top allow that. The current
LGA2011 high end cooling solutions can handle 200W+ of
TDP without much problems, and the top mainboards from
Asus, Gigabyte and EVGA provide the power drive needed as
well. So, a 4.5 GHz 8 core Sandy Bridge E desktop should be
a reality by mid-2012.
Either way, Intel doesn't really lose anything, as more time will Exane also trimmed its price target for Nokia shares from
be there for the Sandy Bridge EP to recoup the investment, €3.70 to €3.30. It classes Nokia as “underperforming”,
and those chips aren't cheap anyway. Yes, they'll sell for suggesting that 2012 won't be too much better for the company
thousands of bucks per socket at the high end, but then this than 2011 was.
platform was one of the most complex and troublesome in
Of the close to 500 people in the survey who intend to buy
the recent history for Intel, it seems - both the behemoth of
a smartphone within the next month, most were drawn by
a die for the microprocessor itself, stretched across multiple
the big names like Apple and Samsung. Nokia's previous
usage markets, and then the chipset platform with its own set
dominance in the phone market is quickly fading and it doesn't
of issues. If AMD had their 'Piledriver' core updated products
seem that Microsoft's mobile operating system is going to help.
to fill in the competitive void faster, maybe then things would
speed up, though...
RIM delays BlackBerry 10
Nokia Lumia 800 fails to lineup
impress in Europe Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/rim-delays-blackberry-10-
lineup/14272.html
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nokia-lumia-800-fails-to-impress-in-
December 19th, 2011
europe/14273.html
December 19th, 2011
Research In Motion (RIM) is delaying the launch of its new
lineup of BlackBerry smartphones until late 2012, a year after
they were expected to hit shelves and help put the company
Nokia's first Windows Phone 7 device, the Lumia 800 back into a prominent market position.
smartphone, has failed to impress European consumers,
according to a report by investment research firm Exane BNP Research In Motion (RIM) is delaying the launch of its new
Paribas. lineup of BlackBerry smartphones until late 2012, a year after
12

113. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
they were expected to hit shelves and help put the company
back into a prominent market position. Microsoft to automatically
“We ask for your patience and confidence,” said Mike upgrade old versions of
Lazaridis, co-CEO of RIM, at an investor meeting. “We realize
we've not met expectations.”
Internet Explorer
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-to-automatically-upgrade-
old-versions-of-internet-explorer/14271.html
RIM reported a 70 percent drop in profit last quarter, making December 19th, 2011
this delay even worse timing. Many were looking forward to
devices with the BlackBerry 10 operating system, previously
called BBX, and some analysts projected that it would set the
company on the road to recovery. Microsoft has announced that it will automatically upgrade old
versions of its Internet Explorer web browser, addressing one
of the big security problems facing many business users.
Microsoft has announced that it will automatically upgrade old
versions of its Internet Explorer web browser, addressing one
of the big security problems facing many business users.
The plan will involve a trial run in Australia and Brazil in
January, where obsolete versions of Internet Explorer will
be upgraded to the latest version that will work on their
computer, which will be IE9 for Vista and Windows 7 users,
and IE8 for XP users.
Microsoft has been trying for years to get people to upgrade to
the latest version, but many people are still using IE6 and IE7,
the former of which even Microsoft has labelled as a security
threat, due to the fact that it is no longer providing updates for
it.
RIM claims that its huge loss in market share is due to poor
marketing and advertising, which it plans to overhaul in the
new year. However, it is far more likely that the plummeting
demand is because people are buying iPhones and Android
phones instead, both of which have dominated the consumer
market and are beginning to eat into the business market,
where RIM previously reigned supreme. IE6 is used by 8.6 percent of internet users, a shockingly high
number considering it's over a decade old. This is down 5.9
percentage points compared to 2010, however, thanks to an
By the time the new BlackBerrys are out Nokia will have initiative by Microsoft to get people to upgrade, including a
produced a full lineup of Windows Phone 7 devices, adding countdown website. Automatic upgrades for those who have
further competition to the smartphone arena. While RIM Windows Updates enabled is the next logical step in killing off
might have started off as one of the leaders in this sector, it will the zombie web browser altogether.
now be playing catchup, which could mean game over for the
company if BlackBerry 10 doesn't take the world by storm.
“Automatic updates are a very good idea based on every piece
of security research I've seen,” said Jeremiah Grossman, CTO
At the time of writing RIM's shares were down $1.64, or 10.84 and founder of WhiteHat Security. “Keeping software up to
percent, to $13.49. It's no wonder shareholders are furious date - particularly Web browsers - is critical for online security.
with the poor performance of the company. With that in mind, I'm pleased that Microsoft is moving toward
an automatic update model, particularly since their approach
balances the needs of enterprise customers who still need a
mechanism to manage software updates.”
For individuals and companies who are crazy enough to want
to stick with an outdated browser, Microsoft is providing an
Automatic Update Blocker. Those who have already refused
13

114. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
to update to IE8 or IE9 via Windows Update will not be "An update to optimize the performance of AMD Bulldozer
upgraded. Considering the significant benefits to security, it CPUs that are used by Windows 7-based or Windows Server
would probably be better if these users were also forced to 2008 R2-based computers is available"
upgrade, but Microsoft's approach is, at least, a step in the As we reported previously, this kernel hotfix properly detects
right direction. the Bulldozer processing cores, which was not the case since
the product launched. Bulldozer CPU architecture is closely
tied to optimizing the Turbo mode as much as possible, and
Report: Intel preparing Core i5 Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 don't recognize
2550K the FX and Opteron processors as they are supposed to.
Do note that 2012 operating systems such as Windows 8
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/report-intel-preparing-core-
and Windows 8 Server already built-in the proper threading
i5-2550k/14270.html
scheduler.
December 19th, 2011
According to Microsoft, this patch increases performance
anywhere between 2-7%, which is not bad for a software
update. However, upon releasing the update into the
wild, there were users that reported problems and even
performance decrease. In order to address the matter,
Microsoft pulled down the patch.
Intel is reportedly preparing a refresh for its popular Core i5 The KB2592546 page is still live on Microsoft Support, and
2500K. Branded Core i5 2550K, it features a 100 MHz speed it states that there is a "hotfix download available." If you try
bump over 2500K - up to 3.4 GHz base and 3.8 GHz turbo. to download the patch, you will be taken to the EULA page
Intel is reportedly preparing a refresh for its popular Core i5 in which you give permission to "sell your soul" and proceed.
2500K. Branded Core i5 2550K, it features a 100 MHz speed Unfortunately, the next page is not going to give you what you
bump over 2500K - up to 3.4 GHz base and 3.8 GHz turbo. came for. As you can see on our screenshot - the patch simply
isn't there anymore.
In every other way, the features and specifications are identical
to the Core i5 2500K - 4 cores without HyperThreading, 6MB
L3 cache, HD 3000 graphics, unlocked multiplier 95W TDP.
However, it is not known whether this is a direct replacement
to the Core i5 2500K or a new complementary product at a
higher price point (similar to the relationship between Core i7
2600K and 2700K.
Interestingly, the Core i5 2550K did not feature in the latest
official roadmaps and has only recently been conceived. A
possible explanation is that it is a last minute response to
AMD's FX-series refresh, due in Q1 2012. We can expect the i5
2550K release around the same time. Core i5 2550K will surely
be the last Sandy Bridge CPU before Ivy Bridge / Core ix 3000
releases in April 2012.
Microsoft Pulls Down the AMD
Bulldozer Multi-Threaded
Patch
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/microsoft-pulls-down-the-amd-
bulldozer-multi-threaded-patch/14267.html
December 19th, 2011 Win a Club3D Radeon HD
6870X2! (VR-Zone.com
Exclusive)
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/win-a-club3d-radeon-hd-6870x2--vr-
zone.com-exclusive-/14268.html
Yesterday, Microsoft released a hotfix download under the
code KB2592546. Not 24 hours passed, and Microsoft pulled
down the patch due to unforseen problems.
14

115. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 19th, 2011
This holiday season, we have partnered with Netherlands
based graphics card maker Club3D to give away their cool and
innovative Radeon HD6870x2! Read more for details...
The Club 3D Radeon™ HD 6870 Dual GPU graphic processor
harnesses the power of dual GPUs to unleash unrivaled
performance and flawless image quality, making it the
definitive solution for those who refuse to compromise.
Featuring 2 GB of high-speed GDDR5 memory, the Club 3D Product Page: http://www.club-3d.com/index.php/products/
Radeon™ HD 6870 Dual GPU is the definite solution for ultra- reader.en/product/radeon-hd-6870-dual-gpu.html
high resolution gaming across up to six simultaneous displays.
Play the most advanced DirectX® 11 capable games in
uncompromising "Eye-Definition" with the Club 3D Radeon™
HD 6870 Dual GPU.
Custom CoolStream cooler with 6 heatpipes for increased
performance.
ASUS X79 OC Challenge!
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-x79-oc-challenge-/14266.html
December 19th, 2011
Club3D Radeon HD 6870X2
Winners of the "ASUS X79 OC Challenge!" will walk away with
high end motherboards from ASUS such as the Rampage IV
Extreme with Battlefield 3, Sabertooth X79 and P9X79.
First Prize: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme with Battlefield 3 Full
Game
Second Prize: ASUS Sabertooth X79
15

116. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
For more details, please refer to the forum thread: ASUS X79
OC Challenge
Enjoy your music with the new
Philips DJ-Style headband
headphones
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/enjoy-your-music-with-the-new-
philips-dj-style-headband-headphones/14265.html
December 19th, 2011
Targeted at deejays and music lovers, the Philips headband
headphones SHL9700/10 claim to offer superb audio quality
with comfortable ear cushions for long hours of enjoyment. It
comes with 1.2m optimal cable and is available at all major
electronics retail outlets in Singapore.
Lucky Draw Prize: ASUS P9X79
The new Philips Headband Headphones SHL9700/10 features
a sleek and subtle over-the-head design with soft ear cushions
that provide comfortable usage even after long hours. Whether
you are listening to house music or trance, the headphones
ASUS and VR-Zone will be having another online competition claim to provide deep bass and clear treble for deejays and
before the year ends. ASUS X79 OC Challenge is already audiophiles. The Philips SHL9700/10 incorporate studio-
on-going and will end on 8 January 2012. Participants are grade 40mm speakers and superior drivers that can deliver
required to make a submission each week. The ASUS X79 OC precised and enhanced audio quality. With its foldable design
Challenge is divided into 4 weeks. makes them extremely convenient to bring along for travelling,
and comes with a 1.2m optimal cable length that gives you the
• 1st week: 12th December 2011 - 18th December 2011 freedom of movement. The Philips SHL9700/10 Headband
• 2nd week: 19th December 2011 - 25th December 2011 Headphones are available at all leading electronics retail
outlets in Singapore with a recommended retail price of S$119.
• 3rd week: 26th December 2011 - 1st January 2012
• 4th week: 2nd January 2012 - 8th January 2012
Key Radeon HD 7970 Slides
Points are awarded at the end of each week! The deadline for
the 1st week's submission is 18th December 2011, 2359H. Be Leaked
sure to make a submission before the deadline to be eligible Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/key-radeon-hd-7970-slides-
for the Lucky Draw! leaked/14259.html
16

117. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
December 19th, 2011
A little earlier this week, AMD conducted its usual press
briefing of the upcoming Radeon HD 7900 series, across
various market regions. DonanimHaber scored and posted key
slides from that presentation, with information that matters
the most to enthusiasts.
To begin with, specifications. AMD's Radeon HD 7900 family
will make use of a brand new high-performance GPU built
on the 28 nm fabrication process, codenamed "Tahiti". This
chip is said to pack no less than 4.3 billion transistors. The cooler uses an aluminum channel design, to which heat is
With Tahiti, AMD makes its first big architecture change fed by a vapor chamber plate that draws heat from the GPU,
since Radeon HD 2000 series, a change from scalar VLIW- memory chips, and VRM. The aluminum channels are then
based computing GCN Quad SIMD, which is said to improve ventilated by a blower. AMD improved its blower design to
performance per mm2 die-area (a fascinating new way of have higher air-flow and better acoustics. Reference HD 7970
measuring architecture efficiency). will feature dual-BIOS, much like reference HD 6900 series
Tahiti packs 2,048 stream processors, all of which are did. The two BIOS ROMs can be toggled using a small switch.
enabled on the Radeon HD 7970. These stream processors The first BIOS ROM can be flashed, the second one is "locked',
are arranged along 32 computing units, each holding 64 SPs. and packs a fail-safe reference BIOS.
AMD gave Tahiti a wide memory bus. This chip has a 384-
bit wide memory interface, which is said to dole out memory
bandwidth upwards of 260 GB/s. It is populated with 3 GB of
GDDR5 memory using twelve 2 Mbit memory chips. Radeon
HD 7970 draws power from two PCIe power connectors, an 8-
pin connector, and a 6-pin one.
Radeon HD 7970 will have a core clock speed of 925 MHz,
which AMD claims can easily be overclocked to 1 GHz, "and
beyond". We'll see about that.
AMD reference board design retains the black + red color Dell kills off Mini 10 netbooks
scheme, and will use black colored PCB. The cooler shroud Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/dell-kills-off-mini-10-
design is a bit more curvy, compared to the boxy HD 6900 netbooks/14261.html
board design. Display connectors include one each of DVI December 19th, 2011
and HDMI; and two mini-DisplayPort connectors. All four
connectors are confined to a single expansion slot area, leaving
the second slot area dedicated to the cooler's hot-air vent.
Board partners are required to include HDMI to DVI and
active-DP dongles.
Looks like Dell has quietly killed their Mini 10 netbooks. If you
go to Dell Online Store and try to search for it, you would either
not find it, or find that the product is still listed, but no longer
available for purchase.
17

118. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
Better cooling seems to be the primary objective around
HD 7970's reference design. Unlike HD 5870 and HD 6970,
Just a few years ago, netbooks dominated the portable which had the second slot's exhaust vent partially taken
computer market with their small form factor and affordable up by a DVI connector, HD 7970 dedicates the second
price tags. But that has changed with the increasing popularity slot completely to cooling. This results in improved airflow.
of tablet devices, and the slim and stylish Ultrabooks which The card continues to feature 4 outputs, in HDMI + DVI
were launched recently. The netbooks have gone quiet + 2xminiDP configuration. HDMI-to-DVI and Active mini-
and slowly becoming non-existent. According to a Dell's DisplayPort adapters (which enable 6 outputs in total) are
spokesperson, the product line is finished and the focus would included so there's no compromise. The fan is noticeably
be shifted to "thin and powerful" notebooks, which may mean wider, with new blades. This results not only in a higher
that the company is also releasing their own line of Ultrabooks. CFM, but also quieter acoustics. Finally, an improved vapour
With the entry-level netbook product line being killed off, it chamber heatsink further improves cooling and acoustics.
leaves the question on what would occupy in that place. Well,
the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is just weeks away, and
perhaps the company would have some announcements on
that.
More AMD Radeon HD 7970
Details
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/more-amd-radeon-hd-7970-
details/14263.html
December 19th, 2011
AMD is actively pushing overclocking for HD 7970. The base
clock is indicated to be 925 MHz - making it the highest clocked
Turkish website DonanimHaber has leaked more official slides GPU. It should be no surprise then that it will overclock to "1
from AMD's Radeon HD 7900 press deck. These slides detail GHz and beyond", as AMD puts it. As previously glimpsed, HD
HD 7970's reference design and also presents its overclocking 7970 continues to feature the dual-BIOS feature introduced
capabilities. with HD 6900 series - for safe BIOS overclocking. The
reference design will feature 3GB GDDR5 and require 6-pin +
8-pin power connectors.
AMD Radeon HD 7970's launch has now been moved forward
to December 22nd. However, this will be a limited release
with wide availability only in January. The HD 7950 could still
launch on the original release date - January 9th. Interestingly,
the HD 7950 will not feature a reference design, and there will
be great variety from AIB partners, which could be a reason
for its later release.
18

119. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
all your gadgets to it and back up the data directly from the
Plextor announces PC free device and/or memory card. Plextor claims that the PlexEasy
DVD burner is compatible with most digital cameras as well as Android, iOS
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/plextor-announces-pc-free-dvd- and Blackberry devices, but the press release doesn't mention
burner/14262.html Windows Phone or other mobile operating systems, but they're
December 19th, 2011 most likely going to be supported. However, there's a catch,
the PlexEasy only works with mass storage devices, so if you
don't have a mass storage setting on your phone, it's not going
to work.
When it comes to backing up data, most of us aren't doing
nearly as good job as we should and these days we have so
many different devices that needs to be backed up that most
of us just don't bother. Plextor has come up with a somewhat
interesting solution to the problem of backing up files on
smartphones, tablets, digital cameras and just about anything
else, without the need of a PC, namely the PlexEasy PC free
DVD burner.
When it comes to backing up data, most of us aren't doing As an added bonus the PlexEasy can be used as an optical
nearly as good job as we should and these days we have so drive for your notebook, although it apparently requires two
many different devices that needs to be backed up that most USB port for power which might not be ideal when it comes to
of us just don't bother. Plextor has come up with a somewhat Ultrabooks which tend to have one USB port on each side of
interesting solution to the problem of backing up files on the notebook. We're not sure DVD media is the way forward
smartphones, tablets, digital cameras and just about anything for backing up data though, as even your average SD card these
else, without the need of a PC, namely the PlexEasy PC free days is about 8GB and most higher-end phones comes with
DVD burner. at least as much internal storage memory making the not so
old silver disc feel quite dated with its 4.7GB. However, as an
easy way to archive photos directly from a camera or a phone/
tablet it might not be such a bad solution. One critical piece of
information is missing though, price and knowing Plextor it's
not going to be cheap.
MSI releases second X79
motherboard with 8 DIMMs
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/msi-releases-second-x79-motherboard-
with-8-dimms/14260.html
December 19th, 2011
We're not sure if Intel's X79 motherboards and accompanying
processors have taken the high-end PC world by storm, but
apparently there's still room for more motherboard models, at
least MSI seems to think so. The company has announced a
new eight DIMM model called the X79A-GD45 and you'd be
forgiven for thinking it's simply a slightly changed version of
the four DIMM version, but that isn't the case.
We're not sure if Intel's X79 motherboards and accompanying
processors have taken the high-end PC world by storm, but
apparently there's still room for more motherboard models, at
The Plexeasy is in essence a laptop size optical drive with a least MSI seems to think so. The company has announced a
couple of USB ports, an SD card slot, an LCD display and a new eight DIMM model called the X79A-GD45 and you'd be
couple of buttons. What it allows you to do is to connect up
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120. December 19th, 2011 Published by: VR-Zone
forgiven for thinking it's simply a slightly changed version of when 16GB DIMMs become readily available. As such you're
the four DIMM version, but that isn't the case. “limited” to a mere 64GB for the time being if you fill all the
DIMM slots, although keep in mind that you'll limit the speed
The X79A-GD45 8D as the board is officially known is MSI's
of the memory to 1333MHz with all eight slots populated due
fifth X79 motherboard to launch and it actually seems to have
to the way Intel has designed its memory controller. That is
more in common with the higher-end X79A-GD65 8D than the
of course without overclocking the memory, but it's also the
X79A-GD45. For starters, the two eight DIMM boards share
reason why most X79 motherboards only have four DIMMS.
the same slot layout with a total of five x16 PCI Express slots
No word on pricing as yet, but we'd expect it to retail close to
and a single x1 PCI Express slot. It should be noted that two
the same as the two DIMM version, as the two GD65 models
of the x16 slots only have one lane worth of bandwidth each
retail for close to the same price and the overall difference
which doesn't really impress. Both of the eight DIMM boards
between the two boards aren't that big, especially considering
also have an additional power connector for extra power for
that the four DIMM version has some additional features that
the PCI Express slots, something the four DIMM version lacks.
the eight DIMM version lacks.
MSI has also keeps teasing its upcoming Big Bang XPower
II on its Facebook page and this will be MSI's third model
with eight DIMMs. The only additional piece of information
provided by the new picture is that MSI is going for a pair of
Intel Gigabit Ethernet controllers. However, we did find some
The GD45 models lack tantalum capacitors and features like pricing for the Big Bang XPower II and if it proves to be correct
debug LEDs and FireWire are missing alongside with the bus then we're looking at the most expensive X79 motherboard to
speed adjustment buttons, although the power button and OC date as a pair of European online stores are asking for about
Genie buttons are present alongside a pair of front USB 3.0 €450 (S$775/US$595) for it, which is a horrendous amount of
ports. For what is a fairly high-end board it's a poor show from money to spend on a motherboard and only just cheaper than
MSI side to only include the standard six SATA ports provided a Core i7-3930K processor in Europe.
by the chipset, as most competing products have at least a pair
of extra ports. Around the back things are fairly spartan with
two PS/2 ports, six USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Google patents technology for
Ethernet port (Intel chip), 7.1-channel audio with optical and
coaxial S/PDIF and a clear CMOS button. self-driving car
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-patents-technology-for-self-
driving-car/14258.html
December 19th, 2011
Google has recently patented a "landing strip" technology
for its self-driving cars, which allows the vehicles to go into
autonomous mode and find parking spots.
MSI is making a big deal about the fact that the X79A-GD45
8D supports up to 128GB of DDR3 memory, but that is only
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