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Toshiba Wants Faster Flash Memory

NAND flash memory is used as storage in different types of devices such as digital cameras, music players and memory cards. Currently, Toshiba’s flash chips can read and write data at 6MBs, but the company is planning to double the speeds (read/write) of its NAND flash memory chips during the next year. Faster chips will mean faster data transfers between computers and the devices.

Toshiba’s
plans will be fulfilled thanks to their new 56 nm (nanometer) assembly line that will open in 2006. The company manufactures now NAND flash chips using the 90 nm technology, but using the 52 nm technology will imply smaller and less power consuming chips that are also cheaper.

Also, the move comes in a time when the flash memory chip market is increasing because of the new music players that use this kind of memory. Economically speaking, Toshiba was the second ranked company in the flash memory market last year, but the company is trying to gain more market share in order to be able later to rise prices, as demand grows, or even in the case of a shortage.

Source: Softpedia

Portable DVD Burner and Card Reader from Hama

Hama presented DataSafe III SE, a portable DVD burner, the successor of the model introduced in spring 2005. The company claims that the compatibility of the device has been improved and the write speed was increased thanks to a new chip technology.

DataSafe III SE burns data from many common memory card types on DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW and CD-R/-RW, and is also a mobile DVD, MP3 and media supporting JPEG, MPEG 1 and 2. It also functions as a USB 2.0 MultiCard reader.

The device’s battery offers long lasting use time (Li-Ion
rechargeable), making DataSafe III SE ideal for traveling. The burner connects to the computer using USB, and it is right away recognized as an external DVD burner and card reader. For Windows 2000, XP and ME there is no need of installing drivers, while for Windows 98SE drivers are included.

DataSafe III SE comes with the following bundled software: Ulead PhotoImpact XL SE, Photo Explorer 8.5 SE for managing and processing the stored files on your PC and PC Inspector smart recovery for retrieving lost data. Also included is the full version of the Ulead DVD MovieFactory 3 Suite for burning and processing data, music and video CDs and DVDs. Additionally, you will find in the package a remote control and various connecting cables.

AMD’s Quad Core Processors Launched By 2007?

AMD officials stated that the company will launch quad core processors by 2007. Reports show that the quad cores will be linked by a revised type of HyperTransport that can support DDR3 (Double Data Rate 3), meaning that there will be servers with up to 32 CPUs (Central Processing Unit).

The quad core design is similar to the company’s Opteron and Athlon64 chips. The server version of these chips will add another cache memory level, improving performance. Cache memory stores frequently used data on the chip close to the CPU, where it can be accessed quickly than data stored in memory.

Also, in 2006 the existing AMD dual core chips will get a slight update to support the company’s
virtualization technology called Pacifica and a security technology called Presidio.

Intel launched this week its own virtualization technology for desktop computers as well.

As for the 2006 processors, they will require new motherboards, other than today’s Opterons require, but the change in the socket will allow future customers to add a quad core processor into their systems, if the mobos are bought in the second half of 2006.

AMD plans to improve its position in the business PC market, desktops and laptops, hoping that a focus on software optimizations will help the transition to future technologies.

Gigabyte launches SLI enabled mobo

Gigabyte launched an SLI enabled technology motherboard, named GA-8N-SLI Quad Royal. The mobo is equipped with four PCI Express X16 slots and is based on the Nvidia nForce4 SLI Intel Edition and Nvidia nForce4 SLI chipsets. GA-8N-SLI Quad Royal was especially developed for gamers who want the highest performance and scalability.

GA-8N-SLI is based on Nvidia SLI X16 technology and integrates four PCI Express X16 slots. It also supports two full-bandwidth 16-lane PCI Express links, meaning it offers twice the bandwidth of PCI Express. PCI Express X16 can provide
output for eight monitors.

Gigabyte’s latest product supports Intel Pentium 4 and Pentium D processors; its four 240-pin DIMM sockets can accommodate up to 8 GB of DDR2 memory. The new mobo has built-in USB 2.0 connectivity and IEEE 1394 functionality, so that high speed devices can be used.

The networking is assured by dual PCI-e Gigabit LAN interfaces. Quad Royal GA-8N-SLI also includes 8 channel audio support.

Information about the motherboard’s functioning parameters can be instantly viewed due to the embedded LED display that connects to up to seven fans. The front side bus is 1066/800/533 MHz.

Inspiron 630m

The Inspiron 630m is Dell’s first 14.1-inch widescreen notebook and features the Dell MediaDirect technology for quick access to digital photos, music and videos without having to start the operating system.

Specifications:
Intel Pentium M processors up to 760 (2.0 GHz)
14.1-inch widescreen WXGA or WXGA with TrueLife
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 900
Integrated 10/100 LAN and 56K5 modem
Integrated internal Wi-Fi (802.11b or 802.11b/g)
Up to 2 GB shared6 memory
Up to 100 GB3 (5400rpm) hard drive
Choice of optical drives including CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive or DVD+/-RW7 drives
Ports include four USB 2.0 ports, one S-Video Out, one IEE1394 port, one ExpressCard Slot, Hi-Def audio support, one 5-in-1 flash memory card reader supporting Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro, Secure Digital, Multimedia Card and xD formats.
Choice of 6 cell (53WHr) Lithium Ion (standard) or 9 cell (80WHr) battery

Gigabyte Launches The First Motherboard With Intel 975X Chipset

Gigabyte presented GA-G1975X, the first in the G1-Turbo motherboard series. Specifically designed with extreme overclockers and hardcore gamers in mind, the GA-G1975X represents a fusion of features such as the advanced Intel 975X Express chipset and Gigabyte Turbojet technology.

Placed near the hottest components on a motherboard, the proprietary Gigabyte Turbojet Technology helps to efficiently remove heat generated by the CPU and memory, and is designed to cope with abnormally tough thermal conditions. This is achieved by directing airflow over and away from heat generating components; two fans are dedicated to directing warm air out the back of the system while another two
drive air over the system memory, an area on the motherboard that is often neglected by cooling systems.

GA-G1975X comes with dual PCI-E graphics slots supporting two 8-lane PCI Express links for multi-view output that ensures graphics performance for next generation GPUs and games.

The integrated hardware audio controller from Creative, Sound Blaster Live 24-bit, provides heart pounding 7.1 channel surround effects delivers natural multimedia entertainment experience possible for games, DVD movies, music and TV.

Gigabyte included a CRS (CMOS Reload Switch) that provides convenient CMOS default settings retrieval and auto system reboot. A user-friendly tool for overclockers allows the user to reload the CMOS default settings when the system is unable to boot up.

Specifications:
Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition/Pentium D/Pentium 4
Intel 975X Express and ICH7R chipsets
1066/800/533MHz FSB
4 DIMMs, Dual Channel DDRII 667/533MHz, up to 8GB
2 x PCI Express x16 (operates at x16 or x8/x8 mode), 2 x PCI Express x4 (operates at x4/x1 mode), 2 x PCI
Creative Sound Blaster 8-channel audio
Gigabit Ethernet Controller
3 * Texas Instrument IEEE1394a ports
Turbojet Technology, C.R.S., DualBIOS, EasyTune5, C.I.A.2, M.I.B.2

Seagate Delivers New Family Of Barracuda Drives

Seagate announced the availability of its Barracuda 7200.9 family of internal hard drives to the worldwide distribution channel. Targeted at low-cost and Serial ATA (SATA) servers, mainstream and high-performance PCs, PC gaming systems and media PCs, the new Barracuda 7200.9 family combines up to a massive half-terabyte capacity with fast 3Gbit/second Serial ATA throughput and leading-edge storage technologies such as Native Command Queuing (NCQ) to deliver the industry’s highest levels of performance and reliability.

Seagate NCQ provides a number of advanced capabilities such as command reordering, first-party DMA, interrupt aggregation and race-free status return for
multi-user system builders needing enhanced system-level performance for applications with transactional workloads. With Barracuda 7200.9, Seagate is the only hard drive maker to offer 3Gbit/second SATA with NCQ across all capacities, from 80GB to half terabyte.

Seagate’s Barracuda 7200.9 3Gbit/second SATA disc drive family delivers the high capacity, performance and reliability and great value that system builders need for single-user systems such as media, gaming, high-end workstations and consumer PCs. Barracuda 7200.9 also meets the high throughput and low cost-per-gigabyte requirements of builders of multi-user systems such as low-cost and SATA servers for small offices. To simplify integration, Barracuda 7200.9 automatically configures the drive to either new 3Gbit/second or legacy 1.5Gbit/second SATA systems.

Barracuda 7200.9 drives also improve system data and hardware reliability through enhanced CRC data protection, the latest latching cables and snap-in connectors, and thin cables for improved cooling. All the drives are backed by Seagate’s industry-leading 5-year warranty.

At 3Gbit/second, the Barracuda 7200.9 internal disc drives double the throughput of first-generation SATA drives. The world’s only ninth-generation family of 7200-RPM disc drives for desktop PCs also delivers up to 16 Mbytes of cache for high performance and the quietest operation in a PC hard drive.

All Barracuda 7200.9 SATA drives adhere to the latest Serial ATA 2.5 specification. Serial ATA 2.5 integrates Serial ATA 1.0, all the optional advanced specifications and years of errata into a single document.

Source: SP