Gigabyte's New Killer Motherboard and P67A-UD7 with 10 USB 3.0 Ports

Chris Ramseyer | Motherboards | Jan 7, 2011 6:05 AM CST

CES 2011, Las Vegas - I haven't reviewed a motherboard in several years but I use them daily and build new systems every couple weeks. In 2010 I praised Gigabyte quite a bit for their USB 3.0 work and even used their X58A-UD7 for most of the year for testing storage products on. While running through the CES show floor today the new G1 Killer caught my eye and I had to stop to take a peek.

Here we see the new G1 Killer next to the new P67A-UD7. The G1 is a serious motherboard that will require a new case for most users. Gigabyte told me that only 12 cases on the market will work with the new G1 but many more are on the way.

The P67A-UD7 is no slouch either and it's ten USB 3.0 ports are certainly worthy of high praise. Gigabyte was able to reach this high number by using two NEC USB 3.0 chips and a pair of VIA hubs. The USB 3.0 bandwidth is shared at that point but how many USB 3.0 devices do you plan on running this year? The fun really starts though when you think about the power delivery system since all ten USB 3.0 ports are capable of charging power hungry devices like Apple's Ipad.

Continue reading: Gigabyte's New Killer Motherboard and P67A-UD7 with 10 USB 3.0 Ports (full post)

Corsair launches PC speakers, we try to get them kicked out of CES (video)

Cameron Wilmot | Audio, Sound & Speakers | Jan 7, 2011 5:36 AM CST

CES 2011, Las Vegas - One of Corsair's big announcements at CES this year is the introduction of their very first PC speakers.

You may know Corsair has a newish audio group within its company that has a range of headsets and now Corsair continues its long lasting transition from being just a memory company, to one who I reckon wants to eventually buildup a big enough product portfolio that it can make its own high-end gaming PC systems from its own parts. Alright, so I might be getting ahead of myself here, but this is happening bit by bit.

Back on track, we hooked up with Dylan who is in charge of Corsair audio and he gave us a look at the SP2500 2.1 speaker system. It comes with plenty of neat features I won't begin to pretend I know about, but if you are an audio enthusiast and want a solid set of new PC speakers for your desk, it seems like Corsair is right on the money here.

Continue reading: Corsair launches PC speakers, we try to get them kicked out of CES (video) (full post)

GIGABYTE Launches the G1-Killer

Sean Kalinich | Motherboards | Jan 6, 2011 10:02 PM CST

CES 2011, Las Vegas - January 5th 2011 GIGABYTE launched thier new series of gaming motherboards; the G1-Killer series. In what was setup to look like a paramilitary rally GIGABYTE launched three new motherboards designed for gaming. These new boards are aimed straight at the gamer with many features that will appeal to even the most deamanding of customers. These boards are part of GIGABYTE's war on gaming. Each is deisgned like the perfect soldier. GIGABYTE calls these parts Super Sight, Super Speed, Super Hearing and Super Shield.

The baords come in three flavors;

The Assassin

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RumorTT: Next Call of Duty to be a Modern Warfare prequel? Raven at the helm?

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jan 6, 2011 6:54 PM CST

Wow - rumors are coming in thick and fast for this! Rumor is that the next Call of Duty title might be a prequel to the super-awesome Modern Warfare. According to the rumor, this new game will explore the backstory of the "Ghost" character and explain how he was recruited into Task Force 141.

Included in the rumor is the game will run on the Modern Warfare 2 engine, rather than new tech. The biggest bit of this rumor is that Raven Software may be taking the helm in this new title. There has recently been a job advert for a lead FX person mentioning that it requires driving the development of stunning visual effects for "an established console-based, realistic, first-person military shooter".

I would have preferred something next-gen, but I think we're going to watch the CoD franchise burn in flames.

Continue reading: RumorTT: Next Call of Duty to be a Modern Warfare prequel? Raven at the helm? (full post)

Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 portable scanner debuts

Shane McGlaun | Cameras, Printers & Scanners | Jan 6, 2011 2:00 PM CST

CES 2011, Las Vegas - Fujitsu has unveiled its smallest portable scanner ever called the ScanSnap S1100. This scanner is aimed at the business users that travels a lot and needs to be able to scan documents and all sorts of other stuff into the computer on the go. You can scan documents, cards, and anything else that you can feed into its maw without having to wait until you get home or back to the office.

The S1100 is the smallest ScanSnap in the world measuring in at 10.74" x 1.87" x 1.33" and weighing 12.3 ounces. It is fast despite the small size and can scan a full size sheet of paper in only 7.5 seconds. It can also scan documents directly to cloud storage like Evernote and Google Docs.

Continuous document feeding makes it fast and easy to scan multiple-page documents into a single PDF for easy archiving and other uses. The scanner also supports plastic cards, thick paper stock and other material that would jam a normal scanner. Another cool feature is that the user can mark a page with highlighter or pen and the scanner will use the marks as keywords to enable searching. The S110 is available now for $199.

Continue reading: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 portable scanner debuts (full post)

ThinkGeek unveils the Joystick-It for touchscreen gamers

Shane McGlaun | Gaming | Jan 6, 2011 1:00 PM CST

ThinkGeek has some really cool products and accessories for all sorts of gadgets and gear in their line. The company is also famous for making things as jokes that have enough cool to them to be appealing and enough realism to fool people. If I had laid eyes on the Joystick-It a few months from now around April I would have called BS on this thing, it looks too cool to be a real product.

It's a shiny chrome joystick that claims to stick to your iPad screen and allow you to control games that use a virtual joystick with a real joystick in your hand. The thing has a thin stalk and a big ball on top that reminds me more than a bit of the arcade sticks I grew up playing at the arcade.

The Joystick-It has a patent pending and needs no batteries. It is shown with the iPad, but it will work with any capacitive touchscreen device. ThinkGeek will sell the controller for $24.95 with limited quantities available at the end of January.

Continue reading: ThinkGeek unveils the Joystick-It for touchscreen gamers (full post)

Corsair launches new Obsidian 650D mid tower case

Shane McGlaun | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Jan 6, 2011 12:02 PM CST

CES 2011, Las Vegas - Corsair has unveiled a new computer chassis at CES 2011 along with lots of other gear for computer fans. The new chassis fits into the Obsidian series that Corsair has been peddling for a while now. Corsair says that it built the case to last an enthusiast through years of hardware upgrades and still look good.

The case is made from steel with matte black on the inside and outside of the case and a brushed aluminum faceplate for good looks. The front of the case has a dust filtered 200mm fan and shoots the hot air out the top and back for efficient cooling with a 200mm fan on top of the case and a 120mm fan on the rear of the case. The dust filters of the case are easy to access to clean and the side panels are quick release. The chassis also has an integrated fan controller.

The case has a CPU back plate that is cutout for easy installation of a CPU cooler and it has a routing system for internal cables to keep things clean. The drive cages are removable and can be located in different areas. The case also has room for long power supplies and video cards inside. The case will sell for $199.99 and will ship in April.

Continue reading: Corsair launches new Obsidian 650D mid tower case (full post)

Skype announces video calls coming to Vizio and Sony TVs

Shane McGlaun | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Jan 6, 2011 10:18 AM CST

CES 2011, Las Vegas - CES is in full swing and all sorts of announcements and gear is being seen for the first time at the show. Some of the announcements aren't things that will happen right away, but are cool nonetheless. One of the announcements that will happen down the road came from Skype. Skype has announced that its video calling service will be coming to two new HDTV brands.

The new brands that will offer Skype video calling include Vizio and Sony. Vizio is the largest TV brand in the US and the company has a lot of web connected TVs in the market so that will mean Skype will find a lot of new homes. Skype isn't giving a specific date for the service to be offered only stating that it will happen "later this year."

If you don't have a web connected TV, but the thought of video calls in your living room is appealing Skype also announced a new tie in with Panasonic and Sony that will bring Skype video calling to dumb TVs. Skype will also be coming to Blu-ray players made by Panasonic and Sony. The players will need a webcam for the service to work naturally.

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NVIDIA Kegputer brings the best of beer and PC into one (video)

Cameron Wilmot | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Jan 6, 2011 7:35 AM CST

CES 2011, Las Vegas - We caught up with Bryan from NVIDIA during Digital Experience here in Las Vegas last night. We didn't see any Tegra 2 devices, but of course NVIDIA didn't forget to add some 3D action to it's booth.

One thing they did have on display was a 3D keg. No, I mean the kegputer, as the graphics firm is calling it. One of their case modding friends took a beer keg, greenafied it, added in a bunch of NVIDIA parts and create a full a fully working PC and keg in one. Get a close up look at it in the video above.

While the keg was empty at the time, we are told that it can hold 40 beers at a time. The perfect PC for LAN gamers? Most likely. I just need to put in an order for the show nexr year with something big enough that dispenses whiskey and I will be all set.

Continue reading: NVIDIA Kegputer brings the best of beer and PC into one (video) (full post)

ioSafe Blows the Competition Away With the new Rugged Portable

Chris Ramseyer | Storage | Jan 6, 2011 7:00 AM CST

CES 2011, Las Vegas - Few companies know how to really start CES off like ioSafe. ioSafe has already shown their products in simulated house fires, under water in the pool and even being ran over by heavy machinery. This year ioSafe had to do something different and they did it this year with a bang!

That's right, CES this year started out with live fire on the shooting range.

Here is a shot of the new ioSafe Rugged Portable after a single blast of steel shot.

Continue reading: ioSafe Blows the Competition Away With the new Rugged Portable (full post)