Computer Systems - Page 32

If you're Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, there isn't much you can't afford. It appears like Microsoft has created a device that is meant for CEOs only, at least for now: "Steve Ballmer has an 80-inch Windows 8 tablet in his office. He's got rid of his phone, he's got rid of his note paper. It's touch-enabled and it's hung on his wall."

The description above was given by Microsoft VP Frank Shaw to Wired. This isn't just a Microsoft play-thing like Microsoft Surface is as they actually plan to offer this to the public. While it's probably not going to end up in many households at launch, Microsoft believes that in 2 years it very well could. As far as calling it a tablet, well, I have to disagree. 80 inches is not a tablet.

"It's not a consumer thing now, but we know historically that that's how all things start," he said. "The idea that there should be a screen that's not a computer, we'll laugh at that in two years." The device is powered by Windows 8 and does appear to be slightly stunt-ish, but I can see the benefits of having a device like that in my office. "It's his whiteboard, his email machine," Shaw said, "and it's a device we're going to sell."

The power of Facebook has allowed a disgruntled Apple fan to start a petition for the company to pay more focus to its Mac Pro line of systems. The maker of the page, Lou Borella, wants Apple to refresh its professional-level desktops, or at least be vocal with Mac Pro fans to let them know something is at least coming soon.

The maker of the page is said to be a professional editor and graphic animator in the New York City area, and initially posted a lengthy plea to Apple to update everyone on their Mac Pro plans, claiming that he didn't want to go to "the Dark side" by buying a Windows-based machine, and that hacked models combining more modern equipment with Apple's OS X operating system were insufficient to meet professional needs.

The page has more than 4,200 likes, and over 2,270 people talking about it. You know what, I love this idea. I have to hand it to Lou, this is one of the best ways to get attention from a usually secretive company. Apple has been concentrating more on slightly updating their iOS-based devices, than they have on their Mac Pro line. But, we can see the changes within OS X, and the upcoming Mountain Lion, where it's going more toward iOS. Maybe this is why Apple are being hush-hush when it comes to refreshing their Mac Pro.

Earlier on today we were invited down to the VIA headquarters where we met up with marketing director Richard Brown who introduced us to its new APC computer system.

The APC computer is a $49 Android system based on the brand new Neo-ITX form factor which measures in at roughly half the size of standard Mini-ITX based motherboards. It features an 800MHz ARM SOC (VIA WonderMedia ARM 11 SoC) with 512MB of DDR3 memory and 2GB of onboard flash memory for storage. A modified version of Google Android 2.3 uses up most of that 2GB of flash storage, but there are external storage options. On the back I/O is a microSD slot and of course you could hook in an external USB 2.0 drive. VIA spent a lot of time customizing Android to enable keyboard and mouse support which natively it does not support. The system also comes with the modified apps such as a YouTube player, Angry Birds, a file manager, web browser and more.

However, the VIA APC is not designed to be about local storage. It is designed to stream your content from the cloud and does so at an amazing price and within a very tiny footprint. The APC will fit in normal Mini-ITX cases with room to spare for something like a 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch hard drive. On the I/O panel you get VGA output, HDMI output (up to 720p playback with hardware acceleration), four USB 2.0 ports, gigabit LAN and audio out and microphone in.

Cyberpower has announced a new option to allow customers to configure new gaming systems around the newly released GTX 690. Systems in which the card can be used include the enthusiast Fang III series, Zeus series, and Gamer Xtreme and Ultra series. The GTX 690 is based on two GTX 680 cards and provides similar performance to them in SLI.

The entry-level system based around the GTX 690 starts under $1700, which with a $1000 card inside, isn't too bad of a price. Cyberpower has also optimized their liquid cooling system for the dual-GPU GTX 690. The computers, in addition to the GTX 690, can be customized with a wide range of features. The full text of the press release is below:

Ok, ok, sit back down. Intel's Ivy Bridge is here, and so far it has been ho-hum for everything I've read. Intel don't really need to try that much when the competition needs to pick up a dictionary and find out what the word 'competition' actually means. But, this isn't stopping the Ivy Bridge train from gaining some serious steam and where it's perfections lie is in its new 22nm design.

HP are now baking Ivy Bridge-based processors into their new desktop line-up which has been refreshed. The new line-up sports six quad-core models that will be made available directly from HP as of the 29th of April. Three of these offerings will be all-in-one systems, including the Omni 220qd which sports Beats Audio and a cantilever design that starts from $999.

On top of this, the Omni 27qd which features a 27-inch display and a $1,199 price tag. The third all-in-one model will be a refresh to the TouchSmart 520xt, which sports a 23-inch touch-enabled display and retails for $999. Not bad.

The $25 Raspberry Pi system has had yet another delay, with the first one revolving around the wrong type of networking jack soldered onto the circuit boards, and now we have this delay because of the distributors Element14 and RS Components requiring that the device be given a Conformite Europeenne (CE) mark that indicates compliance with electronics emissions guidelines before they will have anything to do with it.

The Raspberry Pi team hoped they didn't need it, but the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills confirmed it's a requirement. The company said in a blog:

Last week, I had the pleasure of being involved in a conference call with Digital Storm, and their chief marketing officer Harjit Chana where I found out some delicious news on their new custom high-performance PC, the Aventum.

Aventum is a high-performance PC gamers wet dream, literally, its liquid cooled, so that wasn't a joke. The Aventum is a built-from-the-ground-up beast of a machine, where everything seems to have gotten the same insane amount of love done to it. From the new custom chassis, the design itself, exhaust chambers, right down to the software that can control various parts of the machine, the Aventum truly is a machine of kings.

Digital Storm have spent considerable amounts of time ensuring this machine is enthusiast-ready, where they even used thermal imaging cameras to make 3D models of the machine, making sure that heat dissipation was perfect. The Aventum sports something quite unique: the Cryo-TEC cooling system.

Yes, it's true, Commodore is still around and making computers. Just today, they have released a new computer called the AMIGA mini. They are billing the computer as a "tiny powerhouse" that's "slick and eye-catching in appearance." It certainly is "eye-catching," but is it in the way they want it to be? Take a look for yourself:

The new AMIGA mini is powered by an Intel i7-2700k inside a petite 7.8" x 7.8" x 3" enclosure. It features 16GB of DDR3-1333 RAM and this is about where the "powerhouse" portion stops. It features only a GT 430 graphics card which is pretty weak. They say the computer can be used as a home-theater system, a workstation, or a gaming machine, but with only a GT 430, I don't see the gaming machine portion working out too well.

Also, the machine doesn't come with any version of Windows. Rather, it ships with Commodore OS Vision, which is a custom version of Linux that doesn't have very much polish to it. Take a look at the video and judge for yourself:

Manli, one of a bunch of companies who are part of the PC Partner group from Hong Kong have shown off some seriously slick looking gear at CeBIT. The hardware in question is Manli's latest mini PC, dubbed Manli Elite. Manli Elite is similar to Zotac's ZBOX systems, but features upgraded hardware, and a different design.

Manli Elite has the same motherboard as Zotac's ZBOX mini AD10, but the Elite sports an upgraded AMD E450 APU, versus the ZBOX's older E350. On top of this, the Elite features two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, a DisplayPort out, HDMI out, an eSATA port, GbE, a memory card reader, audio jacks, and built-in 802.11 b/g/n/ Wi-Fi.

Inside the Elite itself, is room for an internal 2.5-inch HDD, and a single SO-DIMM slot for memory. The Manli Elite does look very nice, featuring a simple, yet nice design. Manli are also offering an optional media center remote with the Elite and pre-configured models with 2GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD are to be made available in selected markets.

Alienware have started 2012 by letting lose their X51 desktop. The X51 is a slim gaming PC that is designed to orient itself vertically, or horizontally on the desktop. Even the Alienware logo properly rotates depending on the positioning, nice touch!

The Alienware X51 sports a Core 13 or Core i5, a slot-loading optical drive and an option for Blu-ray. The X51 can be configured to take 8GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. GPU wise, it sports a full-size NVIDIA GeForce GT 545, upgradeable to the GTX 555, an external power supply in both 240W and 330W versions.

Connectivity on the Alienware X51 includes HDMI 1.4, on-board Wi-Fi, USB 3.0, and digital 7.1 surround sound. Additionally, the computer's accent colors can be modified with the Alienware Command Center software. Customers can place orders right now, starting at just $699.

Ok. If I were rich enough, I admit it: there would be one of these in each of my rooms. But, Japan gets it first, as they are the country of not only vending machines, but super-new technology and tech items.

Developed by Japan-based tech companies Sanden and Okaya (as well as Intel), this "vending machine 2.0" features a 65-inch see-through display with full HD resolution as its biggest selling point. When there are no potential customers nearby, it turns into a digital clock and also includes various animations to attract people.

Of course, the facial recognition feature is one of the stand out features of the new vending machine 2.0. Once a person is standing in front of the machine, facial recognition picks up the gender and approximate age and serves up personalized ads. The machine is suggested to sell "luxury" items such as cosmetics and wine.

So this is where Matrox has been hiding, it has been in a love dungeon with Shuttle and they've been getting jiggy with it, and the results? A new mini PC, powered by a Matrox M-Series multi-display graphic card that powers the new Shuttle XPC H7 5820S mini PC. The M-Series PCI Express x16 boards support up to eight DisplayPort or single-link DVI monitors at resolutions of up to 2560x1600 per display.

But, get this, a second M-Series card can be combined within the H7 5820S workstation which allows integrators to use a wide range of multi-display installations in corporate, digital signage, security surveillance, process control, stock markets, share traders, crazy-insane monitor lovers and other professional environments.

One of the best features, is that its only 19 centimeters (7.5-inches) in height, which means its quite the mini PC indeed. The Shuttle XPC H7 5820S mini PC sports an Intel Core i7 processor with up to six cores and up to 16GB of DDR3 memory. The high-performance H7 5820S can be incorporated with one or two M9128 dual-monitor, M9138 triple-monitor, M9140/M9148 quad-monitor, and M9188 octal boards.

Ah, the Commodore. I have such great memories of thee. But, Commodore USA's C64 computer recreations have been quite good since last year, and now we have the third variant, the C64x Extreme. This unit sports the 80s flair, but 2011-specced. Inside, it features an Intel Core i7 quad-core CPU capable of turbo boosting to 3.3GHz.

Also, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, Intel HD integrated graphics and a decent 2TB. On the outside, where this thing looks quite amazing, we have two USB 3.0 ports, three USB 2.0 ports and an eSATA port. Also included is HDMI, 3.5mm S/PDIF, VGA and DVI. Apart from the kitchen sink, the C64x Extreme also includes Bluetooth, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, an Ethernet port and even a DVD-RW drive.

The only downfall is it comes with Linus Mint 11 pre-loaded, and will only fully support Windows once the company's "retro inspired" Commodore OS Vision becomes available. While it looks insanely cool and will most likely being a nostalgic tear to your eye, it will also kick you in the balls and rob you, too. It'll set you back $1,500. But, to you, it might just be worth it. I'll be down on the ground holding my nads in pain, while dreaming of this amazing beast.

Even though Sandy Bridge-E is about to drop, Apple might not be interested in investing anymore time or money into their full-size workstation line outside of this year because of limited sales of the Mac Pro. Apple has reportedly developed a revision to the Mac Pro, that may or may not even get released according to people familiar with the matter said management as far back as May of this year.

Apple have reportedly had discussions about the future of the Mac Pro, and that their days were inevitably numbered. Internal discussions have gone as far as mentioning that the sales of the Mac Pro to both consumers and enterprises have dropped off so considerably that the Mac Pro is no longer a particularly profitable operation for Apple. Then there's the Thunderbolt issue.

Thunderbolt was introduced this year, and allows the other, more popular members of the Mac family to assume the vast majority of the roles that once required the high-end Mac Pro's.

BlizzCon 2011 - As we walked through the BlizzCon 2011 halls, we manage to spot one of the Blizzard Battle.net gaming blade servers from around the world that are going on sale for charity.

These are HP p-Class server blades that were previously used to provide Blizzard's Battle.net gaming service. This particular server was named "Eldre Thalas" and was in operation between February 22, 2005 to June 9, 2010. The plaque reads:

ASUS is about to unleash a new ROG gaming rig in the form of a desktop machine which it calls the Tytan CG8565. It was first seen on radar during Computex earlier in the year, but a date of release wasn't mentioned at the time. A pre-order listing for it has just been spotted in Europe, however, indicating it to be just around the corner now.

Upon first glance the mid tower sized chassis looks to have been inspired by 'ballistic missile submarines', which was of course ASUS' intent with several of its Republic of Gamer series notebooks also running off similar design queues.

As for the most important aspect, its guts, it runs a 2nd-gen Core i5 or i7 processor on Intel's Z68, up to 32GB RAM, GeForce GTX 560 Ti or GTX 590 graphics card, DVD writer or Blu-ray combo drive and ASUS Xonar audio. It provides four USB 3.0 ports total as well as DVI and HDMI outputs and a 16-in-1 card reader. A single button on the case provides for instant overclocking to really help get those FPS numbers up there.

While things are a little up in the air as to what exactly is on the cards for HP following this news late last week, it hasn't stopped them releasing new models just yet, with a new all-in-one PC becoming available in stores from today under their Compaq series.

The new Compaq 8200 Elite is a business oriented all-in-one PC which uses a 23-inch LED-backlit 1920x1080 display. Packed inside is a 2nd Gen Intel Core (Sandy Bridge) processor, up to 8GB of system memory, a HDD (or optionally, SSD), webcam, SRS Premium Sound and highly efficient power supply (up to 89% efficiency).

HP backs the Compaq 8200 Elite with a 3 year warranty (honored, regardless of what becomes of the company in its volatile future) and bears a base price of $999 USD.

A new cheaper version of the iMac has popped up on Apple's education-only store today which should quickly to be quite a popular option for schools buying in quantity.

The 'crippled' Education-Only iMac costs just $999 which is 21.5" sized with a 3.1GHz Core i3, 2GB of memory, a 250GB hard disk, Radeon HD 6750M w/ 256MB RAM and a mini DisplayPort connector. No thunderbolt port to be seen on this cut down model, but otherwise it's much like the base-model Sandy Bridge iMac that came out earlier in the year at a price point of $1,149 for education customers.

Accessible only to people purchasing systems on behalf of their institution, there is also the option to purchase the white unibody MacBook as well as an earlier (2009) model of the iMac - the 20" Core 2 Duo one, each costing $899.

Generally, computers and beverages don't mix well. If you spill a beer or a soft drink on your computer, you may be kissing your rig goodbye. I am sure that many people (myself included) are perfectly willing to risk killing their computer in an effort to partake in their favorite frosty beverage while they play some computer games.

Checked your piggy bank lately?? Been doing the paper run for your neighborhood? Good. You'll need it for this beast.