Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Monday, May 26, 2008

PC Microworks intros Montevina-powered Edge uber-laptop

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/297493693/

Filed under: Laptops

Heads up, spec hounds. PC Microworks' Edge with Centrino 2 (aka Montevina) is a powerhouse that cannot be denied. This speedster sports a 15.4-inch WUXGA screen, packs a Montevina Quad Core Centrino 2 CPU, 2gb of DDR3 at 1333MHz, nVIDIA Gefore 9800M GTX, HSPDA, and up to 4TB of 7200RPM drives. Don't go running to the credit card gods just yet, though, as the Core 2 Extreme Quad Core QX9300 (2.53GHz/1066MHz/12MB) version won't be available until the end of July. What's more, this baby all decked-out will run you a cool $8,265.

[Thanks, Matthew]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tranquil PC announces Intel Atom-based Harmony home servers

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/297983584/

Filed under: Desktops, Storage

Well, doesn't Tranquil PC seems pretty stoked about their new Atom-based Harmony home servers? Though they're not exactly mind-blowing (to us, anyway), two new fanless models should be shipping in June: the T7-HSAi (left, with a single 3.5-inch drive or two 2.5-inch drives) and T2-WHS-A3i (right, with up to two 3.5-inch drives), both featuring Ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports, 512MB or 1GB RAM options, and running Windows Home Server. With base configs and 500GB drives, the T7 will start at £278 ($550 US), and the T2 at £299 ($590 US).

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Samsung announces crazy fast 256GB SSD, our knees buckle

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298054922/

Filed under: Storage

Uh oh, Samsung's just announced their first 256GB SSD. Not that you needed to know anything more than that to trigger salivation, but the MLC-flash SATA II drive has speeds of 200MBps read and 160MBps sequential write. Not like we'll be able to afford it or anything, but they'll be available come September, with a 1.8-inch version due in Q4.

Continue reading Samsung announces crazy fast 256GB SSD, our knees buckle

Permalink | Email this | Comments

NVIDIA might get even deeper into the embedded CPU game

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298212031/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Okay, they're only embedded ARM chips, but le Inq is reporting that NVIDIA's prepping not just the the Tegra APX 2500 we heard about before, but also a second line of high performance embedded CPUs. Supposedly the forthcoming CSX 600 / 650 will run in the 700-800MHz range, and be capable of 1080p / 24fps video playback. We'll give these guys until, say, 2010 before they're jockeying for AMD's spot at number two in desktop processors.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Physicists develop plastic semiconductors for laser diode use

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/298267579/

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Not to get all scientific on you or anything, but a team of Imperial physicists have just figured out a way to use plastics in laser diodes. For the uninitiated, scientists have been unable to make plastic semiconductor laser diodes because they had not yet found / developed "any plastics that could sustain a large enough current whilst also supporting the efficient light emission needed to produce a laser beam." Now, however, that obstacle has reportedly been overcome by making minor tweaks to a given plastic's chemical structure, and the resulting material will transport charges some 200 times better than before without impeding its ability to emit light. By the sound of things, the crew behind the breakthrough isn't quite ready to offer up the solution to manufacturers, but with a bit more work, we suspect that notion will change.

[Via Slashdot]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments