News Archive for 09/01/14
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TRENDnet last week two Gigabit Routers embedded with GREENnet technology, the 5-port Gigabit GREENnet Switch (model TEG-S50g) and the 8-port Gigabit GREENnet Switch (model TEG-S80g). Designed to reduce power consumption by up to 70 percent, the GREENnet technology will automatically detect if an Ethernet port is not being used and will lower the amount of power being sent to the un-used port. It can also detect the length of an Ethernet cord and adjust the power output in order to use less power for shorter cords.
Motorola has announced that it will cut an additional 4000 jobs in 2009, in an attempt to push cost savings to approximately $1.5 billion. The latest number will be added to the 3000 employee reduction that was reported in December. The shift will displace 3000 positions in the Mobile Devices division and 1000 positions from the corporate ranks and other business units. Other cost-cutting measures will include suspension of retirement plans, freezing many pension plans, eliminating pay increases and reducing salaries of several top executives.
Airfonix has announced its latest USB wireless audio transmitter, the AFX-19UB001, which will be on display at the NAMM show (booth # 1786). Designed for professional users of music performance software, the AFX-19UB001 provides uncompressed, 16-bit, pop-free wireless connectivity between any USB-enabled audio source and a speaker equipped with an Airfonix wireless receiver. The plug-and-play device supports USB 2.0 and offers Smart Channel capabilities.
Research company Gartner has released its analysis of the PC industry for the fourth quarter of 2008, finding that PC shipment growth was the worst since 2002. Just over 78 million units were shipped, marking an increase of just 1.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007. Aside from the number of devices, companies took an even larger hit when comparing revenue. Contributing factors included falling average selling prices and the expansion of lower-priced segments such as netbooks.
SanDisk at the CES introduced the Sansa slotRadio player and accompanying slotRadio music cards, meant for casual music listeners who do not want to get involved with music downloads or subscription-based services. The small die-cast aluminum player has a 1.5-inch OLED screen that shows artist and song information for the tracks as well as the radio stations from the built-in FM radio tuner. A belt clip is included to allow for hands-free operation.
At CES, Archos, best known for its portable media players and Mobile Internet Devices, is jumping on the netbook bandwagon with this, the Archos 10. As the name suggests, the netbook sports a 10.2-inch screen with 1024x600 resolution. Other main specs are par for the netbook course as well, comprising a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM memory and a 160GB hard drive with Windows XP.
Japanese wireless provider NTT DoCoMo and handset maker Fujitsu on Wednesday announced the Foma F905i handset will be offered in Taiwan. Offered for the first time outside of Japan, the handset will support traditional Chinese characters and therefore enable users to access the Taiwanese carrier Far EasTone's i-mode mobile Internet service. The handset has a swiveling 3.2-inch, 480x864 display and features a fingerprint scanner usually found in notebook PCs for security.
ASUSTek chairman envisions mirrors controlled by Eee Phone In a CES interview, ASUSTek chairman Jonney Shih hinted ASUS is working on a low-cost smartphone thus far called the Eee phone that would control digital displays throughout the future home. Shih foresees bedroom mirrors will turn into digital displays in the future by tapping them, with more wall-hanging displays doubling as photo frames doing the same function.
A Samsung handset with an 8-megapixel camera has been spotted in the company's home market of South Korea, making it the third cellphone from the company sporting such a high-count shooter. Unlike Samsung's INNOV8 and Pixon, both of which also sport 8-megapixel cameras and are due to come to North America, it is not known if this latest handset will also make the trip over to this continent. Like the Pixon, the unnamed phone does offer a touchscreen display with 800x480 resolution and the company's TouchWiz user interface.
Apple has potentially slipped from third place to fourth in US market share among computers, according to data for the holiday quarter from research firm IDC. The Mac producer is estimated to have shipped about 1.25 million computers to the country, dropping it from its previous position and lowering it from 9.1 percent market share in the summer to 7.2. The company's sheer unit growth has also cooled from 32 percent year-over-year in summer to 7.5 percent.
Toshiba on Wednesday revealed (reg. required) that talks are currently underway to investigate buying Fujitsu's hard drive business in a deal estimated to be worth roughly $448.8 million. No details have been revealed, but Fujitsu itself has acknowledged the talks and says that Toshiba is one of "several" candidates for a possible deal, which in the past have also included Western Digital.
Blockbuster and Sonic Solutions on Wednesday announced a multi-year agreement that will have the former deliver its library of digital movies and shows to home and portable electronics devices with Internet connectivity and Sonic software. The companies will also merge their digital libraries – including Sonic's recently purchased CinemaNow – and offer them under the Blockbuster brand, to create one of the largest VOD services on the market.
An FCC filing has surfaced today that suggests Sony has been developing a new ultraportable that would skew towards the budget range. Badged as the VAIO GS, the system would a rare modern example of a 4:3 ratio Sony notebook and would near netbook territory with a roughly 12-inch screen size. While slim, the computer will be thick enough to have an optional built-in optical drive.
Previously due to ship this spring, the next generation of NVIDIA's 40nm chips is now said delayed until sometime in the third quarter, while the rumored GT212 flagship is reportedly not likely to see the light of day. The GT212 was one of three chips based on the latest compact 40nm manufacturing process, and the delays are believed to be caused by the same quality issues that led to parts failures in GeForce 8- and 9-series chips based on the 55nm process, which may have been triggered by cost-savings efforts, a resource shortage or a similar factor.
United Airlines will bring in-flight Internet access to a portion of its planes later this year, according to an announcement. The company has specifically chosen AirCell's gogo service, which has already been attached to companies like Delta, American Airlines and Virgin America. Passengers will be able to connect via any Wi-Fi device, and access conventional Internet functions such as e-mail and web browsing, or more elaborate ones like VPN tunneling.
Both Windows 7 and its Office 14 companion suite are all but certain to ship in 2009, an internal Microsoft source tells SAI. The tip supports notions of an accelerated launch and asserts that Microsoft's insistence on an early 2010 target for either release is just a public front to manage expectations, as both software packages are near-certain to arrive later in 2009. Microsoft's new Windows chief is credited with the speed-up courtesy of his discipline in releasing software early.
Nintendo's DSi handheld could surface in the US as soon as the start of April, a leak from IGN claims. Multiple purported sources from within Nintendo say partners are being advised of an early April ship date, most likely April 4th, and that the system will cost significantly more than the stock DS Lite with a $180 price tag versus $130 for the earlier console. The dual-camera system, SD card slot and extra software all contribute to the cost.
Samsung today inadvertently confirmed details of its NC20 netbook by posting a manual (Windows-only) on its UK website. The text confirms earlier leaks and sees the 12-inch system switch away from Intel's Atom to a 1.3GHz VIA Nano as well as a much larger 6-cell stock battery. Samsung also puts the case through a significant redesign that moves the SD card slot to the front.
Acer in the post-CES wake has started shipping a pair of new pro notebooks skewed towards high-end users. The 14-inch TravelMate 6493 and the 15-inch TravelMate 6593 are fast for business PCs and run both low- and high-power 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo processors; they also use more efficient 1,066MHz DDR3 memory and carry 7,200RPM hard drives to reduce load times as bottlenecks.
After the official launch of the Clearwire WiMAX service in Portland, the company's chief strategy officer announced plans and showed a prototype of a portable WiMAX/Wi-Fi router that enables access to the 4G mobile broadband network from Wi-Fi enabled devices. The pre-production version of the router uses a Motorola WiMAX USB stick and will allow multiple users to connect through it. Richardson foresees every iPhone user opting to use the Clearwire router for faster data speeds than the device's built-in 3G access.
Nokia on Wednesday introduced an upgraded version of the N79 tailored to athletes. Called the N79 Active, the device pairs the candybar smartphone with a Polar Bluetooth WearLink heart rate belt that wirelessly sends its data to a new version of Nokia's Sports Tracker app. This and the phone's built-in GPS help keep tabs on the amount of exercise. The cellphone maker also adds a social component with the ability to share the playlist from a run and to geotag photos along the way.
Apple is in the midst of building a new lower-cost iPhone that is helping the company manufacture record numbers of the handset in the first quarter of the year, according to UBS analyst Maynard Um. Specifying only "checks" within the industry, the financial expert claims an iPhone with 4GB of storage is in the works and is helping Apple boost the number of phones shipped to 7 million in the first three months of 2009. The figure would just the 6.9 million achieved during the iPhone 3G launch and potentially gives an edge over RIM, which sold 6.7 million BlackBerries through the late summer and early fall.
Garmin this morning used the wake of CES to introduce two uprated eTrex models as well as a companion piece of software. The eTrex Legend H and eTrex Vista H rugged navigators both have a much more sensitive GPS receiver that both gets a quicker lock-on and is more likely to get a fix when tall natural obstacles might otherwise block reception. They also carry USB ports and 24MB of flash memory to carry detailed, monochrome terrain maps sent from a PC.
Intel is prepping a new Atom processor whose platform will be significantly faster than any existing model, a new roadmap shows. The Atom N280 chip will only be slightly faster at 1.66GHz versus the N270's 1.6GHz but will jump the system bus from 533MHz to 667MHz, giving the chip more headroom for data. It should also introduce a much more modern integrated graphics chipset, the GN40, that brings the 3D and video features of modern Centrino 2-based notebooks to very small portables.
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