As expected Intel has now officially launched its new next generation Ivy Bridge processors this week. Which are equipped with a 22 nanometer transistor design, in contrast to Intel’s older Sandy Bridge processor, which has 32 nanometer transistors.
The new higher density Ivy Bridge processors have been designed to be faster and be able to handle a multitude of multimedia functions than previous processors.
As well as being faster both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 support is now fully integrated into the Ivy Bridge processors, providing faster transfers from smartphones, external hard drives and cameras
The new Ivy Bridge processors also have an integrated graphics processing unit, that has been added to help make editing videos faster and game play sharper. Intel corporate vice president Kirk Skaugen explained at a press conference in San Francisco:
“[Ivy Bridge is] 20 percent better performance on multithreaded applications, two times better 3D graphics, and twice as fast media processing, compared to the previous generation,”
Manufacturers are now planning to equip over 270 new desktop, all-in-one and laptops equipped with the new Intel Ivy Bridge processors, and due to the Ivy Bridge processors being a similar price to the previous Sandy Bridge processor consumers shouldn’t see much of an increase in price for the new Ivy Bridge equipped systems.
Intel announced its new SSD 330 Series of solid state drive using SATA 6Gbps interface, which is designed to provide budget-conscious consumers with a more affordable entry into the accelerated storage performance of SSDs. Based on Intel’s 25nm MLC NAND flash memory and using SATA III 6Gbps, the SSD 330 utilizes SandForce;s SF-2281 controllers, instead of Intel’s own chip.
The SSD 330 series offers up to 500MB/s sequential read speeds and up to 450MB/s sequential write speeds for faster data transfers, and a random read performance of up to 22,500IOPS and 33,000 write IOPS, boosting overall application and system responsiveness, significantly outperforming a typical consumer hard disk drive. The series comes in 2.5-inch/9.5mm form factor and is available in 60GB, 120GB and 180GB capacities.
Aimed at entry-level, mainstream client users, the SSD 330 series is priced at $89 for 60GB, $149 for 120GB and $234 for 180GB.
Intel announced its latest solid state drive, the SSD 520 series using Intel’s 25nm NAND memory process technology. To deliver enhanced performance for PC enthusiasts, gamers, professionals or small-medium businesses (SMBs), Intel’s new SSD uses SATA III interface and an LSI SandForce flash storage processor with an Intel co-defined and validated firmware release.
The 2.5-inch SSD 520 series provides up to 550MB/s read and 520MB/s write speeds and up to 80,000 maximum 4K random write IOPS and up to 50,000 4K random read IOPS performance. Available in capacities from 60GB to 480GB, the drive includes Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256 bit encryption capabilities and strong password protection for added security.
The Intel SSD 520 Series is priced as follows, based on 1,000-unit quantities: 60GB for $149, 120GB at $229, 180GB at $369, 240GB at $509 and 480GB at $999. All models will come in 9.5mm form factor and the 120GB, 180GB and 240GB models will also available in 7mm form factor.
Lenovo has followed Wednesday’s ThinkPad start with a set of new ultrabooks targeted at consumers at CES today, the IdeaPad U310 and U410. With 13.3-inch and 14-inch displays respectively, the two new IdeaPads mortal up to 64GB of SSD hardware and/or up to 500GB of HDD storage, auspicious both speedy change and rush present together with capacious transmission area.
The IdeaPad U310 is 0.7-inches thick and 3.74-pounds, with Intel Core processors paired with GMA 3000 HD graphics powering its HD 16:9 aspect display. The IdeaPad U410, meanwhile, is 0.83-inches thick and 4.18-pounds, with processors from the same Intel range but paired this time with NVIDIA GeForce 610M 1GB graphics.
Each supports Intel WiDi for wireless display streaming, and they’ll come in a choice of “fun colors”: Aqua Blue, Cherry Blossom, Graphite Gray, Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Spearmint. Software-wise it’s Windows 7 with Lenovo’s Smart Update tool, which automatically keeps your mailbox, IM and social media messages up to date, even when the IdeaPad is in sleep mode.
Battery life is up to eight hours, Lenovo claims. The Lenovo IdeaPad U Series will go on sale in May, priced from $699.
Until now Apple is the only company to have laptops and desktops featuring Intel’s Thunderbolt technology. But come 2012 and you’ll see many PC manufacturers offering laptops and desktops with the Thunderbolt technology.
Recently Intel notified its partners that it’ll fully release its Thunderbolt technology in April of 2012. So come April and you’ll see Windows based desktops and laptops featuring Thunderbolt technology.
It has also come to light that several first-tier PC manufacturers have already started the preparation!
Another reason why so far companies resisted from incorporating Intel Thunderbolt technology is price. A Thunderbolt chip cost about $20, making it a costly affair to indulge in.
But with the cost of Thunderbolt chip expected to drop in Q2 2012, the technology could become a standard in future.
In short from April we’ll see many high-end computers featuring Thunderbolt technology.
LG’s 2012 Cinema 3D Sharp TV line-up faculty be the firstborn televisions to natively supporting Intel WiDi, the mar manufacturers Wireless Exhibit running video acceptable. The command will see LG’s sets competent of displaying cognition streamed from Intel WiDi-compliant laptops and computers, via WiFi, without the necessary to block in a independent musician as has been the happening to-date.
The product of gadgets that gift be competent to spurt recording over to LG’s new TVs via WiDi is set to increment, nonetheless. The technology is gradually viewing up in smartphones, and is a natively gimbaled film in Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon S4 chipsets, so the likeliness is that much than upright laptops will be capable of actuation their accumulation to the big screen. Existence healthy to use a sound in that manner is arguably more utilitarian, in fact, since you could easily set up a mini-office or gaming send without being caught up in HDMI cables.
WiDi use should also be relatively transparent to the soul, with no brisk WiFi unification – such as to a router – being required, nor indeed an internet connexion. Instead, a point-to-point contrivance is planted with the TV itself.
The first new LG Cinema 3D Smart TV sets with integrated WiDi support will be shown at CES 2012 next month. No word on how much the new models will be, nor when they will go on sale.
Samsung Series 5 moniker was reserved for its Chromebook offering, but the range has now been extended, in South Korea at least, to the latest laptop fad; the Ultrabook. The Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook PCs have just been announced over in Sammy’s homeland, coming in two different sizes: a 13-inch model and a 14-inch one too.
Although we have our doubts as to whether the 14-incher meets the Intel official Ultrabook guidelines; it measures in at 20.9mm thick and weighs 1.8kg, a touch over the 20mm and 1.4kg criteria. The 13-inch one weighs in okay at 1.4kg and measuring 14.9mm thick though.
Ultrabook or not, we know that the models boast 1366 x 768 anti-reflective displays, have an Intel i5 chip powering things and can take up to 8GB of RAM. The storage options are a 128GB SSD or a 16GB SSD to go with either a 500GB or 1TB HDD. That may explain why the two Series 5 machines are slightly tubbier than your average Ultrabook.
Other features include an optical disc drive, AMD HD7550M graphics, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, VGA, HDMI and a boot from hibernation time of around 7 seconds. Samsung’s Fast Start also allows life from sleep mode in just 2 seconds.
The Samsung Series 5 will be available in South Korea by end of this month priced from £720 for the 13-inch model and £750 for the 14-incher. No word on a western world release as of yet but, as ever, we’ll keep you posted.
Android and iOS may get the lion’s share of tablet attention, but French slate specialists eviGroup is sticking with Windows for its new SmartPaddle model.
The new SmartPaddle (keep up) has a 10.2-inch 1024 x 600 capacitive multitouch screen, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 2GB RAM, 32GB SSD and a 1.66GHzIntel Atom N455 that runs Windows 7. Battery life is rated for five hours and the only build-to-order option you have is to squeeze a 120GB HDD in there too — but they don’t recommend you do. The company has stopped talking up its webcam-based gesture controls (probably for the best) and has made the old-school move of including a physical scroll-wheel along one side of the device. It’s available to order now, at the comparably bargainacious price of €660 ($900).
Remember the LaCie Little Big Disk external hard drive with Thunderbolt technology? Well, LaCie today announced its availability. As reported earlier, the drive is designed for demanding applications and provide super fast speed of 10Gb/s.
Featuring a pair of 2.5″ drives in a Mac OS RAID configuration, the Little Big Disk delivers read speeds more than 480MB/s in SSD and up to 190MB/s in HDD. You can also daisy chain several Little Big Disks to maximize the interface’s capabilities and reach transfer rates around 800MB/s.
The “day two” of the IFA 2011 in Berlin saw the presentation of the first Ultrabook Toshiba and Lenovo. Of the latter, U300S IdeaPad, we have already seen the general characteristics and the first video hands-on, now is the time of the Toshiba model.
It’s called Portege Z830. We still speak of a 13.3-inch ultraportable, the lightest of this size according to Toshiba with its 1.2Kg weight and thickness of 16mm. Like its ASUS, Lenovo and Acer, Toshiba Ultrabook uses the latest Intel Core-i3, i5 and i7 mounted in a frame designed to dissipate heat without the use of fans (fanless). He drives up to 128GB SSD, up to 6GB of RAM, USB 2.0 and 3.0, HDMI and VGA outputs, Ethernet and SD card reader, WiFi and Widi (optional). To the delight of those who work outdoors, Toshiba chose a matte screen for this new model.
Toshiba Portege Z830 features a 47Whr battery, good for 8 hours of battery life according to the company, and a keyboard that is not only an island but also backlit liquid-resistant, a feature that we are not accustomed to seeing on ultra “low-cost “. It ‘true that we speak always of Ultrabook, and certainly not of an economic model, but remain below $ 1000 Toshiba announced today it would be a success. Expected arrival: Q4 2011 (November).
Those who have tried to show an excellent build quality speaks German, a very good touchpad and an excellent keyboard; the only flaw, for the moment, is the size, larger than those of some rivals because of frame above and below the screen. Under the video armdevices.net.
Hardware | admin | 
April 24, 2012 3:05 pm | 
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