IT News & Technology update

CES 2008: Pretec Sets New CF Storage Record with 48GB Card

Also announces 24GB and 16GB models

By: Tudor Raiciu, Technology and Science Editor | softpedia.com

Pretec, which was the first to offer the 8GB SDHC and 16GB CF in 2006, is once again

making a sort of compact flash "fashion statement" by announcing the first 48GB CF (that's forty-eight gigs of storage space).

As the company's press release puts it, this is as much the 12 DVDs or 69 compact discs. If 48GB are a little bit too much, even if you own a 1Ds Mark III that produces humongous files due to its 22-megapixel resolution, you can go for the lower capacity versions, 24GB or 16GB. You won't find too many 24GB CF cards from SanDisk or Lexar, so this one is no small achievement either.

You'd be tempted to think that the large capacity automatically implies a poor performance in speed, but Pretec mentions that these new cards can go up to 333X, which translates into a theoretical 50MB/sec. Once again, if you don't need speeds that high you can always settle for 233X (35MB/sec).

The combo of incredibly high storage space and speed is perfect for photographers who work with the latest 35mm DSLRs or some Hasselblad, Phase One or other professional medium format solutions producing huge files. On the other hand, photographers might prefer several smaller capacity cards than one huge one and the reason behind this lies in two possible unpleasant events: failure and theft.

If your only 48GB card dies on you while you're shooting a beautiful landscape or are in a hurry to finish to photoshoot with an important client, strange words (read curses) might be uttered and even more desperate actions might be taken. The same applies to theft. However, we are digressing.

According to Pretec, these cards also use metal housing and ruggedized construction to resist external impact. You should take this with a grain of salt, but the company says that they are "at least 10 times more durable than typical CF cards".

There's no information on pricing or availability, but given the capacity, expect to pay a hefty sum of money.

No Comment | Posted in » CES 2008, compact flash, Flash memory, Hardware, Technology  

CES 2008: Intel Presented its iPhone-ish Mobile Concepts

Some devices will be available this year
By: Florin Troaca, Communications News Editor | softpedia.com

Intel, the Californian microchip manufacturer, revealed back in September 2007 a new mobile concept, similar to Apple's iPhone but with a length that surpasses any other
modern handset's length (and that, of course, isn't a good thing at all). But Intel said the new device, which isn't actually a mobile phone but a UMPC with phone capabilities, brings the Moorestown platform with Silverthorne processor and is able to offer a 10x reduction in power usage. Along with the iPhone-like design and touchscreen interface, that should make a pretty good device, right? Well, until now it is only a nonfunctional concept and it's not clear whether it will be commercially available or not.

At this year's CES, Intel came not only with the previous mentioned handset, but with a whole range of iPhone-ish prototype devices based on Silverthorne processors. Unlike the UMPC unveiled last year, some of the new devices are fully functional and are also prepared to be launched during 2008. The devices are powered by the Intel Menlow mobile platform and are presented as being able to outperform any other device of this kind by using very little battery power. This performance is achieved thanks to a chemical element known as Hafnium, used on transistors to prevent energy leaks.

One of the functional Intel mobile devices, unnamed yet, comes as an UMPC with a User Interface similar to iPhone's and a full sliding QWERTY keyboard. Apparently, the device will hit the market in the second quarter of 2008, packed with either 3G or WiMAX, not both – in order to reduce the device's cost and the battery life. Other details about the future Intel mobile device are not available.

Currently, Intel powers Apple's Mac computers and it's said that the next iPhone, the 2.0 edition, will also pack Intel processors, more exactly the Silverthorne ones. We're now waiting to see how Intel's own iPhone-ish devices will be and how they can influence the mobile industry.

No Comment | Posted in » 2008, Apple, CES, CES 2008, Hardware, Intel, iPhone, Menlow, UMPC  

CES 2008: Toshiba Introduces a Super TV Based on PlayStation 3 Cell Processor

There's more to this CPU than it seemed at first...
By: Alexandru Stanescu, Editor, Gaming Reviews (Consoles) | softpedia.com

Toshiba's got new goodies coming for the folks with their attention focused on CES 2008 these days and among them, the famous company included the successor to the acclaimed HD TV. This new TV brings next-gen to the world of high-tech electronics by incorporating the PS3's Cell processor. This uber chip was develop by Toshiba, in partnership with Sony and IBM and now it's being used in a great flat-panel
TV.

This TV produced by Toshiba uses the processing power to display up to 48 thumbnail versions of the available TV programs. Each of them can been in standard definition mode at the same time with the other 47, quite a performance for such an electronic device. Once you click on one of these thumbnails it will be displayed on the lower half of the screen, while the rest will show about 16 thumbnails with the rest of the programs. Yet another click on the bottom half screen makes it go fullscreen and it's here where the uber-HD experience begins!

In case you're interested this "baby" can render six streams at the same time, all of them displaying HD video, according to Hiroaki Komaki, Toshiba spokesperson. The Cell processor once again comes into play allowing a more powerful upscalling and a nicer zooming, without the usual loss of quality. This sounds like a dream for a PS3 or Xbox 360 owner, plus the ones who want to watch porn in true HD. Seems that consoles have far more power than we could have imagined and it pains us to even think of the full potential of the PS3 in 10 years or so...

Picture a hacker and madman teaming up and using the Cell processor for military weaponry... Sometimes too much calculus power can be the source of all evil.

No Comment | Posted in » Cell Processor, CES 2008, Hardware, laptop, PlayStation 3, Super TV, Toshiba, Xbox