Transcend Introduces Transparent Digital Photo Frame

Transcend has introduced an all new transparent version of its first digital photo frame – T.photo 710C. The new T.photo 710C comes with a 7-inch (480 x 234) TFT flat-panel display, plays music and has 1GB of internal memory.

Austin Huang, Regional Head - Sales, SAARC and APAC, Transcend, said, "If you're looking to add a bit of fashion to your living room, bedroom, or office and show off your picture collection at the same time, be assured that the T.photoTM 710C offers exceptional quality, features and value. As opposed to the original T.photo 710's elegant black and gold color scheme, the new T.photo 710C's transparent frame offers a simple and pure look, making it perfect for setting on an office desk or mounting on a living room wall, regardless of décor."

The T.photo also includes a picture-clock and calendar, alarm, and built-in MP3 player with speakers. It comes with a remote control . It costs Rs. 5,700 and comes with a 2-year warranty

XFX Introduces GTX280 Cards In India

XFX has released its version of the XFX GeForce GTX 280 cards, which utilizes second generation NVIDIA Unified Architecture and delivers up to 50% more gaming performance (compared to the first generation) thanks to 240 enhanced processing cores and a GPU clock of 602 MHz that provide incredible graphics horsepower. The cards come with NVIDIA's new PhysX technology that renders convincing facial expressions, multiple ultra-high polygon characters in complex environments and convincing physical effects like weather and explosions.

The cards also support three-way NVIDIA SLI Technology support, which ensures powerful performance scaling by implementing three-way Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) for the world’s fastest gaming solution under Windows Vista. Furthermore the cards also support PCI Express 2.0 bus architecture, offers the highest data transfer speeds for today’s bandwidth-hungry games and , and is backwards compatible with existing PCI Express motherboards. Apart from this, support is also present for HybridPower Technology, GigaThread Technology, Lumenex Engine, 16x Anti-aliasing Technology and 128-bit floating point High Dynamic-Range (HDR) Lighting.

The new GPU will be available through Rashi Peripherals and its 53 branches across India at an estimated street price of Rs. 49,000 with 3 years warranty.

AMD's upcoming 790GX mobos

AMD is not due to officially release its codenamed RS780D named 790GX chipset (along with SB750 chipset and AMD Overdrive Extreme overclock tweaking utility) until a little later but several companies were showing off their early design boards at Computex Taipei 2008 this week.

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DQ6 - First motherboard with 4x Gigabit Ethernet

As the name suggests, the GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DQ6 is based on Intel's new P45 chipset. What makes this board special is that it supports four Gigabit Ethernet ports, with an optional teaming feature. While this feature is only of limited use for desktop users, it becomes interesting when building a powerful office or LAN party server. Also included is a TPM chip which is becoming more and more useful in the business world, and might even make it onto gaming PCs for the use of game copy protection.

Computex 2008: ELSA 9800 GT displayed

Even though it has not been announced officially yet by NVIDIA, ELSA has been showing a card at their Computex booth that is labeled as GeForce 9800 GT.

The specs are nothing impressive, 112 shaders, 1 GB GDDR3, 256-bit memory, 630 MHz / 1800 MHz clocks. So basically the card is a rebranded GeForce 8800 GT. There are hints that the 9800 GT will use a shrinked down G92 core @ 55 nm. But then we should see a higher clock, maybe ELSA just wanted to show something interesting...

Acer Launches 24-inch Full HD LCD Panel

Acer has launched the world's first 24-inch full high-definition widescreen LCD monitor with 1080p resolution and 16:9 ratio. The company has gone on to say, "The Acer P244W supports real 1080p content playback, pixel by pixel, without loss of image quality."

Being a full HD monitor, the product was designed for those who require exceptional Multimedia performance with intense graphics and superb video, and target users include gamers, designers and home-theater enthusiasts.

The P244W supports a contrast ratio up to 20,000:1. These adjustments are focused at the input image directly to produce ultra-sharp images. A rapid response time up to 2 ms gray-to-gray permits immersive graphics and video display.

Pricing and availability is unknown as of right now.

BioShock 3 Confirmed

Despite the fact that BioShock 2 isn’t released yet, Take Two’s chairman Strauss Zelnick, stated that the franchise will see a third game, the release of which will coincide with that of the BioShock movie. Here's the scoop from the Opposable Thumbs blog :

"Take Two's Chairman Strauss Zelnick let the news slip during a conference call to investors. The third installment will apparently be strongly linked to the also recently-announced BioShock movie. 'Its unlikely the picture would be released coincident with BioShock 2,' Strauss said of the upcoming film. 'It's more likely it would be released coincident with BioShock 3.”

With the second game being a prequel to the first, I can’t imagine what the third game could possibly be about. Let’s hope it’s not a cheap bastardization of the franchise, or a poor attempt to milk the series... BioShock deserves better.

iPhone to Get VLC Player

The iphone will soon have an alternate video player that, with any luck, will offer a solution to always having to use iTunes to convert and transfer videos. zodtted has developed an iPhone VLC player that will also work on the iPod Touch. Of course the player is still being tested and comes with only a few decoders as of now but that will change over time as the developers will no doubt increase that list. It will provide playback for MPEG / MPG, AVI, MP3 file formats as well as other media formats.

Hopefully after the research has been conducted and tests complete, the media application should also include decoders for formats like, DivX, WMA and WMV, with support for FLAC and OGG.

Stay Tuned.

Samsung Shows Off Their i900 i-Killer

Samsung’s i-Killer, the i900, has been unveiled and christened the Samsung i900 Omnia. The i900 is a Windows Mobile handset (6.1 Professional)with a large 3.2-inch QVGA display sporting a 240 x 400 pixel resolution. Like Sony Ericsson’s Xperia and their own i780, this handset also comes equipped with a small optical mouse. It is 12.5mm thick and is quite easily going to look and feel stylish, especially with its sliver brushed metal back.

Some of the other features that are incorporated into the Omnia are a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera that uses face and smile detection technology to optimize pictures. It also has a Geotagging feature that works in tandem with the inbuilt GPS unit that the i900 comes integrated with.

The QuadBand i900 also supports GPRS/EDGE, 3G with HSDPA 7.2Mbps speeds, Bluetooth with an A2DP profile and Wi-Fi as well. Samsung has also incorporated their TouchWiz interface into this handset. It may not be quite like HTC's new TouchFlo 3D interface but I'm sure it'll have something worthwhile to offer users. The i900, like the iPhone and so many other new handsets being launched, also has an accelerometer that will automatically rotate the display when held in landscape. It also comes with an FM radio aside from the media player.

The handset will also come in 8GB and 16 GB capacities and oddly enough Samsung has also included a microSD card slot for more storage. That seems like a bit of overkill, but why not! The handset will be out sometime this month but there’s no official pricing attached to it so stay tuned.

Crysis Warhead Game Revealed

Crysis Warhead Game Revealed

Two days ago, Crytek published information that it will no longer patch Crysis for "a good reason". Apparantly the good reason is now believed to be called Crysis Warhead, the second game in the Crysis trilogy. If you try to visit Crytek's home page, a teaser image of Crysis Warhead will appear before the actual page, dropping a hint at what's imminent. No other details, such as platforms or a release date, have been unveiled. It's only an image at the moment, but more information will follow sooner or later.

Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse part 3

We tested the G9 with a variety of games ranging from our normal addiction of WoW to FPS majors such as F.E.A.R multi-player combat, COH, Prey, HL2-Episode 1 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. These games represent a wide variety of game play and were able to stress the G9 quite consistently. In each case the mouse was more than up to the task. Response was smooth sharp and precise. This was really visible in the frenzied shootouts that occur in F.E.A.R. There is a particular corridor sequence where due to the hemmed–in walls, movement of the character becomes restricted. One has to pan back and forth quite often and on lesser mice with lower DPI this becomes quite a hassle to keep our toon alive. This problem was all but eliminated on the G9. The higher DPI of 3200 and USB tracking of 1000 gave new meaning to the word “turning on a dime”. We were able to virtually spin on the same axis with just a slight flick and get headshots in an area where you can at best aim for the legs and hope to survive the oncoming snarl of fire.

Another place where the mouse really shone out was the Alterac valley battlegrounds in WoW. This is a wide open area where 40 players square off against each other in a bid to kill each other’s faction. Selection of the opposite faction, that one is targeting, is done via the mouse. Here we were able to easily switch between the opposing factions with a simple turn. How does this differ from other mice? In the normal routine course, the fights can get pretty frenetic. Most mice are just not able to keep up with the rapid speed of character switch and often cause the user to select the wrong target. This issue was not present on the G9. The extra DPI offered by the G9 allowed a precise turn and made selection of characters much easier.

Conclusion
The G9 at the end of the day is an enthusiast level product. This is apparent in its pricing of Rs. 5995. However what you get at that price point is a finely tuned instrument of death destruction and mayhem. Despite its expense we wholeheartedly recommend this product. The reason? Products of this caliber and build quality don’t come along every day.

Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse part 2

One thing we have always liked about Logitech is their build quality. The G9 is made out of some very solid sturdy plastic and even with rough use we noticed no squeaks. The first thing that you will notice on opening your G9 mouse box is the complete departure from the normal elegant design of the G5. In its place the G9 now sports a boxy shape that makes the mouse look like it was designed for only left-hand users. The physical size of the mouse has reduced too in comparison to the G5. Another change here is that the DPI key that allows you to change the sensitivity of the mouse has shrunk in size and has been moved to just below the left-click. Also unlike before, the G9 offers two customizable grips (wide-load and precision) which depending on your selection either of a textured finish for precision control that is required in gaming or a smoother finish for routine use. This move is similar in concept to Razer’s Exactmat Mousepad. How do all these changes work out? In a single word... Brilliantly. The new shape may not win awards for excellence in design but it is very ergonomic and highly functional. Unlike a lot of gaming mice, which tend to cramp up your hands, the unique shape of the G9 puts less stress on the hands and allows you to simply game longer. The shifting of the DPI key also aids, as it is now virtually out of the way and cannot be pressed accidentally.

The weight system in comparison to the G5 remains unchanged. The weights on offer here are 4 and 7 grams. While the numbers may seem odd, when you couple them with the new grips, the customization options one gets, is nothing short of insane. Let us illustrate this with simple examples. If for example you are a strategy gamer and have been playing Age of Empires regularly, you will require a light mouse and very tight control. To achieve this on the G15 - simply pop in a 4 gram weight and use the precision grip. Playing Fear? Change the weight to the heavier 7 grams and use the smooth grip for quick movement. Got large hands? Remove all the weights and use the precise grip. As you can see, the mouse can be customized to your heart's content. On a more conventional note the mouse buttons of the G9 are another delightful feature. They have a firm and good response and will easily survive the click fest most modern-day strategy games put them through.

Any peripheral product is as good as the software that supports it. In this matter, the G9 is well represented by the Setpoint software. The software allows for easy customization, definition of profiles and changing of DPI on the fly. The G9 emerges the leader in this respect. While products from Razer allow DPI to be scaled only to 2000, the G9 goes further and can be tuned up to 3200 DPI. Furthermore once the profile is defined via Setpoint the mouse can save your setting on its onboard memory and be recalled when it is needed.

Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse part 1

One of the largest end–user entertainment industries in the world today is gaming. Not only has it outstripped movies and theatre in terms of financial revenue earned, it has led to the growth of side industries in terms of peripherals and gaming accessories. This has resulted in the creation of companies like Razer whose gaming peripherals have become the benchmark to measure a product's quality. Their mice/keyboard sets have been lapped up by enthusiasts and have forced other industry majors to pull up their socks.

One such industry major is Logitech. A couple of years ago, they delivered the Logitech G5 mouse that not only measured up to the standards set by Razer, but went above and beyond by delivering an adjust weight balance system. This allowed a user to customize the weight of the mouse as per their preference with a series of removable weights. This innovation was welcomed by a lot of users as along with the sensitivity control of the mouse, it allowed them to customize the mouse to the kind of gameplay they were used to.

Logitech has now introduced an upgraded edition of the G5 mouse – the G9. How does it fare against its predecessor? Let’s find out.

Games of June 2008

Summer in India may be on its way out (hopefully), but for gamers playtime’s just begun, since the month of June holds in the palm of its hands a bunch of diverse, high-profile games that are sure to keep the temperature soaring... especially of the Xbox360 (I kid, I kid).

Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360)

In my book the only thing cooler than bloodthirsty Vikings are bloodthirsty Ninjas who have the power and the speed to decimate foes within seconds, leaving nothing but blood, guts and stumps behind. Ryu Hayabusa is one such Ninja who for his much-touted sequel can now obliterate foes in ways you’ve only dreamed of (head over to our preview to understand the true meaning of decapitation). Also we hear that the game is now a bit simpler than the original Ninja Gaiden so you don’t have to worry about strangling your pet cat out of frustration (hurray). The game hits stands worldwide by June 3 (US) and June 6 (EU), and is expected in India somewhere around June 17.

Alone in the Dark (Xbox360, PC)

While this franchise may still bear the brunt of the crappy Alone in the Dark movie made by the one and only Uwe Boll, developer Eden Games (Test Drive Unlimited) is planning on redeeming the franchise’s name with a sequel that will not only scare you silly but impress the f**k out of you with its mind-numbing technical aspects (visuals and physics), and haunting OST. And hey, even if you don’t own a next-gen console you could always play the game on your PS2/Wii. As of now we don’t have a concrete Indian release date, but if all goes well we should get the Xbox360 and PC versions before the end of June. The PS3 version will be released later in the year (internationally as well).

Battlefield Bad Company (Xbox360, PS3)

After proving to the world that they really really like multiplayer games, Swedish developer DICE (now a subsidiary of EA) is planning on blowing your socks off with an all new Battlefield game that boasts a full-fledged single player campaign (and I don’t mean a half-assed botfest that serves as a tutorial). The USP of this game (besides being single player) is DICE’s new Frostbite engine that apparently takes environmental damage to the next level. Since EA has a healthy presence in this country we’re hoping we get this game pretty much on time, which would be around the end of June.

Race Driver: GRID (Xbox360, PS3, PC)

If games like Forza 2 and Gran Turismo are too technical for your liking, you may want to keep a lookout for Codemasters' latest offering that seems to have the best of both worlds – namely, a technically solid racing experience as well as car control that’s more accessible to the non-simulator loving folk. Add in an improved version of DiRT’s gorgeous engine and you have the recipe for awesomeness. We're told the game will release in India on all three platforms (Xbox360, PS3 and PC) by the first week of June itself.

The Bourne Supremacy (Xbox360, PS3)

Hyperkinetic combat... check. Speedy editing... check. Ballpoint pen fight... check. Car chases through a European city... check. Brutal finishers... check. If you haven’t guessed by now, developer High Moon Studios (Darkwatch) has been busy working on a game based on the Bourne franchise that basically covers all the above-mentioned stuff and will apparently shed some light on Bourne’s past in the form of playable missions (head here for a quick preview). The game should hit stores by the end of June, for both consoles.

Mass Effect (PC)

If you’ve already played the game on the Xbox360, there’s not a lot of new content that would warranty a purchase, but if you missed it the first time round there’s a deep, lengthy, and rich action RPG waiting for you. And just so you know, EA has gone ahead and removed the anal copy protection system that plagued this noble title.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

Snake’s back... 'nuff said.

Thanko Launches Solar Chargeable DAP

Having a good battery life is one of the primary things one would look for when buying a DAP, or for that matter any other portable device. But I’m sure there’d still be a time when you’d probably forget to charge it before a trip and end up with a dead battery. Thanko has managed to devise a viable solution for that problem with their new Solar Digital Audio Player.

This new DAP comes with an integrated solar panel that will charge the battery when there's no USB equipped device to do that for you. Besides having a 'Sun Charge' feature, the DAP has a 1.8-inch display with a 220 x 176 pixel resolution and 4 GB of internal memory as well as miniSD external memory support. It supports MP3/WMA/WAV for audio and AVI/RM/VOB/DAT/RMVB video file formats.

Thanko has unfortunately not started distributing their products in India, though it’s possible you’ll find them in the gray market, so there’s no official price attached to this DAP.

Microsoft To Launch IE8 RC2 In August

According to various reports available across the Internet, Microsoft will be finalizing the feature set of IE8, its market dominating browser by August. This move will be marked by the release of RC2 of IE8, in the same month.

This move comes no doubt as a move to stem the relentless march of Firefox 3.0, which has capitalized on the ever increasing Firefox user’s base and gotten a huge number of downloads. With RC2 having being introduced earlier and an impending release date of later this year, Microsoft sure has its task cut out for itself. This fact really echoes in the numbers which now put IE’s market reach at 74, which is down from it’s heyday popularity with 97 percent of the market.

Digia to Launch New Finger Touch Browser for UIQ

For Symbian UIQ handset users who always thought that their web browsing experience could have been better, it just did. Digia formerly SysOpen Digia, has recently announced that they have developed a new web browser for the Symbian UIQ platform that will incorporate finger touch browsing. The application is based on Nokia's S60 and Apple's Safari browsers.

The new finger touch experience with this new browser should definitely enhance the overall experience of using the internet over the mobile platform. The browser should be out sometime this month.

For more information click here.

Splinter Cell Conviction Delayed Again?

All those looking forward to Sam Fisher’s latest adventure may be in for a bit of disappointment since the game has apparently been pushed back to 2009/2010, according to site 360.kombo.com who by the way cite the latest the issue of Xbox World 360 magazine as their source for this rumor. And the reason this game’s been delayed for the 100,000,00000 time is because Ubi have gone back to the drawing board since they felt their game wasn’t good enough to make the cut in today’s GTA IV dominated age.

The reason I call this a rumor is because we have no official announcement from ubisoft yet, either agreeing or denying to this. Let’s hope we get more clarity at Ubisoft’s UbiDays event being held in Paris next week.

Pentax Launches Weatherproof Digicam

Pentax Imaging Company has announced the Pentax Optio W60 compact digital camera. Lightweight and fully waterproof, the W60 features 10 megapixels and a 5X zoom lens with 28mm wide-angle capability. The design of the Optio W60 allows the camera to operate up to 13 feet underwater for two hours and at extreme temperatures well below freezing point.

The 5X optical zoom refraction lens never protrudes from the Optio W60, yet it covers focal lengths from 5mm to 25mm (approximately 28mm to 140mm in 35mm format). This range allows the camera to capture a wide variety of scenes including expansive landscapes, architecture, and group photos in confined spaces as well as close-up telephoto shots of subjects. A Digital Wide function merges two shots into one image for ultra-wide-angle image capture (equivalent to a focal length of 21mm in 35mm format).

The Optio W60 also accompanies users to new aquatic depths. With improved design and construction of the shutter button and controls, as well as reinforced, airtight joints, the Optio W60 allows underwater photography up to 30 percent deeper than previous Pentax waterproof models. In addition to the JIS Class 8 waterproofing standard, the camera is JIS Class 5 dustproof against dirt, sand and dust and operates in extreme temperatures as cold as 14 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 10 degrees Celsius).

Other important features and modes of the Pentax Optio W60 include a High-Quality Movie mode with HD resolution up to 1280 x 720 pixels (comparable to a 720p HDTV) as well as Auto Picture mode, fast Face Recognition, Smile Capture, Blink Detection, an Underwater Movie mode, High Sensitivity Digital SR mode that automatically adjusts the sensitivity up to ISO 6400, and an LCD monitor with a 170 degree wide-angle view and Anti-Reflection coating to reduce glare.

The Pentax Optio W60 will be available in the US by July 2008 for US $329.95 in a choice of two colors - Ocean Blue and Silver. No information on the Indian launch and pricing yet.

Computex 08: Intel Launches 4 New Chipsets

Intel Corporation has launched the Intel 4 Series Chipset family, consisting of the Intel G45, G43, P45 and P43 Express Chipsets aimed to turn the PC into a center of high-end entertainment and communications.

Intel G45 Express Chipset

Delivering advancements in video, graphics, responsiveness and scalability, the G45 Express Chipset is built for the ultimate media experience. The G45 Express Chipset enables a full Blu-ray experience, even when background tasks are running, and can be designed into new small form factors to advance the Home Theater PC landscape. Key features of the G45 Express Chipset include:

Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD (Intel GMA X4500HD) – With built-in support for full 1080p HD video playback, including Blu-ray, this powerful engine provides users with a rich, new media experience that delivers smooth HD playback without the need for add-in video cards or decoders. The GMA X4500HD comes with Intel Clear Video Technology, a combination of video processing hardware and software technologies designed to deliver stutter-free HD playback, video image enhancement and vibrant color controls. Intel Clear Video Technology allows the PC to connect to a wide range of digital displays by supporting the latest digital display interfaces, including High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), which supports all HD formats including 720p, 1080i and 1080p, DisplayPort, and TV Tuner Wizard. It will also support Microsoft DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0.

Intel G45 Graphics Memory Controller Hub (GMCH) – The G45 GMCH incorporates a 1333 front side bus supporting all 45nm Intel desktop microprocessors including the Intel Core2 Duo E8000 series and Intel Core2 Quad E9000 series. The G45 memory controller significantly increases overall system performance by reducing memory access latency with Intel Fast Memory Access and supporting a wide range of DDR2 and DDR3 memory speeds. The Intel 4 Series Express chipsets include support for dual channel DDR3 memory technology up to 1066 MHz. The key advantages of DDR3 are the higher bandwidth and the increase in performance at a lower power than DDR2. The DDR3 SDRAM devices operating at 1066 MHz, offer peak data transfer rates of up to 17 GB/s (when operated in dual-channel interleaved mode), enabling the Intel 4 Series Express chipsets to take advantage of the higher bandwidth, faster system performance and higher performance per watt at 1066MHz.

Intel P45 Express Chipset



The Intel P45 Express Chipset, which supports the latest 45nm Intel Dual- and Quad-Core processors, is designed to deliver quality performance that meets the demands of the fastest platforms.

PCI Express 2.0 – The Intel P45 Express Chipset is driving PCI Express 2.0 to mainstream users, delivering up to 16GBs bandwidth, twice the bandwidth of PCI Express 1.0. This improved graphics bandwidth capability enables much higher levels of performance on graphics intensive applications such as high-end gaming and video rendering.

New Dual Graphics Configurations – The Intel P45 Express Chipset supports either a 1x16 or 2x8 PCI Express 2.0 configuration for expandable discrete graphics capability.

Intel Extreme Tuning Utility – With overclocking brought to the mainstream, users have the ability to easily tune the system for optimum performance, enabling power users to achieve performance levels beyond its industry-leading baseline performance.

Intel G43 Express Chipset
The Intel G43 Express chipset delivers impressive graphical features for everyday computing. Its Clear Video Technology guarantees smooth, sharp HD playback and it features enhanced 3-D graphics engine with full support of Microsoft Windows Vista Premium and integration with digital display interfaces such as HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort and HDCP with dual independent display.