THERE IS A NEW PORT IN TOWN: SAY HELLO TO THUNDERBOLT

So, you have heard about the newly refreshed line up of Apple MacBook Pro. Hence, you should already know that these new laptops come with a new I/O port called Thunderbolt. Previously codenamed by its developer asLight Peak, this new I/O technology was developed by Intel; together with some help from Apple which pretty much explained why the new MacBook Pro are the first ever product to feature it.

But then, what exactly is the purpose of Thunderbolt? In essence, it is a full-duplex dual-channel high speed link that supports both data (PCI Express) and video (DisplayPort) connections, and capable of transferring data at the speed of 10Gbps per channel. Just to describe how fast that is, Intel claimed that users are able to transfer 10 to 20GB of data - a typical size of full-length full HD 1080p movie – in less than 30 seconds; way faster than the existing USB 3.0, 1394 Firewire and eSATA standard. Thunderbolt also supports daisy chaining with up to 7 devices at the same time.

Another interesting fact about the new Thunderbolt standard is that it offers low-latency, high-accuracy synchronization time of 8ns within connected devices. This capability should be very useful to media professionals out there especially media creators who will be able to do real-time processing on multiple devices at the same time as the frames will be pretty much synchronized throughout all devices. It also compatible with existing DisplayPort-based displays so that current owners don’t have to replace their current monitors. As for many of us who depends on DVI or HDMI, there is nothing that adapters cannot do.

As for physical connectors, Thunderbolt supports both electrical and optical cable although for electrical cable, it is limited to 3 meters long. That being said, Thunderbolt electrical cable is also able to provide up to 10W to bus-powered devices.

Moving on, now it is time for the golden question: how fast will Thunderbolt-based devices pop into the market? Well, judging from the current adoption rate of DisplayPort and USB3.0, I personally don’t think it will take off in an instant. Thunderbolt’s high speed data transfer is clearly an advantage here, so one can expect that the first wave of Thunderbolt-based products are meant for users  such as mentioned earlier, media professionals, that can take advantage of the amazingly fast transfer speed. It already has a good start since the Apple MacBook Pro is also one of the products that are commonly associated with media creation.

So, the impact of Thunderbolt will not be seen instantly but rather later on; when manufacturers have started to pick it up and make it available to users everywhere. For the time being, if you would like to learn more about Thunderbolt, check out its official website at www.intel.com.

REVIEW: ASUS HD 6870 DIRECTCU GRAPHIC CARD

Released back in October 2010, the AMD Radeon HD 6870 is the mid-range member of the AMD Radeon HD 6000 series graphic card. Codenamed as “Barts XT”, the GPU was also the first from the series to arrive into the market. However, what we have right here from ASUS stable of Radeon HD 6870 offerings can be considered as a “non-stock” graphic card.

The physical design alone is already a big indication that the ASUS HD 6870 DirectCU have something extra underneath it. ASUS switched AMD’s stock cooler with their own solution which features three 8mm flattened copper heat pipes directly above the GPU and claimed that they are able to lower down the GPU’s temperature up to 20-percent than usual. It is for good reason: the ASUS HD 6870 DirectCU comes with a slightly faster915MHz core and it can be tweaked further through ASUS Voltage Tweak technology that is contained within ASUS SmartDoctor software.

Apart from that, ASUS have also equipped the graphic card with parts that are made from their own mix of metal called Super Alloy Power technology which the company claimed gives those parts better performances, reliability and longevity. It is a little bit unfortunate that we have no means to test these claims but we can certainly show you how the card performs on our test bed. Jump in to find out more.

COOLER MASTER LAUNCHES CASE MODDING COMPETITION

Love to mod your computer case? Why not get rewarded for it? Cooler Master has announced that they are now accepting submissions for their 2011 Cooler Master Case Mode Competition. Open to fellow case modders from all over the world, participants are required to submit a project that either uses Cooler Master casing as their subject or they can also build their submission from scratch using any building materials that they can get their hands on.

With prizes worth more than RM 45,000 - in the form of motherboards, graphic cards, RAMs, video games, SSDs and of course, Cooler Master cases - are up for grabs, this competition is not something that you can come across every day. The submission will be closed on 15 April while the deadline to complete the project will be on 15 May, so there are still quite some time to get your brain and fingers to work. For further information, visit the competition’s official website at www.coolermaster.com/casemod2011.

SAY GOODBYE TO ANOTHER FAILED MACBOOK AIR RIVAL: HP ENVY 13

It looks like HP has decided to join Dell in getting rid of their ultra thin 13" notebook. Supposedly an Apple MacBook Air competitor much like the Dell Adamo line which was recently killed by the company due to low response, the Envy 13 didn't seem to do a very good job either.

But that's not the end for Envy fans, HP won't be getting rid of the entire Envy line. They will only be killing Envy 13 which will be replaced by the Envy 14 though, if you're hoping for the same 13" design with full-metal chassis and weighs very light, you're going to be highly disappointed. The Envy 14, like its name suggest, measures at 14.5", weighs 2.38kg, about 700grams more than the Envy 13, and measures at 1.16" thick compared to Envy 13's 0.8".

Right before this announcement, the price of the HP Envy 13 has been slashed for a couple of months, going off for as low as USD$999 with USD$450 instant rebate. Are you going to miss the HP Envy 13?

APPLE’S SUBSCRIPTION ANNOUNCEMENT PULLS MIXED REACTIONS

The reaction to Apple’s recent announcement on their new subscription service has been extremely varied across the web. Gizmodo labeled Apple’s move as “evil”, PCWorld warns that non-magazine subscription services have the high potential of getting screwed over, Tech Crunch feels the move is “fair”, and Mashable seems to be pretty sold that 30% kickbacks aren’t all that bad after all.

We feel it’s a little too early to jump to any conclusions right now, but here are some thoughts that did come up after reading through the announcement.

• The ability to sell subscriptions outside of the App Store looks to be the only way to bypass the 30% revenue cut, but then again, short term subscribers may be tempted to forgo the entire “long winded / difficult” process of renewing their subscription out of the app since the price of subscription in-app MUST be equal or lower to the price out of the app.
• Margins are already thin in publishing and turning to e-publishing is a move that aims at saving money. This 30% cut in income is a bigger dent to the publisher than people may think. Although this revenue cut won’t affect the users directly, it will most definitely affect the quality / quantity of services given.
• For e-publications, this could lead to several outcomes – the birth of web-based alternative UIs (to bypass the 30%), an increase in subscription price (to absorb the 30%), a totally different subscription model (free to use but pay per content?), or no change at all.
• Non-e-publications that use the subscription model (Amazon Kindle, Rhapsody, Netflix) are the most likely to bail from dedicated iPad apps if margins are pushed too low.
• This move could also radically change the plans of many companies who have invested heavily in developing iPad specific subscription apps but have not yet hit the market. Already, there are reports that several development houses are considering closing shop as a 30% revenue cut would mean little to no profit left.

Apple’s full announcement can be found here: http://bit.ly/eaTupz

MOMENTUS XT HYBRID DRIVE FACING SERIOUS PROBLEMS. FIXES INCOMING

Remember the Seagate Momentus XT we reviewed last year? The drive was a cross between a traditional notebook drive and an SSD drive, giving a small amount of solid state space to boost application boot time and performance, while having a traditional platter for storage space. Well despite the glowing reviews it has gotten, a number of long-term users have observed that the drive chirps, stutters, crashes and freezes alarmingly regularly, especially when used on a Mac. This may be due to the Momentus XTs drives spinning down inappropriately due to an overzealous power management scheme. Thank goodness we didn't opt for one in our primary Macbook Pro! 

However, Seagate is not huddled up in a reality distortion field, as they are actively involved in getting the problem fixed. So far, new firmware updates have addressed some of the symptoms, while a third is on the way. 

SENSONIC TO RELEASE NEW LED-BACKLIT LCD MONITORS IN MARCH

For the longest time, Sensonic have always been associated with smaller computer peripherals such as mouse, keyboard, webcam and headset but starting this year, they are going to expand their offerings to bigger products such as PC monitors. To start off, the brand will be releasing two new LED-backlit LCD monitors into our market next month.

Judging from their technical specifications, these new Sensonic LCD monitors are relatively identical to each other with the exception of their maximum resolution of 1366x728 for the 18.5-inch E185WD and 1600x900 for the 20-inch E200WD. Unfortunately, since we have no pricing information for them, interested parties out there will only able to find out about their price tags when these monitors arrive at retailers next month.

As mentioned earlier, this is only the beginning of Sensonic products expansion. According to the company, the next product that they will be releasing into the market is an All-In-One PC. Well, it is going to be interesting to see how their AIO PC is going to fare against other players in the industry. For the meantime, find out more about Sensonic and its line of products at www.sensonic-global.com.

GOOGLE DOUBLES THE SECURITY FOR GMAIL

While some users merely uses an email account just for registering to services such as Facebook, to some, an email account is just as important as one’s bank account which is why Google is adding another layer of security to its email service. It’ doesn’t matter how secure you are, there’s always a way to lose your account be it whether it got hacked or your information got compromised because some other web services got hacked. The new security feature is called a 2-step verification feature that can add another layer of security onto your Google account.

After you activate the new feature which will be slowly rolled out over the next few days, the next time you log into your Google account, you’ll have to key in a password and a code which will be sent to your phone. Google will either call you with the code, send you an SMS message or give you the choice to generate the code yourself using a mobile application on Android, BlackBerry or iPhone devices so no, you do not need to have cellular or internet connection all the time.

But don’t worry, if you think that password is secure enough for you and do not wish to have another redundant step to waste your precious, you’ll be glad to hear that this is an opt-in feature. For those who are interested, you’ll have to log into your Google Account settings page and activate it. I’m secretly glad it’s an opt-in feature and not an opt-out thing because explaining to people and telling them how to remove is most definitely a pain in the rear end.

NOKIA WINDOWS PHONE 7 DEVICES COULD BE OUT AS EARLY AS THIS YEAR

Excited about the collaboration between Nokia and Microsoft? Can’t wait to see what Nokia can bring to you with their new Windows Phone 7 devices? Well, you’re still going to have to wait but not for too long. Just announced at the on-going Mobile World Congress, Jo Harlow from Nokia said that these devices could be coming in from as early as this year. Additionally, the company also released several official photos of Windows Phone 7 concept device in addition to the leaked ones found by Engadget last Friday.

You may have been expecting Nokia to work with Microsoft, heck, there were news all over saying that Nokia was having talks with Microsoft way prior to the announcement last week but according to Stephen Elop, the CEO of Nokia, the final decision for Windows Phone 7 just happened on Thursday night. Like it or not, I think it’s great that Nokia is finally making some changes and the Windows Phone 7 might be just the right direction for them to go.

MSI ISSUES AMD “EYES ON THE PRIZE” TARGET OVERCLOCKING CHALLENGE

Looking for something to do, overclockers? Well, if you have an AMD graphic card lying around, we got one for you then. MSI, with the help of the famed overclocking portal HWBOT have issued an overclocking challenge which MSI claimed is not like any common overclocking challenge out there.

Instead of pushing your hardware to the max, expect it to churn out beefy benchmark score and hope that the score beats some record, the MSI AMD “Eyes on The Prize” Target Challenge only ask overclockers to tune their hardware to a specific score. Be the first to reach the target score within the time limit and you’ll scoop home some prizes which are consisted of twenty 30Mark11 Advanced license together with four sets of MSI 890FXA-GD70 motherboard and 1GB MSI Radeon 6850 Cyclone Power Edition graphic card.

For the first three week of the challenge, the submission is open exclusively for MSI AMD graphic card models while on the final week, any brand of AMD graphic cards are welcome to participate. As a bonus, MSI are going to throw one of their upcoming graphic cards, the MSI Radeon 6970 Lightning graphic card for lucky draw. This draw is open to all participants that managed to reach the target score specified by MSI.

For further information, head on to HWBOT.org to learn about the AMD “Eyes on The Prize” Target Challenge.

NYU PROFESSOR REMOVES "THIRD EYE" FROM BACK OF HIS HEAD

What happens if you think you’re so great and tries to fit a removable camera, or a third eye in this case, at the back of your head? You’ll end up in a lot of pain like this NYU Professor / artist Wafaa Bilal. Last year, he surgically implanted a titanium plate onto the back of his head so he can mount a removable camera onto it. The result? He will know what’s going on behind him when he checks back the images stored in the devices which will automatically capture images every several minutes for 24 hours a day.

The camera was supposed to stay on for an entire year but this is what you get for trying to prove something – that you have no privacy and people can capture your picture anytime without you even noticing it, and for the sake of art in his case. It turns out that his body is starting to reject the titanium plate, causing him great pain and he has to get it removed. But don’t laugh at this man, he strongly believes in what he believes in. While I, like many of you, don’t understand at all why he would want to do such a thing, he vows to continue on with the project. I’m having a headache just looking at the picture.

Hit the break to catch the video of when he first installed the camera onto his head.

TOSHIBA KICKS OFF THE YEAR WITH HARMAN KARDON EQUIPPED NETBOOK

The word “premium” and “netbook” don’t usually co-exist together but Toshiba somehow have managed to make that happened. The company have worked together with renowned audio equipment maker, Harman Kardon to equip their latest netbook - the NB520 - with a pair of premium 2 watt stereo speakers that are capable of churning up to around 90dB worth of sound. Said to be the first such netbook in the world, the audio experience on the new Toshiba NB520 is strengthen further by the Dolby Advanced Audio technology which usually available on the premium line of Toshiba Satellite laptops.

Another interesting feature that comes with the new Toshiba NB520 netbook is its “Sleep and Music” feature that enable users to plug-in their music player and play songs through NB520’s Harman Kardon speakers while the laptop is off. At the same, users can also charge their electronic devices using its USB’s Sleep-and-Chargefeature. Of course, let’s not forget that the 10.1-inch NB520 is run by a speedy 1.50GHz Intel Atom N550 dual-core processor that is paired together with 2GB of DDR3 RAM and also, 320GB worth of disk space

I-CONNECT VIEWX LASER PICO PROJECTOR REVIEW

You don’t need a huge projector just to project some simple things from your computer and even your phone, with a device slightly bigger than an iPhone 4, you can project anything you want from your computer, laptops and even Apple products such as the iPhone, iPod and iPad. The i-connect ViewX Laser Pico Projector  from Picop is the world’s first ultra-miniature laser based projector engine which uses red, green and blue laser light sources, electronics, optics, and a unique tiny mirror-like device that paints the image lie by line on the projection surface.

I’ve never understood the need of a projector by an average consumer like myself, unless I had a huge home with a sophisticated entertainment room, a projector will be a perfect fit to enjoy a movie or two on a boring Sunday, but what good is a portable projector that paints an image line-by-line, thus lowering the quality of the projection? Making an interactive cake like Disney did but since they patented it, don’t even think about using that idea before paying up. When you’re bored out of your mind or when you wish to share something with a group of audience, a portable projector could come in handy. I on the other hand, use it to show my mum videos from my phone so she doesn’t have to squint before

poking around my phone.

SONY FESSES UP: XPERIA PLAY TO BE OFFICIALLY REVEALED THIS WEEKEND

Just when you thought that Sony Ericsson Xperia Play – PlayStation Phone to some of you – is really building its reputation as the world’s worst kept secret, Sony have finally admit that the phone is real; by airing a commercial for it during Super Bowl. They have also unveiled the date and time of device’s official announcement at their official Facebook page: Sunday, February 13 at 6:00pm GMT which mean Monday, February 14 at 2:00am in Malaysian time.

Well, looks like the Xperia Play is well on its way to become one of the biggest stars at this weekend’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Arguably, it is going to be hard to top over a phone that is designed withPlayStation’s DNA in it but I’m certain that other phone manufacturers are not sitting on their laurels. You can expect that everybody going to appear at the event with all guns blazing.

But for the meantime, check out one more product shot of the new Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and the Super Bowl advertisement right after the jump.

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