Fujitsu Esprimo Mini PC

via Gizmodo by Jack Loftus

Things you could do with the Fujitsu Esprimo Mini PC if you didn't really care all that much about the data contained inside: Play hockey, rest a cold drink on a warm day; balance a wobbly table.

You see, the Esprimo is tiny. Almost hockey puck tiny. Get it? But in that tight little form factor is a wealth of surprisingly robust features, like 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive for all your tiny file saving needs. Also inside is a Blu-ray optical drive and an accompanying HDMI port, which makes sense. The Core 2 Duo tops everything off.

One last caveat: All those features above are found in the "higher end" model, which is weird to type because the base model will cost a cool grand when it arrives in Germany in late September.

IBM Examining Microchips Built On DNA "Oragami" Nanostructures

via Gizmodo by Jack Loftus

From the "at least 10 years out" category of microchip fabrication comes word that IBM is working to reduce future costs and microchip sizes by using DNA.

Yes, that's correct: The building blocks of life could one day contribute to your virtual reality headshot in Halo 28: Master Chief Comes Back From the Dead for the 12th Time.

IBM's early stage research combines the DNA double helix and, unsurprisingly, nanotechnology to build frameworks for theoretically smaller and less expensive microchips.

"This is the first demonstration of using biological molecules to help with processing in the semiconductor industry," said IBM research manager Spike Narayan. "Basically, this is telling us that biological structures like DNA actually offer some very reproducible, repetitive kinds of patterns that we can actually leverage in semiconductor processes," he said.

But like I said, ten years out of more before the same genetic building blocks found in all of us are also powering the supercomputers of the future.

Intel's Platform Power Management

via Gizmodo by Brian Lam on 6/19/09

Intel Research showed me a demo of their Platform Power Management system. Essentially, they're applying the smart, quick, hardware level idling you find on a CPU to many system parts. The result: systems that idle at 10x less juice.

The tech is applied to things like USB ports, which in 3.0, will go from polling (clock based, always checking) devices to being managed via events, so they can sleep whenever not being used. And graphics, when the page isn't changing, can be run out of a frame buffer so the GPU and video RAM can sleep. When I say more sleep, I mean for additional milliseconds or longer. This adds up, over the course of a day when people stop to read or step away from their computers. In the past, the OS controlled the power savings, and that required power to process in turn, so you were using the system's power to manage power, keeping those other components from ever really turning off. By doing power management with more granularity, in hardware and software together, you can switching things on/off fast enough to fit in lots of "naps" and you can also do it with less processing overhead.

I'm excited for this tech to go everywhere where there's a chip.

Viliv X70: A 7-Inch Netbook Without the Keyboard

via�Gizmodo�by Mark Wilson on 6/9/09

The Viliv S5 was�sort of charming�in its own way�a tiny Atom-powered touchscreen MID that went for $599. Well the�Viliv X70�is the S5's bigger cousin, and it runs just $599, too.

Featuring a 7-inch WSVGA screen (that's more than 2 inches larger than the S5), the X70 also includes an Atom 1.2/1.3GHz processor, 16/32GB SSD, optional HSPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Sirf Star3 GPS, 5-second XP booting and 5.5 rated hours of video playback. And yet the X70 measures less than an inch thick and but 1.4lbs in its anti-heaviness.

I still could never see myself using the keyboardless munchkin, but in case you are interested, Dynamism has the systems on pre-order.

Fatal1ty + Fusion-io = Lower-Priced 80GB ioXtreme PCI Express SSD

via�Gizmodo�by Jack Loftus on 6/7/09

Fatal1ty, ever the personal brand ambassador, has partnered with the folks at Fusion-io to launch an 80GB�ioXtreme PCI Express SSD�for the common man.

I say common man because, until now, Fusion-io was a company known for products priced out of middle and low income PC gamers' rigs.

This $895 card, however, is more modestly priced, compared to their other wares, and it's well known that aggressive X's on anything make those things faster.

The card was also designed with future software updates in mind, as Fusion-io touted upcoming features like boot and transparent data migration. For now though, just the X and some speedy transfer rates. [Fusion-io�via�Engadget]

Packard Bell se �ntoarce cu un nou logo si trei computere "proaspete"

via�Antena3 - Hightech�on 5/28/09

Packard Bell revine �n forta pe piata computerelor, cu trei noi produse. Compania este acum sub umbrela Acer, are un nou logo si c�teva "masini" interesante cu care se poate lauda, informeaza�techdigest.tv.

Probabil cel mai interesant dintre cele trei este iMax-Mini nettop, �n fapt o versiune revizuita a lui Acer Revo. iMax-Mini nettop dispune de procesor Atom combinat cu platorma ION de la nVidia.

Nettop-ul vine cu o interesanta functie senzitiva de control a jocurilor video, despre care Packard Bell spune ca "va rivaliza cu consola Wii". �n Europa, iMax-Mini nettop va fi disponibil cu monitor de 19 inci.

Packard Bell a prezentat de asemenea EasyNote TR85, un notebook care arata foarte bine, si care are, printre altele, display LED edge-to-edge, trackpad multi-touch si sunet Dolby Sound Room. EasyNote TR beneficiaza de un finisaj glossy, cu interior mat si touchpad argintiu. Ecranul are 15,6 inch, procesorul este Intel, placa video este Nvidia GeForce iar capacitatea HDD-ului poate ajunge p�na la 500GB.

Nu �n ultimul r�nd trebuie mentinate netbook-urile "dot s" de 10.1 inci si "dot m" cu ecran de 10.6 inci care dispun de touchpad multi-gesture, sunet Dolby, 3G optional si acumulator cu sase celule. Piata de profil este suprasaturata, asa ca cei de la Packard Bell au decis sa instaleze, pe aceste netbook-uri, programul Photoshop Elements 4, ceea ce este foarte posibil sa-i atraga pe unii dintre cumparatori.

Solid-state drive teams up with blazing-fast RAM for incredible speed

via�DVICE�by CharlieWhite on 5/5/09

Our jaws are still agape over�that lightning fast ioDrive Duo�solid-state drive we showed you last month, but now here's one that can beat it, the DDRdrive X1. It combines the blazing speed of 4GB of RAM with the backup confidence of 4GB of flash memory right next to it.

You don't want to keep your data in RAM, because it will go away as soon as you turn off your PC. That's why it's great to have it paired up with some really fast flash memory, keeping everything you're doing saved. It can either back up or restore all your data in 60 seconds.

The result? Mind-numbing�speed on random reads and writes. That's one thing that makes a PC really feel fast. But all that speed has a downside, as you may have guessed. This measly 4GB drive costs $1495. Yes, that's crazy, but this is another one of those pieces of bleeding-edge tech that gives you a peek into what the rest of us could be using a couple of years from now.

PC Perspective, via�Engadget

Man Burnt to Death by Exploding PC

via�Gizmodo�by matt buchanan on 4/6/09

I've heard of�exploding computers�before, but not like this: The charred body of an Indian software engineer was found sitting in front of a computer he'd been working on after a loud blast.

His body was found sitting in front of the "completely damaged" and burnt computer by his roommate, who had rushed out of the shower after he heard a blast. He fainted at the sight.

The investigating officers said, "It sounds quite unbelievable. We have not heard of such a case before. But the scene of the accident seems to suggest that the youth was killed in an accident as his body was in the sitting position in front of the burnt computer."

God, that's so horrible. [Times of India�via�Hard OCP]

P.S. PC pictured is not the computer that killed the man, just an illustration.