Scythe Unveils Three New Slip Stream Fans

Slip Stream 120 PWM

Scythe, well known for its high performance CPU coolers and case-fans, has launched its Slip Stream 120 PWM, Slip Stream 120 PWM Adjustable and Slip Stream 120 PWM & V.R. case fans.


Slip Stream 120 PWM & V.R.


Slip Stream 120 PWM Adjustable

Measuring 120 x 120 x 25mmand weighing 117g, 130g & 117g respectively, they boast a PWM 4-pin(3-pin to 4pin adaptor included) connector, sleeve bearings and a MTBFof 30,000 hours. Manual adjustments of fan speeds (for Slip Stream 120 PWM Adjustable & Slip Stream 120PWM & V.R. only) are possible via a controller knob on a PCI slot bracket. They can be purchased now from authorized resellers at aMSRP of 7.25 EUR*/ USD 9.80* (Scythe Slip Stream 120 PWM) and 8.25EUR*/ USD 13.80* (Slip Stream 120 PWM Adjustable & Slip Stream 120PWM & V.R.).


Specifications:

0 (+200) to 1,300 (±10%) RPM/ 0 – 26.50 dBA/ 0 – 74.25 CFM/ DC12V/ 0.18 A(Slip Stream 120 PWM)470 (±30%) to 1,900 (±10%) RPM/ 7.05 – 37.00 dBA/ 23.0 – 110.31 CFM/DC12 V/ 0.60 A (Slip Stream 120 PWM Adjustable)500 (±30%) to 1,500 (±10%) RPM/ 7.50 – 32.01 dBA/ 24.5 – 81.64 CFM/ DC12V/ 0.27 A (Slip Stream 120 PWM & V.R.)

*Prices exclude VAT/TAX


News via [Tweaktown]

Panasonic LUMIX GH1 Pricing Announced

Secaucus, NJ (May 6, 2009) – Panasonic today announced the pricing for the highly-anticipated LUMIX DMC-GH1, the new Micro Four Thirds digital camera with Full-High Definition (HD) video recording ability, which will be available in early June for a suggested retail price of $1499.95.The LUMIX DMC-GH1 includes the LUMIX G VARIO 14-140mm/F4.0-5.8 ASPH/MEGA O.I.S. lens as part of the kit. The new lens, designed to support HD movie recording, features a silent motor and continuous auto focusing (AF) capability – a differentiator from traditional DSLRs.

In the U.S., the LUMIX GH1 will be available in black and has advanced photography features, such as the ability to record AVCHD 1080p/24p High Definition video, yet is easy enough for entry-level users to understand and take beautiful photos and videos. With Panasonic’s iA (Intelligent Auto) mode, no setting adjustments needed.

For those looking for more creative control in their digital camera, the LUMIX GH1 can adjust shutter speed during motion recording, giving the videos a special look, particularly suitable for shooting fast-moving subjects. Also, the LUMIX GH1 allows users to control the aperture, which is convenient when there are several subjects at varying distances. By adjusting the aperture, the user can focus on the foreground and blur the background – or vice versa – even during video recording.

The LUMIX GH1 provides cutting-edge video recording features, including the ability to record high-resolution full HD (1920 x1080) video at 24 fps or smooth HD video (1280 x 720) at 60 fps using an AVCHD format (MPEG-4/H.264), which provides the important benefit of doubling the HD quality recording time compared with Motion JPEG. The LUMIX GH1 features a dedicated video record button on the back of the camera which lets users instantly start recording videos, even while shooting still photos – removing the fear of potentially missing a must-see video moment.

For more information about the Panasonic LUMIX G Micro Four Thirds System, including the award-winning LUMIX G1, and to place a pre-order for the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH1, please visit www.panasonic.com/lumix.

Source: Panasonic USA

Will Athlon 64 price cuts go deeper than expected

Last month, a leaked roadmap hinted that AMD was planning to slash prices pretty dramatically after the release of Intel's Core 2 Duo processor. Reduced prices on the roadmap ranged from $ 169 for the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ to $ 403 for the Athlon 64 X2 5000+. However, a new price list snagged by DailyTech shows even lower prices: $ 149 for the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ and a measly $ 282 for the X2 5000+. Side-by-side with Intel's official Core 2 pricing, the purported AMD list places the Athlon 64 X2 lineup like so:

Intel Core 2 DuoPriceAMD Athlon 64 X2 E6700 (2.67GHz/4MB) $ 530E6600 (2.40GHz/4MB)$ 316 $ 282 5000+(2.6GHz/512KB)E6400 (2.13GHz/2MB)$ 2244600+ (2.4GHz/512KB) E6300 (1.86GHz/2MB)$ 183 $ 1754200+ (2.2GHz/512KB) $ 1493800+ (2.0GHz/512KB)

The price list also shows 65W "Energy Efficient" Athlon 64 X2 flavors sitting $ 28.75 above their regular counterparts on average, slightly lower than today's average of $ 33.2. As for the vanilla single-core Athlon 64 and Sempron lineups, the price list suggests they will both be brought under the $ 100 mark—except for the Athlon 64 3800+, which will apparently stick out at $ 109.
According to DailyTech, AMD will implement this pricing on July 24, three days before the official Core 2 Duo launch. If this information is genuine, it looks like AMD will be resorting to very aggressive pricing to compete with Conroe. The company could largely avoid direct confrontation with Intel's newcomer for a while, as well, since sub-$ 300 Core 2 desktop chips aren't expected to become available until some time in the fourth quarter of this year. That said, DailyTech claims these updated prices will stick "well into 2007," which could give Intel room to undercut AMD once again.

Sony's PS Vita arrives in Taiwan, lacks 3G, costs less

In an unusual turn of events, Taiwan will get Sonys new portable games console – the PlayStation Vita – ahead of the US, something of a rare occasion as Taiwan is rarely seen as a key market for gaming consoles. Although Taiwan is only getting the Wi-Fi version for the time being units are available for purchase now and are expected to ship on Monday.

The standard retail price without any games for the Wi-Fi version of the PS Vita in Taiwan is NT$8980 (US$296/S$383), slightly cheaper than the expected retail price of the Wi-Fi model in Canada which is expected to be the equivalent of US$299. The reason were comparing it to the Canadian model is that the US will get the 3G model initially, just like Japan.

However, buying a games console without games doesnt make a lot of sense, so you can also pick up various bundles that come with a selection of games (one per bundle), a 4GB memory card and an accessory pack for NT$11,350 (US$374/S$485). Oddly enough, the bundle with Dynasty Warriors: Next is an additional NT$300 (US$10/S$13) than the other bundles.

Sun UltraSparc T1 Server CPU

Zotac's Z68 mini-ITX boards listed for sale in Japan

Finally some none AMD motherboard news in the shape of two new mini-ITX boards from Zotac with Intels Z68 chipset. The boards havent even been officially unveiled by the company as yet, which we would expect to happen next week at Computex, but both boards are already listed for sale in Japan.

The first of the two boards is the Z68ITX-WiFi and as with most of Zotacs mini-ITX boards, theres really very little missing. In fact, wed say that this is one of the most feature packed mini-ITX boards so far from Zotac. Although the board only has a single x16 PCI Express slot due to its form factor, Zotac has squeezed in four SATA ports, two SATA 6Gbps and two SATA 3Gbps as well as a horizontal mini PCI Express slot fitted with a Wi-Fi card and apprently an mSATA slot as well. There are also two full-size DIMM slots and what looks like a pair of USB 2.0 pin headers.

The rear I/O doesnt disappoint either with a PS/2 port, four US 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports, 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF out and, wait for it, two HDMI ports and a mini DisplayPort connector. However, the next board is even more feature packed.

You mightve remembered seeing pictures of an early revision of the Z68ITX-B-E from CES or CeBIT earlier this year, well, this is the final board and it sports an integrated GeForce GT430. The GPU has been paired up with 1GB of memory, although were not sure which type. Due to the space taken up by fitting a full-size GPU on the board were looking at a pair of SO-DIMM memory slots, but the board should still have two SATA 6Gbps and two SATA 3Gbps ports and theres even an open ended PCI Express x4 slot on the board. Lets not forget the vertical mini PCI Express slot with a Wi-Fi card.

Around the back we have two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, 7.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF out and a pair of DVI ports, an HDMI port and a full-size DisplayPort connector.

The Z68ITX-WiFi is priced at 19,800 Yen (S$301) while the Z68ITX-B-E comes in at a whopping 23,980 Yen (S$364), but wed expect these boards to retail for a lot less outside of Japan, as for whatever reason, electronics arent cheap in Japan. We should be getting a better look at these boards next week, so check back with us for some better pictures and more information from Computex.

Source: Impress Akiba PC Watch, Impress PC Watch

Samsung refreshes Galaxy S II and Galaxy Tab 8.9 with hardware support for 4G LTE

If you have been holding off the purchase of Samsungs Galaxy S II smartphone in the hopes that the Korean electronics giant might just eventually upgrade the device with new features of sorts, considering your prayers answered. Apparently, it seems that this is exactly what Samsung has done, for the company has recently announced in a press release that it intends to showcase a variant of its Galaxy S II smartphone in the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin consumer electronics trade fair (otherwise known as the IFA) that is due to take place from September 2 to September 7 this year.

According to the machine translation of the aforementioned press release, the LTE-capable variant of the Galaxy S II smartphone, which will reportedly be dubbed the Galaxy S II LTE, has been touted by Samsung to be the worlds first WCDMA/GSM multi-mode smartphone to support the 4G LTE network. While the company has not provided any details about the maximum data transfer speeds users can expect to receive on the new Galaxy S II smartphone, Samsung has confirmed that the LTE-capable version will boast enhanced features and specifications, such as the use of a more powerful dual-core processor that has been clocked at a speed of 1.5GHz, a 4.5-inch Super AMOLED+ display, an eight-megapixel camera, support for short range wireless communication via NFC and Bluetooth 3.0, as well as the use of a 1850mAh battery pack to provide users with “long hours of usage”.

In addition, Samsung has also added that its Galaxy Tab 8.9 tablet will also be given the LTE upgrade some time in March next year. The upgraded tablet is said to feature an 8.9 WXGA screen (1280 x 800), and will sport a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a three-megapixel camera. On the OS side, the company has confirmed that the Galaxy Tab 8.9 will be pre-loaded with version 3.2 of the Android operating system (aka Honeycomb).

No further details about availability, pricing and hardware specifications for the LTE-capable versions of the Samsung Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 have been released by Samsung at this point of time. That being said, we will be keeping track of any further notifications, so do check back for updates.

Source: Samsung Korea