Tech Update for 17/2/2012

HP Intros the world's first 27 inch All-in-one workstation, Tuesday 14 February 2012

The Sleek and Elegant look of the Z1

This all in one has a very sleek and elegant design. The accelerated performance is featuring the Intel Xeon processors, Nvidia Quadro graphics, support for more than 1 billion colors and HP's world-class reliability. swapping parts upgrading can be easily done by users without any tools whatsoever. The new HP Z1 Workstation is expected to be available worldwide in April. Pricing starts at $1,899 in the United States.


Workstation performance without compromise
- Workstation performance. Features professional NVIDIA Quadro graphics, ECC memory, quad-core Intel Xeon processors, independent software vendor solutions and whisper-quiet acoustics.
- Tool-less chassis. Users can easily add a hard drive, upgrade memory or access the graphics card by snapping open the chassis to swap out parts.
- Workstation-class storage. Users can choose from a variety of storage types, including 7.2K and 10K SATA, SSD, optional RAID configurations, removable drives (AMO), a multiformat media card reader and optical drives including a slot-load Blu-ray Writer.
- Professional display. The 27-inch white LED diagonal display supports more than 1 billion colors and features a wide, 178-degree viewing angle and an in-plane switching (IPS) panel.
- High-fidelity audio. Front-facing dual-cone speakers and SRS Premium Sound offer high-fidelity audio.
High-definition Webcam. Have face-to-face meetings and see every detail right down to the twinkle of an eye. Also captures HD-quality video.
- HP Remote Graphics Software. Users can work remotely while still accessing the high-performance 2-D, 3-D, video and media-rich applications they count on.
- HP Performance Advisor. Reduces the time spent troubleshooting by providing a consolidated report of the workstation's hardware and software configuration that can be used to tune the workstation for specifically professional application workloads with just one click.

Source: Techpowerup

Asrock's First Industrial Motherboard

ASRock released three products which are the IMB-140, IMB-141, and IMB-142. The latter two share an identical board layout. All three models are driven by Intel Atom D2700. The IMB-140 is heavy on connectivity, it includes three serial bus ports, dual-GbE interface, D-Sub, HDMI, and LVDS display outputs, two SATA 3 Gb/s storage interfaces, legacy PCI, and a plethora of other legacy connectivity. The IMB-141 and IMB-142 have slightly slimmer connectivity load outs, the two differ only with the latter having two GbE interfaces, while the former has one. The two have more USB interfaces, and one lesser serial bus (COM) port. The two also feature a mini-PCIe apart from a legacy PCI.

Source: Techpowerup via Vr-Zone


Lenovo Ideapad U300e Ultrabook

the U300e is a 13.3-inch ultrabook that is a mere 0.7-inches thin, weighing in at 1.58Kg and sports a one-piece aluminum shell and an LED-backlit (1366 x 768) display.  The keyboard on this model is of a breathable type by harnessing Intel's Advanced Cooling Technology and there's a lovely glass touchpad implemented that complements the U300e when seen in the flesh. within the chasis is a Core i5-2467M processor with its HD 3000 graphics core in use, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD as well as a 32GB SSD. Looking around outside, there's a single USB 3.0 port, 1.3MP webcam, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, WiDi support, Gigabit ethernet, a HDMI output and a 4-cell battery that promises up to 7 hours of use.

From this point of view the lenovo ideapd looks like the macbook pro

Source: Vr-Zone

USB 3.0 to HDMI adapter

A Japanese company going by the name of Sanko has come up with a USB 3.0 to HDMI adapter. The manufacturer has stated that it's possible to use up to six of these impressively small USB3TOHD adapters in a single 6+port USB 3.0 hub without experiencing any image degradation or performance decreases. while having such a small footprint, the adapter is designed so that it can still be used with a HDMI to DVI-I single-link dongle if need be. The only real shortcoming with it is its single-link limitation, where it is confined to resolutions only up to 1920 x 1200. Meaning users with 2560 screens are out. Sanko lists support for Windows XP, Vista and 7 with the USB3TOHD and it's priced at 9,800 JPY (about US $124.30).

Source: Vr-Zone Via Hermitage Akihabara