VenomRX True Viper Neurotoxin Edition "Super Stylish with Cable Management"

Named after an Old World vipers.
TRUE VIPER, the perfect gaming case.
Top notch airflow for using 12cm front bright LED fan, 12cm top bright LED fan, and 19cm side bright LED fan. D-type side acrylic panel give big view inside case. Front panel have a touch of VENOMRX bright light logo. Cable management system and side hdd removable rack ensure simplify and neatly assemble parts. This case is slenderly built and gracefully proportioned between price and performance makes it No.1 choice of gamers case.

Read More

Microsoft ARMs Windows 8 Technology

Preparing for a World of Non-x86 Tablets and Desktops. When Intel introduced the Atom in 2008, was the master plan to take forward the X86 processor architecture suitable for products such as mobile phones. In fact, in the market for mobile phones has reportedly ARM share of 98%, thus comparable to X86 in the PC world. Indeed, there are an average of 2.6 ARM chips in a modern phone! ARM is a completely different architecture and thus these processors speak a different language.

' Microsoft has finally made it official, announcing that its next operating system, Windows 8, will support ARM-based processors. This represents a major shift away from the company's x86 tunnel vision, hearkening back to the days of multiplatform Windows NT, and properly identifying a changing marketplace where the powerful Wintel machine continues to lose steam.

On the Microsoft side, this announcement is simply good business. ARM-based processors control the majority of the system-on-a-chip (SoC) market for handheld devices, and Microsoft simply wants to get some of that heat. By not supporting ARM, the company risks losing market share to insurgents like Google Android or Apple iOS, and perhaps even ceding the mobile market entirely.


The ARMs Race

Microsoft already supports ARM-based smartphones and similar handheld devices with Windows Phone and CE, but this latest announcement extends full-blown Windows to ARM-based tablets, notebooks and potentially even desktops, assuming ARM makes a push there. ARM-based tablets are already here, small-form-factor netbooks and all-in-one desktops are not far off, and Microsoft sees the platform's potential.

ARM has not disguised its intention to take on Intel in virtually all markets, even going so far as to launch a small server entry of its own. The challenge is very real, as low-power ARM processors have taken over large portions of the smartphone, handheld and tablet markets, and this announcement sets the company up for a push even higher in the PC channel.

A large part of this momentum is due to the ARM business structure, which does not make or sell any physical hardware, but licenses designs to third-party developers who then produce the actual silicon. This gives ARM incredible flexibility and the potential to overwhelm any single company based on the sheer number of ARM partners.

Now that Microsoft has effectively opened up the doors to the lucrative Windows-based tablet, notebook and desktop segments, ARM now has the entire digital marketplace at its fingertips. Exactly how all this affects the powerful Wintel alliance is anyone's guess, but it certainly does not look like a match made in heaven.

Time for a Rewrite

The upcoming Windows 8 OS may be programmed for ARM-based processors, but that does not mean the upstart will get a free ticket to the existing application base. ARM and x86 are very different architectures and will require existing Windows apps to be significantly rewritten for use on ARM hardware.

This is not a scenario where a quick port will do, and it extends to system drivers and other software, all of which need to be revised for the ARM architecture. This means that Microsoft and its partners have a lot of work ahead to get the Windows 8 ARM software library anywhere near its x86 counterpart. This could be solved through virtualization, where x86 code is translated into ARM code, but that would place a heavy processing demand on these tiny, low-power chips.

ARM processors are small and run very cool, but fall behind their Intel and AMD x86 counterparts in terms of outright performance. This adds another level of complexity to the development job, especially concerning the overhead from the operating system and applications.

The breadth of an operating system's application base is integral to its success, and Microsoft knows that a healthy software library will help drive Windows 8 ARM sales. There should be no problem on the Microsoft side of things, and the company is already demoing Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer for ARM. The question is whether the legion of third-party software publishers will also jump on board the ARM bandwagon.

There is a definite economic benefit to rewriting popular programs for ARM, as the potential hardware base looks good for tablets, and should only expand in the future. Whether that makes sense today is the open question, especially as tablets are viewed as consumer rather than business devices, but now that Microsoft has officially supported ARM, most partners will follow.

Another potential issue for Microsoft is communicating that Windows 8 for ARM will not allow tablet or mobile users to install their existing x86-based software. With two different Windows 8s, this may cause some confusion in the retail marketplace, along with a reevaluation of what the Windows logo means to platform compatibility.

Intel Plays It Cool

Intel responded to this announcement in a traditional manner, downplaying any of the negatives and even spinning this potentially bad news into a positive. Intel contends that while ARM has gotten a free ticket into the tablet/notebook market with Windows 8, so too has Intel gained access to tablets, smartphones and other mobile devices.

This presents an opportunity for Intel to challenge ARM on its home field, potentially taking away market share in Windows-based phones, tablets and slates. Software drives hardware, and while ARM will face considerable challenges here, this could be Intel's greatest advantage.

The ability to run existing, or slightly modified, x86 software on Intel-based processors will be a powerful tool in getting ARM hardware vendors to switch platforms, especially with bridge devices like tablets. Familiarity, existing developer partnerships and overall portability will be key elements to this strategy, and could be similar to Atom-based netbooks, which can run virtually all x86-based software, albeit with some performance concerns.

Intel could also take a different angle, and convince developers to create x86-exclusive code, thereby cutting the ARM-based devices out, and heightening the attractiveness of the Intel x86 platform. The danger in this type of move is that it splinters the market, eliciting confusion in customers -- whom you want buying and not worrying -- as well as opening the door to an ARM-only killer app.

It is not all wine and roses for Intel, as ARM SoC processors are less expensive and run cooler than their Intel counterparts, and these are very important factors with tablets and smartphones. Closing the gap with new low-power Intel processors is going to be the main challenge, while promoting the performance advantage over comparable ARM models.

On the notebook and desktop side, Intel just got a wake-up call and its position as undisputed market leader could come under heavy attack. The Microsoft Windows 8 announcement has totally shifted the landscape, and soon Intel will no longer have just AMD to contend with, but also an army of ARM partners. Nvidia has already announced its "Project Denver," a plan to build ARM-based CPU/GPU hybrids for market segments ranging from servers to workstations.

Waiting for 2013

While it is refreshing to see Microsoft acknowledge the market presence of the ARM processor and help set the company up for the future, some would prefer that the future is now. Microsoft's release date for the multiplatform Windows 8 is slated for sometime in 2012 or more likely 2013, and this is definitely not sitting well with current x86 partners, some of whom see Microsoft dragging its heels in order to support the ARM architecture and tablets in general.

Google Android is already out in the wild, as is the iOS for iPad, both of which look to be the two major players in the emerging tablet market. If Microsoft does not watch out, the tablet wars could be over before Windows 8 even hits the market. '

Read More

Dell Vostro V130 The Glamorous Life

Don't let the stunning display, great speakers, and glossy finish fool you: The Dell Vostro V130 is intended for business users, although you don't have to be a business user to appreciate this 13.3-inch lightweight's combination of power, understated elegance, and multimedia delight.

The only obvious gotcha, aside from a touchpad glitch on my test machine, is the battery's brief runtime -- two hours in my multimedia-heavy tests. Dell offers no high-capacity/extended-life alternatives, and the battery is nonremovable so you can't carry a spare. So if that's a concern, stop here -- but otherwise, the Vostro V130 is one impressive slimline.

Choices Galore

The 3.5-pound Vostro is available in several models, which Dell's Web site makes incredibly -- bordering on impossibly -- difficult to tell apart without having to click through each one. By way of a cheat sheet, the Ubuntu V130 pairs an Intel Celeron processor with Ubuntu Linux and starts at $429; the Essential model has the same CPU and Windows 7 Home Premium for $558; the Enhanced steps up to a Core i3 processor starting at $628; and the top of the line, with the odd name "New," boasts a Core i5 CPU for $753.


Options include going from 2GB of DDR3 memory to 4GB ($70); from Win 7 Home Premium to Professional 64-bit ($70); and from the regular Aberdeen Silver to a Lucerne Red finish ($40). My test unit was an Enhanced (Core i3) Vostro V130 with all these extras, bringing the price to a reasonable $808 with a 320GB hard drive.

As with most machines in this size and weight class, there's no internal optical drive. Dell offers an 8x USB external DVD±RW drive for $80 (and you can get good third-party USB optical drives -- and you should have one in your bag of tricks, anyway -- for under $50).

The support options are surprisingly reasonable, with one year's next-business-day on-site service included in the price and three years' ditto costing $190. Dell's accidental damage service ($99 for three years) covers repair and replacement for drops, spills, surges, and breakages (but excludes theft, loss, and damage due to fire, flood or other acts of nature). That's decent coverage for about $100 per year, though you may want to price-shop -- check with your insurance carrier and third-party offerings like Safeware.com.


While easy to carry at 9.1 by 13 by 0.8 inches, the Vostro V130 makes room for a good variety of ports and connectors, led by HDMI as well as VGA video outputs and three USB 2.0 ports (one an eSATA combo port). Both 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are standard, as is a slot for a SIM card for mobile broadband.

A Tired Touchpad

Physically, the Dell feels comfortingly solid. The cover opens quickly and simply -- no latch. Unlike one or two other machines I've tried, the V130 "kept on ticking" when I picked the system up and even shook it slightly -- kudos to the disk protection. Boot-up took just under one minute.

As with all machines I test, I spent several days using it for work and work-like activities -- mostly word processing and Web surfing, opening up dozens of windows in Internet Explorer and Firefox, photo editing using Google Picasa and uploading to Flickr, and plenty of multimedia listening and watching.

The keyboard is full-sized, and, for a notebook keyboard, quite good. (My work involves a lot of typing -- and I'm used to using a curved-format ergonomic keyboard.) It's not as comfortable as the best of the Lenovo ThinkPad keyboards, but it's more than good enough.

The touchpad, oddly, punked out after 10 or so minutes in most sessions and stopped working. Rebooting fixed the problem, but nothing short of rebooting would. (A USB mouse worked fine throughout.) A thread on Dell's support forums says this glitch is fixed by installing the latest Synaptics driver, but it's still annoying.

The 1,366 by 768 display is impressively bright and colorful. I did my best to search out challenging content, from high-def movie trailers to high-res image editing. Everything looked lovely.

And I spent a lot of time listening -- using the Vostro as my office radio with mostly either Pandora or NPR. The sound was, quite frankly, the best of any notebook I've tested to date, good enough that I was happy to listen to it all day.

Given the 4GB of RAM and dual-core, Hyper-Threading Core i3-380UM (1.33GHz, 3MB cache) processor, everything ran without any noticeable hesitation. A better indicator of the raw power in this box is how near-instantly software installs went.

But the Vostro's Achilles' heel, as mentioned, is its battery life. The six-cell battery pack is rated at a skimpy 30 watt-hours; it did deliver the two hours that the Windows Taskbar indicator promised, and it's possible that tweaking the settings (or focusing on office rather than multimedia apps) might stretch another 15 to 30 minutes from it, but there's no way you'll get a half day or more of untethered work. As it is, you've got enough juice for a session at a coffee shop or while waiting for an airplane, but you'll want to pack the AC power brick with you.

That said, if the limited battery capacity isn't a showstopper, I recommend this machine without hesitation, especially if you like to listen to MP3s or Internet audio while you work. It scores well above average for both style and performance.

source : here

Read More

GeForce GTX460 WHDI: world's first wireless graphics card

What you're looking at is the world's first wireless graphics card affectionately dubbed the KFA2 (aka, Galaxy) GeForce GTX460 WHDI 1024MB PCIe 2.0. The card uses five aerials to stream uncompressed 1080p video from your PC to your WHDI enabled television (or any display courtesy of the bundled 5GHz WHDI receiver) at a range of about 100 feet. Otherwise, it's the same mid-range GTX 460 card we've seen universally lauded with 1024MB of onboard RAM helping to make the most of its 336 CUDA cores. Insane, yes, but we'd accept nothing less from our beloved graphics cards manufacturers.


It’s the first graphics card with built-in WHDI which wirelessly sends an uncompressed 1080P, 60Hz signal to the included WHDI receiver connected to your display. You’ll of course need a wireless mouse and keyboard to complete the setup, but it seems like a particularly great solution for an HTPC since you don’t need to have it running alongside the TV in your living room.

Read More