Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs to Launch on April 29, More Models on June 3

The rumored April 29 release of Intel’s next-gen 22nm Ivy Bridge processors was apparently confirmed by a recently leaked company slide which also mentions that a second batch of third generation Core chips will arrive on June 3, 2012.

The initial release will cover the third-generation Core i5 and Core i7 desktop products with prices ranging from $184 to $332 (141 to 254 EUR), and Core i7 mobile chips.

On June 3, Intel will out a new series of Ivy Bridge CPUs that have lower power requirements, as well as the Q77 and Q75 motherboard chipsets.

According to the same slide leaked by Donanim Haber, the last batch of next-gen 22nm processors is scheduled for the summer of 2012, when Intel will introduce a series of new SKUs in the entry-level Core i3 and Pentium product lines.

As far as chipsets are concerned, on April 29, Intel will unveil the Z77, H77, Z75 and B75 platform controller hubs for desktop systems and the HM77, UM77, HM76 and HM75 notebooks chipsets.

Ivy Bridge is the code name used for the 22nm die shrink of the current Sandy Bridge chips, and features basically the same architecture but with a few minor tweaks and improvements.

This includes a new on-die GPU that will come with full DirectX 11 support, as well as with 30% more EUs than Sandy Bridge, in order to offer up to 60% faster performance than current Core CPUs according to Intel.

In addition, the processor cores have also received some minor tweaks as their AVX performance was slightly increased and Intel has updated the integrated PCI Express controller to the 3.0 standard.

More details regarding the specifications of Intel’s Ivy Bridge CPUs are available in this article, while a preview of the HD 4000 graphics core, included in the Core i7-3770K, is available here.

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The New iPad Is All Battery Inside

Knowing that the iPad 2 boasts a 25-watt-hour battery that already takes up three quarters of the space inside its chassis, one has to wonder how much room can the new iPad’s 42.5-watt-hour battery take?

The lot, according to Jordan Kahn of 9to5mac, who easily deducted that the rechargeable lithium-polymer battery with 70 percent more capacity will cover almost the entire surface area of the new tablet computer.

Apple increased the size of the battery mainly to cope with the much more powerful A5X processor that outputs crisp graphics onto a Retina display made up of a whopping 3.1 million pixels.

That’s not all though. The battery also needs to provide 10 hours of “wireless productivity” in accordance with Apple’s marketing materials. 3G radios are power hungry enough. The new LTE chips found inside the third-generation iPad will have an even greater appetite.

Granted, Apple does say the new iPad offers only 9 hours of productivity on LTE.

Not to mention that the A5X is said to have double the RAM of the A5. According to Kahn, 1GB of random access memory “would [also] require additional power.”

All in all, Apple made every effort imaginable to keep the longstanding battery life of the iPad in place.

Prior to Apple’s March 7 event in San Francisco, I’d been asked by some of my Twitter followers whether I believed the next-generation iPad would offer less battery life, the culprit being all of the rumored enhancements.

My answers were swift, mainly because of the 140 character limit that the microblogging service imposes per each message, but also because I knew Apple would never downgrade such a vital aspect like battery life.

It’s simply not good for business. I estimated that whatever sorcery Apple had to pull in order to keep marketing the iPad with its 10 hour battery, they’d do it. Between you and me, it was a no brainer.

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CeBIT 2012: Single Slot AMD Radeon HD 7850 Showcased by AFOX

Virtually unknown outside of Asia, AFOX, a Hong Kong-based graphics card maker, showcased during this year’s CeBIT fair an innovative Radeon HD 7850 model that occupies a single slot inside the systems case.

AFOX’s latest creation, which is called the AF7850-1024D5S1, is based on a redesigned PCB that makes the card slightly longer than the reference HD 7850 design.

This is covered by a long plastic shroud which carries AMD’s and AFOX’s logos.

The cooling system comprises a large aluminum heatsink with tightly-packed fins, while the heat is drawn from the GPU via a copper plate.

Air is flown through the aluminum channels by a large diameter blower type fan which sits at the front of the graphics card.

While VR-Zone hasn't provided us with any pictures showing the base of the cooling assembly, it is pretty safe to assume that the card sports some kind of VRM and memory chip cooling.

Despite its single-slot design, the AFOX single-slot Radeon HD 7850 comes with an almost full set of display connectors, which includes a dual-link DVI port, a full-size HDMI 1.4a port, a DisplayPort 1.2 video output, as well as a full-size DisplayPort connector.

As far as the operating frequencies of the card are concerned, the GPU comes slightly overclocked to work at 900MHz instead of AMD’s recommended 860MHz.

However, the video buffer memory was cut to just 1GB, from the Radeon HD 7850 stock 2GB, and underclocked by 75MHz (300MHz effectively), for an effective clock speed of 4.5GHz compared to the reference 4.8GHz.

AFOX hasn’t provided any details regarding the pricing or availability of its graphics card.

The Radeon HD 7850 is based on the Pitcairn Pro core and it packs 1024 stream processors, 64 texturing units, 32 ROP units and the GPU is linked to the 2GB of video buffer via a 256-bit wide memory interface.

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Raspberry Pi Delayed Because of Component Mix-Up

All the hype raised around the Raspberry Pi single-board, credit card-sized PC continues to rise, but not all is well on the company's side. 

The Raspberry Pi Foundation actually ran into a small manufacturing problem that has already pushed back the start of shipments. 

Long story short, the factory used non-magnetic Internet jacks in the PCs instead of magnetic ones. 

That means that none of the Raspberry Pi made so far, save for those produced after the discovery, have network support. 

Hopefully, the “slight delay” will be negligible, especially after how successful the first batch of orders was. 

The retailers distributing the Linux PCs may have been partially at fault for not accurately estimating the demand, but it still takes a certain kind of product for the amount of orders to crash both of their servers.

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Samsung Confirms Android 4.0 ICS for GALAXY S II for March 10

Rumors on the long-awaited Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for Samsung Galaxy S II have come and gone, but the Korean handset maker did not confirm any release dates.

It was originally believed that Samsung will deploy an Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Galaxy Note on March 1, followed by an update for the Galaxy S II within the next few days.

It appears that the information wasn't that accurate, as Galaxy Note is still stuck on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. However, Samsung Galaxy S II has just been confirmed for an ICS update on March 10.

According to Samsung Philippines, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 upgrade for Galaxy S II will be available on March 10. 

The update can be downloaded via Kies 2.0, but users are recommended to download and install the latest version of Samsung's desktop sync software.

Keep in mind that Samsung Kies 1.5 does not supports upgrading to Ice Cream Sandwich. There's a chance that the update will be delivered FOTA in some regions, but that will require users to connect to a high-speed, reliable Wi-Fi network.

Although the information comes through official channels, it's unusual that the announcement was published solely by Samsung Philippines. 

In fact, they already pulled it from their site, but the folks over at Engadget managed to get a screenshot which confirms the intel.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich will bring Samsung Galaxy S II several new features, including Face Unlock and Android Beam. In addition, the Mobile Network Data usage function has been added as well.

Curiously, the update's changelog states that “because of ICS OS feature, Adobe flash and Bluetooth 3.0 HS” will not be supported (Bluetooth 3.0 will work).

The update requires at least 60MB through Kies, and 250MB if the update is made FOTA. This Ice Cream Sandwich update will only be available for Samsung GT-I9100, which means that carrier-bounded models will receive the update in the following weeks.

UPDATE: It appears that Samsung has come forward with an official statement, which denies the above info. The company says that Samsung Philippines made a mistake by posting the March 10 release date for Android 4.0 ICS for Galaxy S II.

Moreover, Samsung confirmed  that more details on the upcoming ICS update will be available through its Twitter account. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

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CeBIT 2012: Caterpillar Showcases CAT B10 Indestructible Android Phone

Caterpillar, yes you got that right, has just announced the upcoming availability of its rugged Android phone called CAT B10. The smartphone will be released on the market at the end of May.

Potential customers who want to purchase the device would have to shell out no less than 380 EUR (about 500 USD). The folks at The Verge had the chance to play with the phone at the CEBIT 2012 exhibition, in Hannover, Germany.

According to them, CAT B10 runs Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread operating system and sports a 3.2 capacitive touchscreen display that features Asahi coating, which protects it against scratches and scrapes.

It has all sorts of rugged certifications and is powered by an 800 Mhz single core processor. It also sports a 5-megapixel rear photo snapper and a VGA front-facing camera. 

The good news is that it will receive an Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade by the end of the year. For more pictures check out The Verge's gallery.

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Toshiba’s Tegra 3 Powered 13.3-Inch Tablet Pictured

With the AT200 now successfully launched, Toshiba is looking to expand its tablet range with several new devices this year, including a 13.3-inch slate that will be powered by Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3 chipset.

The 13.3-inch monster was showcased by the company during a press conference held recently in the UK.

Despite its impressive screen size, Pocket Lint reports that the tablet seemed extremely light when held in hand without being as cumbersome as one might expect.

Along the sides of the tablet, Toshiba placed the usual USB and HDMI ports, as well as an SD card slot. Rear and front cameras were also present.

The 13.3-inch Toshiba tablet presented during the event was just an early concept, but a company spokesperson told Pocket Lint that if the consumer reaction was good, the slate could go into production.

"We’re just gauging customer feedback at the moment. We can’t comment on whether we’ll actually launch this size of product, but it’s an idea of what we’re currently considering," said Paul Hicks, Toshiba’s product manager for the company’s tablet business.

In addition to the 13.3-inch Tegra 3 powered tablet concept, Toshiba also showcased during the event a 7.7-inch slate prototype that was running the same Nvidia quad-core processors.

However, the Japanese company doesn’t plan to stop here and is looking beyond these two models, even considering multiple operating systems for its future products.

"We are looking at variable sizes of tablets and various operating systems," said Hicks.

"It’s a very interesting market for Toshiba. We will be launching further models throughout 2012, and it’s a market that we’re very much investing in.

"The tablet concepts that we’re showing here today just show what we’re potentially looking at launching in the future, or products that we’re considering and gauging feedback from customers."

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CeBIT 2012: Budget Friendly ECS Z77H2-A3 Ivy Bridge Motherboard Detailed

Together with the company’s Black Series of high-end Intel Z77 motherboards we detailed previously, ECS will also introduce a more budget friendly LGA 1155 solution based on the same chipset, dubbed the Z77H2-A3.

Compared to its more powerful siblings, the Z77H2-A3 is designed for single-GPU systems, which means that it comes featuring a single PCI Express x16 add-on slot.

This is however PCI Express Gen 3.0 compliant, so when the ECS motherboard is paired with an Intel Ivy Bridge processor, it will provide a full 16GB/s of bandwidth to the graphics card installed.

Other add-on cards can be installed in the four PCI Express x1 slots available in the Z77H2-A3 or in the two 32-bit legacy PCI slots provided.

As far as storage is concerned, the Z77H2-A3 features a total of six SATA ports, all of these driven by the Intel Z77 chipset, two of which are working at 6Gbps speeds.

Moving to the back of the board, we get to see the usual assortment of ports and connectors, which includes Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio, as well as the mandatory D-Sub, DVI and HDMI video outputs.

Two SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports are also provided, along with a slew of regular USB 2.0 connectors.

A motherboard on-board header provides two additional USB 3.0 ports to the Z77H2-A3, which can be easily routed to the front of the case.

According to TechPowerUp, power to the CPU is provided via a simple 6-phase VRM, which, all things considered, should be enough for most Ivy Bridge processors.

No information regarding the launch date of the Z77H2-A3 has been provided by ECS, but the motherboard seems to be targeting the sub-$150 (113 EUR) market.

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CeBIT 2012: AMD Socket FM2 Motherboards with A85 FCH to Arrive in June

Together with the launch of its next-gen Trinity APUs, AMD also plans to release a new chipset for these processors called the A85 FCH (Fusion Controller Hub), which support the company’s new FM2 socket.

The first motherboards based on this chipset will arrive in June 2012, according to the ComputerBase website, which has received this information from industry sources present at the CeBIT fair.

Little is known about the A85 FCH as far as its specifications are concerned, but USB-IF revealed late last year that native USB 3.0 support was to be expected.

Starting with the summer of 2012, consumers will be able to pair motherboards powered by the AMD A85 Fusion Controller Hub with A10- or A8-Series desktop APUs.

The most advanced of these APUs will be launched in the A10-Series, which previous reports suggest includes the A10-5800K and the A10-5700 processors.

Both of these chips pack four processing cores, 4MB of Level 2 cache memory, support for AMD’s Turbo Core technology and DDR3-1866 memory, as well as an on-board Radeon HD 7660D GPU with 384 shaders.

In the case of the A10-5800K the operating speed of the CPU is set at 3.8GHz (4.2GHz max Turbo), while its smaller brother has a base clock of 3.4GHz and 4GHz maximum Turbo.

In the A8-Series, AMD will release the A8-5600K and A8-5500 APUs, both of these chips featuring pretty much the same specs as the A8-Series Trinity processors, but coming with the slower HD 7560D GPU which packs 256 Radeon cores.

The base clock speed of the A8-5500 is set at 3.2GHz (3.7GHz max Turbo), while the A8-6500K works at 3.6GHz with a 3.9GHz maximum Turbo speed.

More details regarding the specifications of the AMD A85 chipset are expected to arrive in the next couple of months, as we get nearer to Trinity’s launch.

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Nokia Lumia 610 Spotted at FCC, Possibly Headed to AT&T

The cheapest Lumia series smartphone is about to make its debut in the United States. Nokia Lumia 610 has yet to be confirmed in North America by the Finnish company.

However, it looks like the Windows Phone device has just been spotted at the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) by the folks over at Engadget. 

There’s no telling if the phone will be available in the United States through official channels, but the FCC documents indicate that the smartphone received approval for GSM 850 / 1900 radios, which makes it compatible with AT&T’s network.

Even if the Lumia 610 won’t be launched through any US-based carriers, there’s a chance that owners will be able to use it with AT&T.

Nokia officially confirmed that Lumia 610 would be available in Q2 2012 for a suggested retail price 250 US dollars (189 Euro) outright. The phone might be offered for free on select plans via different carriers in the United States.

Given the fact that this is the most affordable Windows Phone device launched by Nokia, customers should not expect any impressive technical specs, on the contrary.

The Lumia 610 is equipped with an 800 MHz single-core processor and packs 8GB of internal memory and only 256 MB of RAM. Obviously, there’s no microSD card slot for memory expansion.

Furthermore, the smartphone sports a decent 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen display (480 x 800 pixels) that features Corning Gorilla Glass coating. There’s also a 5-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash and HD (720p) video recording. 

Currently, Nokia is already selling the Lumia 710 in the United States through T-Mobile. In addition, the company is close to releasing the Lumia 900 via AT&T. That would make the Lumia 610 the third Nokia smartphone to be released in the United States through various major carriers.

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