ASUS Builds 18.4-Inch K Series High-End Laptop

High-end laptops with discrete GPUs may not show up all that often anymore, what with all CPUs having integrated graphics now, but they still make the cut from time to time, as ASUS clearly shows.

ASUS has completed a new member for the K-Series of mobile personal computers, one that carries the name of K93SM.

It tops the graphics performance of normal Sandy Bridge notebooks through the use of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 630M GPU.

Granted, the 630M isn't the strongest of discrete graphics, but it definitely beats the GMA HD inside the CPU and even has 1 GB of memory.

That said, buyers will get to select between the Intel Core i5-2450M and the Core i7-2670QM processors.

Up to 8 GB of RAM (random access memory) are present, along with a hard disk drive of 500 GB or 1 TB.

In other words, the read and write speeds, as well as access times, might not be the best, definitely not on par with those allowed by SSDs or hybrid drives.

Then again, ASUS isn't advertising the K93SM as an ultimate gaming beast, so there wasn't much need for that in the end.

Moving on, an 8x DVD writer is included in the feature set, although it is possible to replace it with a 6x Blu-ray combo unit.

Other specifications include Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, an USB 3.0 port, a 3-in-1 card reader, a chiclet keyboard and the IceCool technology, which makes sure the palm rest stays comfortable.

As for the 18.6-inch screen, it has a native resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and LED backlighting.

ASUS sells the K93SM for 849 Euro to 1,149 Euro and loaded with Microsoft's Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit operating system. That means between $1,127.38 and $1,525.75, or so exchange rates would have us believe.

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MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning Overclocked to 1800MHz, Memory Runs at 7.70GHz

MSI’s Lightning video cards have always been great overclockers, and the newly introduced Radeon HD 7970 Lightning seems to be no exception to this rule, as the card recently managed to reach an impressive 1800MHz GPU and 7.7GHz memory overclock.

The graphics card achieved this 89% core overclock by being cooled with liquid nitrogen and was put through a run of 3DMark 11.

With the overclocked graphics core and the 3GB of GDDR5 memory working at 1925MHz (from the regular 1.375GHz) Elmor, the Swedish overclocker behind this feat, managed to reach a score of P15035, reports TechPowerUp.

This is truly impressive for a single-GPU video card as it greatly surpasses the previous 3DMark 11 world record established by Nvidia’s GTX 580, which stood at P13144.

Besides the MSI-built Radeon HD 7970 Lightning graphics card, the rest of the system used in the overclocking attempt comprised an Intel Core i7-3960X Sandy Bridge-E processor clocked at 5,207MHz, and an MSI Big Bang XPower II motherboard.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 is AMD’s most powerful single-GPU graphics card to date and was officially introduced at the end of December 2011.

At its heart there stands the Tahiti XT GPU that is based on the company’s new Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture and includes 32 Compute Units, for a total of 2048 stream processors that are joined by 128 texture units, 32 ROP units and a 384-bit wide memory bus.

All the hardware logic that AMD had to cram into this GPU, makes Tahiti XT the most advanced graphics core ever built, since it features no less than 4.31 billion transistors packed inside a 365mm2 die made using TSMC’s 28nm High-K process. 

The current single-GPU 3DMark 11 world record is held by an Asus DirectCU II Radeon HD 7970, which scored P15063 in this benchmark.

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Samsung GALAXY S III Photo and Specs Leak, Might Be Real

Rumors on Samsung Galaxy S II sequel continue to pour in every day. Although we still don’t know for sure exactly when the smartphone is announced or any specs sheet details.

This is probably due to the fact that Samsung hasn’t decided yet when to launch the Galaxy S III. For all we know the smartphone might still be in development with features that could be introduced at the last minute.

Several images with the alleged Galaxy S III have already leaked, but we don’t know for sure if they’re the real thing or simple mockups.

Today, we have new info on the Galaxy S III specs sheet, along with a brand new photo that might be a real thing. 

However, this has to be taken with a grain of salt until Samsung comes forward with an official statement or more trustworthy sources confirm or denies it.

It appears that Dutch site GSM Helpdesk has been tipped by an anonymous source that the Samsung Galaxy S III is still on track for a May 22 release, though we’re just been told by a Samsung China exec that the smartphone will in fact be announced in April.

The unknown source also claims that the upcoming Galaxy S III will measure 131 x 64 x 8 mm and it will weigh around 125g (battery included). There’s a 1750 mAh Li-Ion battery inside, which has yet to be rated for autonomy. No word on wireless charging.

It will boast an impressive 4.7-inch Super AMOLED Plus with HD (720 x 1280 pixels) resolution. 

On the back, the smartphone sports an enhanced 12-megapixel camera with LED flash, autofocus and full HD (1080p@60fps) video recording. A slow-motion feature for the video camera has been reported as well.

The insides of the phone are a bit of a mystery, as the source only confirmed it would come with a quad-core processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, but avoided any comments regarding the info that leaked a few days ago which said the Galaxy S III would be equipped with an Exynos all-in-one chipset.

It will also pack 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. No word on the microSD card slot, but 32GB onboard memory seems quite a lot.

In the connectivity front, the following features have been confirmed by the anonymous source: HSDPA+ (42Mbps) and HSUPA (5.76Mbps), Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and HDMI output. It’s also rumored that the phone will be able to handle “dual carrier HSPA.” 

Last but not least, Samsung Galaxy S III will be powered by Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, but there’s nothing mentioned about TouchWiz UI.

We’re waiting for more sources to confirm at least some of these leaked features. Until then we can only speculate on the Galaxy S III hardware and software configuration.

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Nikon Short on D800 Digital SLR Camera

Remember the Nikon D800/D800E? The first camera that gained USB 3.0 certification? It looks like some people might have to wait for it longer than planned. 

Nikon is poised to start shipping the D800 and D800E tomorrow (March 22, 2012). 

Unfortunately, people may not be able to get one, and it isn't because of a product delay, not exactly. 

The company is going to formally release it on time, but it has warned that there will probably be a shortage of supply. 

Pre-orders have already surpassed Nikon's expectations, and with the number of customers only set to increase, this is understandable. 

We aren't about to go through all the specs of the camera again. You're all better off going here and getting the rundown anyway. Just don't have a heart attack when you see the prices.

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This Is Why the New iPad Runs Hotter

Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, suggests the temperature at which the iPad 3 operates is nothing short of a miracle, considering all the factors that come into play when the tablet is running at full brightness.

"The LED power at maximum brightness is 2.5 times that of the iPad 2," Soneira said in a telephone interview with the people at CNet.

Soneira explained that “[Apple] had to jack up the number of LEDs so the peak brightness is the same as on the iPad 2. That absolutely makes it warmer," he said.

Soneira carried out his own tests and found that the new iPad didn’t get uncomfortably warm when held in hand.

However, he did wish to highlight four key factors that contribute to the tablet’s warmer operating temperature. From the report:

1. Twice the LEDs: That means more heat coming from more LEDs. This is especially a problem at full brightness. 
2. 2.5X the power needed: The brightness efficiency is lower because the new iPad has more pixels (which means more transistors) compared to the iPad 2. More pixels and transistors take up more space, meaning less opportunity for light to pass. "So they basically have to blast light through the LCD to make it come out." Soneira adds: "I measured the LED power at maximum brightness--it's two and a half times greater than on the iPad 2." 
3. Battery generates more juice: The battery has to push out more power. This makes the battery warmer. 
4. Traditional LCD technology: Sharp's power-efficient IGZO technology was not ready for the new iPad. That forced Apple to use traditional--and less power efficient--amorphous silicon tech.

Soneira concluded that, “not only do the LEDs need two and a half times more power but the battery is going to run warmer.”

Apple’s new iPad boasts a 70 percent larger battery, “so what happens is that if you run your new iPad at full brightness, the battery run time is less because you only put in 70 percent more battery but you're using 150 percent more power," he said.

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Galaxy S III in April, Samsung China President Says

Samsung’s next flagship Android smartphone – the Galaxy S III – might become official as soon as next month, the latest reports on the matter suggest. 

Previously, the South Korean mobile phone maker has been rumored to plan the release of Galaxy S II’s successor for April or May, with an official word from Samsung that denied a possible release set for the next month. 

Today, however, we learn that the vendor might indeed be set to launch the smartphone in April, and that Samsung Greater China President Kim Young-Ha has confirmed that. 

According to him, the handset vendor has accelerated the production and moved the launch date from May to April. He also confirmed that Samsung was determined to become more aggressive on the smartphone segment and that it aimed at gaining even more market share than before. 

Galaxy S III is turning into the most expected smartphone of this half of the year, yet Samsung has to officially confirm its release date.

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iPad 3 Doesn’t Charge While Playing Graphics-Intensive Games

Consumer Reports has confirmed using a thermal imaging camera that Apple’s new iPad does tend to run a tad hotter than its predecessor. But, during their tests, they also found a more serious issue, apparently.

“Using a thermal imaging camera, Consumer Reports engineers recorded temperatures as high as 116 degrees Fahrenheit on the front and rear of the new iPad while playing Infinity Blade II,” reads the reviewers’ report.

“That’s within one degree of the 117-degree average temperature recorded at Furnace Creek Station in Death Valley, CA in July…”, said Consumer Reports.

When news broke out that the new iPad might exhibit overheating issues, Apple issued a statement claiming the device operates “well within our thermal specifications.”

However, Apple’s tech specs page for the iPad 3 states that its tablet computers should operate in temperatures between 32º F and 95º F.

“We ran our test while the new iPad was propped on the iPad Smart Cover, plugged in, and after it had run Infinity Blade II uninterrupted for about 45 minutes,” Consumer Reports explains. “The device’s 4G connection was not turned on, though its Wi-fi link was. The ambient room temperature was about 72 degrees.”

One Consumer Reports engineer said that, during their tests, he had held the tablet in his hands. “When it was at its hottest, it felt very warm but not especially uncomfortable if held for a brief period,” he noted.

However, Consumer Reports then noticed that the new iPad did not charge when running “Infinity Blade II,” despite being connected to a power source via cable.

“We also noticed that the new iPad wasn’t charging while the game was running and it was plugged in. In fact, the battery continued to drain. It charged normally, however, when we weren’t running a game,” their report reads.

Infinity Blade II is known to be one of the most graphically-demanding games on the App Store. It has recently been updated to support the new iPad's Retina display. It appears that the updated game is putting the A5X's four GPU cores to even more work (provided that Consumer Reports used the latest version of the game in its tests).

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Intel Scraps 3.4W Thunderbolt Cactus Ridge Chipset

As some may know, Intel is working on a new series of Thunderbolt chipsets, but it looks like the so-called Cactus Ridge line is not going to be as large as initially planned.

The Santa Clara, California-based company was known to be developing a 3.4W Cactus Ridge chip known as L3510H.

Now, though, it is said that the product has been scrapped in favor of the 2.8W L3510L. Truthfully, the latter isn't that different from the former, so we can understand the move.

Intel would have probably made some modifications if it had gone through with the initial plan, but now it doesn't have to.

L3150 has four channels and will replace Light Ridge 82523EF/EFL, the one launched back in late 2010.

It is smaller and more energy efficient too, not to mention more feature-packed: a DisplayPort redriver, a connection manager and a link controller exist. Samples are poised to be ready in April (2012).

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Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive Updated for Lumia Phones with Offline Navigation and More

Finish handset maker Nokia has just released updates for two of the most popular Windows Phone apps, Maps and Drive. 

Nokia Drive 2.0 is now available for download for Lumia smartphones. The latest version brings offline route planning and navigation, as well as notice of speed limits.

The user interface's design has been slightly improved, along with the application's overall performance. 

According to Nokia, Drive 2.0 also includes advanced dashboard with more details and list of recent destinations. Currently, Nokia Drive 2.0 provides is available in 100 countries on 6 continents.

Nokia Maps has been updated to version 1.3 and now allows users to see traffic situation in several countries. Aside from that and a few design improvements there's nothing notable worth mentioning. 

Nokia Drive 2.0 and Nokia Maps 1.3 are now available as free download in the Windows Phone Marketplace.

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Fujitsu Shows Off Stylistic m532 Quad-Core Android Tablet

Fujitsu isn’t that big of a name in the mobile space, but the Japanese company is looking to change that in the near future with the introduction of a new tablet, called the Stylistic m532, rocking Nvidia’s Tegra 3 quad-core chipset.

Ignoring the high-res screen trend imposed by Acer’s Iconia Tab A700 and the Asus Transformer Infinity, the m532 is built around a 10.1-inch screen capable of pushing a “mere” 1280x800 pixels.

Pop the display out and inside you will find Nvidia’s Tegra 3 SoC placed alongside 32GB of Flash storage, which should be enough for many users.

If this however doesn’t satisfy your needs, you can also expand the storage space available by installing a microSD card.

The slot required by this sort of cards is placed on the side of the tablet, right near a SIM card slot, a mini-HDMI output and a micro-USB port, the latter being used for charging and/or connecting the tablet to a computer.

An interesting addition is the presence of a bottom dock connector, but so far we don’t know if the Stylistic m532 will use a regular charging dock or something along the lines of the optional keyboard/docking station available for the Asus Transformer Prime.

Fujitsu’s Stylistic m532 also includes two cameras, one front webcam sporting a 2MP resolution and a rear 8MP snapper with flash.

From the video provided by Notebook Italia, one gets to see that the m532 sports quite a thin profile, while the back uses a nice black matte finish with a rubber feel to it.

Fujitsu’s tablet is expected to arrive in May this year, featuring a €549 (around $720) price tag. The Stylistic m532 slate runs the Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, operating system.

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