Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell CPU Overclocked to 7 GHz

All central processing unit series have a so-called flagship CPU, and for the Haswell collection, that highest-end chip is called Core i7-4770K. This has now been over-clocked to 7Ghz

Apple iPad

Apple has just unveiled it’s long anticipated tablet device, named the iPad. iPads will start shipping in about 60 days. Here’s the rundown on it:

• 1/2″ thick
• a featherweight 1.5lbs
• 9.7″ IPS display
• full multitouch touch-screen
• Comes in 3 storage sizes: 16GB ($499), 32GB ($599) and 64GB ($699)
• WiFi 802.11n & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. Some models will have 3G. Monthly data contracts available with AT&T. 3G models cost $130 more than WiFi-only models.
• 10 hrs battery life, 1 month in standby
• view in any direction – landscape or portrait and from any side.

The iPad is geared to be a Web surfing and multimedia device, so it can handle photos, iTunes, movies, TV, e-mail, and even video games. There is on-screen soft keyboard for those apps that need it. Unfortunately, like the iPhone, there is no Adobe Flash.

The iPad can run any app that runs on the iPhone and Apple has also updated the iPhone SDK so that apps can be developed for this sized display. Another key feature is the iBooks app that works with the newly created iBook Store, although Apple only has agreements with 5 publishers so far.

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Wii price drop

Nintendo today announced that beginning Sunday, September 27, the Wii drops by $50 to $199.99. Nintendo won't be messing with the bundle, however, with the package still including the Wii Remote controller (sorry, no Wii MotionPlus), Nunchuk controller and Wii Sports.

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Lenovo Touch screen Laptops

Lenovo has introduced two new PCs featuring touch screens that can be controlled with up to four fingers simultaneously.

The ThinkPad T400s is a laptop; the X200 is a tablet. They're designed to take advantage of the touch screen features found in the upcoming Windows 7 operating system. Also included is SimpleTap, a system for controlling the PCs' hardware settings via the touch screen.

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Lenvo on Tuesday unveiled two new computers with multi-touch capabilities that let users employ four fingers on the screen.

The new PCs are the ThinkPad T400s laptop and the X200 tablet PC.

Lenovo ThinkPad T400s laptop
(click image to enlarge)
Lenovo also unveiled SimpleTap, a feature that lets users access hardware functions such as adjusting screen brightness or locking the screen.

Both the T400s and X200 are available now. They will leverage Windows 7's touch capabilities when that operating system hits the shelves.

More Details on Multi-Touch

ThinkPad T400s laptops are aimed at engineering and design professionals. Its multi-touch capabilities will allow for up to four fingers to be used at time, letting two people collaborate on the computer by touching the screen together, Lenovo said.

Lenovo ThinkPad X200 tablet
(click image to enlarge)
The ThinkPad X200 tablet already supports one-finger touch, and multi-touch will let users use more gestures, such as pinching, tapping and flicking to go through documents or Web sites instead of using a mouse. This closely resembles the way the iPhone works.

"On a tablet form factor, where you can work on a flat surface, four-finger touch may actually make more sense, because that makes it easier to collaborate," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld.

Lenovo optimized the firmware for both devices to compensate for less precise taps on the screen such as when users are closing windows or navigating the Start menu, for example.

Why Multi-Touch?

"We're introducing multi-touch now because this is the time for multi-touch PCs," Lenovo spokesperson Kristy Fair said. "People are more familiar with touch screens, and touch is becoming part of life now," she told TechNewsWorld. "Also, the cost of displays has come down, and they offer better features and functionalities."

"Granted, users have to put the mouse down, but this can cut the completion time for a visual product from days to hours," Enderle said. "For large objects or for folks who can manipulate several things at once, true multi-touch is a powerful tool."

He expects other vendors to move to multi-touch and, later, to go beyond four-finger touch.

Both the T400s and X200 run Windows Vista now. Users can upgrade to Windows 7 when it is available on Oct. 22, Fair said.

On SimpleTap

Both devices feature SimpleTap, a technology that gives users access to hardware-based functions. Users double tap the screen anywhere to launch SimpleTap. This then opens up a grid of tiles. SimpleTap's grid tiles offer hardware-based functions such as turning on or off the wireless radio or microphone, previewing scenes in the camera, adjusting the volume or screen brightness, or putting the device in sleep mode. To exit SimpleTap, users tap the screen once.

"SimpleTap's a nice differentiator which allows touch to be more aggressively used to launch applications," Enderle said. "I expect it to become more widely adopted over time."

Tech Specs

The T400s has an Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) Core 2 duo SP9400 processor running at 2.4 GHz, or an SP9600s running at 2.53 GHz. It comes preloaded with Windows Vista or an XP Professional downgrade. It also has various office and other applications preloaded.

It has Intel Turbo memory; a 14-inch WXGA display with a resolution of 1,440 x 900 pixels, and is optimized for voice over IP (VoIP), with a 2 MP camera, improved speakers and dual digital microphones.

The T400s supports WWAN, WiMax, WLAN and Bluetooth . It has one standard USB 2.0 port, one powered USB 2.0 port and one eSATA/USB 2.0 combination port. For security, it has an integrated fingerprint reader.

The T-400s' screen has anti-fingerprint coating. It is available at US$1,999.

Lenovo's ThinkPad X200 tablet offers a choice of three Intel Core Duo processors, rated at 1.6 GHz, 1.86 GHz and 2.13 GHz. It runs Windows XP Tablet Edition 2005 or various flavors of Windows Vista.

It supports Intel WiMax/Wi-Fi and Intel Wireless Wi-Fi cards. It also supports gigabit Ethernet, integrated WWAN with GPS, and Bluetooth. Weight with an eight-cell battery is 3.88 pounds. The tablet comes with Acrobat reader; antivirus software and other applications preloaded.

Users who work out of doors can get an optional super-bright screen for the X200. "I think this feature will be a requirement in all laptops before too long," Enderle said. "People like to work outside and generally can't with the vast majority of products."

The X200 is priced at $1,654 with the multitouch screen and at $1,704 with both the multitouch screen and the super-bright outdoor screen

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WD announces 640GB Laptop HDD

Western Digital has announced that it has commenced volume shipments of its 9.5 mm high, 2.5-inch notebook hard drive with 640 GB capacity. The WD Scorpio Blue 640 GB hard drives utilize 320 GB-per-platter technology and are designed for mainstream notebook computers.

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AMD's second generation ultrathin platform is here.

Along with the new Vision branding initiative, AMD today also launched its new ultrathin mobile platform – codenamed Congo.

AMD had already decided that it wasn't going to partake in a war against Intel for the netbook market by creating an Atom competitor, but instead would make chips that were for similar form factors (small notebooks) but with more processing power (along with heftier power requirements).

The new Congo platform is composed of a low profile, energy-efficient Athlon Neo dual-core and integrated graphics on par with the previous generation's discrete part.

Pat Moorhead, VP of Advanced Marketing at AMD, explains Congo in simple terms as how it relates to the company's previous efforts: "It's real easy to describe the 2nd generation ultrathin design: Take the 1st generation, give it a second CPU core and take nearly the performance of the first generation’s discrete card, shrink it and place it into the chipset decreasing energy consumption."

The result is hardware fit for small form factor notebooks with some decent multimedia muscle too.

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Intel i7 & i5 explained

Intel's two new Core i7 CPUs (860 and 870) are mid-range counterparts to its top-of-the-line Core i7 900-series chips, and initial tests (using Intel's new DP55KG motherboard) indicate their performance follows suit. Our early tests also show the new entry-level Core i5 750 is the one to watch when it comes to best bang for your buck.

Intel's full processor breakdown--including the axing of its Core i7 940 processor--includes some potentially confusing differences between the chips. So here's what you need to know.

The existing Core i7 900-series processor lineup, codenamed Bloomfield, now features three separate products: 3.33-GHz Core i7 975, 3.06-GHz Core i7 950, and 2.66-GHz Core i7-920 processors. Between the Core i7-950 and Core i7-920 processors sit the new "Lynnfield" 2.93-GHz Core i7 870 and 2.8-GHz Core i7 860 processors. The brand-new, 2.66-GHz Core i5 750 CPU is a Lynnfield chip as well, but we'll get to that odd duckling further below.

Technology Differences
Intel took a big leap forward in the design department when it launched Core i7 900-series processors last November. Just a few of these included a new triple-channel memory controller integrated into the chip, a new QuickPath Interconnect system to replace (and improve upon) the front-side bus architecture of old, and the return of hyperthreading that split the chip's four physical cores into eight virtual cores for increased system performance. As the Core i7 900-series chips were based on a new Intel X58 chipset and LGA1366 socket, aspiring upgraders had to invest in new motherboards to reap the benefits of the Core i7 900-series platform.

That part still rings true for the new Core i7 800-series and Core i5 CPUs--all three run on Intel's latest P55 chipset and LGA1156 socket, which necessitates a new motherboard purchase for use. What's changed, however, is that the Core i7 800-series and Core i5 CPUs each adopt different permutations of the fanciest of the Core i7 900-series' features.

All three chips have dropped down from a QuickPath Interconnect and triple-channel memory controller to a Direct Media Interface and dual-channel memory controller. But don't freak out; This is more a loss of future-proofing than anything else given the minute performance differences between current dual- and triple-channel memory configurations.

An integrated PCI Express graphics controller on the Lynnfield CPUs can either deliver 16 lanes of bandwidth to a single PCI Express 2.0 videocard or split this connection into two x8 lanes for an SLI or CrossFire setup. Although it's a cut from the full 32 lanes (for a dual 16x or quad-8x configuration) provided by Core i7's X58 chipset, the bandwidth reduction should only affect those crazy enough to SLI or CrossFire dual-GPU videocards on a Lynnfield setup.

Turbo Boost: Automatic Overclocking

The new Core i7 800-series CPUs and the Core i5 750 still support the same automatic overclocking functionality, or Turbo Boost, as the Core i7 900-series processors. However, this feature has been jacked up on the newer chips. Core i7 900-series CPUs will only increase their multipliers to a maximum of two additional steps according to system demands (effectively taking a 3.33-GHz processor to 3.6-GHz depending on how many cores are in use). The new Lynnfield processors are able to jump up five multiplier steps for the 800-series chips (taking a 2.93-GHz processor to 3.6-GHz) and four for the Core i5 750 (2.66-GHz to a maximum 3.2-GHz).

Performance
Both Core i7 800-series processors support hyperthreading the same as their Core i7 900-series brethren. The Core i5 750 does not-its four physical cores are all that will appear in your operating system's task manager. Even so, the CPU's noteworthy performance makes it an excellent value for its roughly $200 price. We only saw a performance difference of 5 percent between the Core i5 750 and the roughly $555 Core i7 870 (based on WorldBench 6 testing of the two CPUs on identical system builds). In fact, the Core i5 750's score of 127 falls right around the scores set by competing Value and Power PCs that use Core i7 920 processors.

Test Bed: Intel DP55KG Motherboard, 4GB DDR3 1333 RAM, ATI Radeon HD 4890 graphics, 2x Seagate ST3750630AS hard disks (Raid 0), Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit Service Pack 2

So where does that leave the Core i7 870? Given that its price is almost identical to that of the high-end 3.06-GHz Core i7 950 CPU, a processor that natively runs faster than the 2.93-GHz Core i7 870, it's difficult to see the compelling reason to pick up this chip. The Turbo Boost feature of the Core i7 870 does ultimately beat the speeds of the Core i7-950's, but for the enthusiast market, the increased memory support and bandwidth for multi-GPU setups might not be worth giving up. The Core i7 860 is more reasonably priced at $285, provided you can make sufficient use of its hyperthreading functionality.

It remains to be seen just how far the Core i7 800-series CPUs will overclock compared to the Core i7 900-series chips-the lower power draws of the 800-series processors could make quite a difference in this area. As for the Core i5 750, this chip looks to be a solid winner for those looking to dip their toes into the Nehalem platform without breaking the bank-given Intel's dramatic price points, that's always a strong possibility.

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ASUS: low cost Dual screen ebook reader

Asus is reportedly working on its own entry into the e-book reader market: a dual-screened reader that will open like an actual book. Details are sparse at this time, but one of the more intriguing aspects of the story involves the device's supposed price point. Asus reportedly intends to target the price of $165, significantly undercutting the kings of the market, Amazon and Sony.

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