Toshiba has announced that their new HD DVD recorder, the SD-H903A, will be available later in January. The drive is a regular 5.25″ form factor, runs on the SATA interface and is compatible with various DVD and CD formats. But don’t get too excited. This is a first generation model: write speeds are very limited. 1x on HD DVD-R (and Dual Layer) media, 8x on DVD-R and DVD+R media (2.4x on Dual Layer) and finally 10x on CD-R. Regardless, all the early adopters are going to want to get their hands on the drive. Too bad Toshiba is only shipping the drive to OEMs.

News source: DailyTech via MSFN

Seagate Technology was the first and only company to release a 750GB hard disk drive. Deciding to stay ahead of the competition, Seagate plans to be the first to release a 3.5-inch 1TB hard disk drive to the market. Such a feat can only be achieved with perpendicular recording: a technology where the bits are positioned perpendicularly and closer together on the magnetic platter. Performance should also be improved; fewer platters and heads will be used. Perpendicular recording technology increases drive reliability while reducing operating temperatures, power consumption, noise and weight. The 1TB Barracuda from Seagate is supposed to hit the market sometime in the first half of 2007. Until then, your “video collection” will have to be split into 2 x 500GB.

Source: DailyTech via MSFN

A Silicon Valley memory manufacturer plans to unveil what it claims to be the world’s fastest memory modules at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show. Patriot Memory said that it will be featuring working displays of the 1302MHz Extreme Performance PC2-10100 module. The models are over-clocked DDR-2 modules. DDR-2 chips normally operate at speeds of 667-800MHz. Although Patriot’s new modules may be the fastest, the act of over-clocking a memory module is hardly a technological breakthrough, according to Nam Hyung-Kim, director and principal analyst at research firm iSuppli.

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Source: vnunet

Before Nvidia lifts all the embargoes and all the other nonsense, let me introduce you to Adriane.

The cool chick was on the cover of the February 2006 Playboy model but rendered on Geforce 8800 GTX card she still looks cool. We won’t go on much about the chick I am sure you will hear enough about her today.

Oh, and Nvidia is launching three new chipsets for Core 2 Duo, Quad, Nforce 680i SLI, Nforce 650i SLI and Nforce 650i Ultra, details to follow but first some pictures.

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Source: The Inquirer

In a race with rival Advanced Micro Devices, Intel will bring its quad-core chips to market in a new line of Hewlett-Packard workstations due to be introduced on November 13.

HP sent out invitations to the event but did not specify exact models and prices. The computers will probably use Intel’s planned Xeon 5300 chip, and will be designed to run high-end applications like seismic analysis and visualization technologies from Ansys, Autodesk, Landmark Graphics, and Parametric Technology.

The launch would mean that Intel brings quad-core processors to market before AMD, a crucial win in a year when Intel has made as many headlines for its layoffs and missed earnings targets as for its technology.

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Source: PC World

DVDs will soon be tracked with embedded radio transmitter chips to prevent copying and piracy, according to the company which makes movie discs for Warner, Disney, Fox and other major studios. The technology, which can also be used for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs, will allow movie studios to remotely track individual discs as they travel from factories to retail shelves to consumers’ homes.

Home DVD players will eventually be able to check on the chip embedded in a disc, and refuse to play discs which are copied or played in the ‘wrong’ geographical region, the companies behind the technology expect. “This technology holds the potential to protect the intellectual property of music companies, film studios, gaming and software developers worldwide,” said Gordon Yeh, chief executive of Ritek Corporation. Ritek is the world’s largest DVD maker, and its U-Tech subsidiary will make the discs.

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Source: vnunet

Users of modchipped gaming consoles could face fines of thousands of dollars when new copyright protection laws are introduced this year by the Federal Government.

The new laws, which were released in draft form last week, are being introduced to honour Australia’s free trade agreement obligations with the US, and will effectively prohibit the use of devices and services designed to circumvent copy control technological protection measures (TPMs).

Until now, it has only been illegal to distribute or sell services or devices seeking to disable or override copy control technologies, but now users of such tools will also fall foul of the law once the legislation is introduced later this year.

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Source: SMH

Another example of spontaneous combustion by a Dell laptop has emerged accompanied by graphic images of the molten aftermath.

This latest report comes in the wake of a flaming Dell laptop that was captured on film in the act of exploding during a conference in Osaka in Japan last month and another Dell that reportedly burst into flames at an office in the US state of Illinois just last week.

A reader in Singapore, who has requested that he not be identified, told us his Dell laptop supplied to him by his company had been involved in a similar act of self-immolation.

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Source: SMH

This is something we’d thought would happen eventually, but not this soon. eCinema Systems announced that they’ve developed an LCD that surpasses CRT display quality, and is planning to launch it it by Q4 of this year.

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Source: Gizmodo via Flexbeta

Laptop prices have hit rock bottom in Australia with manufacturers pitching some branded models as low as $800 in a bid to win over new customers.

Plummeting prices and the desire for increased mobility are helping to tempt not only first-time computer buyers but also more seasoned customers looking to upgrade desktops or invest in a second machine, say retailers.

One of the cheapest laptops currently on the market is an Acer Aspire notebook priced in some outlets at around $890 with an additional $100 cashback from the manufacturer thrown in.

According to researcher IDC, competition in the low-cost sector of the laptop market is “furious” with the likes of Toshiba, HP and Dell all diving into Acer’s wake with some of lowest priced machines ever.

Andy Woo, PC analyst, at Gartner said laptop prices first began to slide below $1000 mid last year. “This is the first time we actually saw a notebook for around $900 to $950. Since then prices have dropped another 10 per cent,” he said.

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