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Buffalo Japan introduced a new generation LinkTheater product, the LT-V200. The device is basically a multi-format media player, which is nothing new, but then it also features an internal SATA port to hold a hard drive, apart from its USB connectivity, which lets it act as a DLNA-compliant NAS server. It also features a Remote Play function, that lets it stream media wirelessly to iOS and Android devices. Apart from the internal SATA port, the LT-V200 features two USB 2.0 ports (one each, front and back), it connects to the network over 10/100 Ethernet. It features a SD card slot.

As a media player, the LT-V200 supports nearly every popular video format, including MPEG-1/2, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, WMV9, DivX, DivX HD, Real Video, and FLV. Audio formats supported include AAC, MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, FLAC, Real Audio, Dolby Digital and DTS. Outputs include HDMI, SPDIF TOSLINK and Coaxial, and Component. Slated for launch in early February, the Buffalo LT-V200 will cost 14,000 JPY (US $182.4).



Source: Akihabara News

Logitech International today announced financial results for the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2012. Sales for Q3 FY 2012 were $715 million, down 5 percent from $754 million in Q3 FY 2011. Changes in exchange rates did not have an impact on sales compared to the prior year. Operating income was $70 million, down 8 percent from $76 million in the same quarter a year ago. Net income for Q3 FY 2012 was $55 million ($0.32 per share) compared to net income of $65 million ($0.36 per share) in Q3 of FY 2011. Gross margin for the quarter was 36.2 percent compared to 36.0 percent one year ago.

Logitech's retail sales for Q3 FY 2012 decreased by 4 percent, with an increase in Asia of 13 percent, a decrease in EMEA of 5 percent and a decrease in the Americas of 8 percent. OEM sales decreased by 24 percent. Sales for the LifeSize division grew 6 percent.

Silicon Line GmbH, a leading provider of ultra-low power analog ICs, today announced that it has brought to market the SL82728 and SL82718 ICs targeted at notebooks, ultrabooks and tablets using the latest VESA based Embedded DisplayPort standard. The ICs are used to optically connect the graphics processor to the display and enable the replacement of traditional electrical connectors with optical connectors.

Strong consumer demand for high resolution retina type displays and 3D technology is driving the data rates inside mobile devices ever higher. These extremely high data rates not only generate significant EMI when traditional electrical cables are used to transport the data but also are reaching the limits of the practical capabilities of electrical cables.

A lot has been said about NVIDIA's upcoming product with which it will compete against AMD's Radeon HD 7900 series, except of course, pictures, benchmarks, and so on. Chinese tech forum ChipHell accused NVIDIA of deploying shills across forums to shape public opinion about the already-launched HD 7900 series, towards waiting for NVIDIA's competitive product, these include blind talk about imaginary performance superiority, killer price, etc.

Chinese forums have recognized patterns in this spurt of anti-AMD and pro-HD 7970 imaginary-competitor product posts and banned scores of user accounts engaged in this activity. There's a very potent reason why ChipHell's observations shouldn't be met with cynicism, or made light of. In China, competing factions in the ever-ruling Communist party have been known to use what is known as "the 50 cent army", where for a pittance, scores of internet forum posters can be engaged to perform coordinated PsyOps, to shape public opinion, and maintain public support. It is only natural, then, that competing companies in the extremely competitive Chinese domestic market resort to similar tactics, including those distributing NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards, or, as Chip Hell alleges, NVIDIA itself.

Source: Hard|OCP

British technology start-up, Power Ethernet, has launched the 'PE Socket', the first product to integrate Powerline networking technology directly into an electrical socket. The PE Socket provides a simple and professional way of specifying high-speed data network connectivity throughout a building by using electrical cabling. The 'PE Socket' is available from leading electrical resellers including CPC and Rapid Electronics.

Based on the HomePlug AV standard for Powerline networking, Power Ethernet's all-in-one PE Socket combines four Ethernet network ports, a fully-managed network switch and filtered power socket into a single device. It fits a UK Standard 35mm double gang metal back box and uses a building's electrical wiring to create a high-speed and secure data network for connecting computers, Voice over IP phones, Internet-connected TVs and digital signage, home automation and entertainment systems, building management systems, CCTV cameras and other Ethernet connected-devices.

Seagate Technology plc ("Seagate" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:STX) today announced that its Board of Directors (the "Board") has approved an increase to its quarterly cash dividend from $0.18 per share to $0.25 per share, an increase of 39%. The increase is effective with the dividend payable on March 1, 2012 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 15, 2012. The payment of any future quarterly dividends will be at the discretion of the Board and will be dependent upon Seagate's financial position, results of operations, available cash, cash flow, capital requirements and other factors deemed relevant by the Board.

Additionally, the Board has authorized the Company to repurchase an additional $1 billion of its outstanding common shares (the "January 2012 authorization"). The January 2012 authorization extends Seagate's commitment to enhancing shareholder value by utilizing the robust cash generation ability of its business. To date, Seagate has utilized approximately $1.1 billion against the existing $2 billion share repurchase authorization approved by the Board on November 29, 2010 to repurchase 67.8 million shares. The remaining balance of the November 2010 authorization ($0.9 billion) is expected to be utilized by the end of fiscal year 2012 (June 29, 2012), market and other economic conditions permitting.

Japanese build-to-order PC specialists Lesance launched the BTO GSN721GW TYPE-GX reference 17-inch performance notebook featuring NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M graphics. At 17-inches size, the Type-GX serves as a portable desktop-replacement. Its screen packs full-HD resolution (1920 x 1080), the GeForce GT 630 driving it is backed by 1 GB of DDR3 memory. It packs 144 CUDA cores.

Other parts of the Type-GX include Intel Core i7-2670QM quad-core processor clocked at 2.20 GHz with 6 MB L3 cache, 8 GB (4 GB x2, DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM) memory, Intel 510 Series 120 GB SSD, Blu-ray ROM, wireless b/g/n and gigabit Ethernet connections, and USB 3.0 ports. The notebook measures 416 x 270 x 22 ~ 35 mm (WxDxH), weighing 2.99 kg. Windows 7 Home Premium x64 is the OS of choice. This reference configuration costs 101,980 JPY (US $1320).



Source: Hermitage Akihabara

Ultrasone introduced Signature PRO, the first model in a select range of "made in Germany" headphones for discerning music lovers and professional users. The handcrafted headphones are based on the company's more than 20 years development expertise and, with patented technologies such as S-Logic Plus, offer an impressively detailed sound experience. Designed as a closed system, the first model in the Signature range will appeal to musicians, sound engineers and hi-fi lovers in equal measure. With its classical design and high-quality materials, the Signature PRO boasts and excellent sound experience combined with a stylish look, inspired from their Edition 9 headphones.

It looks like the Nighthawk, pictured earlier this month, isn't the only Interceptor series case MSI slipped into the market this month, its slightly cheaper version, the Raptor, also made it, and was caught by reviewers at LANOC. Like the Nighthawk, the Raptor, too, is "Military Class" according to its maker, in that it features an advanced thermal/air-flow design, which is also largely tool-free, and is backed by a 3-year warranty. Another distinctive feature of the Raptor that sets it apart from other cases in its price-range is its multi-format flash memory card reader that's pre-installed.

An ATX mid-tower by type, the Interceptor Raptor measures 180 x 428 x 410 mm (WxDxH), and is made of SECC/steel and ABS plastic. Its storage area includes four 5.25-inch drive bays, one exposed (preoccupied by the card reader) and six concealed 3.5-inch bays. Ventilation consists of one 120 mm blue LED-lit front-intake fan (included), one 120 mm rear-exhaust (included), and provision for two side-panel fans and one bottom fan. The bottom and front intake include dust meshes. The front-panel includes audio, and two USB 3.0 front-panel ports. It is priced at US $59.99, making for a decent entry-level gaming rig case. Find the full review at the source.



Source: LANOC Reviews

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the beta release of the Steam application for iOS and Android devices.

With the Steam app, gamers around the world may chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for their favorite games, read the latest gaming news, stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales, and more.

Matrox Graphics Inc. today announced that the Matrox Mura MPX video wall controller boards are HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) compliant, simplifying the work for AV Integrators seeking to enable copy protected content across Mura-driven video walls. Mura input/output boards facilitate HDCP interoperability by capturing high definition video signals from up to four HDCP sources and displaying the content on up to four HDCP-enabled displays. A video wall controller with up to six boards can support up to twenty-four inputs that are scaled, positioned and manipulated across twenty-four outputs. Designed for high-performance video walls, Mura MPX Series is suitable for a wide range of applications including corporate boardrooms, auditoriums, large venue events, digital signage, and mission-critical environments.

Kidz Gear, the Grown-up Performance, Built For Kids! brand, announced today that its award-winning line of Wired Headphones for Kids has been expanded to include a NEW Apple version designed specifically for the iPod, iPhone and iPad ? the Kidz Gear Apple Wired Headphones for Kids. This Apple-specific version of the popular Kidz Gear headphones feature unique "KidzControl" Volume Limiting Technology for a safe listening experience while helping to protect children's hearing; an Inline Microphone; and a Remote with controls for Track Up, Track Down, and more.

We have previously reported on the super cheap ARM-based Raspberry Pi hobby computer that's been under development from the Raspberry Pi foundation. However, it's now going into production and is generating a lot of interest, so gamesindustry.biz interviewed its founder, Eben Upton, about it (free registration required).

The computer's primary purpose is as a computer science teaching aid in schools and colleges and also for home brew use by enthusiasts who want to tinker with it and make specialized solutions out of it. However, it seems that enthusiasts will have a nice surprise in that the onboard GPU is surprisingly good. The actual ARM implementation is a Broadcom BCM2835 System on Chip (SoC) containing an ARM 11 CPU and a custom graphics core, which has been designed by the Raspberry Pi team, including Upton. In the interview, Upton claimed that it can double iPhone 4S performance and handily beats NVIDIA's Tegra solution, because of its tile mode architecture.

Initially set for a December 20th roll-out, the student-friendly ThinkPad X130e 11.6-inch laptop has now found its way to Lenovo's online shop and where it's awaiting orders (actual shipments start on February 9).

The X130e features a durable construction (rubber bumper around top cover, extra-tough bezel, hinges, keyboard and ports), it runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and packs an Intel or AMD processor, an LED-backlit (1366 x 768) display, integrated graphics, up to 8 GB of RAM, up to a 500 GB hard drive (or a 128 GB SSD), Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, optional Bluetooth and mobile broadband, and a 6-cell battery allowing for up to 8 hours of operation.

Currently Lenovo is offering two base configurations for this machine, one priced at $429, with an AMD E-300 (1.3 GHz) APU, 4 GB of RAM and a 250 GB HDD, and one costing $549 that boasts an Intel Core i3-2367M (1.4 GHz) CPU, 4 GB of RAM and a 250 GB HDD. Both are available here.

Reeven unveiled the RFC-01 "Six Eyes" series of case fan controllers, which saw the light of the day in mid-2011. Designed to fit into the 5.25-inch drive bays of your case, the RFC-01 provides six fan channels with independent speed-control knobs and diagnostic displays for each channel. Measuring 148 x 42 x 100 mm, the controller comes in two variants: black (RFC-01BK) and white (RFC-01WH). Apart from the six fan speed channels, the controller displays temperatures from six thermal zones, along with a safety alarm when temperatures exceed a limit. The RFC-01 will be priced at 4,480 JPY (US $57). It will likely be marketed under local brands such as Scythe.



Source: Hermitage Akihabara

NVIDIA today released a new version of its CUDA parallel computing platform, which will make it easier for computational biologists, chemists, physicists, geophysicists, other researchers, and engineers to advance their simulations and computational work by using GPUs.

The new NVIDIA CUDA parallel computing platform features three key enhancements that make parallel programing with GPUs easier, more accessible and faster. These include:

- Re-designed Visual Profiler with automated performance analysis, providing an easier path to application acceleration
- New compiler, based on the widely-used LLVM open-source compiler infrastructure, delivering up to 10 percent speed up in application performance
- Hundreds of new imaging and signal processing functions, doubling the size of the NVIDIA Performance Primitives (NPP) library

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) announced its updated business strategy as the company exits traditional kids' licensed video games and focuses on its core video game franchises and digital initiatives for the future. The company will continue to build its strong portfolio of core game franchises and align its resources to deliver games on both existing consoles and new and emerging platforms. The company intends to accelerate digital revenues by extending and supporting key console launches, and to create dedicated digital properties for emerging platforms.

"THQ will be a more streamlined organization focused only on our strongest franchises," said Brian Farrell, President and CEO, THQ. "The success of Saints Row: The Third is an example of what our revised strategy and focus can achieve. We have now shipped 3.8 million units globally and are currently expecting to ship between five and six million units lifetime on this title. Additionally, our robust digital content offerings for this game have resulted in the highest digital revenue of any console title in our history."

RealNetworks, Inc. today announced that it has signed an agreement to sell a significant number of its patents and its next generation video codec software to Intel Corporation for a purchase price of $120 million. Under terms of the sale, RealNetworks retains certain rights to continue to use the patents in current and future products.

"Selling these patents to Intel unlocks some of the substantial and unrealized value of RealNetworks assets," said Thomas Nielsen, RealNetworks President and CEO. "It represents an extraordinary opportunity for us to generate additional capital to boost investments in new businesses and markets while still protecting our existing business.

Western Digital, the world's leader in external storage solutions, will demonstrate the ultra-fast data transfer rates of its upcoming My Book Thunderbolt Duo dual-drive storage system at the Macworld/iWorld show (booth #401). Thunderbolt technology will dramatically improve workflow speed and efficiencies for enthusiasts and professionals dealing with large digital files such as video, audio and still photos.

Thunderbolt technology is capable of producing up to 10 gigabits per second of throughput on each of two channels in both directions. Users can experience very fast read/write speeds especially during applications such as video editing, 3D rendering, and other intense graphics projects. To put Thunderbolt's speed into perspective, HD media creators will be able to transfer a standard size full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds, or backup an entire year of continuous music (approx. 8,600 hours of music) in roughly 10 minutes.

We've got a good news and a bad news. The good news first: Microsoft will finally embrace the capacious Blu-ray disc format as its media of choice with its next-generation Xbox console. A double-layer Blu-ray disc provides 50 GB of space, letting developers load higher-resolution elements (such as textures), and more importantly, load entire games into a single disc. The 8 GB DVD9 used with Xbox 360 is posing limitations with some titles, forcing publishers to ship games in multiple discs. The new console should also double up as a nice Blu-ray home-video player, complete with multi-channel lossless audio and 1080p playback.

Now on to the bad news: Remember the good old days when you could share your game cartridges and discs with your friends, or resell them? Those are about to be numbered, at least in the case of the Xbox platform. Microsoft is designing its next-generation Xbox console in a way that restricts people from playing "used" games. We would imagine Microsoft doing this by binding each purchased game's activation to a Xbox Live account à la Steam, Origin, and G4WL. This is terrible news to services such as GameStop, which deal in used games and consoles.

Source: Kotaku