AMD launches Trinity A-Series APU

Before AMD launched its first-generation Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) last year the only real option you had for a small, low power PC was an Intel Atom solution. Unless you combined the Atom chip with Nvidia’s ION chipset (or a discrete card) it was rather lacking in the graphics department. That’s where the APU shone due to its inclusion of a Radeon GPU.

Today, AMD launched its second generation 32nm A-Series APU named Trinity, and it promises to give a major performance boost to HTPCs, nettops, desktop machines, and laptops.

AMD is claiming that the new Trinity APUs offer up double the performance of the previous generation while retaining the same power use. The new Piledriver CPU means higher clock speeds and performance gains of up to 29%. As for graphics, you should be able to enjoy smooth gaming and media playback due to the inclusion of a Radeon 7000 series GPU offering a 56% performance gain over Llano.

Although there are performance gains across the entire range of APUs, it looks as though laptops using Trinity will see the most gains. AMD has cut power use down to 17 watts for the dual core and 25 watts for quad-core chips. Llano used 35 watts and 45 watts respectively. AMD is claiming up to 12 hours of battery life in the equivalent of an Ultrabook running the new APU, but that’s clearly going to vary depending on the hardware.

In total, five Trinity APUs have been unveiled today, which are detailed in the tables below :

As well as updating the hardware, AMD has also introduced some new technology to the mix. The new APUs will support an Eyefinity multi-display setup without requiring a discrete graphics card. Another clever move is AMD Radeon dual graphics, meaning you can add a discrete graphics card to an APU system and benefit from enhanced performance through CrossFire using both GPUs.

We can expect to see both Trinity laptops and desktop machines appearing later this year. Hopefully we’ll also see a number of mini-ITX boards appearing allowing us to build our own nettops and HTPCs.

through http://www.geek.com/

Raspberry Pi 14-megapixel camera module unveiled

The makers of the £22 ($35) Raspberry Pi computer will launch a plug-in camera module for the pocked-sized PC later this year.
The company has released the first pictures of, and taken with, the camera which is presently rocking an impressive 14-megapixel sensor.
However, that may be downgraded somewhat to keep the accessory affordable.


The launch of the Raspberry Pi has been one of the tech stories of 2012 so far. The credit-card sized device offers a 700MHz processor, 256MB RAM and a GPU capable of playing HD video.
The unit offers just two USB ports and an SD card slot, but the camera will plug into the exposed CSI pins in the middle of the device.
Super-duperness

A post from Liz Upton on the Raspberry Pi site says: "We may downgrade the super-duperness of the camera to something with fewer than its current 14 megapixels before release; we need to keep things affordable, and a sensor of that size will end up pricey.
"Before you ask (I know it'll be the first question most of you have), we don't have a price for the camera module yet; we'll need to finalise exactly what hardware is in it first, but we will, of course, be ensuring that it's very affordable."
She adds that the camera will make it possible for the creation of robotics and home automation apps that "people have been wanting to build."
You can check out all of the pictures on the Raspberry Pi website.

through Techradar.com

Zotac Announces Intel 7-Series Mini ITX Motherboards for Ivy Bridge

If Intel's Ivy Bridge ultimately crumbles, it won't be for lack of vendor support. While the tech world waits for Intel to launch its 3rd generation Core processor family, motherboard makers and system integrators are busy pushing out upgraded platforms that support the upcoming CPUs, everything from big and bad notebooks to little motherboards like Zotac's new Z77-ITX Wi-Fi and H77-ITX Wi-Fi, a pair of Intel 7-series mini ITX boards intended for anyone who wants to pack big performance into a small footprint.

The Z77-ITX Wi-Fi is built around Intel's Z77 Express chipset. It has two DDR3 DIMM slots with support for up to 16GB of RAM. There are two HDMI ports, a mini DisplayPort, two SATA 6Gbps ports and two SATA 3Gbps ports with RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and 5 support, four SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports (two on the back panel and two via a pin header), eight USB 2.0 ports (four on the back panel and four via a pin header), dual GbE LAN ports, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, 8-channel audio, and overclocking options.

Zotac's H77-ITX Wi-Fi is similarly spec'd, but built around the H77 Express chipset and includes a DVI-I port (along with a single DisplayPort and HDMI port), an extra SATA 3Gbps port, and just one GbE LAN port. Both boards also boast a single PCI-E x16 3.0 slot and mSATA slot.

No word on when these small form factor motherboards will ship or for how much.

through http://www.maximumpc.com/

VIA launches Neo-ITX with $49 APC Android PC

VIA today announced the APC 8750 Android PC system, a small footprint low power consumption motherboard with a $49 price point.

Comparisons will inevitably be made with the Raspberry Pi.

However the APC 8750 looks to have a less painful out of the box experience, with Android OS and applications pre-loaded on NAND Flash, a form-factor compatible with PC cases and a wider selection of ports fitted to just one side of the motherboard.

The APC 8750 runs a custom build of Android 2.3 with a selection of pre-installed apps including a browser, all pre-loaded on 2GB of NAND Flash memory. A microSD Slot allows further expansion.

The Neo-ITX Form Factor used by the APC measures 170 x 85mm and is exactly 1/2 the area of the 170 x 170mm Mini-ITX form factor. Neo-ITX boards will fit into any Mini-ITX chassis (perhaps with the addition of a couple of plastic standoffs at the rear for stability).

The APC 8750 is powered by a Wondermedia WM8750 SoC running at 800MHz which supports H264 decoding for 720p video playback. Power consumption is just 4W idle and 13.5W under peak load.

Full Specifications of the APC 8750: Operating System: Android 2.3; Processor: VIA 800MHz Processor (Wondermedia WM8750); Memory: 512MB DDR3 RAM, 2GB NAND Flash; Graphics: Built-in 2D/3D, resolution up to 720p; Ports: HDMI, VGA, 4x USB 2.0, 3.5mm Mic In, 3.5mm Audio Out, microSD slot, 10/100 Ethernet; Power: 15W AC Adapter; Size: 170mm x 85mm (Neo-ITX form factor).

through http://www.mini-itx.com

Mini PC can use SSD as cache, supports Sandy Bridge CPUs

Shuttle announced a mini PC that includes multiple expansion slots and is designed so that an SSD (solid state drive) can augment its hard disk speed. The SZ68R5 supports Intel "Sandy Bridge" Core processors, accepts up to 32GB of RAM in four DIMM slots, has three drive bays (one 5.25-inch, two 3.5-inch), and includes 12 USB ports, according to the company.

Like other Shuttle mini PCs we've covered -- 2010's XS35, to cite one example -- the new SZ68R5 comes in "barebone" form, making it ideal for those who want to choose their own operating system, RAM, drives, and other components. This particular system, however, is aimed at customers with demanding applications, not power-sipping embedded use, as its 500-Watt power supply makes clear.

According to Shuttle, the SZ68R5 supports LGA1155-socketed "Sandy Bridge" processors ranging from the 1.6GHz, single-core Celeron G440 (35-Watt TDP) to the 3.5GHz, quad-core Core i7-2700K (95-Watt TDP). All in all, there are 37 different choices, as listed via a table on the device's data sheet.

The processor of choice may be accompanied by up to 32GB of 1066/1333MHz DDR3 RAM, installed in the device's four DIMM slots, Shuttle says. Meanwhile, the SZ68R5 employs Intel's Z68 Express chipset (block diagram farther below), which not only supports RAID (0, 5, and 10) disk arrays but also provides one of the system's more unusual attributes.

Specifically, Shuttle says, the Z68's "Smart Response Technology" (SRT) allows a relatively small SSD (solid state disk) to be placed in the SZ68R5's mSATA (Mini Serial ATA) expansion slot, from where it will act as a cache for the system's hard disk drive (HDD). Built into the PC's firmware, SRT can deliver a 60 percent performance improvement over a HDD-only system, according to the company. (To the best of our knowledge, however, SRT requires a Windows device driver, and provides no benefit with Linux.)

According to Shuttle, the SZ68R5 has two 6Gbit/sec. SATA ports and two 4Gbit/sec. SATA ports on its motherboard, plus an external 5.25-inch drive bay and two 3.5-inch bays that can be accessed either internally or externally. It also features an eSATA port on its rear panel, the company adds.

Giada A51 mini PC - meet your second home PC

The new A51 book-sized PC from Giada is quiet and unobtrusive, but offers remarkable power, performance and style. Support for powerful AMD Fusion E450 processors, Direct X11 3D graphics, native HD 1080P video, and super fast USB 3.0 –  all while remaining virtually silent – make the A51 the ideal choice for home entertainment, office work, and internet access. The A51 is powerful enough to use as your main home computer, and it's small size, low power consumption, and portability also make it the perfect choice for a second home PC.

This mini PC has all the features you need for the ultimate home entertainment and games center, including cinema quality video, ATI Radeon 3D graphics and vivid 5.1 surround sound. There's full Windows 7 support out-of-the-box, and 320 Gigabytes of hard drive space to store thousands hours of music and movies. Accessories include a wireless remote for comfortable viewing and listening. The A51 is the ideal Home Theater PC (HTPC) and media server.

The A51's AMD Fusion processor provides more than enough computing power for your needs, but this environmentally-friendly PC runs on just 30W – about as much power as a light bulb. Thanks to Giada's advanced heat control technology, the A51 runs cool and quiet. Unlike competing products which spoil your enjoyment of movies and music with noisy cooling fans, the A51 is virtually silent.

Available in black or white, the A51 looks great in any living room, bedroom or home office, thanks to its stylish and slim design that help it fit neatly into even the smallest available space. It can blend into the background, but it's always there to provide instant computing power whenever you need it.

The A51 may be small, but it still offers plenty of connectivity options with its five USB connectors (1 USB 3.0 and 4 USB 2.0), a gigabit network socket, high speed 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, plus HDMI and VGA video outputs. And there's a memory card slot so you can instantly transfer your video, photos and music to or from mobile phones, cameras, and mp3 players. The USB connectors also allow you add huge external storage capacity for movies, music, photos and data.

through http://www.giadatech.com