INTEL CORE 2 !!!

Up to 40 percent faster and over 40 percent more energy-efficient

Maximum everything. Energy-efficient performance. Multimedia power.
Based on revolutionary Intel® Core™ microarchitecture, the breakthrough Intel® Core™2 Duo processor family is designed to provide powerful energy-efficient performance so you can do more at once without slowing down.

World's Best Desktop Processor. With Intel® Core™2 Duo desktop processor, you'll experience revolutionary performance, unbelievable system responsiveness, and energy-efficiency second to none. And, you won't have to slow down for virus scan, multiple compute intensive programs, or multimedia downloads - these desktop processors are up to 40 percent faster and over 40 percent more energy-efficient.¹

World's Best Mobile Processor - now available. Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology has just gotten a mobility upgrade with the new Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processor. Its advanced capabilities provide twice the multitasking performance² while using 28 percent less power³ so you get the benefit of a powerful dual-core PC plus all the benefits of mobility.+

Latest Desktop Brief Summary
https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/products/processors

INTEL CORE 2 for NOTEBOOKS!!

Caroline Warnes - Tuesday, 29 August 2006

Laptops based on the Intel Core 2 Duo processor technology, originally codenamed ‘Merom’, have commenced shipping, offering faster processing for high-definition media applications.

More than 200 designs based on the technology will incorporate the new design, Intel says.

The new processor was launched last month and incorporates two processing cores, which can handle multiple tasks in less time while consuming less power. This delivers improved performance for videos, games and other multimedia applications.

It is also suited to high-definition video applications, Intel says.

The technology is already shipping in Intel's Viiv technology-based entertainment PCs, which also include the Intel 965 Express Chipset family with support for HD playback and up to 7.1 surround sound.

More information on pricing is available at www.intel.com

Latest Notebook Brief Summary
https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/support/articles/000028083/processors

MICROSOFT to Offer Free Vista Upgrade !!!

David Richards - Friday, 11 August 2006

Microsoft has teamed up with PC vendors to promote the delayed Vista OS by offering PC buyers worldwide a free upgrade coupon, as a way of encouraging them to buy a Vista-capable PC as early as possible, according to market sources, citing information leaked from Taiwan-based PC makers.

With the coupon offer to kick off in October, prospective buyers who have planned to purchase a Vista-enabled PC in the first quarter of 2007 when the new OS is launched, will be encouraged to take up a Vista-capable PC in advance, the sources asserted.

Ray Chen, president of Compal Electronics, confirmed the coupon offer at a company investor conference held yesterday, stating that the free upgrade coupon, together with the availability of Intel's 64-bit-enabled Merom processors, will help boost demand for new PCs in the fourth quarter of this year as well as in the first quarter of 2007.

Microsoft actually reached such an agreement with PC vendors in July, but decided not to unveil the plan until the fourth quarter, so as not to affect PC sales in the third quarter, the source noted.

The leak of the coupon-offering plan indicates that Microsoft may launch the Vista OS in January 2007, in line with its revised schedule, the sources said. However, PC sales worldwide now might now be affected by the plan, they cautioned.

PC's Playing Major Role in HD-DVD verses Blu-ray war !!!

David Richards - Wednesday, 7 June 2006

PCs are emerging as a battleground in the budding war between two technologies vying to be the standard for high capacity DVDs -- and take the lucrative mantle of next benchmark in optical storage.

The stakes are huge for one group led by Sony, developer of the standard known as Blu-ray, and another led by Toshiba, developer of the rival HD-DVD standard, with each party standing to reap a fortune in royalties if its candidate becomes the next industry standard.

Many liken the war to the 1980s battle over video cassette recording standards, which ultimately saw the VHS standard emerge the victor over Sony's Betamax.

Most attention to date has focused on a new generation of video players that can take advantage of up to 30 gigabytes of storage capacity -- six times the amount in current DVDs -- to show movies in high definition.

But PC makers will also be vital in deciding which standard ultimately wins, said Howard Locker, director of new technology at China's Lenovo Group Ltd., the world's third biggest computer maker.

"The three major suppliers of the players of these new next generation discs will be the PC industry, consumer electronics and gaming machines," Locker said. "If you look at the volumes, PCs are now more than 50 percent of that total space, so we'll have a big say on who wins."

So far, however, most PC makers are refusing to take sides.

Lenovo itself is taking a wait-and-see approach, keeping its feet in both camps but committing to neither just yet.

Among other industry giants, Dell the world's biggest PC maker, has said it is committed to Blu-ray, while Hewlett-Packard, the number two player, has said it will support both standards.

LEG UP

Taiwan's Acer. was showing four notebook models with HD-DVD drives this week in Taiwan at Computex, the world's second biggest computer show. But a spokeswoman said the company also plans to support Blu-ray when drives become available.

PC and optical disc makers at Computex said Sony could once again be behind the game, with its technology about a half year behind HD-DVD in terms of market readiness.

Like Acer, laptop specialist Asustek Computer Inc. said it was planning to incorporate both standards into its models, but was only showing an HD-DVD-equipped laptop at the show.

"Right now we have no supply (of Blu-ray drives)," said Vicki Hsiao of the company's sales and marketing department. "We're expecting some this month."

She and others said PCs equipped with HD-DVD or Blu-ray will cost several hundred dollars more than comparably equipped models with DVD drives -- a factor that should keep sales relatively low this year as consumers wait for applications and video titles that can take advantage of the higher capacity.

CMC Magnetics, the world's largest maker of compact discs, was showing both Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats at Computex, but Chairman Bob Wong said Blu-ray was about six months behind HD-DVD.

But sales of both types of discs -- which now cost around $20 each but are expected to come down quickly as volume ramps up -- are expected to zoom next year as the disc drives find their way into more PCs and standalone video players.

"We've just started taking orders for these discs," Wong said.

FIRST LCD Monitor with HD Support !!!

Caroline Warnes - Tuesday, 12 September 2006

BenQ has unveiled the first LCD monitor with 1080p support and a HDMI interface.

The 24-inch FP241W features 1920x1200 resolution, while the HDMI interface allows 5Gbps data transfer. These two factors combined mean the monitor will display crisp, clear HD images and audio without the need for signal conversion, BenQ says.

Other features include an Advanced Motion Accelerator, BenQ's Senseye technology, a 1000:1 high contrast ratio, 500cd/m2 brightness, a response time of 6ms and flexible screen adjustment.

BenQ says that the FP241W is suited for business applications such as finance, health care and research, given that it is able to display two independent A4-size windows simultaneously.

EARLY MEDIA CENTRE !!!

David Richards - Monday, 11 September 2006

A senior executive of Altech the biggest builder of Media Centre in Australia has described Microsofts Early Media Centre software as being a "Dog" desite thousands being sold by HP, Altech and other manufacturers.

Despite previous security flaws, testers of Microsoft Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 for the Microsoft Media Centre say that the new operating system appears to be stable, according to a senior executive of Altech Australia's #1 builder of Media Centres.

Talking at the Media Connect technology conference in NSW Kevin Hartin of Altech said "The original Media Centre was a dog but of late things have improved. We are testing Microsoft Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 and it is a big improvement. However we do not anticipate releasing it till this time next year"
.

Testers claim that Windows Vista Release Candidate 1 is more stable than expected, which bodes well for Microsoft's plan to have Vista out according to its current schedule of early next year in Australia.

Microsoft has said since March it will release Windows Vista to business customers in the US in November, and consumers in January 2007. In Australia it is tuipped that Microsoft will launch in February 2007. Though many have suspected the release will slip further, testers now say there's a good chance the company will meet its goal if the condition of RC1 is any indication. Test Center engineers found Vista to be a major improvement over MCE 2005 in every sense. Several hardware configurations were tested. Right off the bat, installers will notice the faster and simplified installation process. When the Test Center played with previous releases of Vista, one of the biggest complaints was the inordinate amount of time installation took. Luckily, RC1 has addressed that issue.

Integrators will notice, however, that Vista has an increased appetite for hardware. The advanced features require fast processors and advanced video cards. While this may pose an issue for upgraders, today's new Media Center PCs should offer adequate hardware performance to leverage Vista.

The final configuration of the Media Center interface of Vista requires integrators to do little more than input a regional code (for channel listings) and tune the display and speakers for the best Media Center experience.

One major improvement Vista RC1 offers over the beta builds comes in the form of speed. Improved performance is the name of the game with Vista. Although overall performance may not be as fast as users experienced with Windows XP, they will find that when the correct hardware is used, Vista will be snappy and more visually appealing than previous versions of Windows.

Those familiar with MCE 2005 will quickly adapt to Vista's improved Media Center interface. All the basics are well-covered and easy to find; Vista's improved menus make short work of finding and accessing Media Center content. Internet-connected users will appreciate the additional content capabilities, such as IP video feeds, online television and access to major music services, which are all tightly integrated into the menu system. Integrators have the option of adding new selections to the menu to meet customer needs. Native support for MCE remote controls and keyboards also keeps things simple for both upgraders and those investing in new installations.

When it comes to media-centric control, Vista seems to have all the bases covered and will prove to be a good platform for home integrators. An improved interface simplifies training, while better security and maintenance tools should keep the system up and running with fewer headaches. Advanced features should help integrators sell add-on products, ranging from media libraries to home control systems and HDTV-compatible displays.

End users will appreciate the stability and ease of use, which is prevalent throughout the operating system, perhaps elevating the Media Center PC to the primary entertainment device in the home.

Integrators will want to keep an eye on Vista and start ramping up their hardware offerings to leverage all the OS has to offer.

The only downside to Vista at the moment is that it won't be available untill mid 2007 instead of the last quarter of 2006 when it could have made the biggest impact in the home entertainment and integration market.

SED TV JUST AROUND THE CORNER !!

Wire Service - Tuesday, 12 September 2006

Canon and Toshiba plan to begin constructing a mass production line for SED (surface conduction electron emitter display) flat-panel televisions as early as this year, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported over the weekend, citing Canon chairman Fujio Mitarai.

The two firms had planned to roll out the new product this past spring but delayed its launch until late next year because of the unexpectedly rapid decline in prices of LCD and plasma TVs, the newspaper said. In line with their initial plans, the partners will invest a total of $2.3 billion dollars to build the production line at Toshiba's Himeji factory in Hyogo Prefecture, it said.

'We want to be able to mass-market the products in time for the shopping season for the Beijing Olympics in 2008,' Mitarai said. But 'we have not yet established the manufacturing technology for mass-producing SEDs at low cost,' he said.

Under a five-year business plan starting this year, Canon aims to boost group sales to 5.5 trln yen by fiscal 2010, up 47 pct from fiscal 2005. It is also targeting a net profit margin of more than 10 pct, the newspaper said.

Mitarai regards the next five years as an expansion period, during which Canon will develop new businesses as well as actively pursue mergers and acquisitions in Europe and the US, the newspaper said.

INTEL PENTIUM 4 PROCESSORS with Hyper-threading Technology !

The Intel Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology can deliver unparalleled system performance and responsiveness. Get the Intel platform advantage today!

A PC based on the Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor with HT Technology† enables you to run multiple demanding applications at the same time—making your favorite activity more productive and fun! This groundbreaking technology from Intel enables the processor to execute two threads (a part of a program) in parallel—so your software can run more efficiently and you can multitask more effectively than ever before.

The Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology is available in a variety of frequencies—3.40 GHz, 3.40E†† GHz, 3.20E GHz, 3.20 GHz, 3E GHz, 3 GHz, 2.80E GHz, 2.80C GHz, 2.60C GHz, and 2.40 GHz—all delivering improved system performance in multi-tasking environments and allowing you to configure a system that best suits your requirements.

How do you determine the right Pentium 4 Processor with HT Technology for your requirements? If you don't usually run more than one demanding application at the same time, any of the sub-3 GHz processors could be a great value for your current needs. On the other hand, if you want the freedom to keep several heavy-duty applications humming at once, or if your multi-tasking needs will increase in the near future, then you want the muscle of the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 3 GHz with advanced 800 MHz system bus.

Remember, a large and continually expanding variety of applications benefit from Hyper-Threading Technology—improving processor performance and responsiveness while multi-tasking, giving you the power to do more tasks on your PC at once.

FUJITSU UPDATES PLASMA -VISION RANGE

Fujitsu Updates Plasma-Vision Range

Manisha Kanetkar - Wednesday, 13 September 2006

Fujitsu General has launched the new 51 Series Plasmavision range of televisions which are HDTV ready.

The Series comprises of a 63", 55", 50" and 42" high resolution model as well as a 42" standard resolution model. Each features Fujitsu's Advanced Video Movement-II digital video processor which the company claims eliminates motion artifacts found in earlier plasma models. The panels also feature an HDMI input and a claimed 160 degree viewing angle.

The panels use a 10-bit processing system which Fujitsu says produces over 1.07 billion colours for natural colour reproduction. The panels also feature an ‘ambient light sensor' which automatically adjusts the screen brightness and contrast to suit the relative light of the viewing room.

And if you consider yourself a bit of a greenie you may be happy to know that Fujitsu boasts its 51 Series panels have been produced using less harmful substances, in accordance with the regulations set out by the Japanese Environment Ministry.

RRPs:

P63XHA51 – 63 inch: $25 000
P55XHA51 – 55 inch: $13 000
P50XHA51 – 50 inch: $9000
P42HHA51 – 42 inch: $6500
P42VHA51 – 42 inch EDTV: $5000