Business News Holding

Tag: hardware-and-technology

  • WD Ships 2 TB Hard Drives With Greenpower Technology


    WD has expanded its enterprise family of hard drives to include the next-generation 2 TB capacity.

    The company says it is the largest and only 2 TB enterprise-class hard drive shipping today. Combining 64 MB cache, dual processors, and increased areal density, the RE4-GP hard drives yield twice the processing power – and produce a 25 per cent performance improvement – over the previous generation.

    Tom McDorman, vice president and general manager of WD’s enterprise storage solutions business unit, said its GreenPower technology platform is the first 3.5-inch hard drive platform designed with power savings as the primary attribute.

    He said the drives reduce average drive power consumption by up to 50 per cent over currently available competitors’ drives and are ultra-cool and quiet, all while delivering solid performance.

    "Energy efficiency is a primary concern for our customers who continue to look for ways to reduce their carbon footprint without compromising reliability or performance," he said.

    "WD’s RE-GP drives enable them to meet their customer’s system requirements for storage capacity, reliability, performance and cost by integrating an enterprise-class drive that simply consumes less power than traditional hard drives."

    The new WD RE4-GP 2 TB hard drive are intended for use with storage-hungry applications, such as:

    • cloud-computing infrastructure
    • large-scale data centres
    • data archive and tape replacement systems
    • commercial video surveillance
    • digital video editing houses

  • LG and DivX Announce First HDTVs With DivX HD 1080p Playback


    LG Electronics’ new range of HDTVs will be capable of playing full DivX HD 1080p videos.

    The company says the upcoming models will be the first device series capable of doing this – enabling consumers to play DivX HD videos from a PC or the Internet through a USB slot.

    With the DivX 7 software package, users can compress a full HD movie onto a USB stick or SD card, or several on a standard DVD.

    While HD video requires a plenty considerable of storage space, LG says the DivX technology allows approximately two hours of high-quality DivX HD video on an 8GB media card.

    Simon Kang, chief executive officer and president of LG Home Entertainment TVs Company, said that as people expand their DivX HD video collections they are looking for more convenient ways to watch them on their TVs.

    "We’ve given them the ultimate convenience by building support for DivX HD playback into our digital TVs," he said.

    More than 200 models of LG digital TVs have been DivX Certified, including the LH50, LH70, LH85, PS70 and PS80 series.

    In addition, a wider variety of innovative LG TVs are now DivX Certified for playback of full DivX HD.

    LG says its new line of TVs will be available in late May in the United States, and within the next eight days in Europe.

  • Apple Consolidated AV Cable Signals iPhone HD?


    Apple is reported to be preparing to replace its Composite AV Cable and Component AV Cable with a single cable called the Apple AV Cable, according to PhoneNews.

    Aside from getting rid of the need for two separate cables – both of which had unpopular encryption chips – the move is being linked to an iPhone HD.

    The consolidated cable will support both component and composite output, allowing users to plug in to both HDTV and SDTV displays.

    If used with a high def handset it would support 720p or 1080i out – on an HDTV, not on the device.

    PhoneNews also speculates that an HD-out iPhone or iPod Touch will replace the Apple TV.

  • Sony Raises Blu-Ray Stakes With Feature-packed Entry-level Player


    Sony has unveiled its latest Blu-ray player – the BDP-S360 – which comes with full 7.1 surround sound via a compatible AV receiver.

    This is achieved thanks to newly incorporated DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD decoding capabilities – the first time these have been made available on an entry level Blu-ray player from Sony.

    Throw in the interactivity of BD-Live, Precision Cinema HD Upscale technology (converts SD DVDs to 1080p) and Sony’s Precision Drive technology, the BDP-S360 presents a fairly impressive home entertainment package.

    To complement the Blu-ray player’s pristine 1080p picture, Sony is also launching three new BRAVIA Theatre systems, the HT-FS3, HT-SS360 and HT-SF360, which provide exceptional high definition sound.

  • Panasonic's Dash-mountable Devices Offer In-car Blu-ray


    Blu-Ray may still be absent from most people’s living rooms – but Panasonic is offering a pair of dash-mountable devices for those who need their high-def fix in the car.

    The CN-HX3000D Windows-powered device, with a 7-inch, 1280 x 720 display offering GPS, Bluetooth, a 40GB hard drive, and iPod/iPhone compatibility.

    Use in conjunction with the CY-BB1000D in-car Blu-ray player and the results are no doubt impressive.

    At what cost, though, Panasonic has still to release, though the pair are expected to hit stores by the end of the summer.

  • NetAlly VoIP Assessment Software Eliminates Deployment Risk


    Fluke Networks has released a new version of its NetAlly VoIP Assessment and Troubleshooting Software designed to help eliminate risk associated with deploying or expanding VoIP services.

    Version 7.0 of the package works by assessing the current state of the network and previewing the service before it is deployed on that network.

    This allows maximum call volume and call quality to be determined quickly, while saving money by reducing post-deployment troubleshooting, according to the company.

    Assessing a network, a requirement of many leading IP PBX manufacturers, makes VoIP deployments faster, more successful and less costly.

    However, a recent Gartner Research report highlighted the fact that some enterprises and integrators still do not perform proper predeployment assessments of the enterprise network.

    It said this often leads to unplanned additional costs or deployment delays.

    NetAlly claims its software shortens installation time periods by performing proper network assessments, detecting deficiencies in the network and pinpointing where corrective actions and fine-tuning need to take place.

    The company offers users a preview of the VoIP service as it will be delivered over a production IP network.

    It says that, unlike network simulation software, the package generates traffic over the actual network and provides responses based on real-world measurements.

    This allows IT professionals to determine if there is sufficient network capacity to support a proposed VoIP project.

    NetAlly version 7.0 is the result of Fluke Networks’ acquisition of key technology from Viola Networks, announced in August 2008.

    The new software version is available for immediate delivery worldwide.

  • DiBcom And Solaris DVB-SH Partnership Signals "New Era" For Mobile TV


    DiBcom has signed a partnership agreement with Solaris Mobile to use its receiver technology to enable mobile devices to receive content such as mobile TV transmitted by satellite.

    The link-up centres around Solaris’ recently launched Eutelsat W2A satellite, which carries Europe’s first S-Band payload.

    It will offer Mobile Satellite Services (MSS), including the broadcasting of video, radio and data to mobile devices and vehicle receivers.
    The DVB-SH hybrid satellite will also supply a range of interactive mobile services.

    DiBcom supplies DVB-SH broadcast receiver solutions that give mobile devices access to the multimedia content transmitted by satellite and terrestrial repeater.

    The receivers are a multi-band and multi-mode solution featuring dual RF tuners supports DVB-SH, DVB-H and DVB-T in S-Band and UHF frequencies.

    In February, DiBcom announced it was launching a new platform that offers device manufacturers a solution to the problem of multiple standards worldwide for fixed and mobile TV.

    Yannick Levy, CEO of DiBcom, said its involvement in this "ground-breaking" mobile satellite launch was both a logical and strategic choice.

    He said the agreement between Solaris Mobile and DiBcom will be an enabling force in Europe’s mobile television markets by providing distribution technology for mass market consumption in the most economic way. Live trials using DVB-SH are currently underway in France, Spain and Italy.

    California-based MobiTV is also looking to broaden its reach and is in the process of developing its services for the European market.

    "We are witnessing the dawn of a whole new era for Mobile TV services with truely universal continental coverage," said Levy.

    "There is no doubt that Solaris Mobile will leverage the industry-leading knowledge and experience of its founding companies towards a new set of mobile applications of real value to end users throughout Europe."

    Steve Maine, president and CEO of Solaris Mobile, said it is one of four operators that submitted an application to the European Commission last October for the rollout of mobile satellite services over dedicated S-Band spectrum.

    He said this took place under a single European selection procedure and on behalf of the 27 Member States of the EU.

    "We are convinced that this is the most innovative opportunity in Europe’s telecommunications and media marketplaces and are extremely pleased that DiBcom is a leading participant in one of our major strategic mobile satellite service initiatives," he said.

  • Wizi Releases "SMS with Location" for BlackBerry


    Location-sharing start-up Wizi has announced the release of SMS with Location for BlackBerry.

    The application adds a new option to BlackBerry contacts allowing users to send an SMS with their actual position or the location where they are heading.

    Wizi also recommends the best routes when driving in the city using traffic data collected in real time by its community.

    Based in Lisbon, Portugal, Wizi’s SMS with Location lets users:

    • Find actual location on map (F)
    • Automatically insert the full address is SMS
    • Automatically insert GPS coordinates in SMS
    • Copy location to clipboard allowing to paste in any IM application
    • Search location by address (S)
    • Switch between BB Maps or Google Maps (M)

    Wizi’s Andre Goncalves said SMS with Location is currently only available for BlackBerry Device Software 4.5 but would be released soon for Windows Mobile.

  • Maps Upgrade Expected For BlackBerry OS 5.0


    RIM’s plans for its soon-to-be unveiled BlackBerry OS 5.0 include an overhaul of maps and messaging options.

    BGR reports that the Canadian smartphone maker is bringing in new maps features, including displaying the address location of a message – such as email, text or PIN.

    They are identifed by the OS and will bring up the location in Maps.

    Maps will also render around two times faster, while lagging will no longer occur when scrolling around and zooming in.

    Other Maps improvements include a lot of new towns, cities, counties and countries being included and the ability to display geotagged images on Maps, according to BGR.

    They also detail a raft of upgrades to the Calendar and Browser functions, while Storm users are to get a full-QWERTY keyboard in portrait mode.

    More details are expected at WES 2009, which starts on 5th May.

  • Samsung Launches "Industry First" Self-encrypting SSDs


    Samsung Electronics has unveiled what it claims are the first hardware-based self-encrypting solid-state drives.

    To be available in 256-, 128- and 64-GB versions, the SSDs provide full-disk encryption using Wave Systems’ technology, which activates and manages the encryption.

    Dell has already said that it will use the drives in its next laptops.

    Despite the improved security, Samsung maintains the SSDs’ performance is not affacted.

    It says the encryption provides better security than the software alternative, because encryption keys and access credentials are generated and stored within the drive hardware, making it more difficult to hack.

    Each Samsung self-encrypting SSD will come bundled with Wave’s EMBASSY Trusted Drive Manager, which provides pre-boot authentication to the drive and enrolling drive administrators and users.

    Jim Elliott, memory vice president, Samsung Semiconductor, said the SSD drives offered business users the best of performance and security in a single drive.

    "Samsung has combined the tremendous performance advantages of solid state technology with integrated hardware encryption for drives designed especially for today’s ‘road warrior’ professionals," he said.