Gift Guide Tablet and e-reader buying advice

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(AP) -- This holiday season, it will be hard to enter a store without setting eyes on a tablet computer or an e-reader. In both categories, big-name manufacturers - along with some you might not have heard of - are jumping on the bandwagon, trying hard to undercut each other with lower-priced gadgets.

It doesn't help that so many of them claim to do the same thing. The

Tablets:

Apple iPad (Wi-Fi only: $499-$699; 3G: $629-$829)

Pros: Has the same intuitive interface as the iPhone and iPod Touch, but optimized for the iPad's larger 9.7-inch display. Syncs with the popular iTunes software, whose store sells music, movies and e-books. Up to 10 hours of battery life. There are more than 300,000 apps available in the app store; more than 40,000 of them were designed specifically for the iPad, making this the most versatile tablet, by far. All models connect over Wi-Fi, while 3G versions can use AT&T's cellular network, whose plans in the U.S. cost either $15 or $25 per month and require no long-term contracts.

Cons: It is relatively large and weighs about 1.5 pounds, so it's not as easy to use one-handed as a smaller tablet such as Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Tab. Lacks a camera for video chatting. Students will find fewer textbooks available in Apple Inc.'s iBooks than in Amazon's Kindle store.

Samsung Galaxy Tab ($399 with two-year contract; $599-$649 without)

Pros: The Tab runs the same Android software that can be found on many a smart phone. Solid build quality and brisk performance. It is a bit smaller than the iPad and about half its weight. It has dual cameras, something the iPad lacks entirely, allowing people to video chat, record HD movies and snap still photos. The Tab's display is sharper than the iPad's.

Cons: The Tab's 7-inch display makes for a less immersive movie-watching experience than the iPad's larger one. Many Android apps weren't designed to fill the Tab's larger screen. Video chat can be slow over both Wi-Fi and 3G cellular networks. The Tab only costs $399 if you commit to a two-year contract with Sprint or Verizon Wireless, which let the Tab run over their 3G networks. Verizon Wireless and AT&T sell the Tab with optional contracts, but it costs more up front ($599 on Verizon and $649 on AT&T). Monthly data plans range from $25 to $60.

iPhone 5 frenzy builds ahead of Friday release

Gadget lovers have flooded Apple with pre-orders and set up camp outside the company's real-world stores to get their hands on the new generation iPhone 5 set for release Friday.

"The fact that the iPhone 5 is doing as well as it is opposed to other phones is a tribute to

The analyst dismissed efforts by Apple adversary Samsung to poke fun at iPhone fanatics and the lack of innovative handset features in print and

Aspiring iPhone 5 owners started a queue outside the

Apple shares broke the $700 mark this week and stood at $701.60 in after-market trade on Wednesday.

The iPhone 5, with a bigger screen and slimmer body, was quickly branded by analysts as a sure hit.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook called the launch "the biggest thing to happen to iPhone since the iPhone."

The California company called the iPhone 5 "the thinnest smartphone in the world," with a glass and aluminum body that is 18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than iPhone 4S.

The new iPhone has a rich four-inch (10-centimeter) display prime for the red-hot smartphone market, in which screen size is a key factor for buyers.

The iPhone 5 will debut Friday in the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

Pricing for US customers will start at $199 with a two-year telecom service contract.

Apple earlier rolled out its new iOS 6 mobile gadget operating system with new features, including a custom mapping service branded a disappointment by some reviewers.

"Seems pretty clear the new Maps is going to be the biggest problem with iOS 6," Apple fan John Gruber wrote on his Daring Fireball blog.

"It'll be interesting to see how long it takes for Google to release a standalone Google Maps apps in the iOS App Store."

Apple's custom mapping program replaced Google Maps in the operating system.

An iPhone change with the potential to irk fans is a new "Lightning" connector to replace 30-pin connections, the piece that connects devices to computers, power outlets or docking stations.

Apple will sell adaptors for plugging new generation iPhone and iPod touch devices into accessories already owned, such as stereo speakers or car sound systems.

The big-screen

"Apple is meeting all expectations," analyst Baker said. "Everything was getting great reviews until they started rolling out iOS 6 today."

The US Federal Trade Commission warned that scammers were already seeking to cash in on

Disney and Asus Announces Netpal For Kids

It is common to see gadgets in collaboration with other companies for unique product launches. In an announcement between Disney and Asus, a new netbook (again?) has been confirmed.

Known as Netpal, it is targeted towards kids and has features...well, targeted for kids.

ASUS's Disney-branded Netpal netbook for kids will come in your choice of "Princess Pink" or "Magic Blue" colors. To add on, each netbook features a Disney interface, along with a range of built-in parental controls, and some customizable themes based on Mickey Mouse, Toy Story, Wall-E, and other Disney properties.

Hardware-wise,you get your standard netbook configuration on a 8.9-inchscreen and storage will be either a 16GB SSD drive or a standard 160GB hard drive.

No release date has been confirmed yet.

Engineers building first space supercomputer

HAL may soon be getting some company. But unlike the famous computer companion in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the first space-based supercomputer — so described because it will be by far the most powerful computer in space — is already nearing reality.

Engineering researchers at the University of Florida and Honeywell Aerospace are designing and building the computer projected to operate as much as 100 times faster than any computer in space today. Expected to be launched aboard a NASA rocket on a test mission in 2009, the computer is needed to process rapidly increasing amounts of data gathered by advanced scientific satellites. It is also needed to help space probes make more rapid decisions by themselves, independently of their Earth-bound minders.

“To explore space and to support Earth and space science, there is a great need for much more processing power in space,” said Alan George, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and UF’s principal investigator on the project.

Computers have become far more powerful and faster in recent decades, but these advances have been largely confined to Earth. That’s because all computers sent into space must be “hardened” or protected against cosmic radiation prevalent outside the Earth’s atmosphere, a process that slows their performance and increases their size and cost. The result is that even as satellites and space probes have become far better at gathering information, most of their data not has to be sent to ground stations on Earth for processing.

“Usually the downlinks have very limited bandwidth. There are only so many bits per second you can send down from a satellite,” said John Samson, the principal investigator for the project at project at Honeywell’s Clearwater facility. “That means scientists are very limited in how much science they can do.”

Today’s unmanned space probes also have restricted abilities to act independently, relying instead on relaying much of their command information back and forth from Earth. Because of the huge distances in space, that makes it impossible for mission controllers on Earth to respond in real time to short-lived or unexpected events. If probes had more sophisticated computers on board, they could make more of their own decisions, such as quickly selecting the best sensor or camera to record a momentary event of interest.

“To be autonomous is to require a lot of computation, and until now, conventional space processing technologies have been incapable of high-performance computing,” George said.

The UF-Honeywell computer aims to upgrade both satellites and probes with a novel design called the Dependable Multiprocessor. Funded by NASA’s New Millennium Program and the Florida High Technology Corridor Council, the goal is to cope with radiation from solar flares or other space events not through the physical hardening of components – but rather through software that allows the computer to survive radiation-caused flaws or errors.

As George put it, “when you know components are going to fail, you can design the system to automatically adapt and thereby mitigate the effects of that failure.”

A microwave-sized box full of circuit boards in a UF electrical and computer engineering laboratory has been ground zero for the project. There, George and his team of graduate students develop and evaluate concepts and elements of the system. As per the project’s requirements, they feature off-the-shelf components with no deliberate radiation hardening. Their methods involve strategies such as making the computer fault-tolerant, or able to make an instant switch from a temporarily failing board to a functioning one. They also use algorithm-based techniques to detect and correct processing errors. “If one board is failing because of radiation, we can automatically go to another,” George said.

Samson said Honeywell is applying UF’s basic research to build a high-performance computer capable of actually flying in space. Even with the radiation problem solved, that’s a huge challenge because the system must be small, lightweight, capable of surviving the vibration of launch and the shock of the delivery vehicle separating from the booster rocket –and operate on relatively little precious electricity, among other challenges. “Space is a pretty tough operational environment,” Samson said.

If plans go as intended, the completed computer is expected to fly aboard the unmanned ST8 rocket mission on a test mission in February 2009.

Source: University of Florida

Multi-Purpose High-End Dual AMD Server Introduced By Tyan

Today, Tyan introduced the next generation of multi-purpose high-end dual AMD Opteron servers in the form of the Thunder K8SE (S2892). The Thunder K8SE takes into account the need for a full-feature server platform to handle any number of tasks and applications.

The Thunder K8SE capabilities include the following:

-- Dual AMD Opteron 200 Series Processor supported, with Dual Core capability
-- NVIDIA nForce Professional 2200 and AMD-8131 core-logic
-- Support up to 16GB of DDR400/333/266 Registered ECC memory and ChipKill
-- Two Gigabit and one 10/100 Ethernet port
-- Dual PCI Express x16 slots (one with x16, one with x4) and three PCI-X slots
-- Serial ATA-II (3Gb/s) with NVIDIA RAID and built-in 8MB server graphics
-- E-ATX form factor (12" x 13", 305mm x 331mm)
. . . and much more

"In today's IT market, multiprocessor server systems are being used to support a wide range of applications for a variety of fields," stated Danny Hsu, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Tyan. "The introduction of the Thunder K8SE (S2892) represents an answer to the call for a broader range of key features and capabilities, such as PCI Express and PCI-X, both of which are needed to meet the needs of server customers worldwide."

The Thunder K8SE (S2892) is currently shipping in volume to all customers the world over.

ECS introduces Black Series P55H-AK motherboard for hardcore gamers

Taipei, Taiwan, Aug 2010 - With innovative products that span multiple target markets under its belt, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world's leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, and notebook manufacturer, announces the latest product, the ECS Black Series P55H-AK motherboard, which has powerful specifications and takes on a classic black and white color scheme.

"Upgrade Your Force by Overclocking"

There were lots of insane overclocking events at COMPUTEX 2010; ECS successfully created a new overclocking standard - 5GHz for Intel latest Core Unlocked processor (Unlocked processors refer to the Core i5-655K and Core i7-875K) using just a normal air cooler.

Simply put, every user can boost their gaming system easily by using the ECS M.I.B. X tweaker - the special edition overclocking interface consolidates all information about overclocking for users; getting increased system performance using typical cooling isn't that hard anymore.

"Conquer Your Games with Full Power"

ECS P55H-AK is the very motherboard for hardcore gamers. Full speed 3-way NVIDIA SLI is possible on the P55H-AK, thanks to the NVIDIA NF200 chipset. ECS provides amazing DDR3-2600+ memory overclocking capabilities for boosting memory bandwidth, allowing smoother performance in the latest real-time 3D games.

Moreover, with SATA 6G and eSATA 6G ports powered by Marvell, the data throughput ceiling increases by two-fold. When using high speed storage devices such as solid state drives, expect quicker game loading times over the previous generation interface. Besides internal storage, there are four USB 3.0 ports on the P55H-AK, two of which are available as a front panel header for easy file transfers with USB 3.0 external storage via USB 3.0-capable ports on the front of your casing.

ECS Qooltech III technology is a dual-heatpipe with huge heatsink designed passive cooler to ensure the stability of system when overclocking or working for extended periods.

"Maintain Your Weapon in a Easy Way"

ECS exclusive applications like eOC, eJIFFY, eBLU, eDLU deliver convenience for users, such as extracting more performance from the system safety, providing an alternative choice for Internet surfing, as well as keeping BIOS and drivers up to date.

"Get It Now or Regret It Tomorrow"

The ECS Black Series P55H-AK motherboard limited edition is available now. Do visit the P55H-AK product page to get more information.

Elpida First 1GB DDR2-800 SDRAM

Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random AccessMemory (DRAM), today announced silicon development of the industry's first 1Gigabit DDR2 SDRAM device at 800 Megabits per second (Mbps) operation(DDR2-800). The device surpassed the maximum speed currently available forhigh-end server applications- the DDR2-667 specification which is currentlyunder consideration by JEDEC.

The device uses high-performance transistors with 100 nm process technology,and also has an optimized layout design that reduces speed bottlenecks on thesignal and data paths in the memory array and peripherals-this allows for 800Mbps operation even in a high-density, 1 Gigabit device. These advancements inprocess and design allow Elpida to create a device that matches the high-speed,high-density, low-power requirements demanded by performance-driven markets.

"This 1 Gigabit device running at 800 Mbps speed was made possible byutilizing 100 nm process DRAM combined with a superior layout design," saidYukio Sakamoto, president of Elpida Memory. "Future DRAM products demandimprovements in power and speed to offer the significant performance gains thatare crucial to the high-end server market. Elpida's latest achievementdemonstrates that we have the technical capabilities to meet this challenge."

The market is not ready for such advanced products in applications today;however, Elpida has the ability to offer DDR2-800 devices based on marketdemand.