No-one seems to be immune to the current spat of component shortages and Even Upton from the Raspberry Pi foundation has announced that the 2 GB SKU of Raspberry Pi 4 will be going up in price, to its previous US$45 price point, from its current US$35. They will also bring back the 1 GB SKU of the Raspberry Pi until things settle down and it'll retail for $35.

They're also shifting their production priorities to be able to meet the demand of some products, as they're experiencing a fab allocation shortage on the 40 nm node on which the Raspberry Pi 3 SoCs are being made. As such, the Raspberry Pi 3B+ might end up in short supply, as the Raspberry Pi foundation will focus on its Raspberry Pi 3 and 3+ compute modules, as well as the Raspberry Pi 3B.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today announced the TS-x31+ series Turbo NAS for small and home offices. Embedded with a dual-core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A15 CPU, the TS-x31+ series provides a powerful yet energy-efficient solution for file storage, sharing and data backup with hardware-accelerated encryption, coupled with the easy-to-use cloud-based Notes Station 2.0, various multimedia applications and more.

"For home & small businesses, a powerful, secure yet affordable cloud storage solution is becoming a key investment for improving everyday business workflow," said Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP. "With the TS-x31+ series, users can build a cost-efficient private cloud with ensured security and comprehensive business applications, " added Hsu.

GIGABYTE today introduced an extraordinary lineup of computers that are redefining mobility and powerful performance. The U2442V is a sleek and stunning 14" Ultrabook that provides fantastic performance with a 3rd generation Intel Core i5/i7 ULV processor, while the U2442N features the same incredible form factor, but has a powerful 3rd generation Intel Core i5/i7 standard voltage processor. Both models feature an excellent NVIDIA GeForce GPU, which provides remarkable graphics performance for multimedia and games.

Other models to be introduced include the P2542G, which is a 15.6" powerful gaming notebook with an exciting race car design; and the Q2542N, an excellent 15.6" mainstream notebook that delivers terrific versatility. Also to be showcased at CeBIT 2012 is the S1081, a 10.1" powerful business slate; the Booktop T1132N, an 11.6" revolutionary 3-in-1 notebook, tablet and desktop; the Booktop M2432, a sleek 14" notebook that provides desktop graphics performance through its unique docking station; and the AC21, an all-in-one PC that simplifies the desktop experience.

VR-Zone have been having a little chat with Intel 'sources', who have leaked some juicy tidbits for us to enjoy in the form performance and power news. The upcoming next generation Medfield platform is Intel's first true System on a Chip (SoC) and is designed to compete with various low power ARM offerings in the tablet space. To help achieve this, they've gone through an internal restructure, merging four business units into just one: Ultra-Mobility, Mobile Wireless, Mobile Communications and Netbook & Tablet PC. The business unit is now simply known as Mobile and Communications. It's being run by Mike Bell and Hermann Eul and the first product to emerge from it will be is the 32 nm Medfield SoC solution.

VR-Zone explained that the competition will be "Apple's A-Series, NVIDIA Tegra, Qualcomm Snapdragon, Samsung Exynos, Texas Instruments OMAP and the likes. Out of all the chips mentioned above, only Samsung's Exynos is currently manufactured in 32nm process, just like Medfield."

EVGA has just announced a new dual GPU card based on the GF114 GPU - check out the product launch page here and the product page here. If their performance graph on that launch page is accurate, then the card is around 30% faster than a GTX 580 when running the Unigene Heaven benchmark. The output panel contains three DVI connectors for NVIDIA 3D Surround, along with a mini HDMI port. The cooler has three fans, which should make for a well-cooled and reasonably quiet card. The marketing blurb says:

Introducing the EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2Win
It may not be called a GTX 585, but it's the next best thing. This card harnesses the power of two EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti GPU's for blistering fast DirectX 11 performance, including tessellation performance that destroys the competition. Experience a whole new level of interactive gaming and combine up to three displays off a single card for the ultimate in 3D entertainment, or disable Surround and combine up to four displays for maximum productivity. With these features and more, the EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2Win gives you double the GPU's and double the win!

Translated, this means that your life isn't worth living without one of these babies in your rig. Apparently.

SMART Modular Technologies (WWH), Inc., a leading independent manufacturer of solid-state storage products and memory modules, today announced the Optimus solid-state drive (SSD) for enterprise storage applications. Featuring a native Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) 6Gb/s interface and up to 1.6 TB usable capacity, Optimus is the industry's highest capacity and fastest SAS multi-level cell (MLC) SSD. Delivering high performance, endurance, and reliability, the costeffective Optimus SSD satisfies the demands of I/O intensive, web-facing, and cloud-based applications in today's IT infrastructure.

Optimus was developed using SMART's extensive experience in flash technology, SAS firmware, and enterprise storage. SMART's world-class manufacturing and accomplished enterprise organization ensures that the Optimus SSD, as well as SMART's business and support processes, will meet the needs of the most demanding enterprise storage customers.

iBUYPOWER, a leading innovator in gaming PCs, is excited to announce three systems featuring the powerful new AMD 6800 series graphic cards - Gamer Mage D295, Gamer Mage D355, and Gamer Paladin F820. The new DirectX11 compatible cards help create a truly immersive gaming experience by supporting up to 6 monitors with an external display-port hub and 3D video.

"We take pride in always being able to offer our customers the latest in graphics technology," said Darren Su, Vice President of iBUYPOWER. "That's why we are excited to be among the first to offer the gamer-friendly AMD Radeon 6000 series graphics cards."

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today announced the SPARKLE GeForce 210 1GB Graphics Card with 128-bit video memory design, bringing impressive graphics processing power to your PC at an incredible value.

Based on NVIDIA's next generation G210 architecture, the SPARKLE GeForce 210 1GB Graphics Card adopts innovative unified architecture, dynamically allocates processing power to geometry, vertex, physics, or pixel shading operations, delivering up to 2x the gaming performance of prior generation GPUs. Built upon technologies such as NVIDIA Lumenex Engine, providing support for DirectX 10.1 Shader Model 4.0, NVIDIA Quantum Effects technology for physics computation and GigaThread Technology for extreme processing efficiency in advanced, next generation shader programs.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today unveils the SPARKLE GeForce 210/GT220/GT240 Low Profile Silent Series Graphics Cards with low profile design, addressing, fulfilling and exceeding the HTPC users' demand on silent working, power consumption and HD video in small HTPC cases.

The SPARKLE GeForce 210/GT220/GT240 Silent Series Graphics Cards are a half-height video cards suitable for small form-factor, book size and home theatre PCs users that desperately want a dedicated HDMI jack on the cheap.The SPARKLE GeForce 210/GT220/GT240 Silent Series Graphics Cards can be easily installed in narrow space HTPC chassis. So the SPARKLE GeForce 210/GT220/GT240 Silent Series Graphics Cards not only can easily meet the HD video playback and DX10.1 gaming demand from HTPC users, but also can easily satisfy the requirements from SSF, mini-chassis and industry PCs which demand compact and practical graphics cards.

For those with the passion to discover, imagine and create the future, "on-the-go" access to workstation-class computing provides the freedom to work wherever inspiration strikes. This passion to create is why Dell continues to push the boundaries of workstation performance and mobility with the announcement today of the world's most powerful 15.6-inch mobile workstation¹-the Dell Precision M4500.

The Dell Precision M4500 joins Dell's family of mobile workstations, which includes the world's most powerful 17 inch mobile workstation, the Dell Precision M6500. The new mobile workstation is designed to liberate creative professionals, designers, animators, engineers and research scientists from their desks. The M4500 also supports the missions of defense customers who require mobile workstation performance and security, including authentication and data encryption, when in the field.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today expanded their popular Business Series Turbo NAS lineup with two new 1U rack-mounted, 4-drive models, the TS-459U-RP and TS-459U-SP. These new models, with up to 8TB of storage (using 2TB hard drives), have been certified as compatible with VMware's vSphere4 (ESX 4.0) virtualization platform, ideal for departmental file sharing, storage, and advanced server applications in the office environment. VMware's vSphere is the industry's first cloud operating system that offers a way to reduce IT costs and increase responsiveness. Shared networked storage is an essential component of a cloud computing infrastructure. The TS-459U-RP and TS-459U-SP incorporate the Intel Atom D-510 1.66Ghz dual-core processor and feature 1GB of DDRII RAM , delivering exceptional performance and high reliability for multiple concurrent tasks and intensive data transfer with lower power consumption. Businesses of all sizes are able to enjoy the interoperability between VMware virtual machines and QNAP high performance storage to take the advantages of VMware cloud computing environments.

SAPPHIRE Technology is now shipping a new family of graphics cards in the highly successful HD 5000 series. The SAPPHIRE HD 5570 is a new low profile model aimed at the mainstream market, whist sharing many of the exciting features of the latest high end series.

The SAPPHIRE HD 5500 series is based on the latest graphics architecture from the ATI division of AMD, the second generation of GPU to be built in its 40nm process. It supports the advanced graphical features of Microsoft DirectX 11, and delivers superb video clarity and visual effects, whilst consuming very low power levels.

MSI has announced the 15.6" models CX620 and CR620. CX620 equipped with a discrete graphics card, for its Classic Series notebook computers. Clad with MSI exclusive Color Film Print coating, along with an independent Chiclet keyboard and a seamless touchpad, these laptops were modeled in pleasant simplicity and full quality. The feature of lower power consumption offered by the latest Intel Core processor achieves even greater efficiency.

Sam Chern, MSI Notebook Marketing Director, claimed that the latest models of MSI Classic Series come equipped with the New 2010 Intel Core processor. CX620 is embedded with the ATi Radeon HD5470 discrete graphics card including 1GB DDR3 display memory. Via MSI exclusive GPU Boost and ECO power saving technologies, users can switch among different display modes and various scenes as necessary, which enables high-quality video/audio, processing efficiency and long battery life at the same time."

Today HIS unleashed the revolutionary new HIS Radeon HD 5670 IceQ 1GB/5121MB GDDR5, featuring the award-winning IceQ cooling technology. With full DirectX 11 support you can enjoy eye-popping visuals, astonishing realism and fast frame rates. It has the power and premium features you need for fully immersive gameplay while consumes less than 75 Watts under full load, eliminating the need for an external power connection for easy installation.

HIS IceQ technology is endorsed as the most efficient cooling technology among the current mainstream graphic cards' series. It can actively draw the air inside your PC case to cool down the card, and blows amounts of hot air out of your case, dramatically decreasing the GPU temperature. HIS IceQ is also UV sensitive, enhancing the gamers' UV light case.

As NVIDIA celebrates the launch of its two new flagship products: the GeForce GTX 295 and GeForce GTX 285, Sparkle made an addition to its mainstream graphics lineup with a 1 GB variant its GeForce 9600 GSO accelerator (model: SX96SO1024D3-HM). Traditionally, the G92 graphics processor in the 8800 GS, 9600 GSO should have a 192-bit memory bus, but with this particular card, Sparkle chose a 128-bit memory bus and added 1 GB of GDDR3 memory.

The card features a dual-slot cooler for the GPU. Its core is clocked at 550 MHz. Its 96 stream processors are clocked at 1375 MHz. The memory runs at 800 MHz (1600 MHz DDR). It supports NVIDIA CUDA and PhysX technologies and is SLI capable. It will be priced around US $100.

TechConnect have got hold of what appears to be official imagery of a new 1GB variant of the Sapphire HD 4870 Toxic. It shows the card will feature a dual-slot, 3 heatpipe, Vapor-X Cooler, presumably using the same Vapor Chamber Technology (VCT), though one would hope that the heatpipes will not be in the way of the Crossfire fingers when the card hits retail. It can be seen on the product packaging that the card is factory overclocked and if the 512MB 4870 Toxic is anything to go by, the GPU will be clocked around 780Mhz with the memory around 4Ghz. There is yet no word on availabilty or pricing, but TechConnect expects it to arrive in the next few weeks.