VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA M'SERV S2100: a compact and versatile server system suitable for a range of applications for SOHO and SMB customers. Available to OEM customers, the VIA M'SERV S2100 is a mere 10.2" long by 4.7" high and provides up to four terabytes of storage in a stylish, compact, low power and low noise system.

The VIA M'SERV S2100 is the first product of its kind to offer the unique advantages of the high-performance, 64-bit VIA Nano processor. This makes the VIA M'SERV S2100 capable of addressing many traditional and next-generation server applications including sophisticated backup, cloud-intermediary service roles along with other storage oriented server applications such as NVR (Network Video Recorder) systems and Log servers.

Intel Corporation announced new Intel Atom processors today that feature integrated graphics built directly into the CPU, enabling improved performance and smaller, more energy-efficient designs in a new generation of netbooks and Atom-based entry level desktop PCs. Major OEMs have committed to having systems on the new Intel Atom processors and a new companion chipset available within the next few weeks.

The newest Intel Atom platform for netbooks consists of a new Intel Atom processor, the N450, and a new low-power Intel NM10 Express Chipset. For entry level desktop PCs, it consists of either the Intel Atom processor D410 or the dual core D510, also paired with the Intel NM10 Express Chipset. The Intel Atom processor was designed from the ground up for small devices and low power, and remains Intel's smallest chip, built on the company's 45nm high-k metal gate manufacturing process. The overall package, including chipset, just got smaller due to the increasing integration and 45nm manufacturing, which means smaller, more compact system designs, lower costs for OEMs and improved performance.

Google's slim and swift web-browser Chrome has been ported to Linux and Mac, at last, and a public beta release has been published. The beta version continues to use the version scheme of the latest developer channel release for Windows, with version 4.0.249.30 being the latest. It supports nearly all features of the Windows version, including sandboxed multi-process rendering for multiple browser tabs, among other features. Sadly, the team isn't ready with browser plugin support, with the Linux version not being able to use the Netscape compatible browswer plugins such as Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader, Java, and others which other browsers such as Firefox and Opera are able to use. To download Google Chrome beta for Linux, visit this page. For Google Chrome beta for Mac, visit this page.

Businesses rely on data every day and how this data is stored is of critical importance. Data has to be accessible at all times, but it also needs to be fast enough to keep up with the speed of modern business. Today, Thecus is proud to launch its latest 2U rackmount NAS device - the N8800PRO. With outstanding performance, rock-solid stability, and complete flexibility, the N8800PRO sets a new standard in enterprise storage.

To enable businesses to access their data as quickly as possible, the N8800PRO features a multitude of performance enhancements. Powering the N8800PRO is an Intel Core 2 Duo processor coupled with a full 4GB of DDR2 800 memory for lightning-quick system response and increased concurrent connections. All of this technology allows the N8800PRO to achieve data transfer speeds of over 300MB/s! And to ensure compatibility with future technologies, the N8800PRO even comes with an internal PCI-e slot. which enables users to install a 10Gbit PCI-e NIC for greatly increased throughput. In terms of storage, the N8800PRO comes equipped with eight 3.5" SATA hard disk bays for a maximum of 16TB of storage. System admins that require more storage can actually attach up to five different N8800PROs to it and manage them all using one master device using the stackable feature, or use the N8800PRO with iSCSI initiators. The N8800PRO even supports iSCSI thin provisioning! Expandable and flexible, the N8800PRO can grow along with your business.

Flash memory manufacturer leader, Silicon Power debut their flagship USB flash drive earlier this year, the LuxMini 920. It featured ultra fast read (maximum 200x) and write speed. Straight out of the gate, Silicon Power's LuxMini 920 received rave reviews and was awarded "Original Design" from iXBT Labs and won the top honor ~ Product of the Month, a five-star review from PC Magazine, Russia. To continue its success, Silicon Power announced today (11/4), the LuxMini 920 storage capacity will be boosted up to 64GB. Retaining its elegant looks and the 200X high speed transfer rate, it is currently one of the most attractive and the fastest USB flash drives in its class.

The maximum 200X read (30MB/sec) transfer rate is a feature accomplished only by a few USB flash drives in the market. With modern day high definition digital devices, the captured data capacity have increased daramtically. Whether it be recorded audio or pictures, the 200x speed can signigicantly reduce the time it takes to copy data. Apart from LuxMini 920's ultra fast read speed, its write speed is no slow either. When compared with most USB flash drives on the market, it is roughly 3~6x faster at a maximum speed of 20MB/sec.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Video Players today expanded their Turbo NAS lineup with the addition of the TS-210 desktop NAS server targeted specifically at the SOHO and Prosumer market segments. The TS-210 supports up to 2 3.5" SATA hard drives with up to 4TB of total capacity (using 2TB drives) and features a Marvell 800MHz CPU and 256MB DDRII memory which provides sustained high performance with low power consumption. The TS-210 can be configured to RAID 1 for high data redundancy. The TS-210 also supports iSCSI Target service with Thin Provisioning and a Gigabit LAN port, features generally found on much higher end NAS servers. The TS-210 is equipped 3 USB ports (1 front, 2 back panel) for expanding the storage capacity, printer sharing, or data backup to an external storage device.

The TS-210 is a smart choice for installation in home or home-based business as it is fully compatible with Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and UNIX networks. It features a built-in UPnP/ DLNA media server (with TwonkyMedia enabled) supporting a wide range of DLNA media players such as Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming consoles. By installing the DLNA/ UPnP application on your iPhone or iPod touch, users can access the TS-210 on the home network and play the videos, music, and photos from the server over the network. In addition, the high-speed PC-less Download Station with the unique QGet utility enables users to manage the BT/ FTP/ HTTP download tasks remotely over the local network or the Internet. The TS-210 can perform centralized backups of all computers attached to the network to protect valuable paid downloaded music and video content, digital pictures, and documents.

Iomega, an EMC company and a global leader in data protection, today announced the next generation of its popular double-drive desktop NAS appliance with the worldwide launch of the new Iomega StorCenter ix2-200. Based on industry-leading enterprise-class EMC storage technologies, the versatile yet affordable StorCenter ix2-200 wraps ease-of-use around big business data management functionality and advanced media serving and other consumer features that make it the ideal NAS appliance for small business users and home users.

Available in 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB capacities, the new ix2-200 utilizes a very simple four-step setup to be operational in a matter of minutes - be it in a business setting or in the digital home.

Shuttle Inc., market leader in the Mini-PC sector and manufacturer of Multi-Form-Factor solutions, is now supplying its X50 All-in-One PC platform with pre-installed Linux operating system.

The just 3.6 cm thin X500V complete system is fitted with the latest version (11.1) of openSUSE Linux and can be expanded with open-source applications from the openSUSE website. 1-click package installation allows the system to be customised specifically to a wide range of user requirements.

Active Media Products (AMP), manufacturer of SSDs and WWF series USB drives, today announced immediate availability of a bootable Linux USB (BLU) drive that is compatible with Windows 7 and benefits WWF. These new penguin BLU drives are preloaded with the full installation of Ubuntu Linux 9.0.4.

BLU drives allow booting into Ubuntu Linux from the USB drive regardless of what operating system is installed on the hard drive. Because the hard drive will still be fully accessible when booting from the BLU drive, it's an excellent disaster recovery solution in the event of problems with the operating system on the primary hard drive, because important data files on the hard drive can be backed up onto the BLU drive or another USB storage device.

Nearly nine months after launching the Chrome web-browser, which took the browser market by storm at least as far as pure-performance goes, with a conservative figure of 30 million active users, internet giant Google announced that it embarked on the ambitious-sounding Google OS project. The core ideology behind an OS of its own, is that it wants to focus on the web-connected era, which it feels current operating-systems are too dated and archaic in design. Of course it's not going to cater to a PC enthusiast, but the larger mass of internet and productivity users who will soon be using more web-based applications, and staying online and connected in general.

According to Google, its OS will be a light-weight, open-source, which will initially be targeted at netbooks and nettops. What's more interesting, is that it like POSIX-derivatives, it does not stick to one machine architecture. The OS will be available for both x86 and ARM. This opens up a lot of opportunity for consumer electronics companies working on ARM-based netbooks and MIDs. "Simplicity, speed, and security" will be the top design targets of the OS. Under the hood, Google OS will make use of a highly-customised Linux kernel. Google encourages its developer base to code web-applications, not exactly Linux apps, so the focus of its developer community remains on something that will work on any OS with a web-browser, and the developers get to cater to the largest base of target-consumers.

AMD announced the availability of ATI Catalyst version 9.6 driver suite, that provides driver support for ATI Radeon series graphics processors (driver version 8.62), Hydravision, AMD Southbridge/Chipset driver, and Catalyst Control Center (version 8.62). The new version brings along the following application-specific performance increments:

• Company of Heores - performance gains of up to 25% for the ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series, and performance gains of up to 10% for the ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series.
• Crysis Warhead - performance gains of up to 11% for ATI CrossFireX configurations.
• Crysis - performance gains of up to 13% for ATI CrossFireX configurations.
• World in Conflict - performance gains of up to 30% for settings are were previously CPU limited.

The Linux version of this driver suite adds production support for SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) and SLED 11. It also provides early support for RedHat Enterprise Linux 4.8.

DOWNLOAD: ATI Catalyst 9.6 for Windows XP 32-bit | Windows 7/Vista 32-bit | Windows XP 64-bit | Windows 7/Vista 64-bit

Release Notes can be read here

HP added two more netbooks to its growing lineup, the Mini 1101 and Mini 110. The latter has two variants: Mini 110 XP and Mini 110 Mi. Both these models feature 10.1 inch LED screens. Users can choose between Atom N270 and N280, with as much as 1 GB of memory, 160 GB HDD, and Intel GMA 950 graphics.

The Mini 110 XP offers a few exclusive features. Users can opt for a 32 GB SSD and WLAN. It comes with Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator, that provides smooth playback of HD video at resolutions of 1080p. It comes with Windows XP Home SP3 pre-installed. The Mini 110 Mi is physically identical, except for that it comes with a popular Linux distribution pre-installed, and allows users to opt for a 250 GB HDD or 2 GB of system memory. The Mini 1101 will retail in June with a base price of US $329. The Mini 110 Mi, with Linux, will be priced significantly lower, at $279.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today announces the first 2-bay network-attached storage (NAS) which supports both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA hard drives - TS-219P Turbo NAS. Dedicated to home and SOHO users, the TS-219P is an advanced version of the previously released TS-219. Powering Marvell 1.2GHz high performance processor and 512 MB DDRII memory, the NAS comes with 3 USB ports and 2 eSATA ports to deliver the best storage expansion capability compared with other 2-bay NAS in the market.

The TS-219P supports two hot-swappable 2.5" or 3.5" SATA hard drives with maximum 4TB storage capacity. The device can be accessed across Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX. It is a highly reliable and powerful NAS with abundant business-class features, such as built-in iSCSI target service (max 8 iSCSI devices) with Thin Provisioning, Online RAID Capacity Expansion, Online RAID Level Migration, automatic policy-based IP blocking, hard drive status report, instant SMS and email alert, built-in TwonkyMedia UPnP/ DLNA media server, BT and eMule download, schedule power on and power off, one Giga LAN port, and 2 IP cameras for network surveillance.

Silicon Power, the leading brand among Solid State Disk (SSD) Manufacturers lifts the benchmark another notch with their new Portable eSATA / USB SSD II. It is the world's first eSATA (eSATA; External Serial ATA) /USB dual interface portable SSD drive. The new drive emphasis the convenience of USB connection and the ultra fast performance of eSATA interface as an external drive. Overall, the drive has excellent aesthetics and the performance to match.

Having won rave reviews with their 64GB eSATA /USB SSD, Silicon Power releases the new lidless and portable eSATA/USB SSD II. Through the eSATA interface, maximum read speed reaches 90MB/Sec and maximum write reaches 50 MB/Sec. Maximum read through the USB connection is rated at 30MB/Sec and 20MB/sec for write. It is the perfect solution for professional multimedia enthusiasts or users that often carry and transfer large capacity files.

Today DisplayLink is taking steps to bring its USB display technology, formerly only available on Windows and Mac, to Linux. DisplayLink's chips enable one or more high resolution displays to be connected via the standard, universal USB 2.0 connector. The library released today enables the creation of Linux software - X Servers, drivers, and other applications - which will work with the growing universe of products using DisplayLink technology.
The library is provided under the GNU Lesser General Public License v2 (LGPL), enabling software to be ported by the community to cover the widest possible range of processors, platforms, and applications. This ultimately enables companies to create products which will work on the full variety of Linux devices like netbooks, notebooks, mobile Internet devices, mobile phones, embedded displays, embedded devices, digital signage, and more.

Soon after becoming the first to be out with a portable desktop alternative featuring the Intel Core i7 processor, SmoothCreations dished out another of its kind, this time a portable workstation named Bulldozer. The company is looking to target two classes of consumers with this product: gamers, and graphics professionals, who will take advantage of its hardware for high-definition gaming or CAM/CAE/CAD, medical imaging, forensics, government or military use. The applications are broad thanks to the hardware, which just might come at the expense of a little portability.

The Bulldozer features a 17-inch screen with a native resolution of 1900x1200 pixels. Under its hood is a Core i7 (models 940 or 965 XE) or Xeon X5580 processor. Up to 16 GB of memory can be opted for, along with up to 1.5 TB of storage thanks to three SATA HDD bays. A Blu-Ray combo drive provides removable storage. Connectivity options include WiFi, Gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth 2.0. Graphics is care of NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700 with 1 GB of memory. Depending on the application, 64-bit Windows XP, Windows Vista, or RedHat Linux could be opted for. Its pricing is not known.

Shuttle Inc., the market leader in the Mini-PC sector and manufacturer of Multi-Form-Factor solutions, is now expanding its portfolio of Mini-PCs with Open Source operating systems. The latest offshoot is the X270V complete system based on the Shuttle Barebone X27D.

As with earlier Shuttle Mini-PCs with pre-installed Linux operating system, the X270V uses OpenSUSE - now in version 11. All PC functions are configured after the first start-up in only a few steps and can then be used immediately. Expansion with program packages is possible at any time by a 1-Click-Installation from the openSUSE website to meet individual requirements.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced its entry into the design manufacturing service business to offer provide flexible system hardware solutions, starting with the new VIA NSD7200 home storage and media server.

Building on its success as a pioneer of system level innovation in small form factor and IPC markets, VIA can provide OEM and ODM customers with customized versions of home and SOHO storage platforms targeting specific markets. By combining energy-efficient processor platforms and high quality chassis designs with a full design manufacturing service and comprehensive engineering support, VIA enables customers to more accurately address the needs of system integrators and retailers by speeding up product cycles and reducing production costs.

It looks like NVIDIA's attempts to let Tegra make it to bigger platforms are beginning to bear fruit. LaptopMag got its hands on one of the first mini-notebooks based on Tegra, a fully-integrated computing architecture that focuses on making more powerful and visual portable computing devices possible. The Tegra CPU core is based on the ARM11 architecture, working along with NVIDIA's own graphics processing, and system controlling technologies.

The model in use with the mini-notebook is Tegra 650, which runs at 750 MHz (core clock speed), supports hardware HD video decoding, an S-Video out, and USB. It supports DDR memory running at 200 MHz, and an IDE channel for a sold-state drive for primary storage. Apart from the IDE interface, Tegra has its own NAND-flash controller so small amounts of flash memory (up to 8 GB) could be embedded onto the main PCB. The mini-notebook features an OS that lets the user achieve all the tasks one would ask from this 90~200 Dollar mini-notebook. Windows CE and Linux are the likely candidates. The screenshot below is that of the Windows CE-based prototype that takes advantage of the 3D processing power of the core. Also pictured is the prototype system board by NVIDIA.

AMD today announced the availability of the ATI FirePro V7750 graphics accelerator for the high-end market, ideally suited for graphics professionals working in engineering, digital content creation and scientific fields. These professionals need a 3D graphics accelerator that can quickly handle large models and shader-intensive applications, while delivering accurate color reproduction and superior visual quality. The ATI FirePro V7750 delivers features that matter most to these users at $899 MSRP.

"Creating astounding visuals for movies is a tremendous challenge - it has to look absolutely perfect, but time is always of the essence," said Jabbar Raisani, visual effects expert, Troublemaker Studios. "The ATI FirePro V7750 graphics accelerator helps me achieve flawless effects fast by speeding up rendering so I can focus on creating content rather than waiting for it. I need stable and robust performance graphics hardware to get the job done quickly and the ATI FirePro V7750 is the perfect solution."

Codeweavers, the company behind CrossOver, a software that allows Linux and Mac users to run Windows applications, is readying support for Microsoft's DirectX 10 API on in upcoming versions of CrossOver Games. CrossOver Games is a variant of the software specifically designed to run games for Windows with near-complete software API support.

In his blog, Jeremy White, a lead developer for CrossOver products reviewed how much they had achieved on the goals they set eight months ago in the development roadmap. "We've just shipped a lot of those "under the hood" improvements for games out in CrossOver Games 7.2. We're really pushing Direct X 9 support pretty far along, and getting ready to move on DirectX 10." said White.

MSI formally announced at CeBIT the creation of a new interactive device dubbed simply Winki. Based on a Linux distribution, Winki allows instant internet access with no need of operating system. The device looks like a little USB flash and plugs directly into an MSI motherboard. From that moment on, Winki will allow you to instantly load its Linux program, before there's a request send to a hard drive or whetever else you are trying to load the main OS from. Once the Winki OS is loaded, a screen shows up and offers functions like built-in web browsing, immediate communication, VOIP calls, photo searching and other common PC functions. The OS also loads an instant messaging (IM) software called "Pidgin", which allows up to 15 different IM accounts to run at the same time. Some of them include MSN, ICQ, Yahoo, and even Skype. For now this thing will be available only on select MSI mainboards. Eventually the Winki might also show up in some of the high-end MSI laptops. Look at the screenshots or read the official press release for more information. More screenshots courtesy of Engadget are here.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today introduces the enterprise-grade TS-809U-RP Turbo NAS, the 2U chassis 8-bay NAS with high redundancy, performance, and reliability. Featuring the powerful Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz CPU and 2GB DDRII memory, the giant TS-809U-RP delivers superior performance in high density data access environment. It supports 8 hot-swappable SATA hard drives and is able to serve up to a whopping 16TB storage capacity. Designed with excellent power and network redundancy, the NAS supports redundant power supply and two Giga LAN ports for load balancing or failover. Other advanced features include RAID 0/ 1/ 5/ 6/ 5+spare/ 6+spare, Online RAID Capacity Expansion, Online RAID Level Migration, iSCSI with Thin Provisioning, AES 256-bit volume-based encryption, automatic policy-based IP blocking, hard disk drive S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) etc.

"The TS-809U-RP is equipped with two power supply units, which share the load equally in normal operation. When one of them fails for any reasons, the other one will take over to supply the power of the entire NAS to ensure continuous operation. The IT administrator can replace the failed unit without turning off the server. This largely enhances the productivity of the business environment and minimizes the system maintenance cost," said Troy Lin, Product Manager from QNAP.

Marvell Semiconductor has come up with a marvel: the SheevaPlug computer software/hardware development kit (SHDK). The initiative puts to use the company's Sheeva ARM processor in a compact unit the size and form of a retro wall-mount AC-DC adapter. Consuming no more than 5 W of power, the unit can function as a full-featured PC, driving Linux. It packs a 1.2 GHz Sheeva ARM processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 512 MB of flash-based fixed storage.

Throwing open the development kit would mean companies wanting to build similar devices based on Marvell hardware. The SheevaPlug is built around the Marvell 88F6000 Kirkwood SoC design that makes use of Feroceon and XScale architectures, both of which are derivatives of ARM. Gigabit Ethernet and USB ports add to the connectivity. With several industry heavyweights such as Microsoft and Google predicting a bright future for cloud-computing, companies such as Marvell can only help but gain interest in developing inexpensive devices that drive the client-side machinery for it. Take a guess on how much SheevaPlug costs: US $100 in single unit retail quantities. What's more, it could be bought in bulk for as low as $50 a piece!

Ubuntu's contribution to propagating Linux to the client platforms (general desktop/notebook) is invaluable. Its developers are known to codename major builds of the OS after animals. An upcoming version, 9.10 has been codenamed "Karmic Koala", after the cute and cuddly animal from south-east Australia. Going by Ubuntu's six-month development cycle, 9.10 should follow 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" slated for this April, and should be coming out by October.

The new client-version is expected to be netbook-friendly, with having significantly lower boot times. The target booting time for 9.04 is 25 seconds, while the developers hope to improve that figure further with 9.10. The developers will be integrating features from Intel's Moblin platform in order to improve performance on Atom-based devices. The Server Edition based on Ubuntu, which is steadily gaining in adoption, yet lagging behind offerings from market heavyweights such as Red Hat and Novell, will also get its share of improvements, one of the most important of them being enhanced support for cloud-computing.