XFX jumps onboard with AMD's new HD 7000 series GPUs

XFX released their all new Radeon HD 7000 Series line-up that’s now available in four versions for you to choose from- Core Edition, the multi-award winning Double Dissipation, Black Edition Single Fan and Black Edition Double Dissipation – all featuring XFX’s Ghost Thermal Solution.  These are the prices for the following models:

• FX-797A-TNFC - Rs.41000
• FX-795A-TNFC - Rs.34800
• FX-777A-ZDSC - Rs.11300

Now in India!

Ghost Thermal technology is the optimal thermal design that allows air to pass through the heatsink directly to the PCB and core components. This exclusive design allows fan speeds to be kept lower, while allowing the heat to dissipate evenly through the card without excess noise. XFX’s exclusive Ghost Thermal design is complemented by its highly efficient HydroCell thermal solution, which is a vapour chamber, based on the same principles as heat-pipe technology, which uses a recirculation process and wick system for vaporization. All of this combined with XFX’s award-winning Double Dissipation dual-fan design makes it one of the coolest and quietest cards on the market, while simultaneously increasing overall graphics card performance and lifespan.   

The 7000 series introduces AMD’s revolutionary 28nm Architecture, which utilizes the smallest transistors used in a GPU, ever. Utilizing AMD’s EyeFinity technology, the world’s first 28nm GPU chip provides improved texture and dynamic power management for uncompromised efficiency and performance across up to six displays. The 28nm GCN Architecture enables a dramatic increase in processing power for better performance, while using less power and better transistor efficiency, than previous generation technology. In addition, AMD and XFX bring gamers a plethora of new breakthrough technologies, including the all new PCI Express Gen 3 Bus Architecture with up to 32GB/s bandwidth, 384-bit Memory Bus and also up to 3GB of memory in a single video card.

German court dismisses 2 Apple-Samsung appeals

At the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany, today, representatives of both Apple and Samsung had assembled to place their appeals before the presiding judge, Andreas Voss. However, the judge, according to a post on Foss Patents dismissed the appeals of both Apple and Samsung. As familiarized by our previous reports, both Apple and Samsung are waging a bitter battle in Germany, and in several other countries, worldwide over a host of patents, which each one claims is owned by them.

Dismissed for now!

Both the companies, had this time, too approached the court with appeals and allegations against one another. The appeals that were dismissed by the judge, include one of Apple's two claims about Samsung infringing on its patented slide-to unlock technology, and one of other 3G/UMTS-essential patents that Samsung alleges Apple infringes on. The post adds that the decision on the slide-to unlock patent, which has Apple accusing Samsung of patent infringement will be announced on March 16, i.e. two weeks from today.

The report further states that, "Samsung today announced its intent to appeal the dismissal of its case, and while Apple typically declines to comment, I believe they, too, will appeal, especially since the Mannheim court's interpretation of the slide-to-unlock patent was narrower than the one the Munich I Regional Court adopted in a case that Apple won (for the most part) against Motorola two weeks ago, a fact that shows that there's room for interpretation and appeals courts could decide either way."

This news is an update to an ongoing battle between Cupertino-based, Apple Inc. and South Korean company, Samsung Electronics, since a while now, over a host of patent infringement allegations.

LG previews the T375 and T385 feature phones

This year’s Mobile World Congress for LG has been all about their recently announced Android smartphones; the most notable mentions being their LG Optimus Vu, which features a massive 5-inch display, the Optimus 4X HD with a quad-core processor, the Optimus 3D Max, which is a successor to the Optimus 3D and their L-Style smartphones. However, LG have also previewed two other handsets, but these do not fall in the smartphone category, rather in the feature phone category of mobiles. The handsets that were previewed at the MWC event in Barcelona were the T375, a dual-SIM handset and the T385, a Wi-Fi handset.

Dual-SIM capabilities found here

A report by GSMArena states that these handsets are basically the same phone, but with a slightly different range of specifications. The website notes, “Both the T375 and T385 feature a 3.2-inch QVGA touchscreen and run LG's widget-enabled touch interface for feature phones. The phones offer GSM/EDGE connectivity along with Wi-Fi. You also get Facebook and Twitter integration along with push email to put that Internet connectivity to good use.” The other similarities in the features, include factors like - both handsets have a 2 megapixel camera, MicroSD card support, along with a 3.5mm audio jack.

Apart from the promotional video, which shows off the features of these two phones, there is no word on their pricing, but they are expected to launch sometime this month. There is no word on the exact date of availability or in which countries these handsets will be available too. But in due time all will be known.




For those who may not know, feature phones are basically mobile phones by manufacturers that are not considered to be smartphones. They may possess various features and capabilities that are not found in general mobile phones, but additional features put them slightly above basic mobile phones. They usually have a JAVA-based operating system, as opposed to Android or Windows Phone and are generally cheaper than most smartphones. 

Brands can launch these phones at a lower price point making their audience increase by quite a large margin. Let us know your thoughts on these latest feature phones by LG in the comments below.

Apple’s thinner MacBook Pros still en route for April

Despite recent reports that Intel’s next-gen Ivy Bridge chips may see an 8- to 10-week delay, which pushes the release back to June, insider sources say that Apple may still be launching the much rumored MacBook Pro refresh as early as April. Intel has staggered its shipments before and may give Apple a head start with about 900,000 units, according to DigiTimes’ sources in Apple’s upstream supply chain.


It’s been rumored that Apple will be launching a thinner, redesigned Air-like MacBook Pro starting off with the more popular 15-inch model in April and then introducing the revamped 17-inch model later. The next-gen lineup is expected to feature Intel’s Ivy Bridge chips and rumored to sport a Retina Display-like screen with 2,880 x 1,800 pixels, twice the current resolution found on the 15-inch MacBook Pro displays.
The updated MacBook Pros and new MacBook Airs along with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion will pose a significant threat to Ultrabook manufacturers that may have to wait for Intel to release its mass supply of Ivy Bridge chips in June, giving Apple a much greater head start. Ultrabooks are set on competing with Apple’s MacBook Airs, featuring ultra slim designs of 21mm or thinner and weighing no more than 3.1 pounds. However, initial Ultrabooks are still having a difficult time competing on price due to Apple’s advantage on component costs.

Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus

Really, Samsung? The Ace 2, Mini 2, S Advance and now, the Ace Plus? It's a wonder anyone at the company can still keep track. Unfortunately, this particular Android offshoot is a bit of a stinker, saddled with a pitiful 3.65-inch 480 x 320 display that does the opposite of the usual, saturated OLED-impress, offering no other spec distraction from its lower pixel density. Like its aforementioned cousins, the device runs a TouchWiz skin atop Android Gingerbread 2.3.6, powered by a single 1GHz processor that does an acceptable job moving things along without that essential dual-core briskness. And while Sammy's plastic builds are normally balanced out by superior software performance, here the chintzy look and feel of the unit and its overgrown silver trim further confirm its place as a budget entry. For now, the phone appears to be an overseas-only affair, as it's already hit global markets this past January. Follow on past the break for a video tour of this forgettable pint-sizer.

Toshiba Excite tablet to launch March 6 for $530

Toshiba has announced that its Excite 10 LE tablet, formerly called the Excite X10, will be arriving in stores March 6, coincidentally just one day ahead of the iPad 3 event. Perhaps due to the extreme bulkiness of the Toshiba Thrive, the company has taken a 180 with the Excite 10 LE, designing it to be the world’s thinnest and lightest tablet. Toshiba had originally said the tablet would launch sometime in February, but perhaps waited for more iPad 3 speculation to be confirmed.


The Excite 10 LE boasts a 7.7mm thin chassis and weighs just 535 grams or about 1.18lbs. It features a 10.1-inch IPS touchscreen display with a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, a 1.2GHz dual-core TI OMPA 4430 processor, 1GB of RAM, and options for 16GB or 32GB storage, expandable with microSD card slot. It also has a front-facing 2-megapixel camera and a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera capable of 1080p video recording.
Other features include GPS, Bluetooth, stereo speakers, micro USB, and HDMI. The tablet, however, will only offer WiFi, there’s no 3G or 4G cellular radio. The 16GB model is priced at $529, while the 32GB model is priced at $599. The tablet will ship with Android 3.2 Honeycomb, but Toshiba promises an Android 4.0 update in the spring.

Apple’s market value reaches $500 billion

Apple’s market value peaked today, reaching $500 billion, a place not many have gone nor managed to stay for long. The company is already the most valuable in the world and the gap between it and second place Exxon continues to widen as investors jump on the bandwagon of Apple’s recent holiday success and enticed by the possibility of Apple instituting a dividend. Today’s milestone makes Apple only the sixth US corporation to have reached the $500 billion mark.


Individual Apple shares had just surpassed the $500 mark two weeks ago and they continue to rise, reaching $542.41 per share late this morning with the company’s market capitalization near $506 billion. This stock jump comes just a day after Apple sent out invitations for its iPad 3 event scheduled to take place next Wednesday, March 7.
Apple was going neck and neck with Exxon for much of last year, but had blown past the oil company last month by nearly $100 billion. Exxon is now worth about $407 billion and had reached the $500 billion mark for two brief periods in 2007. Microsoft had hit the $500 billion mark briefly in 1999 and again in early 2000, but is now worth $267 billion. Cisco, Intel, and GE had also hit the $500 billion mark in early 2000 with Cisco and Intel now worth a little over $100 billion each, while GE is worth about $200 billion.