Asus Ares GPU packs raw power of two 5870s in one kickass package [RoG]

For hardcore PC gaming enthusiasts, there exists the ATI Radeon HD 5970, which essentially is a dual-GPU version of the AMD's fastest single graphics card, the ATI Radeon HD 5870. But while the 5970 has the same number of stream processors and memory as a standard 5870, its core and memory are running at 15 percent and 20 percent slower speeds, respectively. Not quite the true dual-graphics solution AMD fans would like it to be.

Enter the Asus Ares, a true dual-5870 solution that appears to belong to the company's Republic of Gamers brand of PC-related hardware. According to the folks from HotHardware, Asus has combined two 5870s back-to-back in the Ares GPU, enabling them to run at full speed and work from a single PCI-E graphics card slot.

Preliminary tests have shown that it pretty much beats the HD 5970 in 3DMark Vantage. The only question now is, is it still a good product when you take heat and power consumption into account? Asus hasn't mentioned when and where they will launch the dual-5870 Ares GPU first, so we probably won't find out until then.

Source: [HotHardware]

Asus MS236H ultra-thin LCD monitor now available with its bizarre design for 12,000 Pesos

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That ultra-thin, LED-backlit LCD monitor from Asus that took its design cues from Samsung's LapFit series of LCD monitors? It's available now in the Philippines for 12,000 Pesos, and it's being sold as the Asus Designo MS236H. It offers full HD resolution on a 23-inch LCD screen and weighs 3.9kgs. So it should be sitting pretty on your desk if you decide to spring for it whether you plan to game, watch movies or do both in the comfort of your own home.

Source: [Arriola Enterprises]

L4D2 "The Passing" DLC scheduled for release in March, screenshots and gameplay videos now available

Over on YouTube I found a couple of recently uploaded videos that show a full minute of gameplay in Valve's upcoming DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 called "The Passing." These gameplay videos were recorded as the game was played on the Xbox 360, and showed the player controlling survivor Ellis while blasting his way through zombies. As I searched for recently published news stories regarding the upcoming DLC, I came across GamePlanet which has apparently gotten the scoop ahead of everyone and even has 10 new screenshots to prove it. The GamePlanet article sheds new light on the much-awaited DLC and talks about another DLC following a month after it is released.

Samsung's S2 portable hard drive comes preloaded with Michael Jackson's 'This Is It'

If you're like me, you don't like the feeling of buying a brand new external storage drive and finding nothing in it after first accessing it through your computer. Samsung all the way in Korea has apparently heard my mutterings and has unveiled a new portable hard drive that should be able to creep you out in more ways than one. First, Samsung's new S2 portable hard drive comes colored in gold, and offers 500GB of portable storage. The creepy part comes in when you notice that it comes with a silhouette of the late singer Michael Jackson drawn on top of it, with his name and the words "THIS IS IT" written right above it. This is because the hard drive itself is home to a digital copy of "This Is It," the late king of pop's last concert which has also been released in Blu-ray and DVD. Pricing is currently unknown, but it will only become available in Europe starting February 22nd, and availability in Asia and other regions will be determined following the initial launch.

Source: [Aving]

LG promoting movie piracy with USB playback-enabled TVs?

Above is a screenshot lifted directly from an English language manual that LG includes in one of its new TVs, which have a nifty feature called USB support that makes it able to play movies and other media files directly from a user's USB flash drive or other USB device. Now as you can see, the screenshot shows at least two movie files that are allegedly of pirated movies, which are The Aviator and The Incredibles. I'm not sure if LG is aware of these allegedly pirated movies, but if they are aware or if these really are pirated movie files, then you could say that the company is promoting piracy, or at least condoning it. This is what TorrentFreak and other sites are insinuating, saying that there could be no other use for this USB support feature but the direct play of ripped media files on USB devices. It's a good theory, but I think LG means to do no harm by including this convenient feature on some of their new TVs, and shouldn't be punished for it.

Source: [Torrent Freak]

Asus MS238H 23-inch LED-backlit LCD monitor headed to Europe, possibly Asia soon

If you think Asus has been beaten by the likes of LG and even AOC when it comes to LED-backlit LCD monitors, think again. The Taiwanese company has been selling its own LED-backlit LCD monitor in the U.S. since last last year under the model name MS238H. It follows the same design concept as Samsung's Lapfit series of monitors which have unusually large bezels along the bottom of the screen and a small stand around the back.

The Asus MS238H has a native resolution of 1920x1080, a 2ms response time (G2G), dynamic contrast ratio of 10,000,000:1 and 23-inches of diagonal screen real estate. It comes with a VGA and HDMI port for input and is said to sell for as low as 212 Euro or about 13,000 Pesos. If Asus wants to sell this thing with a premium, it's their business, but why did they have to go with this bizarre design? Continue reading for another photo.

Google launches Android-powered Nexus One, opens up own Web store

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Google has finally blown the lid off of its worst-kept secret: the Android-powered Nexus One mobile phone, the first of many new smartphones that will be sold either through carriers or from Google itself, with its newly opened Web store accessible at google.com/phone.

ATOM-7xp humanoid robot runs on Windows and Intel Atom processors

Now, we all know that Intel's Atom processors aren't exactly the most powerful ones out there, but have you ever wondered what two of these chips could do in the hands of enterprising geek masterminds? The answer is this: a freaky-looking plastic robot called the ATOM-7xp which runs on two different Atom processors (a dual-core Atom 330 and an Atom 230) and two different Windows operating systems -- Windows 7 and XP. Sound too good to be true? Well, it's not hard to argue against it, but the ATOM-7xp humanoid robot's creators seem proud enough of their work, which can operate autonomously in addition to being used as a telepresence robot and even "take on real world problems." It might look weird and useless but the ATOM-7xp humanoid robot most likely took a good deal of effort and resources to build. But heck, if it really runs on two Atom processors and Windows operating systems, any modder could probably come up with something similar in under a weekend with a couple of Dell Mini 9s.

Source: [Futurebots, Engadget]

[Press Release] Samsung Unveils The Next Generation Of Camera–THE NX10

Seoul (Korea Newswire) January 4, 2010 -- Samsung Digital Imaging Company Inc., today announced the Samsung NX10 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas – an innovative digital camera that provides users with optimum image quality in a sleek, compact body. Delivering creativity without compromise, users can now be as creative as they want on the move, without having to compromise perfect images.





Continue reading full press release »

LED-backlit LCD monitors expected to become mainstream in 2011

So we just got started in 2010. CES is coming up and there's a lot of new tech to be showcased there. But what are market sources in Taiwan and China dreaming up while seated in their big comfy office chairs? That LED-backlit monitors will become mainstream, effectively replacing and phasing out CCFL-backlit monitors in desktop PC usage by the year 2011. Currently, there are only a handful of LED-backlit LCD monitors available in the market, and I can tell you, they are not sold in the same price level as their CCFL-backlit counterparts. This LED-backlit monitor from LG called the W2286L only comes with a 22-inch LCD screen that has a native resolution of 1680x1050 and yet it sells for a not-so-sweet 13,000 Pesos -- about 4,000 Pesos more expensive than its most expensive counterpart from Dell (the E228WFP). Go figure. In any case, LED does offer some significant improvements over CCFL, so I hope it does become mainstream (and that prices drop accordingly) in the near future.

Source: [DigiTimes]