Hi-Tech Daily News: January 2013

January 31, 2013

LG Optimus L7 II Dual leaks, brings dual-SIM along for the ride

LG‘s original Optimus L7 was released over the spring last year, but it was quickly succeeded by the Optimus L9. However, it seems that LG is bringing the mid-range device back onto the market with a few improvements coming with it. A Russian website has leaked what is supposedly the Optimus L7 II Dual, with a dual-SIM slot.

The newly announced BlackBerry Z10 is already selling in the UK. Other countries like Canada will have to wait until February 5, while BlackBerry fans in the UAE will be able to grab it starting February 10.

Microsoft has already set February 9 as the date for the commercial release of Surface Pro tablet. However, recent information points that the company has planned a pre-launch event for select guests at the Best Buy shop in New York’s Union Square, on the eve of the official release.

Sony just revealed its new models for spring for VAIO’s 5 series with a total of 18 models. All are due to be released in Japan on February 9th. Laptop and desktop computers include 3 touch panel compatible models. All of these new models have Windows 8 “Office Home and Business 2013″ pre-installed.

Casio has unveiled two new Exilim digital cameras, the EX-ZR700 and the EX-ZR400. The former camera boasts ultra-zoom and high-end image stabilization, while the latter is being hailed as having the longest battery life in its series, allowing users to take 515 photos on a charge. You can check out both cameras’ specs and gallery after the jump.

Olympus has unveiled its Stylus XZ-10, a compact camera with a sophisticated, classic design that is sure to appeal to many photographers. The point-and-shoot comes with fairly standard features, as well as support for FlashAir wireless image transfer, making it a solid mid-range compact model. You can check out the camera in all its colors and designs after the jump.

As the Lunar New Year shopping season heats up in the Greater China Region, ZOTAC launched yet another innovative performance-segment graphics card, the GeForce GTX 660 Thunderbolt Edition, which has nothing to do with the Thunderbolt interface (sorry to get your hopes up). What this card does bring to the table, are a high-grade non-reference design PCB, and an innovative new cooling solution.

BlackBerry has revealed the pricing and availability details of its BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, which was released a while ago. The smartphone will head to all the key world markets including UK, Canada and UAE.

BlackBerry Z10 surfaces in UK stores, to be available tomorrow

The RIM BlackBerry Z10 is expected to launch in February, but the device has already arrived at UK stores and the first demo units are expected to be displayed to customers tomorrow. Moreover, at 5pm local time the device is expected to go on sale. This goes in line with what we've heard about the device launching on Vodafone UK tomorrow.

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry 10 launch event is about to begin and we expect the Canadian company to also unveil two new smartphones powered by its new platform, the Z10 and the N10.

In what could bring an ear-to-ear grin on DIY NAS/home-server builders, ASRock launched the industry's first mini-ITX motherboard with a total of eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports (of which one is eSATA 6 Gb/s). The new FM2A85X-ITX, as the name suggests, is a socket FM2 motherboard based on the AMD A85X chipset, in the mini-ITX form-factor.

Fujifilm has unveiled two new additions to its F-series compact camera line, the F850EXR and the F900EXR. Both cameras bring long zoom to the table, as well as lightweight, easily-pocketable compact designs, with each being hailed as a travel camera for the on-the-go consumer. We have pictures of both models after the jump.

Fujifilm has announced six cameras in its S-series range, the S4600, S4700, S4800, and the S6600, S6700, and S6800. The first three are entry-level super zooms offering 720p HD video recording, while the latter three bring 1080i recording and high ISO to the table in addition to high optical zoom rates. Check out the specs and gallery of pictures after the jump.

Along with the WG-10, Pentax has also announced two other rugged camera models: the WG-3 and WG-3 GPS. Both models are waterproof and feature the highest depth rating in the WG series, along with a cold-resistant, dustproof, and crushproof body. You can check out some pictures of the camera, as well as its specs, after the jump.

The outside world is a dangerous place for cameras, fraught with drops and jostles and inconvenient wet environments, whether it be pouring rain or an underwater subject. As such, there’s no such thing as too many cameras aimed for the outdoorsy market, such as the recently unveiled Pentax WG-10. This model offers a water and shock-proof body complete with a unique, rugged design that hints at both the camera’s durability and intended market.

I-O Data announced the LANDisk HDL-AS line of single-drive NAS servers for home users. Available with hard-drives pre-installed, in 2 TB and 3 TB capacities, the HDL-AS features a 1 GbE network interface, and sustained throughput of 90 MB/s.

Japanese premium PC case maker Abee launched the ACubic CP330 (mini-ITX) and ACubic CP730 (micro-ATX) lines of cubical aluminum cases with 2-tone frontss. The front panels are checkered to four squares with two mildly contrasting shades of black or silver. Variations include Black x Black, Black x Silver, and Silver x Silver.

Although it is almost certain that Samsung and HTC will not launch their next Android flagship devices at Mobile World Congress 2013 that takes place next month in Barcelona, LG and Huawei are expected to make important announcements in this regard.

Apple Announces the 128GB iPad with Retina Display

The 128GB iDevice discovered by developers in iOS 6.1 betas has been confirmed! Apple has issued a press statement confirming that the 128GB iPad with Retina display is going on sale next week.

Japanese retail stores have started displaying demo units of the hotly anticipated Sony Xperia Z. What's more, there's now an exact date when sales will start, and that's February 9.

Gigabyte may be one of the greatest suppliers of motherboards for the PC market, but it ships mainboards to customers from other fields as well, in this case companies and, by extension, their server and workstation administrators.

The company has launched three new mainboards, called GA-7PESH3, GA-6PXSV4 and GA-7PESH4.

The Yellow flavor of Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 flagship Lumia 920 smartphone is expected to become available for purchase in the UK on February 18 at online retailer Clove.

HTC plans to unveil its new M7 smartphone, a flagship model for the first half of 2013, in London in early February, according to sources at the supply chain.

To cash in on the Chinese Lunar New Year shopping season, XFX launched the FX 7750 Monster graphics card in the greater China region.

Canon has unveiled three new compact PowerShot cameras added to its rather expansive catalog. The models offer a variety of features aimed towards the demanding consumer who needs a compact camera capable of providing the best images possible in many different settings. Features betwixt the three models include high-zoom, high-sensitivity sensors, and full HD recording.

Back on November 8, Samsung announced that its Galaxy Express handset was heading for AT&T, and now a couple months later, the handset is officially available. Except for a minor hardware tweak, it looks like the same device that was announced last year, complete with nice specs and what has become Samsung‘s signature smartphone style. You can check out its pictures and specs after the jump.

FSP's August 2012-launched Raider series of mainstream PSUs got an efficiency upgrade to 80 Plus Silver with two new models, the 650W RA-650, and the 750W RA-750.

Fortron's channel brand FSP unveiled its Aurum 92+ line of modular PSUs. The 80 Plus Platinum compliant power-boxes will initially ship in two mid-range capacities, 550W (PT-550M) and 650W (PT-650M).

Nikon has announced a slew of Coolpix compact cameras with a range of features, designs, and colors. Offerings include super-telephoto and zoom models, two rugged compacts aimed at the adventurous, and a couple models equipped with both wifi and GPS. The cameras are set to launch in February and will be available from various retailers.

Apple this morning rolled out iOS 6.1, the latest update to its popular mobile operating system powering iPhones and iPads. Notably, the update adds LTE (4G networking) capabilities to 36 additional iPhone carriers and 23 additional iPad carriers worldwide.

BlackBerry Z10 Coming to Vodafone UK on January 30

With only a few days left until Research In Motion’s (RIM) big launch announcement, carriers and retailer prepare to sell the first BlackBerry 10 devices, such as the Z10 and N10.

South Korean mobile phone maker Pantech made its long rumored full HD phablet official under the name of Vega No. 6.

Fleets of 4K Ultra HD televisions being unveiled at the 2013 International CES came to nobody's surprise, however, Panasonic threw a curveball in the form of the industry's first tablet featuring a 4K display. Albeit prohibitively big at 20-inches, which you can't exactly carry around in a messenger bag, it turns out Panasonic is targeting big-ticket graphics design and engineering firms with the product. To that effect, the tablet even features a high-grade touchscreen layer and an Anoto Live graphics pen.

MSI rolled out the S30 13.3-inch notebook, which misses Ultrabook fame by, well, a centimeter (thickness).

Sharp has introduced a new 32-inch monitor, featuring an IGZO-panel with a 3840x2160 pixel resolution. The 4K monitor is called PN-K321H and is just 35 millimetres thick.

Gigabyte introduced a cost-effective Radeon HD 7750 graphics card, bearing the model number GV-R775D3-2GI.

Gigabyte rolled out yet another interesting-looking battery packs, the OTG G66A1 Power Bank. The spiral pastry-shaped device can hold 6,600 mAh of power in its 77.8 x 77.6 x 26.5 mm (WxHxD) body that weighs no more than 174.5 g.

British silent PC maker Tranquil PC released passive-cooled all-aluminum cases for Intel's NUC (next unit of computing) form-factor, the NUC-BY (for Intel D33217CK board) and NUC-YE (for Intel D33217GKE).

A couple of days ago a new image supposedly portraying the Samsung Galaxy S4 appeared on the web, together with some new information about the device. The image was actually posted on a social networking service in December 2012 by a student in Hong Kong and it’s most likely just another concept design of the upcoming Samsung flagship.

From ARCHOS comes a really sleek, ultrathin keyboard for iPad. At 5mm and 240g, we agree with the company that it is almost as thin as an iPad cover, making the closed iPad/keyboard 13.4mm thick and weighing 892g.

Japanese premium PC case maker Abee announced the ACE-G40 line of cubical micro-ATX cases.

BlackBerry Z10 press images leak out

We’ve already seen plenty of leaked shots of RIM‘s upcoming BlackBerry Z10 handset, but this is the first time that we’re seeing what look to be official press images of the device. There’s not a lot of new information here, but we finally get to see RIM’s new device in proper lighting, even if the images are only renders.

The tablet market is positively oozing with competition in the low-end segment. One of the hottest segments of the tablet market continues to be the seven-inch screen size and the segment has new products from Pardo Group this week. The new tablet series is called the Canvas Tablet.

The Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 name has been mentioned a few times in recent history. We had seen rumors suggesting an announcement was coming during Mobile World Congress and then it showed up on the 2013 roadmap. It now looks like we can put those rumors to the side because as of this morning, Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Xcover 2.

Axiomtek announced the launch of the MANO872, a Mini ITX motherboard designed for the new 22nm 3rd Generation Intel Core i7/i5/i3 processors in the LGA1155 socket with Intel Q77 Express chipset.

MSI rolled out a new value socket AM3+ motherboard, the 970A-G43. Based on the AMD 970 chipset with SB950 southbridge, the ATX form-factor board covers all the essentials for a single graphics card gaming PC build, on a tight budget. It uses a simple 5-phase VRM to power the AM3+ socket.

Buffalo is going to release the world’s slimmest portable hard disk in the beginning of February. It’s a 500GB hard disk that is only 8.8mm thick and weights 140g. Its surface has been treated with aluminum, with a smooth texture and great strength that is relatively scratch-proof. It is very easy to slip in your pocket and carry around.

Thanko is now selling “Air Mouse” which is a wireless mouse unified with a keyboard. By Internal gyro-censor recognizing the tilt, it allows you to move the mouse cursor, to click and scroll in the air.

ASUS, a Taiwanese computer hardware and electronics company, has just announced the availability of VivoTab ME400 in the United Kingdom.

HTC has announced the newest addition to its Android smartphone range in the form of the Desire U. The Desire U is a budget smartphone and slots above the previous announced Desire C.

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