Odyssey 1000 or 400 digital music CDs

Clothes of the future by SCOTTeVEST

Mobile Commerce Extension Standard for flash memory cards

P4PB 266E: VIA Apollo P4X266E-based board

Leadtek to become exclusive NVIDIA Quadro4 manufacturer in its region

Photo of the day: Gigabyte´s Xabre 400-based V-SP64D-H AGP 8x graphics card

Intel chipset roadmap and August price cut

Roland EDIROL UA-20 — USB audio/MIDI interface

SS51 XPC: new Pentium 4 barebone system from Shuttle

2GB DDR SDRAM module from Legacy Electronics

JPEG: farewell to the standard?

Odyssey 1000 or 400 digital music CDs

20GB hard disk of Odyssey 1000 is said to provide space for up to 4800 records (the content of about 400 CDs). It also features an FM-tuner with 12 programmable stations and 16MB buffer DRAM. Besides, the device supports USB 2.0, has 5-band graphics equalizer with 5 factory and 1 user preset.

The size of Odyssey 1000 is 73x110x23 mm, lithium battery operation time — more than 13 hours, recharge time — about 4 hours.

Odyssey 1000 works under proprietary e.Digital MicroOS 2.0 and supports MP3, WAV and WMA. Odyssey 1000 is compatible with Mac iTunes. In addition, the device can be controlled by voice with the help of VoiceNav technology, based on Lucent speech recognition alrogithms. The product can also be used as a digital voice recorder.

Clothes of the future by SCOTTeVEST

SCOTTeVEST makes such clothes that not only enable to put all tools and devices to pockets, but also to connect them without having to cover yourself with cables. This SCOTTeVEST jacket even has a version (of tailoring? :) — 2.5. It enables to interconnect mobile phones, PDAs and CD/MP3 players.

SCOTTeVEST 2.5 (featuring sport and women variants, by the way) has 19 pockets, making a Personal Area Network (PAN).

The price of this vest will be about $140.

Mobile Commerce Extension Standard for flash memory cards

Most important is that it provides security functions in addition to the standard flash cards features. Security capabilities will enable the flash cards to be used in secure data transfer, content purchase and electronic payments.

In opinion of standard developers (known as the 5C) new security functions may expand the memory card market that, according to IDC, reached $920 million (45 million units) last year.

P4PB 266E: VIA Apollo P4X266E-based board

VIA Apollo P4X266E differs from P4X266A, its predecessor, by 533 MHz FSB support. VIA P4PB 266E features VT8235 Northbridge, that also enables USB 2.0 support. VIA VT1616 integrated audio codec provides 6-channel audio, VIA VT6306 chip — IEEE1394 interface (optional).

P4PB 266E is designed in áôè form-factor, has 3 DIMM slots (up to 3 GB of DDR266), AGP 4È slot, 5 PCI slots, CNR slot, Smart Card reader.

The board is supplied with VIA FliteDeck system control software, including: MissionControl, JetStream, FlashPort and SysProbe utilities. The opportunity of flexible FSB setting within 100-200 MHz range by 1 MHz step is a plus as well as the opportunity of Vcore / Vdimm / Vagp voltage setting.

Leadtek to become exclusive NVIDIA Quadro4 manufacturer in its region

Despite not very high demand for workstation graphics in this region, it´s estimated 5-10 thousand units per month with growth possibility. Entering the profissional graphics market may result in high revenues for Leadtek, as prices for such cards reach $1900 and higher.

German ELSA, was the previous and actually global NVIDIA´s professional graphics partner. However, after the bankruptcy, North American PNY Technologies became the exclusive manufacturer in Europe and USA.

Photo of the day: Gigabyte´s Xabre 400-based V-SP64D-H AGP 8x graphics card

Xabre 400 chip clock rate is 250 MHz, 64MB of 4 ns 128-bit DDR memory operate at 250 Mhz. The card features analog, TV and DVI out.

Intel chipset roadmap and August price cut

According to it, on August, 18 Intel plans to cut chipset prices:

Of course, only provisional prices are stated for yet unreleased i845GV, GE and PE.

Besides, on September, 29 Intel is expected to cut prices for 845E, 845GV, 845 and 845GL for about $2.

It seems, 850E will become the last Intel RDRAM chipset. By the fourth quarter the company plans to finally "ratify" its operation with PC1066. In 2Q 2003 we´ll see two new chipsets for high-performance PCs — Springdale G and Springdale P to replace the current 845 line. Intel plans to continue 845GL promotion for budget PCs, and further support it by releasing 533 MHz FSB 845GV in the fourth quarter.

Roland EDIROL UA-20 — USB audio/MIDI interface

UA-20 has analog inputs with 44.1 kHz sampling rate, analog (RCA) and digital S/PDIF (EIAJ CP-1201) out, USB 1.1 interface for PC connectivity, headphones-out and mic-in, MIDI (IN/OUT), Line/Microphone/Guitar switch.

New 24-bit audio/MIDI interface supports ASIO2.0/WDM specifications, Roland´s proprietary FPT (Fast Processing Technology) MIDI interface. Input signal level —45 — —10 dB (u), input impedance: LINE — 22 kilohm, GUITAR — 470 kilohm, MIC — 22 kilohm, output level: —10 dB (u), output impedance: 1 kilohm. Residual noise level, Master output: less than —105 dB (u).

The console power via USB socket, the maximum consumption current doesn´t exceed 170 mA. Console size is 149x110.5x42.8 mm, weight — 210 gr. The package includes USB cable, user´s guide, CD-ROM with drivers for Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition/XP Professional/Me/2000 Professional/98 SE; MacOS 8.6, 9.0, X; Cool Edit Pro LE (Windows) and Spark LE (Macintosh). The price is TBA.

SS51 XPC: new Pentium 4 barebone system from Shuttle

Shuttle´s SS51 XPC is a miniature computer, based on Shuttle FS51 motherboard, that in its turn is based on SiS651 + SiS962 chipset bundle. SiS651 Northbridge features SiS315 integrated graphiÓs and supports FSB 533 MHz P4 processors, external AGP 4È slot and DDR333. Shuttle FS51 features 2 DIMM slots. SiS962 Southbridge supports up to 6 USB 2.0 ports, 3 IEEE1394 ports, has integrated AC´97 audio, Ethernet MAC, ATA/133 controller.

Shuttle SS51 XPC is generally thought-out and practical solution: the frontpanel features power switch, reset button and two LEDs — blue power indicator and orange HDD operation indicator; below is the optical SPDIF, mic-in, headphones out, 2 USB 2.0/1.1 ports and IEEE1394 port.

The back-panel features 2 serial ports, 10/100 Ethernet, PS/2 mouse jack, 5.1-cnannel audio interface, VGA out, 2 IEEE1394 ports, 2 USB 2.0/1.1 ports, PS/2 keyboard jack.

New Shuttle SS51 XPC are expected in retail in the near future. The company also prepares a similar AMD system — SN40, based on NVIDIA nForce2 board (see below).

2GB DDR SDRAM module from Legacy Electronics

It´s a usual 184-pin DIMM, made of 66-pin TSOP chips using Canopy technology. The module is 1.2" high and supports ECC (error correcting code).

New samples are expected within a week or two. Currently 512MB and 1GB modules are available. 2GB memory module specifications are here.

JPEG: farewell to the standard?

The Register cites both JPEG, and Forgent representatives. According to Richard Clark, JPEG.org webmaster and JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) committee member, such a royalty grab makes ISO to withdraw the specification, as it standardize only free or RAND (reasonable and non discriminatory) standards. But as Forgent hasn´t published the JPEG licensing conditions, and "one manufacturer" had to pay the company $15 million, its claims are not RAND.

Clark said that their current assumption is that patent is not valid, however he added that it will become invalid in 2004 (under the old rules, seventeen years after filing, rather than twenty years after a grant). It´s unknown what actions may Forgent take about those unwilling to pay for JPEG, as its representative hasn´t yet said about it.

Write a comment below. No registration needed!