Apple Power Mac G5: a trio long-anticipated

Pocket Loox 700: new rumours

Canon releases Optura 400 and 500 miniDV cameras

Ramtron updates FRAM series with 256Kbit chips

Apple Power Mac G5: a trio long-anticipated

Apple introduced Power Mac G5 desktop series, the junior model of which features 2 x 64-bit 1.8GHz PowerPC G5 processors, while the top model has 2 x 2.5GHz CPUs and 1.25GHz FSB (to CPU). The latter thus costs $3,000, while the former is offered for about $2,000.

Systems on 1.8GHz and 2.0GHz processors are already available, and 2.5GHz system will go on sale in July. It´s interesting that the latter features a liquid-cooling system.

The basic configuration includes NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra or ATI Radeon 9600 XT (ATI Radeon 9800 XT is an option). Interfaces include Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, 3 x USB2.0, optical digital audio output and input, AirPort Extreme, optional Bluetoth.

Entry-level:

• 2 x 1.8GHz PowerPC G5
• 256MB DDR 400 SDRAM (max. 4GB)
• 80GB HDD (Serial ATA, 7200rpm)
• AGP 8X Pro
• NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra, 64MB DDR SDRAM
• 3 x PCI (64-bit/33MHz)
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)

Middle-range:

• 2 x 2.0GHz PowerPC G5
• 512MB DDR 400 SDRAM (max. 8GB)
• 160GB HDD (Serial ATA, 7200rpm)
• AGP 8X Pro
• NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra, 64MB DDR SDRAM
• 3 x PCI-X (1 x 64-bit/133MHz, 2 x 100MHz)
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)

High-end:

• 2 x 2.5GHz PowerPC G5
• 512MB DDR 400 SDRAM (max. 8GB)
• 160GB HDD (Serial ATA, 7200rpm)
• AGP 8X Pro
• ATI RADEON 9600 XT, 128MB DDR SDRAM
• 3 x PCI-X (1 x 64-bit/133MHz, 2 x 100MHz)
• 8x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)

Pocket Loox 700: new rumours

Some time ago rumours were circulating about the release of a new PDA from Fujitsu-Siemens that should have had VGA display. Today FirstLoox.org provides another portion of rumours about Pocket Loox 700.

They say the PDA will go on sale in August this year with the following features:

• Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition
• 3.7" or 3.8" LCD VGA display
• 520MHz Intel XScale
• 128MB RAM
• 64MB ROM
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
• CompactFlash, SD/MMC (SDIO)
• 1.3-megapixels camera (perhaps, with a flash)

Judging by photos and specs, provided by BrightHand, the model resembles ASUS MyPal A730.

I wonder if this model can compete with HP 4700, as already existing iPaqs have 624MHz processors.

Canon releases Optura 400 and 500 miniDV cameras

Canon announced two miniDV cameras, Optura 400 and Optura 500. Both feature 2.2 sensors and are capable of capturing JPEG images and Motion JPEG video (Optura 500 also supports MPEG4). Both models are to go on sale in mid-July for about $1000 and $1200, respectively.

Ramtron updates FRAM series with 256Kbit chips

Ramtron announced 256Kbit 3V FRAM chips with SPI interface — M25L256. These novelties are designed for consumer and industrial markets. According to the press release, most competing products have parallel interface and are 16% larger in size.

FM25L256 read and write performance is comparable to that of hi-speed memory types. From EEPROM or flash memory this nonvolatile FRAM differs by no write latency. Similar to RAM chips FM25L256 allow unlimited rewrite cycles, while EEPROM endures about a million of them. New chips that have 25MHz bus are pin-compatible with EEPROM that enables to swap memory types during development without performance losses. FM25L256 voltage ranges from 2.7V to 3.6V, while the temperature range is —40°C to +85°C. FM25L256 is already sampling in 8-pin SOIC package.

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