T-Mobile G2 comes out from hiding, pre-orders begin later this month

 
T-Mobile just went official with its G2 QWERTY slider. As expected, this Android 2.2 device ships with Qualcomm's MSM7230 "Snapdragon" silicon optimized for T-Mobile's HSPA+ network with an 800MHz CPU and second generation application co-processor. Other specs include a 3.7-inch "screen," 4GB of internal memory with pre-installed 8GB microSD card (supporting up to 32GB cards), Swype keyboard, a 3.5-mm headphone jack, and 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and 720p HD video capabilities. Oh, and web browsing is supported by Adobe's FlashPlayer. Look for this successor of the T-Mobile G1 to go up for pre-orders sometime later this month.

ATI Introduces Ultra High End FirePro V9800 Graphics Card

.As summer winds down, the professional graphics market, it appears, is just starting to heat up. About a month ago, we tested the Fermi based Quadro 6000 and 5000 graphics cards from NVIDIA. Although they were a few months late to the party, our results revealed the Quadro models held a measurable performance advantage over ATI's then flagship product, the FirePro V8800. But as expected, the red team has stepped their game up by offering a new workstation card that looks to close the gap while offering multi-monitor support that NVIDIA can't match currently.

The FirePro V9800 offers similar features found in the V8800: Cypress GPU, 1600 stream processors, 147.2 GB/s memory bandwidth. The difference here is a larger, 4GB memory buffer, six DisplayPort connections, and a higher price tag. At $3,499, it costs over twice as much as the V8800, targeting workstation users that demand the highest level of performance possible with no compromises. 

Dell: no more Windows XP shipments after October 22nd

Microsoft already informed its most moneyed partners that no more systems could leave their labs after October 22nd with Windows XP, but given that the proverbial boy has cried wolf before, we were inclined to think that we'd eventually face yet another push back. We guess there's still a few ticks of the clock left between now and that fateful day, but there seems to be little hope for XP to live on in any significant form beyond the aforesaid date. Dell has just published a report noting that they will stop offering XP on new machines later this month in preparation for October's cutoff, though they're quick to point out that Microsoft will continue Windows XP driver support until December 2012. For the average consumer, that means you've got just over a month to get whatever XP-equipped systems you want from Dell; for select "qualified customers," they will still be able to snag XP machines post-October 22nd through the company's Custom Factory Integration service.

European Parliament passes anti-ACTA declaration

Today 377 members of the European Parliament adopted a written declaration on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in which they demand greater transparency, assert that ISPs should not up end being liable for data sent through their networks, and say that ACTA "should not force limitations upon judicial due process or weaken fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and the right to privacy."

The "written declaration" has no binding force; any MEP can issue one (there's a 200-word maximum), which is adopted when more than half of all MEPs sign on. If adopted, "written declarations are printed and posted on a board at the entrance to the Chambers in Strasbourg and Brussels." They also go up on the Web and get passed on to the European Commission.

But the declaration does give the ACTA negotiators a sense of the parliamentary will; in this case, Parliament has many concerns about both substance and process.

Some of these have already been addressed; the most recent leaked ACTA draft shows that ISP liability has been removed, for instance. Others, like concerns of access to medicines, especially those in transit from countries with looser patent systems, continue to be areas of concern—and have been for some time.

La Quadrature du Net, a French group that heavily backed the declaration, sees it as a sign that ACTA is doomed.

"Written Declaration 12 is a strong political signal sent by the EP to the Commission that ACTA is not tolerable as a way of bypassing democratic processes. Legislation related to Internet, freedom of speech and privacy cannot be negotiated in secrecy under the direct influence of entertainment industry lobbies," said spokesperson Jérémie Zimmermann. "Full rejection of ACTA is the only option."

Acer Serves Up Atom N525 Powered Aspire Revo 3700

In what qualifies as more proof that, yes, good things really do come in small packages, Acer this week announced the Aspire Revo 3700, a minuscule nettop packing a respectable amount of hardware. Like other nettops before it, this one can be stashed out of sight and attached to the back of your monitor, tucked away inside your home entertainment center, or out in plain view.

Size hasn't really been the issue with nettops, it's the hardware that has made them sometimes frustrating companions to a home theater when you're hoping to play back 1080p content. Towards that end, the new Revo 3700 packs a dual-core Intel Atom D525 processor flanked by Nvidia's Ion graphics. Between the two, that should be enough horsepower to avoid those unsightly jitters and dropped frames that accompany lesser equipped  nettops.

Other specs include 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, HDMI, a handful of USB 2.0 ports, S/PSIF audio, media card reader, Ethernet, mini PCI-Express expansion slot, and various other odds and ends.

Look for this one to launch later this year for around $580.

Corsair Dominator GT RAM breaks pair of DDR3 speed records

Corsair’s ePeen has just got a bit larger thanks to the capture of a couple new records for DDR3 memory performance. The RAM used to break the records is the Corsair Dominator GT GTX6 modules. The RAM was able to break the records for dual-channel memory frequency at CAS 7 and CAS 8.

The RAM hit frequencies of 3078.2 MHz with timings of CL8-11-8-31, 1T and 3059.4 MHz at CL7-11-8-31, 1T. The geek who overclocked the nuts off the RAM to break the records is named Matthias Zronek. The world records were validated using the CPU-Z validation database.

The hardware in the test computer used for the record setting runs was a Gigabit P55-A-UD7 motherboard, an Intel Core i7-870 CPU, and two Dominator GT CMGTX6 RAM modules. Corsair notes that the modular design of the RAM allowed Zronek to attach a Besi Memory-Freezer directly to the RAM heat sinks enabling benchmark temperatures as low as -90C using liquid nitrogen.