Devoted to hardware, servers, networks, connectivity, fiber, routers, switches, etc.

The high-performance WGR614L, which is “Works with Windows Vista” certified, features a 240 MHz MIPS32 CPU core with 16 KB of instruction cache, 16 KB of data cache, 1 KB of pre-fetch cache, and incorporates 4 MB of flash memory and 16 MB of RAM.  In addition to an external 2 dBi antenna, the WGR614L integrates a second internal diversity antenna to provide enhanced performance and range.  The router supports free open source Linux-based Tomato and DD-WRT firmware and will soon support OpenWRT.

The WGR614L is supported by a dedicated open source router community, www.myopenrouter.com, which provides open source firmware downloads, forums, blogs, articles, source code, and user guides, and provides users with dedicated and responsive support by open source experts.

The Netgear Open Source Wireless-G Router (WGR614L), which features one 10/100 Internet WAN port and a four-port 10/100 LAN switch, incorporates an 802.11g access point to support wireless connectivity at speeds of up to 54 Mbps.  The WGR614L supports static and dynamic routing with TCP/IP, VPN pass-through (IPSec, L2TP), NAT, PPTP, PPPoE, DHCP (client and server), and Bigpond.  A Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall protects the network from intruders, and the wireless connection is secured with support for 40-, 128- and 152-bit WEP encryption, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), WPA2-PSK, and Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS).  Additional security features include: Exposed Host (DMZ), MAC address authentication, URL content filtering, logs and e-mail alerts of Internet activity. The router retails for only $69. 

Press release 

Antec has just launched the new 850W and 650W Signature Series PSUs. Antec's latest units respect the power regulation and have 80 Plus-certified efficiency levels. The PSUs sport also noise reduction features, which makes them perfect choices for enthusiasts.

The two new Signature units features some cutting-edge features which had never been can offered before. The Signature Series utilizes active DC-to-DC voltage regulation as opposed to the standard passive magnetic amplifier method, providing for shorter transient response times and greater system stability. n addition, the Signature Series boasts an advanced cooling system with a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) fan.

The PSUs bring 82% efficiency at 20% and 100% load levels, and they achieve 85% efficiency at a 50% load. The Signature Series also utilize a dual power circuit board (PCB) layout which optimizes the airflow, and reduces electrical noise.

The Signature 650 and 850 are available now, for $299 and $249, respectively. Both units are covered with five-year warranties.

via Tech Report 

Today Microsoft has discontinued the sales of the popular Windows XP. The OS won't be available in most areas, but some companies still can install XP until Feb. 1, 2009. Furthermore the option of downgrade from Vista Business or Ultimate is still available for some enterprises and small businesses.

Although over 200,000 users have signed the petition to save Windows XP, Microsoft didn't listen their pledges. The fact is that many enterprises don't want to move to Vista. The main concerns come from the stability and reliability of Windows Vista. Another major reason is that the users must reinstall all the applications previously installed on XP.

The official date for Windows 7, the next operation system coming from Microsoft has moved to January 2010. Many users told, they would love to use Windows XP until that date, because Windows Vista hasn't been very popular and it had compatibility problems with the hardware. We can only hope the transition from Vista to Windows 7 will be smoother. 

A news coming from a notebook forum says that the new Sony Vaio series were seen at Circuit City. The guy's from the forum have backed-up the files (the pages from Circuit City), so apparently the rumor is true.

You can check the shots of the 16-inch FW and 13.3-inch SR with model designations VGN-FW140EH and VGN-SR140EB.

Source 

Linksys is now supporting router setup for Mac OS X v10.4 and higher users with its Linksys EasyLink Advisor (LELA) Setup Wizard. LELA helps take away the hassle and complexity of setting up a router by using simple easy-to-understand terminology and illustrations to guide consumers through the process.

“Linksys is launching LELA setup and technical support for Mac OS X because we recognize the need to better support the ever-growing number of Macs users,” said Greg Memo, vice president and general manager, Linksys Consumer Business Organization. “We want all consumers to have access to the best networking experience we can provide for them.”

LELA Mac Setup Wizards for select Linksys Wireless Routers, including the WRT310N, WRT160N, WRT110, and WRT54G2 are available now for download from www.linksys.com/mac. Going forward, new Linksys products will ship with a LELA setup disc that includes both PC and Mac Setup Wizards.

Source 

AMD announced yesterday two first for the company in the visual computing field. The former is the launch of the first teraFLOPS graphics card, the ATI Radeon HD 4850, and latter is the launch of the first graphics card featuring ultra high bandwidth GDDR5 memory, the ATI Radeon HD 4870. These two innovations combine with trademark AMD energy-efficient design and powerful DirectX 10.1 compatibility to deliver superior performance at the high-volume mainstream. Both the ATI Radeon HD 4850 and ATI Radeon HD 4870 are immediately available.

“The ATI Radeon 4800 series represents a 2X performance jump over the ATI Radeon HD 3800 GPU, the biggest generational increase since the game-changing launch of the Radeon 9700 in 2002,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD. “AMD made a strategic decision to focus on GPU designs that maximized our efficiency and allowed us to provide enthusiasts, performance and mainstream users with the most compelling value proposition at every price point. The ATI Radeon 4800 series sets a new industry standard in key metrics such as performance-per-watt, performance-per-mm² of chip die size, and performance-per-dollar.”

The ATI Radeon HD 4870, available immediately with a suggested retail price of $299, represents an unprecedented 1.2 teraFLOPS of visual compute power. It features a stock GPU core clock speed of 750 MHz, 512 MB of GDDR5 memory rated at 3.6 gigabits/second, and comes in a dual-slot PCI Express 2.0 configuration with a maximum board power of 160 watts.  The ATI Radeon HD 4850, immediately available with a suggested retail price of USD$199, received an enthusiastic welcome from global graphics reviewers.

The ATI Radeon HD 4850 is the world’s first teraFLOPS graphics chip, with 800 stream processing cores (identical to the ATI Radeon HD 4870), a stock GPU core clock speed of 625 MHz, 512 MB of GDDR3 memory rated at 2 gigabits/second, and comes in a single-slot PCI Express 2.0 configuration with a maximum board power of 110 watts.

Press release  

ASUS launched the ASUS ROG Maximus II Formula motherboard. It is based on the Intel P45/ICH10R chipset and features ASUS-exclusive SupremeFX X-Fi sound card. The cutting-edge motherboard equips the gamers with performance and features needed to have an ultimate gaming experience.

The Maximus II Formula motherboard comes equipped with a SupremeFX X-Fi sound card that takes full advantage of the ADI 2000B audio codec, the Creative X-Fi suite, CMSS3D and the Crystalizer technologies. SupremeFX X-Fi natively supports the EAX standard to produce top-notch virtual 3D surround sound.

The new ROG Extreme Engine is a next-generation multi-phase power design that provides additional overclocking headroom for extreme computing situations. It ensures a reliable operating environment, while also improving power efficiency up to 96%. The overclocking fans can obtain more performance from their processors using the CPU Level Up utility. They just need to set up the CPU speed from the BIOS and the system will do the rest, fine-tuning the processor, making it run at the desired speed with uncompromising stability.

The motherboard is available immediately through authorized ASUS North American dealers at a recommended price of $289.

Source 

Amsterdam is the first city in Europe that gets a commercial WiMax network. The mobile version of the Wimax standard to allow users to surf the Web at high speeds while on the move. The operator, Worldmax, covered the city center of Amsterdam and plans to extend it across the country in coming years.

The broadband wireless network will compete directly to the major mobile operators in Netherlands - KPN and T-Mobile. Worldmax can become a potential threat to telecom operators, as the network will expand.

The subscription for a wireless broadband connection for laptop computers with unlimited amount of data will cost 20 euros ($31) per month. Worldmax intends to get customers which use other data plans because their service is better and cheaper. Also the company expects to gain customers among teenagers and other categories that don't have a data subscription yet.

Source 

Wester Digital has recently introduced its new line of Raid Edition 3 (RE3) enterprise drives. The new RE3 drives were build upon their RE2 predecessors with higher speeds and better reliability. The drives have the same 7,200-RPM spindle speeds, 16MB cache sizes and 300MB/s Serial ATA interfaces.

WD's third-generation high capacity enterprise SATA hard drives enhance vibration and shock tolerance and deploy new electronics to increase performance approximately 20% and by as much 60% in high-vibration environments. WD RE3 drives feature 1.2 million hours MTBF, native command queuing (NCQ), time limited error recovery (TLER), and an extensive and enhanced testing process to ensure long-term reliability for demanding enterprise applications.

The WD RE3 500 GB (model WD5002ABYS), 320 GB (model WD3202ABYS) and the 250 GB (model WD2502ABYS) hard drives are available now at the suggested retail prices of $119 for WD RE3 500 GB, the 320 GB is $89 and the 250 GB is $79 USD. The WD RE3 drives are covered by a five-year limited warranty.

via Tech Report 

On June 17th, Mozilla has released the official version of Firefox 3. The PR team from Mozilla has organized a great launch by creating a special website called www.spreadfirefox.com. They try to get into Guinness Book for the most downloaded software in 24 hours. And it seems they did it. Over 8 million users have downloaded the browser.

The folks from SpreadFirefox have created a JavaScript map that shows how many users have taken the software in every country on the globe. The United States hold the first position followed closely by the Western Europe countries. 

Later update

The Firefox 3 entered the Guinness Book as the most downloaded software in 24 hours. To be exactly 8,002,530 people grabbed Firefox 3 from 18:16 UTC on June 17th, 2008 to 18:16 UTC on June 18th, 2008.

Get Firefox 3