While Taiwan is not usually thought of as being at the forefront of the green revolution, Taipei happened to perform quite well in the Asian Green Index published earlier this year. The Index was the result of a research project conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Siemens, and assessed the environmental performance of 22 major cities in Asia, with Taipei landing in the Above Average group with five other cities, trailing only Singapore overall in the region.Digitimes recently had the opportunity to attend the Global MBA Forum Series at National Taiwan University (NTU) and see Siemens Taiwan CEO Peter Weiss deliver a speech on Answers for Sustainability. After the event, Weiss discussed other topics, including developments in the solar industry and the mindset needed for Taiwan to move up the global value chain.Q: The Asia Green Index shows that Siemens is especially concerned with developments in urban areas in Asia. Why the focus on cities?A: When Siemens looks at sustainable global development, we see cities as being the key to the future. For example, cities consume 70% of global energy and produce 70% of the world's output of carbon dioxide. But cities are also the growth engines of the world; 50% of global GDP is generated in cities. So of course we need to see that cities thrive. But at the same time, they cannot continue doing business as usual, because the environmental impact will be immense.And if you look at various urban regions around world, Asia has its own unique challenges. Approximately 100,000 new people are moving into cities in Asia every day. If you translate that into infrastructure, that means 20,000 new homes need to be built, six million additional liters of drinking water need to be made available and 250 kilometers of new streets need to be built.In terms of how current cities deal with these issues, Taiwan fares well compared with other Asian cities. Taipei scored quite well when it came to energy consumption and transportation. However, Taipei's water leakage ratio is still quite high, so there is room for improvement.Q: How can more improvement come about? After all, the region has built its success on being able to control costs and maintain manufacturing efficiency, not energy efficiency. Is there room for green thinking, when you are trying to cut costs?A: It's a matter of long-term thinking. For example, if you look at the lifecycle cost of a new building from start of design to end of life of the building, only about 20% of the cost comes from the design and construction. About 80% of the overall building cost comes during the lifecycle of the building.Historically, this aspect of lifecycle cost has caused some problems here in Taiwan, where people like to build buildings with minimal cost. Sure, when energy efficiency is not a priority, you can save a little bit of money during the construction stage, which is part of the 20%. But in the long run you end up increasing your overall lifecycle costs. To save a little, you might end up using the wrong materials or perhaps implement an inefficient design, which is a mistake in the long run.Two years ago Siemens did a study with the European Chamber of Commerce and National Taipei University of Technology, looking at the existing building stock in Taiwan. The outcome was promising. With existing building technologies we realized we can save 30% of the energy used by the existing stock if we were to apply new building technologies. Of course the savings are a theoretical one and things will not change overnight, but the point is there is huge potential here in Taiwan.Q: Do you see attitudes changing in Taiwan? Are governments and businesses interested in wanting to do the "right thing," so to speak, when it comes to building sustainable cities?A: In many ways change come by necessity and decisions that are "green" decisions can be viewed purely as business decisions. If you look at Taiwan's growth over the past 30-40 years, it has been driven by mass production and reasonable quality products, and Taiwan has been very successful with this strategy.However, over the past 10-15 years other nations such as China and Vietnam have begun stepping in with the same strategy, so Taiwan has had to adjust its value proposition and learn how to differentiate its products. Local companies need to move up the value chain and implement more long-term strategies. We already see this in the global semiconductor manufacturing industry, where no other nation can touch Taiwan in term of wafer technology.Going back to the example used with buildings, Taipei 101 highlights how things are changing in Taiwan. Even though the building had a modern design and was energy efficient, Siemens was consulted when the building was seeking to obtain LEED platinum certification. We showed that energy consumption for 101 could be reduced by another 10% and water and waste by 10%. These reductions, in turn, went back to the tenant because operation costs are lower, so rent is able to be kept at a lower level and the building can be run in a more competitive manner.Looking at Taiwan's various manufacturing industries, the same can be done to improve factory processes and have products more economically developed. And these firms can go back to their customers and be able to say, "Hey, I have a green factory," which only brings more opportunities.So our value proposition to factories is that we can help them reduce their operational costs and reduce their CO2 footprint, while in a nutshell, helping them become a green company.Q: One area of green development where Taiwan has had much success is green energy. However, currently the solar industry is in the doldrums, can you comment on the industry moving forward?A: Despite the current gloom, there is no doubt everyone agrees that there is a future for solar. We are seeing more and more solar installations coming up around the world, not only in PV but in other solar fields as well, such as solar thermal.While the industry will continue progressing, it is important for players to remain committed. Products brought to the market need to have the highest efficiency because only then do we have a return on investment, and it is important that the resources that we are putting into this industry are being used in the best and most efficient way. It doesn't make sense if we have cells or installations that are not efficient.The industry went through a period of seeing subsidies stimulate the market, and massive investments have also substantially brought costs down. However, as the cost structure makes the industry more economically viable, it is important for players to keep up the research and development to further improve the technology.And this advice is useful for Taiwan on the whole. As the region moves up the value chain, it needs to remain committed to improving itself. It also needs to realize it cannot be great in each and every field, so decisions will need to be made. Whether it's the continued development of a few key areas such as semiconductors or whether the focus is on emerging industries like electronic vehicles or biotech, Taiwan needs to choose its focus areas, gather the investment and push all activities in this direction in order to differentiate itself from other countries in the region.Siemens Taiwan CEO Peter WeissPhoto: Michael McManus, Digitimes, November 2011

Opera Software and MediaTek Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, announced that Opera Mini, the world's most popular mobile browser, will be included into MediaTek's Runtime Environment (MRE).MRE is MediaTek's innovative middleware technology designed for mobile developers and application providers to deploy services and content for "smart-feature-phones". The MRE solution provides millions of users in emerging markets with the ability to enjoy rich mobile Internet experiences previously available only on smartphones. This partnership will allow users of handsets powered by MediaTek's MRE platform to enjoy the best and most affordable Internet experience.Opera Mini has an impressive user base, with more than 140 million users each month and growing. It offers cloud-assisted browsing, where its renowned compression technology reduces data load by up to 90% before sending it to phones. This results in a much faster page-loading speed on a limited bandwidth connection, as well as lower data costs."MediaTek and Opera Software share the same vision. We both want people to access the Web on their own terms," said Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software. "The MRE solution makes the traditional feature phone smarter and, at the same time, delivers the best user experience. Opera Mini makes the Web an enjoyable experience regardless of bandwidth. We look forward to seeing the next billion people to surf with Opera Mini on MRE-powered phones."MediaTek is the world's largest mobile chipset platform provider, shipping over 500 million units in 2010, for assembly into a wide range of mobile phones distributed worldwide.

Wincomm has now followed up on its success with the WPE-793 in the digital signage market by releasing the WPE-796. Not only is the new engine box lighter, thinner and more compact, it also comes with a PCI-E x16 slot that customers can use for a high-end discrete graphics card to improve the clarity and comfort of digital signage applications. A separate PCI-E x4 slot can be used for a TV card to provide public information.The digital signage market now has a requirement for displaying high definition images. Existing products were however unable to meet the graphics requirements due to limited CPU processing power. Wincomm WPE-796 provides an answer by using a high-end discrete graphics card to meet the demands of digital signage displays.As digital signage installations must be compatible with other industrial products, the product dimensions of the WPE-796 conform to the US Electronics Industry Association (EIA) 1U rack form-factor. The WPE-796 can therefore be placed in steel or aluminum racks, simplifying overall design and on-site installation for the customer. It can even be placed in the same rack as network servers and other industrial products.The hardware design of the WPE-796 supports Intel Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs for improved performance, operating temperatures of between 0~50 degrees C and extended operation around the clock. Wincomm is able to deliver this level of reliability thanks to its proprietary cooling technology. A combination of directed air flow and thermal conduction effectively reduces the temperatures of the CPU, north bridge and south bridge chipsets, enabling the WPE-796 to maintain a high level of reliability and stability all year round. Another feature of the WPE-796 is the low-noise design. At an operating temperature of 25 degrees C, noise is significantly lower than other products on the market, at 37dB.Digital signage services are now being introduced by many industries. Hotel operators, the tourist industry, airport services, banks, hospitals and other service-related industries are all installing digital signage in indoor and outdoor public spaces to provide consumers with easy information access. The key to signage system installations is the stability and ruggedness of the control PC. The WPE-796's ruggedness and high availability means it can continue to run stably in harsh conditions to provide consumers with the latest video information throughout the year.The WPE-796 is shipping now to meet the needs of the digital signage market and provide customers with product options they can count on. If you have a requirement for our product, please contact Wincomm sales at sales_support@wincomm.com.tw. For more product information, please visit the Wincomm website at http://www.wincomm.com.tw/2 PCI-E slots, advance Intel Core i CPU and Q57 chipset makes high graphics performance and upgrades simple

In the power and energy industry (P&E) the essential requirements of power generation are never far from environmental issues. The ever increasing demand for energy from the private and public sectors needs to be balanced with pressures on the environment. And, one of the simplest ways to help the environment is to be more energy efficient, not just preventing energy wastage, but actively developing more efficient power generation processes, and this is where process automation comes in. What we need are smarter devices that communicate real-time with people and with each other, for example, devices alerting each other, and people who administer these systems, to production problems or bottlenecks, thereby reducing energy inefficiencies.But our story begins with automation controllers. Once upon a time there were relays and timers, and then along came digital programmable logic controllers or PLCs which dramatically changed the scope and ambition of industrial automation control. PLCs were fully deterministic with deliberately limited control functions - just what was needed for manufacturing, building and factory automation. However, PLCs can be "too" limited and cannot be used for complex mathematical formula, but with the arrival of the PC, inexpensive computing became ubiquitous, and combined with programmable logic controllers we now saw the arrival of the PAC, or Programmable Automation Controller. PACs are a hybrid solution consisting of programmable logic controllers combined with the general purpose capabilities of PC technology. PACs are most often used in industrial automation for process control, data acquisition, remote equipment monitoring, machine vision, and motion control. Additionally, because they function and communicate over popular network interface protocols like TCP/IP, OLE for process control (OPC) and SMTP, PACs are able to transfer data from the machines they control to other machines and components in a networked control system or to application software and databases. PAC's can be used over different application domains by adhering to open industry standards and providing multidiscipline programming and functionality.Over the years automation controllers have evolved to provide ever increasing levels of control and options. Today's PACs can map control across multiple production layers as needed for data acquisition, process control, machine vision, motion control and more. Recent advancements in controller technology allow better flexibility, information processing, network capabilities, and improved scalability. PACs provide state-of-the-art solutions for variety of industrial automation applications, from Machine Automation to SCADA.As industrial processes becomes increasingly complex, so does automation control and better control systems are required to integrate all proprietary and legacy systems that have evolved and are built upon other systems. What's needed is a control system that is scalable and modular and designed for engineering, visualization, control and management of small plants up to distributed control systems. AutomationX offers integrated solutions for process automation in Power & Energy, and Transportation infrastructure and many other automation industries.End-to-end SolutionAdvantech and AutomationX jointly developed a control solution that served a Power & Energy customer in power distribution with a process control solution that needed to meet IEC-61850 and IEC-870-5-10x which is a standard for the design of electrical substation automation. AutomationX integrated their award winning process control software with Advantech's acclaimed APAX-5000 series PACs, as well as the UNO series for a win-win solution that met the customer's specific and challenging requirements. Advantech was chosen by AutomationX for their wide-range product portfolios as well as vertical market domain know how. And because customers in such critical industries as Power & Energy require long lifetime support, Advantech was the natural choice having been in the automation business for over 25 years. They could supply AutomationX with the longevity guarantees they needed to win the project. AutomationX's aX5 DCS software with Advantech's APAX 5000 series PAC controllers offered a control engineering solution that protected the client's investment but which could also grow in the future.Network Intelligence DeliveredRindler elaborated, "AutomationX's aX5 DCS software offers what everyone is looking for now - a single software tool that allows you to engineer and visualize everything across multiple domains. Units that cover a large geographic area always present a challenge. We recognized early on what the needs were for partial autonomy of the unit at the field level, thus local intelligence, on the one hand, and the maximum penetration (vertical integration) of the control center, on the other hand, and built on that insight. The control system AutomationX offers is modern data transmission technology paired with control technology in the field that has the openness of IT systems. Furthermore, we integrate all unit components regardless of the manufacturer and thus guarantee a consistent interface between operator and unit. Advantech saw in our software portfolio the fulfillment of a vision for integrating all the intelligent and smart devices that make up the Internet of Things. The combination of Advantech hardware and our software portfolio is perfect for the market today. By working with Advantech, we can tap into the experience of a leading global player that is well established in the industrial automation and control business. This means we are able to achieve the flexibility and responsiveness required in today's globalized environment and offers our customers complete end-to-end solutions. Advantech helps us provide a more efficient way of developing more favorable control engineering solutions as well as helping customers reduce risk and costs," said Mr. Rindler.Advantech and AutomationX's jointly developed automation application is another example of the Intelligent Planet - an end to end solution for today's complex industrial automations and process control markets.About AutomationX:AutomationX is an internationally operating technology company, which is specialized in automation solutions in the fields of industry, infrastructure and energy. AutomationX's own software and hardware products provide a basis for these solutions.AutomationX software plus Advantech's APAX PAC controllers work smarter to define a new generation of industrial controllers.

OSRAM is fitting outdoor facilities of the McDonald's restaurant chain in Germany with modern and energy-efficient LED lighting. So far, the parking lots of a total of 25 new restaurants have been provided with the LED floodlights from OSRAM's subsidiary Siteco. "We are effectively accentuating outdoor facilities with our LED solutions and modern lighting systems. We are delighted that our concept also won McDonald's over," said Klaus-Günter Vennemann, CEO of the OSRAM General Lighting Business Unit.Across Germany, over 300 LED floodlights have been installed already on 25 McDonald's parking lots and traffic routes. The lighting concept is based on a holistic approach which combines architectural, safety-related and atmospheric aspects. Thanks to their service life of 50,000 hours, the durable LED floodlights also ensure economic efficiency. "Lighting is an important lever for companies with a strong commitment to sustainability," explained Vennemann.Each of the LED floodlights which are minimizing both glare and scattered light on the parking lots of McDonald's contains a powerful LED module with 84 OSRAM Golden Dragon Oval Plus LEDs. These high-power white LEDs are not only remarkable for their energy-efficiency, but also boast a long service life and a natural color impression. What's more, LED light attracts fewer insects, greatly reducing the cleaning and maintenance intensity. At McDonald's, masts with special square profiles are fitted with either one or two LED floodlights, as required.Constructed in 2011, the restaurant located at the Grabenstätt exit of the A 8 motorway is a representative example. Twenty modified LED midi-floodlights illuminate the outdoor area, which extends over some 4,000 square meter.McDonald's parking lot with LED lighting from the OSRAM subsidiary SitecoSource: Rolf Kruger

Avexir Technologies has announced the release of its newest memory product line, Core Series, which is compatible with lastest Intel X79 Chipset and Quad Channel memory support.Avexir Core Series is designed specifically for the extreme power users who focus on challenging the excellence in high performance gaming experience. The Core Series is developed by Avexir R&D team with 10+ years' experience of researching in memory core technology and designed specifically for the power users and gamers who demand ultimate performance and extreme reliability gaming modules. Not to mention, the 8 layers, double copper, performance optimized PCB plus newest 8GB ICs and voltage stabilizer, Avexir makes sure that both stability and performance of every memory module reaches the highest quality criteria.Avexir Core Series will be available in various speeds, capacity, and numbers of channels. Please visit www.avexir.com or email to dt@avexir.com.tw for further details.Avexir Technologies has announced its newest memory product line- Core Series.

Leading international mainboard and graphics card maker MSI announced its latest X79 mainboards with LGA 2011 socket that supports the 2nd generation Intel Core i7 processors. In addition to its commitment to offer the best product features, MSI has now partnered with well-known cooling solutions manufacturer Thermaltake to provide consumers with even better performance and product incentive by pairing the X79A-GD65 (8D) mainboard with the Thermaltake Frio Advanced CPU Cooler. The new limited edition bundle is now available through all major e-tailers and retailers worldwide.Scott Yang, Vice President of Mainboard Sales at MSI, said: "MSI mainboards and graphics card have won unanimous approval for their high stability and high performance since military class components were introduced in recent years. The Intel 6-series mainboards we released this year were also very well received. Our new products are intended to capitalize on our previous success and provide consumers with an even better performing platform. MSI is delighted to partner with well-known cooling solutions maker Thermaltake to bundle MSI's X79A-GD65 (8D) mainboard with Thermaltake's top-of-the-line Frio Advance CPU cooler. The combination of the two products will provide the consumers with powerful performance."Louis Huang, Thermaltake's Executive Vice President of Business Operation, said: "Thermaltake is a leading provider of computer cooling solutions and we began offering the Frio CPU cooler series 2010. The Frio is designed to effectively reduce the temperature of CPUs, even when overclocked. Thermaltake has now leveraged our past success to release the all new Frio Advanced CPU cooler for overclockers in the fourth quarter this year. We are very happy to form this new global sales partnership with MSI to provide consumers with the best platform performance. Both brands will benefit from this development."The all-new MSI X79 mainboards adopt Military Class III components for the best quality and stability. Not only are all components MIL-STD-810G certified, the new mainboards come with the latest PCI Express Gen 3 bus and MSI's exclusive Click BIOS II to deliver the best possible performance and user-friendly tweaking experience. The OC Genie II can generate amazing performance improvements in just one second.The X79A-GD65 (8D) also supports up to 8 sticks of 16GB DDR3 memory. The total memory capacity up to 128GB rivals that of servers and workstations, making it the perfect choice for extreme performance enthusiasts. The new Frio Advanced CPU cooler from Thermaltake features five 6mm direct-contact heat pipes for improved heat transfer. A convenient screw-free fan design, shock-absorbing rubber screws that help reduce noise and vibrations along with a new integrated universal mounting clip enables the Frio Advanced to support the latest Intel LGA 2011 processors. The eye-catching 13cm red-bladed overclocking fan doubles the air flow and increases maximum thermal dissipation to 230W. Tests on the MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) mainboard have seen the Frio Advanced keep the CPU 10 degrees cooler than the reference cooler . The added cooling should provide a boost for those looking to challenge the limits and trigger off another performance race.For more retailer and product information, please visit the following website: http://event.msi.com/mb/x79/thermaltakeMSI X79A-GD65 (8D) mainboard with Thermaltake Frio Advanced CPU Cooler

It's the 2nd round of Linear & IP Hybrid. HUMAX, the leading set-top-box manufacturer, and Opera Software announced that the high-definition (HD) set-top-boxes (STB) model, "iCord HD+/ME, IR-2020HD", powered by Opera's browser technology is now available in the Middle East. Soon, this model will be available in other regions, as well. This particular HD set-top-box model features the HUMAX TV Portal, which enables viewers to have a more enhanced experience of full web content on their TVs.Due to wide distribution of "smart" devices, the Web is no longer the exclusive property of desktop computers. HUMAX has launched HUMAX TV Portal in 2009 in Europe; now it's available in the Middle East. HUMAX's iCord HD+/ME for the Middle East market comes with HUMAX TV Portal, bringing popular online video, social networking, and photo sharing sites, such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr to the big screens in your living room. These web apps present TV-friendly web content and enable a new level of interactivity for users, together with traditional linear broadcasting viewing and recording. Users can share immediately with their friends which TV program they are watching or show off their online photos with a click of the remote control.The HUMAX TV Portal is now powered by Opera - it was developed upon the Opera Devices Software Development Tool Kit (SDK). The Opera Devices SDK provides a full complement of support for connected TV in the form of web browsing, W3C-compliant Opera Widgets for TV, more intuitive, predictive on-screen spatial navigation, W3C/OIPF/HbbTV specification compliance, hardware acceleration and more. All these offerings provide the best Internet experience for TV viewers."Web-connected TVs have created a new kind of content and service delivery. This opens the door for unprecedented multimedia access and choice on television," said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. "HUMAX and Opera make it easier for TV viewers to get the most out of their online experience."Tae Hun Kim, head of the marketing division at HUMAX stated, "HUMAX is now going to the next round of Linear and IP Hybrid. It becomes 'smarter' experience and more genuinely hybrid between linear and web. We believe this partnership with Opera, a leader in web technology, can make it real. Our customers will see more value-added devices including our set-top boxes with Opera globally in 2012."Along with the web experience provided by the HUMAX TV Portal, HUMAX's "iCord HD+/ME, IR-2020HD" also continuously support its linear world-class set-top-box experience though such features as: -Dual smart card slots for various pay TV contents -PVR functionality with internal & external HDD -HUMAX Auto Antenna Search -HUMAX EPG for around 120 TV channels.iCord HD+/ME, IR-2020HD, powered by Opera's browser technology

Leading international mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI announced the official release of its X79A-GD65 (8D), X79A-GD65, X79A-GD45, and X79MA-GD45 mainboards. The new mainboards are based on Intel's latest X79 chipset and uses the LGA 2011 socket supporting the 2nd generation Core i7 processors. The X79A-GD65 (8D) features with 8 memory DIMMs, supports 16GB DDR3 memory modules, bringing maximum capacity up to a staggering 128GB! For superior quality and stability, MSI X79 series mainboards adopts Military Class III components. With DrMOS II - the next generation of DrMOS with improved double thermal protection - the lifetime of components is maximized, even in warmer environments or when the machine is heavily overclocked. MSI X79 series mainboards also feature the latest PCI Express Gen 3 bus and MSI's proprietary Click BIOS II for maximum performance and user convenience. When taking into account all of the other advanced technologies supported such as 3-Way NVIDIA SLI and 4-way AMD CrossFireX multi-GPU processing technology, THX TruStudio PRO sound, Multi-BIOS II, Control Center II, and Super Charger, MSI X79-series mainboards are simply the best choice for enthusiasts.New Military Class III components and the next-gen DrMOS: DrMOS IIMSI X79 series mainboards maintains MSI's commitment to product stability and reliability by introducing Military Class III components. In addition to the use of Tantalum core capacitors (Hi-c CAP), Super Ferrite Chokes (SFC) and Solid Capacitors (Solid CAP), MSI now incorporates next-generation DrMOS II design. While competitors are just beginning to adopt a DrMOS solution, MSI's DrMOS II provides an integrated and fully-automated Double Thermal Protection to maximize the lifespan of components – even in warmer environments or when heavily overclocked. All Military Class III components have passed MIL-STD-810G certification, making MSI's Military Class III components synonymous with premium quality and ultimate stability.Double the bandwidth with PCI Express Gen 3MSI's X79 mainboards support the latest PCI Express Gen 3 standard to deliver a staggering 32GB/s of bandwidth, double that of the previous generation. PCI Express Gen 3 support can also be enabled or disabled through the BIOS interface to ensure compatibility with graphics cards regardless of whether users use a PCI Express Gen 3 graphics card.World's 1st unified UEFI & software graphical interface – Click BIOS IIMSI's Click BIOS II is the world's 1st to provide a unified graphical user interface under both UEFI & Windows. System settings can be adjusted using the mouse or even LCD touch control under different environments. Click BIOS II can not only save overclocking settings to a USB storage device but also upload them for sharing with other overclocking enthusiasts. This convenient and intuitive design is the result of continual technological breakthrough developed by MSI for its flagship mainboard line.Easiest one-second overclocking technology – OC Genie IIMSI's proprietary OC Genie II can achieve amazing performance increases in just one second. CPU and memory performance are optimized without compromising system stability, significantly saving the time required by overclockers for fine-tuning. Once the user enables OC Genie on MSI's X79 mainboards, the clock rate on the Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition processor pumped from a default of 3.3GHz to 4.0GHz. The 21% increase enables users to enjoy the performance boost from overclocking with ease.Comprehensive support for multi-GPU processing technologyMSI X79 mainboards fully support 4-way AMD CrossFireX and 3-way NVIDIA SLI multi-GPU processing technologies, providing the most scalability and performance for gamers who require extreme gaming performance.THX TruStudio PRO surround sound technology for the best audio experienceMSI X79 series mainboards are all equipped with THX TruStudio PRO audio technology for the best sound quality. Experience the most immersive surround sound effects when you are watching Blu-ray movies, other media, or playing 3D games.Multi-BIOS II offers safe and convenient BIOS switchingMSI's X79 mainboards support the latest Multi-BIOS II technology. The integrated dual BIOS design improves safety and convenience by allowing enthusiasts to use a switch on the mainboard to manually switch between different BIOS setups when one is corrupted by overclocking or other factors.Super charger charges your iPad / iPhone / smart phone, even when computer is powered offMSI's X79 mainboards support Super Charger fast charging technology to deliver triple the current of standard USB 2.0 interfaces. Even if your computer is switched off, you'll still be able to quickly recharge your iPad/iPhone or smart phone to ensure you always stay connected.If you want to know more details about MSI X79 series mainboards, please visit the website: http://event.msi.com/mb/x79/MSI X79A-GD65

HP has introduced its first business ultrabook, which features a thin and light design, strong security options and a solid-state hard drive.The HP Folio13 also delivers up to nine hours of battery life, the highest performance available among ultrabook devices currently on the market, HP claimed.Measuring less than 18mm thin and using an ultraslim 13.3-inch diagonal high-definition BrightView display, the HP Folio13 weighs 3.3-pounds. It combines the industrial design found on consumer products with the security and usability business users demand.Powered by the latest Intel Core processors, the HP Folio13 also includes Intel Rapid Start Technology, which helps save time by getting systems up and running fast.The HP Folio13 includes a backlit keyboard for mobile users who work in low-light conditions. A full array of ports, including RJ-45 and USB 3.0, allows users greater flexibility to connect to the information they need. The HP Folio13 also includes an SSD with 128GB of storage for fast response times and increased reliability.One model will include a TPM Embedded Security Chip that protects data in email as well as information on the hard drive for security-conscious users.The HP Folio13 features HP CoolSense technology, which uses hardware and intelligent software for a noticeably cooler notebook. The notebook also includes an HP ImagePad for highly accurate, advanced multitouch gesture support.Additional features include an HP TrueVision HD Webcam for brighter, cleaner HD images, and Dolby Advanced Audio.The HP Folio13 also can be configured with a range of Microsoft Windows 7 operating systems, including Windows 7 Professional. A three-year limited warranty is available through an optional HP Care Pack.Users who need a desktop-like environment or additional audio, video, network and USB connectivity can connect the HP Folio13 to the optional HP USB 2.0 dock.The HP Folio13 is expected to be available on December 7 with a starting price of US$899.99.HP Folio13 ultrabookPhoto: Company