Strengthening its line up of portable 1.8-inch hard drives for external storage markets, Samsung Electronics has announced its 250GB 1.8-inch hard disk drive, the Spinpoint N3U, which incorporates a native USB controller on its printed circuit board. The Spinpoint N3U stores up to 125GBs per platter for a total 250GB data storage capacity.Most external hard drives require the addition of a bridge circuit board to convert the hard drive's PATA interface into a USB interface. Samsung's N3U drive, however, uses a native USB interface and as such does not require this bridge board.The device is designed to withstand a free fall drop of up to 50 centimeters and be resistant to a maximum shock incident of up to 1500G.As a native USB interface device, the Spinpoint N3U eliminates possible points of failure due to loose cable connections and optimizes performance by eliminating the interrupt service time for the bridge board to convert PATA to USB signals, Samsung argued. And the N3U 1.8-inch drive also consumes about 40% less power than a 2.5-inch hard drive of an equivalent capacity.Samsung now ships hard disks with up to 1.5 Terabyte for 3.5-inch drives, 500GB for 2.5-inch drives and 250GB for 1.8-inch drives. The Spinpoint N3U comes in 120-, 160-, 200- and 250GB capacities, the disk rotation speed is 3600rpm, and it supports a USB 2.0 interface. The drives are equipped with an 8MB cache memory.Initial shipments to OEMs are scheduled from mid-July with a MSRP at US$199.

Albatron Technology has unveiled the K3780E motherboard with accompanying I/O board.The System board includes an embedded AMD processor and 780E chipset, which features an ATI Radeon HD 3200 IGP.The I/O board can be modified based on customer demand and features CF, mini-PCI, and PCI Express 2.0 16x slots.The K3780E can connect with a touch panel for ATM and POS applications, the company highlighted.Albatron K3780E motherboardPhoto: Company

eMachines has introduced new mini-tower PCs – ET1300-02, ET1810-01 and ET1810-03 –along with a matching monitor.With prices ranging from US$299.99-449.99, the new eMachines PCs adopt either AMD or Intel processors, 2GB or 3GB of DDR2 memory and 160GB or 320GB hard drives.The matching 18.5-inch eMachines E182H wm LCD display features 720p high definition support, a 10,000:1 contrast ratio and 5ms response time. The monitor also features a 1366×768 resolution and 300 cd/m2 brightness. eMachines: mini-tower PC specifications Model ET1300-02 ET1810-03 ET1810-01 CPU AMD Athlon X2 4850e Intel dual-core Pentium E2210 Intel Celeron 420 GPU Nvidia GeForce G100 w/512MB memory Integrated Nvidia GeForce 7050 Integrated Nvidia GeForce 7050 Memory 3GB DDR2 memory 3GB DDR2 memory 2GB DDR2 memory Hard drive 160GB SATA hard drive 320GB SATA hard drive 160GB SATA hard drive Price US$449.99 US$369.99 US$299.99 Sources: Company, compiled by Digitimes, July 2009eMachines' new mini-tower PCPhoto: Business Wire

Yageo has announced 1044 SMD LP patch antenna catering to GPS applications for smartphones, PNDs and notebooks. Yageo's 1044 SMD LP patch antenna is capable of delivering up to 80% more efficiency than traditional chip antennas while taking up 50% less space, the company said.Samples are already available to customers since April, and Yageo expects to double GPS product shipments with the release of the 1044 SMD LP patch antenna, the company said.Measuring 10x4x4mm in dimension, Yageo's 1044 SMD LP supports bandwidth of 15MHz around central frequency of 1575MHz and working temperatures from -25° to 85°C. In addition, it is designed with 20% to 30% enhanced performance versus conventional chip antenna, empowering smartphones to integrate personal navigation and positioning functions, Yageo said.

Seiko Epson on July 1 unveiled its Discproducer PP-100, a model equipped with functions of automatically burning optical discs and printing color photos/images onto the face side of discs, for sale in the Taiwan market at a recommended retail price of NT$207,900 (US$6,350), with government agencies, schools and small- and medium-size businesses being target clients, according to Epson Taiwan Technology & Trading. The company aims to sell 200 units in 2009 in Taiwan. Main specifications of Epson Discproducer PP-100 Disc production speed 30 CD-R discs/hour; 15 DVD-R/+R discs/hour Production volume at one time One disc to 100 discs in maximum Printing speed 60 discs/hour at resolution of 1,440 x 720dpi; 40 discs/hour at 1,440 x 1,440dpi Optical disc formats and maximum writing speeds CD-R, 40x; DVD-R/+R, 12x; DVD-R DL (single-side double-layer) and DVD+R DL, each 8x Dimension 377(W) x 348(H) x 465(D)mm Weight 24kg Source: Epson Taiwan, compiled by Digitimes, July 2009Epson Discproducer PP-100Photo: Epson Taiwan

Silicon Motion Technology has obtained validation for its new flash memory controllers that support Micron's 34nm multi-level cell (MLC) flash product family, according to the company. The validated Silicon Motion products include SM2682/SM2682LT SD controllers, SM2232/SM2234 CF controllers, SM2235/SM2242 SSD controllers and SM3251/SM3252 USB flash drive controllers, all of which are in mass production."With this validation, we can offer the most advanced SD, microSD, CF, SSD and UFD controllers to support high capacity products using leading edge Micron MLC flash memory. Our controllers will allow customers to benefit from lower cost, next generation, 16Gb and 32Gb MLC 34nm NAND flash for a variety of device formats and platforms," said Wallace Kou, president and CEO of Silicon Motion.

Gateway has debuted its new NV series entertainment notebooks that pair the latest notebook technologies and one-touch buttons at an affordable price as well as its new AMD-based 11.6-inch netbook.The Gateway NV series features a 15.6-inch 16:9 aspect ratio high definition LED-backlit display, Dolby Sound Room technology to complement the video with surround sound and HDMI port to deliver visual and audio to an external LCD.The series also features functions including MyBackup Button, a one-touch way to backup files and information, and PowerSave Button, which can prolong battery life, available on selected models.The Gateway NV series adopt either CPUs from Intel or AMD and up to 4GB of memory.Gateway has also introduced the Gateway LT3100 netbook, featuring an 11.6-inch display and AMD Athlon Processor. The netbook weights 3.14-pound and measures about an inch thick.The Gateway LT3100 netbook also features the ATI Radeon X1270 GPU, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, and up to 250GB of storage. Gateway new notebooks and netbook specifications Model NV5214u NV5807u LT3103u CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 QL-64 Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 Single-core AMD Athlon 64 L110 Panel 15.6-inch HD Ultrabright LED-backlit display 15.6-inch HD Ultrabright LED-backlit display 11.6-inch WXGA High Definition LED back-lit display Memory 4GB dual-channel DDR2 memory 4GB dual-channel DDR2 memory 2GB single-channel DDR2memory GPU ATI Radeon HD 3200 Intel GMA 4500MHD Integrated ATI Radeon X1270 Chipset AMD RS780MN Intel GM45 Express AMD RS690E Price US$499.99 US$599.99 US$399.99 Source: Company, compiled by Digitimes, June 2009Gateway NV series notebooksPhoto: Business WireGateway LT3103u netbookPhoto: Business Wire

Motherboard maker Gigabyte Technology has launched a new series of crystal-decorated wireless mice in cooperation with Swarovski.The launch of the high-end PC peripherals aims to enhance Gigabyte's image as a brand vendor of PC products instead of its previous status as a mere motherboard maker.The GM-M7800S mouse is crafted with Swarovski crystals, 18K gold plated accents, and high quality leather, Gigabyte highlighted. The mouse features laser tracking, 1600 and 800 DPI adjustable resolution and a portable 2.4GHz nano receiver.Gigabyte GM-M7800S wireless mouse crafted with Swarovski crystalsPhoto: Company

JVC on June 25 debuted a new Everio series digital video camcorder, the GZ-X900, for launch soon in the Taiwan market at a recommended retail price of NT$42,900 (US$1,310), according to JVC Taiwan.GZ-X900 features a 10.3-megapixel CMOS sensor enabling 1080p full HD video recording or 9-megapixel picture taking, SDHC memory card storage, and dimensions of 6.6 (H) × 3.7 (W) × 12.4 (D)cm with weight of 246 grams, JVC Taiwan pointed out.In a bid to increase its market share from 21% in 2008 to 30% in 2009, JVC will launch about nine digital camcorders in Taiwan, JVC Taiwan indicated. The demand for camcorders in Taiwan may drop from about 70,000 units in 2008 to 60,000 units in 2009, JVC Taiwan noted.JVC Everio digital video camcorder GZ-X900Photo: Company

Sony on June 25 unveiled two B140F series Walkman digital music players, the 2GB NWZ-B142F and 4GB NWZ-B143F, each weighing 26g, for launch in the Taiwan market on July 7, 2009 at recommended retail prices of NT$1,990 (US$61) and NT$2,990 respectively, according to Sony Taiwan.B140F Walkman features the Sony-developed Zappin function that plays 4-15 second of clips from the middle of tracks to allow users to find songs easily without looking at the screen, Sony Taiwan pointed out.Sony Walkman series B140F in four colorsPhoto: Company