TPO Displays today introduced a 4.3-inch wide-viewing angle, transmissive WVGA low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) display for portable devices such as portable TVs and hand-held game consoles.Three resolution settings are available for the panel: 800×RGB×480, 480×RGB×272 and 400×RGB×240. TPO claims the product features a resolution of four times higher than those of multimedia devices available in the market now.In addition, the panel has viewing angles of 170/170 (H/V), a contrast ratio of 450:1, a brightness of 350 nits and supports full color display of 16.7 million colors.The multimedia-focused display can also be equipped with touch screen functionality to reduce the number of buttons and switches, simplify design processes, and produce cleaner, sleeker portable devices. Mass production is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to the company.TPO 4.3-inch displayPhoto: Company
Gigabyte Communications on October 20 unveiled its GSmart i200, a DVB-H Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU 3.0 VGA handheld device, at the 3GSM World Congress Asia 2006 in Singapore in conjunction with Innoxius Technologies and Penthera. "Gigabyte Communications is proud to demonstrate the GSmart i200 phone, particularly live mobile broadcasting using Penthera viewer to provide a VGA viewing experience," said Christopher Chen, General Manager of Gigabyte Communications' Global Sales and Marketing Division. "By providing a complete, open-standard, feature-rich solution set, the GSmart i200 addresses the needs of operators worldwide who are seeking devices that support revenue growth opportunities associated with mobile broadcast services." "Innoxius is excited about the cooperation with Penthera and Gigabyte Communications on offering this end-to-end mobile television solution," stated Edmund Yong, CTO of Innoxius Technologies. "Penthera is very pleased to work with Gigabyte and Innoxius to showcase the GSmart i200 integrated with Penthera's mobile broadcast software," said Sam Leinhardt, CEO of Penthera Technologies. "Broadcasters and operators will be impressed by this full-featured, multi-vendor solution which is ready for commercial roll-out." A mobile broadcast demonstration at the 3GSM World Congress Asia 2006 utilized Penthera's end-to-end, mobile broadcast software suite, Innoxius' mobile broadcast head-end and transmission solution, and Gigabyte's GSmart i200. At the head-end, Innoxius Technologies' hardware is integrated with Penthera's Broadcast Services Platform, a DVB-IPDC-compliant control and services solution which enables such unique services as media casting, interactivity, targeted advertising, and usage tracking. Broadcasters and mobile operators can use this system to develop a range of transaction-based revenue opportunities. On the mobile client, Gigabyte has integrated Penthera's field-proven mobile client application, Penthera Viewer, along with Siano Mobile Silicon's Mobile Digital TV receiver/demodulator. Penthera Viewer enables mobile devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs and laptops to receive DVB-H- and DAB-IP-based TV, radio and media transmissions through a user-friendly, Virtual Set Top Box on the device. As a multi-platform, multi-OS, multi-bearer, mobile broadcast client solution, Penthera Viewer addresses the needs of broadcasters, manufacturers and operator worldwide. The GSmart i200 handset will be available starting in the first quarter of 2007 with pricing to be announced at that time, according to the company.Gigabyte Communications' GSmart i200 DVB-H handsetPhoto: Company
ASRock recently announced that its ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 motherboard officially received the Windows Vista Premium logo, which makes it among the first Vista Premium motherboards in the world. ASRock's ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 officially got the Windows Vista Premium logo on October 5, 2006, according to the company.In the past eight months, ASRock engineers had been cooperating with Microsoft Taiwan WHQL lab for all of the DTM (device testing manager) test items, running tests and fixing bugs for the qualification. DTM is a test for Windows Vista, which includes 43 test items that involve systems, chipsets, software, aging and reliability category.The ASRock ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 supports the Intel Core 2 Duo/Pentium D/Pentium 4/Celeron D processors, a FSB 1066/800/533MHz, dual-channel DDR2 667 x4 DIMM slots, PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot and an additional AGI Express slot. The ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 supports four Serial ATA2 (SATA2) connectors (3.0 Gb/s), with the adoption of ICH7R designed to support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5 and Intel Matrix Storage), NCQ, AHCI, two eSATA2 connectors (3.0 Gb/s), Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s and two IEEE1394 ports. In addition, the ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 features 7.1-channel high-definition audio powered by Realtek's ALC888 codec.The ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 is now available worldwide and has a recommend retail price of 795 yuan in China, according to the company.ASRock ConRoeXFire-eSATA2Source: CompanyThe ConRoeXFire-eSATA2 receives the Windows Vista logoSource: Company
Sony Ericsson expects its combined sales of handsets in the Taiwan market to surpass its 2006 shipment target of one million units by November, according to Steve Yeh, president of Sony Ericsson Taiwan.Sony Ericsson sold a total of 700,000 handsets in Taiwan in the first nine months of this year, with an ASP (average selling price) of US$200, Yeh stated.Although Sony Ericsson currently still ranks as the third largest vendor, trailing Nokia and Motorola, in the Taiwan market, the company's market share in part of Taiwan's handset channel in September was higher than that of Motorola's, Yeh said, citing the latest data available from the channel. The company launched on October 16 its clamshell 3G handset, the Z610i, in the Taiwan market, with an aim to compete with Motorola's KRZR-series handsets, according to market sources.The Sony Ericsson Z610i clamshell 3G handsetPhoto: Company
Nvidia has released its GeForce Go 7950 GTX graphics processing unit (GPU), claiming it to be the world's fastest notebook GPU on the market.The new flagship GeForce Go 7950 GTX GPU supports the latest games and applications with DirectX 9.0, Shader Model 3.0 and film quality high dynamic range (HDR) lighting, delivering vivid realism to HD games, according to the company.The GeForce Go 7950 GTX features GPU acceleration of HD video formats like H.264 through Nvidia PureVideo technology and incorporates Nvidia PowerMizer technology which allows advanced power management features. "2006 is a phenomenal year of growth and technology leadership for Nvidia notebook GPUs. The efficient Nvidia GeForce 7 series GPU architecture continues to deliver the ultimate visual experience in notebooks of every class – from lightweight ultra-portables to HD DVD multimedia machines," says Jeff Fisher, senior vice president of the GPU Business Unit at Nvidia. "Notebooks based on our flagship GeForce Go 7950 GTX GPU will deliver the premiere visceral experience for gamers."Gamers can experience the power of this new GPU in Dell notebooks at DigitalLife 2006 in New York City. "Dell is fully committed to delivering the most intensely realistic gaming and entertainment experience to PC gamers," said Brett Faulk, director of Inspiron and mobile XPS product marketing. "Dell XPS notebooks have swept the awards thanks to their sheer gaming performance and the Dell XPS M1710 with GeForce Go 7950 GTX is our best yet."The Nvidia GeForce Go 7950 GTX GPUPhoto: Company
Toshiba Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, on October 10 announced its latest Satellite ultra-portable notebooks featuring the Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, the Satellite U205-S5034 and Satellite U205-S5044. The two Satellite U205-series notebooks are thin and light at 1.34-inch slim and starting at 4.1 pounds, according to the company.Featuring a 12.1-inch widescreen TruBrite LCD display, the Satellite U205-S5034 and Satellite U205-S5044 incorporate the Intel Core 2 Duo T5200 and T7200 processors, respectively. Other features found in the Satellite U205 notebook line include a DVD SuperMulti double-layer drive, 5400rpm SATA hard drive, DDR2 SDRAM memory and 5-in-1 bridge media adapter. The Satellite U205-series notebooks support the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005 operating system (OS) and are Vista Premium Ready, ensuring that consumers can upgrade to the new Microsoft Windows Vista OS.The Satellite U205-S5034 includes a 100GB hard drive and 1024MB PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM memory for an estimated single unit price (ESUP) of US$1,299.99. The Satellite U205-S5044 features a 120GB hard drive and 2048MB PC4200 DDR2 SDRAM memory for an ESUP of US$1,599.99.Toshiba releases new notebooks in its Satellite U205 seriesPhoto: Company
Accton Technology on October 4 announced the availability of its first certified Wi-Fi phone for Skype, the Accton VM1185T, to its OEM/ODM customers. The VM1185T Wi-Fi phone for Skype has been officially certified by Skype's engineering and certification center. The Skype certification is designed to reassure users that the product will be easy to use and will work well with Skype software, according to Accton. Skype Certified hardware products undergo rigorous testing for more than a month to ensure that they meet Skype's high usability and technical quality standards.Ken Lu, president of Accton Technology, said, "We are very pleased to announce that Accton Wi-Fi phone for Skype passed the comprehensive certification of Skype approval. This Wi-Fi Phone for Skype enables Accton to best meet the needs of wireless networks, with superior capacity and performance." The Accton Wi-Fi Phone for Skype provides innovative technology, which requires comprehensive integration of data, voice, power management and IP networking. The Skype design validation and testing process lasted four months. The Accton Wi-Fi phone is one of the first Wi-Fi mobile products for Skype that offers the flexibility to enjoy the benefits of Skype calling without turning on the computer. The Accton Wi-Fi phone for Skype comes with Skype included, enabling OEMs and ODMs to provide consumers with an easy connection to Skype via any personal, business or free public Wi-Fi access point that does not require browser authentication. Also, consumers can easily set up the phone with an automatic synchronization to a Skype account and Skype contacts. The device also supports common Wi-Fi encryption protocols including, WEP, WPA, and WPA2 with PSK support. Accton's Skype-certified Wi-Fi Phone is now available for its OEM/ODM customers, according to the company.Accton's VM1185T Wi-Fi Skype phonePhoto: Company
Taiwan-based Tul, which specializes in ATI-based graphic cards, on October 3 announced that its PowerColor X1650 PRO has been selected by the World Cyber Games (WCG) to be the official graphics card for the finals from October 18-22. Top gamers from 70 countries will be at the Autodromo Nazionale of Monza, in Italy, to compete for titles in FIFA Soccer 06. Gaming systems throughout the tournament will be equipped with the PowerColor X1650 PRO, according to the company.PowerColor X1650 PRO supports a core speed of 600MHz and is running 1400MHz of 256MB 128-bit DDR3 memory. The card enables HDR (High Dynamic Range) effects with anti-aliasing and features DirectX 9.0c, Open GL 2.0 and Shader Model 3.0.Tul PowerColor X1650 PROSource: Company
Toshiba on October 2 unveiled a slim HD DVD drive for notebooks, the SD-L902A, that can read and write to HD DVD, standard DVD and CD discs with sample shipments of the new drive scheduled to start by year-end.The SD-L902A integrates a blue-violet laser diode that can read and write to HD DVD-R discs and offers support for high-density HD DVD-ROM discs, including high definition (HD) movie and video images. The drive also offers the functionality of a super multi-drive, with high performance, high-speed read and write to all types of standard DVD and CD discs, according to the company.At only 12.7 millimeters in height, the SD-L902A meets the stringent space specifications for slim drives integrated into highly portable notebooks. This is due in part to HD DVD discs having the physical structure as standard DVD, allowing use of an optical pick-up head (PUH) with only a single objective lens. The result is a space-saving solution, and a drive able to read and write to HD DVD-R discs, to read HD DVD-ROM discs, and to read and write to standard DVD and CD discs.HD digital media are fast moving into the mainstream. Digital broadcasting is replacing analog, and consumers are increasingly buying large-size HDTVs. More and more people are also using digital video and want a platform for editing and working on their material. This trend is also spurring demand for PCs with HD optical drive capabilities, a demand that Toshiba meets with the SD-L902A.Toshiba will demonstrate the new drive at CEATEC JAPAN 2006 at Makuhari Messe from October 3-7. Look for the drive at the Toshiba booth (1A09) and the HD DVD Promotion Group booth (1A06).Toshiba's SD-L902A slim HD DVD drive for notebooksPhoto: Company
Optoma recently introduced four new DLP (digital light processing) business-use front projectors in the Taiwan market with three of the new models featuring XGA resolution (1,024×768), according to the company. Optoma cited figures from International Data Corporation (IDC) in saying that the company ranked second with a 16.4% market share in the Taiwan projector market in the second quarter of this year. Specifications of Optoma's latest DLP projectors Model number EP706 EP709 EP7150 EP719H Resolution 800×600 1024×768 1024×768 1024×768 Contrast ratio 2,000:1 2,200:1 2,500:1 2,500:1 Brightness (lumens) 1,800 1,800 2,000 2,500 Pricing (NT$) 19,999 29,999 39,999 44,000 Source: Company, compiled by DigiTimes, September 2006. Taiwan market: Top six projector vendor market share, 2Q06 Vendors Market share Epson 20.1% Optoma 16.4% BenQ 12.6% Panasonic 9.6% ViewSonic 8.6% Others 32.8% Source: Optoma citing data from IDC, compiled by DigiTimes, September 2006.The Optoma EP7150.Photo: CompanyThe Optoma EP709.Photo: Company
