Sony Taiwan recently announced the launch of two of its latest MP3 players in the Taiwan market, the NW-E305 Walkman Bean and the NW-E407, with respective recommended retail prices of NT$4,690 (US$140) and NT$5,690 (US$170). The NW-E305 Walkman Bean will be available on December 15 while the NW-E407 will be on shelves on December 9. Both models feature an OLED display screen, a built-in lithium-ion battery with a continuous run time of 50 hours and a fast three-minute recharge for three-hour playback, and supports ATRAC3, ATRAC3plus, MP3, WMA, and WAV digital audio standards. Sony’s NW-E305 and NW-E407 MP3 player specifications comparison Item NW-E305 NW-E407 Memory capacity 512MB (23 hours of music or 345 songs) 1GB (47 hours of music or 695 songs) Dimension (W×H×D, cm) 6.9×2.3×3.8 8.5×2.9×1.4 Weight (gram) 45 37 Photo Source: Sony Taiwan, compiled by DigiTimes.com, November 2005

Walton Chaintech launched the SE68GS, a SLI-ready graphics card utilizing the Nvidia GeForce 6800 GS graphics processing unit (GPU), worldwide on November 18, with a suggested retail price of US$249. The Chaintech SE68GS features advanced gaming technologies – Shader Model 3.0, high-dynamic range (HDR) lighting and Nvidia Scalable Link Interface (SLI) multi-GPU technology, according to the company, adding that the SE68GS has 256MB DDR3 SDRAM plus the 6800 GS GPU’s native 256-bit memory interface. In addition, the new SLI-ready card delivers 1000MHz in memory clock, noted the company. Chaintech officially changed its corporate name to "Walton Chaintech Cooperation,” according to a September 7 company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE). IC testing and packaging house Walton Advanced Engineering acquired a 25% stake in Chaintech. Chaintech SE68GS graphics card specifications Item Detail Engine clock 425MHz Memory clock 1000MHz Chipset Nvidia GeForce 6800 GS Memory bus 256bit Memory 256MB DDR3 Expansion slots PCIe, D-sub VGA out, HDTV out, DVI-I Pipelines 12 Photo Source: Company, compiled by DigiTimes, November 2005

Thecus Technology, a company specializing in multimedia data storage solutions and wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) access systems, today introduced the N2050, claimed to be the world’s first DAS (direct attached storage) that features an external SATA (eSATA) interface, according to the company. With eSATA, the N2050 boasts up to 3Gb/s of data transfer speed – six times faster than high-speed USB 2.0, claims the company, adding that the N2050 is also a SATA/USB dual-mode device. With two 3.5-inch SATA drive bays, the N2050 can accommodate up to two SATA hard disks of up to 500GB in size for a total of one terabyte (TB) of storage, according to the company. To keep your data safe, the new storage device comes standard with a hardware RAID controller, which can be configured RAID 1 for increased data security, said Thecus, adding that with RAID 1, the N2050 automatically saves your data on two hard disks, allowing you to easily replace one should it fail. Alternatively, RAID 0 can be used for increased disk performance, noted the company. The N2050 is slated to hit the market worldwide by the end of November, with a suggested retail price of US$160, according to the company. Thecus N2050 specifications Item Detail HDD bays Two bays for 3.5-inch SATA HDD HDD capacity 80/120/160/200/250/300/400/500GB RAID Stripping (RAID 0), Mirroring (RAID 1) Dual-mode SATA/USB speed 480Mbps USB2.0 Up to 1.5Gbps eSATA Up to 3Gbps Installations Plug-n-play, no drivers required for Windows/MAC OS/Linux Dimension (H×W×D) 85×160×200mm Weight 1.3kg AC voltage 100-240 VAC Power frequency 47-63Hz AC Photo (Available in green and blue) Source: Company, compiled by DigiTimes, November 2005

Asustek Computer today introduced a 512MB version of its EN7800GTX-series graphics card, following Nvidia’s announcement of the availability of its GeForce 7800 GTX 512 graphics processing unit (GPU). Based on the Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX 512 GPU, the new EN7800GTX/2DHTV/512M graphics card features 512MB of DDR3 memory, a 550MHz engine clock and a 1.7GHz memory clock. Availability is slated for the end of November, with a suggested price not yet released, according to the company. At the end of June of this year, Asustek released the 256MB-version of its EN7800GTX graphics card. The card supports a 430MHz engine clock a 1.2GHz memory clock and 266MB of DDR3 memory. Besides Asustek, Nvidia said that GeForce 7800 GTX 512 GPU-based graphics cards will also be available from graphics card makers BFG Technologies, eVGA.com, Gainward, Micro-Star International (MSI), Point of View, and XFX. ASUS EN7800GTX graphics card series specifications Item EN7800GTX/2DHTV/512M EN7800GTX/2DHTV/256M Graphics engine Nvidia GeForce 7800GTX Video memory 512MB DDR3 256MB DDR3 Engine clock 550 MHz 430 MHz Memory clock 1.7 GHz (DDR3) 1.2 GHz (DDR3) RAMDAC 400 MHz Bus standard PCI Express Memory interface 256-bit Maximum resolution 2048x1536 VGA output DVI-VGA adaptors TV output Video-in & video-out (VIVO) with HDTV support DVI output Dual DVI-I Photo Source: Company, compiled by DigiTimes, November 2005 The ASUS EN7800GTX graphics card Source: Company

Kingmax recently introduced its new Super Stick family of USB flash drives measuring 39×12×2mm in size and weighing less than five grams. The company claims that the Super Stick is the lightest and thinnest storage product in the world. Super Stick drives are waterproof and dustproof, feature USB 2.0 support and a 20MB/sec transfer rate for both reading and writing operations, according to Kingmax. The products are now available in capacities of up to 2GB, the company said. Super Stick drives have a data retention period of 10 years, and all of them are covered by a lifetime warranty, Kingmax stated. Kingmax 2GB Super Stick drive. Photo: the company

Gigabyte Technology recently introduced the GA-8N-SLI Quad Royal, claimed as the world’s first SLI-enabled motherboard equipped with four PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slots, with volume shipments to kick off from the end of this month, according to the company. The availability and suggested retail price for the GA-8N-SLI Quad Royal are still undisclosed, but the board is expected to hit the Japan market in early December, said the company. Designed for gamers and enthusiasts, the GA-8N-SLI Quad Royal is based on the Nvidia nForce4 SLI and nForce 4 SLI Intel Edition chipsets and supports two full-bandwidth 16-lane PCIe links, delivering twice the PCIe bandwidth of x8 SLI solutions, claims the company. Accommodating Intel’s LGA-775 Pentium 4 and Pentium D processors, the GA-8N-SLI Quad Royal has four 240-pin DIMM sockets that can support 8GB of DDR2 memory, according to the motherboard maker. Built-in USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394 functionalities connect to all the latest high-speed peripherals and multimedia devices, said Gigabyte, adding that an embedded post code debug LED display and up to seven fan connectors provides instant information from the motherboard and the best thermal solution for ultimate gaming experience. Gigabyte’s GA-8N-SLI Quad Royal specifications Item Detail CPU Intel Pentium Extreme Edition/ Pentium D/ Pentium 4/ Celeron Chipset NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI Intel Edition and NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI FSB 1066/800/533MHz Memory DDR2 667/533, four 240-pin DIMMs (up to 8GB) Expansion slot Four PCIe x16, two PCIe x1, one PCI 2.2 Network Dual Gigabit LAN, three IEEE 1394 Audio 8-channel Audio SATA connector Four SATA 3Gb/s, RAID 0/1/0+1/5 Photo Source: Company, compiled by DigiTimes, November 2005 Photo: Company

In line with increasing security concerns for protecting mobile data, SanDisk plans to roll out a biometric equipped USB flash drive called Cruzer Profile, in the first quarter of 2006. Security on the USB drive is based on fingerprint recognition, with different levels of security available for protecting personal data. A 512MB and 1GB version of the device will be available with a suggested retail price of US$80 and US$140, respectively, according to the company. Company executive Nelson Chan stressed that no supporting software needs to be installed on the computer when using the drive. SanDisk Cruzer Profile secure USB flash drive Feature Specification Capacity 512MB, 1.GB Write speed (minimum) 5.0MB/s Read speed (minimum)  8.0MB/s Sensor response to go/no state 1s delay or less Authentication process <3s USB connectivity  USB 2.0 certified (backwards compatible with USB 1.1) Source: company

Mitsubishi Electric Taiwan stated it plans to launch its first BrilliantColor projector (HC3000) in the Taiwan market later this month. The DLP projector adopts Texas Instruments (TI)’s BrilliantColor technology, a processing enhancement that increases the color depth in DLP projectors by including up to six-color processing. The technology also enables an increase in the brightness of mid-tone images of more than 50%, according to TI. The new HC3000 model features a 1,024×768 screen resolution, 4000:1 contrast and a brightness of 1,000 lumens, Mitsubishi stated. The HC3000 is already being marketed in Japan, Europe and the North America. However, the company has not yet decided on the retail price for the Taiwan market, Mitsubishi Taiwan stated. In related news, the company is currently developing a lightweight pocket projector (PK10) featuring a bulb with a 10,000-hour lifespan. The product will hit the market in the first quarter of 2006, Mitsubishi Taiwan projected. Specification for Mitsubishi latest DLP projector Model number HC3000 Display method DLP Resolution 1280×768 Brightness 1000 Contrast ratio 4000:1 Weight 2.9kg Sources: company, compiled by DigiTimes, November 2005. Mitsubishi HC3000 DLP projector Photo: company Mitsubishi pocket projector (PK10) Photo: company

Albatron Technology and XFX introduced new SLI-ready graphics cards based on the Nvidia GeForce 6800 GS, following Nvidia’s announcement of the availability of the GPU on November 7. Nvidia’s Geforce 6800 GS-series GPUs supports Microsoft’s DirectX 9.0 and Shader Model 3.0 technologies and has dual integrated RAMDACs operating at 400 MHz, allowing screen resolutions up to and including 2048×1536 at 85Hz, according to Nvidia. Nvidia said that graphics cards based on the Geforce 6800 GS series should be priced at around US$249. Albatron’s new PC6800GS VGA card supports a core clock speed of 425 MHz and contains 12 pipelines. The card features a memory configuration using 256MB of DDR3 memory with a 256-bit memory bus. Albatron says that the card is now available for sale worldwide but declined to give a price range. XFX introduced its XFX GeForce 6800 GS eXTreme and XXX series today. The eXTreme line has a core clock speed of 450MHz, whereas the high-end XXX series runs at 485MHz, according to the company. Albatron PC6800GS and XFX GeForce 6800 GS series graphics cards specifications Item Albatron PC6800GS XFX GeForce 6800 GS eXTreme XFX GeForce 6800 GS XXX Engine clock 425 MHz 450 MHz 485 MHz Memory clock 1.0 GHz 1.05 GHz 1.1 GHz Chipset Nvidia GeForce 6800 GS (NV42) Memory bus 256bit Memory 256MB DDR3 Pipelines 12 SLI-ready Yes Photo Source: Companies, compiled by DigiTimes, November 2005 Photo: Companies

Asustek Computer yesterday announced the availability of two Global Positioning System (GPS) devices in Taiwan and Europe, the MyPal A636 and A632. The new MyPal GPS series, which incorporate the Sirf Star III GPS module, support Intel’s latest 416-MHz XScale technology and the Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC OS. The MyPal A636 with IEEE802.11b connectivity is priced at NT$18,800 (US$560), whereas the MyPal A632, which has WLAN disabled, is slightly cheaper at NT$16,800 (US$500). Asustek MyPal A636/A632 GPS specifications Item MyPal A636 MyPal A632 CPU 416-MHz Intel XScale OS Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC Display 3.5-inch 65,536-color transflective TFT LCD (240X320) with touch pad Memory 128MB flash ROM and 64MB SDRAM GPS SiRF III GPS chip, 25