Latest Gadgets and Technology for 2011

Galaxy S2 users will surely be happy this year because there are 2 new available Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich ROMs which can be downloaded via Samsung Kies software. Both builds are leaked from developers and not official releases by Samsung, still lot of functions are not fully working.  The first ICS ROM is based on Android 4.0.1 and it’s called I9100XXKP4. Meanwhile, the second ICS ROM is called as the I9100XXKP8 and is based on Android 4.0.3. We all know that the higher the firmware you installed the better compared to the firmware you are using before.

MSI has finally revealed its latest motherboard, the Big Bang-XPower II. This motherboard is based on Intel X79 chipset marketed as perfect solution for extreme overclockers and hardcore gamers. The Big Bang-XPower II supports Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge-E (LGA 2011) processors and features a 22-phase PWM design with Hybrid Digital Power for an output of up to 770 W, Eight DDR3-2400 memory slots (max. 128GB), Four PCI-E 3.0 x 16 slots and three PCI-E 2.0 x 16 slots enabling 4-way SLI or Quad CrossFireX GPU setups and Military Class III components (Hi-c CAP, SFC, Solid CAP, DrMOS II), dual 8-pin CPU power connectors.

JBL has released its own iPad dock called OnBeat Extreme (model JBLONBEATXTAM) speaker dock. It features an A2DP and AVRCP Bluetooth profile support which is fully compatible with iOS devices. No need for cables anymore. The OnBeat Extreme is equipped with dual Atlas bass drivers and Ridge tweeters computer-optimized by DSP equalization (deliver 30W of power) and uses high-quality AAC codec for superior audio streaming. You can use it as a hands-free calling device (make or receive calls) with a built-in microphone with enhanced sound through digital sound processing (DSP) and echo cancellation.

HIS (Hightech Information System) has recently announced its latest graphics card, the Radeon HD 6930 IceQ X.  This graphics card unique feature is its cooling system using a single-fan IceQ X. You will see that the graphics card is packed with a blue PCB featuring a GPU clock speed of 750MHz with a 256-bit memory interface and a 1 Gb of GDDR5 memory set @ 4800MHz. The HIS 6930 IceQ X is cooler compared to other graphics card because of the 9.2cm silent fan, huge amount of cool air is drawn from the central fan to cool down the GPU and other areas; the 4 heat pipes on the other hand enhance cooling performance by eliminating heat from the core area, giving hardcore gamers a maximum performance at its best.

According to LG’s Facebook page, the company will be releasing an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update to a limited 2011 smartphones only.  So if you haven’t bought your android phone yet, here are the android phones by LG that are capable of upgrading to Android 4.0. First batch on the 2^nd quarter next year will be the LG Optimus LTE, LG Prada 3.0, LG Optimus 2X, LG Optimus Sol, LG myTouch Q, and the LG Eclipse. Is your device on the list? If not, then you can still wait for the 3^rd quarter of the update in which LG Optimus 3D, LG Optimus Black, LG Optimus Big, LG Optimus Q2, and LG Optimus EX will next in the line for the Android 4.0 update.

Sony Ericson had confirmed that Xperia users will able to update their Android smartphones to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich this coming March 2012. The first batch of Xperia devices that will get the update will be the Xperia Arc S, Neo V, and the Ray. Followed by the Xperia Arc, Play, Neo,  Active, Sony Live Walkman, Mini and Mini Pro in the late April to early May.

I’ve just bought an external HDD last week and it was Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1TB. The transfer rate from my computer to the drive or vice versa was really fast because it uses USB 3.0 technology and I was really satisfied with the money I have spent. Recently they have launched their latest External Hard Drivethe Seagate 4TB GoFlex Desk, featuring USB 3.0 connection in a 3.5-inch form factor which is also backward compatible with USB 2.0. Like other members of the GoFlex Family, the GoFlex Desk allows users to change adapters to work with a range of interfaces (USB, FireWire, eSATA. It comes pre-loaded with the backup software that provides automatic, continuous data backup with encryption for all your files. The company’s GoFlex Desk for Mac hard drive offers similar features but comes pre-formatted in the HFS+ format.

You have seen lots of gaming laptop being launched this year and one of those is the MSI GT683DXR 15.6-inch laptop. It has Intel Corei7-2630QM, which I think is a 2^nd generation Corei7 with Sandy bridge architecture; it has 16 Gigs of DDR3 RAM, and powered with GTX 570M 1.5GB discrete graphics card. The MSI GT683DXR 15.6-inch gaming laptop is a full HD with 1920 x 1080 display. It also features 1TB of HDD, 720p HD webcam,  Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Hardware wise it has two USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA and HDMI, SD/MM card reader, Blu-ray burner, and uses 9-cell battery. The MSI GT683DXR has a preinstalled Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OS and will costs around $1,749.99.

Cooling system is very in demand these days because of the many OCs (overclockers) that tends to maximize the full potential of their processors especially the Core i7 2600k processor from Intel. Phanteks PH-TC14PE High-End CPU Cooler is just one of the many CPU cooler you can use. It uses Cold Plasma Spraying Coating (C.P.S.C.) and Physical Antioxidant Thermal Shield (P.A.T.S.) technologies to increase cooling performance and to enhance thermal conductivity. The Phantek cooler has been designed to have an extreme conduction with 5 double ended 8mm copper heatpipes departing the copper base for a dual tower aluminium fin array. Not only that, it also uses two of their high quality PH-F140TS Maelstrom Vortex Booster 140mm fans that work at 900 to 1200 RPM to ensure great airflow to the system unit. The Phanteks PH-TC14PE High-End CPU Cooler is available in red, blue, orange and white (standard) will available for purchase from late September for 79.90 Euro / $113 (standard model) or 84.90 Euro / $120 (colored models).

For the past few weeks, I’ve been busy on my job that’s why I can’t update my blog regularly and during my free time I visit some hardware review sites to choose what computer parts I will buy to build my future Ultimate Gaming Desktop PC. At the moment, I’m planning to build a Core i7 gaming pc and try to find out what’s the best cooling system and being ended up with  Corsair H100 which I will surely buy next month together with other parts. I did found a lot of good reviews with this liquid cooling system. It is much more efficient in terms of cooling rather the previous H80 model. The Hydro series includes pre-assembled, closed-loop CPU water-cooling kits that are relatively inexpensive compared to full-fledged custom-made loops. The good thing with this cooling system is maintenance-free and very easy to install. The only cons with this is that you can only install it on system case with dual 120mm fan support on top, because that’s the place where you will install this system because its radiator is twice the size of the radiator of the H80.