Apple updates Maps app in response to warning from Australian Police

Its not very often that Apple gets a black eye over its products, but ever since the release of Apple Maps the company has been facing a lot of criticism and has resulted in the firing ofRichard Williamson, manager of the Maps team, as well as countless memes about how bad Apple Maps is.

Recently, we heard that the police in Victoria, Australia, issued a warning that people should not use Apple Maps after finding several motorists were led to the middle of a national park with high temperatures and no water.

It turns out that the people were looking for the city of Mildura, but instead found themselves in the middle of Murray Sunset National Park which is about 70 kilometers away from the city.

“Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees, making this a potentially life threatening issue,” Victoria’s Acting Senior Sergeant Sharon Darcy noted in the warning. “Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception.”

via VentureBeat

Apparently the police service has been in touch with Apple over the issue and until the problem is resolved are recommending that people use one of the other map offerings available for the iPhone.

Update: Apple has pushed out an update that corrects the problem and has Mildura in its proper place.

ASUS P1 portable LED projector to launch in Japan on 7 April

After a year since its appearance at CeBIT, the ASUS P1 portable LED projector is finally making its way to retail shelves. ASUS will be releasing the P1 portable LED projector on April 7 in Japan, with a retail price of 44,800 yen (approximately US$545). The compact P1 weighs a mere 415g and measure 125×130×33.5mm which is about the size of a CD case. The projector has instant on/off capabilities such that it has no warm-up time to project your image or the need to cool down after power off.

Incorporating LED technology, the ASUS P1 features a native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, 200-lumen brightness, and boasts a lamp lifespan which is up to four times longer than conventional projectors. The projector also has a short throw ratio of 1.16:1, which means that it can project a 40-inch screen at a distance of just one metre away.Other specifications include 16.77 million color reproduction, 2,000:1 contrast ratio, aspect ratio of 16:10 / 16:9 / 4:3, automatic keystone correction, 28db noise and connectivity including USB 2.0, composite and VGA.

Source: watch.impress.co.jp

ASUS Unveils EN6800GT Dual Card

Asus has revealed it's Dual GPU 6800GT and is alreadyfinalizing research and details, and expects to finish by month end. The card works like two 6800GT cards SLIed, and performance is estimated to be about 1.7times when compared to a single GPU 6800GT.

Another Samsung ad pokes fun at Apple's iPhone 5

Samsung is going out of its way to make the iPhone 5 look inferior to the Galaxy SIII in every way. It’s apparent that Samsung has a grudge against Apple, but in the end consumers decide which slick smartphone to pick up.

The Cupertino-based tech giant is running on all cylinders now that it knows consumers are dying to get their hands on the iPhone 5. Demand for the latest Apple flagship smartphone is so immense that Apple has to push back deliveries of pre-orders by a week or two.

Many people will argue that the Galaxy SIII has components that either match or outclass that of the iPhone 5, but Apple’s marketing prowess has already turned the iPhone into a symbol of status and refinement.

It remains to be seen whether or not Samsung’s campaign to convince people that the iPhone isn’t all that special will be successful. But at least it’s a bit of a change of scenery from the patent wars and trolling that have been plaguing many headlines in recent months.

ASUS Overclocking Championship 2007 Video on You-Tube!

Check out the fun footage of the ASUS Overclocking Championship held in Singapore, on Youtube!

AOpen Aeolus PCX6600GT-DVH128

AOpen unveils the latest Aeolus PCX6600GT-DVH128 card equippedwith its Silent technology. The technology allows detection of thermal level ofthe GPU and select a optimum fan speed automatically (8 speeds to choose from)where the quietest operation is at 25db.

ASUS Launches U Series Bamboo Collection

The ASUS U Series Bamboo Collection is designed for thefashion and eco-conscious users who want good looks and sufficient computing powers in a laptop. It sports smoky brown bamboo exteriors, andbrushed aluminum interior surfaces and a chiclet keyboard that seem rather elegant.

On top of that, the Taiwanese manufacturer has also put a lot of intelligent technology into U Series Bamboo Collection notebooks such asSuper Hybrid Engine (SHE), which monitors processing loads and delivers just the right level of power. SHE alsoworks alongside NVIDIA Optimus technology to conserve energy and hence extend battery life.

Other feature include Syncables technology that enableshasslefree syncing with desktop PCs, notebooks, smartphones and digital cameras.

The ASUS U Series Bamboo Collection is scheduled to be available from August at a retail priceof S$1,799 (w/GST).

AMD To Cut Sempron Prices In Early May

AMD plans to lower the unit prices for Socket 754 Sempron processors in early May, with the maximum cut being 15%. The price reduction for the entry-level K8-compatible CPUs will help AMD with its plan to phase out its Socket-A processors by the end of the third quarter but will continue producing K7 processors as customers have requested it do so. Prices for AMD’s Athlon 64 lineup will remain unchanged from levels set earlier this year.

ATi R520 Has 700Mhz+ 16 Pipes Core

ATI wants the R520 to clock at 700 MHz clock or even higher but it's still undecided as it's too early to decide on the final number. ATi still has some time so it won't release those chips in August - it aims to introduce and ship the cards toward the very end of Q3. Some chips will work at even higher frequencies, much more than 700 MHz. R520 might actually have only sixteen fragment pipelines but will be able to fight Nvidia with its ultra higher clock but this is something that we cannot confirm at this stage.

AMD reduces Radeon HD 7970, 7950 and 7770 pricing

If youre looking at picking up one of AMDs fairly recently launched Radeon HD 7970, 7950 or 7770 graphics cards, but havent gotten around to it yet, then we have good news for you. AMD has finally decided to lower its prices to a somewhat more affordable level, especially in the case of the two high-end models.

The Radeon HD 7970 stands for the biggest price drop, of US$70 compared to the launch date and you can already pick up some cards for the new MSRP of US$479. This puts the Radeon HD 7970 at a US$20 lower price point than Nvidias GeForce GTX 680, although were not sure if this is enough to sway users over to the Radeon HD 7970.

A US$50 saving is what youll be seeing for the Radeon HD 7950 which has come down from US$449 to US$399. This will likely make some of the overclocked Radeon HD 7870 cards a tough sell; especially models priced in excess of US$370. That said, it seems like some of AMDs partners are dropping the prices here as well, without any official word on the matter from AMD, as we spotted Radeon HD 7870 models going for as little as US$330.

Finally the Radeon HD 7770 has been reduced by US$20, from US$159 to US$139 making it a pretty attractive option to the Radeon HD 6850 which is retailing at around the same price point these days and offering similar performance, albeit drawing more power.

The Radeon HD 7970 and 7950 will also come with three games for a limited time, as part of the three for free promotion. The games are Deus Ex: Human Evolution (including the Missing Link DLC), Dirt: Showdown (expected in May) and Nexuiz, a DX11 first person shooter (again expected in May). Presumably the games will be digital download only.

Source: Hardware Canucks

AMD Ships First quot;Interlagos quot; CPUs based on Bulldozer

SUNNYVALE, Calif. ­ Sept. 7, 2011 ­ Today, AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced revenue shipments of the first processors based on its new x86 “Bulldozer” architecture. Initial production of the world’s first 16-core x86 processor, codenamed “Interlagos,” began in August and shipping to OEM customers is already underway. Compatible with existing AMD OpteronTM 6100 Series platforms and infrastructure, “Interlagos” is expected to launch and be available in partner systems in the fourth quarter of this year. Many of the initial shipments have been earmarked for large custom supercomputer installations that are now underway.“This is a monumental moment for the industry as this first ‘Bulldozer’ core represents the beginning of unprecedented performance scaling for x86 CPUs,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, AMD Products Group. "The flexible new ‘Bulldozer’ architecture will give Web and datacenter customers the scalability they need to handle emerging cloud and virtualization workloads.”Update :AMD starts shipping Bulldozers, but only server variety

AMD Trinity slides leaked, 17W APU detailed

ComputerBase has leaked a couple of slides from AMDs CES 2012 press deck, covering performance gains expected over Llano, as well as battery life. The focal point is certainly the 17W variant designed for "ultrathins" - AMDs answer to ultrabooks.

Performance improvements expected for mobile Trinity are upto 25% for the CPU and 50% for the GPU over equivalent mobile Llano A-Series APUs it will succeed. The APUs benchmarked were 35W variants for both Trinity and Llano. However, these numbers are just projections and may vary with the final shipping product. AMD claims the 25% CPU performance increase is in the PC Mark Vantage Productivity benchmarks - a benchmark which has traditionally favoured Intel CPUs. The massive 50% uplift in GPU performance is in 3D Mark Vantage benchmark, while actual games may not scale as much. Trinity will also bring notable performance improvements to the desktop, though of lesser magnitude than the mobile variants - roughly 15% for the CPU, 30% for the GPU.

Trinity introduces Turbo Core 3.0 and new video capabilities - possibly including VCE (Video Compression Engine) to take on Intel QuickSync. The battery life is stated to be 12 hours at idle, and as much as 3:20 hours / 200 minutes running 3D Mark 06 workfload. However, battery capacity used was not mentioned for these tests.

AMDs power efficiency improvements not only improve battery life and performance, but also enable new platforms. Trinity will be available in 17W variants - directly competing with Intels ULV products. Trinity 17W APUs will find themselves in "ultrathins" - AMDs answer to Intels "ultrabooks". However, the key difference is lower pricing, as AMD seeks to drive ultrathins into mainstream markets.While Intel ULV parts are restricted to dual-core, AMD is bringing all four cores to 17W.

Trinity is set to release in mid-2012, and will directly compete with Intels Ivy Bridge. While Intel will continue to maintain a dominant lead in raw CPU performance, Trinity is expected maintain AMDs leadership on the GPU front. The 17W quad-core Trinity is especially shaping up to be a very promising product, competing with dual-core Ivy Bridge, and driving thin and light notebooks into more affordable mainstream segments ultrabooks are unlikely to achieve for a while.

Source: ComputerBase

Asus launches new NX90 and N-series notebooks, promises great sound quality for customers

I am willing to bet that if one were to compile a checklist of the features consumers look for when purchasing a laptop, speaker quality will probably rank near the bottom, if at all. And it is easy to understand why: after all, notebooks are designed for the flexibility of work or entertainment while on the move, and blasting your notebook speakers at maximum volume while on the train or at Starbucks is the fastest way to earn yourself a spot in STOMP's webpage. Or more specifically, under the 'Ugly Commuters' section.

But to say that manufacturersare contented with things as they are would be a mistake: after all, the mobile computing industry has taken strides to provide a more surreal audio experience while on the move, but it comes with a caveat;such notebooksusually requirean output toa decent set ofaudio hardwarebefore any improvement becomes noticeable. This presentstwo set of problems: we don'texactly want to cart our impressive 5.1 setup out with us to the train or park, and cheap headphones will all but render any improved sound quality a moot point.

However, it seems that ASUS is determined to eliminate the hassle ofusing external output devices for better sound, and that is readily apparent in the new NX90 desktop-replacement notebook which was launched yesterday in Singapore.

According to ASUS, the Core-i7 powered NX90 uses speakers which are 10 times larger than those found in most notebooks today. This, in addition to the hardware being co-developed with Bang & Olfsen's ICEpower technology, allows the NX90 to attain audio qualities which are supposedly comparable to those found in full surround systems.

“This is the collaboration with ICEPower by Bang and Olfsen. We included a new direction of audio techinology, bringing audio to the consumer, bringing audio in portability....we'll continue to go on, to find more ways to innovate our products. that's where our commitment is; for our consumers to our business partners all over the world,” said Joseph Hoo, country manager for ASUS Technology.

Besides its sound quality, the NX90 also boasts a unique yet unconventional design:it features a polished aluminium surface instead of brushed metal or plastic, has two touchpads instead of one and thespeakers aremounted outside the notebook's frame, resulting in a slightly oversized yet elegant end-result.

Koh Siew Hock, Head of Southeast Asia Marketing for Intel, praised the NX90 for redefining the boundaries of notebook design.

“The Core i7 from Intel offers gaming performance but the real deal about the entire processor series is that it's very smart, it's very intelligent, it can adapt to the consumer and that is the kind of thing that ASUS has really built onand innovated on. And that product is the NX90, a very contemporary form factor. it challenges our conventional thinking of what a PC or notebook should look like, should feel like,” he said.

Asus also took the opportunity to introduce a new line of notebooks: the mainstream-oriented N-series which follow a more conventional design while still retaining decent audio quality, thanks to the company's joint-development with Bang & Olfsen. Available in 15-inch (N53JN) and 17-inch (N73JN), the N-seriesfeature Intel's Core i5 processors, dedicated Nvidia GPUs and will be available for sale immediately, along with the NX90. A 14-inch (N43JF) variant of the N-series is due to hit retail storenext month.

N43JF

N53JN

N73JN