Get More FPS With Falcon FragBox 8500
The Falcon Northwest announced the latest gaming system in the FragBox line - FragBox 8500 for 1895$ - to bring the price down for more affordability.
The Falcon left exterior unchanged, with bottom-lit, carved front panel and the same black metal case. Hardware is neatly compact, but the whole unit is not light (20 pounds), although with the built-in handle.
The FragBox is supplied with the new Wolfdale-based Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 processor and with nVidia EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS graphics card. This cool combination allows you to play the latest DX10 games. Of course the processor is a bit weak (so Falcon cut down price due to less expenses), but the overclocked 670 MHz 512MB EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS is the mighty point. For instance, The FragBox achieved good 71 fps while running Crysis at 1,280^1,024 resolution, or 66 fps on World in Conflict at 1,280^,024 resolution. Previously, DX10 supported systems couldn’t show this level of performance.
There’s not much of internal expansion space in general, no SLI or CrossFire support, but there is one PCIExpress x16 slot to enhance your graphics power.
Dell XPS 630 is the main competitor. The XPS 630 has a Wolfdale dual-core processor and a relatively high-end graphics card as well. Dell system with E8200 processor, 2GB RAM, and 8800 GT came at a lower price. If you bring it up to a level of FragBox with E8500, 4GB DDR2-800, 750GB hard drive and 8800 GTX card, the XPS 630 will get more expenses.
FragBox is a hand-built performance model from a respected manufacturer (opposed to a Dell’s factory special by mainstream PC manufacturer), so it obviously gets its number one choice. I like the opportunity to play Crysis or World in Conflict on it. It’s not the budget version (1895$) for mainstream purchase, but you will get your performance and portability and won’t regret.
Draw Better With Wacom Innovative Touchscreen Technology
Wacom Company, specializing in pen tablets, interactive pen displays and digital interface solutions, announced Reversing Ramped Field Capacitive (RRFC) touch, a major innovative capacitive touchscreen technology to be introduced at the International Society for Information Display Exhibition, that will take place in Los Angeles this May.
This technology is designed with low-power circuitry and breaking reversing ramped electro-static fields for precise drift-free performance. With this innovative technology, Wacom can offer true flexibility for interface solutions to OEM partners.
Today’s surface capacitive touchscreens have many limitations, which Wacom’s RRFC technology has overcome. Wacom has new static field engineering to enable drift-free performance. RRFC features advanced ASIC design and high resolution signal processing, which is immune to noise. And it is also the only one technology that can show great accuracy, stability and sensitivity.
Both RRFC touch and EMR pen input techs can work together off of a single ASIC and MCU pair and thus reducing consuming of materials and manufacturing inputs. What is more, Wacom can boast highly durable transparent glass sensors, as well as multiple coating and bonding options and easy-to-read driver software.
New controller processing methods with system design enable accurate pointing without big costs and at evidently low power consumption levels. Any OEM should pay attention to the Wacom’s progress so that to move beyond resistive touch solutions.
Having increased sensitivity and durability, compared to older resistive capacitive touchscreens, new solution offers up to 95 percent of transmissivity. RRFC touch technology needs less pressure and poses tough surface.
Let’s hope that most companies will trust Wacom and integrate its technology into their models to hit the market with better tablets and screens. It would be great to draw better on a durable and sensitive screen which responds both to touch and pen.
For more information visit Wacom.com
Engadget.com
Be A Composer With Pacemaker Portable DJ System
Have you ever dreamed to mix and manipulate tunes like a professional DJ? But even minimal DJ music equipment weighs and costs too much. Digital handheld alternative Pacemaker is created to satisfy the needs of DJ inclined people and to open up minds for unlimited digital art.
Pacemaker portable DJ system offers professional audio manipulation with unlimited mixing between two independent channels. Mix, play and fascinate others anywhere you want, and 120 GB hard drive will store up all your tunes.
The Pacemaker supports all types of digital music formats (MP3, M4A, AIFF,
FLAC,SND, WAV, Ogg Vorbis). It offers almost anything needed for a professional like:
- dynamic beat detection with 0.1 BPM precision
- cue, reverse, pitch change + or – 100%
- crossfade to set the line out or phones blend of two channels
- bend, loop, gain volume from -26 to +6 dB
- 3 band with treble, mid and bass frequencies
- 166ppi display with 262.000 colors.
The touchpad can bend a track, change EQ values and gain levels, also it can be used to navigate the track library and the device settings.
The Pacemaker is handled with a choice of a Mac or PC audio editor and a USB port to connect to a computer. An audio MySpace or Facebook will allow you to indulge in online mix community of Pacemaker to share your creations on-line.
Pacemaker is shipped with power charger, USB cable, 3m RCA cable, quick guide and a strap.
So if you would like to be a good DJ, the Pacemaker is a perfect way to start and enjoy your hand-made music, as well as to share masterpieces with millions of those who might want to understand and evaluate your intentions. The retail price of this product is about €520.00.
View more information or buy the product at Pacemaker.net
RP-7 Remote Viewing System For Doctors And Daddies
A robot that was originally used by doctors to remotely perform work allowed a soldier in Baghdad to interact with his newborn baby in Texas.
An RP-7 Remote Viewing Robotic System presents wireless mobile robot thanks to which a doctor can be in two places at once. And now that system helped Sgt. Erik Lloyd meet his seven years old son Blake on April 10.
RP-7 controlled at a remote viewing station can move to any direction and serves as a medium between a controller and his stuff, patients (if he’s a physician), family members, anyone.
While Lloyd was at a computer screen in Iraq, his wife Kristi was near an RP-7 in a conference room at Brooke Army Medical Center to show the soldier boy. Lloyd used a joystick connected to a laptop for controlling the robot’s digital high resolution camera to zoom in or out, get different perspectives and focus on the son.
But the real expert on using the robot is Army Maj. Kevin Chung, who is a medical
director for the burn intensive care unit at Brooke. Chung uses it from home, being on duty assignments, or at conferences from so that to get in touch with the Intensive Care Unit.
The Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), is evaluating how this technology can be better used in a military medical setting. Residents, nurses, physicians, members’ families at ISR reported that they were satisfied with the functionality of RP-7, and agreed that the robot improved patient care, performed good audio and video quality, saved time and was better than interaction by telephone.
As an ideal bandwidth of 600 kilobytes per second is recommended in both directions, there can be problems to deploy the system, let’s say, to an Army hospital in Iraq. Also such Telepresence is not limited to the military or commercial sectors, as well as it is not yet available commercially.
Vigor Evo HD Display LCD Rugged Case To Absorb Hit
All those gadgets like mobile phones, iPods, laptops, camcorders are so flimsy and you are always afraid of getting them dropped, hit or completely smashed. All those little things we care about are too valuable and at the same time breakable for us. Maybe it’s time to purchase a really rugged thing that will serve for a long time.
NextComputing is offering Vigor Evo HD display LCD rugged case to absorb any hit, with integrated 17-inch LCD also protected from breaking. For those working in extreme conditions, this workstation will do its best to protect itself and anything that placed inside it.
The Vigor Evo HD features:
- integrated 17-inch LCD display with hard coated protective screen
- Internal rubber shock absorbers and optional disposable protective screen with enhanced coatings
- a 3-terabyte hard drive
- dual-layer DVD writer
- AMD or Intel processors to choose
Although it may seem that Vigor Evo HD is portable and light, it weighs under 20 pounds. But everything is not as bad in fact. This “portable” workstation is equipped with the optional wheels and handle package.
Let’s specify its characteristics:
- One or two bootable 2.5″ SATA HDD 100 / 120 / 160 / 200GB with 7200 RPM or 250GB with 5400RPM
- Up to 3 terabytes of additional HDD capacity
- 8x Double-layer DVD-R(RW)
- Factory accessible PCI-X, PCI Express 8x or 16x slots with various options
- Integrated 17″ WUXGA LCD with 1920 x 1200 resolution ( with hard coated protective screen)
- Audio line in-out, microphone input (AC97)
- Support for external USB PC keyboard, mouse, or USB KVM, as well as wireless keyboard hub
- 19” x 7.5” x 13.44”
- The weight varies from 14.5 to 26.5 lbs (depends on configuration)
- 400w or 520w 110-220V 50-60 Hz power supply with auto switch
1 year of warranty, price is not listed yet.
Find more information at Nextcomputing, Engadget, Crave