Tech News
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CES Show Attendance Rebounds After Dip in 2009
Published: Monday, January 11, 2010 | By: DennisThe premise of this article is that because attendance was up at CES this year the economy is getting better. However despite this company attendance was down quite a bit and the quality of the exhibits was also down.
In fact everything was down.
Case in point: There are several perks that members of the media get when attending CES and one of them is a press luncheon that usually consists of a sack lunch of goodies. It's not much but a nice touch.
In the past there have always plenty of these lunch boxes and in some cases extras left over well after the close of the luncheon. However this year the lunches sold out early, like on the order of 15-20 min. While this article claims attendance was up (which I can attest to) the show budget was down based on the fact that many perks the media members normally get at CES were taken away.
The CEA said more than 2,500 companies exhibited at the show, a figure that would be down from the 2,700 that came last year. Press and blogger attendance may also have been down significantly, from 6,000 last year to somewhere north of 5,000 this year.
It is funny how inaccurate assumptions can be when looking at numbers. Companies send media folks to cover various events, if media numbers are down and exhibits are down no increased number of attendees will change the fact that there is less to see.
Heck based on how weak the show was this year I suspect many people will not bother to return next year.
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CES 2k10 show coverage from around the web
Published: Sunday, January 10, 2010 | By: DennisAs you may have guessed we are here in Las Vegas attending the annual Consumer Electronics Show and so far having a great time.
CES is considerably smaller than it was in previous years; the Sands Expo center was closed down with all exhibits being moved to LVCC (the convention center). Even with the consolidation there are still empty spaces on the show floor, in fact an entire section of the South Hall laid vacant whereas in previous years it was completely wall to wall.
Overall the show has given us a great opportunity to meet with manufactures and other website editors face to face. Of course these meet and greets normally run quite smoothly however there are always instances where that is not always the case. Those of you following me on Facebook will be familiar with a pre-CES posting I made related to this fact.
Be sure to check out our show coverage, much like before the article will be written and broken down by day with the highlights of that day being explained with photos attached. This year also marked the first time the Ninjalane crew was not an army of one. This not only helped us cover more ground but also made the day more enjoyable.
Here are some other CES postings from around the web.
- CES 2010: Crucial RealSSD C300 6Gbps SATA SSD Demo @ Legit Reviews
- CES 2010 Coverage: Introduction, ASUS and CES Unveiled @ Tweaknews
- CES 2010 - CES Unveiled Press Preview @ Bigbruin
- 2010 CES Introduction @ OCIA
- CES Showcase: Crucial and Seagate Demo New SSDs @ HotHardware
- CES 2010: Digital Experience @ ThinkComputers
Also from Ninjalane
- CES 2010 in Las Vegas Day 1
- CES 2010 in Las Vegas Day 0 -
nVidia Press Conference - Live Blog
Published: Thursday, January 7, 2010 | By: DennisIts the dawn of CES Day 1 and the first event on the agenda is a press conference with nVidia. They will be re-broadcasting the press event via the web and might be worth listening to.
Check it out below.
Today's the big day and we're at the Shimmer Cabaret, in the Hilton Las Vegas getting ready to start our press conference. For those who can't make it here in-person, we'll kick off the liveblog at 10:30 am PST or you can tune into the live audiocast on our CES site: www.nvidia.com/ces2010.
Never know you might even hear yours truley ask some really dumb questions.
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CES: ASUS NX90 Bang & Olufsen ICEpower Notebook: A Duet of Style and Sonority
Published: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 | By: DennisOne of the benefits of getting to CES early is that you get to partake of some of the pre-show press releases. On the surface these press conferences are extremely boring but they help to explain some of the stuff that we all get to see when the show actually starts.
One of the coolest items they had announced is this laptop and is really more than a desktop replacement for the home that is not only convenient but brings style into the mix as well.
ASUS NX90 Bang & Olufsen ICEpower Notebook: A Duet of Style and Sonority
Atelier craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology seamlessly meld together in the luxurious ASUS NX90 Bang & Olufsen ICEpower notebook. Designed by award-winning B&O Chief Designer David Lewis, the NX90 is a study in sublime contrasts, featuring a polished aluminum exterior and palm rest that match beautifully to the matte-black keyboard and dual touchpads. Two speakers featuring ICEpower technology flank a display reminiscent of high-end consumer flat screen televisions. Exclusive Sonic Focus technology helps to ensure that all audio is reproduced as flawlessly as possible. The NX90 also offers a unique way to interact with the system, in the form of dual touch pads. These work in concert with the Rotation Desktop software to provide users with an intuitive DJ-like control.
This is by far one of the coolest things I have seen in terms of a laptop for the home.
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Clash of the Drivers @ InsideHW
Published: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 | By: WillHere is some info to read for you guys that love to jump onto the newest drivers out there. You might want to stop and think about it first to see if is really going to help you out. This little article will give you some idea on what your looking for.
Therefore, the advice of keeping the video drivers always up to date, which can be heard in the circles of enthusiasts, should be taken with caution: depending on the generation of card you use and the games that you play most often, the gain in speed will often be indistinguishable, and it's not impossible to see a performance drop.
Enjoy!
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Intel's Core i3/i5 and Core Mobile processors reviewed @ TR
Published: Monday, January 4, 2010 | By: WillThe mobile Core i3/i5 are showing up and are the ideal platform for the intergrated graphics on these processors. These new processor should sell like hot cakes. We at Ninjalane cannot wait to get ahold of one of these guys.
Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture has gone entirely mainstream with the arrival of the dual-core desktop processors code-named Clarkdale. This release also marks two major milestones: the first 32-nm processor, and the first major desktop CPU with integrated graphics. But is it a peanut butter and Vegemite sandwich? Hmm.
Think I just figured out my next laptop buy.
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Intel i5 661 3.33GHz Dual Core CPU @ Bjorn3D
Published: Sunday, January 3, 2010 | By: WillThe next big thing for Intel is not only having a i5 dual core processor, but having intergrated graphics in the chip as well. Then to top it off the chip is on the new 32nm size as well. Plus some room for overclocking maybe?
It's that time of year again, Christmas is in the air, the smell of pine trees gracing the lab, CES just around the corner, and above all else the smell of a new CPU going through burn in testing on the test rig.
Intel was nice enough to send in one of their LGA 1156 i5 661 32nm dual core CPU's that run at a blistering 3.33GHz out of the box. They also sent in an LGA 1156 DH55TC motherboard which is primarily designed for HTPC/Media applications. We'll be taking a look at both with the primary focus on the CPU with it's newly integrated graphics that sit on the processor itself. Yes Intel has delivered a CPU with graphics integrated on the CPU.
We can hear the groans from the serious enthusiasts already, 'Oh no integrated graphics'. Well we were a little skeptical ourselves until we ran it. It's not a powerhouse integrated graphics but it's more than adequate for Blu-Ray playback, light gaming, and most end users won't need anything more powerful than the integrated graphics built into the chip. That's saying a lot for an integrated graphics solution. We also ran the i5 661 in a high end Asus Maximus 3 board with a discrete GPU to see if the integrated graphics were going to interfere with discrete GPU usage and had no problems with running several discrete GPU's we tried so if integrated graphics isn't what you need the i5 661 will allow you to go to a discrete GPU. Before you think discrete GPU though you might want to look at the 3DMark Vantage results on the Intel HD integrated graphics.Hey, What The...wasn't AMD supposed to have this out first.
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NL: Case & PSU Roundup
Published: Sunday, January 3, 2010 | By: WillWe have been getting a few Case & PSU reviews starting to stack up from around the net. So why not do a roundup.
Case
- XClio Nighthawk Case Review @ DriverHeaven
- Thermaltake Element V Big Tower Computer Case Review @ TweakPC
- NZXT Lexa S Case @ Rbmods
- Zalman MS1000-HS2 Professional Tower @ Pro-Clockers
- Azza Helios 910R ATX Mid Tower Case Review @ BayReviews
- NZXT Gamma Mid Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputersPSU
- Zalman ZM600-RS 600 Watt Power Supply @ Pro-Clockers
- Thermaltake Evo_Blue 750 watt PSU @ Bjorn3D
- Ultra X4 Fully Modular 850 Watt Power Supply Review @ Tweaknews
- Nexus RX-6300 PSU @ Rbmods -
Dual Processor 1366 Motherboard for Enthusiasts
Published: Friday, January 1, 2010 | By: DennisThis might be the coolest thing I have ever seen. EVGA has released a teaser pic for a new motherboard that will be on display at CES. So far there are no details beyond what you can see in the photo but rumors have speculated that the dual processor board will come in the typical "Classified" trim and color scheme.
For years I have been telling the various motherboard makers that we really need a dual processor enthusiast motherboard and something that doesn't require the extremely slow ECC Registered memory. Well it seems that EVGA might have finally paid attention.
You can be assured that this board will most likely require XEON based Intel processors and while an enthusiast platform would suggest overclocking it will ultimately come down to memory support and power delivery.
I have a meeting scheduled with EVGA during CES so stay tuned for more details behind this board and other cool things from EVGA.
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Happy New Year from Ninjalane
Published: Thursday, December 31, 2009 | By: DennisOn behalf of Ninjalane I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
2010 is a huge milestone for Ninjalane and marks 10 Years of hardware review, overclocking, mods and more. While we celebrate our past achievements and look towards the dawn of another 10 years I thank you.
Have a good one!
See you all in 2010
