Oh sure, Wireless USB products are out there, but they're pretty far out there. We're talking deep back shelf type stuff. NEC Electronics is hoping to get the cord-free version of the well known peripheral standard into more and more gizmos by cranking out the uPD720171 Wireless USB host controller. The unit was designed with the PCI Express bus interface in mind, and it can also provide laptops with connectivity via the ExpressCard slot. The company claims that the $10 device can handle transfers up to 480Mbps within a range of three meters, but you'll be waiting a little while yet before testing out said claim in a finalized product.

[Via SlashGear]

Earlier this month, ASUS introduced the "world's first HDMI 1.3a compliant audio / video enhancement combo card." Who knew numero dos was so close behind? Auzentech has just announced its very own HDMI 1.3-native PCIe audio combo card, which is built around Creative's X-Fi processor and enables PC users to easily output 7.1-channel audio with no downsampling. Essentially, the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 "accepts video from either an internal or external connection, mixes it with digital audio, and outputs the combined video and lossless multichannel audio via a single HDMI 1.3 port." Yep, that means Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio codecs are fully supported. The only digs? For one, pricing remains a mystery, but the real kicker is the September release -- talk about a long wait.

Considering that you've already spent way too much on that totally over-hyped Killer NIC, why not humor yourself further by snagging a sound card with Johnathan Wendel's prints on it. Proving once again that everyone does indeed have a price, famed gamer Fatal1ty has placed his highly respected seal of approval on a new duo of sound cards from Creative. The PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series and PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series devices boast the X-Fi enhancements you've come to expect, vivid new designs, unmistakable packaging and the assurance that the latter is the "official sound card of the CGS." As for pricing, the Pro edition is available to pre-order for $149.99, while the CGS model adds in an internal I/O drive and demands $199.99. Hit the read link for more detailed specifications and way too much gloating.

[Via CustomPC]

You may remember the lovable yet rascally ioDrive PCIe card from Fusion which we told you about back in the sun-drenched, salad days of September. Well, we've gotten a few more details on the "SAN in the palm of your hand," and we thought we'd share. As you'll recall, the card is meant to deliver very high, sustained read / write speeds, allowing the ioDrive to perform "nearly a thousand times faster than any existing disk drive." Well, the good folks at Fusion have now given the system a price -- the card starts at $2,400 -- and offered up some fresh info, like that the ioDrive is NAND flash-based, will support multiple terabytes of virtual memory, and has access rates on par with DRAM. Which is real fast. Hit the link for a lot more info, and don't be afraid to peruse the company's .pdf data sheet.

Those looking for a fresh way to capture OTA signals on their computer need to look AMD's way, as the firm is kicking out three new ATI TV Wonder devices today. Up first is the TV Wonder 650 Combo USB, which includes two TV tuners to pick up OTA HDTV signals / ClearQAM programming, analog TV and FM broadcasts. For those with desktops, the TV Wonder 600 PCI or TV Wonder 600 PCI Express should fit the bill quite nicely, as they offer up the same features as their USB sibling in less portable forms. Notably, all three units come bundled with Catalyst Media Center software, which enables the devices to quickly convert (read: "with two mouse clicks") recorded programming to formats suitable for use on the iPod, Zune, PSP, iPhone, Palm Treo, etc. Price wise, the 650 Combo USB will demand $149, while the other two (pictured after the jump) will run you just $99 apiece.

In a recent demonstration at DEMOFall '07, Fusion-io showed off its newest PCIe device, which reportedly "places the power of a SAN (storage area network) in the palm of your hand." Essentially, this single device boasts up to 640GB of storage capacity, delivers 100,000 IOPS (input / output per second) and can achieve sustained data rates of 800Mb/sec (read) and 600Mb/sec (write)." In marketing terms, the ioDrive can perform "nearly a thousand times faster than any existing disk drive," and it can reportedly be integrated into existing data centers or workstations without any alterations to your infrastructure. Next quarter, the outfit will begin shipping the card in 40GB, 80GB, 160GB and 320GB configurations (with the 640GB flavor to follow suit), but unfortunately, official prices have not yet been divulged. Oh, and be sure to check out a video of the ioDrive's unveiling here.

[Via TGDaily]

Diamond is no stranger to packin' an awful lot of RAM onto graphics cards, and apparently, the forthcoming VFX 2000 Series Professional Workstation GPU will keep the legacy alive. According to Hot Hardware, Diamond is readying a 2GB (of GDDR4 memory, no less) professional card based on the R600 (now known as the HD 2900 XT), and reportedly, "the card's PCB has been modified from the standard HD 2900 XT reference design to support the workstation-class features inherent to the FireGL line of professional graphics cards." Still, there's no word yet on what frequencies the GPU and RAM will hum along at, but word on the street has this beast launching "in the coming weeks." Click on for another glimpse.

As if Cupertino didn't give you enough to chew on today, it looks like the Mac Pro received a small update as well. 'Course, it seems pretty minute until you check out the pricetag ($999, for those wondering), but nevertheless, users looking to maximize their machine can now opt for a PCI Express RAID card to come built right in. The card promises "up to 304MBps of sequential read performance in RAID 0" and supports RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 0+1, and Enhanced JBOD. Moreover, it sports 256MB of cache and an integrated 72-hour battery for protection, and while the machine ships with each hard drive individually configured in the Enhanced JBOD level, you can migrate the drives into a RAID setup of your choosing without reinstalling OS X by tapping into Apple's RAID Utility software.

[Thanks, Alex]

Folks sure busted out the champagne when PCI Express took the wand from AGP, and while this announcement isn't quite as monumental, doubling transfer speeds ain't nothing to balk at. PCI-SIG, the higher-ups involved in rolling out new PCI Express protocols, unveiled today the PCIe Base 2.0 specifications, which noted that the "interconnect bit rate" would be heading from 2.5GT/s to 5GT/s to better "support high-bandwidth applications." The primary benefits extending from the revamped standard include "faster signaling, increasing the aggregate bandwidth of a 16-lane link to approximately 16 Gbps," and of course, the backwards compatibility with current PCIe 1.1 products. Notably, Intel's "Bearlake" family of chipsets will purportedly support PCI Express 2.0, and if all goes as planned, should start shipping "next quarter."

[Via RegHardware]

Japanese manufacturer Kuroutoshikou looks to be one of the first, if not the first, to bridge the gap between your ExpressCard and your desktop computer with its new PCI Express-based adapter. Just pop the low-profile card into an available PCIe slot, slide in your ExpressCard of choice (54 or 34, it would seem), and in no time you'll be rocking card-based SATA, tuners, and EV-DO as no one intended it -- confined to your desk. As a bonus, Kuroutoshikou will also give you an extra USB 2.0 port. Look for the card to be available in Japan later this month for ¥4,980, or just over $40 US if you're planning on doing the importing thing.

[Via Impress]