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Ennova announces USB drive with OLED screen / fingerprint scanner
It's still a little ways from an actual release, but it looks like the folks at Ennova Direct just couldn't help themselves from announcing that they've received a patent for a newfangled biometric USB flash drive that packs a built-in OLED screen. Even better, that OLED screen apparently actually doubles as the fingerprint scanner, which may not add much extra in terms of security, but should be good for at least a few gee whiz moments. The actual patent, however, isn't for that bit of convergence, but for the sliding mechanism that covers the screen when it's closed and pops out the USB connector when it's open. No word on pricing or capacities just yet, but it looks like the first few drives should be available under the ION Technologies brand sometime in the first quarter of 2010.[Via OLED-Display.net]
First Ion-based netbooks reportedly on track for June debut
Nothing is completely official just yet, but Pocket-lint is reporting that its inside source at NVIDIA has "confirmed" that the initial batch of Ion-based netbooks will be announced at the big Computex trade show at the beginning of June, and that the first few netbooks could start shipping "as early as July." Of course, there's no word on any specific companies involved just yet, with the source only going so far as to say that the announcements will come from some "key players." Acer would seem to be about as close to a sure thing as there is, however, considering that it just recently launched the first Ion-based nettop, the AspireRevo, and that it's never passed up an opportunity to roll out yet another new nettbook in the past.
Zotac jumping in Ion-filled waters with new Mini-ITX motherboards
We'd heard a few whispers rolling through the gentle breeze that Zotac would be hopping on the Ion bandwagon early on, and sure enough, it looks like said firm is indeed latched on. Reportedly, the outfit will be producing a few Mini-ITX motherboards in the near future that support Intel's Atom 230 / 330 processors and come loaded with NVIDIA's GeForce 9400M G chipsets. The mobos would also include all of the basic amenities: Ethernet, two RAM slots, HDMI / DVI / VGA outputs, a trio of SATA ports and a WiFi module. There's still no word on what system maker is looking to slap these into their next-generation nettops, but who knows, maybe this will end up being the first standalone Ion-based board for the DIYers in attendance.[Via Expreview, thanks Shawn]
Ask Engadget: Best wireless keyboard for living room?
Unbeknown to you, you've just stumbled upon this week's Ask Engadget. If you want to get in on this action, feel free to drop us an inquiry at ask at engadget dawt com. Before you get those gears turning, we'd invite you to chime in on Mitch's question below:"With the upcoming release of Ion-based "nettops," I'll be in the market to buy one and I'll also be looking to buy a wireless keyboard and mouse for my living room. Some things I would like to see on the keyboard are prices below $100 and backlit if possible. Media buttons would be nice but aren't totally necessary. Thanks!"Timely question, Mitch. Considering that the AspireRevo is just the first of many miniature PCs that'll undoubtedly be headed to dens across the globe, we figure you're not alone in wondering about the perfect keyboard to pair with it. So, readers -- whatcha got?
Acer AspireRevo: the Ion-infused unboxing
We just tore the packaging off of Acer's new AspireRevo nettop and dove into its Ion-powered goodness. The computer is in many ways a product of NVIDIA's designs, since the Ion-powered nettop reference platform has been a part of the Ion ecosystem for a while, and this Revo apple doesn't fall from the NVIDIA tree. Still, Acer had to go ahead and build the thing, and it's a pretty great package all-in-all. We're still in the preliminaries -- the HDMI didn't work out of the gate, but after swapping back and forth a few times with the VGA plug we were in business -- and we're playing with a potentially buggy "engineering sample," but hopefully we'll be able to pull together some cohesive impressions on the thing, and play a bit of Spore while we're at it. It's already obviously the fastest Atom-powered device we've played with, and while it still pretty much chokes on Hulu and that whole "multitasking" concept, we're pretty pleased so far.
Acer Aspire Revo listed for pre-order in UK with May 18th release date
Now that the Ion-based cat is out of the bag, Acer's Aspire Revo has reared its pretty head on UK retailer Play.com's website. While all four packages sport the 1.6GHz Intel Atom N230, from what we can tell there's two distinct hardware configurations here. The base price is £180 (US $267), and with that you'll get 1GB RAM, 8GB SSD, and Linux. The £300 model boasts 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, and Windows Vista Home Premium. Tack on £50 more for a 3D controller and ten games, and for £330 ($440) you can have the full package along with a wireless keyboard / mouse. The listed release date is May 18th for all of them, and with any luck Acer'll go with that date and bring the nettop stateside sometime around then.
Acer launches first NVIDIA Ion-based nettop: AspireRevo
Yet again, the rumors were (almost) true. A day earlier than anticipated, Acer is launching what amounts to NVIDIA's first Ion-based nettop beyond those on display at CES and the like. The AspireRevo is debuting today alongside a plethora of other Acer wares, boasting a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 processor, up to 4GB of RAM, up to 250GB of HDD space, a 4-in-1 card reader, HDMI / VGA outputs, gigabit Ethernet, six USB 2.0 sockets, audio in / out, Windows Vista Home Premium / Basic and a svelte black and white enclosure that measures just 7.1- x 7.1- x 1.2-inches. The built-in Ion GPU means that this bugger is completely capable of handling 1080p (and thus, Blu-ray) content, DirectX 10 and even mildly demanding games such as Call of Duty 4 and Spore. Acer's staying mum on a price and release date, but we're still hearing that the late Q2 time frame is a safe bet. Check the full release just past the break.
Video: NVIDIA's ION-based netbooks and nettops are go for launch
Things are finally hotting up in NVIDIA's ION camp. An official press release now tells that the first batch of "incredibly small and affordable PCs" (like the Acer Hornet rumored for an April 8th launch) are due in Q2 -- that's as early as today folks, on up through the end of June. Along with the new gear, NVIDIA is promising optimized software support from powerhouse developers like Adobe, Google, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts in an effort to signal the platform's suitability for serving up 1080p video over HDMI in a home theater as well as gaming, photo editing, and general computing in nettop- and netbook-sized devices. Bring it, we say... we're so over Intel's GM945-class chipsets.
NVIDIA to buy significant stake in VIA?
Rumor has it NVIDIA is currently talking to VIA Technologies about purchasing a large stake in the company, to the tune of around 300 million new shares each priced somewhere in the range of NT$9 and NT$12 ($0.27 and $0.35 US equivalent) apiece, for a grand total of approximately US $81 million to $105 million. Don't put too much stock into this at the moment, as none of this is confirmed -- indeed, the last time we heard such murmurings was also sourced from DigiTimes, who doesn't have the best of track records. That said, the two companies have worked together before and do have the Ion platform connection. With Intel talking a lot of sass and litigation lately, we wouldn't put past NVIDIA to cuddle up with a close friend.[Via Electronista]
NVIDIA Ion to begrudgingly support Core 2 Duo by Q4?
It's easy to overlook amidst all PowerPoint-fueled fisticuffs but, in addition to slinging rebuttals at Intel and muttering insults under its breath, NVIDIA also appears to have dropped a bit of news about its next-generation Ion platform. While we had already heard that Ion 2 would be supporting VIA's Nano processor in addition to Intel's Atom, it looks like it'll also support Core 2 Duo processors, and even Pentiums and Celerons for good measure. That, of course, is not all that surprising given Ion's roots in NVIDIA's current MCP79M/MCP7A chipset platform, and there's certainly plenty of time for things to shake out further before that promised Q4 rollout date -- and, knowing these two companies, things probably will.[Via Electronista]
Acer's Ion-based Hornet nettop leaked in presentation slides?
Despite NVIDIA's claims that we'd have an Ion desktop sometime this Spring, we still haven't really seen it in consumer-bound hardware -- until now, that is. Although unconfirmed, slides have purportedly leaked out of what is said to be the Acer Hornet Ion-based nettop. Aside from the platform and a HDMI output, we don't have any specs for the machine. What we do know is that it's sporting a wireless game controller / air mouse -- in case you didn't pick up on the Wii influence, one of those background photos is a direct rip from NIntendo's ad campaign -- and can apparently hang from the back of LCD TVs. The images also tout its eco-friendly design, small form factor, "silent operation," and a price tag of only a couple hundred dollars. Elaborate Photoshop or impending PC? Something feels fishy here, so while we sit and impatiently wait for some official word, hit up the read link for more pics. [Via Slash Gear]
NVIDIA responds to Intel's Ion dismissal, all eyes on recess for confrontation
It wasn't too hard to see this one coming, but NVIDIA has now shot back at Intel and responded point by point to each accusation Intel made recently about its Ion platform. For starters, while NVIDIA doesn't exactly dispute that Ion is just a repurposed MCP79M/MCP7A chipset, it does say that Ion is a "modern 2 chip solution," while Intel is relying on a "4-year-old 3 chip design." NVIDIA also points out that Ion is certified by Microsoft to deliver the "premium Windows experience," and not just Windows XP, and that, contrary to Intel's claim, Ion does in fact offer similar battery life to an Intel-based system while also delivering ten times the performance. In related news, Intel CEO Paul Otellini himself hit NVIDIA with a few jabs yesterday at a Goldman Sachs conference in San Francisco, saying that NVIDIA is simply not in a strong competitive position, and that, "if you don't have a microprocessor, what else do you have to sell?" Meanwhile, AMD was said to be wandering around the cafeteria, looking for a seat at the lunch table.Read - Tom's Hardware, "Nvidia Fires Back at Intel's Anti-Ion Sentiments"Read - CNET, "Intel CEO comments on Nvidia, economy, flash"
Intel rips into NVIDIA's Ion platform
Intel and NVIDIA aren't exactly hiding their differences with each other these days, and it doesn't look like that's about to change anytime soon, especially when it comes to NVIDIA's turf-encroaching Ion platform. According to a document apparently now making the rounds in some circles, Intel not only says that NVIDIA is simply reusing an integrated graphics chipset designed laptops and desktops, which will "in turn leads to higher costs as well as high power consumption," but that NVIDIA is overstating interest in Ion from OEMs, saying that "as of this writing, no customer has publicly disclosed plans to design Ion-based products." Intel reportedly further goes on to say that "NVIDIA's Ion HD playback may not be as good as NVIDIA claims," and even if Ion is more powerful, "neither gaming nor video transcoding are relevant to netbook and nettop users." As if that wasn't enough, Intel closes things out by saying that since it'll be releasing its own update platform by the end of the year, "the window of opportunity for Ion is very short." Of course, there's still no indication that any of this will lead to a hard break between Intel and NVIDIA, although NVIDIA does at least now have VIA to fall back on.
NVIDIA Ion platform to support VIA Nano processors this year
It's pretty clear NVIDIA already has some big plans for its new nettop / netbook-specific Ion platform, and it looks like its reach is about to get broader still, with company president Jen-Hsun Huang reportedly confirming that the platform will also support VIA's Nano processor by the end of the year. As you may recall, the two companies had been in off and on talks about a partnership last year before things finally fell though in November, and there was even a point where it seemed like NVIDIA might actually acquire VIA. No word from Intel on this latest development, although it doesn't seem like it'll be affecting the Atom's status as the go-to processor in the short term. There's also unfortunately no indication as to exactly what sort of VIA-powered, Ion-based systems we can expect to see, although it certainly wouldn't be a surprise if they followed the Ion / Atom combo and went with a nettop first.[Via GadgetMix.com]
ION scared off by the DTV transition, postpones debut another month
Seriously, ION, this is getting ridiculous. With a healthy dose of spin, ION TV is delaying its planned February 16 HD launch by a month so it will not coincide with the confusion around the DTV transition. We'll admit that the state of the analog shutoff is a real mess, but somehow we think that any money-making enterprise would want to sweep in with advertiser-loved HD content to put before viewers' eyes. Anyhow, the service is now planning to pull the HD trigger in 20 markets on March 16, and then 25 more markets on what we assume will be perfectly normal, nonconfusing days later in the year.EDIT: reworked a murky sentence for clarity.
Lenovo planning to use Ion for larger netbooks?
Who knows what dark, unreliable alleys the Commercial Times prowled to get this information, but the Chinese newspaper says that Lenovo is planning on shipping 11.6-inch and 12.1-inch NVIDIA Ion-based "netbooks" sometime in the future. Given the currently strained relationship between NVIDIA and Intel, it'll be interesting to see if Intel comes through on its promise to sell Atom chips separately or if that was just the empty PR speak. We'll see how this plays out -- right now all we've heard is that Ion will launch on the desktop, so we wouldn't hold your breath. [Via jkOnTheRun]
LOGIN 2009 online gaming conference speakers announced
Over the past few years, the online gaming conferences put together by Evergreen Events have been rather significant ones in the industry. Evergreen Events are the people who organized the ION Game Conference which we covered extensively last year, and the Online Game Development Conference in 2007. As we announced previously, ION has been renamed as LOGIN for 2009 and they're already announcing some of the conference's speakers. Among the many speakers slated for LOGIN this May are David Ryan Hunt, Senior Game Designer at Flying Lab Software, and Craig Alexander, Turbine's VP of Product Development. Alexander's session will be "Building Online Games for the Console Generation: Challenges and Opportunities" which could certainly prove to be interesting. We'll keep an eye on how the conference is shaping up as we get closer to the four-day event kicking off on May 11th.
NVIDIA shows off Ion Windows 7 multitasking, confirms launch details
We've already gotten a pretty good idea of Ion's capabilities, but NVIDIA doesn't seem to be one to turn down an opportunity to show it off, and it did just that recently at a joint press conference with Microsoft. As you might have guessed, the pair was especially keen to show off Windows 7 multitasking on the platform and, judging from the video available at the read link below, it seems to be more than up to the task, with it able to convert a 1080p video file to a more portable size while the video was playing, and play Left 4 Dead at 720p resolution without any noticeable hiccups. In other news, NVIDIA also confirmed that the first Ion-based system would, in fact, be a desktop, and that it'll begin shipping sometime this spring. Unfortunately, there's no word as to who may be manufacturing said desktop, with NVIDIA's Drew Henry only going so far as to say that it'll be "very small" and "affordable."Read - TweakTown, "NVIDIA demo Windows 7 multi-tasking on ION "Read - Electronista, "First NVIDIA Ion system a desktop, due in spring"
Microsoft places stamp of approval on Vista-based Ion SFF PCs
Not that NVIDIA really needs Microsoft to give the ole thumbs-up here, but having that seal of approval may convince some currently wary manufacturers to jump in and support the Ion platform over one of those perfectly fine alternatives. As with so many other devices in the world, NVIDIA's Ion platform is now Certified for Windows Vista, meaning that PC users could one day experience all the joys of the aforesaid OS on Ion-based rigs as low as $299. We're told that such machines could be on the market by summer, and they'll be positively ready to deliver smooth Blu-ray playback while supporting DirectX 10, Aero Glass, Flip3D and GPU acceleration. Bring it, we say.
Intel ships Atom N280 for 720p netbooks -- NVIDIA's Ion points, laughs
With ASUS' Eee PC 1000HE up for pre-order, it's clear that netbooks are ready to make the jump from Intel's lowly 1.6GHz Atom N270 to the suped-up 1.66GHz N280. In fact, Intel just confirmed shipments of its new Atom processor to PC makers. Now don't let us hear you bellyaching about that being a meager 0.06GHz jump -- the magic isn't in the clock but in the faster 667MHz (up from 533MHz) front-side bus and new GN40 chipset with hardware-based 720p video decoder. That easily bests the Atom N270 pairing with the customary 945GSE chipset without any increase in power consumption. Think about that when trying to make a 10-inch netbook choice between ASUS' Eee PC 1000HE (with new N280 proc and GN40 chipset) and Acer's new N270-based Aspire One. Then again, maybe you're waiting for the first netbook to ship with NVIDIA's Atom-based Ion platform with full 1080p playback? Might as well, who knows, maybe you'll land a production version of Windows 7, a swiveling touchscreen, and a finger-optimized UI in reward for your patience.Update: Looks like the Eee 1000HE doesn't have all the new bits -- Laptop did some digging and found that it's still got the same old 945GSE to go with that new proc, although it is still capable of doing 720p video playback. Boring, we'll wait for the real GN40 machines to show up soon.
