The new ultra-thin, UX Series ultra-portable from ASUS

Intel has named the new UX Series notebooks from ASUS as amongst the first to be included in a new "Ultrabook" category. Launched at Computex 2011, the new high performance, ultra-thin UX21 and UX31 ultraportables will be powered by Intel's second generation Core processors and feature SanDisk's latest solid state storage technology.

Intel says that members of its new Ultrabook class of notebooks will all be less than 20mm (0.8-inch) thick and the new UX Series from ASUS will be amongst the first to hit the shelves. There will be two models available - the UX21 with an 11.6-inch display and the UX31 with a 13.3-inch display - and both will have the same slim profile as the MacBook Air (17mm/0.67-inches at its thickest point, tapering to just 3mm/0.11-inches at its front edge).
There will be standard voltage Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processor options and SanDisk has revealed that specially optimized versions of its new U100 SATA III SSD will provide storage for the new ultraportables. The U100 benefits from up to 450 megabytes per second sequential read and up to 340 megabytes per second sequential write speeds and comes in capacities ranging from 8GB to 256GB, although the exact storage options for the UX Series notebooks have not been announced.

Information on available system memory, screen resolution, wireless capabilities and battery life is also lacking, but ASUS has confirmed that the new laptops will feature the company's "Instant On" technology, which is said to resume notebook functionality from sleep in less than two seconds and retains settings and data in hibernation for up to a week. There will also be a couple of USB ports, one of which is USB 3.0, an oversized keyboard with metallic chiclet-style keys and large glass trackpad.
Each model is housed in an aluminum alloy outer shell with a stunning spun metallic finish and will join the Padfone for a Q4 release. Pricing information is not available at this time.

(Article by Paul Ridden)

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Apple to unveil OS X 10.7 Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud at WWDC

Apple has officially announced what's in store for the 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6 in San Francisco. The latest versions of its OS X operating system for the Macintosh, and iOS operating system for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad will be unveiled, along with a service called iCloud.
OS X Lion brings some of the user interface ideas developed for iOS to the desktop (which is sure to be controversial) and some new features like an OS-level Auto Save and an improved FileVault that offers disk-level encryption. For a preview of some of the new features in Lion, visit Apple's preview page.
Apple's press release coyly refers to iCloud as a "cloud services offering", but it's not much of a secret that at least some part of the offering is a music streaming service/online music locker - an idea which is not at all new (MP3.com did it way back in 2000).

Earlier this month, CNET reported that Apple had signed cloud music licensing deals with two of the four major record labels, and had deals with the remaining two majors very near to completion.
iCloud will compete with Google's Music Beta and Amazon's Cloud Drive, which are both run without blessing from the majors, giving Apple a sizeable advantage which should outweigh the fact it was last to market.

Back in April, Om Malik reported that Apple had paid Swedish company Xcerion $4.5 million for the iCloud.com domain. Whether iCloud will replace or supplement MobileMe is anyone's guess.

(Article by Tim Hanlon)

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LG reveals new All-in-One PC with Film-type Patterned Retarder display

LG has announced its first All-in-One desktop computer at Computex 2011 in Taipei, which will allow users to view 3D content using lightweight polarized glasses instead of the heavy shutter-type variety. The highest spec version of the 23-inch, multi-touch LG V300 will come with Intel's second generation Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6650M graphics, a Blu-ray optical drive, and a 750GB HDD. Hi-Speed and SuperSpeed USB also feature, along with HDMI 1.4. There's a choice of Bluetooth 3.0 or 2.1 with EDR, and the space-saving device is also DNLA-compliant.



The same Film-type Patterned Retarder display technology that's found in the company's CINEMA 3D TVs allows a user to view 3D content using one of the two pairs of included passive 3D glasses. LG says that those who are unable to directly face the 23-inch, 3D, full 1080p high definition LED monitor needn't worry about being forced to view poorly rendered colors and images, thanks to the 178 degree viewing angle provided by the In Plane Switch (IPS) screen technology.

The 22.11 x 13.62 x 1.75-inch (561.75 x 346.2 x 44.65 mm) LG V300 All-in-One desktop PC uses three individual camera sensors for an accurate and lag-free multi-touch experience, and is powered by a single cable to help cut down on unnecessary clutter and tangle. There's a 720p HD webcam with stereo microphones for videoconferencing and webchat over a Gigabit LAN or 802.11b/g/n wireless internet connection, and DNLA-compliance allows for wireless data sharing between compatible devices.
Developed in partnership with Intel, the new All-in-One will also come in versions sporting Core i3 or i5 processors, Intel HD 3000 graphics, a DVD Super-Multi burner and either SRS Sound Solutions high definition audio or SRS Wide 3D sound.

Whatever flavor is chosen, the V300 will run on either Windows 7 Home Basic or Home Premium (both 64-bit) and will come with two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports, a 5-in-1 media card reader and a wireless keyboard and mouse.

The LG V300 is set for a July release in Korea, with Europe, the Middle East and Asia following soon after. No pricing is available at the time of writing, nor has LG confirmed whether the system will head Stateside.

(Article by Paul Ridden)

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Hasbro's MY3D viewer for iPhone and iPod Touch set for release

Hasbro is looking to tap into the 3D craze by integrating a classic approach to 3D viewing with iOS devices. Looking like a 21st Century View-Master, the MY3D 360° Viewer attaches to iPhone and iPod Touch and delivers a 3D experience using dedicated apps. There are initially seven apps available or download including an underwater shark adventure, a 360° virtual tour of Los Angeles and a MY3D showcase which is designed as a vehicle for 3D movie trailers, video game demos and slide shows.

3D 360° viewing

One of the cool features of MY3D is its immersive 3D 360° viewing. Taking advantage of the accelerometer inside iPhone and iPod Touch, the 3D viewer senses the direction that the user is actually looking. In MY3D 360° SHARKS for example, the user sees the floor of the shark cage while looking down, looks up to see the sun shining through the ocean and look behind - shark! In the interactive tour of Los Angeles this feature is used to take users on a virtual tour of the Santa Monica pier.


MY3D PRESENTS is a "showcase" app which will feature regularly updated 3D movies trailers, video demos of MY3D apps and slide shows. Hasbro is working with the likes of DreamWorks Animation, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros for custom content and theatrical trailers.

MY3D games

MY3D games on offer include the MY3D SECTOR 17 and MY3D SHATTERSTORM shooter games, the MY3D TUNNEL PILOT racing game and MY3D BUBBLE BOLT - a puzzle game where the goal is to navigate obstacles by tilting and turning the viewer.
Available from June, 2011 in either black or white, the MY3D retails for US$34.99. Apps are currently free as an introductory offer.
There are a couple of caveats with the MY3D viewer in that not all apps are available with 360° viewing and users will need to check the apps for compatibility with their version of iPhone or iPod Touch (compatibility is cited for iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPhone 4, as well as second, third and fourth generation iPod Touch).

(Article by Steven Hondrogiannis)

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Stunning NVIDIA quad-core graphics demoed on a tablet

  

Quad-core CPU and a 12-core GPU in a tablet or smartphone? That's exactly what NVIDIA promised three months ago and the company has now shown what its newest system-on-a-chip (SoC) is capable of. Dubbed Kal-El, it looks to be an outstanding performer in terms of dynamic lighting and movement.

Who is Kal-El? Originally, that's the real name of Superboy, however since February Kal-El means something different, at least to those interested in high quality mobile gaming.

Kal-El is the next generation Tegra architecture often referred to as Tegra 3. It's an SoC type of platform which means a piece of hardware integrating many components on a single circuit (e.g. CPU and GPU). The NVIDIA's upcoming hardware is "battery-friendly" and consists of a quad-core processor (each core is a 1.5 Ghz ARM Cortex-A9) along with a 12-core NVIDIA GPU capable of 3D stereo. That is pretty impressive taking into account that this is a mobile hardware for tablets and smartphones.

Project Kal-El was first announced during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, in February, 2011. First tablets with Kal-El ship in August, whereas smartphones will appear towards the end of the year.

The demo's title is Glowball and that's the name of its character, which is a luminous ball. In fact Glowball is a quite fun tablet game controlled by the gyroscope. It clearly shows the amazing potential of Kal-El in terms of generating dynamic light effects and great, realistic physics all rendered in real time, perhaps as never seen before on a mobile device. Just see how the drapes wave around as the ball rolls through them. I bet that's something iPad 2 won't do.

What's more, the video should satisfy skeptics who might doubt whether there is a need for doubling the number of cores by comparing the same graphics generated by dual-core and quad-core CPUs. There's a huge difference and it's hard to believe the video comes from a tablet, not a regular gaming computer.

There are rumors that Motorola might be the first producer to release a Tegra 3-based tablet.

(Article by Pawel Piejko)

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Renault to install 450,000m2 of solar panels



The solar panels on the roofs of Renault's French plants will cover an area equivalent to 63 football fields


Outdoing the likes of Ferrari and Audi, which have already installed solar panels onto the roofs of their manufacturing plants, Renault has partnered with Gestamp Solar to launch what it says is the largest solar energy project in the automotive industry. The project will see solar panels eventually covering a total area of 450,000 m2 (4,843,760 sq ft) at Renault plants in France, generating 60 MW and cutting the company's CO2 emissions by 30,000 tons a year.

Renault's says its solar roof project will be the largest in the automotive industry

Installation of the solar panels on the roofs of the delivery and shipping centers at Renault's Douai, Maubeuge, Flins, Batilly, Sandouville and Cléon sites will begin this month, with completion scheduled for February 2012. Renault says that upon completion, the solar panels will cover an area equivalent to 63 football fields and generate enough electricity to power a town of 15,000 - although that's obviously not what it will be used for.
The solar roof project is part of Renault's plan to reduce its carbon footprint by 10 percent by 2013 and a further 10 percent by 2016. The company says it has already implemented a number of measures towards attaining these goals, including reducing energy consumption at its plants and diversifying the energy mix used to generate electricity with a particular focus on renewable energy sources.

(Article by Darren Quick)

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Apple’s iWork apps now compatible with iPhone and iPod touch

In another notable announcement ahead of the 2011 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple has revealed that its iWork productivity apps are now universal binaries meaning that, in addition to an iPad, they can now be used on iPhone (3GS and 4) and iPod touch (3rd and 4th G). The price of the individual iWork apps - Keynote, Pages and Numbers - is still the same and existing iPad iWork app users will now be able to use the apps on any other compatible iOS devices they may own thanks to a free update.

In a press release, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, Philip Schiller says, "now you can use Keynote, Pages and Numbers on iPhone and iPod touch to create amazing presentations, documents and spreadsheets right in the palm of your hand. The incredible Retina display, revolutionary Multi-Touch interface and our powerful software make it easy to create, edit, organize and share all of your documents from iPhone 4 or iPod touch."
But no matter how many pixels you cram into the iPhone's or iPod touch's display, it's still only 3.5-inches, which probably won't make these devices the first ones you'll be reaching for when you're looking to create a presentation, text document or spreadsheet. Particularly when you take into account half the screen will be taken up by the onscreen keyboard unless you have a physical Bluetooth keyboard handy. Thankfully the display will automatically zoom in on the area of the document being edited, so an iPhone or iPod touch will serve in a pinch for making last minute edits to a documents.
However, anyone looking to do anything more intensive on the go would be advised to at the very least invest in a Bluetooth keyboard or better yet, shell out for an iPad. After all, there is a reason these apps have been sitting near the top of the highest grossing apps list in the App Store since their release, and it's not just their premium price tag.
More useful on the smaller iOS devices is the ability to share documents via the tools button on the toolbar and print documents wirelessly using AirPrint. There's also improved document management through the use of thumbnails, which can now be organized into folders using gestures. While probably not enough to justify the price of admission if you're only planning on using the apps on an iPhone or iPod touch, but certainly handy for existing users of iWork on the iPad or Mac.
The Keynote, Pages and Numbers apps are available now from the App Store for US$9.99 each.

(Article by Darren Quick)

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ViewSonic packs 3D emitter in new 24-inch monitor

ViewSonic chose Computex 2011 to unveil its new 24-inch monitor which boasts a built-in 3D emitter. With 3D gaming seen by many as the best use for 3D technology it's a little surprising we haven't seen a the release of 3D monitors to rival the numbers of 3D TVs hitting the market. Nevertheless, ViewSonic is claiming its V3D245wm-LED is the first 24-inch smart monitor sporting an integrated 3D emitter to support active shutter 3D glasses.
The 16:9 widescreen monitor also boasts a whopping "maximum" contrast ratio of 20,000,000:1, a 2ms response time, Full HD 1080P resolution and a scanning rate of 120Hz. There's also a 3D friendly HDMI 1.4 input as well as built-in SRS Premium surround sound speakers. ViewSonic will include one pair of active shutter glasses with the monitor, which might be considered stingy when it comes to a new 3D TV, but will probably be enough for most PC users.
ViewSonic is yet to announce pricing details for the V3D245wm-LED, but says it will be available sometime after Q3 2011.

(Article by Darren Quick)

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ECS-ICE US$200 smartphone-docking tablet set for Q4 release

ICE Computer has shown a tablet-sized device that can dock any smartphones and display its contents on a 9.7-inch screen

The ASUS Padfone caused a massive stir yesterday at Computex, and stories about the potentially disruptive form factor of the Android device reverberated around the world.
In a fascinating scenario, almost exactly the same form factor surfaced a few hours later when ICE Computer, a partner of Taiwanese manufacturer ECS, showed ITProPortal a tablet-sized device that can dock an iPhone 4 (or any one of a number of major smartphones) and display its contents on a 9.7-inch screen with an iPad-like 4:3 ratio.
The device is reportedly destined for market in Q4 at less than US$200 and adds an SD-card slot, two USB ports, and a front facing camera.
The ECS accessory will apparently work not just with Apple's iPhone 4 but also a number of other major smartphones running Windows Phone and Android.
Could it be an idea whose time has come?

(Article by Mike Hanlon)

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Audi increases engine power six-fold for A1 ClubSport Quattro

 


The premium Audi A1 sub-compact has won a raft of awards since its launch late last year, scoring five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test and amazed journalists with its frugality of 55.4 mpg and CO2 emissions of just 119 g/km in its most humble 1.2 liter 86 PS TFSI petrol engine version.
                                                       

Which makes the latest version of the A1 to surface somewhat of a surprise - by shoehorning a breathed-upon 503PS, 2.5-liter, 5-cylinder TFSI engine into that tiny engine bay, the A1 ClubSport Quattro suddenly boasts six times the power and a whopping 660 Nm of torque, enough to slingshot its diminutive form to 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 3.7 seconds and 200 km/h (124 mph) in 10.9 seconds.

The Audi showcar builders appears to have had free rein at the parts bin, with six-piston calipers acting upon internally ventilated carbon fiber-ceramic discs at the front, coilover suspension with adjustable compression and rebound damping, a carbon fiber roof , a double wing roof spoiler, and lightweight carbon fiber bucket seats from the Audi R8 GT.

(Article by Mike Hanlon)

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Malta Quad Bike Association

http://www.maltaquadbikeassociation.com/

This club organises activities in Malta including Quad Tours, Site-seeing, Races & much more.

It also organises shows, get togethers, BBQ, Night Rides & much more.

FOR TOURISTS VISITING THIS LOVELY ISLAND, THE CLUB HAS AN ITENERY FULL OF FUN FOR EVERYONE.  THIS ITENERY IS CUSTOMISED TO SATISFY ANY PERSON & THUS IS VERY FLEXIBLE.

Itenery		Basic Comments	Price
1 Full Day	Quad Tour	All transport included	€        90.00	Driver
	(Gozo)		€        60.00	Passenger
(Quads can be hired individually by the hour as well - Price Upon Request)
1 Full Day	Jeep Tour-Gozo	All transport Included	€        60.00	Per Person
1 Full Day	Powerboat	All transport Included	€        75.00	Per Person
		6 people at least
(No2 & No3 can be amalgamented: 1/2 Jeep & 1/2 Powerboat - Price Upon Request)
Typical Maltese	Lunch/Dinner	Rabbit, Snails, Wine Tasting, Bigilla, & lots more	€        30.00	Per Person
Carting	GoCarts	5min qualifying & 10min race	€        32.50	Per person
BBQ (same location as Carting)	BBQ	Starter, Meat, Sausages, Salad, etc	€        17.50	Per Person
3 Hrs DSD (Discover Scuba Diving)	Diving		€        60.00	Per Person
2-3 Hrs Absailing	Absailing		€        35.00	Per Person
2-3 Hrs Rock-Climbing	Rock-Climbing		€        35.00	Per Person
2 - 3 Days Diving Course	Diving Course		€     300.00	Per Person
7km-8km Walk - 7hrs	Walking in Malta	Wildlife & Natural Habitat together with Culture	€        60.00	Per Person
(Up to 4 Different Days)
7km-8km Walk - 10hrs	Walking in Gozo	Wildlife & Natural Habitat together with Culture	€        72.00	Per Person
(1 Day)
30min Seaplane Tour	Seaplane	Normal Seat	€        85.00	Per Person
		1 Premium Seat	€     135.00	Per Person
30min Train Tour	Train Tour		€          5.00	Per Person
Full Day Round Malta Cruise	Cruise		€        40.00	Per Person
45min Underwater Safari	Safari	Not available in Winter	€        15.00	Per Person
1 Full Day	Jeep Tour		€        35.00	Per Person
	(Malta)
1 Full Day	Jeep Tour		€        35.00	Per Person
	(Gozo)
Accomodation	Hostel (B/B)		€        52.00	Per Room
1 hr	Horse-riding		€        22.00	Per Person
2 hrs	Horse-riding		€        32.00	Per Person
Water Sports Activities	Jet Skis	15min - 2persons	€        50.00	Per Ski
	Jet Skis	30min - 2persons	€        80.00	Per Ski
	Jet Skis	15min - 1person	€        40.00	Per Ski
	Jet Skis	30min - 1person	€        70.00	Per Ski
	Banana Rides	10min	€          7.00	Per Person
	Crazy Sofa	10min - 2persons	€        30.00	Per Sofa
	Crazy Sofa	10min - 3persons	€        35.00	Per Sofa
	Crazy Sofa	10min - 4persons	€        40.00	Per Sofa
	Water Skiing	10min	€        30.00	Per Person
	Canoes	Per Hour - 1 Seater	€          6.00	Per Canoe
	Canoes	Per Hour - 2 Seater	€        10.00	Per Canoe
	Paddle Boats	Per Hour (Max 4)	€        13.00	Per Boat
	Sailing Dinghis	Per Hour (1or2 persons)	€        30.00	Per Dinghi
	Parasailing		€        40.00	Per Person
Other Unplanned Activities	Seaplane - flying/driving		No Contacts & Prices as yet
	Luzzu
	Paintball
	Camping (Camping Side)
	Clay Shooting