Intel's mSATA SSD 310 reviewed: a pint-size performer through and through

The forecast for speedy, razor-thin laptops is looking pretty sunny right about now, because it seems Intel's SSD 310 truly does bring the power of a full-sized solid state drive on a tiny little board. Storage Review and The SSD Review thoroughly benchmarked the tiny 80GB mSATA module this week, and found it performs even better than advertised -- easily tearing through 200MB / sec reads and 70 MB / sec writes -- which put it slightly behind Intel's legendary X25-M series but well ahead of the company's X25-V boot drives. While we're still not seeing Sandforce speeds from Intel's tried-and-true controller and 34nm silicon and they might not make Toshiba's Blade run for the hills, we can't wait to test it out in some new Lenovo ThinkPads when they integrate the SSD 310 later this year. Oh, by the way, that big green board up above isn't the drive. It's actually the tiny one on top.

Source: Storage Review, The SSD Review

Toshiba Dynabook Qosmio T750 laptop has a lid that changes color on both sides

It's been a long time since we used a laptop that had a monochromatic display -- it was a giant white block of a thing that is not missed -- but flip around just about every laptop we use today and you find a backside that stubbornly refuses to change color no matter the light that hits it. Is that a problem? Not really, we think it's quite fine since we're not often staring at that bit, but for Toshiba such tedium simply won't do, so it's introducing the Dynabook Qosmio T750 with a color-shifting lid. Turn it in the light and it shifts and shimmers, just like the chameleon paint tuners have been using on custom rides for decades. Here, though, we're told it's done with multiple layers of film, no paint at all. Oh, the inside? A 2.66GHz Intel Core i5-480M, 4GB of DDR 3 memory, and a 15.6-inch, 1366 x 768 display that's LED backlit -- which is also capable of displaying multiple colors, in case you're interested.
Source:RegHardware

Olympus XZ-1 reviewed: $499 for sweet simplicity

We had a feeling the Olympus XZ-1 would be a winner, and Digital Photography Review seems to think so, too -- it called the 10 megapixel, full-manual point and shoot "the best photographers' compact currently available" at the end of a thorough review. Most of the praise was heaped on that F1.8-2.5 Zuiko lens, providing an "unbeaten combination of range and brightness" whose potent, detailed low-light performance was practically enough to cancel out the publication's worries about the lack of a adjustable noise reduction setting. Though the publication admitted that the camera lacked the customization of certain Micro Four Thirds cousins, it didn't miss most of the advanced controls, preferring the streamlined menus and manual dials for easy access to common adjustments. (Battery charging over USB and a dedicated movie button were also deemed nice touches.) In fact, the only major ding DPReview had for Olympus was the complete omission of auto exposure and autofocus locks for focus-and-recompose shooting, but if you're willing to snap shots using Olympus's 11 AF points and aren't looking to tote a set of expensive interchangeable lenses around, this might be the one. Dive into our source link to find out for sure.

Source:DPReview

Sanho announces new HyperDrive line-up, still enough storage for your Frank Zappa discography

Surely you remember Sanho's HyperDrive lineup -- ya know, the only portable HDD that plays nicely with the iPad? Well, if you don't dig the $249 entry level price, you're in luck. The company just announced a bunch of new HDDs for you to take with you and your iPad on that road trip you've had planned for years. As we saw at CES, the new drives no longer sport the QVGA color display or the CF and SD card slots -- instead, the black case has two mini USB ports and a power socket. The HyperDrive doesn't come with the traditional AC adapter but instead a USB-to-DC cable and the user-replaceable battery will allow up to 40GB of transfers on a single charge. And if you're wondering why there's two USB ports, we really couldn't tell you. Perhaps if you choose the right port while connected to your PC and enter the Konami code, unicorns and fairy dust will pop out of your screen -- wishful thinking, we know. The HyperDrives ship in March (pre-ordering is available now) with prices starting at $99 for a bring-your-own-drive housing, 1TB for $349 and various sizes in-between. So, if your photo/video library is worth accessing at all times, well, props to you. Press release is after the break.

Enspert Identity Tab E201 rings up at $350 with Froyo, Gmail and Android Market

Enspert blindsided us at CES 2011 with a pair of quality Android tablets, and here's another surprise -- next month, the company's Identity Tab E201 will apparently ship 100% Google-certified. Importer Dynamism is taking preorders on February 1st for the 7-inch Android 2.2 tablet, which comes with both Gmail and Android Market on board, though admittedly for a somewhat larger outlay than we originally heard. $350 is what you'll pay for the 800 x 480 slate, which sports a 1GHz Hummingbird processor and PowerVR SGX540 graphics, 8GB storage and 512MB RAM, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, a full compliment of sensors and an SD card slot. Just a month ago we'd have called this quite the deal, but come February 1st you may want to wait -- after all, Google's busy bees may show off the fruits of their labors the very next day.
Via:jkkmobile
Source:Dynamism

Here's a big list of developers and publishers working on NGP projects

Beyond the handful of games revealed onstage during last night's big Sony event, an enormous list of developers and publishers currently working on games for this holiday's "next generation portable" device has surfaced. Game Informer posted up the entire list broken down by region, which features big names like Activision, Ubisoft, 2K Games, Square Enix, and Capcom.

Perhaps more notable than the big name publishers is the group of listed developers, including Rockstar Games, Capybara Games, From Software, and Grasshopper Manufacture. As GI points out, both Electronic Arts and THQ (and their respective development studios) aren't currently listed as working on games for NGP, though we imagine that will change as the year goes on (we already know that EA has had exposure to the in-development system).

Japan

• Acquire Corp.
• Alvion Inc.
• AQ Interactive Inc.
• Arc System Works Co. Ltd.
• Arika Co. Ltd.
• Artdink Corporation
• Ascii Media Works Inc.
• Capcom Co. Ltd.
• Chun Soft Co. Letd.
• Codemasters Software Company Limited
• Crafts & Meister Co. Ltd.
• CyberConnect2 Co. Ltd
• D3 Publisher Inc.
• Dimps Corporation
• Edia Co. Ltd.
• Enterbrain Inc.
• From Software Inc.
• Gameloft K.K.
• Genki Co. Ltd.
• Grasshopper Manufacture Inc.
• GungHo Online Entertainment Inc.
• Gust Co. Ltd.
• Hamster Corporation
• Hudson Soft Co. Ltd.
• Idea Factory Co. Ltd.
• Index Corporation (Atlus)
• Irem Software Engineering Inc.
• Kadokawa Games Ltd.
• Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. Ltd.
• Konami Digital Entertainment Co. Ltd.
• Level-5 Inc.
• Marvelous Entertainment Inc.
• Media5 Corporation
• Namco Bandai Games Inc.
• Nihon Falcom Corporation
• Nippon Ichi Software Inc.
• Nowproduction Co. Ltd.
• Q Entertainment Inc.
• Sega Corporation
• SNK Playmore Corporation
• Spike Co. Ltd.
• Square Enix Co. Ltd.
• SystemSoft Alpha Corp.
• Tecmo Koei Games Co. Ltd.
• TOMY Company Ltd.
• TOSE Co. Ltd.
• Ubisoft K.K.
• Yuke's Co. Ltd.

North America

• Activision Inc.
• Capybara Games
• Demiurge Studios
• Epic Games Inc.
• Far Sight Studios
• Frima
• High Voltage Software
• Kung Fu Factory
• Paramount Digital Entertainment
• PopCap Games
• Powerhead Games
• Trendy Entertainment
• Ubisoft
• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• 2K Games
• 2K Sports

Europe/PAL

• Avalanche Studios
• Climax Studios Ltd.
• Codemasters Software Company Ltd.
• Eurocom Developments Ltd.
• Eutechnyx Ltd.
• Exient Ltd.
• Firemint PTY Ltd.
• Gameloft SA
• Gusto Games Ltd.
• Home Entertainment Suppliers PTY Ltd.
• Impromptu Software Ltd.
• Rebellion
• Rockstar Games
• Sidhe Interactive
• Sumo Digital Ltd.
• Team 17 Software Ltd.
• Ubisoft Entertainment SA
• Zen Studios Ltd.

Report: PS3 getting cloud saving in firmware update 3.60

According to a recent report from Kotaku, unnamed sources in the game development community have received notifications from Sony telling of a feature which will be incorporated into PS3 firmware update 3.60: Cloud storage for saved games. According to the report, the feature (called "Online Saving") gives developers the opportunity to let players set up their save files on a remote server, preserving the precious, precious space on their own hard drives, and allowing players to access save data from multiple consoles.

These developers also reportedly explained that the feature will only be made available to PlayStation Plus subscribers, or, as they'll henceforth be called, the "Save File Insured." This report sounds fairly believable -- remote storage was one of the rumored features of PlayStation Plus before its reveal, and there was also that Sony trademark for "PS Cloud" back in 2009. We've contacted Sony for a comment on this report

Source: Kotaku

Mastertronic bringing PopCap games to UK retail on DS, PC and 360

Our friends overseas -- who live in the United States of Kingdoms, which we're fairly certain is what the UK is short for -- are about to have their free time sucked into oblivion. Publisher Mastertronic has announced plans to bring PopCap's most devilishly addictive titles to UK retailers on various platforms, starting with the February 18 release of PopCap Hits for Xbox 360; a tidy bundle which includes Bejeweled 2, Peggle, Feeding Frenzy and AstroPop.

Shortly thereafter, the publisher will port Plants vs. Zombies to the DS, and will release a second collection of PopCap Hits for 360, including Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma, Feeding Frenzy 2 and Heavy Weapon. Mediatronic also plans on releasing retail versions of a few of the casual developer's titles on PC later this year. Basically, we hope that the UK doesn't have any big projects coming up that will require its citizens to be as productive as humanly possible, because, hoo boy, that's a whole lot of PopCap

Source:Joystiq

AIAS Hall of Famers delivering 2011 D.I.C.E. Summit keynote

So, you've only got a few hours set aside this year with which to absorb illumination from some of the gaming industry's smartest folks? You won't find a more efficient way to satisfy your needs than the 2011 D.I.C.E. Summit keynote panel, which will feature the shared wisdom of a number of Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Famers from years past. (And years current!)

Presenters include Blizzard president Mike Morhaime, Grandfather of the RTS genre Bruce Shelley, Cerny Games president Mike Cerny and BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk. If you can make it to the panel on the evening of February 9, we're pretty sure that you'll possess all the knowledge you'll need to create the industry's next big game. At the very least, you'll have some inspiration for some awesome last names for said game's characters.

Source:Joystiq