Join Facebook’s Server Farm is Arctic Cool
What you are seeing here is not the villainous lair of Mr. Freeze, but Facebook’s Arctic Server farm.
As I have learned from such films like Live Free or Die Hard, servers require a lot of cooling or they will overheat. Considering that air-conditioning is pretty expensive, Facebook has found that it is less expensive to simply move their servers to a place where it stays cold, constantly.
The server farm will be built in Lulea, Sweden. It is at 65 degrees latitude, which is not far from the Arctic Circle. It is the same distance from the north pole as Greenland, Siberia, Alaska, and any other place up north known for being extremely cold.
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Sony has software update for Google TV platform
The Google TV platform that delivers a special kind of entertainment experience which can be found on Sony Internet TV, in addition to the Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc player. Just what does the latest version of Google TV deliver? For starters, it will not only deliver all that the current Google TV has, it will also throw into the mix the Android Market to satisfy your lust for more apps. At launch, you will be treated to hundreds of apps, where many of them have been specially designed and optimized for TV use.
This particularly exciting update will roll out to all connected Sony Internet TV devices as early as next week, so do keep a keen eye out if you fall under the “receiver” category.
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Kingston urDrive changes the way you view USB flash drives
When it comes to USB flash drives, most of the time we would be wondering just what kind of improvements can be made to such peripherals apart from ever increasing storage space in addition to the data transfer speed. Well, Kingston has an idea – after all, they have been in the memory business for the longest time already, so why not leave it to them to figure out a way? Their latest brainstorming session has resulted in the Kingston urDrive, where it will turn your average USB flash drive into an active storage device.
urDrive will be a free pre-loaded application that will make its appearance on a range of Kingston’s DataTraveler USB flash drives, turning your average USB drive from passive storage mode to engaged, active storage. This will also enable consumers to easily access and organize your personal files, photos, music, games and videos. Heck, there will even be a built-in photo viewer and MP3 player that makes it a snap to check out your favorite digital moments, while rocking to tunes that bring back good memories.
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Apen A3 Bluetooth for Smartphone
I have reviewed pens that can interact with computers before, and I had a chance to try out the A3 Smart Pen from Apen. I’m going to share with you the pros and cons.
I’ll start with the cons. Fist of all, the unit that clips onto the paper that you see here has a fragile clip. It broke off on the first try, and I only tried to clip it to a thin magazine.
The Apen A3 advertises that it can interact with one’s smart phone screen in realtime. I will have to say that I have used two of these pens, and I wasn’t able to get it to connect with the Bluetooth on my Droid X, even though the A3 says it is compatible with Android OS 2.1 or above. In Apen’s defense, I have had problems connecting with devices before.
However, I will have to admit as a device that can clip to a piece of paper, and then download the images onto a computer, this is probably the most accurate that I have tried so far. It can also store up to 100 pages wirelessly before you have to download them to a computer. Another handy feature is the Apen A3 can be used on a mouse with the computer. You can actually draw and see your results in realtime.
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Razer introduces Synapse 2.0
Razer also wants in on the cloud bandwagon with their latest release for gamers and gamers only – if you’re looking to stash all your extra files from your hard drive online, look somewhere else. We’re talking about the Razer Synapse 2.0 which is touted to be the world’s first application for storing your personalized peripheral settings in a cloud environment, so that your gaming settings are always accessible to you just about anywhere and anytime. This is clearly a vast improvement compared to the late 1990s when I carried around my Quake config file on a 3.5″ disk so that I need not re-bind all the relevant keys with each new computer I use.
Glad to know that the next iteration of Synapse is an improvement over its predecessor, where that proved to be the world’s first onboard memory feature for gaming peripherals which was introduced half a decade ago. Basically, with version 2.0, you are now able to store gaming macros, key binds, and profiles directly to the cloud – letting you gain full access to your entire repertoire of peripheral hardware settings. Just make sure that there is a decent Internet connection in the vicinity before you are able to harness the power of Synapse 2.0, of course.
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Microsoft OmniTouch gives us what we all want, maybe
What you are seeing here is a project from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University, and it could easily be the future.
This OmniTouch has the amazing ability to turn any surface into a touchscreen. All of this is possible with this shoulder-mounted device that is both pico-projector and Kinect.
So if you want to use your hand to run applications, just hold it out and the proper buttons will appear. Forget about a tablet PC, all you need is just a paper tablet!
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Samsung SSD 830 Series ready to rock and roll
When it comes to storage on your notebook or netbook, we tend to see SSDs take priority these days instead of hard drives simply because the cost has started to come down, although dollar-for-gigabyte, the hard drive still wins hands down. Still, that does not detract from the fact that the advantages of an SSD as well as other forms of flash memory are there to experience and enjoy, including not having to worry too much about knocks and shocks, as well as being slimmer and more stable than your standard hard drive.
Samsung decided to release their SSD 830 Series that is said to deliver double the data bandwidth compared to its previous product, the SSD 470, to the masses. This particular SSD will make use of the SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) interface that delivers up to 6Gb/s (Giga bit per second) of data transfer each second, placing this under the self-proclaimed ultra high-speed SSD category by Samsung. Depending on the size of your budget as well as amount of data that you need to store, the Samsung SSD 830 Series will come in 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities.
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LG Display sets another world record with 55″ Public Display Panel
When it comes to world records, some companies do chase after them in an effort to gain recognition. I would not classify LG Display as one of them, although it does not hurt that on occasion, LG Display does include a fair number of improvements to their releases that do take the cake at the top of the world. Case in point, their latest 55″ Public Display Panel that is also said to boast of the world’s narrowest bezel.
Just how narrow is it? You might want to take a seat first before getting the dimensions. This new public display panel will feature just a 5.3 mm gap (left/right: 3.4 mm, top/bottom: 1.9 mm) right between individual panels whenever they are placed alongside one another. Sounds like a dream, no? This would definitely provide advertising companies and firms who want to promote their stuff to put on display a generous 165″ multi-screen public display. At that kind of size, your eyes will catch seamless, life-like images without irritatingly fat bezel lines. I suspect that CES 2012 will have its fair share of such a setup, starting with the LG booth itself.
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