PAKI STYLE

Samsung to pay Microsoft for every Android device sold

2011-09-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Google’s strategy of making Android available to developers for free has paid off extremely well. The operating system quickly mounted serious competition for Mac OS and Windows and emerged as the world’s best-selling smartphone platform by the end of 2010. Naturally, that made Microsoft, still reeling from the end of Windows Mobile, and Apple, unhappy with anything less than Blofeld style world domination, feel somewhat uneasy. Both companies have long claimed that Android ‘incorporates’ significant aspects from their operating systems and have demanded that Google either pay them or change Android to remove the contested elements. The legality of those claims is still undecided and so far no litigation has resulted, but in a move that the Wall Street Journal notes may move that kind of activity forward, Samsung and Microsoft have reached a huge patent sharing deal.

Samsung will now pay royalties to Microsoft on its Android-based smartphones and tablets, and the two global supercompanies will collaborate to develop new phones and tablets based on Windows rather than Android. Window’s stake in the deal is obvious, as it gives them official acknowledgment from the world’s second largest smartphone maker that their claim against Android may have merit. It also provides leverage to pressure other cellphone makers to cut similar deals. But Samsung’s reasons for pursuing the deal may have to do with more than simply protecting themselves from Microsoft’s lawyers. The South Korean company is in the midst of a very bitter worldwide legal battle with Apple involving charges of patent and trademark infringement. Partnering with Apple’s chief rival may provide them with an easy out, should they lose that battle and find their current slate of tabs and phones kiboshed.

As of this writing, Google has not made any official comment, but one imagines there are some very loud swear words being exchanged at the top of the company. In a month that has seen them taken to task for alleged anti-trust violations, this is one more headache they don’t need.

Droid 4 in the works, codenamed Maserati

2011-09-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Sounds like the upcoming fourth-generation DROID smartphone will be super-fast like the Maserati GranTurismo sports cars. It should come as no surprise that the next Motorola Droid is already in the works. While the company hasn’t announced anything official, rumors indicate that the company has codenamed the device “Maserati” which is supposedly derived from the name of the famous Italian sports car brand Maserati GranTurismo. That said, the Droid 4 sounds extremely “fast.”

So what are the specs? Again, there’s nothing official, but rumors point to the typical DROID slide-out QWERTY keyboard (but sans the D-pad again), a screen somewhere around 4 to 4.3-inches, a removable battery and possible 4G LTE support. As with the previous three DROID models, this fourth-generation instalment will reside on Verizon Wireless.

Unfortunately, that’s it in regards to new information. The current Droid 3 smartphone sports a dual-core SoC clocked at 1 GHz, a 4-inch qHD (540 x 960) TFT display, 512 MB of internal memory, 16 GB of on-board storage, a microSD card providing 32 GB of even more storage, an 8MP camera, Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” and more. That said, consumers will see superior specs in the Droid 4, possibly even Nvidia’s Tegra 3 “Kal-El” SoC (that’s just a guess) and Google’s Android “Ice Cream Sandwich” OS.

With the holiday season just around the corner, it wouldn’t be surprising to see this phone rear its head before the end of the year. If not, perhaps during the Mobile World Congress 2012 event in February.

SOURCE via Device Mag

Report: “Better” Amazon Tablet coming in January

2011-09-30T16:58:00.001-07:00

Amazon today announced three new Kindles and a new Kindle Tablet, dubbed the Kindle Fire. However, previous Amazon tablet rumors suggested that there were not one but two Amazon tablets: The 7-inch Fire that we’ve come to known, and a larger 10-inch model that is supposedly set to launch in the first quarter of 2012. The story went that Amazon planned to launch the 7-inch model in time for the holidays and then, if it was successful, launch the big one next year.

Jeff Bezos didn’t say anything about a second Fire during this morning’s press conference. That said, word on the street still says the 10-inch model is coming, and soon. Ryan Block over at GDGT says that today’s Kindle Fire is nothing more than a stopgap and that a “second, better version” is coming in about three months’ time.

“My sources tell me the second-gen Kindle tablet (or Kindle Fire, as it’s now been dubbed) will be out in Q1 of 2012 — yes, that soon. That was always the plan, but the delays of the v1 product have messed up Amazon’s release cycle,” he said, adding that the worst part of it all is that the second device seems to be the one that Amazon truly believes in.

We all know that the current pace of the mobile industry means that there’s always another version coming. However, if Block is right and Amazon is releasing a superior version so soon after the first Kindle Fire goes on sale (it hits shelves November 15), we can see early adopters being very peeved. While there’s definitely a market for 7-inch tablets, the Kindle Fire is supposed to be a media device, and we can’t help but feel that though people may be drawn in by the appeal of this current Kindle Fire, they might realize it’s a little bit dinky to be watching telly on when the 10-inch model arrives.

Amazon has not commented on rumors of a second, larger Kindle Fire, nor has it denied reports that a 10-inch model is coming in the new year.

SOURCE via gdgt

A push-start button that can tell if you’re drunk?

2011-09-30T16:57:00.001-07:00

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that two companies have joined forces to create a push-to-start button that can automatically sense the driver’s blood-alcohol level. Takata, an Auburn Hills-based parts supplier and TruTouch, an Albuquerque-based firm, have received a $2.25 million grant from the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety to help make the creation commercially viable.

Currently, the device is about the size of a bread box and uses an infrared sensor to determine the amount of alcohol in a person’s system. In addition, the invention currently takes several seconds to function and only works accurately at room temperature.

The ACTS grant should help both Takata and TruTouch work through those issues to create a version of the technology that could conceivably fit behind a vehicle’s start button, take just a few milliseconds to determine someone’s BAC and be able to accurately do so in temperatures as low as 40 degrees below zero. There’s also the equally challenging feat of getting the device’s total cost down to around $200 per unit. The idea is to take the invasiveness of a Breathalyzer out of the equation while still preventing impaired drivers from taking to the road.

SOURCE via Freep

Google to build a trio of data centers in Asia, earmarks $200 million for expansion

2011-09-30T16:55:00.001-07:00

IT specialists in Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong better start polishing their resumes, because Google is rolling into town. Yesterday, Big G announced plans to build a brand new data center in each of the three Asian locales, as part of an expansion slated to cost at least $200 million.

When completed, these complexes will represent the company’s first fully owned and operated data centers in the burgeoning Asia-Pacific region — where, according to Asia policy communications manager Taj Meadows, Google is “seeing large numbers of new users coming online every day”. The facilities in Hong Kong and Taiwan are expected to cost around $100 million each, though the price tag for the Singapore branch remains a mystery.

Google hopes to finish construction in one to two years, though it didn’t say when it would begin — nor, for that matter, whether seawater tunnels would be involved.

SOURCE via Wall Street Journal

Next generation iPhone comes with HSPA+, no LTE after all?

2011-09-30T16:54:00.001-07:00

We know that Apple won’t be unveiling its next superphone for a few more days, but we may have a tasty tidbit about the iPhone 5 ahead of schedule. So the story goes, China Unicom’s Deputy Director Huang Wenlian was making a presentation at Macworld Asia, and stated that the new iPhone would utilize the company’s HSPA+ 21Mbps network. Now, we aren’t saying it’s a sure thing, but it appears that Tim Cook could deliver a handset with thrice the data speeds of its predecessor next week. Then again, remember that AT&T was fitting an Apple Store with some LTE equipment? And yet there was a contradicting report way back earlier in the beginning of the year that Apple’s Tim Cook mentioned that Apple will not be looking into LTE as of yet. Anyway, all will be known this coming Tuesday.

SOURCE via Impress Japan

Ninja sockets

2011-09-30T16:53:00.001-07:00

HP revives from the dead, announce new gaming PC with a cool mutant name

2011-09-30T16:52:00.001-07:00

Few seconds ago they decided to close down their PC department, and after changing a new honcho overnight, they’re back again. Funny? Well, HP does whatever they like and they don’t give a fuck what you think, or so the new CEO doesn’t. Maybe she has a very dark sense of humour, or perhaps there are events that have conspired to produce one of the most serendipitous pieces of product name irony I can remember.

Barely three weeks after announcing to analysts that they were looking to either spin off its PC business as a separate company or sell it off altogether, HP have launched a brand new gaming PC. It’s called the Phoenix. Yes, Jean would be so proud of this new brand.

The HP Pavillion HPE Phoenix to be exact, but the question is whether or not this is a deliberate reference to the fact that HP were hauled over the coals after their statement about the Personal Systems Group (PSG)? It would be a less than subtle reflection of UK PSG MD* Paul Hunter’s defensive statement that “the team in the UK remains committed to creating and supporting great products and services.”

Look, see, you thought we were dead, but we rise again and all that. That’s zombiecalypse for you guys! I suspect, however, that given the length of time it takes to develop product marketing and the fact HP’s announcement was a surprise to almost everyone, this is just one of those instances of perfect timing. So what of the Phoenix itself? A long trained mutant by the CIA?

There’s not much in the way of specs available at the moment, beyond 16GB of RAM and a “250W graphics card” – which is co-incidentally the TDP of a very nice Radeon HD6970. But it looks acceptably garish and – if my GPU guess is right – has an even more attractive price tag of £949. Especially if the monitor and peripherals pictured are included.

It’ll go on sale next month, but there’s no mention of price, yet. Jean wasn’t available for comment at the moment regarding this new product.

Wireless network can be used to track your in-house movements

2011-09-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

While testing some new equipment, Neal Patwari of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City discovered that breathing actually affects Wi-Fi signal strength. He came to this conclusion after noticing variations in wireless signal strength in certain parts of a room that were seemingly triggered by chest movements.

To prove his theory, Patwari placed 20 in-expensive wireless units around an occupied bed which were arrayed so that they sent 2.4 GHz waves across the sheet, but with one-thousandth the power of a laptop’s wireless card. The units themselves measured signal strength four times a second, thus the makeshift network was able to accurately estimate the person’s breathing rate to within 0.4 breaths per minute after collecting 30 seconds worth of data.

Ultimately Patwari’s test revealed that wireless signals bent around the subject’s chest as it rose with each inhalation, causing them to travel a longer distance and decrease slightly in power. Naturally this discovery is being hailed as a new way to monitor a patient’s breathing without having to cram tubes down into their lungs (which sucks and hurts). Some disagree however, as patient monitoring mostly depends on more input than just inhaling and exhaling.

But now there’s fear that this new Wi-Fi network system could be placed around an entire room or building in order to track user movements within. This scenario is based on a prior study conducted by Patwari and a colleague which revealed that any movement can affect wireless signal strength, and that these changes in strength can be used to track users within a room even if they’re sitting or lying down. Even more, the changes can be measured when the Wi-Fi signal passes through a wall and into another room.

That said, a similar Wi-Fi network could be tailored to spy on shoppers at the mall, on hotel guests, or restaurant patrons no matter what they’re doing. For more information about Patwari’s discovery, head here.

SOURCE via CNET”

Rumor: Apple to discontinue iPod Classic and Shuffle

2011-09-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Now that Amazon’s mystery press conference is out of the way, we’re eagerly awaiting Apple’s October 4 iPhone 5 event. However, will Apple also be saying goodbye to a couple of devices this year?

Apple said on the invitations that next week’s event is about the iPhone. Most have assumed that this means Apple will finally launch the iPhone 5 (and perhaps the iPhone 4S). However, the fall event is typically for iPods and iTunes, and Apple hasn’t given any inclination that it will be devoting even a small portion of the press conference to music. Instead, it appears as though the end may be near for a couple of the iPod models.

The latest scuttlebutt is that Apple will be killing off some of the iPods we know so well. According to The Unofficial Apple Weblog, the iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle will both disappear this year. The site didn’t name its source, but said that the reasons behind killing off these two versions were to do with numbers (iPod sales make up just 8 percent of Apple revenue) but also the fact that they’re kind of out-dated and unnecessary; the Shuffle is basically a Nano without a screen, while the Classic is devoid of flash memory, instead relying on a platter-based HDD.

The news comes hot on the heels of a report from CNet that Apple might kill the entire iPod line. Don Bell writes that, while it used to be a big money-maker for Apple, now is “really not a bad time for Apple to stick a fork in the iPod.”

“For starters, this year (October 24) marks the 10-year anniversary of the iPod,” he writes. “That’s quite an achievement, but it’s also a nice place to bookend things. I can imagine Apple saying, ‘It had a great run, now go buy an iPhone.’”

Bell also refers back to Steve Jobs’ 2006 advice to Nike CEO Mark Parker. Jobs told him to just “get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff.” So has the iPod, when compared to the iPhone and the iPad, become ‘crappy stuff’?

SOURCE via TUAW

Samsung develops DDR4 memory with up to 40 percent better energy efficiency than DDR3

2011-01-14T03:50:00.001-08:00

DDR3 has just picked up from where DDR2 left. It’s going big and fast and cheap too, which the public needs. However, Samsung has not been chillaxing behind, as the firm has made announcement of a DDR4 DRAM stick that can perform read and write operations using up to 40 percent less power than the old/current DDR3 stuff.

Bandwidth maxes out at 2.13Gbps at 1.2V, while Pseudo Open Drain technology assists in minimizing the battery impact. Over time, Samsung projects the new DRAM modules will hit 4Gbps speeds. It’s working away with server makers right now in order to achieve JEDEC certification, but the target market will clearly be laptops and other mobile devices, where energy-frugal memory like this would best be appreciated.

While they may be getting JEDEC certification this can actually take years to go into mainstream so such announcement will not bother the market of DDR3 in anyway actually. Remember back when DDR3 was announced, it took quite some time to land too. But this DDR4 will be great for server market, where the 40 percent less power consumption will be very obvious when it comes to huge memory.

Nvidia announces new GeForce 500M chipsets for the mobile warriors

2011-01-14T03:49:00.001-08:00

Nvidia is not a no-show at CES, as they did unveil new graphic products from their company. This time around however, it’s something that you can easily purchase off the shelf. Nvidia has unveiled a new line of GPUs at the show that will be the graphics muscle behind some of the best performing notebooks on the market in 2011.

The newly announced GPUs are the GeForce 500M GPU family, and they include the GT 540M, the GT 550M, and the GT 555M, and the more budget 520M and 525M. Those high-end mobile chipsets offer at least four times the performance of integrated GPUs and two times the DirectX 11 performance of competing GPUs. The 520M and 525M are the two mainstream parts in the new line. The new GPUs also support Optimus technology for longer battery life by switching between the integrated GPU and the discrete GPU. That’ll come very handy with new Sandy Bridge laptops.

“GeForce GT 500M GPUs combined with Optimus technology enable the most versatile laptops ever created,” said Rene Haas, general manager of notebook business at Nvidia. “Pairing a great GPU with a strong CPU delivers Optimized notebook performance for consumers.”

The new GPU line also supports Nvidia 3D Vision, PhysX, CUDA, and uses the Nvidia Verde notebook drivers and they support Nvidia 3DTV Play to deliver content from the PC to 3D TVs in the living room. That means 3D getting into mainstream laptops powered by Nvidia.

The GPUs will be used in machines from just about every major computer maker on the planet including Acer, MSI, Alienware, ASUS, Clevo, Dell, and many others. NVIDIA has already announced that it will be working with Tesla to power infotainment systems in the Model S electric sportscar.

SOURCE via Anandtech

Kingston launches USB 3.0 roadmap, SDHC UHS-I UltimateXX card

2011-01-14T03:47:00.001-08:00

Kingston announced at CES their latest range of SDHC cards, the USH-I UltimateXX, which will be on sale later this month. The USH-I UltimateXX is stated as perfectly backwards compatible with Class 4, Class 6, and Class 10 equipment. By using USH-I, the SDHC card is capable of hitting read rates of 60MB/sec and write rates of 35MB/sec, with pricing set for $69.99 (8GB), $179.99 (16GB) and $349.99 (32GB). Sounds like a card that’s storing lots of porn. Anyway, besides launching this USH-I UltimateXX, Kingston also launched their latest DataTraveler HyperX 3.0 USB flash drive, and it has plans to launch an entry-level flash drive in “late Q2 / early Q3.”

Bigfoot Networks intros Killer E2100-powered motherboards from ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte

2011-01-14T03:46:00.001-08:00

Bigfoot Networks stated that they’re targeting motherboard manufacturers, but we never knew it’s going to be this big. The company has announced at CES three partnerships with major mainboard makers, and they’re MSI, ASUS, and Gigabyte. Gigabyte will have their G1-Killer motherboards infused with Bigfoot chips; ASUS will have a ROG Rampage III Black Edition featuring the E2100 on a combined LAN / audio called ThunderBolt; and MSI will probably have them in their upcoming Big Bang lineup. Pricing and release information remain a mystery across the range, but it’s practically a guarantee that we’ll see more of these tie-ups in the coming months.

SOURCE via Bigfoot Network(1) and Bigfoot Network(2)

Intel’s Sandy Bridge hitting the desktop market

2011-01-14T03:45:00.003-08:00

CES sees Intel announcing Sandy Bridge and making giant impact on upcoming laptops, but we see very little for the desktop. No love there it seemed. Nevertheless, desktop manufacturers and custom PC makers have quietly updated their systems with Intel’s new second generation Core processors. Dell’s XPS 8300 and Vostro and Alienware is now available with Sandy, as well as Digital Storm’s entire family, besides Cyber Power’s Gamer Xtreme 1000/2000, and also iBuyPower’s Chimera XLC all having the brand new Core i5 and Core i7 processors. ORIGIN PC also has them ready for you if you want an overclocked Sandy Bridge water cooled but don’t want to mess around with it youself.

SOURCE via Logic Buy, Puget Systems, HotHardware(1), and HotHardware(2)

Cisco’s CIUS tablet now in Verizon’s LTE list

2011-01-14T03:45:00.001-08:00

Verizon US announced their 4G LTE network, and obviously to push that you’ll had to have lots of LTE-enabled devices to push sales. Now, besides lots of LTE tablets and smartphones, Verizon has also added Cisco’s rare business-savvy Cius tablet onto LTE starting this March, besides Cisco’s second generation Integrated Service Router.

Verizon says it’s got about one-third of the US covered with LTE, which offers downstream speeds between 5Mbps and 12Mbps, and will have the other two-thirds covered by 2012. If you’re lucky enough to live in that first one-third, the Cius tablet, which sports a 7-inch diagonal touchscreen and weighs about 1.15lbs, could become your preferred form of business communication as it offers HD video streaming, real-time video, and multi-party conferencing. Very business stuff here.

Cius will also have 3G capabilities for those unfortunate souls operating outside of the LTE sphere, just in case you need to go outstation with it. Verizon isn’t ready to settle on a data plan for the tablet, as its main functions have potential to eat up a ton of bandwidth, but they’re pretty sure employers will be the ones footing the bill.

SOURCE via PCWORLD

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc finally gets some spec as the company goes official.

2011-01-14T03:44:00.000-08:00

Finally we get some proper (official) numbers for the just announced Xperia Arc. It’s got 1GHz processor in the form of a Qualcomm MSM8255 paired with an Adreno 205 graphics chip. The company also mentioned (or admitted) about their infamous record with Android updates, and promises recent changes have put it in “a good position to make sure that Xperia Arc will get later versions in a timely manner.” Yeah, we do believe you, when you deliver that is.

See The Video

Tron Light Discs as a Lamp

2011-01-14T03:42:00.001-08:00

Here’s a light that’s look like a very familiar white Ring, and called “Ring”, literally. The designer is Loris Bottello, and this bioluminescent polymer light is inspired by Tron. The intensity of the light can be adjusted by rotating the disc. Good thing here is that you can’t really kill anyone by throwing this “Ring” like a boomerang.

SOURCE via Design Boom

An angry iPhone Case That Opens Beer Bottles Too

2011-01-14T03:41:00.003-08:00

Yes, there’s an app for everything (literally?), but sometimes when you need brute force, the iPhone just can’t handle. But don’t worry as we have the iBottle for your iPhone case. Combining two of the world’s most powerful devices, the phone and bottle opener. The world just can’t get any more awesome. It only cost 20 bucks at Baron Bob for the iPhone 3G/3GS version, and the iPhone 4 version is available for pre-order at the same price as it gets available this month. Hopefully the glass at the back can take the force. May the force be with you, and also you can leave your man behind when you go for a drink with the girls.

SOURCE via Baron Bob

Reuse your bike parts for something more useful?

2011-01-14T03:41:00.001-08:00

Here’s some funky stuff about ‘recycling’. I’m sure you all know what that thing above is. There’s more below. There’s a scale, a corkscrew, and even a bowl. In a collaborative effort, Triumph Motorcycles and art students reused motorcycle parts into our everyday gadgets (or most people’s daily gadgets at least). If you check the source, there’s even a hat stand made from bike parts. Really amazing stuff, adding classy looks to some very cool designs

SOURCE via Design Boom

Ang Ang Ang’s k-car

2011-01-14T03:40:00.001-08:00

SOURCE via Cari Forum

Chrome no longer supports H.264 video playback

2011-01-14T03:39:00.002-08:00

Google created a new WebM video standard that’s royalty free and high quality in May 2010, but now they’re ready to fully push this new standard. Though, they’re doing it in a very harsh way, and that is by dropping off support for rival H.264 codec in its HTML 5 video tag in chrome. That’s right. Chrome will not be able to playback H.264 videos anymore. From now on, Chrome users will have to download a H.264 plug-in to play most web video that’s not bundled up in Flash. Talk about open standard. Well, don’t worry; we still have Firefox at least.

SOURCE via Google

Firefox 4 coming soon?

2011-01-14T03:39:00.000-08:00

Last we heard from Firefox 4’s beta was a few months ago, but Mozilla developers have posted the first builds of Firefox 4 Beta 10, which is planned to be the final beta before the release of Firefox 4 RC. What does that mean? Well, the gold for the fourth is nearing the horizon!

The pre-Beta 10 builds arrive as Mozilla is getting ready to put Beta 9 into a freeze and release the software possibly later this week. Even with the revised release schedule in place, Mozilla has fallen behind again: Beta 9 was originally planned for a December 16 release. However, the most recent Beta was not published until December 22.

According to Mozilla’s buglog, Beta 9 has still three blocking bugs that need to be fixed, while there are 227 blocking bugs for Beta 10. In fact, the number of bugs may be overwhelming for the final beta and Mozilla may decide to add Beta 11 to the schedule. In the most recent meeting, the developer team mentioned that there will be “at least” one more beta after Beta 9 and a new release schedule was under development.

A bike that transform?

2011-01-14T03:37:00.000-08:00

Here’s something for you to imagine what future bikes will look like. A three-wheeled personal transportation system which functions as a self-balancing dicycle in lower speed mode, and can be transformed into a full fledge motorcycle at high speed. Not quite what your Gundam or Transformer can do, but something more of like the old school Mospeada, but less of the guns. With a top speed of 48 to 56 km/h, the all-electric bike is expected to be mass-produced in one year time. The designer claimed that he got the inspiration “witnessing the horrible pollution in China made by motor vehicles.” Not sure how this can actually save the environment, but well, just check out the video below.

Video

Gigabyte G1-Killer Gaming Series Motherboards goes official

2011-01-14T03:35:00.001-08:00

Gigabyte was able to officially launch their G1-Killer Gaming Series motherboards over at Vegas during CES 2011. Take it as something similar to ASUS’s ‘Republic of Gamers’ series. Currently in their list there are three motherboards, but awkwardly they’re all X58 motherboards, with not much of a difference in between them.

img class=alignleft title=”Gigabyte G1-Killer Gaming Series Motherboards goes official” src=”http://www.2dayblog.com/images/2011/january/550x-gigabyte-g1-4.jpg” alt=”Gigabyte G1-Killer Gaming Series Motherboards goes official” />Gigabyte is introducing four main features in the G1-Killer Gaming Series. The first is Super-Speed, which means support for 4-way CrossFireX™ and 3-way SLI™. The second is Super-Hearing, which means Onboard Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Digital Audio Processor (20K2) that has X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity®, EAX® Advanced HD)tm) 5.0, Dolby® Digital Live, DTS™ Connect, and finally built-in front panel audio headphone amplifier. They’re also promoting the use of Nichicon High-end Audio capacitors in their products.

The third main feature is called Super-Speed. This comes in the form of the hugely advertised onboard Bigfoot Networks Killer™ E2100 Dedicated Network Processing Unit (NPU), which has 1GB of dedicated DDR2 memory to help offload network traffic from the CPU, freeing it up to do other important computing tasks. But it doesn’t end there. Super Speed also includes SATA 3.0 (6Gbps) and USB 3.0, as they provide up to 4 USB 3.0 ports (2 front panels, 2 back panels). The SATA 3.0 is sourced from Marvel.

Lastly is the Super-Shield. This is the new heatpipe design from Gigabyte, with the Southbridge heatsink looking like a magazine. You can even see a bullet there. There are also 5 fan connectors onboard and they can be easily controlled via GIGABYTE’s EasyTune™ 6 utility as well as in the BIOS. They’re also equipped with their own individual thermal sensors. The Super-Shield also includes Gigabyte’s famous Ultra Durable™ 3 and Dual Bios.

The three motherboards are called G1-Assassin, G1-Sniper, and G1-Guerilla. All three are X58 motherboards, with G1-Assassin having support for Super-Speed (4-way CrossFireX™ and 3-way SLI™). Both the Assassin and the Sniper have Creative HW audio 20k2 present, except for Guerilla which uses Realtek ALC 889. Bigfoot Killer™ 2100 NPU is present on all three boards. The G1-Assassin is the only XL-ATX board, as the rest are standard ATX boards.

SOURCE via Gigabyte