Filed under: Laptops

If you were already curious as to where AMD would be using its newly announced 780 Series motherboard GPU, lookie here. During a CeBIT press event held today in Germany, AMD solidified details of its looming Puma mobile platform, which will be based on the outfit’s Griffin CPU and RS780M chipset. In order for laptops to sport the Puma branding, it must house a Griffin CPU (officially named Turion Ultra), RS780M chipset and a WiFi adapter. According to AMD, Puma-fied lappies will begin shipping at the close of Q2 2008 and will range from $699 to $2,500 (at least initially), but we’ve no idea which manufacturers will be on board.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

All of the sudden we’re starting to see more and more attacks take advantage of what’s stored on your computer’s RAM — the latest, from New Zealand’s Adam Boileau, allows an attacker to unlock Windows passwords in a just a few seconds using a Linux machine connected over Firewire. Unlike those disk encryption attacks we saw that required a reboot, Boileu’s attack works while the target computer is running, tricking Windows into allowing full write access to RAM and then corrupting the password protection code. That’s a little scary — but other researchers say that it’s not a traditional vulnerability, since direct memory access is a feature of Firewire. Still, we’re sealing up all of our ports with Silly Putty starting today, that ought to stop ‘em.

Update: Apparently this has been demonstrated on OS X as well — it looks like Firewire’s direct memory access is the common vector here.

[Thanks, Drew]

Filed under: HDTV, Laptops

Although Rock began offering a Blu-ray option on its pricey gaming rigs soon after Toshiba threw in the HD DVD towel, prospective buyers were forced to specifically inquire in order to get one. Now, however, the company has finally bit the bullet and began offering internal BD drives as an option on its gamut of gaming laptops. Reportedly, Rock’s CEO Nick Boardman proclaimed that he was “disappointed that HD DVD didn’t make it,” but noted that even if you have a machine on order right now, you can “stick with HD DVD, downgrade to DVD-RW or upgrade to Blu-ray” sans issue. Interestingly, the company is still offering up HD DVD drives as “standard,” but we suppose it has to move that suddenly worthless inventory somehow, eh?

[Via Tech Digest]

Filed under: Laptops

While Dell’s tame Latitude D630 just got Penryn-ized, the XFR edition comes ready for operation in seriously extreme scenarios. Built to meet MIL-STD 810F standards from the Department of Defense, this beast not only handles just about anything you throw at it, on it or inside it, but it also promises to provide “23-percent better system performance than the Panasonic CF-30.” Furthermore, it boasts a 14.1-inch outdoor readable display (with optional touchscreen technology), a 2.0GHz T7250 or 2.2GHz T7500 CPU, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a shock-mounted 80GB HDD (or a 32GB / 64GB SSD, if you prefer), integrated DVD burner, Intel’s GMA X3100 graphics set, WiFi / Bluetooth and optional WWAN for good measure. You’ll also find a 6-cell battery with ExpressCharge, a magnesium handle, a smorgasbord of ports and a starting weight of 8.9-pounds. Heck, Dell even gives you a choice of Black / Charcoal and Desert Tan color schemes, but you’ll be handing over a minimum of $3,899 to pick up either.

Filed under: Laptops

If the bargain priced Cloudbook was just a touch too small for your tastes, open wide for Everex’s 15.4-inch VA1500V. Available now at NewEgg, this 5.3-pound rig features a 1.5GHz VIA C7-M processor, WXGA+ (1,440 x 900) resolution panel, half a gig of DDR2 RAM, a 60GB 5400RPM hard drive, DVD combo drive and a lackluster integrated graphics set. As expected, you’ll also find the firm’s gOS v2 “Rocket” operating system, an Ethernet port, 802.11b/g WiFi, three USB ports, VGA out, audio in / out and a 3-cell Li-ion sure to last an eternity. Still, you can’t kvetch too loudly for $399.99, now can you?

[Via Laptoping]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Storage

Ruh roh, Shaggy — you remember that disk encryption attack that involved cooling off your target’s RAM and yanking it to get a bitdump before the contents faded? Well, it looks like things just got a lot simpler for would-be attackers — check out this USB flash key designed by security researcher Robert Wesley McGrew, which can boot your machine and dump the RAM to itself without altering its contents. That means you no longer need to actually pull the DIMMs or carry around an air duster; all an attacker needs is enough time to reboot your machine and copy the contents of your RAM. Of course, that takes time — McGrew states things are running quite slowly right now, but he suspects his test machine is dropping down to USB 1.0 speeds. That’s still not too reassuring — looks like we’ll be spending even more time with our machines from now on.

[Via Hack a Day]

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Filed under: Features, Laptops

We showed you quite a bit of the 9-inch Eee PC from ASUS yesterday, but they wouldn’t let us turn it on. Now that CeBIT has officially begun, however, ASUS is lighting up those pixels loud and proud. ASUS tells us the screen is 1024 x 600, and it looks to be almost the exact same pixel density as the 7-inch version. The computer was being shown in both Linux and Windows XP versions, so it looks like you’ll be able to have your choice of OS when the 9-incher is released later this year.

For those looking to bring the Star Wars experience home, check out this impressive R2-D2 computer mod, which could possibly pass as a prop from the original movie. Click here for first picture in gallery.

The original R2-D2 chassis was specially created by Australian firm Petric Engineering and was precision made to a high standard with small tolerances

[via Thecontaminated]

Via Techeblog

The GMC Bulldozer R4 could quite possibly be the coolest Computer case (non-custom) that we’ve encounter. Continue reading for a video preview. Click here for one more picture.

We don’t typically get worked up for over-the-counter, personal cases. The we stumbled upon the Bulldozer R4. If we were a 92-mm case fan we’d completely tap this

[via Engadget - Akihabaranews]

Via Techeblog

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Finally, Meizu has revealed an actual semi-working prototype of the M8 Mini One, and Thomas Ricker gives us a hands-on look at how it stacks up against the iPhone. Click here for first picture in gallery.

Gotta state, for all our justifiable M8 bashing, the mini One felt good in the hand and the additional hard buttons, 720 x 480 pixel display, 3 megapixel camera and likely el cheapo price tag have once again perked our interests

[via Engadget]

Via Techeblog

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