That’s because it has a SandForce controller in it. An SSD trapped inside a little USB 3.0 body.

On June 15, Super Talent began shipping a device that looks like a standard USB stick on the outside, but is really an SSD on the inside thanks to a SandForce SF-1222 controller and four NAND devices (eight channels). Called the USB 3.0 Express RC8, this new external storage device includes an advanced multi-channel SSD architecture, virtual caching system and an advanced wear leveling algorithm – all crammed in a USB-stick form factor.

“Featuring an 8 channel architecture and virtual caching system, the USB 3.0 Express RC8 was built for speed,” the company said. “True SSD performance comes from reading and writing to multiple flash channels simultaneously. The new RC8 has 8 such channels of flash, just like a full sized SSD. A full-sized SSD also includes a data cache to elevate “real world” performance and the RC8 is no different.  Now true SSD performance can be integrated into a portable device that is both small and convenient.”

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Blizzard’s Greg Street recently told Eurogamer that the company was currently looking into the potential for MMO gaming on Apple’s iOS.

A similar statement was made earlier this year about bringing Diablo 3 to the current crop of consoles. Eventually Blizzard began hiring console developers for the upcoming hack-n-slash title slated for a Q4 2011 release. That said, does that mean Blizzard plans to do the same with iOS?

“Everyone I know here has an iPhone or an iPad so we’re huge fans of the hardware,” he said. “If we could make the right game changes to make that work, it’s something we’d be interested in. It’s not something you’re going to see in the next week or two, but it’s the kind of thing we’re always looking at.”

As with recent talk about porting the MMORPG to the consoles, the biggest issue in the PC-to-console transition would be in the controls. It’s bad enough that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 aren’t well-equipped to receive mouse and keyboard input (although the PS3 is capable), the iPad 2 doesn’t even come close to a PC-like environment. Read more…

Mozilla has released the first nightly builds of Firefox that will eliminate the common protocol prefix in the URL that is shown in the location bar. Instead of http://www.example.com, Firefox will be displaying www.example.com.

The change is expected to be integrated in Firefox 7, which is due for release at the end of September. While it seems to be only a cosmetic change, the purpose is to highlight the current browser location in a much more meaningful way and drop the protocol prefix, which has been confusing especially to users that are new or not familiar with the Internet. Firefox also greys out the “www” or subdomain of a URL, as well as the resource ID and deletes any trailing single slashes in a web address.

To maintain a reasonable level of security while browsing, Firefox 7 still displays the https:// prefix, to inform the user when the browser is showing a “secure” webpage. Firefox will also include the prefix when users copy and paste URLs from the location bar.

Mozilla said that it is following both Chrome and Opera with the elimination of the prefix. Chrome dropped the prefix with the release of developer versions of Chrome 5 back in April of 2010.

SOURCE via Mozilla

Microsoft has filed a patent that describes a “legal intercept” of VoIP communications. What does that means?

Filed in December 2009, the document was created when Microsoft may have had no intentions of acquiring Skype, but the company makes clear statements that it applies to Skype and similar services.

According to the patent – and it is just an application at this point – Microsoft envisions a variety of possibilities to use “recording agents” as a way to intercept, monitor, record and store recorded calls. The agent could be placed in a router, call server, or within the network of an organization. The agent can also be a software module that is placed between the call server or the network. Microsoft does not mention the recording agent to be hidden part of the client software. However, since Microsoft now owns the Skype infrastructure, that may not be a problem anymore.

The good news, depending on your view, is that the technology is only targeted to become a tool that can be requested by law enforcement. The downside, also depending on your view, is that those Skype calls may not be as anonymous as you think and your private information may actually be easily accessible by government organizations. Microsoft did not say if it already uses eavesdropping technology in Skype or other VoIP applications.

SOURCE via USPTO

DDR3 memory will climb to a dominant market range of almost 90% this year, market researchers from IHS iSuppli said today. The company predicts that it will begin to fade in 2014 and hand over the majority of the market to next version of DRAM in 2015.

According to IHS iSuppli, DDR3 will account for 89% of a total of 808 million DRAM modules that will be shipped this year. DDR2′s share will decrease to just 9%, down from 29% in 2010. DDR3 market share in 2010 was 67%. The market research firm predicts DDR3 will hit 92% next year and 94% in 2013.

“DDR3 has been the main DRAM module technology shipped in terms of bits since the first quarter of 2010, gaining adoption quickly in the PC ecosphere as the market’s primary driver,” said Clifford Leimbach, analyst for memory demand forecasting at IHS. “Not only is DDR3 the dominant technology today in the three PC channels for original equipment manufacturers, the PC white-box space and the upgrade market, DDR3 is also the chief presence across all PC applications, such as desktops and laptops, as well as their subcategories in the performance, mainstream and entry-level computing sectors.”

DDR4 is expected to account for 12% market share in 2014 and approach 56% in 2015, while DDR3 is estimated to drop to just 42%.

Ever dreamed of diving into a crowd of frenzied fans at your very own rock concert? Or leaving an auditorium filled with people speechless with your violin solo? Imagine if you could become an expert musician without ever going through the years of training it takes to become one. In conjunction with Sony, scientists at Tokyo University have created an electric finger stimulator that moves your fingers without the use of your brain.

Although started as a learning tool for aspiring musicians, the PossessedHand has boundless medical applications that may help disabled patients regain control of their affected limbs or fingers. The PossessedHand works its magic by delivering mild, but perfectly harmless, electrical stimuli directly into the muscles that control the fingers. Since musicians who have dedicated their lives to practice may consider such a device cheating, perhaps the more altruistic medical route will be a better place to begin.

Where is it that we see the coolest futuristic tech? Free from the worries of actual production, the entertainment industry has been home to the most advanced and high-tech gadgets imaginable. With this in mind it may not come as too much of a surprise that David Brown, editor, producer, cameraman extraordinaire has created this interesting weapon he likes to call, The BodyGuard.

The BodyGuard is a heavily armored glove-sleeve thing fitted with a flashlight, laser pointer, camera and taser to help law enforcement officials bring down the baddies in an instant. According to Brown and his friends, most weapons may be inefficient in a sense that they may be dropped or wrestled away in a moment of conflict. The BodyGuard would then be a perfect solution to compliment firearms or current gadgets without overly fatal results.

Carlos Ghosn has announced the Nissan Power 88 midterm business plan, effective immediately, containing goals that will raise a number of eyebrows. Built on four pillars emphasizing “brand and sales power enhancement, growth, sustainable mobility and mobility for all,” Power 88 is in effect from now until 2016, at the end of which time Nissan wants eight percent of global market share and eight-percent operating profit (hence the “88″). That would represent a 2.2-percent increase in market share and a 1.9-percent rise in operating profit versus last year’s levels.

The strategy for success includes rolling out, “on average, an all-new vehicle every six weeks for six years” to cover 92 percent of global market segments, launching 90 new technologies over those six years and reaching cumulative electric vehicle sales of 1.5 million units between Renault and Nissan.

Sales in BRIC markets are expected to grow significantly, and Nissan plans to build a factory in Brazil to support efforts there. Much more will be made of Infiniti as well, with sales expected to rocket from 150,000 last year to 500,000 in 2016 and a product portfolio of “at least 10 vehicles.” That would account for a projected 10 percent of global luxury market sales.

Ghosn has his eye on joining General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen in the massive sales game, apparently because he sees that as the scale necessary to meet future challenges. Whether or not the automaker can manage such scale remains to be seen.

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