Content and news by Rob Williams

Logitech Extended their PlayGear line of PSP products with new Headphones, a Carrying Case and a Screen Protector. The Logitech® PlayGear Modâ„¢ headphones offer a new headphone design that delivers the comfort people need (behind-the-head design), performance they desire (with 30mm neodymium drivers) and style they want. MSRP: $29.99; U.S. Availability: July…..

“We had a look at the 128mb version of these when they first came out last year and still to this day it is hanging on my keys. I use it for everything from transferring data to opening up my packages and even getting dirt from under my nails (ewwwwww) things have changed a bit since then and now the knife is available in a memory capacity of 64, 128, 256, 512MB or 1GB, as well as being available in two different styles RubyRed and RetroAlox.”

Head over to XtremeComputing for the full review!

“The results speak for themselves. MSI’s turbo charged 6600 Diamond Edition is only around 13% slower than the standard 6600GT AGP, thanks to its higher GPU and memory clocks.”

Check out the full review at Overclockers New Zealand.

“Looking for a PSU. Why look any further. This excellent Thermaltake 460w PurePower PSU offers the right amount of power in a neat attractive package.”

Check out the full review at A1 Electronics.

“Measuring just 12mm wide, 4.5m high and 31.75mm long, Lexar’s proposed USB FlashCard format is accepted by the Official USB Promoter Group and is now being put together into a guideline called Series “A” Plug Form Factor 1.0. Lexar believes the standard will accelerate the adoption of the new format in the next wave of flash memory-based electronics.”

Check out the article at .

“NOW THAT THE INITIAL WAVE of dual-core CPU previews is over, we have some time to focus on a new processor that you can actually purchase today. I’m talking, of course, about the new revision E versions of the Athlon 64, and more specifically about the new core code-named “Venice” that has been (ahem) making waves of late. The Venice core brings with it a number of enhancements–including SSE3 support, a revised memory controller, and a clear, cream-like substance–in order to achieve even better clock-for-clock performance than previous versions of the Athlon 64. Also, through a magical amalgamation of techie terms like “90nm SOI” and “strained silicon,” the Venice core delivers one especially elusive quality: heart-stopping overclocking potential.”

Check out the in-depth review here/a>. They managed to only overclock it to 2.7GHz. Since there have been articles where 3200+’s have been overclocked to 2.8GHz, it makes you wonder which to get.

“The NGO nVidia Optimized Driver is a tweaked version of the nVidia Forceware driver. The main purpose is to satisfy the users with a better performance and better image quality. The Driver has support for all Geforce cards”

Grab it at NGOHQ.

“Those of you looking to build a SFF PC from scratch will want to give the Aspire X-QPack a close look as it offers more in terms of options from most pre-built SFF PCs. Overall, it’s a decently designed chassis though it doesn’t stray too far from the basic fundamentals of a “cube” SFF.”

Check out the full article at Viper Lair!

Lavalys just released two new versions of their EVEREST program, Ultimate and Corporate. Each new version proves to be even more useful than the last. These being major version releases, they have launched with four new features. Today, we are taking a look at the Ultimate version.

“”Ever since Microsoft had released information regarding Avalon with its 3D support, the graphics subsystem that is going to be used by the Longhorn, more enthusiasts have been after 3D desktops. Project Looking Glass (LG3D), a 3D windowing and visualization project devised by the developers at Sun Microsystems and community supporters, was what had caught our attention (due to the Linux support) regarding the future of computer desktops. As stated by the LG3D project page, its intention is to break the boundaries of the “2D-ness” for current generation desktop environments and the way desktops evolve. On May 13, 2005, Big Linux, a relatively un-heard of Portuguese based Linux distribution, released its new version, 2.1. This is the FIRST Linux distribution to offer out-of-the-box 3D Desktop capabilities in both GNOME and KDE. At Phoronix, we have pictures to display our findings, keep in mind, we found this release to be INCREDIBLY slow and extremely buggy (even limiting the potential of these screenshots).”

Even though it’s unstable, it shows where we are headed. Check out all the screenshots at Phoronix.

“We here at ThinkComputers have decided to do a featurette article/review on specific companies that we find interesting, we would like to do this feature twice each month. For our first Company Featurette, we choose Computer Geeks (geeks.com), as we all agreed that their products are very cool, interesting, and very well priced. Finally a company has come up with a cool idea for beginner modders, or for advanced modders. Geeks has come up with a combination package, that has lots of uses, is aesthetically pleasing and just plain cool. There are 7 different items in the Geekcessory package that everyone can utilize for their computer and surrounding area of their workspace.”

Check out the review of this cool kit at Think Computers.

“The following article is dedicated to all the hardware reviewers around the world that at some point had trouble with customs when receiving hardware samples to review.”

Wow, no joke. I have not had this problem yet, but I did recently have to pay to receive a few things. If you check out the mousepad up close, you can easily tell they had no respect for the product. Great read, check it out at NGOHQ.

“”There should be few devices more essential for a small office than a multi-function printer. The Samsung SF-565P not only sports the copying, faxing and document scanning features you’d expect from an MFP, but it also features a fully-fledged monochrome laser printing engine. The Samsung SF-565P’s major selling points are its claimed 17ppm laser printing and copying speed, speedy 33.6k fax modem and spacious 250 sheet paper tray. All of these are features that will gladden the heart of potential users, especially those with a lot of paper to chew through.”

Check out the full review at PC Stats.

“OCZ Technology has just announced the release of the OCZ DDR2 Gold series – an affordable line of high-performance DDR2 memory for gaming enthusiasts.

The OCZ PC2-6400 Gold memory boasts 5-5-5 timings – lower latencies than standard DDR-800 memory. Let’s take a look at it!”

Check out the full review over at Rojak Pot.

“In the past, Logitech was known for producing mice and keyboards, and quality speaker systems aimed at economical price points and OEM replacement speakers a few years ago. With the advent of the Z-Series of performance 2 channel and Surround Sound speaker systems, Logitech has built up quite an enthusiastic following. The quality, attention to design and detail, and power which was supplied with the previous Logitech Z-640 5.1 channel speaker systems, and the Logitech Z2200 THX Certified 2.1 systems, Logitech comes from a solid background now in speaker design and implementation.”

Check out the full review over at Xtreme Resources.

“I like big cases. I’ve always liked big cases. I like big cases because they are easy to work in and you can put a lot of stuff in them. Big cases are, for the most part, relatively easy to keep cool. I find having a big full-tower case sitting on my desk to be somehow comforting. Don’t ask me why, I just do. Big cases, however have their drawbacks. While not an issue for me personally, the LAN party crowd probably prefers something a little more svelte and portable.”

Check out the full review at Tweak News.

“For Microsoft, the release of its next operating system, known as “Longhorn,” tentatively scheduled for the holiday season 2006, will be the culmination of years of effort — and mark the first major new operating system for the company since 2001.

“It’s our big investment,” Bill Gates told a crowd of hardware developers in Seattle last month.

For many in the Linux community, Microsoft’s operating system release is seen as a huge opportunity to poach customers when they are faced with the decision of buying into the latest Microsoft vision or exploring alternatives.”

No doubt, it’s going to be interesting when Longhorn finally is released. Read more over at Technology Review.

“We caution our users about the consequences of snacking while typing–and then, of course, we turn around and do it ourselves. Whether it’s a second breakfast, a desperately needed sugar buzz, or cold pizza on the fly, bits and pieces inevitably find their way into the keyboard. Not surprisingly, some types of food are more debris-prone than others, and IT pro Becky Roberts has identified some of the worst offenders.”

Free registration is required, but it’s a good read. Angel Hair Pasta and Whole Grain Rice tops the list. Good cleaning instructions can be found here as well. Check it out at Tech Republic.

“Microsoft unveiled its final version of MSN Desktop Search earlier today in an attempt to take some market share from its other competitors in the market, Google and Yahoo. As with its competitors, MSN Desktop Search allows users to search contents of documents, e-mails, calendar entries and PDFs among other things, and sort them by whatever criteria they would like.”

Looks like Microsoft is trying to regain the users they lost to Firefox. If you want to test this new tool out, you are required to install the IE only toolbar, which you can get here. Also check out the original posting here.

“THE LINUX wires went postal on Thursday after software services giant IBM had told its 300,000 employees to download the open sauce browser Firefox.

There was much dancing in penguin land, as users felt that if Big Blue could endorse Firefox then other big companies would do so also.”

Despite recent security issues, IBM still told their employees to use it. Shows how much faith larger companies have in Microsoft. Read the full posting at The Inquirer.