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The Accelero S1 Plus is a new graphics processing unit that has come from the company Arctic Cooling. It is designed to be used with the Radeon HD 6870 and it will allow your graphics cards operate in a quieter and cooler way.

Upgrading the cooling unit from your old graphics card can be a good choice as the ones that come with the cards are generally made to just suit the basic needs of the card. If you are not overclocking the card then there is probably no need to increase the cooling unit but for those who want to push the graphics card further then installing a more effective cooling system can be a good idea.

Many people also appreciate the quieter running that replacing the graphics card cooler can bring. When you are playing games that require a great deal from the card you might find that the noise is makes it distracting and replacing the cooling system will lead to a quieter running computer system.

This new cooling unit from Arctic Cooling is tricky to install but the device is well priced at £20 and it will mean that your graphics card will run very quietly. Unfortunately though, it is not capable of cooling the graphics card as well as you might expect, it cools it enough for temporary use but to use it continually will cause the graphics card to overheat.

There is a turbo module that you can attach to the cooling unit but it is a large, 10 cm wide fan. This should provide more cooling than the original unit but unfortunately it is not going to be able to cool the graphics card enough for it to be able to run high-end games. Passive cooling can be great for some graphics cards but not all.

A new algorithm is being developed by Xerox and it is going to be able to tell how aesthetically pleasing a photograph is. The tool is currently under development and there is a sample available for consumers to try on the Open Xerox website. This allows you to use sample images they have provided and the algorithm will judge them. Currently it is not possible for users to upload their own photographs.

The algorithm has been designed to find pictures that are regarded as ‘special’ by identifying qualities that photo enthusiasts like. Xerox said, “This algorithm is capable of identifying exposure and composition and is able to assess pictures for the number of colours they have and decide whether this is something that the photograph selector might want.”

The application is still heavily under development but so far its results have been interesting. Currently it is possible to search for images in a set number of categories and it is able to judge them for their quality. The company are currently seeking feedback on the algorithm so if you want to test it out for yourself then it would be a good idea to visit the company’s website.

Using a mobile phone and driving is well known to be dangerous but many people are unaware of one of the major other factors that can dramatically increase your risk of having an accident. Driving whilst tired can be as dangerous as being drunk or using a mobile phone while driving and a recent survey conducted in Sweden showed that one in every five accidents are caused by people being too tired.

It is well known that when you are tired your reflexes significantly slow and therefore it is not so surprising that more accidents happen when people are tired. Driving is an activity that requires fast reflexes should you need to react in an emergency.

Driving when tired also carries the risk that you will fall asleep at the wheel and this can result in a major accident. Also, being tired can lead you to having impaired judgement and this can also be a danger on the road.

The Swedish company have recently developed a device that should stop drivers falling asleep on the road. It is named the Anti Sleep Pilot and it is consistently assessing you for your level of fatigue and when it thinks you have reached a dangerous level recommends that you take a break.

Research by the company has shown that even taking a short break can dramatically increase your awareness on the road and even 10 minutes can be enough to greatly increase your attention. The device works by measuring your reaction time and conducting other tests, these also help you to remain alert while on the road. The device is currently available for £130 and is money well spent for any driver.

The new operating system that has been released by Google is Ice Cream Sandwich,which is also known as Android 4.0. The first phone to be utilising this operating system is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and inside this phone is a great deal of state-of-the-art technology which really puts it at the top end of the market.

While Samsung’s new device is definitely very impressive, what most tech experts are going to be keen to see is how it operates on the new system by Google. Android has undergone its biggest change since it was first created and this is something that many experts are predicting to be a game changer in the mobile operating system industry.

The new operating system is fusing together two previous systems, the one designed for tablet computers and the one designed for mobile phones. The specifications that are going to be running the system are impressive and the phone is running a dual core processor and has NFC support as well as a five megapixel camera.

The phone is definitely not tiny, and it is slightly larger than the other offering from Samsung, the Galaxy S2. When compared with its rivals, you can tell you’re not using an iPhone but the difference is not that noticeable.

The front of the phone is incredibly simplistic and there are no visible buttons. All you can see is the screen, a small front facing camera and a brightness sensor. There is a light at the bottom of the device that this is not noticeable until it is activated which happens when you receive an e-mail. As for the side of the device, there is nothing remarkable here, just the standard buttons you might expect such as volume control and power button.

One of the things that will surprise you the most about the device is the lack of an option to use expandable memory. Remarkably, the device has no expansion slot. This seems like an incredibly foolish design decision when you consider that the device is being marketed as a piece of media equipment. Most people, when they first read about the device, might assume that it is a mistake in the literature, but astoundingly, the device comes with no SD slot.

The rest of the features on the phone somewhat make up this and the screen is incredible. The resolution on it means it is incredibly sharp and this really makes it great for watching video and browsing the Internet. Samsung have developed a reputation for making incredible screens and this latest one is definitely no exception.

The market position of the phone is clear, it is targeted to be a top end handset, along with the likes of the Nokia Lumia 800 and the latest iPhone. The pricetag therefore is suitably high and if you want to get your hands on one you’re going to have to shell out over £40 a month for a contract if you want to it for free, otherwise you will have to shell out over £500.

While many speed fans are anxiously awaiting the release of the Asus Transformer Prime given the fact that it is said to be powered by the super five core processor known as the Tegra 3 ‘Kel-El’ from Nvidia, the news on the street is that there a mobile soon with the super chip, the HTC Edge.

According to details that have been leaked online by an unknown but apparently said to be reliable source close to the company, when the HTC Edge comes out next year it will have the super chip along with a 720p HD touch display that measures 4.7 inches and the Google Android OS.  Adding to the allure of the new HTC Edge will be an 8mm camera that is equipped with a 28mm lens.  Onboard the mobile will also have one GB of RM and 32GB of storage allowing for plenty of room for anything you could need.

However, the processor is what will really make the Edge stand out as it will be the first device outside of tablets to take a run at the new Tegra 3 processor.

Two new BlackBerry devices have recently been unveiled by Research in Motion. Both of these smartphones will be running the new operating system by the company called BlackBerry 7. The first of the phones is the BlackBerry Bold 9790 which has a large touchscreen and a trackpad. The phone has been designed to be very easy to hold and is very thin. RIM has announced that the phone has a 1 GHz processor and has 8 GB of storage built in. For those who need more the amount of space can be upgraded to 32 GB with the use of a Micro SD card.

The second device is the BlackBerry Curve 9380. This is the first BlackBerry Curve to have a touchscreen and while it has less internal storage, at 512 MB it can also be expanded up to 32 GB with a Micro SD card.

The new operating system that is shipping with the devices is claimed by RIM to be able to browse the web nearly twice as fast as its previous operating system. The reason for this is both to do through improvements in software but also with the handsets. The devices have improved support for HTML 5 and have more advanced graphics processing.

RIM have commented, “These new blackberries are a great expansion to the current range and we are very pleased to announce them. BlackBerry offers a more refined way for people to communicate and we think customers are going to be very pleased with the improved speed of these new devices. The design of them has also been improved and the touchscreen displays are designed with athletics in mind.”

It is expected that the new mobile phone manufactured by Nokia, the Lumia 800, is going to be a great success. Nokia has a reputation for making great phones, but the software has often let them down as the Nokia operating system tends to be unpredictable. This new phone however utilises an operating system created by the undisputed champion of the operating system world, Microsoft.

While many people see this as very similar to a previous phone, the N9, this new phone operates entirely on the Windows Mobile 7 operating system and is sure to bring a whole new experience to users. If you use this latest smart phone you are sure to be impressed as it is a very fine piece of work.

The hardware of this new phone is a delight to touch. It is made out of plastic but it feels very much like a metal and it is scratch resistant and if it does scratch it is hardly noticeable. There is a vibrant 3.7 inch screen behind a piece of glass that curves to meet the edges of the casing. It is a millimetre or two thicker than the iPhone but when in the hand it feels just right.

If you were to think of a word to describe how this phone feels you could use ‘designed.’ Most phones on the market are what you might call engineered, but this phone, with its good looks and stylish feel as if it has been created by a designer rather than an engineer – who is simply focused on function.

The phone has a solid weight to it, but this is not a bad thing, in fact many designers of smart phones often try to make them as light as possible and this can leave them feeling cheap and rushed together. This new Nokia feels as if it is just the right weight.

The processing power inside the phone is not market leading, it has a 1 GHz processor and a single core. A recent comment before the phone’s release from Microsoft stated, “We have made so much effort in making sure the operating system runs perfectly on 1 GHz that adding more power would simply be unnecessary.”

They are probably right, as adding additional power would shorten the battery life significantly. In tests, several android phones, even with more powerful processors have been shown to stutter, but the Nokia never does.

Nokia has still left some of its software on the phone, despite Microsoft having alternatives on the device. There is no real advantage to using the Nokia software as it tends to be slightly behind the Microsoft versions. However, Nokia Drive, still comes with free navigation software which will be appreciated by many users.

Battery life on the phone is good thanks to a PenTile screen, which is a type of technology that saves battery power with the only cost being that sometimes the pixels on the screen appear little bit strange, but this is not very noticeable.

The phone is let down a little by its relatively small memory of only 16 GB and there is no room for expansion. The phone comes on sale next week in the UK and will retail for around £400 and it is sure to be a serious contender in the ever-growing smart phone market.

When it first hit the market, the Galaxy Tab was lauded as the device that may finally offer dome resistance to the seemingly inevitable iPad takeover of the world. What was on the inside didn’t match up to the outside however, and the fact that it ran on the Android 2.2 system which is best suited for handsets stopped it’s hoped for challenge for supremacy in its tracks.

Those whizz kids who beaver away within the gilded walls of Samsung have quickly sorted it out in time for the release of the Galaxy 7.7 and installed the quaintly named Honeycomb, AKA android 3.2. The screen is, not surprisingly, 7.7” long, and is a convenient and compact screen for the weary traveler who is hungry for their Facebook fix.

It is also a world away from the cumbersome 10.1 tab that Samsung has been recently hawking. It has the Super AMOLED + display, which Samsung never tire of telling us how wonderful it is, and who can blame them when the 1280x800mp allow the device to deliver what they at Samsung Towers described in their press release as  having brilliant and high contrasting colors and a crystal clear and crisp viewing experience.

These claims, as grandiose as they are, have been backed up by the reception the 7.7’s screen when it was revealed in Berlin at the IFA 2011 last week, and all hands on parties in attendance gave it a huge thumbs up. It’s a great relief to know that this tab isn’t all beauty and no substance like its predecessor.

Under the bonnet of the 7.7 is a nifty 1.4GHz dual-core processor, which they have promised will deliver super-fast web navigation and loading, program multi-tasking, and the highest quality audio and video playback. Due to this device having the pleasure of the company of the Honeycomb, the entire internet experience will be vastly improved, and have options such as multi tabbing.

Having Flash capabilities will also allow for a much improved and superior web surfing experience to that which existed on the Tab 7, and there will also be access to the impressive Android apps store. Along the same lines, the 7.7 also allows the user access to all of the Samsung Hubs which offer music, books and games to those owners with access to them.

There is a library of over 15m songs, 2000 newspapers and 3000 magazines, a real bonus for those who have managed to avoid purchasing an iPod, a DS or a Kindle. This tab is also an aesthetic delight, and the appearance is really something special, if tabs were supermodel, the 7.7 would be ‘The Body’, Elle McPherson.

The slick aluminum case and dimensions of only 197x133x8mm and the wait of a bird at only 335g, it will fit perfectly into the smallest of hands. Samsung are also claiming that despite the 7.7 being diminutive, the battery life is in no way affected and you will still get 10 hours of playback time. This may all turn out to be codswallop of course, but it certainly sounds good.

Whatever  the final results are, this is a great offering, although the chances of any other device ever usurping the power of the iPad is next to zero, the 7.7 clearly shows that there are good alternatives for those who aren’t enamored with Apple’s products.

An Advertising Feature

With Christmas on the way, many people will be using the festive season as the perfect opportunity to invest in some of the latest gadgets. With everything from televisions to Smartphones currently being offered in multiple formats, finding the right gadget at the right price can be difficult, so what should consumers do?

The most important thing to remember is that there are always deals and offers available on purchases, all consumers need to do is look for them. These deals will be available on a vast selection of products and to make sure they get the right one, customers should compare specifications against their requirements.

Televisions

The humble TV has come a long way since its initial CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) incarnation. Nowadays, TV sets will operate using HD, LCD and LED technologies, offering people improved picture qualities amongst other benefits. 3D technology has also hit the home screen, demonstrating how the world of technology is continuing to offer customers new experience all the time.

TV sets are manufactured by a vast range of manufacturers and Apple fans may be pleased to know that their favourite manufacturer creates more than just phones and computers. The Apple TV is a digital multimedia receiver which enables streaming from YouTube and other services and also gives customers discounts on film rentals at the Apple iTunes Store. This simple device is connected to your television set via a HDMI cable, allowing easy streaming of footage for your viewing pleasure.

Smartphones

Smartphones are one of the most popular gadgets, purchased by people of all ages. In fact, recent data has suggested that as many as 50% of the British population now own one of these devices.

Alongside famous Smartphone manufacturers Apple and RIM, (the makers of BlackBerry handsets) other companies such as Samsung and HTC are proving to be popular alternatives. All of these manufacturers offer a range of different models which will cater to all requirements and monetary restrictions.

One of the most popular Smartphones currently on the market is the Samsung Galaxy S2. Using the popular Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, the handset combines a 1.2GHz dual-core processor with 4.27 inch display for ultimate customer satisfaction.

Of course, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is not the only Smartphone available on the market and there are plenty of other models to choose from. When selecting a Smartphone, customers should always consider the following things:

• Type of use: customers should make sure that the phone they select is suitable for the use it will get. This means checking the main specifications, such as the processor, display and tariff before purchasing.

•Additional features: things such as cameras, media players and applications are all additional extras which can give customers more value for their money. Customers should always consider what is on offer with these, such as the picture and sound quality available.

•Functionality: with a phone capable of so many functions, it is important that people check its functionality. This means checking that the menu layout and operations are easy to understand and logical.

San Francisco based company Jawbone has helped make a name for itself by creating new Bluetooth headsets and have just announced that now they will be entering a new gadgets market: those designed for use with personal health according to a press release in Fortune Magazine.

The new gadget from Jawbone will be a wristband that is water-resistant with an accelerometer built into the gadget.  Known as the UP, the unique wristband lets users track their routines on a daily basis including how much they have walked, the amount they have moved, how many calories they have burned, and the quality and amount that they have slept.

Also incorporated into the UP is a headphone jack that can be used to plug into an iPhone to help charge it in between locations.  In addition, plugging it into the phone allows the data to be synched with an app on the mobile that allows users to see their information on a series of bright graphs.  The app also allows users to track their food consumption by taking pictures of meals and writing how they feel after they finish consuming their meals.

Every time the UP is synced it also gets a bit brighter as it will vibrate and wake up its users at their best sleep cycle time within their normal sleeping patterns as recorded by the wristband.  In addition, there is a social function built into the UP that allows users to see a news feed that lets them know what other users of the UP are doing at any given time.

Users also have the option to participate in group or individual challenges or to join teams and compete in challenges created by different health organizations to help motivate them to stay healthy.