The Ultimate HTPC graphics card - ATI Radeon 5450

Want a graphics card that delivers pure media acceleration without giving 2 cents to gaming? Then you’re prayers have been answered thanks to the ATI Radeon 5450. Here’s the low down:

For $50 (~INR 2500) - You get a DX 11 card, with Eyefinity, UVD2 and HDMI support! To add to it… It’s built on a 40nm die, with a core clock speed of 650MHz and only 80 stream processors. What does this mean? It’s a tiny card, passive cooled, media powerhouse. It has just 12 gigs of memory bandwidth, but 104 GFLOPS of compute performance! Most of the latest onboard graphics cards rate at 40 to 50 GFLOPS - do the math.

Here are the specs:

Here’s what the card looks like:

Here’s a little snippet from the Legit Reviews guys:

Adding the Radeon HD 5450 to the test system (AMD X2) added about 7W to the idle numbers, but actually saved 14W of power during movie playback since it didn’t use as much of the CPU during Blu-ray playback.

The bottom Line:

The ATI Radeon HD 5450 might be the best HTPC graphics card ever made. For less then $60 - you get flawless blu-ray playback with DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreaming!

Take complete control…with just 1 remote!

Once upon a time I thought it was very cool to have 5-6 remotes laying around the table. It probably showed that you had SO many cool devices!! We had remotes for VCRs, VCD players, DVD players, Hi-Fi decks, Gaming consoles and guess what? Before you knew it, you were sitting on your couch and fumbling around with what remote turns on what device!! If you had all of them the same brand, you were liable to be even more confused!! I can tell you the number of times my mom’s had a fit over pressing a button and some weird thing gets turned on. Well I’ve seen a lot of all in one remotes, but they don’t get the job done very well - they’ve been aound for over a decade now…but now comes along a revolutionaly product which will solve all that!

Enter the Yamaha neoHD remote! The all in one solution with a neat on screen interface to give you complete control! It great having one single remote…think of the time you’ll save, the frustration you’ll avoid, not to mention the number of batteries!!
Which over model you choose – the Media controller, the WiFi Media controller or the 2.1 system, you will not be disappointed and freedom is all yours! Now for the best part – you can win your very own Yamaha neoHDsystem just by entering the Yamaha neoHD Sweepstakes !! Its so simple! All you need to do is either of the two:
1.    Tweeting: “I just entered to win a #neoHD b/c I have too many remotes, visit (blog.izea.com)
2.    Or just go to blog.izea.com

So here’s an amazing chance for you to win!! Why don’t you also leave a comment on why you want you want and let me know if you’re entering the contest!! Also look up Yamaha neoHD on facebook!
See you in the contest..hope you win!!

PS3 Slim Revealed

Getting straight to the point…The new PS3 slim measures 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter and consumes 34 percent less power. It’ll also pack a 120 GB hard drive as a middle ground between the current 80 GB and  the 160 GB SKU. The 120 GB size will also put it head-to-head with the Xbox 360 Elite.

Besides the new hardware, perhaps the biggest news is that the PS3 Slim will also bring with it a much slimmer price tag of $299, or 299 Euros, or 29980 yen.

For those of you who’ve been on the fence about buying a PS3, does this new hardware and price do it for you? Also note, that the new PS3 Slim is no longer PS2 backward compatible.

Apple Tablet in October for Around $800

The China Times today reports that we’ll see the long-rumored Apple tablet sometime in October for around $800. Right now, there’s little information on hand that we didn’t already know.

Previous rumors said that the tablet would be a touchscreen media player, something to fill the gap between an iPod touch or an iPhone and a Macbook. Back in April Piper Jaffray analyst Gene said the device would cost between $500 and $700, sport a 7″-10″ screen and launch in 2010, as opposed to the WWDC date some people assumed.

The report in the China Times is generally more of the same but with a closer launch date. Like we already knew, Wintek, Foxconn and Dynapack are rumored to have received direct orders from Apple for parts. The China Times reports that we’re looking at a 9.7″ tablet and that, surprise surprise, Apple will not target low-end customers with the device.

An update to the article says that Foxconn, Wintek and Dynapack refused to corroborate the information in the China Time report, saying their company policies prohibit public disclosure of client information.

Check out the translation here or the original report here.

16GB PSP Go revealed

Though Sony’s E3 Press Conference isn’t until 11:00 a.m. on June 2, one of its centerpieces appears to have been prematurely exposed. A YouTube video of what appears to be the next issue of the PlayStation-focused video magazine Qore has revealed that Sony will use its event to unveil a new PSP model, the PSP Go.

As had been widely rumored, the PSP Go will have a sliding form factor like the Mylo, Sony’s ill-fated Internet communicator device. The new handheld–which does not sport a second thumbstick–is shown several times in the video, which features Qore host Veronica Belmont and John Koller, director of hardware marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America. According to Koller, the main differences between the PSP Go and the PSP-3000 are “on-board memory, the flash memory, and 16 gigs of space. There’s Bluetooth on board as well, so you can use a Bluetooth headset, and you can actually tether it to your cell phone as well. But ultimately, it’s the portability. Since you can bring all that content with you in a smaller form factor, you’ve got the most immersive games to play, and now you’ve got a smaller unit to do it with.”

Koller also said the emphasis will be on downloadable games. “Little Big Planet, Jak & Daxter, and even a new Metal Gear Solid coming–all of those games will be available. So will all the first-run movies you can rent or buy on the PlayStation Network. So you can bring so much content over with you and fill up that 16 gig of flash memory.” (Emphasis added.) The new MGS PSP game was previously hinted at in a Web post by the Japanese arm of the 7/11 convenience store chain.

Koller also appears to reveal that the long-lost PSP Gran Turismo Mobile game–first shown off in 2004–will resurface at next week’s expo. “There are games like Gran Turismo being announced at E3,” said the executive.

Host Belmont then asks, “So since it’s called the PSP Go, I would image it will work with Remote Play as well.” Koller responds with the following blanket statement: “Integration with the PS3 is very important, and it works just like the PSP-3000. A lot of people like to be able to take their PS3 content with them on the go.”

As for the PSP Go supplanting its predecessor, Koller said flatly: “It won’t replace the PSP-3000. We’re going to keep them both on the market.” Koller did not mention a price, release date, or whether or not it would have a touchscreen when closed. Sony Computer Entertainment America reps had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

[UPDATE] A second video from Qore shows the PSP Go in even greater detail, and also reveals its logo. The handheld will have a 3.8 inch screen–versus the PSP-3000’s 4.3-inch screen–and will be 43 percent lighter than the original, and will have “all digital content,” according to Koller. “The UMD drive goes away…and it has a Memory Stick Micro, so you can add memory to it if you like…It will be something the digitally savvy consumer can really enjoy,” he explains, before revealing some new PSP games will be download-only.

The full YouTube video is below, although the sound and images are out of sync. It appears to also show a version of the original Warhawk for the PSP: