This new solid-state drive from Samsung is capable of writing data at 100 MB/s and reading at 120 MB/s. Nicely outperforming other SSDs out there, which are usually capable of only 50-80 MB/s read and write speeds. Samsung’s new SSD will be available as 1.8″ and 2.5″, and will be running on the SATA II standard. It will consume 50% less power than most current SSDs. There is no information yet about price.

Word on the street: Samsung will develop a 128GB SATA II SSD in mid-2008. More

It’s always fun to reminisce about some of the technology that got us to where we are today. The “state of the art” computers we used as kids that had less computing power than today’s toaster ovens. Compared with current computers it’s a wonder that anything was ever accomplished, but the jobs still always seemed to get done. Of course it turns out that some of that old tech junk you have sitting in your attic or basement may be worth a couple bucks. There is a whole industry springing up around vintage tech and computers. Check out the collectible PCs slideshow and be prepared for that undeniable reality that, yes, you’re getting old.

Source: MSN Tech

Well, you still can’t play Halo 3 on it, but a UMass professor has a more practical use in mind for his PS3. Dr. Gaurav Khanna, an assistant professor at UMass, created an 8 node cluster using PS3s to run models to see if gravitational waves, which have been postulated for nearly 100 years but never observed, are strong enough that we could actually observe them one day.
In the past, Dr. Khanna had rented time on various supercomputing sites across the US, typically using a couple hundred processors and costing as much as $5,000 of his grant money.

Khanna’s cluster has been up and running for a little over a month. He says that the cluster is roughly equal to about 200 of the supercomputing nodes he used to rely on. Read more at Wired…

PS3 clusters have been created by other researchers as well. One of the pioneers is a North Carolina State University Professor, Dr.Frank Mueller, who created an 8 node PS3 cluster back in March of this year for a total cost of about $5,000.

Interested in the idea, but not sure about where to begin? Terra Soft Solutions is offering turnkey PS3 clusters. An 8 node cluster will set you back about $21,500 and a 32 node cluster $52,250. Besides the obvious cost of the consoles, for that price you also get a dual-proc Power Mac G5, a 48 port switch, Yellow Dog Linux pre-installed (developed and maintained by Terra Soft for the Power architecture family of CPUs), 7 cat 6 cables, mouse, keyboard, 19″ display, and 20 hours or technical support.

Apple has just announced a slimmer and sweeter looking keyboard. One is larger and connects via standard USB, and the other is a smaller Bluetooth enabled board. The smaller version is described as being “almost exactly like the MacBook keyboard.” Via Gizmodo and Engadget

Intel’s new 2.6GHz Core 2 Extreme X7800 is now top of the line. This is Intel’s first “Extreme” processor specially made for laptops. According to Engadget, “a 2.8GHz X7900 is expected later in the year,” and “Belgian tinkerers over at Matbe have already dialed in a 3GHz speed on an X7800-equipped ASUS G2S gaming laptop.” The new X7800 will go for around $850. Read [TG Daily]

MacScoop seem to think that a 12″ MacBook Pro is on its way before the end of the year. According to their sources it will be 0.6-0.7 inches thick and weigh less than 3 pounds. I’m writing this on my 12″ iBook, which I think is the perfect portable size, so if Apple do bring out another device in this format I’ll be one of the first customers - especially if they up the resolution a little.

It’s unclear whether or not it will include an optical drive, but losing that would be no problem for such a portable device. They don’t mention any possibility of a multi-touch screen, so maybe that’s asking a little too much.

A new contest has been organised for the 15th DefCon, which ups the stakes a little. Own the Box is a hack-the-box contest with a difference - if you get access to the machine then you get to keep it.

Obviously the motivation for hackers is bragging rights and the chance to win themselves a server or two. The motivation for putting your box into the competition though is only bragging rights, and only if it survives, which it probably won’t.

Are you a defensive ninja? Are your services unbreakable, your builds airtight? Do your countermeasures have countermeasures for counter-countermeasures?

So prove it, bucko… Bet your box on it, on the most hostile network in the world.

All you need is some off-the-shelf parts and two enormous mountains that are 237 miles apart from each other. Ermanno Pietrosemoli managed to set up a wireless connection from El Aguila in Venezuela, to Platillon Mountain, at a rather impressive speed of 3mbps.

I’m sure that almost all coverage of this will include a joke along the lines of, ‘I can’t even get WiFi in my [insert place that you should get WiFi, the more comical the better]!’ It’s true though, isn’t it? WiFi coverage is rubbish in most places, except the International Space Station, the North Pole and a mountain top in South America.

A great little 1.8-inch hard drive that can fit easily in your pocket, looks to be slightly larger than a credit card. It’s made by SAVITMicro of Korea and will come in 30, 40, and 60GB.

More Images [Akihabara]