Apple offers free repairs for faulty 2018 MacBook Air logic boards

Some owners of Apple's current-generation MacBook Air might be due for a free but important fix. Reports from 9to5Mac, AppleInsider and MacRumors indicate that Apple has found a logic board problem with a "very small number" of MacBook Air units tha...

MSI Outs New mini-ITX mainboard and Video Card


MSI has pulled the covers off a couple new pieces of computer hardware that are designed to let gamers build small form factor computers that have all the functionality they need. The mainboard is...

Next iPhone’s motherboard possibly spotted with a dash of extra wireless

Next iPhone's motherboard hits the leak scene with a hint of extra wireless

We may well have seen the next iPhone's back shell, front panel, SIM tray and even its cabling. Why not round it out with what might be the motherboard? A WeiPhone forum goer who slipped out the iPhone 4S' board last year is back with the 2012 update's potential new heart. While the tipster hasn't been courteous enough to do a side-by-side with the older component, repair shop iDeviceGuys notes to 9to5 Mac that the newer part isn't just a carbon copy; that smaller SIM slot (what you see in the middle) is one of the bigger giveaways. The real treat may be the extra wireless antenna connections. They aren't any surefire signs of 4G, but the antenna links suggest Apple isn't content with what the iPhone 4S has to offer. We're mostly left wondering about what's under that shielding -- it's a mystery as to whether or not the next iPhone's processor speed bump is a mountain or a molehill. Barring one more peek, we could get the full scoop next month.

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Next iPhone's motherboard possibly spotted with a dash of extra wireless originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Aug 2012 23:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIA makes its first ARM-based Pico-ITX board, adds dual graphics for your in-car pleasure

VIA makes its first ARMbased PicoITX board, adds dual graphics for your incar pleasure

VIA has only ever really had a dalliance with ARM; the VAB-800 might be a sign that it's willing to go steady for awhile. As the company's first Pico-ITX board with an ARM chip, the 800 stuffs up to a 1GHz, Freescale-made ARM Cortex-A8 and 1GB of RAM into a tiny, 3.9 x 2.8-inch board. Somehow, it still fits up to four USB 2.0 ports, mini HDMI, VGA and as much as 64GB of storage. The board's real tricks are its dual integrated graphics processors: the VAB-800 can independently steer two displays, just in case your in-car infotainment system can't be contained by merely one screen. You'll likely have to be a car designer or an industrial device maker to make an order, although the 5W power draw and support for Android, Ubuntu Linux and Windows Embedded Compact 7 should soon see the VAB-800 crammed into logic-defying spaces everywhere.

Continue reading VIA makes its first ARM-based Pico-ITX board, adds dual graphics for your in-car pleasure

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VIA makes its first ARM-based Pico-ITX board, adds dual graphics for your in-car pleasure originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 05:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X gives audiophiles 7.1-channel analog sound, overpriced cables thankfully optional

Biostar HiFi Z77X motherboard gives audiophiles 71channel analog sound with amp, overpriced cables thankfully optional

There haven't been many choices in PC motherboards for audiophiles -- the 'real' kind that might see even a good dedicated sound card as slumming it. Biostar wants to fill that untapped niche with the Hi-Fi Z77X. Along with run-of-the-mill expansion for an Ivy Bridge- or Sandy Bridge-based desktop, the board's built-in 7.1-channel audio flaunts six 3.5mm analog jacks, an amp and the kind of exotic-sounding language that leads audio addicts to buy $2,000 cables they don't need. We're talking "metal-oxide film resistors" and "non-polarized electrolysis electric audio capacitors," here. Whether or not the changes have an appreciable impact on sound quality, listeners are ironically left out of S/PDIF audio, which exists only as a header on the board unless buyers spend a little more on parts. That said, if we assume the as yet unknown price isn't stereotypically high -- and that audiophiles don't mind a big, potentially noisy desktop as a home theater PC -- the Hi-Fi Z77x could be a treat for those who want to wring every nuance out of music and movie soundtracks.

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Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X gives audiophiles 7.1-channel analog sound, overpriced cables thankfully optional originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kontron preps first Tegra 3-based Mini-ITX board, homebrew gets an ARMful

Kontron preps first Tegra 3based MiniITX board, homebrew gets an ARMfull

Believe it or not, there's a potentially cheaper (and more customizable) way to get NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 into your life than to spring for a Nexus 7. Kontron is readying a rare Mini-ITX motherboard, the KTT30, that combines the ARM-based chip with expandable RAM and a trio of mini PCI Express slots for expansion like a micro SATA drive or a 3G modem. The external ports are more the kind you'd find on a do-it-yourself x86 PC, too: full-size HDMI, USB and even Ethernet make a show at the back. The only hurdles are an unusually throttled back 900MHz processor speed and, quite simply, the lack of release details. Kontron hasn't promised more than a release "coming soon" -- with much more complete Tegra 3 devices now hitting the $199 mark, though, we can't see the KTT30 putting much strain on any budding hobbyist's wallet.

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Kontron preps first Tegra 3-based Mini-ITX board, homebrew gets an ARMful originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jul 2012 23:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIA Android PC Hits Pre-order


VIA announced they that is little APC Android-powered small form factor computer was available for pre-order. The little mainboard has an embedded processor and was announced last month for $49. The...

VIA APC Android PC is Tiny and Cheap


VIA has announced a new and very compact computer designed to run the Android operating system. The small mainboard computer has all the components you need integrated right onto the board and runs...

Thunderbolt on Windows gets hands-on, lacks Mac’s hot-swapping

Thunderbolt on Windows gets hands-on, lacks Mac's hot-swapping

Thunderbolt's 10-gigabit interface is only just making its way to Windows after spending more than a year as a Mac-only feature, so it's not surprising that a lot of questions surround how well the Apple- and Intel-developed connection works for those of a Microsoft persuasion. A thorough test at AnandTech of one of the first motherboards to support the spec on Windows PCs, an Ivy Bridge-ready board from MSI, has shown some positive signs along with a few flies in the high-speed ointment. The good news? Most general storage devices will work as expected with a minimum of fuss, and you can even get some features of Apple's Thunderbolt Display working if you're willing to accept a lack of pre-supplied software brightness controls and USB support. The bad news comes mostly in the absence of true hot-plugging like on the Mac: if a device isn't plugged into the Thunderbolt port on boot, Windows won't see it. Professionals who need everything to be just perfect will want to wait, then, but bandwidth lovers will still find something to like if they're willing to build Thunderbolt-equipped PCs themselves.

Thunderbolt on Windows gets hands-on, lacks Mac's hot-swapping originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 May 2012 01:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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