Already available for the holidays is a PC for only $199 running Linux.  Every year we see Linux creeping into the Desktop market with Ubuntu now offered on dell's this PC from Walmart is a considerable jump. 

The USB Ecostrip is a normal power strip but with an added bonus, it turns off your devices when your not using them. The Ecostrip has a USB connection to your PC and determines when you shutdown, when you do, it powers down any peripheral devices you might have including your printer, router, monitor or anthing else. As your electric bill keeps rising this winter grab this easy gadget to help you trim a couple bucks off. On average you could save $70 in the first year. The strip only costs 34.95, so it pays for itself. It seems like a really great idea for the average home user.

Industry leaders have formed to develop the next USB standard 3.0.  Data transfer is predicted to be ten times faster then 2.0 while maintaining backwards compatibility.  As our mobile devices get larger and larger we need to transfer that data quicker and quicker.  Not only will this new standard be faster but it will also be optimized for better efficiencies.  This means that it will use less power and we will have longer battery life for our laptops and mobile devices.  The new standard will maintain the existing plug and play ease of use.  The new standard is expected to be complete in the first half of 2008. 

Hopefully hardware manufacters will integrate USB 3.0 into there devices and consumers will be able to transfer data securely and effienciently.  With this new standard, i hope they can iron out some of the annoyances of previous USB standards.  There needs to be a set standard of the kind of USB plugs, these proprtary plugs different types are utterly annoying.  Hopefully we will actually see performance of the theoretical bandwidth they claim, I have never actually seen transfer rates relating to the max of USB 2.0.  USB remains to be the most popular device transfer medium and hopefully it will be getting better. 

check out more at www.usb.org 

Intel who usually keeps release dates secret has said that its new penryn family of processors will be released November 12, today!  This new family hold 12 new quad core versions of its xeon server processor and a core2 extreme desktop chip.  These chips not only are on a 45nm platform but revolutionize the materials used to make transistors.  For the first time in 40 years the materials used in making transistors is changed to Hafnium with a combiniation of 2 secret metal oxided instead of silicon dioxide.  With the smaller size and new materials these chips not only perform better but also use less energy.  The new chips range in price from $177 to $1,279 and the Core 2 Extreme QX9650 will be $999. 

The speeds of the chips are also very impressive. The 12 new quad-core chips boast clock speeds ranging from 2GHz up to 3.20GHz, with front side bus speeds (FSB) up to 1600MHz, and cache sizes of 12MB. The three new dual-core chips feature clock speeds of up to 3.40GHz, an FSB of up to 1600MHz, and cache sizes of 6MB.