Go shopping online for a microSDHC card and you’ll find that while manufacturers don’t hide the speed specs, they’re not exactly crowing about ‘em either. Make no mistake, though: Samsung is mighty proud of its new 32GB number, which boasts a class 10 speed rating and read / write rates of 24MBps and 12MBps — ideal numbers for those of you who plan on making good use of your phone’s 1080p camera. If you’re a storage buff, you know that class 10 is the highest speed category for SD cards at the moment, and that it sits above classes 4 and 6 — the tiers covering many other microSDHCs on the market. No word just yet on pricing, but we think it’s safe to say you’ll be dishing out a premium.

Yesterday, the W Hotel in Taipei hosted over 700 members of the media from across the Asian region that was in town to witness the launching of a new line of notebooks from ASUS.

Called the special edition N-series, or the ASUS N-series Jay Chou Special Edition (N43SL) in full, this new machine is endorsed by and also designed by Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou.

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Sony’s got a reputation for pumping out forwardly-designed wares, but its new G-Series micro HiFi systems are a blast from the past — at a glance, anyway. Both rigs are MP3 and iPhone / iPod-compatible via USB and will be available in two different configurations. To start, the CMT-G1BiP / G1iP feature 60 watts of RMS power with DAB packed into the former for those who find only having AM/FM is passé. Next up, the CMT-G2BNiP / G2NiP add WiFi for getting your stream on from the Web or a PC and can be remote-controlled with a free iOS app. The “HiFi” moniker mixed with iPod connectivity might have audiophiles raising a brow to sound quality, but the brushed metal console and its piano-gloss satellites are lookers none-the-less. A single variant is currently listed on the Sony UK site, although there’s not a squeak regarding cost or release dates.

SOURCE via Sony

Already fiddled around Google+? We had our fun yesterday, though it’s still buggy and with lots of loophole. But check out what we found! Buried deep in Google Plus’ source code are a few curious references to at least two new services that may very well be destined for the invite-only social networking suite. Yes, you won’t have to worry about no Mafia Wars anymore and happily migrate to Google+, since Zynga is under Google anyway.

The first is Google Games, the tech giant’s first venture into the world of social gaming. While this isn’t a big stunner — recent job postings insinuated that this feature would come around sooner or later — it makes perfect sense for it to be included as part of the Google+ experience to help strengthen Mountain View’s bid against the likes of Facebook.

Also on the company’s white board is Questions, a likely love child of Google’s $50 million acquisition of Aardvark. When the source code offers up hints like “you might try rephrasing or tagging your question to make it easier for someone to answer,” along with the utterance of sharing questions with others and commenting on answers, nothing could be more indicative of a social service.

There still isn’t a strong indication that we’ll see these two features pop up anytime soon, but the hamster wheels are definitely turning right now, and we’re piecing the clues together. At the rate things are going, these services may easily be ready before we all get invites.

SOURCE via Google

AMD is due to release a batch of new Llano APUs next month that is specifically tailored to desktops rather than laptops. The most powerful among them will be the 2.9GHz A8-3850, which has already caused a stir on the review circuit for one simple reason: it pulls off a brutal “one shot one kill” on Intel’s HD 3000 integrated graphics.

AnandTech raised an impressed eyebrow at the fact that all its benchmarking games were playable on the $135 AMD chip, which roughly doubled frame rates in titles like Modern Warfare 2, Bioshock 2 and World of Warcraft compared to the more expensive Sandy Bridge i5 2500K. TechSpot declared the APU its “new budget king,” with graphical performance “on another level” compared even to an i7. Yes, this processor is bloody awesome! But wait… not everything’s perfect.

The superlatives quickly evaporated once reviewers shifted their focus to the CPU. TechReport spotted that pure CPU performance per dollar was actually lower than what you’d get from a lowly i3. Moreover, it reckoned you’d only have to spend an extra $70 to buy a much more powerful CPU and a separate graphics card — an option that comes “awfully close to making the A8-3850 seem irrelevant.”

Ouch. Nevertheless, if an affordable processor with integrated graphics is what you’re after, then it’s fair to say this one sets the standard. Click the source links below for full reviews.

SOURCE via TechReport, TechSpot, Anandtech

The Internet is chock-full of adorable pet videos and Jackass-style human clips and lame videos, but it isn’t very often when the animal is the one surviving the ill-advised act. That’s typically not our cup of tea anyway, but when you throw in a spanking new Lamborghini Murciélago and a happy ending and we’re likely to bite.

Beyond the jump is video of a squirrel that cheats death by Lamborghini. The earth-hugging bull is minding its own business at over 100 miles per hour during The Ultimate Lamborghini Experience 4 event at California’s Fontana raceway when said squirrel decided to cross the track. What comes next is a bit of a miracle, as the squirrel manages to time its crossing in a most perfect manner. We’re not sure who is luckier – the squirrel or the LP670-4 SV driver – but it does look like the furry critter may have had its tail docked a bit in the encounter, so let’s hope he’s okay. He probably had a twin-turbo charged leg. Hit the jump to watch the video for yourself.

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Odds are that mentions of the Skate caused your mind to immediately wander to roller derbies or marine biology, but that’s clearly not the sort of imagery ZTE is looking to evoke with its forthcoming smartphone as the underdog tries to take on the likes of HTC and Motorola. After all, the Gingerbread device does seem a step up from the company’s usual offerings, and therefore deserves a far classier name — like the Monte Carlo.

The rechristened phone will be arriving shaken, not stirred on Orange — no word on an exact date at the moment, just “soon.” The Android handset has a 4.3-inch screen, an 800MHz processor, and a five megapixel camera. From the looks of the Orange page, however, the giant Android drawing appears missing from the rear of the device, clearly a budget Android device for the lower-income groups.

SOURCE via The Inquirer