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The Google Earth globe is made from a mosaic of satellite and aerial photographs taken on different dates and under different lighting and weather conditions. Because of this variance, views of the Earth from high altitude can sometimes appear patchy.

Today, we’re introducing a new way of rendering imagery that smoothes out this quilt of images. The end result is a beautiful new Earth-viewing experience that preserves the unique textures of the world’s most defining geographic landscapes—without the quilt effect. This change is being made on both mobile and desktop versions of Google Earth. While this change will appear on all versions of Google Earth, the 6.2 release provides the best viewing experience for this new data.

British technology start-up, Power Ethernet, has launched the ‘PE Socket’, the first product to integrate Powerline networking technology directly into an electrical socket. The PE Socket provides a simple and professional way of specifying high-speed data network connectivity throughout a building by using electrical cabling. The ‘PE Socket’ is available from leading electrical resellers including CPC and Rapid Electronics. Based on the HomePlug AV standard for Powerline networking, Power Ethernet’s all-in-one PE Socket combines four Ethernet network ports, a fully-managed network switch and filtered power socket into a single device. It fits a UK Standard 35mm double gang metal back box and uses a building’s electrical wiring to create a high-speed and secure data network for connecting computers, Voice over IP phones, Internet-connected TVs and digital signage, home automation and entertainment systems, building management systems, CCTV cameras and other Ethernet connected-devices.

Power Ethernet’s PE Socket is unique in integrating Powerline into the electrical fabric of a building and its sockets. It’s a professionally engineered, reliable Powerline solution which has been aesthetically designed to ensure that the sockets can be installed in the most prominent of positions. This enables the creation of a high speed network without the need and the disruption of running specialised cabling.

In Greenfield sites, the Power Ethernet system removes the cost of specifying and installing additional cabling to provide network connectivity. In Brownfield sites, it also removes the costs of making good the installation of additional data cabling and reduces disruption by using existing electrical cabling. It can be used as a complete, backbone network for residential buildings, providing Internet and data connectivity for devices and home automation systems. In commercial buildings it can be used as a simple way of extending existing networks to accommodate demand for new device connections or creating sub-networks to support deployments of IP-based phones, CCTV cameras, building management systems or digital signage.

Power Ethernet managing director, Daniel Rogoff said: “Powerline offers such a simple and cost-effective solution to the challenge of connecting the growing number of Internet-enabled devices used in homes and businesses. However, we quickly realised that Powerline needed a professional makeover for it to reach its full potential as a networking technology. By integrating Powerline directly into the electrical fabric of a building, with the PE Socket, we are able to offer a reliable, simple and elegant approach to specifying Powerline networking. Best of all the PE Socket is designed to be installed by electricians without them having to learn data networking skills.”

The Power Ethernet socket supports speeds of up to 200Mbps across mains cabling and distances of up to 300 metres between sockets. The filtered power socket is designed to reduce the effect of electrically noisy devices that may be plugged into it in order to provide the highest network rates across the Powerline network.

Installing two or more PE Sockets instantly creates a high speed, secure Ethernet network running across the existing electrical mains cabling. More devices and additional rooms can be easily added to the network simply by installing additional PE Sockets so creating a truly flexible, affordable networking solution.

A Power Ethernet network includes the advanced networking features needed for commercial deployments, such as support for voice and video over IP, security (128 bit AES), device prioritisation (Quality of Service) and network segmentation (virtual LANs). With a fully-managed network switch on each socket, the Power Ethernet system integrates easily with existing enterprise networks.

This makes for an exciting development as many people expected that ultrabooks will always be doomed with Intel integrated graphics. It turns out that with Optimus, Nvidia can play this card and place some low power GPUs in some ultrabooks. Of course, don't expect any miracles, we are still talking about low TDP parts.

Sources mentioned that Asus and Acer should be on board, but we cannot confirm this at press time. However, we stand tall by the news that Kepler gets to Ultrabooks this year. This was confirmed by several industry sources.

The first massive batch is expected shortly after Chinese New Year, so let’s say mid-February and after that time most Nvidia Kepler early adopters and Ivy Bridge machine supports will start making its products based on new 22nm CPUs and 28nm Nvidia graphics. Of course, Optimus is a key feature that got Nvidia that so much traction. It doesn’t cost almost any battery life, unless you play a game or you need your GPU to take some heavy load and give you some better frame rates.

The launch date for both Ivy Bridge mobile CPUs as well as Kepler mobile parts is the first or second week of April, with April 8th being the date we’ve heard.

Along with its multi-billion dollar push for Ultrabooks and Atom based mobile devices, Intel is preparing a serious entrance into the world of enterprise-class storage with its chipsets. As we all know, while Intel had enterprise features in platforms such as vPro and the enterprise line-up - using an on-board storage controller was a big no-no if you needed reliability and quick rebuilds.

It took some time, and we even saw disabling Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) from Panther Point (7-Series chipset) since it was producing a number of errors. Of course, we cannot forget the catastrophic Sandy Bridge (CPU)/Cougar Point (6-Series chipset) launch with the recall of said chipsets and a billion dollar loss. The reason was of course, erroneous storage controller.

In 2012, it looks like Intel learned its lesson and the company is bringing serious improvements with its Rapid Storage Technology software suite 11.5 and 11.6 (Windows 8 refresh).

The Daily had a chance to check out a pair of prototypes incorporating Kinect sensors over the last few days. The devices, which at first glance appear to be Asus netbooks running Windows 8, feature an array of small sensors stretching over the top of the screen where the webcam would normally be. At the bottom of the display is a set of what appear to be LEDs.

A source at Microsoft has confirmed that the devices are indeed official prototypes of laptops featuring a Kinect sensor. In terms of functionality, there are hundreds of different ways that motion control could be leveraged in a portable. Gaming has the most obvious applications, but a Kinect-enabled laptop could also toggle between programs with the wave of a hand, or media controls could be tweaked with the wag of a finger. What’s more, motion-controlled portables could offer a new way for disabled individuals to interact with their devices.

The smallest carbon-nanotube transistor ever made, a nine-nanometer device, performs better than any other transistor has at this size.

For over a decade, researchers have promised that carbon nanotubes, with their superior electrical properties, would make for better transistors at ever-tinier sizes, but that claim hadn't been tested in the lab at these extremes. Researchers at IBM who made the nanotube transistors say this is the first experimental evidence that any material is a viable potential replacement for silicon at a size smaller than 10 nanometers.

"The results really highlight the value of nanotubes in the most sophisticated type of transistors," says John Rogers, professor of materials science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "They suggest, very clearly, that nanotubes have the potential for doing something truly competitive with, or complementary to, silicon."

Described as the 'little brother' of the Interceptor model, the Black Hornet measures 200 x 493 x 490 mm, is painted black both inside and out, and features a steel structure, a front I/O panel with USB 3.0 (x 2), eSATA (x 1) and HD Audio ports, a built-in SATA drive dock (it supports both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drives), and seven PCI slots.

Xilence's case also has four exposed 5.25-inch bays, two 2.5-inch and four 3.5-inch internal drive bays, two hot-swap drive trays accessible through the front, and two built-in fans - one 120 mm spinner at the back and one 140 mm model with red LEDs in front.

Feature highlights of the AMD Catalyst™ 12.2 driver:

AMD Eyefinity 2.1 technology enhancements

Additional resolution support: Users can now choose from a larger set of resolutions when running AMD Eyefinity

Dynamic Configuration Changes: Switching between different display configurations will occur automatically when physically plugging/un-plugging displays

HydraVision™ enhancements: The Windows Task bar can now be moved and resized based on users preference

Profile Manager improvements: Increased support for Display Groups (including 5x1) and Extended configurations within the Profile Manager

Please note that AMD Radeon HD 7900 users should keep using the 8.921.2 RC11 driver found here (the 12.2 preview does not supported the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series): http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/RC11Driver.aspx