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CES 2012—QNAP Updates NAS Product Range

Jim McCarthy

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Jan 12, 2012

QNAP announced an update to their popular NAS product range during CES. Read on for details!

QNAP announced an update to their Atom-powered NAS units and their surveillance products. Here is the news release with details:

QNAP Unveils New Intel Atom Powered Turbo NAS Server Range and its Latest VioStor NVR Video Surveillance Systems at CES 2012

LAS VEGAS, NV CES Booth 36816, January 10, 2012 – QNAP^® Systems, Inc. today unveils the next generation of its extremely popular and award-winning TuboNAS server lineup, along with its latest VioStor NVR video surveillance systems. In addition, the company is pleased to debut new NAS Firmware (3.6) and a new storage expansion solution for its business-class Turbo NAS.

New Business-Ready NAS Range

The new NAS series, available in 2, 4, 5, 6, or 8-drive versions, are powered by a high performance dual-core Intel^® Atom™ processor. This new range provides the perfect blend of performance, business-ready features and value that make QNAP the ideal networked storage choice for small and medium-sized businesses.

New Expansion Solution for High-end NAS

At CES QNAP is also showcasing its recently announced TS-x79 ultra-high performance high-end SMB-class Turbo NAS models. At the same time the company is pleased to announce the launch of a complimentary storage expansion solution to the TS-x79 series, the JB-1200U-RP. This provides IT administrators with a flexible and economical way to expand their storage infrastructure as their business needs grow, providing over 200 TB of additional capacity.

New NAS Firmware

QNAP also announces its latest V3.6 NAS management firmware. It provides highly anticipated features including VPN Server, LDAP Server, Proxy Server, cloud music and photo sharing via a web browser, enhanced backup features, a new version of MyCloudNAS 1.2, QPKG center, and an increased range of compatible IP camera and UPnP routers.

New VioStor NVR Video Surveillance Systems

Capture HD video with robust and reliable storage from QNAP Security. The 48-channel VS-8148 Pro+ provides real-time audio-video monitoring, simultaneous playback of multiple network cameras and megapixel recording at up to 10-megapixel resolution. Store up to 24 TB of footage, or 3 TB per hard drive, with hot-swappable RAID for data redundancy. The VS-8148 Pro+ supports H.264, MxPEG, MPEG-4, and M-JPEG recording from up to 48 network cameras.

“QNAP continues to innovate and evolve NAS beyond what many thought was possible,” said Ivan Hsu, product marketing director of QNAP Inc. “During these challenging economic times QNAP has continued on a path of strong growth due to our unrelenting commitment to excellence and delivering products that meet and exceed the expectations of our broad range of customers, from the consumer right up to the most demanding enterprise data center.”

About QNAP Systems, Inc.

QNAP Systems, Inc. is a privately held company founded in 2004 and is dedicated to bringing world class NAS storage, professional NVR video surveillance, and network video players to consumer, small/medium business, and entry level enterprise market segments. QNAP leverages not only hardware design but also a growing core competency in software engineering that is precisely focused on bringing to market products that offer the highest available performance coupled with outstanding reliability, scalability, and ease of installation and use. QNAP is a multi-national company with headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan, and subsidiary offices in China and the United States.

QNAP Press Release: Update to NAS Line

CES 2012 – Buffalo Announce cloudstor Powered by Pogoplug

Andrew Edney

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Jan 12, 2012

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CES 2012 – Buffalo Announce cloudstor Powered by Pogoplug

This week at CES, Buffalo announced their new personal storage solution called cloudstor and it’s powered by Pogoplug!

Buffalo’s CloudStor Enables Users to Seamlessly Access and Share Their Content with Anyone, Anywhere.

Here is what was said:

Buffalo Technology, a global leader in the design, development and manufacturing of wired and wireless networking and network and direct attached storage solutions, today announced the revolutionary Buffalo CloudStor™ personal storage solution. Powered by Pogoplug, CloudStor goes beyond simple storage, creating a portal to freely access and share photos, videos, music and much more with anyone, anywhere through the cloud. Unlike online storage services, CloudStor has no capacity or service fees. Just plug it in, turn it on and create your free account at mycloudstor.com. CloudStor comes with everything you need to get started. You just have to be free to share.

“The consumption of digital content is rapidly moving beyond traditional channels along with how that data is stored and accessed,” said Ralph Spagnola, vice president of sales at Buffalo Technology. “Buffalo’s CloudStor delivers on the promise of data mobility and allows your content to be shared freely with anyone, anywhere.”

CloudStor is secure because no content resides in the cloud; users own and store their files and decide what to share. Whether at home, the office or on the road, the CloudStor user experience remains the same. It looks and operates just like a hard drive inside your computer, accessible via a drive letter on PCs and as a device through Finder on Mac® computers. And with Pogoplug apps for mobile devices and easy Facebook and Twitter integration, you’ll always be seconds away from your content.

“Sharing and managing digital assets have moved beyond traditional storage and are no longer confined to one computer or network,” said Daniel Putterman, CEO of Cloud Engines, Inc. “Buffalo’s CloudStor is the first Pogoplug device with integrated storage, and coupled with the easy-to-use interface, consumers now have an out-of-box ready Pogoplug storage solution that is free of service and data fees.”

At the center of every CloudStor is Pogoplug’s cloud service. The popular service connects users to their storage and allows them to freely access and share their storage anywhere in the world. CloudStor is the first and only Pogoplug device with integrated storage. Files are securely shared between people and there is no need for user setup; just email a link to your family and friends. Consumers’ digital content always resides on CloudStor and the online service is only used to connect users and guests to specified files on the device.
In addition, CloudStor offers many traditional consumer network attached storage features including private share support for LAN based network sharing and pairing with the popular µTorrent client, allowing users to offload the task of downloading torrent files from computers to CloudStor. Buffalo CloudStor can also stream to popular media devices, including Sony PlayStation® 3 and Xbox 360®. Plus, CloudStor has an integrated Time Machine backup system that allows Mac users to use Time Machine to backup their systems to CloudStor when at home.

The Buffalo CloudStor is backed by a limited one-year warranty that includes toll-free 24/7 US based technical support. CloudStor will be available February 2011 at an estimated street price of $169.99 for the 1 TB CloudStor (CS-WX1.0TL) and $269.99 for the 2 TB CloudStor Pro (CS-WV2.0TL).

UWHS Talks to Actor Greg Grunberg About His App Yowza!!

Andrew Edney

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Jan 12, 2012

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UWHS Talks to Actor Greg Grunberg About His App Yowza!!

Last night we met up with actor Greg Grunberg and talked about TV, movies, social media and a very cool app he wrote called Yowza!!

What is Yowzaa!!

Yowza!! puts savings in your pocket by bringing you exclusive deals and coupons from over 15,000 merchants nationwide! All you need is a smartphone! And it’s free!

Here is the video we took of Greg – he explains it better, he could be an actor:

UWHS Talks to Greg Grunberg about yowza

Greg was very generous with his time last night – we talked about the app and why he wrote it, and he told me all about two of his new movies that are coming out (both sound fun) and we even talked about Hawaii Five-0!

The app looks great, and as he says on the video, it’s also coming the UK very soon!

Download Yowza!! Now

CES 2012 : Video of Samsung’s Smart Interaction TV

Andrew Edney

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Jan 12, 2012

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CES 2012 : Video of Samsung’s Smart Interaction TV

Here at CES, Samsung are showing of TV’s with their new Smart Interaction features, which means you can control your TV with your voice and with gestures, and even sign-in to the TV using facial recognition. UWHS had a demon and here is the video.

The show floor at CES is not only heaving with people, it is very noisy, so Samsung had some fairly sound proof booth set up for the demonstration.

Smart Interaction enables you to use voice, motion and your face to control your TV, be it changing the channel, the volume, or clicking links on a web page.

It acts very much like Microsoft’s Kinect device – you use the features by saying “Hi TV” then whatever you want to say or do afterwards.

There is even a Bluetooth connected IR blaster that can be used to extended the controls to other devices.

There is a camera built into the top of the TV screen, it is very small and discreet so no large and obvious devices here!

The demo was very impressive, especially given the location and surround movement and noise of CES. We look forward to seeing more of this technology in the coming months.

And here is the full video of the demo:

UWHS–Samsung Smart Interaction at CES 2012

What do you think?

CES 2012 – A Look at the WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo

Andrew Edney

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Jan 12, 2012

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CES 2012 – A Look at the WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo

Tonight at CES, UWHS was invited to a private event with Western Digital where they showed off their forthcoming WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo external hard drive.

The drive itself looks very impressive, and you can daisy-chain up to six of them to increase your available storage.

The speed tests that were running were very impressive!

More info on this drive in the coming months.

CES 2012 : BOND 50 – The James Bond Blu-Ray Collection

Andrew Edney

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Jan 12, 2012

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CES 2012 : BOND 50 – The James Bond Blu-Ray Collection

Yesterday at CES, MGM and 20th Century Fox announced BOND 50, a Blu-Ray collection of all 22 James Bond films, and two former Bond girls were on hand to help.

Here it the press release:

In celebration of James Bond’s monumental golden anniversary, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment today unveiled BOND 50, a collectible box-set featuring all 22 James Bond films on Blu-ray Disc for the first time in one complete offering. The longest running film franchise of all time, the Bond 50 collection marks the debut of nine James Bond films previously unavailable in high definition Blu-ray. Fans around the world can pre-order now with participating online retailers.

Acclaimed Bond directors John Glen (five Bond films including For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights & Licence To Kill), Martin Campbell (GoldenEye, Casino Royale) and Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough) with special guests Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) and Caterina Murino (Casino Royale) made the Blu-ray announcement today during a Directors’ Panel discussion in the Panasonic Booth at the annual Consumer Electronics Show.

BOND 50 showcases fifty years of Bond neatly packaged into one cool, sleek collectable box-set featuring all six iconic James Bond actors. Produced using the highest possible picture quality and audio presentation, the collection includes all 22 James Bond feature films from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace and more than 130 hours of bonus features including some new and exclusive content.

“With all 22 feature films available on Blu-ray in one collection for the first time this is a great way for fans to catch up on 007’s epic journey before Skyfall hits theaters next Fall,” said Michael Brown, Senior Vice President, MGM Home Entertainment. “Now viewers can enjoy the intense action of the innovative franchise in the most immersive home experience possible.”

“We have a whole program of exciting activities planned for our 50th anniversary year, beginning with today’s announcement, by Fox, of the release of all 22 films on Blu-ray for the very first time,’’ added Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, with Eon Productions. “We are also delighted that Fox has unveiled a specially designed anniversary poster which we hope the fans will love as much as we do. Our website, 007.com will be regularly updated with all the latest anniversary news and events.”

CES 2012 – Buffalo AirStation WZR-1750H 802.11 ac Router in Action

News
Tech

Andrew Edney

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Jan 11, 2012

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CES 2012 – Buffalo AirStation WZR-1750H 802.11 ac Router in Action

Here at CES, Buffalo have announced their AirStation WZR-1750H 802.11 ac router, a router capable of speeds up to 1300 Mbps, and we got to see the prototype in action.

As you can see from the photo above, at the moment the prototype is just a chipset on a board, but it works and was running perfectly well. Buffalo told me that it is likely to look like their current router hardware when it is released towards the later half of 2012.

During the live demo at CES, there was a screen showing the network speed. The camera caught it at 790.5 Mbps, but I saw it exceed 820 Mbs during the demo.

The theoretical maximum speed is 1300 Mbps, but Buffalo are quick to point out that those speeds are unlikely due to various factors.

There was a nice graph showing the speed of ac against the other wireless standards.

All in all this looks like a very fast router indeed, and we will bring you more information when it becomes available.

Microsoft Releases Windows Critical Security Patch

Andrew Edney

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Jan 11, 2012

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Microsoft Releases Windows Critical Security Patch

Microsoft issued Security Bulletin MS12-004, which is a Critical patch affecting Windows Media – Vulnerabilities in Windows Media Could Allow Remote Code Execution (2636391).

This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted media file. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerabilities could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.

This security update is rated Critical for all supported editions of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008; and Important for all supported editions of Windows Media Center TV Pack for Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2.

If you have automatic updates enabled you should have the update now, if not, do a manual download and consider enabling Windows Update.

CES 2012 – Aleratec Announced New Portable Hard Drive Duplicator/Dock Using USB 3.0

Andrew Edney

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Jan 11, 2012

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CES 2012 – Aleratec Announced New Portable Hard Drive Duplicator/Dock Using USB 3.0

Aleratec raises the standard for portable HDD duplication with the introduction of the 1:1 HDD Copy Cruiser Mini USB3.0, an essential tool for building and upgrading computer systems.

The 1:1 HDD Copy Cruiser Mini USB3.0 gives users the power to make hard drive copies and access hard drives quickly and easily with one lightweight, portable device. Though it weighs in at less than a pound, it is both a powerful standalone hard disk duplicator and a versatile HDD docking station.

Since it is standalone, there is no need to tie up any computer running complicated duplication software. A simple one-button operation creates perfect clones and backup drives, and the fast sector-by-sector copy process includes partition and boot sector information. Users can connect and remove drives in seconds with the quick-connect hard disk drive bays, allowing users to quickly and easily mount or dismount either drive.

The 1:1 HDD Copy Cruiser Mini USB 3.0 duplicates any combination of 2.5” and 3.5” SATA hard disk drives and solid-state drives (SSDs). Compact Flash (CF) memory, CFast memory and 50mm mSATA drives can also be duplicated using optional adapters, not included.

As a docking station, the 1:1 HDD Copy Cruiser Mini USB3.0 can be connected to a PC with the included SuperSpeed USB 3.0 cable. This high-speed connection allows users instant access to the contents of up to two connected hard disk drives at a time. Users can add additional storage to an existing computer or back up a computer’s critical data.

“This is a powerful, high-quality hard disk duplicator in a versatile, lightweight and affordable device,” says Aleratec President and CEO Perry Solomon. “Despite its portable size, it features the latest technology, including SuperSpeed USB 3.0, which is quickly becoming the new standard.”

The 1:1 HDD Copy Cruiser Mini USB3.0 supports Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7, Mac OS10.3 or later, and Linux.

The Aleratec 1:1 HDD Copy Cruiser Mini USB3.0 is available for shipment now with an Estimated Retail Prices (ERP) of $104.99 and is available from Aleratec’s dedicated resellers and distribution partners.

Sector-by-sector stand-alone hard disk drive cloning
One-button operation for cloning
Dual plug-and-play hard disk drive access via USB 3.0
Supports both 2.5” and 3.5” SATA hard disk drives
Supports Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7,Mac OS10.3 or later, Linux
Product Dimensions (LxWxH)111 x 137 x 55 mm / 4.4 x 5.4 x 2.2 in
Physical Weight: 0.3 kg / 0.66 lb

Take a look at the short video below:

CES 2012 – ZOTAC Announces D2700-ITX WiFi Supreme

Andrew Edney

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Jan 11, 2012

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CES 2012 – ZOTAC Announces D2700-ITX WiFi Supreme

Today at CES ZOTAC have announced their D2700-ITX WiFi Supreme motherboard designed for DIY home theater PC builds.

The ZOTAC D2700-ITX WiFi Supreme combines the latest energy-efficient Intel Atom processor with world-class NVIDIA GeForce graphics processing for superior energy-efficiency and stunning high-definition video playback.

The latest generation Intel Atom D2700 CedarTrail processor with dual cores and Intel® HyperThreading technology enables the ZOTAC D2700-ITX WiFi Supreme to deliver snappy multitasking responsiveness for everyday computing tasks. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 graphics processor equips the ZOTAC D2700-ITX WiFi Supreme with hardware-accelerated Blu-ray 3D playback capabilities and HDMI 1.4a technology for the ultimate 3D high-definition experience.

““The ZOTAC D2700-ITX WiFi Supreme succeeds our award-winning IONITX series with upgrades to smoothly playback stereoscopic 3D content, output lossless audio formats and embrace Microsoft DirectX 11 technology while maintaining the compact mini-ITX form factor,” said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International.

Expansion is plentiful with the ZOTAC D2700-ITX WiFi Supreme platform, including two DDR3 DIMM slots, a PCI Express x16 (single-lane) expansion slot, two SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports and two USB 3.0 ports. Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 3.0 networking technologies round out the platform for lightning-fast network connectivity wired or wirelessly.

Intel Atom D2700 (2.13 GHz, dual-core)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 (512MB DDR3)
2 x DDR3-1066 DIMM slots
Support up to 4GB memory
Dual-link DVI, DisplayPort & HDMI outputs
PCIe x16 (single-lane) expansion, 1 Combo mini-PCIe / mSATA slot (WiFi module)
2 SATA 3.0 Gb/s
2 USB 3.0 ports (back panel), 6 USB 2.0 ports (4 on back panel, 2 via pin headers)
Gigabit Ethernet
Hardware accelerated Blu-ray 3D playback
Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD MA bitstream capable (HDMI) & 6-channel HD audio
Microsoft DirectX 11 technology
Onboard 802.11n WiFi & Bluetooth 3.0
Mini-ITX form factor

CyberLink and 7digital Announce Partnership to Bring Online Music to PowerDVD

Andrew Edney

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Jan 11, 2012

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CyberLink and 7digital Announce Partnership to Bring Online Music to PowerDVD

CyberLink today announced a partnership with 7digital, a leading digital media company, to bring online music to CyberLink’s flagship playback software PowerDVD, in its forthcoming version 12.

Here is what CyberLink said:

The cooperation will make over 17 million DRM-free music available in PowerDVD. Users can purchase their favorite music from major record labels, such as Universal, Warner Music, Sony Music and EMI, in PowerDVD’s 7digital music store directly, and sync the songs to their mobile devices, or download directly from mobile devices.

“We are delighted to partner with 7digital to provide consumers with more choices and convenience to access millions of high-quality music via PowerDVD,” said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink. “With the addition of PowerDVD music store, PowerDVD takes further steps to enhance user experience of the universal player.”

“We are continuing to see demand for access to music on all devices,” said Ben Drury, 7digital CEO. “With the upcoming launch of PowerDVD 7digital music store, we are excited to see the realization of our vision to provide anytime anywhere access to music for consumers.”

The PowerDVD music integration uses the 7digital API (application programming interface), which allows partners to access 7digital’s catalogue and build bespoke music download services. 7digital has a fully licensed catalogue of over 17 million tracks in MP3 format, the broadest geographical reach of any MP3 download service.. It provides access to the latest releases, as well as an extensive catalogue of some of the greatest music ever recorded across all musical genres.

CES 2012 – SteelSeries Introduces the Siberia V2 Frost Blue Headset

Andrew Edney

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Jan 11, 2012

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CES 2012 – SteelSeries Introduces the Siberia V2 Frost Blue Headset

SteelSeries introduces the illuminated Siberia v2 Frost Blue Headset with Super-Bright blue LED lighting with advanced customisable settings.

Here at CES this week, SteelSeries introduced the Siberia v2 Frost Blue Headset. The super-bright, blue LED lights glow through the outer mesh grill on each earcup, the Siberia v2 Frost Blue’s lights and soundscape can be customized through SteelSeries Engine software. It has an incredibly lightweight, over-the-head suspension design with an active noise-cancelling microphone and circumaural earcups that feature 50mm driver units, covered by grey leather cushions for a noise-dampening sound.

“The Siberia v2 Frost Blue combine’s incredible sound with a style that is not only recognized, but is an original design that’s been optimized and improved,” said Jacob Wolff-Petersen, SteelSeries Founder. “This headset packs a loud and crisp soundscape with the expected luxury for the user to be able to adjust everything – from illumination options, equalizer settings to creating and assigning profiles for multiple game titles and players, all through the SteelSeries Engine software.”

The headset illumination offers 6 different modes and can be assigned to behavior and game specific profiles through the SteelSeries Engine, including: Active Mode (responsive pulsing to sound effects, music, and/or voice), Slow Pulse, Fast Pulse, High Bright, Low Bright and Off. The Siberia v2 Frost Blue will also features an active noise cancelling, “smart” microphone system that retracts when not in use. The microphones processor reduces the “noise” and focuses on the sound that is closer to the mic, your voice. Its in-line volume and mute controls are found on a durable, double-braided nylon cord with a USB connector.

The SteelSeries Siberia v2 Frost Blue will be available in Q2; pricing will be announced closer to availability. For more information about the new SteelSeries Siberia v2 Frost, please visit http://steelseri.es/frostblue.

CES 2012 – SteelSeries Introduces New Gaming Mice – the Kana, Kinzu V2 Pro and Kinzu V2

Andrew Edney

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Jan 11, 2012

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CES 2012 – SteelSeries Introduces New Gaming Mice – the Kana, Kinzu V2 Pro and Kinzu V2

SteelSeries have introduced three new optical, ambidextrous mice based on features that are important to gamers – Size, Color, Illumination, Buttons, and Switches.

SteelSeries this week here at CES introduced a new line-up of gaming peripherals. Kicking off the mouse category for SteelSeries in 2012 is the SteelSeries Kana, also known as the Designed by Gamers mouse; and two editions of the new version of the SteelSeries Kinzu, the SteelSeries Kinzu v2 and SteelSeries Kinzu v2 Pro Edition. The SteelSeries Kana mouse was introduced to SteelSeries fans in the Designed by Gamers Campaign as Mouse 1.1, which gave more than 300,000 gamers the design choice and where 60,000 “Likes” determined the winning Black 1.1 design.

“With the Designed by Gamers campaign, it was the first time we asked our fans and followers to choose a design for us, and we were incredibly proud to see the response from the community – it makes sense that consumers, specifically our consumers want to have a say in what we’re creating, said Kim Rom, SteelSeries CMO. “This new line-up of mice were each designed to fulfill the needs of different types of players, especially those who may not need all of the customization that can be found in the SteelSeries Sensei.”

The SteelSeries Kana, Kinzu v2 and Kinzu v2 Pro Edition are all powered by the SteelSeries Engine. It allows users to customize the mice with the ability for unlimited profiles, program buttons, set the polling rate, create macros, customize CPI settings, optimize your layout by recording movements and viewing a heat map of button usage and more.

The SteelSeries Kana features:

•    Ambidextrous shape with an optimized 6-button layout
•    Tournament grade optical sensor 3600 Frames Per Second and supports stable movement speeds at 130 Inches Per Second.
•    Illuminated scroll wheel with LED intensity options that can be assigned to indicate the currently active CPI profile.
•    DCPI is 1600-3200
•    Two XL-sized side buttons (one on each side) for easy rapid-fire
•    UPE Teflon mouse feet and a double-braided nylon cord with 2.0 USB connector
•    Two color and illumination options, White 1.1 and Black 1.1

Available now on the SteelSeries Web Shop and select retailers, the SteelSeries Kana is $49.99 / €49.99 MSRP.

Rom adds that, “The Kinzu v2 and Kinzu v2 Pro Edition are for players who don’t want anything more than minimal buttons and functionality, but that recognize minimal still means quality and precision.”

SteelSeries Kinzu v2 Pro Edition features:

•    Tournament-grade Omron button switches which are recognized by the industry and the community as reliable, high-end hardware components that deliver ‘best-in-class’ performance and feedback.
•    Ambidextrous shape with 4-button layout including the CPI toggle
•    Tournament grade optical sensor operating at 3600 Frames Per Second
•    Supports stable movement speeds at 65 Inches Per Second.
•    UPE Teflon glides and a double-braided nylon cord with 2.0 USB connector
•    Three color options: Glossy Black, Metallic Silver and Red

Available now on the SteelSeries Web Shop and select retailers, the SteelSeries Kinzu v2 Pro Edition is $44.99 / €44.99 MSRP.

SteelSeries Kinzu v2 features:

• Identical features as the Kinzu v2 Pro Edition, with the exception of the Tournament-grade Omron button switches.
• Four color options including: Rubberized Black, White, Orange, and Yellow

Available now on the SteelSeries Web Shop and select retailers, the SteelSeries Kinzu v2 is $39.99 / €39.99 MSRP.

CES 2012 – SteelSeries Introduces the Ion Wireless Gaming Controller

Andrew Edney

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Jan 11, 2012

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CES 2012 – SteelSeries Introduces the Ion Wireless Gaming Controller

SteelSeries introduced the SteelSeries Ion Wireless Controller this week at CES, which is a compact controller which can be used for games on your PC and mobile devices .

Through a licensing partnership with Zeemote Technology Inc., the SteelSeries Ion is designed to work fully with your PC, additionally the controller brings classic control schemes to touch screen devices like tablets and phones. The compact controller connects wirelessly through Bluetooth and can be easily customized and configured through its own application on the device.

“For PC users, the SteelSeries Ion is a convenient alternative, especially if they want something other than their mouse or keyboard as their tool. And for consumers with tablets and Smartphone’s, it really is an ideal accessory” said Bruce Hawver, SteelSeries CEO. “Whether you’re sling shooting birds or playing a word game with friends, there are games that are ideal for touch screen. Those types of games however, are not the only games available; there are a number of first-person shooter and RTS games that aren’t downloaded or played as frequently as they could be, because the touch screen doesn’t provide an optimal experience. The SteelSeries Ion provides the advantage for those types of games.”

Measuring only about the size of a standard deck of cards (approximately 108mm in length, 55.5mm in width and 18mm thick); the lightweight controller can be easily stored and carried. It connects through Bluetooth to your PC and/or your mobile device and includes a white LED light on the controller indicating a connection. The SteelSeries Ion includes a rechargeable, lithium battery that will provide up to 20 hours of wireless use and can be plugged into your device for charge and play use.

The SteelSeries Ion boasts a classic controller design that includes 2 mini-joysticks, a left side Dpad button, 2 trigger buttons one at each shoulder, and a four button layout on the right, similar to familiar Nintendo®, Xbox 360® and PlayStation® controllers. The buttons can be customized through an easy-to-use interface for both PC and mobile devices.

The SteelSeries Ion Wireless Controller will be available in Q3; pricing will be announced closer to its availability. For more information about the new SteelSeries Ion, please visit http://steelseri.es/ion.