Gadgets
Lexar Showcases Wide Range of Memory Solutions at GITEX Global 2024
Lexar showcased its wide range of memory solutions at GITEX Global 2024. Fissal Oubida, General Manager and Global Marketing Director – Middle East, Africa, and India, Lexar, said, “Our impressive product showcase at GITEX reflected our relentless focus on research and development and our deep commitment to consistently bring out innovative memory solutions to address the evolving needs of today’s consumers. Lexar’s product designs undergo extensive testing in our Quality Labs, which are facilities with more than 1,100 digital devices, to ensure performance, quality, compatibility, and reliability.”
The Lexar ARMOR series, which is being touted to be the world’s first memory card made of 316 stainless steel, includes the GOLD SD UHS-II and the SILVER PRO SD UHS-II cards. Encased in high-quality steel, both these rugged cards offer IP68 waterproofing, dust proofing and bend-resistance, making it ideal for outdoor filming. Both the Gold and Silver editions promise read speeds up to 280 MB/s. The cards differ in terms of write speed, with the Silver Pro topping out at 160 MB/s and the Gold delivering up to 205 MB/s. The Lexar Armor Gold and Silver Pro SD cards will come in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities.
At this edition of GITEX Global, Lexar showcased the Professional DIAMOND CFexpress 4.0 Type B Card, boasting industry-leading speeds of up to 3700MB/s read and 3400MB/s write. The other major highlight at Lexar’s stand this year was the new SL500 Portable SSD, measuring 4.8 millimetres thin and weighing just 43 grams. For USB 3.2 Gen2x2 devices, the SL500 promises read speeds up to 2,000 MB/s and write speeds up to 1,800 MB/s.
“Our participation at GITEX Global perfectly aligns with our commitment to bring the future of memory solutions to the Middle East and Africa region. We are excited to showcase the world’s first stainless steel memory card ‘Armor series’, the extremely compact SL500 Portable SSD, in addition to our other innovative storage solutions that are designed to meet the unique needs of users and also offer unmatched performance and value to customers in the region,” he added.
Lexar also showcased its suite of memory cards including CFexpress 4.0 and SD 8.0. Using next-gen PCIe 4.0 technology, Lexar showed off four new CFexpress 4.0 memory cards, the TYPE-B DIAMOND, GOLD, SILVER, and the TYPE-A GOLD card, all boosted with massive capacities of up to 4TB, enabling seamless 8K RAW video shooting at blazing read and write speeds.
For the SD8.0 card, Lexar Professional GOLD PRO SDXC Express Card delivers up to 1700MB/s read speeds—over 5x faster than SD4.0 cards. Lexar also showed its Professional Go Portable SSD with Hub a 1-2TB portable SSD for seamless mobile video shooting. It works alone or with a hub to add lights, mics, and power. The USB 3.2 Gen 2 SSD delivers blistering 1050MB/s read and 1000MB/s write speeds, enabling 4K 60fps ProRes video capture directly on iPhone 15 Pro/Max and beyond.
Lexar ARES RGB 2nd Gen DDR5 Desktop Memory is an exclusive series featuring premium SK hynix DRAM chips and blazing-fast speeds of up to 8000MT/s. Lexar is also introducing the new ‘pexar’ brand and its product—the pexar digital picture frame. Featuring an excellent 2K and anti-glare display, it is a smart WiFi frame that serves as a shared photo album for the whole family, making it a perfect gift for loved ones. At this edition of GITEX Global, Lexar offered a unique DIY engaging activity for all visitors to make their USB drives, which they could take home for free.
“Over the years Lexar has established a strong presence in the region’s imaging industry. Lexar has secured seven Red Dot Awards in 2024 for Innovative Design and Excellence, and two consecutive Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) Awards for ‘Best Storage Media’, underscoring the company’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology and exceptional product design. We are aggressively building a professional community of elite photographers, videographers and content creators across the Middle East who share their creative insights through engaging workshops and forums,” Oubida concluded.
Artificial Intelligence
Acer Intros New Veriton NUC Series with AI Features
Acer announced the new Veriton NUC Series offering reliable performance and high efficiency. The Veriton NUC Series is adaptable to various applications, from small and medium-sized businesses to front desks, small offices, and digital signage. With its slim and compact design, the Acer Veriton NUC is smaller than a traditional desktop PC, making it especially useful in narrow workplaces where space is limited and easier to transport when needed. Thanks to the VESA mount support, it can be conveniently hidden behind a monitor, optimising the workspace.
Acer’s new Mini PC series integrates Intel Core Ultra processors, enabling AI-assisted functions to enhance productivity and creativity. Powered by advanced Intel ARC graphics with 8Xe cores, the new Veriton NUC Series is ideal for large workloads that require parallel throughput. This cutting-edge technology offers better graphic performance than traditional on-board GPUs. In addition, the new NUC supports 8K resolution displays, offering users natural and sharp original quality. With Intel AI Boost, the Neural Processing Unit (NPU) in the Acer Veriton NUC Series offers innovative AI features that maximise energy efficiency, delivering exciting new user experiences with Windows Studio Effects and next-generation collaboration, streaming and creation applications.
Thanks to its wide range of ports, the Acer Veriton NUC makes multi-tasking even easier. Equipped with HDMI, Display and Type-C ports, Acer’s new NUCs support the connection of all necessary peripherals and offer a seamless user experience. The integrated full-function USB Type-C port with DisplayPort Alt mode allows Acer’s new Mini PCs to connect directly to a display or monitor, while USB 3.2 Gen 2 supports speeds of up to 10 Gbps. Additionally, the new Veriton NUC Series supports the multi-screen configuration, allowing up to three displays to be connected simultaneously. This functionality is particularly appreciated in certain sectors where comparing different images or graphs is essential, such as in the medical, financial or engineering fields.
The new Veriton NUC Series integrates the Wi-Fi 6E module that supports speeds of up to 9.6 Gbps, nearly 3 times faster than the 3.5 Gbps speed of Wi-Fi 5, improving performance and reliability. High-speed file sharing, smooth 4K streaming, ultra-responsive surfing and gaming, great work from home and remote learning experiences become a reality with Acer’s innovative new NUC series. In addition, Wi-fi 6E also supports WPA3 encryption, improving security and protection against possible hacker attacks.
Users can enjoy uninterrupted and secure connections without worrying about network traffic overload. The availability of Dual LAN ports guarantees greater stability, security, and efficiency for wired connectivity. The other LAN port can act as a backup, ensuring a stable and uninterrupted Internet connection. It can also enable the configuration of an internal and external network, increasing security and helping balance the network traffic between two ports to prevent overloading.
Gadgets
Corsair Introduces K70 PRO TKL
CORSAIR has unveiled the K70 PRO TKL, a tenkeyless keyboard that redefines the standards of gaming performance. Powered by CORSAIR’s innovative MGX Hyperdrive magnetic switches and featuring cutting-edge technologies like Rapid Trigger and FlashTap, the K70 PRO TKL is designed to dominate the competitive gaming scene.
The K70 PRO TKL introduces CORSAIR’s MGX Hyperdrive magnetic switches, which utilize Hall-effect sensors for lightning-fast activation. Combined with Rapid Trigger, these switches accelerate actions by registering and resetting keypresses instantly, surpassing the capabilities of traditional mechanical switches. The customisable actuation distance, ranging from 0.1mm to 4.0mm, allows gamers to tailor the keyboard to their specific preferences.
The K70 PRO TKL also offers FlashTap, a revolutionary SOCD system that enables esports-grade character movement. By prioritizing the first or last keypress, FlashTap significantly enhances in-game movement, particularly for rapid-strafing and move-mirroring techniques.
The wired-only K70 PRO TKL boasts 8,000Hz hyper-polling, ensuring ultra-fast keystroke registration. CORSAIR’s AXON hyper-processing technology further minimizes input lag and delay, giving gamers a decisive edge in critical moments.
The K70 PRO TKL delivers a premium gaming experience with its pre-lubricated MGX Hyperdrive switches, which offer a consistent and wobble-free keystroke. The keyboard’s sound-dampening foam reduces unwanted noise, creating a quieter and more immersive gaming environment.
Gadgets
ASUS Celebrates One-Year Anniversary of NUC Portfolio
ASUS has announced that it has made significant achievements and launched groundbreaking AI innovations following its official takeover of the NUC portfolio from Intel in October 2023. In October 2023, ASUS undertook the significant task of taking over Intel’s NUC portfolio and continuing the 10-year legacy of NUCs, which have been deployed to millions of customers worldwide. This marked the first time that ASUS has been involved in such a large-scale industry transition. Over the past year, ASUS seamlessly and successfully transitioned customers from the legacy Intel NUC portfolio to the ASUS NUC portfolio.
ASUS NUCs are now synonymous with top-tier performance, exceptional quality, and reliability. These attributes ensure that ASUS NUCs stand out in the market, offering an alternative to traditional desktops in a compact, mini-sized package, providing users with superior computing solutions that are both innovative and dependable. Whether for professional workloads, gaming, or AI applications, ASUS NUCs deliver the power and stability required for even the most demanding tasks and ensure that users thrive in this new AI era.
“As we celebrate our first anniversary of the successful takeover of the NUC portfolio from Intel, we remain committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation and delivering cutting-edge technology to our customers,” said Jackie Hsu, Senior Vice President and Co-Head of the Open Platform Business Group and AIoT Business Group. “The introduction of the world’s first AI mini PC and a seamless transition for existing NUC users underscore our dedication to maintaining our leadership position in the industry.”
ASUS continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in the computing industry with the introduction of the AI NUC – the world’s first AI mini PC powered by an Intel Core Ultra processor (Series 2) with Microsoft Copilot+. These AI-enabled NUCs feature the latest NPU, GPU, and CPU architectures, enabling customers to design for the future of AI. ASUS NUC 14 Pro AI, which was recently unveiled at IFA 2024, allows users to experience the next level of AI performance, unlocking new possibilities for advanced computing tasks. This compact powerhouse offers a mini PC alternative to laptop AI PCs, providing more flexible options for AI-driven computing.
In addition, the ROG NUC/NUC 14 Performance is a new expansion of the ASUS AI NUC offering. The ROG NUC and NUC 14 Performance mark significant strides in ultra-small form factor computing. These devices are tailored for both gamers and versatile commercial use, integrating high-performance components into compact designs.