AValive and Gefen offers USB to DVI graphics adapter

AValive announced Graphics peripheral maker Gefen on Wednesday introduced a new USB to DVI Graphics Adapter that enables Macs or PCs to connect a DVI or VGA display using a USB port instead of a conventional video port. It can be found here.

The plug-and-play device outputs in DVI-I format and allows you to connect either a VGA display or a DVI display — this lets you hook up external monitors or projectors without having to tie up an external video interface, according to Gefen. It can be used for multi-monitor configurations where all available video ports are already being used, as well.

The device supports screen resolutions up to 1600 x 1200. It can mirror the main display or extend the desktop.

Buy all Gefen products for the best price on the internet at AValive.com.

Apple hunts Windows users with Safari 3.1

Apple has released the latest version of its Safari web browser.

A full release version of Safari, which has until now only been available for Mac, is now also shipping a Windows-friendly version.

This reflects the fact that Microsoft's operating system runs on Intel Macs.

A beta version of Safari 3 for Windows was released in June last year, quickly followed by a bug-fix from Apple.

Despite a shaky start - which included online reports of slow page loading compared to Internet Explorer 7 on Windows machines - a million people downloaded the beta in just 48 hours.

Safari is currently the number three browser in the marketplace, with analytics company Net Applications data showing six per cent of the world's web users use the browser. Internet Explorer accounts for three quarters of the market, followed by Mozilla's Firefox on about 17 per cent.

Apple claims that Safari 3.1 is the fastest web browser in the world - 1.9 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and 1.7 times faster than Firefox 2.

It based these claims on tests made with VeriTest iBench 5.0 using default settings running on an iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo system running Windows XP with 1GB of RAM.

Apple also says that Safari is capable of running JavaScript up to six times faster than other browsers and is better tooled to deliver Web 2.0 content.

"Safari 3.1 for Mac and Windows is blazingly fast, easy to use and features an elegant user interface," said Apple spokesman Philip Schiller, "and best of all, Safari supports the latest audio, video and animation standards for an industry-leading Web 2.0 experience."

He is referring to support for the new video and audio HTML tags, CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) animations, and CSS web fonts.

To work, Safari 3.1 for Windows needs XP or Vista, at least 256MB of RAM and a minimum 500MHz Intel Pentium processor.

On Mac, it will run on any G3, G4 G5 or Intel machine with FireWire, running updated OS X Tiger (10.4.11) and carrying at least 256MB of RAM.

Buy Apple products for the best price on the internet at AValive.com.

Gefen Launches Three New Home Theater Scalers

Gefen Launches Three New Home Theater Scalers

Gefen announced today that it is launching three new scalers for the home theater market. Each of the trio can scale signals to 1080p and offers a variety of features. The first model is the GefenTV High Def Scaler. It features three audio and video inputs, two component with one audio and a DVI, and outputs the signals in DVI/HDMI format with audio in TOSlink and analog left/right formats.

The next is the GefenTV 1080p Scaler which accepts any HDMI source from set top boxes, disc players and game systems. The scaler delivers HDMI audio/video signal with digital audio in TOSlink and analog stereo.

The final scaler is the GefenTV Scaler Pro using the HQV T2-4000 Realta engine chipset for the best possible imagery. The scaler is compatible with HDMI 1.3 and has 10-bit color support. All three scalers are available to order now from around $299.

Buy all Gefen products for the best price on the internet at AValive.com.

M-Audio Announces ProKeys Sono 61 and ProKeys Sono 88

M-Audio Announces ProKeys Sono 61 and ProKeys Sono 88
Portable Digital Pianos With Built-In Audio Interfaces Provide Versatile Songwriting and Performing Solutions
March 12, 2008: 09:00 AM EST

M-Audio, a leading provider of creative tools for musicians and a part of Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID), announced today the ProKeys Sono 61 and ProKeys Sono 88 portable digital pianos. Designed to help keyboard players and songwriters to bridge the gap between writing, recording and performing, each ProKeys Sono portable digital piano delivers premium on-board sounds, exceptional semi-weighted action and a built-in audio interface. The ProKeys Sono 61- and 88-note models follow the release of the 49-note KeyStudio(TM) 49i (soon to be renamed ProKeys Sono 49), creating a complete line of all-in-one solutions.

M-Audio® digital pianos have been embraced by top recording artists and performing musicians on some of the world's most notable concert tours. The ProKeys Sono 61 and 88 portable digital pianos extend M-Audio's legacy of reliability and playability with semi-weighted keybeds featuring advanced scanning technology. This new innovation provides superior resolution, increasing the player's control over dynamics for an extremely expressive performance.

Buy M-Audio products for the best price on the internet at AValive.com.