Do you remember when HTC and Google launched the Neuxs One back in 2010? In a fast moving mobile world we don’t remember much of early 2010 either. Anyway, the Nexus series of phones have always been a highlight of Android – being one of the very few devices to run stock Android – which compared to most manufacturer skins (Samsung TouchWiz) is a very good thing.

Another advantage of devices being release in partnership with Google is that from now on they will likely be available through Google itself, on the Play Store. Today, you can buy the Samsung Galaxy Nexus directly from Google. However, this is currently only open to Americans, although Google plans to roll it out to other regions soon.

While the Galaxy Nexus is already available from the Play Store, Google plans to add many more devices to the range later this year

With the announcement (and possible launch) of Android 5.0 Jelly Bean next month reports are stating that mentioned several times before.

It is not exactly clear how the five manufacturers will differentiate their products from the other devices however. It is possible that each manufacturer has guidelines from Google that they have to work by. For example Asus could make a cheaper 7 inch tablet, while Samsung could produce a high end 10 inch tablet.

Samsung has just introduced a pair of standard looking monitors, look into the specification sheets however and you’ll discover that they are actually the first monitors that support the Mobile High Definition Link (MHL) standard.

There will be two MHL supported models at first, the 23 inch S23B550VS and the 27 inch S27B550VS. Both are Full HD LED displays with integrated speakers and VGA input.

Samsung has just announced the first monitors that support MHL

MHL allows users to easily connect their smartphone (that supports MHL) to their monitor and was introduced last year with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S II. Since then other phones including the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S III support MHL. It essentially works by transmitting HDMI signals through a MicroUSB slot on a phone.

Current MHL solutions require you to have an additional power source but these new MHL cables (as yet unavailable, but they will be coming soon) remove the requirement for this, as the monitor will supply the required power.

One of the most popular choices among enthusiasts is Silverstone. For a relatively small company, they have – over the years – released a number of surprising/amazing/desirable chassis. For 2012, they have decided to pack the goodness and style of the FT03 into a much smaller package.

Tecnobitsshouts “I shrunk the back, sides and lid” and jumps on board for a fantastic voyage.
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At CeBIT 2012, Tony Ou took us around an early engineering sample of the FT03 Mini and – true to his word – Silverstone are now launching, exactly on time.

We can’t be sure it was Tony who was sitting in Silverstone’s board room – surrounded by his company’s greatest ever creations – when the penny dropped and he began to wonder, “Can we take one of these SG mini PC chassis and turn it on its side?” – but whoever had that inspiration was a clever person.

To this day, we’re not sure why more chassis manufacturers don’t follow the laws of physics and position their internal layouts vertically – so hot air can simply LEAVE the case. The highly successful Raven series bred the initial FT03, which won a glut of awards from journalists across the industry.

Now that creation has been shrunk.

So what do you get inside?

Here’s a list of the coolest [pun city - Ed] features:-

• Support for graphic cards up to 10″ long (25.2 centimetres) – like the GTX 680
• CPU coolers up to 78mm high
• Space under the mainboard for routing
• Enough mounting space for a pair of 2.5″ drives and a full sized 3.5″
• Full size, 140mm, Air Penetrator fan at 1,500 rpm – as well as support for entry level liquid cooling
• Dual, front mounted, USB 3 connectors with easy access for users

Naturally, the powerful fan drives dust, as well as cool air, into the chassis – so there is an easy to remove filter in the bottom of the case, which pops out for periodic washing.

Users will also be able to order a slot-entry optical drive, low-noise-short-cable 450w PSU and a handy carry bag – should you wish to make all your mates jealous at a LAN party.

Available in anodised black or silver external skin – with the same black inside

Comment below or in the Tecnobitsforums.

We received an interesting news email today from G.Skill which highlighted the fact that they are topping the ranking list on overclocking site HWBOT.

They are the most popular DDR3 memory brand since Q4 2011, showing their growth in the enthusiast sector. According to the information, G.Skill have 1/3 of the market in the overclocking sector which is a staggering result.

They say in their press release “During the 1st quarter of 2012, figures showed more than 1/3 of users within the community have chosen G.SKILL DDR3 kits as their memory solution for breaking overclocking records and benchmarking, while gaining a total of 7.4% of popularity share since Q1, 2011.”

Bill Wang, VP at G.SKILL, stated “G.SKILL memory is widely known for its superior quality and unlimited overclocking headroom. We are excited and thankful that our products are highly recognized by overclocking community and we will continue to strive for ultimate customer satisfaction in the years to come.”

You can read more over here.

We have reviewed memory from Kingston, G.Skill and Topower in recent weeks and today we are looking at a kit from Patriot, called the Viper Xtreme Division 2 which runs at 2,133mhz. We will test it on Intel’s latest Z77 platform, courtesy of the Gigabyte Z77-UD5H motherboard.

Patriot have a well earned reputation in enthusiast circles, having released a range of high quality Solid State drives and memory kits in the last year.

The Viper Xtreme Series ‘Division 2′ Edition memory has been designed for the Intel platform and they utilise a custom designed heatspreader solution with an outer shield built around a copper core to provide improved cooling.

Patriot claim that each module has 6 grams of copper at the core, paired with extruded aircraft grade aluminium which works as the outer shield. They say that the memory is built on quality pre-sorted IC’s and are ‘rigorously tested and validated on the Intel 6 series platform to achieve maximum performance and stability’. Phew, they aren’t messing around.

More importantly, they have decided to spell ‘Xtreme’ in a very cool way too, dropping the leading ‘E’. Yes, we digress.

Specifications:

• Extreme Performance PC3-17000 (2133MHz).
• Enhanced Latency (11-11-11-30).
• Voltage: 1.65V.
• XMP Ready.
• Equipped with an extruded aluminum shield build around a copper core to provide improved cooling.
• 100% Tested and Verified.
• RoHS Compliant.