Just IT Hardware Blog

Computer hardware refers to all the physical components that make up a computer system. As a whole, this encompasses a wide range of devices and peripherals that work together to enable a computer to function. While there are a multitude of parts that can be categorized as hardware, the most important components are the motherboard, central processing unit (CPU), memory, storage devices, and input/output devices. In this blog, we will be discussing these major components, in addition to their proper assembly.

Graphics tablets are electronic devices which can be used to convert information from a handheld stylus. The user writes or draws with the stylus like a pen, pencil, or paintbrush, pressing its tip on the tablet surface. Graphic tablets can also be used in replacement of a computer mouse. Though they are often used for home use, graphic tablets are also useful components in many professional spheres. In this article, we will discuss the various different applications for graphic tablets.

Computer chips are often well regarded as one of the major backbones of a computer system, yet not everyone knows exactly what they are and how they work. In general, computer chips may be understood as a type of miniature electronic circuit or integrated circuit, that of which acts as a basic building block of a larger electronic device. Most computer chips consist of semiconductor materials like silicon, and their surface may be fitted with various components that are embedded on the chip for the means of transmitting electrical signals. With their small size and fair price point, computer chips have found consistent use and have been well-developed since their initial release.

Today's internet framework is supported by an ecosystem of various networking devices. While many types of hardware enable a network to function, one of the most important is the modem. As nearly every household and business with an internet connection has a modem, it is beneficial to have a basic understanding of how a modem works. In this blog, we will discuss the history, design, and applications of modern modems.

As the various electronic components of a system operate, heat will dissipate and raise temperatures over time. As an excess amount of heat can easily damage sensitive components or affect overall performance, it is important that there is a way to mitigate heat. One common solution for electronic equipment heat is to use fans, allowing for airflow to be harnessed for thermal management. For high amounts of dissipation, an array of fans, or fan trays, may be used. In this blog, we will discuss some of the most common types of fan trays and fans, allowing you to find a solution fit for your individual needs.

Sensing the proximity of objects via electromagnetic waves is not a new idea. Radar functions off of that basic premise to detect objects flying in the sky, and that is a technology we have possessed since the 1940’s. When we talk about proximity sensors in this day and age however, we are usually referring to the small sensors found in objects like modern mobile devices, parking sensors on automobiles, and automatic faucets. Small, inconspicuous devices we barely think about, but incredibly useful, nonetheless.
               

It’s fascinating to think that the technology used to develop displays, particularly screens, is over a hundred years old. Which begs the question, when did screens first appear? The first signs of display technology appeared in 1897 with physicist Karl Ferdinand Braun, who developed the Cathode Ray Tube. This small tube would lay the humble beginnings of  the very first television.

Intel has announced the official Vulkan graphic API support for Skylake and Kaby Lake GPUs. Previously it was in beta for months. Other releases were also in different flavors of beta, but Intel’s 15.45.14.4590 driver is the first release added in full API support. The latest driver will only support Windows 10 on Kaby Lake, but the sixth-generation GPUs are supported in Windows 7,8.1, and 10. That points out the artificiality of the restriction. Kaby Lake and Skylake use identical GPUs. So, their graphic pipelines are alike.

There was an article written by Dave Raffo, the senior news director, posted on Tech Target that talks about the top enterprise storage vendors to keep an eye on in 2017. The top enterprise storage vendors include (in no particular order): Dell EMC, Nutanix, Pure Storage, Veritas, Broadcom, Seagate, Western Digital, NetApp, Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, and Lenovo.

On August 17 2016, Agam Shah wrote an article for PC World discussing about how Intel is switching out its use for copper cables and implementing lights and lasers in order to speed up data transfers. This is due to the fact that copper networking cables are becoming more dated as technology progresses.

 Apple Inc is coming back with a new operating system this fall and calling it macOS Sierra. There are several updates to this operating system and they are being viewed by Apple WWDC 2016. This is a great time for apple because they have had the current operating system for years now. There is a trend with apple products now to have names such as watch OS, iOS, or tvOS so the fact that their operating system is still named or called OS X is kind of out of trend. Obviously this new operating system is being launched with a new name just like the releases of the current operating system with OS X had a new name. However, this year the operating system itself is going to have a whole new name.

Sony Corporation, the Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation reported Friday that their revenue was down to 10.8 percent with a reported profit decrease of 74.3 percent year-on-year. An unexpected increase in gaming revenue has helped counter the shrinking business in smartphones with the impact of the Kumamoto region earthquakes impacting the production of the camera sensors that Sony supplies to various smartphone vendors such as Apple. The increase of revenue for its game and network services grew to 14.5 percent largely in part due to the significant increase in the PS4 software sales through the PlayStation Network.  PS4 games consoles sales rose from 3 million to 3.5 million compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

On July 28^th 2016, Agam Shah wrote an article for Computer World talking about how Intel is quietly closing down the Project Tango smartphone and refocusing their ideas towards augmented reality. During Intel’s Developer Forum in San Francisco last year, most of the audience was attracted towards the Real-sense 3D camera which used drones and robots to “see” the world around them.

On April 16^th 2016, Kevin Gibb, Product Line Manager of TechInsights released an article on EE Times talking about Samsung Corporation's 48L 3D V-NAND Flash. This 48L 3D V-NAND Flash has been heavily anticipated by consumers around the world ever since its announcement which was in early August of 2015.

It’s easy to find a distributor to facilitate your computer hardware products business, but choosing the correct one can be hard. There could the off chance that the distributor currently prospecting isn’t the going to help you explode your business and the ones you work with now aren’t doing so well either.

On February 21 2016 Facebook made an announcement about the launch of what will be known as the Telecom Infra Project. This project is a partnership with firms including Deutsche Telekom, SK Telecom, Nokia and Intel. The initiative was created to help build the next generation of wireless networking hardware. The creation of an ultra-fast 5G network has been in the news recently with plans of having similar networks featured in the 2018 World cup in Russia and the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

With Star Wars Battlefront being released on Friday, Advanced Micro Devices is coming out with a Catalyst 15.9 beta driver to fix the memory bug. The memory bug itself was very problematic because the memory leak caused some PCs to allocate all of their available memory when one would resize an active browser window. This got to a point where Chrome and Firefox increased their memory footprint very quickly when the hardware acceleration is turned on.

Epson Corporation is developing a new printer known as EcoTank that nixes the need for ink cartridges.

Samsung has developed a prototype truck that is designed to allow trailing drivers to see what is ahead of them on the road.

In April of 2015, Comcast announced plans to install ultra-high speed internet to private residences in Atlanta, Georgia. Fiber-channel based networks for residential homes will deliver up to 2 Gbps, a record-breaking figure with its closest competitors Google Fiber and AT&T GigaPower at a “mere” 1 Gbps. The service, named Gigabit Pro, will be symmetrical - capable of both uplink and downlink rates at this speed. Comcast’s second highest internet service, of 505 Mbps, costs a whopping $400 per month (compared to Google and AT&T’s 1 Gbps services priced at $70). However, the company has stated that it is still evaluating pricing for the new 2 Gbps service, but will cost less than the 505 Mbps service (whose current customers will be automatically upgraded).