Firmware - SlashGear

Posts Tagged ‘firmware’

MacBook Pro 3.0Gbps SATA upgrade breaking third-party drives?

By Chris Davies on Friday, Jun 26th 2009 No Comments

The recently-released MacBook Pro firmware that promises to enable 3.0Gbps SATA connectivity has ironically been causing problems in third-party drives. Apple released the upgrade earlier this week, after users of the new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro models reported that the notebooks were limited to 1.5Gbps SATA; this did not affect the speed of standard-fit hard-drives, but may have limited future performance should the user upgrade to a faster HDD or SSD. Now, some users with third-party drives already installed are reporting frequent pauses, usage spikes and data errors with the new firmware.

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Panasonic block third-party “imitation” digicam batteries

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Jun 25th 2009 No Comments

Panasonic have released a firmware update for its digital camera range that blocks the use of third-party batteries. The update, which is now available for sixteen cameras in Panasonic’s range, addresses “imitation” batteries that the company suggests “do not meet the rigid safety standards Panasonic uses”.

Panasonic DMC FX48 battery open

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Apple address slow MacBook Pro SATA with firmware update

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Jun 23rd 2009 No Comments

Apple have released a firmware update for their latest MacBook Pro notebooks that fully enables their SATA 3.0 Gbps interface. The move comes in response to vocal complaints from MacBook Pro 13- and 15-inch buyers who discovered Apple had seemingly limited their new unibody machines to the older 1.5 Gbps SATA. However the company has distanced itself from drives that actually use the faster interface, reminding users that “Apple has not qualified or offered these drives for Mac notebooks and their use is unsupported.”

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Canon 5D Mark II new firmware enables video manual controls

By Daniel Lim on Tuesday, May 26th 2009 No Comments

Wow, I never thought that would happen and I think I just wet my pants. Canon has today revealed a big upgrade to EOS DLSR 5D Mark II, unleashing the long-awaited manual controls on video capture mode! The new firmware, to be released next week, will permit manual adjustments on aperture, ISO as well as shutter speed when recording movie – a huge deal for DSLR video fanatics if you ask me.

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Super Talent UltraDrive SSDs get speed-boost Windows 7 firmware

By Chris Davies on Friday, May 15th 2009 No Comments

Super Talent have boosted their write-speeds of their their UltraDrive SSD range by up to 25-percent, and they’ve done so without even touching the hardware. The new firmware for the UltraDrive ME and UltraDrive LE SSDs means that Windows 7 users will now see up to 260MB/sec read rates and up to 210MB/sec write rates.

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BlackBerry OS 5.0 offers new look

By Brenda Stokes on Friday, Apr 10th 2009 No Comments

BlackBerry OS 5.0 was recently leaked and the new firmware offers a more modern look for the devices. However, it seems the majority of the changes are in appearance only while the underlying tech remains the same.

blackberryos5 leaklg1

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WiFi ‘n’ & FM transmitter in next-gen iPhone

By Chris Davies on Monday, Apr 6th 2009 No Comments

According to the latest build of the iPhone firmware 3.0, the next-gen iPhone – known as iPhone 3.1 in the documentation – will use Broadcom’s BCM4329 chipset, bringing with it the potential of improved WiFi performance and radio functionality. The BCM4329 adds support for WiFi draft-n, together with power saving features and not just an FM receiver but a transmitter also.

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Sony PS3 firmware v2.70 released: chatrooms, video backup

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Apr 2nd 2009 No Comments

Sony have released the PS3 v2.70 firmware update, presumably the “significant global announcement” they had previously promised. Sony PS3 firmware v2.70 adds Text Chat functionality, a Friends List on the XMB, video backup to an external hard-drive and synchronization of PSP video over to the PS3 for big-screen viewing.

sony ps3 v2 70 firmware

More details, plus video overview after the cut

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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic update boosts speed, adds new features

By Chris Davies on Monday, Mar 30th 2009 1 Comment

Nokia have released an update for their 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen music-phone. The updated software – which is a free download – boosts internet data access speeds and tweaks in-device searching and the onboard email app.

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Full changelist after the cut

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Apple release 17-inch MacBook Pro graphics update

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Mar 26th 2009 No Comments

Apple have released a firmware update – version 1.0 – for 17-inch unibody MacBook Pro owners, which is intended to fix the display errors some users have observed. Apple have not detailed exactly what the update does, only suggested that all owners should install it.

17 inch apple macbook pro banding 3 479x269