It is the re-entry of the SSD price

Back on a point on the price of SSD, upon re-entry. In our new point on the SSD prices, we have changed our panel products. We decided to restrict the products to a single capacity: 120 GB (or 128 GB according to the marks). The reason is simple: it is sufficient capacity for many people and the average price is correct. This type of DSS is perfect for a mid-range machine. 256 GB models and more are still too expensive for the majority of buyers and the 64 GB SSD and less limited the interest of the technology allowing to install the OS and a few programs. In addition, they distort the comparison with a prices go higher because of the incompressible costs (controller, etc.).

Our comparison is therefore restricted to six models: the C400 of Crucial, Vertex 3 ofOCZ Vertex 2 and Intel 320 and 510. These are five models well distributed, representative of their generations. Other manufacturers offer "clones" of these DSS, as Corsair, G.Skill, Kingston (recently), etc. but prices are sufficiently close that it is no problem. Other manufacturers, such as Samsung, offer balanced products that can be interesting if found at a good price. The Korean brand should quickly propose an SSD SATA 6 GB/s, which was announced recently.

Our six SSD offer a capacity of 120 GB about and use either 34 nm - some Vertex 2, Intel 510 - memory or memory in 25 nm - Vertex 3, Intel 320, C400 and some Vertex 2-. Preferred builders interface is obviously SATA 6 GB/s, to exceed the limit of 300 MB / s. Attention, to benefit fully from this interface, a motherboard that handles the standard "natively" - directly in the chipset - is necessary, external controllers often limited by the bus PCI-Express less than 500 MB / s.

If you have a machine in SATA II (3 GB/s), based on SandForce 1 K models are adapted, in other cases we recommend Crucial M4, a very balanced and sold SSD at a correct price. There is also the moment a good case: the Vertex more. This model is a classic (in Indilinx Barefoot) Vertex with a new firmware (a little) more efficient. But it mostly has an advantage: a fairly low price, approximately €120 for the 120 GB version. For a machine in SATA 3 GB/s, it is a good choice, unlike practice having little noticeable between very high and this models Vertex more.

Note, for lovers of ultraportables, mSATA models are beginning to arrive, even if prices remain high a nothing: it exceeds the price of the 3 Vertex closest performance of Vertex 2 of the 3 version.

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Dell: storage arrays EqualLogic faster

It is now several years that Dell has initiated a diversification of its activities, focusing on the enterprise storage market. Giant has thus carried out two strategic buyouts in the middle of 2008 with EqualLogic data storage and Compellent in 2009. More recently, Ocarina Networks and are Exanet which were acquired by Dell.

Consistent with this strategy, the constructor has therefore presented two new SAN, the PS4100 and PS6100bays. These two products after another the previous PS4000 and PS6000 iSCSI SAN. Supporting hard drives and SSDS format 2.5 inch and 3.5-inch (SATA 7200tpm, SAS 10000/15000tpm), these new EqualLogic Arrays double the density of storage over the previous generation.

The PS4100 is thus available in configuration 2U, with storage capacity up to 21.6 To with disks of 2.5 inches and 36 To with 3.5-inch hard drives. The EqualLogic PS6100 Bay can in turn be delivered in configuration 2U or 4U, for a maximum capacity of 72 To. Network access is given to Gigabit Ethernet links. Side tariff, the PS4100 is available from 6895 euros, while the PS6100 is displayed from 22065 euros. Yes, we speak here of professional storage solutions...

These two iSCSI SAN arrays are also supplied with version 5.1 of the Dell EqualLogic firmware. It, according to Travis Vigil (Executive Director of the storage at Dell), significantly improves the performance of the new arrays from the "old". According to an internal test performed by Dell, the IOPS performance would be so improved 60%.

This update is also compatible with VSphere 5, the constructor who particularly cared for the integration of these new products with VMWare virtualization solutions. Several tools (EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for VMware 3.1, Compellent Storage Replication Adapter for vCenter SRM 5.0 or PowerVault Integration with VMware vCenter 5.0) should also see agenda here the end of the year. It must be said that 90% of users of Dell storage solutions use virtualization, and among them 80% chose a solution VMWare… Dell did not forget Microsoft with the arrival of new tools improving the integration of bays EqualLogic with Microsoft Hyper-V (Dell EqualLogic SAN Headquarters 2.2) and Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Microsoft 4.0.

In summary, Dell appears particularly confident for the future of the enterprise storage market. The constructor has also just strengthen the workforce of its stockage… division

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Thunderbolt to PCI-Express: it happens

The Thunderbolt was launched by Apple early year and apart from a few disks hard external to the professional world, the most interesting announcement is that of... Sony offers external graphics in Thunderbolt, but without using the connector proposed by Apple.

Fortunately, finally, move with two interesting solutions. The first is quite specific, it is a 1U rack to integrate a Mac mini in a Bay to the servers. With the Mac mini 2011 "Server" and its processor with four cores, is the (power) level of a 2006 Xserve... But the interesting point is that Sonnet has integrated Thunderbolt in his device: PCI-Express x 4 connector has been integrated into the chassis and it uses the Thunderbolt connector to connect to the computer.

The alternative, more general public, is that of Magma: ExpressBox 3 T is an external enclosure that offers three slots PCI-Express 2.0 internally (without indicating the number of rows for each port) and power 220 W, which is enough for three expansion cards. In view of the food and the lack of information on the subject, only the graphics Basic, requiring no connector (s) power PCI-Express, will be part.

In both cases, the price is unknown and a second port allows chaining devices, one of the advantages of the Thunderbolt.

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7 K 1000.D: Hitachi 1 TB per platter passes

Hitachi is still evolving its hard drives of 1 TB. In 2007, the 7 K 1000 was the first hard disk of 1 TB, with a design to five trays (200 GB each, therefore). Then, the 7 K 1000 has evolved to version.(B) and its three 333 GB platters then towards a model.C with only two 500 GB platters. And the company, recently acquired by Western Digital, now offers a version.(D) the disk hard in question, with a single shelf of 1 TB.

Should gain in throughput (227 announced MB/s), consumer (announced 15% gain) and noise are expected to decrease. With such trays, Hitachi GST could even offer hard drives of 4 or 5 To quite easily. For capacity, if 1 TB is the maximum, 250 versions, 320, 500 and 750 GB are planned, with a portion of the plateau which will not be used and a necessarily mean flow a little more high, even if the maximum flow does not move.

The company offers also 5 K 1000.(B), a hard disk with the same 1 To plateau, the successor to the 5 K 1000 classic and two trays of 500 GB. He uses for his 23% energy in less than the 7 K 1000.(D) through its rotational speed of 5400 RPM instead of 7 200 rpm. Flows vary too much, with maximum of 180 MB/s on the 5 K 1000.(B), which is very correct.

The 7 K 1000.D and the 5 K 1000.(B) will be proposed in interface SATA 6 GB/s (maximum 600 MB/S), will offer 32 MB cache and will work with sectors of 4 KB instead of the traditional sectors of 512 bytes, even if an internal emulation is provided.

Finally, note that these disks Cinemastar variants are expected at the same time as versions Desktar, in the fall.

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IBM Racetrack memory could be a reality by 2020

IBM gave a Conference of press last Wednesday on his memories of the future and for the first time, Big Blue States that its Racetack could be a reality by the end of the Decade. In addition, by three years of capacity of 1 Po can be stored in a surface equal to a 1U rack, always according to the firm.

We presented you the progress of the IBM's Racetrack last December. A reminder, this memory is based on a mechanism different from the current submissions. Instead of fetching the data bit in the cell, as is the case today, it moves on a track of a few tens of nanometers in thickness. Researchers still need many challenges and better understand its functioning, but published last December results allow to consider marketing in five to seven years, according to Big Blue. We are nevertheless talking about a project that could be abandoned or used for other purposes.

This is not the first time that IBM would work on a memory that would not see the day. Is remembered for his research on the Millepede, a chip where the information is stored in holes etched in a fine polymer. The memory cells are written and read by one of the multiple branches of a MEMS walks on the surface. The Millipede was scheduled for 2007, but too high production costs were ultimately correct its existence. The technology is not dead. Gerd Bining, head of the project at IBM, said during the Conference IEEE last May that the firm was still working on it, but no more account do the memory of tomorrow. Big Blue recycle technologies developed in other products, such as probes used in lithographic processes.

During the Conference last Wednesday, IBM has also pledged to increase memory density, without giving more details. He spoke only of "magnetic technology", according to IDG that reported the event. The fact that this technology arrives within three years suggests that he is working on his own MRAM, which would be nothing surprising. We know that it has partnered with TDK to his development and he presented a paper at the IEDM (International Electron Device Meeting) in 2010 (see "IBM and Samsung talk TWU RAM").

Things change very quickly and the STT-MRAM could start to compete with Flash memory within three years (cf. "Toshiba would out a STT-MRAM in 3 years"). Research in this area abound (cf. "A new structure of MRAM") and manufacturers show more enthusiasm for this technology, which is always a good sign.

For the record, the STT-MRAM is based on spin transfer torque (Spin-Transfer Torque in English) which is a phenomenon appearing when a spin-polarised current (which contains electrons with the same angular movement, Editor's note) passes through the junction magnetic tunnel, a structure composed of two ferromagnetic elements separated by a thin insulating layer. As shown in the diagram on the left, one of the ferromagnetic layers is said trapped by Antiferromagnetic element. Whatever happens, its polarity will remain unchanged. However, the other layer is free and the polarized current through the junction tunnel effect, it will adopt the spin of electron sent, a phenomenon known as Spin-transfer Switching. We will then measure the magnetic strength of the structure. If it is strong, it means that the two ferromagnetic plates have opposite polarities, which represents a 0. If it is low, the polarities are identical, which is a 1.

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The Strata and Nocti of OCZ mSATA SSD prices

While they have not yet been formalized by OCZ, SSD Strata and Nocti of the Builder are already displayed in preorder among some resellers. It is therefore an opportunity to discover these different mSATA SSD prices.

Based on an Indilinx Barefoot ECO controller, the Strata is available in version (STR-MSATA-30 G) 30 GB and 60 GB (STR-MSATA-60 G). It uses MLC flash memory chips and has an interface SATA 3 Gbps. side performance, the model 30 GB reaches 125 MB/s read and 40 MB/s sequential write, respectively against 130 MB / s and 85 MB / s for the 60 GB version. In 4 K random reads, the Strata 60 GB reached 12,000 IOPS (only 11 000 IOPS for the 30 GB), and 1500 IOPS in 4 K entries (half the 30 GB model). These two SSD are currently displayed at respectively 45,51 euros and 81 euros.

For its part, the Nocti uses MLC flash memory chips and controller SandForce 2141/2181. Available in 30 GB, 60 GB and 120 GB capacities, this SSD is more swift as the Strata since it reached 280 MB/s read and 260 MB/s sequential write (255 MB/s "only" for the Nocti 30 GB). Reading 4 K, we get to 11500 IOPS (6000 IOPS for the 30 GB model) and 12 500 IOPS to 32 000 IOPS in 4 K random writes.

Side tariff, count 59,24 euros for the Nocti 30 GB, 104,35 euros for the 60 GB model and a little more than 190 euros for the 120 GB version.

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Nostalgeek 2001 (50) : dual core, 160 Go

This summer, we will offer you the return of a topic, Nostalgeek. And we decided to dwell on a specific year: 2001. Distant and close both, the year 2001 is interesting to analyze, to show developments in the high-tech in 10 years. Each day, during the holidays, we will offer you a retrospective of a week of 2001, with the news of the day and a small analysis on what there is in 2011.

More than two...

If current solutions offer only a single CPU, the multicore is the future. And Intel should propose models with multiple cores in 2005, at the time by 70 nm, while IBM already has a Power4 of this type in (very) high. While ATi will launch very low power chipset for the Pentium 4, Via launches Eden, a platform which use C3 processors.

In 2011, the multicore is generalized and Intel predictions were correct: the first dual core are a 65 nm Pentium 4. ATi (AMD) is evidently more chipsets for Pentium 4 but versions for K10 processors exist of course.  With respect to Via Eden platform still exists, with (a bit) faster CPU, such as the C7 and the Nano.

First 160 GB hard disk drives arrive, priced at €415 and with incompatibilities: must be a motherboard that supports 48-bit LBA.

In 2011, the storage is (much) less expensive, at least in the hard drives. A 2 TB model is less than €60 but also suffers from incompatibilities with legacy systems. More fun, a 160 GB in 2011, considered as expensive, SSD is less than a 160 GB hard drive in 2001.

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Quiz of Sunday (S03E10) - the answer

Today, tenth episode of season 3 of our Sunday quiz. And a change in the game: this will be a question for the Nostalgeek. Indeed, find photos of devices that are not referenced by Tineye and Google becomes complicated...

The scale remains the same: 2 points for the first correctly responds in comments, 1 point for the other. The question will be asked Sunday, an index will be posted on our Facebook page Monday.

The issue: Pierre branch a 1 GB (formatted in FAT32) key on his computer. He began by copying a file to 200 MB (depending on the OS) on the key from a computer under OS X Lion. Then he then copies a 400 MB file (depending on the OS) since Mac OS X Leopard. Then it runs under Linux and adds a file of 200 Mio (depending on the OS). Then, it runs under Windows 7 and adds a file of 100 MB (depending on the OS), a 1 MB file and a file of 3 KB. In the end, the key indicates that there are 799 109 120 bits on the key. What is the actual capacity - bytes - the 1 GB USB key.

Good luck.

Important: to avoid the "spoilers" place your answer between the following tags. [# ffffff] Your answer [/ # ffffff]. The answer will be written in white, which will avoid to see the responses of other competitors "without doing so express". Comments giving a response without being placed in these tags will be not taken into account.

As to habit, an index on the Facebook of Tom's Hardware page.

A somewhat complicated quizz correct, some being gone further than expected cash data and including the size of the directories created by some operating systems. Explain the calculation first.

A USB 1 GB formated in FAT32 by default clusters 4 KB (4096 bytes), which therefore implies that all files must be a multiple of this number (and rounded above for problem) but as the free space indicates, the clusters are here 512 bytes, there was a trap.

For OS X Lion, 1 MB is worth 1 million bytes, as recommended by the International System. 200 MB is therefore file 200 million bytes, or 200 000 000 bytes.
For Mac OS X Leopard, 1 KB is 1024 bytes (which is false) and therefore 400 MB worth 419 430 400 bytes, a multiple of 512 bytes.
Linux follows the standard and 1 KiB is 1024 bytes and thus 200 Mio worth 209 715 200 bytes, a multiple of 512 bytes.
Windows 7 does not follow the standard and 1 KB is 1024 bytes. 101 MB are therefore worth 105 906 176 bytes, a multiple of 512 bytes.
3 KB file is over the size of a cluster and therefore requires 3072 bytes on the hard disk.

The remaining capacity is expressed in bits and after conversion, therefore obtained 99 888 640 bytes.

The total capacity of USB stick, in bytes, is therefore of 1 034 944 512 bytes (1 034 MB instead of 1 000 MB expected).

maxix: 8 points.
malfretup: 5 points.
bonic38: 4 points.
victorc2: 3 points.
danrot: 2 points.
inkizitor: 2 points.
Virtus: 2 points.
qcguytech: 1 point.
aurel32: 1 point.
Marmotte25: 1 point.
Sh4d3rZ_86: 1 point.
zoelechat: 1 point.
redlemonbe: 1 point.

A week next season 4!

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Windows 8 improves the copy of files

Windows 8, Microsoft is addressing an interesting domain: copying files. Because if well points have changed since Windows 95, the management of the files and copy have not so much evolved. With Windows 8, Microsoft will make a difference.

To begin, a few figures: 50% of the copies take less than 10 seconds, which allows to determine that copies rarely exceed 400 or 500 MB (in for wide). 20% of copies in contrast take more than 2 minutes, is - with a recent computer - at least (for wide also) 5 GB of data. More interesting, about 6% of copies is not complete, either because of a disk error, a connection (network, USB, etc.) lost or simply because the user cancelled.

With Windows 8, will therefore toward better management of the copy, with such a unified window indicating the number of copies, advancement (in %), speed, etc. is more the time remaining is displayed, but the progression, simpler to implement, especially more talking to the user: time is a concept too dependent of the machine and what it does. It is also possible to put a copy in time and view information about the current copy.

More interesting, the management of duplicates appears very effective: currently, when the target folder contains files that have the same name in the source folder, Windows offers to replace, do not copy or rename the file and keep both versions. In Windows 8, Microsoft will offer a simpler and more intuitive system: it is sufficient to check the version to keep, with a prévisualiation system. In addition to deal with file by file, it is much more intuitive and simple for a person who is not used to manage a file system.

Finally, a part of redundant (and never read) message will be deleted: confirmations asking if there is really some want to put a file in the Recycle Bin for the third time should no longer be present.

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A 180 GB in Corsair SSD

Corsair offers a new capability in its Force GT range: after 60, 90, 120 and 240 GB models here an SSD of... 180 GB. Based on a now classic controller, SF-2281 at SandForce, he uses - as the Vertex 3 of OCZ - synchronous IMFT memory in 25 nm, gage performance.

As often, it is only on compressible data which are given values: 555 MB/s read and 525 MB/s write. In fact, it is of course often below: the majority of large file transfers (where sequential flows have an interest) is based on already compressed files. At the level of random write performance, it is the classic 85,000 IOPS which is announced (the limit of the controller).

For the rest, nothing of much original: format 2.5-inch SATA 6 GB/s, a guarantee of 3 years. Rest the price: $380 to the United States, against $490 to 240 GB. In the end, a DSS interesting for those who need more than 120 GB but less than 240 GB. And that's it.

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mSATA: OCZ also, SandForce, and Barefoot

OCZ just announced format mSATA SSD two ranges, the Nocti and the Strata. MSATA, let us recall, is a standard used in very fine laptops and some mother cards top of range. It is a SATA 3 GB/s connector in a physical format identical to that of Mini Card (PCI-Express for laptops) cards, but incompatible electrically with the cards in question, no question of replacing a Wi - Fi DSS card, therefore.

The Nocti uses a controller SandForce 2100, the entry of the SandForce SF-2281 used version in the 3 Vertex. The SATA interface is limited to 3 GB/s (300 MB/s) and three capacities are proposed: 30, 60 GB and 120 GB. OCZ Announces 280 MB/s read and 260 MB/s write, but it is as always of flows on compressible data, actual flows are a priori much more low. For random writing, OCZ announced 32 000 IOPS, which is very correct, except for the 30 GB model which is "merely" 12 500 IOPS, which remains high in absolute terms.

The Strata is an entry-level model, which uses a controller OCZ/Indilinx Barefoot Eco (the version that uses memory 34 NM). A 30 GB model and a 60 GB model are proposed, with average performance: 125 MB/s read, 40 MB/s write and 750 IOPS for the first and 130 MB/s read, 85 MB/s write and 1,500 IOPS for the second. Even if the values appear low, on the one hand, they are independent of the type of files (unlike the SandForce) and on the other hand sufficient for a machine to entry as a netbook.

The price is quite interesting, even if machines accepting mSATA SSD remain rare: 65, 110 and 200 * for models Nocti (30, 60 and 120 GB) and 50 and €80 for the Strata of 30 and 60 GB.

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A hard drive hybrid 7 mm?

On one of the blogs of Seagate, one of the leaders of the firm wondered on the interest of a hybrid in the ultrabooks hard disk, the "concept" of portable PC launched by Intel recently put in place by many manufacturers like Acer, Asus, Toshiba, Lenovo, etc.

What is interesting, out side marketing, it's that he wondered about the possible creation of a Momentus XT with a thickness of 7 mm, while the classical model is in a more standard format, 9.5 mm. Currently, the ultrabooks use either an SSD-based solution or a solution composed of a hard disk of 7 mm coupled to a small capacity SSD used cache (SSD Caching of Intel). In the first case, it is limited to the level of capacity: SSDS are expensive and the ultrabooks must not - ideally - exceed $1,000, so a 128 GB SSD is usually the limit. In the second case, the space needed is more important than with a hybrid solution such as Seagate.

Still two problems: first, the passage in 7 mm implies a limitation to the level of capacity. Indeed, 7 mm (used by Archos) hard disks are limited to a single shelf and therefore the best 500 GB currently. Then, the problem of the SSD cache, whether in the hybrid hard disk drives or with the Intel solution, is that it remains a cache: If you out of the preset scenario (and therefore the cache), performance crash and found the same level as a conventional hard drive. With the Momentus XT, Seagate partially solves the problem by using a hard drive at 7,200 rpm, but this is not necessarily possible with a hard disk of 7 mm.

In the end, Seagate should propose a Momentus XT (or equivalent in 5,400 rpm) 7 mm thick which will make pleasure lambda users - who prefer 500 GB of storage space to 128 GB - but is not necessarily something that will bring its letters of nobility to the Ultrabooks. The MacBook Air from Apple, which is clearly the Intel model for the ultrabooks, uses only with SSD and it is clearly one of its big advantages.

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Store 60 x Internet in a single data center

Want to store all Internet? This is (almost) possible. IBM will indeed build a data center with a capacity of 120 storage... Po. The Po (Petabyte) is the unit above To (terabyte) and a Po contains therefore 1,000 To according to the international system. What store sixty times the biggest "backup" of the Internet known, that of archive .org. Currently, the largest data centers are limited to about 15 inches according to IBM.

The set contains approximately 200,000 hard disks (at least 600 GB, probably more) and the file system used is the GPFS (General Parallel File System) of IBM. This file system is adapted to the data centers and uses some techniques of type RAID internally for faster transfer rates, but also to protect the data in the event of failure. And when 200,000 hard drives, failures are "common" and the system is able to adapt: If a disk is defective, the system is for example able to recover the data on other drives and rebuild all without loss of performance, the data being "reconstructed" in the background on a new hard disk. If massive degradation (several hard drives defective at the same time), the system will speed reconstruction on new disks, at that time at the expense of performance. IBM details not capacity reserved for the protection of data, but it is a priori consequent on a system of this type, which must be able to face the judgment of several hard drives at the same time without losing data.

IBM tries everything and keep its hard disks in good condition: hard disks use a liquid cooling system, in place and place of the usual fans which allows to stabilize the temperature.

Note that it will have to wait a few years to find this capability in our machines: from 5 MB to 750 GB in a computer, it took about 25 years (from 1981 to 2006). If you follow the same curve, 120 inch hard drives should not disembark before 2032...

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USB 3.0 to SATA 3.0 in Renesas

Renesas - formerly NEC - has announced a new chip USB 3.0, the µPD720230. Unlike its best-known chip, it does not place between the computer and the USB 3.0, but between the USB 3.0 device and hard disk. Clearly, it is a chip to be placed in external enclosures.

This new chip has two benefits: it supports the third revision of the SATA and can therefore work to 6 gigabits/s, against 3 gigabits/s in the majority of other chips, and it supports the UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) Protocol. For the first point, Renesas announces that it is possible to reach 370 MB/s with a device adapted (such as an SSD). The second point, UASP is a dedicated protocol totally storage, unlike the usually used (Bulk-Only Transport) BOT and this Protocol to increase the sequential flow using controls such as the NCQ.

The main problem of UASP is that it is not supported by natively operating systems (going to have to wait until Windows 8) and two USB 3.0 chips must be compatible. Renesas indicates that its controllers USB 3.0 (µPD720200, µPD720200A, µPD720201, µPD720202) and chipset AMD A70 and A75 (based on Renesas Technology) are compatible, but in fact, other controllers of the market should also work in UASP. Only constraint now, it is necessary to use UASP drivers, which are not available in all the constructors.

This new chip, sold $3.5 room, should even establish the popularity of USB 3.0, pending integration in chipsets from Intel, a priori in 2012.

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Micron accelerates the NOR flash memory

The Micron constructor recently unveiled a new range of NOR flash memory chips, known as Forté N25Q. Engraved in 65 nm, these chips are available in capacities ranging from 256 MB to 1 GB.

Able to use an interface SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface), dual SPI (DSPI) or quad SPI (QSPI), these chips operate with a voltage of 1, 8V and 3V. They display a flow rate of 54 MB/s read with a 108 MHz operating frequency. Programming speed reaches its 500 KB/s. The flash NOR N25Q of Micron memory course supports direct execution of programs "XIP (eXecute In Place").

The first chips of 256 Mb, 512 Mb and 1 Gb are already out Micron Mills, which indicates that the first devices using these NOR flash memory chips (smartphones, cards mothers, decoders,...) should further delay to appear.

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A quad-core Samsung tablet to present Windows 8?

In a few days, we know more about Windows 8 and we can also discover a new tablet.

The Build of Microsoft Conference, to be held between September 13 and 16, is for some time already pointed the finger as an event which will revolve around a new presentation of Windows 8. New information that goes in the sense just falling, indicating that it is a Tablet Samsung under ARM that Microsoft could use to demonstrate the benefits of its new OS. In any case, this is what unveils the Korea Economic Daily, which anticipates that this is a very successful version of the system which will be presented by Steve Sinofsky, Director of the Windows division.

And this is not everything, since according to this same source, it would be the famous quad-core tablet which it had heard recently. A prototype that would be close to being finalized, and that could even be offered to developers who attend the event. It remains to see what new announcements Microsoft reserve us about Windows 8 (compatibility of Windows Phone 7 applications, evoked by Nvidia?), while Steve Sinofsky has just published a long note to confirm that the Hyper-V virtualization tool would be well integrated with the OS natively.

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Thermaltake Toughpower XT: a 80 Plus Platinum power!

The Taiwanese manufacturer Thermaltake comes to unveil three new blocks of power supplies, including an 80 Plus Platinum certified.

Thermaltake has just added three new models to its line of Toughpower XT power supply. These modular blocks provide powers of 1275, 1375, and 1475 Watts, with 80 Plus Platinum for the first and 80 Plus Gold for the other two certifications. The version of 1275 Watts therefore displays performance reaching 94%! These power supplies also meet standards ATX12V v2.3 and EPS12V v2.92.

They are designed around a dual 12 volt rail, and they are equipped with what is best in technology, and components. Thermaltake also incorporates a system of monitoring in real time on the Toughpower XT. These new blocks are cooled by a 140 mm fan that will work at 1900 rpm. The Taiwanese manufacturer announces a MTBF of 120 000 hours for his new Toughpower XT, also covered of a seven year warranty.

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Global failure for Hotmail and Windows Live services

Services connected Microsoft suffered a global breakdown this night. Things are returning little by little in order.

On the night of 8 to 9 September, Microsoft online services (Hotmail, Office Live, Skydrive) underwent a global failure. Microsoft, which recognizes the incident, has promised a rapid restoration of all affected services. If any re - works without problem for some people this morning, access to Hotmail or Skydrive is visibly still problematic for many people (as is our case). Note that these are all services related to the Live ID which met with problems.

"We are aware of a failure affecting Hotmail, SkyDrive and other of our services." We work actively in the resolution of this problem. "More future information" indicated this morning team of Hotmail on Twitter. And a few minutes later, a second message: "We are deploying a patch which we believe that it will correct the problems with Hotmail, SkyDrive, and our other Live service." Thank you for your patience! "."

All of the MSN portal services have not been spared, and it would seem that instant messaging was also victim of this failure. The following online tools Office 365 have also been affected. Two services that, in our case, work. Because if the patches are deployed, it will be that they have been for everyone, changes took place at the level of the DNS configuration. It is a problem at the level of the DNS which is suspected by Microsoft to have caused all this mess. Problems that may be linked to a power outage mass found in the Western United States, deprived of electricity more than 6 million homes.

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First 4 TB in Seagate hard drive!

The American manufacturer Seagate unveils the first hard disk up to a record 4 TB capacity.

Seagate had launched the first hard drive of 3 To early summer 2010. The American manufacturer today is the first to unveil a 4 TB hard drive. Once more, we are dealing with an external model. The GoFlex Desk adopts a new industrial design that will soon expand to the rest of the range.

It is provided with a connector USB 3.0, knowing that declinations in USB 2.0 and FireWire will be soon available. There beneath the hull of the GoFlex a 3.5-inch HDD. The latter operates a Serial ATA interface, and it includes 64 MB of cache. Seagate does not (unlike Hitachi) trays of 1 TB, but 800 GB trays.

Therefore in five to reach this new record capability. The latter will reach 7200 RPM, and performance should therefore be at the Rendez-vous (without so far as it was a beast of race). Hope that this Barracuda XT 4 To be proposed only faster than the version of 3 To last year (who had not arrived before March 2011). Seagate sells its GoFlex Desk of 4 To $ 249.99 (€209,99 TTC). For comparison, the 3 To version is still around €170.

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AMD launches two new Llano bi-hearts

The California firm AMD has launched a pair of new APU A-Series. These Llano are first bi-hearts of the range!

AMD take re-entry to expand its range of APU (Accelerated Processing Unit). You thus discover new Llano in tariff listing of Sunnyvale firm. These A-Series logically take place in a socket FM1. Two new fleas of the day are the first available with two hearts of executions. A4-3300 is running at 2.50 GHz while the A4-3400 reached 2.70 GHz. These two APU also include a Radeon HD 6410D. This graphics solution is compatible DirectX 11. It has 160 stream processors, and is dual-core 600 MHz (A4-3400) or 443 MHz (A4-3300).

The A-Series are equipped with a memory controller supporting the DDR3 to 1600 MHz on two channels and 1 MB L2 cache. These two new processors have a TDP of 65 watts. They are marketed to 64 and 69 $ official rates. The A4-3300/3400, therefore, are less expensive than the A6-3500 (a triple 89 dollars sold hearts), as well as the Athlon II X 4 631 (a quadri-hearts at 79 $, which is however without GPU). It remains to see if the performance is sufficient to justify the choice of an APU other present solutions on the market.

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Motorola launches its Bionic Droid

The American manufacturer Motorola launches its first smartphone 4 G/LTE. The Bionic Droid has t - it everything to please?

Motorola is finally poised to launch Bionic Droid. The latest smartphone to disembark in the famous American manufacturer's range will be marketed from tomorrow by Verizon. Droid Bionic integrates a 4 G/LTE modem, but it is not its only asset. Indeed, it sports a beautiful touch screen 4.3-inch resolution 960 x 540 pixels, protected by a Gorilla Glass qHD. A dual-core processor 1 GHz, accompanied by 1024 MB of RAM are at the heart of the beast.

The storage of the device is assigned to 16 GB of flash memory and a microSD slot. The last baby of Motorola is also a 8 megapixel camera with flash and auto focus sensor (who can also shoot in Full HD 1080p). A webcam is also of the party, and a module WiFi 802 .11n ready.

This smartphone comes with Google Android 2.3.4 coupled to the latest version of the wrapper House: Blur. Also note its compatibility with the Atrix docks system. Motorola offers its Bionic Droid $ 299 with a two year contract. It has therefore case to a high-end model, even if this high rate mainly of support for the LTE. This smartphone will be obviously not compatible with French networks. However, it proves that Motorola may move to tackle HTC (who proposed his Thunderbolt for some months already).

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€100 for less for the Motorola Xoom

Motorola reviews down the price of his Xoom to better compete with the other tablets.

It does not easily compete the iPad Apple 2, King of the Tablet market. Then in the meantime a new generation of competitors, manufacturers continue to increase the attractiveness of their models by lowering their prices. It will not return to the madness wind blown by the TouchPad of HP, whose last copies giveaway from €99 snapped up, nor on the good case that it is some in SFR with Iconia Tab A500 to €169 (with a 3 G plan without commitment), but there is now interest in the Motorola Xoom.

If its price had already been once scaled, it is now available in Wi-Fi 32 GB version at the price of just under €400. For recall, was launched at €579. On the 3 G model, it loses him also a hundred euros and password approximately €500. In comparison, the 2 WiFi 16 GB iPad is sold €489.

Remember that this tablet architecture around a screen touch 16: 10 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 pixels resolution. The heart is the SoC dual-core Tegra 2 1 GHz Nvidia, accompanied by 1 GB of RAM and 32 GB of memory flash. The Xoom has two sensors, a frontend of 2 megapixel, and a 5 megapixel (capable of filming in HD in 720 p) on the back. A gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and Bluetooth are also part. This 730 g tablet running Google Android 3.1 (Honeycomb). It is given for 10 hours of video playback autonomy.

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A new Nexus for Ice Cream Sandwich in October/November?

Between real news and rumours, Ice Cream Sandwich is talking about him...

A few time already said the release of the new version of Android approaching great. The rumor was right because a Conference, Eric Schmidt has confirmed that Ice Cream Sandwich will be published between the months of October and November. While this has been confirmed, the numbering of Ice Cream Sandwich could also evolve.

If it is said that this new version of the OS would be 2.4, Google might ultimately choose the number 4.0. A numbering which justify easily, since it presents us Ice Cream Sandwich as a unified OS for smartphones and tablets... version or when Gingerbread and Honeycomb would more than one form.

And it is not everything, since the output of Ice Cream Sandwich could be accompanied by the arrival of a new series of terminals, including a new smartphone in the Google's Nexus range, which would be always designed by Samsung: the Nexus premium which would be equipped with a Texas Instruments OMAP ARM SoC. We hear even the American operator Verizon has decided to sulk in Samsung Galaxy S II to highlight the Nexus bonus at the end of the year, because this smartphone would be more able to compete with the iPhone 5. Of course, is swimming in full rumours.

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An SSD in SF-2200 expensive steps?

The Taiwanese manufacturer ADATA Unveils in turn a SF-2200 flash disk with asynchronous flash memory.

ADATA has announced a new flash drive. The S510 is very logically part of the "500 Series" of the Taiwanese manufacturer. It architecture as S511 around a SandForce SF-2200. This processor is however accompanied by asynchronous MLC flash memory (less powerful and less expensive). It will be proposed in a single capacity: 120 GB. The S510 adopts a format 2.5 inches and a 6 Gb/s Serial ATA interface.

ADATA advance maximum sequential flows (ATTO) of 550 MB/s read for 510 MB/s write. The manufacturer also specify values with incompressible files (AS - SSD): 200 MB/s read and 140 MB/s write. Maximum random performance reach their 85,000 IOPS (60,000 IOPS in aligned). The S510 consumes 0.6 watt in idle and 4.7 watts support. The MTBF is of 1 million hours, and it is covered by a three year warranty. ADATA will provide an adapter 2.5 inch to 3.5 inches in the bundle of his flash drive, and a utility facilitating migration. It is not known yet when and how much this S510 will be proposed. But it will be obviously cheaper than the S511...

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Forecasts downwards for the PC market

Finally, it should not sell as much as expected in 2011 or 2012 PC...

Cabinet Gartner just revise downward its forecast of PC sales in 2011, taking into account the degraded economic context and sales be conclusive in the first half on the markets of Western Europe and the United States. Even sales of re-entry would not so good as expected. If Gartner had initially expected a market growth of the PC at the global level of 9.3% in 2011, the new forecasts expect growth of 3.8%... or 352 million of PCs sold in the year.

The decline in demand is real, despite Asian market always very dynamic and a renewal of business parks found a level of interest. Equally important, Gartner says that not all missed this year sales be carried over into the next fiscal year. Indeed, its forecasts for 2012 are also revised downwards, with growth now expected at 10.9% versus 12.8% in advance. Main explanation: the PC life cycle tends to elongate, either for individuals or corporate...

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Samsung 850 Series: almost perfect screens?

The Korean giant Samsung unveils two new screens, including a 27 inch in 2560 x 1440 pixels.

Samsung is the number one in the global market for monitors since 20 consecutive quarters. The Korean giant has more concern on this segment since 2006, and according to IDC analysis firm, he holds currently a 17.2% in terms of value and 14.7% in terms of elapsed units. Samsung currently flows more than five million screens a quarter. The manufacturer has just announced the availability next in its 850 Series new Europe. These solutions are equipped with a Super PLS (Plane to Line Switching) type slab, a derivative House IPS technology to achieve visions of 178 degrees angles.

Discover the moment a 24 inch (S24A850DW) and a 27 inch (S27A850D). The first displays a definition 16: 10 1920 x 1200 pixels, while the latter reached 2560 x 1440 pixels. These monitors have a response time of 5 milliseconds (from grey to grey), and a rate of 1000: 1 contrast. They are equipped with an LED backlight, and their maximum brightness is announced to 300 cd/m² (sensor for automatic adjustment is present). The connections of the S24A850DW is limited to VGA and DVI while duS27A850D includes two DVI ports and a DisplayPort. There is also a foot to tilt, rotation, and height adjustment. These screens are also equipped with a USB 3.0, a first in our knowledge hub. They are covered by a three year warranty.

Samsung offers the S24A850DW to €499, while it will have to pay €799 for the S27A850D. These solutions are almost perfect. Their only failure? The tariff, of course, even if it is clearly more warranted than usual...

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Offered by GetJar Gold paid Android apps

A new kiosk applications Android puts forward a category that offers free and paid applications on the Market and Amazon exclusive.

Not easy to be a place among the distributors of Android applications on the side of Google (the very official Android Market) or Amazon (Amazon AppStore for Android), GetJar think can succeed to intrude on this market with GetJar Gold. How? By passing to propose free and legally the applications which are priced in the competition.

Priced applications available which are categorized "Gold" in GetJar, where there is a small 30, some are sold up to ten dollars elsewhere. And GetJar promises that every day new applications integrate this category interchangeably home games, practical apps or productivity tools.

Open and independent, GetJar structure thus managed to negotiate exclusive with some application developers. A small amount of money is repaid them by the number of downloads recorded by their software. About GetJar, the platform pays a promotional program that allows developers to pay to ensure their applications (free or paid) in front. Trying a commercial answer to those who complain regularly of the foutoir which makes most of the invisible applications on shops of traditional applications.

Ilja Laurs, founder, with malice says: "It is a shame that the owners of iPhone must continue to pay for applications they might have free of charge if their phone was under Android".

         

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The Corsair Carbide 400R available at €89

The Californian manufacturer Corsair has officially launched its Carbide 400R.

Corsair had announced its Carbide 400R at the beginning of June. This new case is now officially launched, and it begins to appear in shops from €89. This award provides access to a tower of 520 x 200 x 500 mm, which can accommodate an ATX or Micro-ATX motherboard, and any graphics card. This steel chassis is fully painted in black. Its facade shows four 5.25-inch bays, and a control panel with two ports USB 3.0, FireWire port, and a couple of 3.5 mm jacks.

The 400R Carbide will support a maximum of six HDD/SSD 3.5 or 2.5-inch. It is provided with three 120 mm fans (two front, one rear). Corsair covers its last solution to a two year warranty. It now expected of his "big" brother, Carbide 500R.

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Antec SOLO II: casing silence to €120

California Builder Antec announces a new silent way-Tower housing.

Antec has officially unveil his SOLO II. This means-Tower enclosure is part of the same family as the famous Sonata. It is designed using steel of 1 mm thick, with touches of polycarbonate, which allows to reduce significantly the noise emitted by the configuration. Its façade is designed aluminum and he wears a black paint (bright outside, matte inside) of the most beautiful effect. This SOLO II shows two 5.25 inch bays. It also offers a complete ultra Control Panel, with two USB 2.0, two USB 3.0 ports, ports and two 3.5 mm jacks.

This box can accommodate a motherboard in ATX, Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX format. It has a system of fixing vibration-proof (eyelets silicone,) or rubber cables compatible with 2.5 inch and 3.5-inch HDD/SSD. There are also two TrueQuiet of 120 mm fans. They have two levels of performance, and they are placed behind dust filters. Antec covers her new baby to a three year warranty. The SOLO II is available to the public price of €119 TTC.

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Strata and Nocti: of mSATA in OCZ SSDS

The California manufacturer OCZ will soon propose of new micro-SSD...

OCZ is preparing new series of flash drives. The Strata and Nocti are solutions to the mini-PCIe format. They are equipped with a 3 Gb/s microSATA interface and are designed around SandForce and Indilinx controllers. These solutions are 29,85 x 50.9 x 4.75 mm. The Strata architecture a Barefoot, and 30 or 60 GB of MLC flash memory. Displays sequential flow of 125 or 130 MB/s read, and 40 or 85 MB/s write. Random performance, are they of 11 or 12 000 IOPS in reading, and 750 or 1500 IOPS in writing.

The Nocti is for him based on a SF-2100, with 30, 60 or 120 GB memory flash MLC. Displays sequential respective speeds of 280 read, for 260 MB/s write (255 MB/s for the 30 GB). Random performance reach 11 500 IOPS (6000 IOPS for the 30 GB) in reading, and 32 000 IOPS write (12 500 IOPS for 30) and 60 GB. First European listings are rates located around €45-€60 for Strata and Nocti and 30 GB, €80 and €100 for the 60 GB versions, and €190 for the Nocti of 120 GB. It remains now to wait for the official launch of these micro-SSD.

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Also 4 To Hitachi!

The Japanese manufacturer Hitachi Unveils 4TB external storage via its subsidiary G-Technology.

Hitachi has announced, through its subsidiary G-Technology and in the wake of Seagate, a 4TB external storage solution. This G-DRIVE is likely to incorporate a hard disk with four trays of 1 TB. Its speed of rotation would be of 7200 revolutions per minute, which would guarantee a good level of performance. G Technology also launches a version of 8 To (with two HDD), named G-RAID (logically configured in RAID-0).

Both models have an aluminum shell, and a triple connectivity, with a 3 Gbps, a FireWire 800 port, eSATA port and a USB 2.0 port. It is unfortunately not known when and how much the Japanese manufacturer account propose these new solutions. G - Technology should also start in the fourth quarter G-RAID and G-DRIVE equipped with a Thunderbolt (10 Gb/s) interface.

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VLC in beta on Android

The video player all formats VLC prepares his arrival on Android.

It is not the VideoLan Media Player, VLC having long managed to settle as one of the best alternatives to drives pre-installed by the systems of the market (including Quicktime and Windows Media Player). A player who landed on Android, but beta version first, and on invitation.

This first beta is the result of a fairly long and problematic development, VLC being at the base written in C++ and audio libraries of Android is Java. And if the VideoLan team has not wished to communicate release date scheduled for the final version of VLC for Android, she indicated that the results could vary from one terminal to another, depending on support hardware acceleration or not.

Holders of a terminal Android, to register for the beta and hope to participate, it's here that it happens.

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The ex-PDG of Yahoo says his dismissal by phone

Carol Bartz, CEO just be thanked by Yahoo, rather poorly lived his landing.

We you announced early in the week the dismissal of the CEO of Yahoo, Carol Bartz, who was no longer the case for the Board of Directors of the Internet portal. We learned that his dismissal had been served to him by telephone. Hard. Today, Carol Bartz back at this painful time and have absolutely no hesitation in the legs of the members of the Board of Yahoo. Deemed to be a follower of the passage in force, it was - once more - uncharacteristically his words.

"You would still have had the balls to to announce me it yourself" - Carol Bartz to Roy Bostock

Interviewed by Fortune on his dismissal, she States, without detour: "these people have no floor, they have tubed me, that's all". She explains that it's Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Board who contacted him by telephone to announce his dismissal, but that instead of being human, he preferred to read a text written by a lawyer. "You would still have had the balls announce me it yourself, I thought that you would at least have this class, but not even" he would answer.

Also asked about the "true" reasons for her dismissal, she explained to Fortune that the board and shareholders expected that growth would be immediate and that profitability is the appointment after the restructuring. But it defends its results, explaining that any plan had been thought that turnover begins to rise on the year 2012. As to his successor, if Carol Bartz wish him good courage, she said bitterly: "They should think about me, remind me, me, I knew what to do for this business". And now? "I have much too much purple in my closet" prefer fun Carol Bartz, who has not taken the time to consider his career rebound.

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A 16 GB of DDR3 in Apacer module

The Apacer Taiwanese manufacturer has just announced a new DDR3 DIMM for 16 GB servers...

Apacer is to unveil a new module of RAM for servers. This bar of DDR3 offers a capacity of 16 GB. It operates at 1333 MHz, displays latencies 9-9-9 and requires a nominal voltage of 1.35 volt. This module is type LRDIMM, a technology which allows to increase capacity without increasing the load on the memory bus (Apacer mentions a reduction of 50% from a dual-rank DIMM, and 75% from a quad-rank).

However, the presence of a cache memory increases the cost. We also note the presence of a sink in aluminium (painted black). The Taiwanese manufacturer says validated its solution on the recent AMD and Intel platforms. It remains to know when and how many Apacer account start this bar.

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NVIDIA offers Batman: Arkham City

For the purchase of a GeForce GTX 5XX, Nvidia proposes to offer you one of the most expected the year end games.

Vulcans had marked the spirits with Batman: Arkham Asylum, and we are necessarily eager to discover what they have booked us with Arkham City which looks even better in all. NVIDIA informs us also that we will not necessarily need to pay to live the new adventures of the bat man, as in a promotional operation, GPU manufacturer proposes to offer the game for any purchase of a GeForce GTX Ti 560, 560, 570, 580 or 590 until November 30 in one of its partners (Amazon, Atlanpolis, CDiscount)(, Cybertek, LDLC, MagicPC, Materiel.net or Tones in Belgium).

The beneficiaries of this operation will thus receive a key to use on Steam for free download the game, which will be available as of October 21. Need be recalled that the game is fully part of the specific duties to Nvidia GeForce graphics cards such as PhysX effects and rendering 3D Vision? And with eligible cards to this promotion, there is no doubt that it will be possible to discover Arkham City in the best conditions.

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Google Books: Gallimard, Flammarion and Albin Michel resumed negotiations

Google is more sued for infringement by five large publishers, back to the negotiating table.

August had been marked by the change in attitude of two publishing houses vis-à-vis in Google Books, Hachette, and La Martinière which were favourable to a reopening of negotiations. These houses are now joined by three other big names, namely, Gallimard, Flammarion and Albin Michel, who renounce their suits against Google Books in respect of infringement for "wild" of thousands of books digitisation. It is the LivresHebdo.fr site which tells us this strategic shift, recalling that these publishing houses were claiming in Google not months of 9.8 million euros in damages and interest.

Brice Amor, legal Director, Gallimard, told AFP following these revelations: "the negotiations will now resume again where they had been suspended by Google when we had assigned him to justice". These three publishing houses have therefore responded favourably to the message by the head of Google books France, Philippe Colombet, who declared the month last will "continue to interact with the actors of Culture, to make available to users the huge French cultural heritage".

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