When Apple unveiled the iPad 2, they also advertised a new video converter that was designed to mirror whatever is displayed on the tablet’s screen to an external HDMI display by upscaling content to full HD 1080p resolution. This one plays nice with any third-party app and when it comes to games, the $39 Apple Digital AV Adapter upscales graphics from the iPad’s native 1024 by 768 pixel resolution to full HD 1920 by 1080 resolution.

That means you won’t have those annoying black bars on your screen. Don’t you hate those? The PowerVR SGX543MP2, the GPU unit of the A5 chip can drive full 1080p 3D graphics. TouchArchade says that the next update to Firemint’s Real Racing 2 HD will enable full 1080p video output in 30 frames per second. That’s without upscaling.

Netgear has unveiled the second generation of it’s very useful Push2TV HD TV adapter. The device uses WiDi (Wireless Display) to push a computer’s screen content to an HDTV connected to the Push2TV box via an HDMI cable. Hence the name. This second generation of Push2TV supports 1080p at 30 fps (previously 720p) with a shorter lag time than before.

Also, Psuh2TV now works with discrete graphics processors, which you absolutely need for gaming. The NetGear Push2TV will cost about $119.99 and will be available sometime before march of 2011.

The Matrox TripleHead2Go is an external multi-display adapter that adds up to three monitors to your notebook or desktop PC. It’s great for those who need more desktop space and for gamers wanting a more fully immersive experience.

The device connects to the video output of your system and uses its existing GPU to deliver high-quality, uncompressed graphics and video across all of the monitors. It also allows you to run different applications on each display or view one across multiple monitors. The Matrox TripleHead2Go DP is available now for $329.

Dell’s thinnest laptop ever still isn’t shipping out to consumers, but at least the Windows 7 machine is now configurable over on Dell’s website. The base price is $1,799 and includes a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400 CPU, a 128GB solid state drive, 13.4-inch WLED panel, 2 megapixel camera, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, GS45 integrated graphics, WiFi and a USB Ethernet adapter.

Sadly most of the components are not upgradable, but there are a few upgrades available if you have the money. You’re looking at a December 22nd estimated ship date.

Each time I use my netbook I think that it would be great if I had more screen space. The problem is that I am using my netbook for portability and a larger screen kills the portability. A second monitor to take with me when I am working from the netbook would be perfect.

The caveat again is that secondary screens are typically bulky and need a power outlet to work. MIMOMonitors has announced a new foldable mini-monitor for people who are on the go and need a lightweight and compact secondary screen.

Running multiple monitors on a single computer is just plain cool. At least it is for us here at the ‘Brick, and the more the better. So, when we heard about HP’s USB graphics adapters which allow you to connect multiple monitors via USB, we had to try it out. HP says a single computer can run as many as six of them and we wanted to see just how well.

THE SETUP:
We ran our testing with …

USB graphics adapters are a great way for Mac and PC users to add additional screens to their computers without having to open the computer up or install a new video card. DisplayLink reported last week that it had sold 1 million USB GPUs, without support for Linux.

The company has now announced that it will be releasing the source code for Linux under the LGPL agreement to allow developers to build drivers to support DisplayLink GPUs on Linux notebooks, desktops, and servers.

We love video games around here. Whether we’re playing the Xbox 360, the PS3 or even an old Atari 2600. We thought we would take a look at the history of gaming consoles from 1972 to the present. You grew up with the vintage consoles, you play the new ones, so take a walk down memory lane and revisit all your favorites from the massive list below.

When most of us think of video cards, we immediately think of gaming computers. Gamers spend hundreds of dollars on their video cards in search of good frame rates and graphics. In the professional world, graphics cards are used to provide data to multiple monitors.

ATI has announced its latest pro graphics card called the ATI FirePro 2450. The card is low profile and half-height making it suitable for small form factor machines. Despite its small size it packs in 512MB of RAM and supports four DVI or VGA monitors at resolutions up to 1920 x 1200.

Looks like Apple has announced a new Nehalem based Mac Pro with a starting price of $2,499. The new systems feature your choice of a single core 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500, or a dual 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500, start with 3GB of memory, a 640GB hard drive, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB of RAM.

The new systems should be available next week online and in stores, so break open your piggy banks and get your credit cards ready.

iLuv is known for their various iPod docks and speakers, but now they’re hitting us with the iLuv i1166 PMP that features a 9 inch screen for playback of your DVD’s and movies via your iPod. It has built in stereo speakers and a rechargeable Li-Polymer battery for longer playback.

Some specs include: MPEG-4 Certified to play MPEG-4 Videos, Compact and light-weight portable DVD Player with iPod dock, Play back from DVD or your iPod video through the 9″ widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio) TFT LCD, Watch your favorite video on TV through Video output, Built-in powerful stereo speakers, Enhanced user interface with detailed controls and graphics based display, Supports 3-way power sources,AC Power Adapter, and Car Adapter.

HP recently did some updates to its consumer printers and technology, unveiling two compact photo printers, a new five-ink printing system and a home printer which can print from the Web. The HP Photosmart A630 and A530 Compact Photo Printers are expected to be available in August at around $150 and $100, respectively, while the HP Photosmart D5460 Printer is available now for around $100.

The main item of interest here is the five-ink printing system, which uses  a single dual-drop-volume printhead that delivers an extremely small drop size and offers consumers what HP says is “better control over costs by requiring fewer cartridges to manage.” You can get full details on these new HP printing functions after the jump.

Gefen is now making available a USB to DVI connector for those who want to add additional digital video displays or projectors. It is called the Gefen USB to DVI Graphics Adapter and it will cost you around $130.

The Gefen USB to DVI Graphics Adapter is designed to do as the name implies – bringing additional display options to your computer through a USB connection. It works with the Windows operating system and sports a DVI port to which you hook up a monitor. On the other end is a USB port for a computer connection. Output video to these monitors comes in the DVI-I format.

Sewell Direct is debuting its own USB to DVI adapter for those needing to hook up multiple displays to one computer. It is called the USB to DVI External Video Card and pricing is set at around $150.

The Sewell USB to DVI External Video Card makes use of DisplayLink virtual graphics technology to let you connect up to six displays to one PC (each one needs its own adapter). This particular adapter works with Windows machines only at the moment and sports a USB port on one end and DVI input on the other.

It looks like those MacBook Air rumors were really not too far off. Today Steve Jobs announced the latest addition to the MacBook lineup at MacWorld in San Francisco, touting it as the thinnest notebook in the world. The MacBook Air measures a mere 0.16 inches at its thinnest point, and it only gets as thick as 0.76 inches at the hinged end.

The Air Mac will start shipping in about two weeks with a retail price of $1,799, and comes with the following features: