News Archive
Wednesday, April 30th 2008
Today's Reviews
Thermaltake has released a new case that can change the color of its LED fan according to the user's preference. The M9D is an ordinary glossy finished middle tower chassis with clear side window that has a huge 23cm Touchcolor fan mounted on it. That's also the fan that will make your PC area full of color. It has a special switch on the side panel that will let you choose between 5 fan color modes: red, green, blue, random mix LED, and random single / mix LED. Aside from the 5 color LED fan, the case comes with additional two 120mm Turbofans located at the front and at the back of the case for optimal system airflow. Other attributes include tool-free design, smart cable management and removable HDD cage. The M9D series has nine 5.25" drive bays and comes in two versions: VI4000BWS with transparent side windows and VI4000BNS without the trasparent side window. Find more information
here.
Silicon-Power, the leading brand in Flash Memory Manufacturers, presents its first 128GB Solid State Disk. Silicon-Power's SSD comes in a standard 2.5-inch size and ships with SATA or PATA interface which can easily fit for PCs, notebooks or other mobile devices. It has built-in Error Correction Code (ECC) and guarantees higher data transfer rate and system operation efficiency than traditional hard drives. Silicon-Power's 2.5-inch SATA / IDE SSD is also perfectly shockproof, vibration and noise free, because there're no moving parts in it. The 2.5-inch SATA/ IDE SSD is currently available in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities.
Little update on our
previous story that EVGA is to announce a new overclocking utility. The Precision overclocking tool was confirmed today to be released this week, by the administrator of EVGA's support forums. He also revealed some exclusive features of the tool, such as Logitech G15 LCD applet integration and in-game GPU temp/frequence and FPS readings.
Lenovo today announced the availability of the IdeaPad U110 consumer notebook PC, the star of Lenovo's IdeaPad entertainment and fashion-oriented notebook collection and winner of three Best-of-Show awards at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show. Select models of the notebook will be available in red and black on Lenovo's website today.
DigiTimes reported today that Lite-On Technology has announced plans to sell its Digital Display business unit to Taiwan's Wistron for NT $9.2 billion (US $302.17 million). The purchase will mostly involve inventory, equipment, intellectual property, and personnel. No land or manufacturing plants are included with this deal. Wistron, which specializes in system assembly, expects this action to strengthen its existing line of LCD TVs and increase Wistron's presence in the display industry. On the other hand, Lite-On said after the sale of its Digital Display business unit, the company will concentrate on its core businesses and improving profitability. The company also added that it intends to increase its share in the power supply (PSU) market and actively enter into the LED backlighting business. The transaction is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2008.
Alienware started selling its fastest and meanest gaming notebook, the Area-51 m17x. It comes with some serious power and let's hope it won't overheat as the little brother m15x. The Area-51 m17x comes with a 17" display supporting 1080p (1920x1200 resolution), variety of NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX, 8700M GT or 8600M GT dedicated graphics cards operating in SLI mode, up to 4GB of DDR2 memory, and up to 1000GB of hard drive capacity using two 500GB HDDs. The laptop comes with a 45nm Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Extreme processor and can also be offered with a DVD burner or Blu-ray optical drive, a 64GB solid state drive and 1GB Intel Turbo Memory. In Area-51 m17x you'll also find two speakers with subwoofer and a built-in 2-megapixel webcam. The m17x runs Windows Vista OS and starts at $2,199. It is available now through the Alienware's
online store.
It's a good day for all hardcore Team Fortress 2 players. Valve today informed that the long-awaited PC update for TF2 has been released. This update includes 39 new medic achievements, three new medic items: The Blutsaugher, The Kritzkrieg, and The Ubersaw and a new Goldrush map for all players. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. In other TF2 news, a worldwide Team Fortress 2 Free Weekend will begin Friday at noon PDT, and offer free access to the entire game for anyone with a free Steam account from May 2 to May 4. Using the functionality made available through Steam and Steamworks, all of the files needed to join the Free Weekend are available for pre-loading now.
Tuesday, April 29th 2008
Today's Reviews
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today announced the Special Ops Edition DDR3 Series, available in both PC3-8500 and PC3-10666 kits featuring the high densities and stability gamers demand. These DDR3 kits are ideal for users advancing to the next generation of memory platforms, offering the speeds, density, and reliability required for the latest DirectX 10 PC titles.
Compro Technology, an innovative leading manufacturer and developer of PC multimedia products, recently introduced the VideoMate Vista E800F, which is an advanced hybrid PCIe interface DVB-T and analog TV/FM tuner card with a powerful real-time hardware MPEG-2 encoder. With the VideoMate Vista E800F, you can enjoy viewing DVB-T digital TV or analog TV. The built-in hardware MPEG-2 encoder provides excellent video quality with minimum CPU usage. Aside from having excellent hardware design and features, VideoMate Vista E800F is also accompanied by Compro's exclusive ComproDTV 4 software. It features universal analog TV or free-to-air 1080i HDTV quality digital TV watching/recording, channel surfing, timeshifting, still frames capture, Transport Stream recording and playback in digital TV, the custom channel order creating and exclusive S5 (shutdown)/ S4 (hibernation) /S3 (standby) mode power up scheduled recording. Compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista, VideoMate Vista E800F additionally includes a Microsoft certified Windows Media Center remote which gives users full control of Windows Media Center and the ComproDTV 4 software.
Razer, the world's leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle electronics peripherals, has launched the Lunar White Razer DeathAdder, an ergonomic right-handed gaming mouse specifically built with the needs of Mac OS X gamers in mind.
Windows XP Service Pack 3 was supposed to land today for mass download, but I'm afraid this won't happen. Microsoft today explained what's the main reason behind this last moment delay:
In the last few days, we have uncovered a compatibility issue between Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) and both Windows XP SP3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). In order to make sure customers have the best possible experience, we have decided to delay releasing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) to the web. To help protect customers, we plan to put filtering in place shortly to prevent Windows Update from offering both service packs to systems running Microsoft Dynamics RMS. Once filtering is in place, we expect to release Windows XP SP3 to the web.
I suppose many of you already know about the leaked Windows XP SP3 download link, but I prefer to post only legit links here. Microsoft is working on fixing the problem and should release Windows XP SP3 to web very soon.
MSI is entering the Eee PC champion league with some tricked out Wind notebook. While you won't be blown away by performance or by the looks of it, Wind U100 will be MSI's first major fighter against Eee that is claimed to beat it in 6 out of 9 design specification. Shipping in mid to late May, the U100 will get its power from an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor based on a Intel 945GM motherboard, up to 2GB DDR2 667MHz memory, 80GB 2.5-inch SATA hard drive and a 10-inch WSVGA LCD with 1024x600 wide resolution, that MSI claims is much better for web surfing compared to Eee PC. Also included is a 4-in-1 card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, GB network port, 802.11B/G wireless and Bluetooth V2.0 EDR. Multimedia features will get you HD audio through integrated stereo speakers and video from a 1.3MP camera. The MSI Wind will ship with either Windows XP or Linux OS. Also MSI promises two battery options: 3 cell and 6 cell. With the 3 cell battery installed, the whole system will weigh less than a kilo and measure 260x180x19-31.5mm. See some more pictures at
TweakTown.
After Dell it's now Lenovo's turn to join Microsoft's "downgrade" program and continue offering Windows XP Professional past the June 30 deadline. All customers with qualified Lenovo PCs that have Vista Business or Vista Ultimate versions can now purchase a Windows XP recovery CD until January 31, 2009. That's not the same approach used by Dell, but it's absolutely legit and will let users enjoy the good old Windows XP for quite a while. HP and Toshiba, are the other two companies that will likely take advantage of the downgrade rights provided by Microsoft.
On this page you can
download the latest version of RivaTuner. In RivaTuner v2.09 you'll find some minor bugfixes, better driver support as well as added support for NVIDIA G96 and G100 (aka GT200).
Cray Inc. and Intel Corporation announced today they signed a multi-year agreement to advance high-performance computing (HPC) on Intel microprocessors while delivering broad new Intel and Cray technologies in future Cray server systems. The collaboration of these two industry leaders will result in HPC systems that will help solve some of the world's most complex scientific, engineering and humanitarian challenges.
Antec today officially introduced its second gaming chassis the Antec Twelve Hundred. The Antec Twelve Hundred is the evolution of the best-selling Nine Hundred, expanding on its award-winning design by adding a top 200mm TriCool blue LED fan (can be turned on/off by an easily accessed switch), two rear 120mm TriCool LED fans and three front 120mm LED fans to help cool even the most demanding computer system. Additionally there're two 120mm side fan mounts that give builders the option to provide cooling for the graphics cards and the CPU if needed. The Twelve Hundred also comes with a water cooling platform that can be used to position a reservoir or a pump. The case also includes an advanced cable management system, a perforated front panel and washable air filters. The internals of the case reveal twelve drive bays, seven expansion slots and enough space for today's large graphics cards. The Twelve Hundred is available now through major retailers, e-tailers, and distributors. The case will retail for approximately $209.95 and is backed by Antec's Quality 3-Year Warranty. For additional product information and full technical specifications, please visit
Antec.
Infineon Technologies today announced that the company has acquired one hundred percent of Primarion, Inc. to further strengthen its activities in the field of power management applications. Primarion is among the leaders in designing, manufacturing and marketing digital power ICs for computing, graphics and communication applications. Primarion is a fabless company, headquartered in Torrance, California.
Monday, April 28th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Cases
The enclosure market is a one tough cookie. From what Tempest offers, NZXT is certainly bringing an advanced feature set to the entry-level crowd or people seeking simple design. If you're on a tight budget, want to save up some money for better performing hardware and don't care about premium features like a removable motherboard tray you should check out this case.
In relation to the new 3DMark Vantage benchmark, all ATI owners that experience some problems with the benchmark, or just want to try some new drivers for their cards can now try 3DMark Vantage Catalyst hotfix driver for Windows Vista 32/64-bit. The 3DMark Vantage Catalyst hotfix (
737-33840) includes bug fixes and performance enhancements for all Radeon HD 2400/2600/2900/3400/3600/3850 and 3870 cards. If you experience problems downloading the hotfix please be patient, all servers are currently overloaded.
DOWNLOAD
Apple today introduced the updated all-in-one iMac, which now offers the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and the most powerful graphics ever available in an iMac. The ultimate all-in-one desktop computer includes faster processors with 6MB L2 cache, a faster 1066MHz front-side bus across the entire line, and 2GB of memory standard in most models. And the 24-inch iMac now offers a 3.06GHz Intel processor and the high-performance NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics as options. Available immediately, the new iMac starts at just $1,199 preinstalled with Mac OS X Leopard and iLife '08. Find out more
here.
3DMark Vantage will be released today. It's the new DX10 version of their FM gaming benchmark series. PCMark Vantage is the first objective hardware performance benchmark for PCs running 32 and 64 bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista. PCMark Vantage is perfectly suited for benchmarking any type of Microsoft Windows Vista PC from multimedia home entertainment systems and laptops to dedicated workstations and hi-end gaming rigs. Regardless of whether the benchmarker is an artist or an IT Professional, PCMark Vantage shows the user where their system soars or falls flat, and how to get the most performance possible out of their hardware. PCMark Vantage is easy enough for even the most casual enthusiast to use yet supports in-depth, professional industry grade testing.
DOWNLOAD
InfoWorld US reports that Dell will continue to sell and support Windows XP to consumers beyond the June 30 date that Microsoft reaffirmed as final sales date for Windows XP Professional. Dell will use a licensing option which Microsoft calls a "downgrade" license that allow buying a Vista Business or Vista Ultimate license and still provide Windows XP. Dell will preinstall XP Professional as a "downgrade" on a variety of desktop PCs and laptops, that include some Dell Latitude, OptiPlex, and Dell Precision systems as well as some Vostro and Dell XPS gaming systems where the downgrade will come for a small fee. The computers available with the XP option will include the Windows Vista installation DVD in the box so users can later install Vista over XP under the same license if they wish. Dell said it will utilize and support this program as long as Microsoft supports it.
NVIDIA haven't been too much of a press release poster lately, so from yesterday their latest GeForce 9600 GSO modification is considered as official (the card is now listed on NVIDIA's home page
here). Expect all partners of the graphics maker to release new cards very soon.
The NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO GPU offers a powerfully immersive entertainment experience designed for extreme high-definition gaming and video playback. Play the hottest DirectX 10 games with awesome speed and watch the latest HD DVD and Blu-ray movies with brilliant clarity. Featuring next generation GeForce and PureVideo HD technologies, the GeForce 9600 GSO GPU puts amazing graphics performance within your reach.
Sunday, April 27th 2008
Review
Notebook Coolers
The Akasa Gemini Ergonomic notebook cooler is an all plastic unit with two 70 mm fans. Two USB ports can be found on the rear of the device, one of which is used to power the fans. Akasa has designed the notebook cooler, so that it adds ergonomic benefit to your working environment in form of a palm rest.
NVIDIA is prepping the already confirmed GT200 graphics chip for an early July launch several sources reported last week. In order to counter ATI and their RV770 GPU which is almost complete, NVIDIA will launch GT200 powered GeForce 9900 graphics cards hoping to take the performance crown from ATI once again using old but proved tactics. The first two models from the GeForce 9900 series will be 9900 GTX and 9900 GTS instead of the previously speculated GeForce 9900 GT.
ASUS worldwide leader in component and notebook design and manufacturing, today previewed the P5Q series of motherboards equipped with the exclusive ASUS EPU Energy Processing Unit. This energy-conserving series is based on the upcoming Intel P45 chipset, and features full support for the latest Intel processors and memory technologies. Thanks to the inclusion of the exclusive ASUS EPU, the P5Q series claims the leadership position as the most energy efficient motherboard on the market. The P5Q energy-saving series of motherboards consists of P5Q Deluxe, P5Q-E, P5QC, P5Q PRO and P5Q.
With an overall 43% growth in sales over last year it is fair to say that Ubisoft is charging uphill and picking up speed. Much of the company's success is attributed to the fourth-quarter success of Rainbow Six Vegas 2, which sold almost 2 million units, and Assassin's Creed, which has sold over 6 million units. Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has offices in 24 countries and sales in 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2007-08 fiscal year Ubisoft forecasts generated sales of approximately 920 million Euros.
Saturday, April 26th 2008
Today's Reviews
Game publisher Codemasters yesterday announced plans to acquire Sega's UK Racing Studio. Previous owner Sega recently announced its intent to close the studio, citing a mandate to ensure each branch remained profitable. "In seizing this opportunity, we have created additional resources to escalate our plans in the racing segment," stated Codemasters chief executive Rod Cousens. "We hope to welcome more than 40 people to the company ... We have enjoyed the full co-operation of our friends at Sega in making this happen," he continued. "It is good business for Codemasters, an exciting prospect and there will be more to come as we are not content to stand still." Most likely both publishers will concentrate their development skills in releasing a new versions of the well known Codemasters' Colin McRae and Race Driver racing games.
Microsoft has announced, Ninja Gaiden 2 will ship for Xbox 360 on June 6 a date that applies to North America and Europe. Though it was just released on the Xbox, the Ninja Gaiden series has been around for a long time. The original Ninja Gaiden which some of you might remember, was an 8-bit console arcade game released in 1988 in North America by Tecmo. Ninja Gaiden 2 features more blood, gore, and graphic violence than the previous installment. It includes scenes of Decapitation, Dismemberment, arms and legs flying through the air, and bodies being ripped apart.
Friday, April 25th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Memory
Crucial has updated their successful Tracer line-up with the Ballistix Tracer 4 GB Dual Channel kit. Despite stock ratings at 800 MHz with CL4 timings at 2.2V this kit is capable of reaching 1120 MHz stable at CL5 and 2.2V. In addition, the Ballistix Tracer Reds were completely stable at stock speed and timings with only 1.8V, making this a great kit for those with limited voltage options. That said, the entirely red LED accented theme and great performance from these high density 2GB modules is sure to please.
Nintendo Europe is pleased to inform all Wii owners that the state-of-the-art Wii Fit console accessory is now available in Europe. Wii Fit is designed to let you do more than 40 fitness exercises including Aerobic Exercises, Yoga, Muscle Workouts and Balance Games. The Wii Fit and its accompanying software will cost you £69.99 in UK, and around €89.99 for the rest of the European Union. Find out more by visiting the official
Wii Fit website.
EVGA has become the first graphics manufacturer to introduce two new video card under the GeForce 9600 GSO brand. The e-GeForce 9600GSO 384MB (384-P3-N966-TR) and e-GeForce 9600GSO Superclocked 384MB (384-P3-N967-TR) both feature NVIDIA's 65nm G92 GPU with 96 stream processors, second gen PureVideo HD, 100% DirectX 10 and PCI Express 2.0 support. The regular version comes clocked at 550MHz/1375MHz/1600MHz core/shader/memory clock speeds while the Superclocked model works at 650MHz/1620MHz/1900MHz. EVGA also includes the Step-up Program, EVGA 24/7 Tech Support, EVGA Forums, EVGA Gaming Servers, EVGA Advanced RMA (EAR) and the upcoming EVGA Precision Graphics Tuning Tool exclusive for these cards.
BFG Technologies, the leading North American and European supplier of advanced NVIDIA-based 3D graphics cards, power supplies, and other PC enthusiast products, announced today the
BFG ES-800, an enthusiast level 800 watt power supply which has won numerous awards for its high efficiency and unique Frequency Conversion technology.
Thursday, April 24th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Headphones
Head-Direct has just released their RE1 earphones which are quite different compared to all the other in-ears on the market today. The special thing about them is that they are based around some very unique performing drivers that scale particularly well. The better your amplifier is, the better their sound, leaving the competition behind in the dust - if you have a good amp.
The newest Ubuntu Linux release, code named "Hardy Heron" and officially called Ubuntu 8.04 LTS is now available for download in two versions - Desktop and Server. The "LTS" version of Ubuntu means long-term support - 3 years for desktop versions and 5 years for server versions. Please refer to the
release notes for more information.
DOWNLOAD
Thanks to TG Daily we can now talk about the very soon to be released ATI HD 4800 series of graphics cards with more details. One week ahead of its presumable release date, general specifications of the new cards have been revealed. All Radeon 4800 graphics will use the 55nm TSMC produced RV770 GPU, that include over 800 million transistors, 480 stream processors or shader units (96+384), 32 texture units, 16 ROPs, a 256-bit memory controller (512-bit for the Radeon 4870 X2) and native GDDR3/4/5 support as reported before. At first, AMD's graphics division will launch three new cards - Radeon HD 4850, 4870 and 4870 X2:
- ATI Radeon HD 4850 - 650MHz/850MHz/1140MHz core/shader/memory clock speeds, 20.8 GTexel/s (32 TMU x 0.65 GHz) fill-rate, available in 256MB/512MB of GDDR3 memory or 512MB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1.73GHz
- ATI Radeon HD 4870 - 850MHz/1050MHz/1940MHz core/shader/memory clock speeds, 27.2 GTexel/s (32 TMU x 0.85 GHz) fill-rate, available in 1GB GDDR5 version only
- ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 - unknown core/shader clock speeds, available with 2048MB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1730MHz
The 4850 256MB GDDR3 version will arrive as the successor of the 3850 256MB with a price in the sub-$200 range. The 4850 512MB GDDR3 should retail for $229, while the 4850 512MB GDDR5 will set you back about $249-269. The 1GB GDDR5 powered 4870 will retail between $329-349. The flagship Radeon HD 4870 X2 will ship later this year for $499.
Apple today presented financial results for its fiscal 2008 second quarter ended March 29, 2008. The Company posted revenue of $7.51 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $5.26 billion and net quarterly profit of $770 million, or $.87 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 32.9 percent, down from 35.1 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 44 percent of the quarter's revenue.
Users of Windows Vista who also happen to use Automatic Update service can now receive the first service pack (SP1) for the operating system automatically.
Not all customers will receive SP1 immediately via Automatic Update, however. The company is distributing it in phases to "ensure a seamless download experience," Microsoft said. A timeline for when all customers would receive Vista SP1 via Automatic Update was not immediately available.
Reserved to be
available on April 22nd, Futuremark's next-gen 3DMark Vantage failed to make it on time and is now rumored for an April 28-29 release, a week later than expected. 3DMark Vantage is a DirectX 10 benchmark that works with Windows Vista only, since it's the only OS to support DX10. Benchmarkers will be offered a new physics test and God knows what. The final system requierements remain unchanged (read the full story).
Samsung Electronics America announced today the launch of its "Touch Of Color" (TOC) line of desktop monitors: the T190, T220, T240 and T260. Delivering industry-leading performance to design-conscious markets, these ultra-sleek monitors advance Samsung's signature style with a unique edge, uncluttered minimalist design and a deep ruby red infusion that complements its piano-black, glossy finish giving it a blown glass look.
Qimonda AG and Elpida Memory, both leading global memory suppliers, today announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a technology partnership on joint development of memory chips (DRAMs). In the planned cooperation, Qimonda will provide its know-how with the innovative Buried Wordline technology and Elpida its advanced stack capacitor technology. The strategic technology cooperation will leverage the strength of both companies to accelerate their roadmap to DRAM products featuring cell sizes of 4F². The companies plan to introduce the jointly developed innovative 4F² cell concept in the 40nm generation in calendar year 2010 and to subsequently scale it to the 30nm generation.
By sending an email message to every one of its subscribers, Microsoft today informed that it will add some drastic music restrictions to the MSN Music service. "I am writing to let you know that as of August 31, 2008, Microsoft will change the level of support to be offered for music purchased directly from MSN Music prior to November 14, 2006. As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers. License keys already obtained as of August 31, 2008 will continue to allow you to listen to songs on all the computers that you previously authorized for service. We wanted to send out this notification well in advance to remind you to backup your music and to provide you sufficient time to confirm license keys for the songs you've purchased from MSN Music." the mail says. The music restrictions do not just apply to authorizing new computers. If you for example upgrade from one Microsoft OS to another, you'll need to reauthorize all tracks once you install the new Windows OS. Microsoft launched the MSN Music Store in September, 2004, in an effort to compete with Apple's iTunes but after two years on November 14, 2006 the company started redirecting MSN Music Store shoppers to the Zune Marketplace. Now Microsoft is taking the next step by deleting its MSN Music license servers.
Wednesday, April 23rd 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Power Supplies
Mushkin's new XP-800AP power supply offers enough power for even the most demanding rigs. The shiny black paint looks great and the connectors are numerous. One special feature is Rail Fusion which lets the user select if the whole PSU should run with one big rail or in Quad Rail mode.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) today confirmed the release of an official Grand Theft Auto IV bundle exclusively for PLAYSTATION3 (PS3).The bundle, available on April 29, 2008, will consist of a PLAYSTATION3 40GB model, a SIXAXIS wireless controller and a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest title in the genre-defining Grand Theft Auto franchise, all for just €439 (RRP). "We are delighted to offer the millions of PS3 and GTA fans the ultimate gaming package," said David Reeves, President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) is the eleventh, upcoming installment of the best-selling Grand Theft Auto video game franchise.
Probably the story of the day, Apple is taking a big step in the IC business by purchasing the microprocessor design company P.A. Semi for $278 million in cash. P.A. Semi is a fabless semiconductor company that was founded in 2003 by Dan Dobberpuhl, the former lead designer of the Alpha and StrongARM microprocessors developed by Digital Equipment in the 1990s. Currently the company has 150 employees and delivers PWRficient 64-bit multicore processors for the high-performance embedded-computing markets. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not comment on our purposes and plans," said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling. That leaves us with almost no information to share. First reports speculate that Apple will target the chip maker's product for the iPhone or other systems like Apple TV.
NVIDIA was reported today to plan on changing the G92-450 GPUs found on current GeForce 9800 GX2 cards with an updated G92-451 parts. However, the transition will be almost invisible as the G92-451 is pin to pin compatible to G92-450. Cards won't even need an updated BIOS. The reason for this change is due to improved manufacturing yields and ensured continuity of NVTTM production supply. That's also the part where previous reports of NVIDIA shortening the life-span of GeForce 9800 GX2 become somewhat doubtful.
Responding to
IBM and its development partners that took the lead in the nm battle by announcing the availability of a high-k and metal-gate 32nm offering, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) today outlined more details about its 32nm process. Rick Tsai, president and chief executive of the company said "We will have high-k and metal-gate at 32nm," during a keynote at the 2008 Technology Symposium. Jack Sun, vice president of research and development, also indicated that TSMC will develop a third-generation triple-gate oxide technology for its 32nm low-power process. For its 32nm high-performance process, TSMC will offer a high-k and metal gate technology, Sun added.
Rambus, one of the world's premier technology licensing companies specializing in high-speed memory architectures, today announced that it has signed an agreement for DDR engineering services and a memorandum of understanding for future development of MirrorBit Flash memory solutions with Spansion, the world's largest pure-play provider of Flash memory solutions.
Super Talent has become the first high-performance memory manufacturer to offer DDR3-1800 PC3-14400 4GB Kit (2x 2GB), part of the company's overclocking friendly Project X family. The kit is rated with latencies of CL8-8-8-24 at 1.9V and comes backed by a lifetime warranty. "This represents another major first-to-market milestone for Super Talent", commented Super Talent Marketing Director, Joe James. "While competitors are only able to produce 4GB kits up to DDR3-1600, we've engineered a kit that performs at elevated clock speeds while still supporting aggressive latencies." The
W1800UX4GP kit is available now for under $499.
AMD today announced the availability of three new AMD Phenom X3 triple-core processors that, when combined with the AMD 780 series chipset, can give consumers a full HD experience and visually stunning gaming and digital performance. As the world's only triple-core x86 processor, AMD Phenom X3 processors bring multi-core technology to a broader audience in search of desktop processors that easily handle today's multi-threaded digital entertainment workloads.
Tuesday, April 22nd 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Headphones
LiveWires T1 is the name of some new custom earphones that cost about half of its main rivals. They are built exactly to fit your ear with additional customization options like colors. These in-ears use two balanced armatures and play in a completely different league compared to whats usually available in this price segment.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) today silently released two more energy-efficient Athlon desktop processors with a TDP of 45W. Both the Athlon X2 4450e and the Athlon X2 4050e are dual-core Socket AM2/AM2+ processors clocked at 2.3GHz and 2.1GHz respectively. They are built on 65nm technology and feature 1MB of L2 cache.
Logitech International today announced record Q4 sales and profits, delivering its tenth consecutive year of double-digit revenue growth and reaching its full year revenue and profitability goals.
ASUS apologized in public today in connection with recent reports that the company had mislead customers and early reviewers. Several consumers in Hong Kong who purchased Eee PC 900 on the first day of its launch have complained that the battery that came with their systems is a 4-cell, 4400mAh model, not the 4-cell, 5800mAh and 4-cell, 5200mAh batteries that were reported by early reviews. ASUS explained that the bigger batteries were provided to the media for testing by mistake, while the 4400mAh model is the standard that should ship with Eee PC 900. ASUS plans to introduce a 5800mAh upgrade part in the near future. All unsatisifed users will be offered an free update from ASUS. The company is currently ecaluating a replacement program, details of which it will introduce soon.
After yesterday's price reductions, Intel is now releasing a new 45nm dual-core processor. Previously reported in some Intel price charts, Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 is a 1333MHz FSB CPU with 6MB of L2 cache, a 65W TDP and stock frequency of 2.83GHz. The CPU has already made its way into stores with a price of $163 in 1000-unit tray quantities.
Sony PlayStation 3's online community service Home will not be launched until this fall, Sony Computer Entertainment has announced in just another delay. The service was first announced in July last year and promised to be available globally in the "fall" of 2007 but later it was delayed until "spring" 2008 at the Tokyo Game Show. Now the launch date is being moved to the "fall" of this year. When the time comes, PlayStation Home will be available only as an open beta test service.
We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today, ... Spending more time on the development and on the Closed Beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation tradition.
said Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, in a statement. There are no details on when PlayStation Home might launch as a full service.
GIGABYTE today answered to the Foxconn BLACKOPS board, with what they call the EP45 Extreme motherboard for overclockers. It may not offer you 4-in-1 cooling like the BLACKOPS does, but as you can see from the pictures there's plenty of copper all over the board's two main chips and the 12-phase PWM area, so this will do the work quite well too. The final board will also have onboard power and reset switches, but they are missing from this early sample. The Post 80 debug LED is also a new feature for this GIGABYTE board. Additionally GIGABYTE is planning to supply later a LN2 duct for the CPU and a watercooling module for the chipset. Finally the board has six SATA ports, single IDE port, dual Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel HD audio, three PCI slots, three x16 PCIe slots, GIGABYTE's Dual BIOS and a new revision of DES.
Seagate Technology announced today that it is the first hard drive manufacturer worldwide to have shipped 1 billion hard drives - a number not only staggering in size but also emblematic of the massive amount of digital content being created in the home, hand, office, car and dozens of other markets. Consider this: the 1 billion hard drives Seagate has delivered equates to approximately 79 million terabytes, able to store 158 billion hours of digital video or 1.2 trillion hours of your favorite music - and Seagate hard drives and storage solutions enable people to create, share, enjoy and protect more digital content every day.
Electronista writes that Lenovo has decided to cease production of the 4:3 screen ratio Thinkpad T61, withdrawing units from stores. Lenovo now offers all its mid-size notebooks, including the 3000 and IdeaPad series, only in a widescreen ratio. The change represents the end to one of the last clear holdouts from IBM's notebook offerings, which used the taller but narrower screen ratio for virtually all its ThinkPad notebooks until the brand name was handed over to Lenovo in 2005. The X61 tablet and its conventional alternative are currently the only Lenovo notebooks to still depend on a standard ratio screen and may be replaced in the future by the X200 series as part of the China-based company's move to capitalize on the success of the X300.
Toshiba's Digital Products Division, a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., announced the addition of five new models to its affordable Satellite Pro family of laptops. With a starting price of $699, the new Satellite Pro series offers the necessary business essentials for today's mobile professionals and students, including a choice of display sizes and configurations to suit a broad range of computing needs.
FOXCONN today officially launched the long awaited second BLACKOPS motherboard in the Quantum Force series. Based on the Intel X48 chipset and packed with many unique features for extreme overclocking, BLACKOPS comes out of the box with 4 different chipset cooling options: regular air cooling, water cooling and even LN2 or dry ice. BLACKOPS has been optimized for Intel Core 2 Extreme, Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo processors up to 1600MHz FSB, and supports a maximum of 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600/1333/1066/800MHz memory. With 3x PCIe x16 2.0 slots (2x x16, 1x x4 bandwidth), and CrossFireX support, it also features 8 phase digital PWM, and a new SONAR daughter card based on the Realtek ALC885 8 channel audio chip. The BLACKOPS motherboard will be available in retail channels this month, priced at around US $400. For further information check out this
page.
Monday, April 21st 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Interviews
Today we have an interview with one of the key figures in the hardware scene. Franck's CPU-Z and ClockGen applications are legendary and part of every overclocker's toolbox. He explains how he made first contact with computers and what made him write CPU-Z. Also he talks about current projects and his future.
Review
CPU Coolers
The GlacialTech Igloo 5750 is a price effective alternative to the Intel or AMD stock retail cooler, which is a lot quieter and still offers sufficient cooling performance. Its silver finish and three heatpipes give it a nice look, the dual fan configuration can easily be changed to single for even less noise.
Unnamed sources close to OCWORKBENCH report that GeForce 9600 GSO will be available starting May 13, 2008 or just three weeks from now. NVIDIA decided to change the name of their GeForce 8800 GS 384MB cards to GeForce 9600 GSO in order to better sell its product. Coming from the fact that 9600 GSO is a rebranded 8800 GS card, it will have a G92 GPU with 96 stream processors and 384MB of GDDR3 graphics memory. The cards will be priced at around USD $129.
Microsoft's release manager Chris Keroack posted today the following statement in the
TechNet Forums, confirming the information posted by Neowin.net a few days ago:
Today we are happy to announce that Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) has released to manufacturing (RTM). Windows XP SP3 bits are now working their way through our manufacturing channels to be available to OEM and Enterprise customers.
We are also in the final stages of preparing for release to the web (i.e. you!) on April 29th, via Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. Online documentation for Windows XP SP3, such as Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and the Microsoft TechNet Windows XP TechCenter, will be updated then. For customers who use Windows XP at home, Windows XP SP3 Automatic Update distribution for users at home will begin in early summer.
Intel slashed today the prices of its 65nm Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad Q6600/Q6700 Kentsfield processors. The tray price of the Q6600, which has been the universal quad-core in Intel's line-up for more than a year, was dropped 16% from $266 to $224. More important than the Q6600 drop, Q6700 which had a tray price of $530 now costs $266 - almost 50% cheaper.
Other price reductions include the 65nm, 3.0GHz Core 2 Duo E6850 (-31% to $183), which now matches the price of the 45nm E8400 (3.0GHz) as well as the Pentium E2200 (-12% to $74), the E2180 (-14% to $64), the Celeron 560 (-20% to $107), the Celeron 550 (-20% to $86), the Celeron 440 (-17% to $44) and the Celeron 430 (-23% to $34).
Fujitsu Limited today announced the release of the
MHZ2 CJ Series of 320GB 2.5" hard disk drives with automatic hardware-based encryption to effectively secure data against theft or loss, along with the industry's highest rotational speed of 7200-rpm and a 3.0 Gb/s Serial ATA interface. The new series of drives for computers and external storage devices will be available at the end of May 2008.
ATI is moving ahead the launch of its next-generation video processors, as reported by
TG Daily. Despite its previous faliures in the graphics business and $8 million loss in the first quarter of this year - AMD's president and chief operating officer Dirk Meyer stated that the company will roll out a significant number of products in May ahead of schedule, including the new RV770 and mobile (M88) graphics parts. RV770 will launch as Radeon HD 4800 and will make its way into the FireStream stream processor and FireGL workstation cards. Both GDDR3 and GDDR5 memories ranging from 256MB to 1024MB will be supported by the chip, but ATI itself will only be offering GDDR5 cards with 256-bit memory controller. The Radeon HD 4850 version is set to come to market with an 800+ MHz core (the final clock has not been specified yet and will not be available until the final qualification is completed), while the 4870 will be the first mass-production GPU with a clock speed higher than 1GHz. The graphics processor itself will integrate more texture memory units (TMUs) - 32 in RV770 against 16 in R6xx. Expect mass availability of RV770 cards soon after their announcement in May.
WD announced today that it is now shipping WD VelociRaptor hard drives, the next generation of its 10,000 RPM SATA "Raptor" series of drives. Designed with an enterprise-class foundation, the new WD VelociRaptor hard drive is modified specifically for PC and Mac enthusiasts and professional workstations. Destined to become the new high-performance favorite of these groups, the WD VelociRaptor hard drive comes packed with twice the capacity and a 35 percent performance increase over the previous generation.
GSC Game, developer of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, released a new video of the next S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game dubbed Clear Sky. Posted on PC Games Hardware, this DirectX 10 video shows lots of new effects like god rays, soft water, volumetric fire, dynamic and volumetric fog, dynamic wet surfaces, shadow textures for a special rain effect, water drops and physically correct water effects on surfaces. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will arrive worldwide on August 29th in both retail and online stores like Steam. Here's a
link to the original post in German as well as the new exclusive DX10 in-game video.
All owners of the super expensive and very hot Alienware Area-51 m15x, may now download and try a new Release Candidate 1 version of the X32 BIOS that was supposed to fix problems with m15x's video card getting too hot and downclocking to reduce temperature, which also reduced gaming performance. According to a forum post at NotebookReview, this BIOS will fix the "remaining downclocking issues left open by the previous beta version" while Alienware continues to "vigorously" work for the final version. Customers can download the new RC1 X32 BIOS from
here. For further questions or information, you can email Alienware at
area51_m15x@alienware.com.
Using cheap parts to build computers, leads in most cases to a serial failure in some of the PCs components, and OLPC's 'Give 1 Get 1' XO laptops are no exception. Many participants in the program are now encountering what has come to be known as the 'stuck key' problem, in which one or more of the keys on their XO-1 laptop's built-in keyboard become stuck in an activated position, or are activated when adjacent keys are pressed. As of January 30th, the official word from OLPC is that the root cause of this problem is unknown because "there are several manufacturers of the keyboards". It is also unknown just how widespread this problem currently is, as the 30-day manufacturer's warranty has already expired for most G1G1 participants. However, the OLPC forums are
full of reports. OLPC is currently deploying the XO-1 to children in Mongolia and Peru, as well as other developing nations. Meanwhile, members of the forums are also reporting that by taking the keyboard out of the XO laptop and rubbing on the underlying sensor, you might fix the stuck key, but that's not a 100% solution. There's also a workaround, to disable the stuck key and assign its function to other key of the keyboard by typing
these commands.
Micron Technology and Nanya Technology Corporation announced today that the two companies have signed an agreement to create MeiYa Technology Corporation, a new DRAM joint venture. The partnership will leverage both Micron and Nanya's manufacturing technology, strengths and experience. As part of the joint venture, a 200 millimeter (mm) Nanya manufacturing facility in Taiwan will be upgraded to industry-leading 300mm technology starting this year, with the facility coming online for production in 2009. In addition to MeiYa, the parties will jointly develop and share future technology.
Sunday, April 20th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Headphones
Klipsch Image is the name of a brand new set of high-end earphones. They feature a radical new design and come with an excessive bundle. Besides being extremely good looking they also have a special sound characteristic that appeals to a large crowd.
In the past, Macs were sometimes argued to be better for image editing than Windows-based PCs. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if this was true or a complete myth, but it looks like things may not be like that anymore with the introduction of Adobe's Windows-only 64-bit version of Photoshop Creative Suite 4. Until now, Adobe has strived to ensure that both the Windows and Mac versions of Photoshop come with similar features. However, due to a choice by Apple not to make the Carbon technology that is used to develop Photoshop available as 64-bit, Adobe has decided it will not be providing a 64-bit version of CS4. Adobe's product manager for Photoshop, John Nack, said:
We're not going to ship 64-bit native for Mac with CS4. We respect Apple's need to balance their resources and make decisions right for that platform. But it does have an impact on developers.
Adobe's preliminary testing suggests that the 64-bit version of Photoshop CS4 will offer a performance boost of 8-12%, with the benefits being much greater for memory-intensive tasks due to its ability to take advantage of more than 4GB of memory.
The openSUSE team has released the first beta of the new openSUSE 11.0. New features for this version include KDE 4.0.3, GNOME 2.22.1, a new installer and 60% faster installation. openSUSE is designed to be one of the easiest-to-use Linux distributations available, although as this is a beta there are still likely to be some bugs. You can download it from
here.
Following the format's victory over HD DVD earlier this year, Blu-ray disks have seen their sales soar to 351% of those during the same period last year. When combined with standard DVD sales, the first quarter of this year offered the first year-on-year sales increase since DVD sales peaked three years ago. Steek Beeks, President of Lionsgate, said:
Blu-ray had its second-best week ever in the seven days ending March 23, and we anticipate Blu-ray sales of $800 million to $1billion-plus for all of 2008, up dramatically from approximately $300 million last year.
During Take-Two's recent shareholders' meeting, the publisher said that GTA IV has gone gold. GTA IV has entered mass production and is ready to be on store shelves for its release on April 29th. The game is rated M for Mature and will release on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Many experts prognosticate that GTA IV will sell more than 9.5 million units, with 5.8 million units in US alone, during its global opening-week.
Saturday, April 19th 2008
Today's Reviews
Another day, another world record broken. K|ngp|n, well known for his LN2 cooling projects and many previous world records, has become the first man to pass the 6GHz barrier with dual Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors (3.2GHz) and Intel Skulltrail enthusiast gaming platform. Who would of guessed that 8 cores can run at this insane speed? Here are two new wPrime world records as well,
32MB @ 3.450s and
1024M @ 1m 52s respectively. More results
here.
Friday, April 18th 2008
Today's Reviews
Metal Gear Solid fans may be pleased to hear that they can now download the beta version of Konami's Metal Gear Online via the PlayStation Store on the PS3. The download is free and weighs in at 741MB, although you'll have to wait until 21st April to play it, with the beta running until 6th May. The final version of Metal Gear Online will be bundled with Metal Gear Solid 4, which is scheduled for release on 12th June this year.
The beta phase features two maps, four gameplay modes, the SOP System that encourages up to 16 players to team up and share information, and deep skill-customization. Also equipped with auto-matching and training modes, the game offers players a sneak peak of this totally new approach to console-based competitive gaming.
Based on NVIDIA's latest embedded chipsets, the K10N750SLI-WiFi, ASRock's new NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI chipset motherboard, features the latest SLI & Hybrid SLI solutions for SLI users and those who want to try out the new Hybrid SLI Technology. This SLI MB is bundled with ASRock's WiFi-802.11g module for wireless networking, supports PCIE 2.0 slot, ALC890 Audio Codec with DTS, IEEE1394 and is designed with many other excellent features.
AMD has released marketing material comparing their integrated graphics chip with Intel. The material shows the 780G operating in IGP only mode as well as Hybrid Crossfire mode with real-time in-game videos.
Click on the news link for the full video.
Shanghai, the 45nm core from AMD, is likely to debut late this year. It will be similar in many aspects to the currently-availabe B3 stepping of the Socket 1207 Opteron (Barcelona) shipping today. Unlike Barcelona however, which has its HyperTransport 3.0 clock generator fused off, Shangai should utilize HyperTransport 3.0 for inter-CPU communication. Also, AMD has a new "native six-core" Shanghai derivative in store, currently codenamed Istanbul. This processor is clearly targeted at Intel's recently announced six-core, 45nm Dunnington processor. AMD plans to utilize 2 Istanbul cores to create a 12-core CPU, where both cores will communicate with each other via HyperTransport 3.0. A quad-channel memory controller may also be possible. All new Shanghai CPUs should be backwards compatible with existing Socket 1207 motherboards.
Shanghai is currently taped out and running Windows at AMD.
Cooling expert Thermalright announced today the black version of its beloved Ultra 120 eXtreme heatpipe tower. This special edition will be called TRUE Black 120. Aside from its all black nickel plated surface the TRUE Black 120's dimensions are identical to the Ultra-120 eXtreme, measuring 63.44 x 132 x 160.5mm. It also weighs in at 790g and supports Intel's 775 socket, and AMD's AM2/AM2+. Pre-orders of the exotic cooling are reported to be starting any second now, no price was announced though.
Several news sources wrote today that NVIDIA is planning to advance the process technology of its G92 GPUs to the 55nm node in July, in order to lower costs and increase core clocks. The 55nm G92 GPUs will be codenamed G92b and most probably will make their first debut under the name GeForce 9800 GT. Codenamed G92-280 the GeForce 9800 GT cards will also use a new P393-C00 PCB that supports Hybrid Power, a feature that allows integrated graphics if presented to take control of the system when in 2D environment, and switch back to the main video card when a 3D application is started. There will be 256MB and 512MB GDDR3 versions clocked at 900MHz and 975MHz respectively. The core clock speeds have not been determined yet, but according to VR-Zone the cards will be clocked higher than the current stock GeForce 8800 GTs (default speed: 600MHz).
In a brief conversation Helen Ling, an ASUS representative from the company's UK office, told
TechRadar that Intel Atom based Eee PC systems are also going to debut soon. When asked about the arrival of Intel Atom inside the Eee PC she said that the new machine will arrive by the "end of June in [the] UK, I would have thought." Later in the session Ling also added: "I think it should be after Computex". Atom will debut during the 28th Taipei International Information Technology Show (Computex 2008) which will run from June 3 to June 7, 2008. Current ASUS Eee PC 900 low-cost laptops are still powered by a Celeron M processor.
ATI has released a hotfix that addresses the following issues when Catalyst 7.9 or higher version is installed on AGP cards:
- After installing Catalyst 7.9 or higher an error is received launching DirectX based games. The error indicates that Direct3D Failed to Initialize or similar.
- In Vista your Experience score will drop to 1.0.
- The DirectX Diagnostic tests will fail in both XP and Vista.
Download the fix from
here.
AMD today reported first quarter 2008 revenue of $1.505 billion, a net loss of $358 million, or $0.59 per share, and an operating loss of $264 million. These results include an impact of $50 million, or $0.08 per share, from ATI acquisition-related charges. First quarter revenue decreased 15 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2007 and increased 22 percent compared to the first quarter of 2007. In the fourth quarter of 2007, AMD reported revenue of $1.770 billion, a net loss of $1.772 billion, and an operating loss of $1.678 billion. In the first quarter of 2007, AMD reported revenue of $1.233 billion, a net loss $611 million, and an operating loss of $504 million.
Thursday, April 17th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Other
In a world where case modding is becoming increasingly more popular, Lamptron focuses on giving modders and enthusiasts alike what they are asking for in accessories. The Aluminum Case Handles that we are taking a look at today have style with their custom CNC milled design and smooth elegant finish. The aluminum construction is solid yet very light weight and will certainly please anyone who wants to add portability to their case as well as looks provided that you are willing to spend a little extra money for the quality.
OCZ Technology Group today unveiled a blazing fast DDR3 addition to the new Flex II memory series. These premium modules run at incredibly fast 2000MHz speeds at CL8-8-8 timings for added performance to high-end systems with integrated water-cooling. Designed to the very core to offer enthusiasts the thermal management innovation of hybrid water and passive cooling, the new PC3-16000 Flex II Series offers rock-solid stability and performance for your high-end gaming or overclocking system.
NVIDIA has admitted that its new nForce 790i chipset may cause data corruption when overclocking. A support article on the company's website says:
NVIDIA has received reports of data corruption when using certain high speed memory and overclocking the front side bus. Our engineers are currently investigating this issue and as soon as we have more information, we will provide an update to this knowledge base article.
Unfortunately NVIDIA hasn't revealed any workarounds or specific details on what causes the data corruption, so it may be best for 790i owners to run at stock speeds until a solution is found.
A new beta version of ATI's Catalyst display driver has been leaked onto the internet, although there's very little information about it. The build number is 8.49 (although that doesn't mean too much - this is most likely a beta version of the 8.5 Catalyst which will be released next month) and the driver supports all Radeon 9500 and above cards. The Windows XP version (which apparently works with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the OS) can be downloaded
here, and the Vista 64-bit version can be downloaded from
here. There's no Vista 32-bit download available at the moment.
Iomega Media Xporter Drive is a game-oriented portable hard drive that provides cross-platform media storage for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles, making it easier than ever to utilize today's popular game consoles and high definition televisions and other large screen TVs to share photos, videos, and music collections with family and friends. The wallet-sized storage device utilizes USB 2.0 interface and includes value-added software for converting file formats not natively supported by the game consoles. As an added plus, users of the new Media Xporter Drive can not only take their media files wherever they need them, but also use the Media Xporter Drive as a backup solution for 160GB of media files stored on virtually any computer with a USB port. Designed for use with Xbox 360 and PS3 game consoles, the Iomega Media Xporter Drive USB 2.0, 160GB is also compatible with Apple computers (Mac OS X 10.1 and above) and with Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional or above, including Windows Vista. The Iomega Media Xporter Drive USB 2.0, 160GB is now available in the U.S. for $113.95 (U.S. suggested retail) and in Europe for Euro 99.
Corsair, a worldwide leader in enthusiast computer and flash memory products, announced today the launch of their new Corsair high-density Memory Line for Mac Pro desktop systems. Made especially for the high performance demands of the Mac market, the new Corsair Mac Pro Memory Kits are fully buffered 667MHz solutions, available immediately in 2GB (2 x 1GB modules) and 4GB (2 x 2GB modules) DIMM kits.
The trial Yahoo has been conducting to display Google ads in its search results has been judged a success, according to sources close to the companies, and Yahoo is set to move ahead on the partnership with its one-time biggest rival in an attempt to stave off Microsoft's $42 billion takeover offer. We mentioned on Monday that
an alliance between Yahoo and Google could receive heavy criticism from US and EU competition regulators, both companies are now working on a solution. Perhaps such a solution would be to only allow Google to serve ads in certain categories or regions. Even though this would limit the cash flow boost to Yahoo, the company would still come out significantly richer in the end, perhaps by as much as $500 million a year. Yahoo is also in talks with AOL over a merger to further increase its cash flow.
Kingston Technology is taking the ordinary SO-DIMM memories one step further with the introduction of two new HyperX DDR2 matched pairs. The new 2GB and 4GB SO-DIMM kits are certified to work at 667MHz with CL4-4-4-12 timings at standard 1.8V voltage. "Kingston customers asked about higher-performance memory for current notebooks and our new 667MHz CL4 low-latency SO-DIMMs are the first in a series of new HyperX memory offerings to support this market," said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston. Already prepped for sale, the 2GB and 4GB HyperX memory kits feature price tags of $84 and $132 respectively. Later this year Kingston will also introduce a 3GB kit with similar specifications.
The long awaited Futuremark 3DMark Vantage will be released on April 22nd it has been learned from a picture posted on
PCPOP.com. Most notably 3DMark Vantage will differ from previous 3DMark video benchmarks with its DirectX 10 API. DirectX 10 support also means the program will work on Windows Vista only. When started 3DMark Vantage will run through three tests to determine your PC's performance - Jane Nash, Calico and Aeroplanes. If your PC is equipped with an AGEIA PhysX card, there will be a fourth test for physics only. The full list of all NVIDIA/ATI video cards capable of running 3DMark Vantage can be found
here. An online test to see if your PC is up to the task for 3DMark vantage is also running
online.
Sun Microsystems recently announced the pending general availability of MySQL 5.1, a new version of the world's most popular open source database, designed to improve performance and simplify management of large database applications. A near-final release candidate of the GPL software is available for download now
here.
NVIDIA Corporation today announced that Marvin D. Burkett, Chief Financial Officer, informed the Company on March 21, 2008 of his intention to retire. Mr. Burkett is expected to remain as Chief Financial Officer while a search is conducted to find his replacement, and he may continue in some capacity with the Company thereafter. NVIDIA has commenced the process to recruit a new Chief Financial Officer.
Mozilla has updated its Firefox 2 web browser to version 2.0.0.14. The new version fixes one critical bug that may lead to a stability problem, where some users experience crashes during JavaScript garbage collection (
MFSA 2008-20). To download Firefox 2.0.0.14 select "Check for Updates…" from the Help menu or manually apply the update by downloading it from
here for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Hewlett-Packard is planning to deploy a new color display technology that can display 1 billion colors, in a whole new product called the HP DreamColor display. The technology was developed for two years by HP and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. and is intended to increase the color gamut of today's displays and provide more vibrant color reproduction. HP says that the technology improves upon today's widely used displays, which offer 24-bit color, making 16.7 million colors available per pixel. The company plans to raise the color display to 30-bit, which can offer 1 billion colors per pixel. In addition the DreamColor display will incorporate a new LED backlight technology in its LCD screen that makes blacks blacker and whites whiter, according to Jeff Wood, director of product marketing at HP. The display was announced Tuesday at the National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas, but it won't be ready until later this summer. Initially the HP DreamColor display will be targeted at workstations, but according to Wood it "can be used on any myriad of systems today".
BenQ expands its Joybook R series lineup with the launch of Joybook R45. Powered by a 2.10 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the Joybook R45 features an extra-bright 14.1" widescreen display enhanced by the BenQ's patented UltraVivid technology, an integrated 2-megapixel webcam for video calls and a luxurious leather-like finish with special soft-touch coating. The Joybook R45 also comes equipped with the best-of-class nVIDIA GeForce 8400M G discrete graphics and supports major WiFi standards, keeping you connected at much faster speed.
Wednesday, April 16th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Memory
Cellshock has begun offering their high-end DDR3 memory modules with blue heatspreaders. Their new 1866 MHz CL8 is a speed demon in disguise and has plenty of reserves, pushing our P35 board to the limit. It manages CL7 at the advertised rating and should also be able to break the 2 GHz barrier at CL8.
Review
Portable Storage
The Mapower KC31CSJ HDD enclosure has almost everything a user could ask for. The sturdy build quality is complimented by a sleek aluminum finish while remaining lightweight. The performance is pleasing especially compared to more expensive enclosures out there. The passively cooled heat dissipation system ensures silent operation while working hard to get that heat away from your important data.
Download links of ATI's latest Catalyst 8.4 drivers are now online. To download the full release notes for Catalyst 8.4 click
here.
DOWNLOAD
Launched two years ago, TrackMania Nations became a true video game phenomenon. The free downloadable racing game attracted an unbelievable number of players around the world who were obsessed with the game's fast cars, spectacular tracks single- and multiplayer play and simple yet powerful tools for creating tracks and race videos. For the past two years, it has been installed more than 30 million times and nearly four million players have created an account to play the game online on the game's servers.
Its highly awaited sequel, TrackMania Nations Forever, is now available as a free download. TrackMania Nations Forever offers a new complete "Forever" version of the Stadium environment, a complete solo mode and 65 brand new, progressively difficult tracks. TrackMania Nations Forever will unite an even larger number of players thanks to its engaging multiplayer modes, innovative online functions and revolutionary interactivity between players.
Pictures of the first prototype AMD 790GX motherboard with integrated Radeon HD 3300 IGP started sufracing yesterday. The upcoming AMD 790GX chipset not only supports CrossFire X and Hybrid CrossFire, but it also adds 3-way Hybrid CrossFire in the loop. 3-way Hybrid CrossFire combines an integrated graphics with two PCI-E 2.0 x8 slots that can be used in CrossFire mode. Just an example, imagine two HD 3870 X2 cards working in CrossFire X helped by an AMD Radeon HD3300 IGP graphics. When in 2D mode only the integrated graphics will be used and thus save power, but if the system is running at full throttle all three cards will be operating. Yes, the HD3300 IGP graphics won't give any significant boost in games and 3D apps, but at least it'll be built into the motherboard and will be working without requiring any additional interventions, so why don't use it? The AMD 790GX based products are expected to go on sale in May.
Ready to receive HD in all its full glory is the new ASUS M70 notebook that provides a WUXGA widescreen with 1920x1200 pixels resolution and Blu-Ray support. Combined with cutting-edge audio technologies including built-in Altec Lansing Speakers and Dolby Home Theater, the M70 is supremely suited as a digital entertainment and productivity tool. In addition to the all-rounded AV features, the M70 is the world's first notebook to offer an ample storage of 1TB (2x 500GB) that can store up to 285,000 digital photos, 25,000 songs or 120 hours of HD movies! For unparalleled high definition enjoyment, the M70 is the one and only entertainment notebook choice that is big on visual, audio and storage!
Diamond Multimedia introduced today the 1 gigabyte, overclocked version of the ATI Radeon HD 3870 graphics card. This card offers maximum speed and power at an incredible value. Utilizing 55nm technology, this card runs cool and quiet.
The HD 3870 is a dual slot card, PCIE 2.0, with 1024MB of DDR3 memory and an overclocked speed of 825 MHz. The memory speed is 900 MHz. As with the original HD 3870, the 1 gigabyte version is designed with 320 stream processors and plug-and-play ATI CrossFireX upgradeability with up to quad-GPU support.
Riding on the successful design of the Hassle-Free DIY CPU cooler series, the Triton 70 and Triton 75, ASUS brings worldwide enthusiasts to a brand new dimension of cooling with its new member of Triton family - the Triton 85. This exquisitely designed CPU Cooler takes the innovative features of Triton Series - the high-density fins, dynamic fan speed control and pure copper heat pipes, and improves on them to bring about the quietest and most powerful performance. Compared to box coolers, the Triton 85 exhibits only a mere 16 dBA during operations, and is still able to enhance 35% cooling performance! Additionally, it is also aesthetically pleasing with a painted shining silver coating - bringing about a brand new style that fulfills gamers' requirements.
Amid the buzz of reaching a new milestone of 1 million Eee PCs sold in just 5 months after its launch, ASUS has provided yet another round of excitement with its release of the new Eee PC 900. This new generation of the ever popular PC packs in a whole range of hardware that includes a 8.9 inch widescreen, a 1.3M pixels webcam, the new innovative FingerGlide and 12GB and 20GB storage capacities for Windows and Linux platforms respectively - catering to wider consumer needs while still maintaining the "Easy to learn, work and play" concept by keeping the overall weight under 1kg.
S3 Graphics today announced the S3 Graphics 4300E graphics processor for embedded markets, bringing the latest in HD video playback, graphics rendering, display connectivity, and power management to developers of gaming, digital signage and other multimedia intensive embedded applications.
Assuming the reins as the enterprise hard drive performance and capacity leader, Hitachi today announced the Ultrastar 15K450. The new drive uses perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology to deliver 450GB of storage, currently the highest available capacity in 15,000 RPM enterprise-class hard drives. The Ultrastar 15K450 is an ideal solution for mission-critical server and storage applications, such as online transaction processing, intensive database queries and other multi-user applications.
The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 11.1-inch ultraportable notebook is coming soon to the United States, according to product pages at J&R.
The 2.3-pound IdeaPad U110 will be available at J&R in at least two versions - the black U110B and the U110R with a red top cover. Both models feature the Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 low-voltage processor at 1.6GHz, 3GB of RAM, and a 120GB hard drive. The laptop, which is only 0.7-inch high, does not include a built-in optical drive.
According to
Notebookreview.com, both versions of the laptop should feature Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics, a 1.3-megapixel web camera, Ethernet LAN, Intel 4965AGN wireless, and Bluetooth connections, with a battery life of up to 8 hours.
The J&R official product page is
here.
NVIDIA has quietly updated its professional video cards with the new dual-GPU Quadro FX 4700 X2 PCI-E 2.0. Designed for CAD, DCC, and other visualization applications, the newest Quadro is SLI ready, has 256-bit memory interface, 2GB GDDR3 memory (1GB per GPU), and four dual-link DVI connectors for simultaneous work on up to four high-resolution displays. We only know that the card is powered by two DirectX 10/Shader Model 4.0 capable GPUs, but NVIDIA does not name whether these are G92 or G94 cores. The
specifications page only hints at the card's power consumption during load - 226W.
Apple and Sony have decided to settle at least one lawsuit stemming from the whole lithium-ion battery debacle of '06. The two companies are jointly paying a Japanese couple a total of about 1.3 million yen (that's $12,903) for damages to their home and burns the man sustained while trying to remove his flaming Apple computer from the house. The couple argued this fire was caused by a defective Sony lithium-ion battery.
To date, Sony has recalled 9.6 million of these occasionally unstable batteries with the help of some major laptop manufacturers, including Apple, Toshiba, Lenovo and Acer.
Apple, while accepting liability in the case, insisted it would not settle the dispute out of court because the couple had demanded excessive compensation (they were asking for 2 million yen). Despite agreeing to pay its share of the settlement, Sony still maintains there was no link between the fire and the battery.
To fulfill the need of entry level out of the box water cooling solutions, Thermaltake is launching a brand new series of liquid cooling kit - ProWater series. The first model to be introduced is the "PW850i". What's included in the PW850i is a DC 12V P500 liquid pump that pumps 500l/h, a 350 c.c. transparent reservoir, Flow TX flow meter, single 120mm radiator with 120x120x25mm blue LED fan (1300~2400RPM), and pure copper waterblock compatible with all AMD AM2/K8 and Intel LGA775/P4 motherboards. The system aslo uses transparent UV 3/8-inch tubes with iStripe to eliminate deformation of the tubes. Check out this
url for more information.
German computer company Cizmo has upped the ante among gaming notebooks. Cizmo's CX15 is one of the first to adopt the new Centrino 2 "Montevina" platform. Several processor options will be available, ranging from 2.26GHz (P8400) to 2.6GHz (P9400). The laptop will utilize NVIDIA's high-end GeForce 8800M GTX for graphics. This combination both reduces the cost of the system, while also reducing its heat output and increasing its usefulness as a gaming desktop substitute.
Cizmo outfits the CX15 with 2GB of memory, a 160GB drive and a bezel-mounted 2-megapixel webcam for the system's base price of €1,260 ($1,989). An operating system and 802.11n Wi-Fi are optional at this level, however. Custom orders can also outfit a hybrid 802.11n/WiMAX wireless card as well as a Blu-ray burner, larger hard drives, or up to a 64GB solid-state drive. A launch window is uncertain but won't appear sooner than Intel's release.
Michael Dell has said his firm can regain its spot as the world's number one PC maker by switching its focus to consumers and the developing world.
"We're growing faster than our industry," he told BBC News, "so if you keep on doing that for long enough time, you'll certainly get there."
Mr Dell returned as chief executive in 2007 after the company he founded as a college student was overtaken by HP. He said his turnaround strategy for the firm was already bearing fruit - sales were up 19% at the end of the year, having started the year falling at a rate of 11%.
Dell now plans to focus more on home users, as well as continue supplying computers to businesses.
Additionally, Mr Dell added: "As we've gone to the consumer we've been paying quite a bit more attention to design, fashion, colours, textures and materials."
Ever need privacy when working on your laptop or computer? Perhaps you were working on top-secret data that could compromise the safety of hundreds of millions of people if seen by terrorists or similar organizations. Or you simply didn't want you co-worker knowing what your login to MSN was. Either way, Sternlab has a solution for you. Named the BodyTechnologyInterface, the wooly jumper will make sure that nobody but you sees your laptop screen or keyboard. A smaller, keyboard-only version is available.
It is estimated that memory consumes approximately 15% of power in data center server systems today, a figure which is expected to rise with the increased memory requirements needed for virtualization and multi-core data processors. Addressing this power challenge, Micron Technology is expanding its energy-efficient Aspen Memory module portfolio with the addition of 1Gb-based DDR3 modules operating at 1.35-volts as well as 2Gb-based DDR2 modules operating at 1.5-volts; providing the server industry with the lowest voltage DDR2 and DDR3 memory designs for reduced power consumption.
Apple and NVIDIA released a new graphics upgrade kit today. From now on all first-generation Mac Pro users can swap their old video card with NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT GPU for as much as $279. When Apple first released Mac Pro in January 2008, they offered the GeForce 8800 GT as an upgrade option, however due to firmware issues, the 8800 GT was not compatible with first Mac Pros - until today. "The computer is more visual than ever, and Mac users in particular demand an exceptional visual experience," said Ujesh Desai, general manager of GeForce desktop GPU business at NVIDIA. "Adding a GeForce 8800 GT to the first-generation Mac Pro system will deliver a major graphics boost, resulting in faster processing for a complete range of visual computing applications." North American customers can purchase the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT upgrade kit online from
NVIDIA or the
Apple Store for $279. Consumers outside of the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada should order from the Apple Store.
NEC LCD Technologies, together with its sales and marketing channels in the Americas and Europe, NEC Electronics America and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH, introduced a new 22.5-inch amorphous-silicon TFT LCD module, with WUXGA resolution. The new module boasts excellent picture quality, ideal for preview monitoring and verification use in broadcast stations and post-production studios, thanks to full high-definition (1920x1080) resolution, high luminance of 460 cd/m2, a wide color gamut of 97% (NTSC ratio) and a double frame rate of 120 Hertz to improve motion picture performance.
Game developer Valve released the final details on its upcoming Team Fortress 2 content update during a party in downtown San Francisco. Although I have never played TF2, from all the comments this update sounds like a big deal, and most of it will be directed to the medic character in the form of three new weapon replacements dubbed "The Blutsaugher", "The Critzcrieg" and "The Ubersaw". The weapons will be earned through a new achievement system, and equipped through a loadout menu. Below you can check out Valve's official descriptions for the weapons.
Today, Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announces that it has concluded an agreement with Gameloft to acquire its video game development studio based in Pune, India. Established end of 2006, the studio has a team of 120 developers and testers who will initially focus on porting titles to handheld consoles and reinforcing Ubisoft's testing teams. The goal is to become 200-people strong in 12 months time and to reach a team of 500 in the coming years.
STEC, a designer, manufacturer and marketer of high performance solid state drives (SSDs), announced today that it has received notice of a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Seagate Technology LLC, Seagate Technology International, Seagate Singapore International Headquarters Pte. Ltd. and Maxtor Corporation in United States District Court, Northern District of California, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,404,647 (issued in 2002), 6,849,480 (issued in 2005), 6,336,174 (issued in 2002) and 7,042,664 (issued in 2006).
Tuesday, April 15th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Headphones
The OVC TC20 earphones are aimed at the more budget conscious in-ear audience. Priced at only $39 they are many times cheaper than most big brand earphones. The only question is how does their sound performance stack up against the more expensive in-ears.
Intel Corporation today announced record first-quarter revenue of $9.7 billion, operating income of $2.1 billion, net income of $1.4 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of 25 cents.
ASUS today released the ASUS EN9600GT SILENT/HTDI/512M graphics card. Incorporating our latest thermal solution - the V-Cool Heatsink, which features the V-Engine concept and Intercooler technology, the EN9600GT SILENT is the perfect solution for users who want a quiet system that doesn't compromise performance. This exclusive innovation guarantees an absolutely quiet operating environment, and an efficient means of heat dissipation, resulting in extraordinarily stable performance. The unique design of the V-Cool Heatsink will lower GPU temperatures by 10ºC in comparison to reference designed boards; while the integrated SmartDoctor feature provides users with the option to overclock the Shader Clock for even better graphical performance.
XIGMATEK has launched a new direct-touch heatpipe cooler branded
Achilles, which is compatible with Intel Socket 775 processors and AMD Socket 754 and newer processors. The direct-touch heatpipes allow for superior heat transfer and improved cooling capabilities, with the cooler boasting a 120mm fan with a noise level of 20.64 dBA. The heatsink comes equipped with four U-type heatpipes, whilst the fan features anti-vibration rubber clips to help minimise noise and four white LEDs.
Ubisoft has released the first patch for Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for PC. The 50MB 1.01 patch adds voice chat support and fixes a number of bugs. Download it
here.
At the
EVGA forums a hint has been posted that they will have a new overclocking tool called "Precision" soon.
In addition to changing core, memory and shader clock you will also be able to adjust SLI clocks as well as fan speeds.
Dell today announced its redesigned Vostro laptop line for small businesses, including the new 13.3-inch Vostro 1310 starting at $749 and 15.4-inch Vostro 1510 starting at $599. Products are available today in Europe, Middle East and Africa, followed by North and South America May 1, and Asia Pacific and Japan May 5. The company will also offer a redesigned 17-inch Vostro 1710 laptop in mid May.
The guys over at Neowin.net have managed to get their hands on the internal schedule for the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3.
- April 14, 2008: Support is available for the release version of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP
- April 21, 2008: Original Equipment Manufacturers, Volume License, Connect, and MSDN and TechNet subscribers
- April 29, 2008: Microsoft Update, Windows Update, Download Center
- June 10, 2008: Automatic Updates
IBM and its joint development partners - Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Freescale, Infineon Technologies AG, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics N.V. and Toshiba Corporation - today announced that they have collectively demonstrated significant performance and power consumption advantages over industry standards by using a breakthrough material known as "high-k/metal gate" (HKMG) on silicon manufactured at IBM's state-of-art 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor fabrication facility in East Fishkill, N.Y. With this achievement the joint development partners are now ready for early customer engagements.
Aqua computer today released the aquagrafx 9800GTX full cover GPU water block for all reference NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB (G92) video cards. The cooler is completely made of electrolyte copper (99,99%) and nevertheless weights only 600 grams and takes only one slot thanks to its 6 mm thickness. The GPU, RAM chips and all voltage regulators are cooled. Тhe aquagrafx 9800GTX works with G1/4" barbs and offers very low flow restriction because all channels on the inside are 18mm wide. Aquagrafx for GeForce 9800 GTX can be purchased right now
here for EUR 79.90.
Although NVIDIA bought AGEIA Technologies only two months ago (on February 13, 2008), the GeForce creator informed recently that the conversion of AGEIA's PhysX API engine to CUDA programming language that interfaces with the GPUs is almost complete. Upong completeion of CUDA, owners of GeForce 8 and 9 series graphics cards will be able to play PhysX-enabled games without the need of an additional AGEIA PhysX PCI card. The big question here is, how much will this PhysX addition worse the frame rate in games. Well for now we only know that NVIDIA showed off a particle demo at its recent analysts day that was apparently similar to Intel's Nehalem physics demo from IDF 2008. For the record, the Nehalem demo managed 50,000 - 60,000 particles at 15-20 fps (without a GPU), while NVIDIA's demo on a GeForce 9800 card achieved the same level of particles at an amazing 300 fps, quite a boost. NVIDIA's next-gen parts (G100: GT100/200) in theory can double this score to top 600 fps. Manju Hegde, co-founder and former CEO of AGEIA added that in-game physics will be the "second biggest thing" in 2008.
Work on the revamped interface of the PlayStation Store for the PS3 has been completed and firmware 2.30 for PS3 is now available. The PlayStation Store is no longer HTML based and will allow faster access to the revamped system. To access the new PlayStation Store you'll need to first update to firmware 2.30 over the net or manually later when download links are active. Additionally firmware 2.30 adds DTS-HD Master Audio support for Blu-ray videos.
HDD maker Seagate Technology LLC has filed a patent-infringement suit against STEC Inc., a global engineering and manufacturing company for OEM memories and SSD solutions, accusing it of infringing four patents held by Seagate and its Maxtor subsidiary. These patents include solid-state memory storage, memory-backup systems and device self-testing systems. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco and Seagate seeks STEC to stop further infringement of its patents, and asks for damages and royalties to be awarded for violating the Seagate patents. Seagate didn't disclose any specific financial damages it is seeking from STEC.
This is not about stifling innovation or threats to our business. ... We have an obligation to our company and our shareholders to protect what belongs to them.
, said Seagate Chief Executive Bill Watkins in s statement.
Monday, April 14th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Portable Storage
The Rosewill RX82-U is a USB enclosure for SATA hard disk drives featuring two easy-to-swap trays. Running in JBOD mode, each drive gets seen as its own self, so the user will see two drives if two drives are installed. More trays can be purchased and drives can be hot-swapped as needed.
Well-known movie rentals brand Blockbuster has made an offer of more than $1 billion to buy Circuit City, the USA's second largest consumer electronics chain. According to Blockbuster's chief executive James Keyes, the merger would create a chain that could sell portable devices and entertainment for them, similar to Apple's stores. However, Circuit City has revealed that it has suspicions about how Blockbuster intends to finance its offer, so has advised shareholders to take no action until the board has reviewed the bid. Blockbuster's is offering $6 to $8 per share for the struggling company, provided that it is allowed to examine Circuit City's financial books and outlook. This represents a total bid of $1.01bn to $1.35bn, and a premium of 25% to 67% over the share price on February 15th, the day before the initial offer was made. Circuit City shares rose $1.38 today following this news, up from $5.28, although Blockbuster shares fell 10.5%.
Experts are claiming that a business partnership between Google and Yahoo! could be more heavily criticised by US and EU competition regulators than a merger between Microsoft and Yahoo!. Aaron Edlin, who teaches law and economics at the University of California at Berkeley said:
The Justice Department would certainly want to take a serious look at that because it would mean that a firm that would want to take advertisements or to place advertisements (online) would have only one place to go.
Google was the top search engine in February, accounting for 59.2% of US web searches, with Yahoo! and Microsoft lagging behind on 21.6% and 9.6% respectively. Microsoft has proposed a $42 billion takeover bid for Yahoo! in an attempt to combat this dominance, although Yahoo! has so far refused to accept the deal.
According to an
announcement posted on Toshiba's Japanese Web site, the company has postponed the launch of its first notebook with a 128GB SSD, the Dynabook SS RX1. The notebook was originally scheduled for general availability in mid-April but will be delayed until June, according to Toshiba. Toshiba cited parts delays, but it's not clear whether the delays are SSD-related. The 128GB SSD-equipped Dynabook SS RX1 is expected to sell for about $4,000.
CERN, home of the world's most advanced particle accelerator and birthplace of modern day TCP/IP internet connections, has begun work on a replacement for the current internet. The new system can run at speeds 10,000 times faster than today's typical connections, and has been developed to meet the demands of CERN's new Large Hadron Collider. The grid, which utilizes fiber optics, already boasts 55,000 servers (a number which is expected to reach 200,000 within a couple of years) and connects CERN to 11 research locations in the USA, Canada, Europe and the Far East. Each of these locations is then linked to academic locations, and it is expected that by autumn a student at any university in the UK could connect to the new high-speed grid rather than the current internet. The development could make desktop storage a thing of the past, although it would probably be a nightmare for music labels.
The title says it all, what's included in this post are pictures of the first Intel P45 powered GIGABYTE motherboards, the
GA-P45-DS5 and
GA-EP45-DS3P. Intel P45 promises better support for quad-core and 45nm processors and is also built on a 65nm process instead of the 90nm used in previous Intel chipsets. Although these motherboards look identical to their Intel P35/X38 predecessors and does not boast any radical changes in the PCB design and heat-pipe cooling, there're several new features that need to be mentioned. Both motherboards now support on-board power, reset and clear CMOS buttons that are almost identical to those used on the ASUS R.O.G. series motherboards. The GA-P45-DS5 also features ten SATA ports - four of which are from a Silicon Image chip.
bit-tech.net, XFastest Forum
Until now, the only graphics cards supported by the Folding@home GPU client were ATI's Radeon 16xx, 18xx and 19xx series cards. However, a new beta version is now available from
here which will allow owners of HD 2xxx and 3xxx cards to contribute some of their graphics processing power to the project. The Folding@home project is run by Stanford University and simulates protein folding in the hope of finding cures for diseases including Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease and many Cancers. Even if you do not own a supported graphics card, you can still download the standard
CPU client and contribute your idle processing power - all you need is an internet connection. To find out more, why not take a look at
techPowerUp!'s Folding@home team?
SPARKLE today announced the SPARKLE GeForce 9600 GT 1GB Graphics Card, which redefines mainstream graphics card market with unbeatable 1GB high capacity video memory and exclusively designed cooling system. It can bring amazing visual experience on the next-generation windows games.
Scythe is pleased to announce the new 5.25" bay audio amplifier as the group's latest addition to its new category of audio devices. This amplifier can be used for either internal or external purposes to boost the sound quality of your PC or home theater system. Cooling, silence and power for the PC system have been targeted by many manufacturers in the market, yet the sound category has been neglected until today. This is an ideal product for anyone looking to build a high-end audio PC system, using a home audio system along with their PC, or simply looking for a better sound solution for their PC.
According to VR-Zone, NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce 9800 GT graphics card will be the first desktop GPU from the company to be manufactured using a 55nm process. The new chip is called the G92b core, and should help NVIDIA to reduce its costs. The current G92 core uses a 65nm process.
The ASUS' Intel G35 chipset motherboards allow users to enjoy enhanced Microsoft Vista DirectX 10 graphics on a motherboard solution "right out of the box". This series of motherboards are the world's first to provide an Intel platform with an onboard integrated VGA solution that features built-in support for Windows Vista DirectX 10.
Sunday, April 13th 2008
Today's Reviews
It appears that Dell has ceased sales of all Dell 3008WFP 30-inch LCD monitors, due to a small technical issue. The 30-inch beast is now removed from Dell's official web site, until a new version is available.
The Dell 3008 monitor has been well received since launch and has been very popular with customers. In February we experienced a small technical issue with the product that has been long resolved. Currently the monitors are on extended lead times and in order to manage demand, the 3008 is not available on dell.com. We are managing orders on a prioritized basis and hope to have the product available to all customers in the near future.
Saturday, April 12th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Cases
The new Lian-Li Armorsuit PC-P60 is a very elaborate case, which is quite different from the understatement shape of their usual enclosures. Three LED fans are built into the very detailed front door and a top airduct guides air out of the case toward the back. Even though the case retails at $269 it offers a lot of premium features justifying the cost.
According to Gizmodo, Lenovo will be adding some new laptops to the X series, namely the X200, X400 and X500. As with the X300, and the whole X series for that matter, these new laptops will be focused on portability. They will come with a 12-inch, 14.1-inch or 15.4-inch screen, respectively, and will all be armed with Intel's latest 45nm Penryn processors. Other features include HSDPA and EVDO, 25% improved battery life, as well as 6MB L2 cache.
Lenovo's R, T, and W series should also receive a few updates, more about that after the jump.
XFX is widening its NVIDIA graphics card line-up with the introduction of two "Black labeled" GeForce 9 series cards. Available in limited numbers the G92 products include XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 1.0GB DDR3 Black Edition (
PV-T98U-ZHB9) overclocked to 700MHz/1700MHz/2.1GHz core/shader/memory clocks and XFX GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB DDR3 Black Edition (
PV-T98F-YDB4) with factory clock speeds of 760MHz/1900MHz/2.28GHz for the core, shaders and memory clock speeds. Both cards will come bundled with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed game.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) said Phil Hester has resigned as senior vice president and chief technology officer effective Friday. As CTO Phil Hester was responsible for setting the architectural and product strategies and plans for AMD's microprocessor business. The official reason for his departure from AMD is that he's "looking to do new things." Phil Hester joined the chip maker in 2005. Before joining AMD, Hester was co-founder and chief executive officer at Newisys, a Sanmina-SCI company, and spent 23 years as IBM employee. AMD said Hester will not be replaced.
Friday, April 11th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Memory
Aeneon is entering the DDR3 market with their X-Tune brand. This series is aimed at the gamers and their first offering is set at 1333 MHz with CL8. It comes with very nice looking black heatspreaders and a unique, blue PCB
It all starts with NVIDIA CEO's Jen Hsun-Huang statement "We're going to open a can of whoop-ass" on Intel, which quickly became a synonym for the announcement of NVIDIA and VIA jointly developed low-cost processing platform. During NVIDIA's financial analyst meeting today, the company revealed plans for what it calls "The World's Most Affordable Vista Premium PC". The platform will use a VIA Isaiah C7-M processor coupled with an integrated NVIDIA IGP chipset. NVIDIA reckons that this combo will be good for a total of 36 GFLOPS in comparison to a mere 6.4 GFLOPS for a comparable Celeron-based system with an Intel 945 IGP/ICH4 chipset. NVIDIA also claims that its platform will be Windows Vista Premium capable, support Blu-ray HD and DirectX10, and cost less than $45.
VR-Zone has learned that NVIDIA is planning to add Hynix as a second memory supplier for GeForce 9800 GTX. All current GeForce 9800 GTX graphics cards including the overclocked models are equipped with
Samsung K4J52324QE 0.8ns GDDR3 memory chips. A second batch of 9800 GTX cards is now being reported to enter the market with
Hynix HY5RS123235BFP 0.8ns GDDR3 parts and different BIOS version.
Cryo-Z, the fist budget phase-change system by OCZ, that was reported to be available very soon a couple of times is on topic again at XtremeSystems. According to RyderOCZ, and this thread
here started yesterday from the XS forums owner FUGGER, review samples of OCZ Cryo-Z are shipping now to reviewers. The unit will be available soon directly from OCZ for $299 a piece plus 35$ shipping cost. All units shipped to US customers ONLY (sorry about other non-US members including me), will be backed by a 1 year warranty. The reason given:
All units are 110V, none of them will work on 230V, and we won't be shipping out side North America, if you buy one and have it shipped to EU etc we can not warrant the unit as we have no control over shipping and the fact you are using a 230 to 110 converter.
A review written by FUGGER is about to be released any minute now, so please keep an eye on these XS threads
here,
here and
here for more information. Also, it appears that Cryo-Z won't be a phase change unit for the mass market, since quantities are limited to "well over 100 units", and every unit needs to be hand tested before it's sold.
Super Talent Technology is following other memory makers, with the introduction of the popular Project X in a new DDR3-2000 2GB (2x1GB) kit. This Project X kit is built with the fastest available, carefully screened DRAM chips, and is hand tested as a matched pair on a dual channel ASUS Striker II Extreme motherboard. Labeled as DDR3-2000 PC3-16000 2GB Kit (2x 1GB), the
W2000UX2GP can operate using CL9-9-9-28 timings and only 1.9V. Project X memory is designed, built and tested in Super Talent's San Jose, California headquarters, and is backed with a lifetime warranty. The W2000UX2GP kit will begin shipping today at street prices under $400.
Taiwan-based TwinMOS Technologies, the memory manufacturer that became popular with its DDR memories equipped with the legendary Winbond BH-5 chips, is reportedly to close down its business on April 15th. According to DigiTimes, TwinMOS has searched for opportunities towards acquisition and has tried to reorganize its operational structure, however, the continuing DRAM price drops are forcing the company to shut down the business. Most of TwinMOS' employees have already switched to work for NAND Flash module maker Silicon-Power Computer. Although the scale of investment to establish a memory module plant is not huge, ongoing operational upkeep needs large amounts of cash. With the DRAM industry in a slump, the battle is on to see how many more companies fall, commented industry watchers.
Thursday, April 10th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Watercooling
Today we take a look at EK Water Block's EK Supreme. This CPU waterblock features a universal mounting plate, as well as a clear acrylic top that can be lit up with two 3mm LEDs. Performance is excellent on the EK Supreme, making it truly worthy of the name "Supreme".
Although it looks like an entirely different device, the SpaceNavigator is a fully functional laptop 3D mouse. The latest model weighs 250g, around half the weight of its desktop predecessor and 3Dconnexion, the firm responsible for SpaceNavigator, claims the notebook model is small enough to be used comfortably on aircraft seat tables. The device has two programmable function keys, connects through a USB port, and works with Windows Vista (x86/x64), Windows XP (x86/x64), Windows 2000, Linux (Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3, SuSE 9.0 or later), Mac OS X 10.4.6 or later. 3Dconnexion's SpaceNavigator for Notebooks is available online now for around £107 (€125/$214). Click
here for more information.
OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today unveiled the Flex II memory series, designed for blazing speeds demanded by enthusiasts. These premium modules run at incredibly fast DDR2-1150 speeds for high-performance systems with integrated water-cooling. Designed to the very core to offer enthusiasts the thermal management innovation of hybrid water and passive cooling, the new PC2-9200 Flex II Series offers rock-solid stability and performance for your high-end gaming or overclocking system.
Corsair, a worldwide leader in enthusiast computer and flash memory products, announced today that it has been awarded 80 PLUS Certification across the entire Corsair line of Power Supply Units (PSUs), including the award winning modular HX Series, powerful TX Series and value-performance VX Series.
High-end motherboard manufacturer DFI warns that fake products rebranded as DFI motherboards are selling in the Indonesian market. Please be advised, although DFI has contacted the alleged party to cease production.
We sincerely hope this announcement will call your attention and thus, prevent you from losing your money and privileges when you make the purchase.
Please note that the following unknown sourced and fake DFI motherboards are not manufactured by DFI:
Fake model 1:
MCP73V
Fake Model 2:
MCP68PV
Those of you, waiting for the next PS3 firmware update, ver. 2.30, which includes the revamped PLAYSTATION Store, may now see how the new user interface will look in a
video demo featuring Grace Chen. The system software update will also add DTS-HD Master Audio output for Blu-ray videos, which means the high-definition visuals of Blu-ray will now be matched with the highest quality audio for the ultimate movie-watching experience on PS3. The technology delivers audio at the incredibly high rate of 24.5 mega-bits per second (Mbps) on Blu-ray disc, which is significantly higher than standard DVDs. DTS-HD Master Audio also offers 7.1 audio channels at 96k sampling frequency/24 bit depths. The firmware update will add DTS-HD High Resolution Audio as well, which is a similar output technology that requires less disc space.
EMCORE Corporation announced a definitive agreement with Intel Corporation to acquire the enterprise and storage assets of Intel's Optical Platform Division as well as the Intel Connects Cables business. EMCORE will issue 3.7 million shares of restricted stock for the acquisition, with certain adjustments based on EMCORE's stock price twelve months after the closing of the transaction. The assets include intellectual property, inventory, fixed assets and technology relating to optical transceivers for enterprise and storage customers, as well as optical cable interconnects for high-performance computing clusters. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
Just like many other manufacturers, Dell now announced plans to take a piece of the sub-$500 low-cost notebook market, by releasing its first low-cost 8.9-inch mini-laptop made by Compal Electronics. Compal will initially ship 200,000-300,000 notebook computers to Dell each month, a Compal official said, confirming the existense of such a product. Compal Electronics, the world's second-largest contract manufacturer of notebook computers by revenue after Quanta Computer Inc., aims to ship 1 million to 2 million low-cost notebook computers to Dell in 2008, the official added. Specifications of the new Dell mini-laptop are unknown, but first batches are expected to ship in early June, the same time when Intel's new Atom processors are set to become available.
Even though Microsoft has ceased all production of its HD DVD add-on accessory for the Xbox 360, apparently its team of software engineers weren't quite done with supporting the peripheral. Microsoft released on Tuesday a software update for all Xbox 360 HD DVD users. As soon as an Xbox 360 owner with the drive attempts to play an HD DVD movie, Xbox Live will immediately prompt for an update. Those without Xbox Live access will be able to download the update separately later this week, according to
Microsoft's Larry Hyrb. This update includes compatibility improvements with certain titles and extended support for network features.
POINT OF VIEW, well known for its range of NVIDIA based graphics cards, is launching today the overclocked version of one of the fastest single GPU graphics card on the market, the GeForce 9800 GTX EXO EDITION. The performance of the POV GeForce 9800 GTX EXO EDITION is pushed further by increasing the core speed to 725MHz, the shader processor speed to 1813MHz and the memory speed to 2300MHz. Last but not least, if you are lucky enough in the package bundle you'll find Ubisoft'Assassin's Creed game. The GeForce 9800 GTX EXO EDITION with Assassin's Creed is available from April 10 in a Special Edition box. Be as quick as the Special Edition version is only available in limited quantities.
IBM today introduced a new supercomputer powered by one of the world's fastest microprocessors and cooled by an innovative water system. The new Power 575 supercomputer, equipped with IBM's latest POWER6 microprocessor, uses water-chilled copper plates located above each microprocessor to remove heat from the electronics. Requiring 80 percent fewer air conditioning units, the water-cooled Power 575 can reduce typical energy consumption used to cool the data center by 40 percent. IBM scientists estimate that water can be up to 4,000-times more effective in cooling computer systems than air.
No these don't come with a picture of me. Hewlett-Packard has released a batch of USB keys for numerous Proliant server models which contain malware that could allow an attacker to take over an infected system. The worms contained on the 256KB and 1GB USB drives have been identified as W32.Fakerecy and W32.SillyFDC. The worms spread by copying themselves to removable or mapped drives and affect systems running Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows NT and Windows 2000, according to
AusCERT. To find out whether a drive is infected, HP recommends inserting it into a system with up-to-date antivirus software. Systems with up-to-date antivirus should be protected from the threat, according to HP. However, the threat risk from the worms is considered to be low.
G.Skill International Enterprise, a leading provider of high performance memory, is launching a new heat spreader design for mid-high end memory. Based on providing better heat dissipation, G.Skill "π" series heat spreader design increases the air contact surface 100% more than traditional design. Under high voltage, G.Skill claims that "π" can lower the module temperature at least 20% to 30% more than other memory cooling systems. G.Skill's "π" series heat spreader will be implemented with a whole new "HZ" series of dual-channel kits ranging from DDR2-800 to DDR3-1600. These modules will be available through G.Skill's authorized resellers and distributors worldwide.
Wednesday, April 9th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Headphones
VSONIC R02-PRO is the name of a reasonably priced set of earphones. They retail for around $69 which is to be considered cheap by earphone market standards. What is interesting to see is their rather different design and how they stack up against competitors from more established brands.
Just in time to make a perfect gift for Mother's Day, WD today introduced 10 fresh new colors for its My Passport Essential Portable USB Drives. Weighing in at less than 5 ounces, My Passport Essential USB Drives put almost a third of a terabyte of digital storage in the palm of your hand and are available now at select retailers.
Gearing up for the increased DDR3 demand, Kingston is now selling more affordable 1600MHz-rated DDR3 memory modules and kits. "With more new chipsets able to take advantage of DDR3 memory, the time was right for Kingston to release 1600MHz modules to fill the need for an economic alternative to higher priced 1600MHz modules on the market," said Dara Sun, strategic alliance manager, Kingston. "Our goal with this new offering is to meet the demand for a more mainstream performing DDR3 product while complementing our high frequency top-performing memory technology." The HyperX 1600MHz PC3-13000 are available in 1GB or 2GB single modules as well as in 2GB and 4GB kits certified to operate from 1.7V to 1.9V with latencies of CL9-9-9-27. The recommended prices for the new memory stand at $198 (1GB module), $395 (2GB module/kit) and $790 (4GB kit). All Kingston HyperX memories are backed by a lifetime warranty and free 24/7 technical support.
ASUS, producer of top quality graphic solutions, has today unveiled the world's first on-board triple GPU solution with the concept model ASUS EAH3850 TRINITY/3DHTI/1.5G graphics card. With three RV670PRO GPUs onboard, users can enjoy an astonishing 139% improvement in speeds when compared to single-GPU solutions. Additionally, the EAH3850 TRINITY is equipped with a MXM module for upgrade possibilities and two exclusive extra DVI outputs. It also features a specially designed water cooling solution - ensuring efficient heat dissipation for stable performance. On top of all this, the ASUS EAH3850 TRINITY is equipped with a world-exclusive large onboard memory size of 1.5GB - designed to provide feature-rich DirectX 10 gaming and the best multimedia playback at ultra-high resolutions and maximum quality settings.
EMC Corporation, world leader in information infrastructure solutions, and Iomega Corporation, best known with its ZIP drive, are joining forces in a definitive agreement for EMC to acquire San Diego-based Iomega in a cash tender offer of $3.85 per outstanding share, or approximately $213 million. The addition of Iomega's products, brand name, route to market and industry expertise will enhance EMC's reach and focus in the rapidly-growing consumer and small business markets. Upon completion of the acquisition, Iomega will serve as the core of EMC's new Consumer/Small Business Products Division. The new division (led by Jonathan Huberman and reporting to Joel Schwartz, Senior Vice President and General Manager, EMC Storage Platforms) will also include EMC Retrospect and EMC LifeLine software. EMC plans to build the division around the strength of the Iomega organization, brand, products and partner ecosystem. Find more information about the acquisition
here.
EVGA is now also offering overclocked versions of GeForce 9800 GTX. The three new cards are e-GeForce 9800GTX SSC 512MB, e-GeForce 9800GTX KO 512MB, and e-GeForce 9800GTX SC 512MB, with SSC being the fastest 9800GTX to date at 770MHz/2300MHz core/memory and 1.94GHz shader clock speed. All these new card are coupled with EVGA's Limited lifetime warranty, step-up program, 24/7 support and more.
There's not a lot of information on the web regarding this
case filled in the Florida Middle District Court, but it seems that Ultra Products is now searching for legal ways to sue a whole bunch of power supply manufacturers that infringe on of their patents for modular power supplies. The companies that are being sued by Ultra Products include: Antec, Corsair Memory, Enhance Electronics, E-Power Technology/PCMCIS, FSP Group USA, Koolance USA, Mushkin, OCZ Technology, Sea Sonic Electronics, Silverstone Technology, SPI Electronic, Spire-Bytecom Fanner Corporation, Tagan Technology, Thermaltake Technology, Topower Computer Industrial, Topower Computer U.S.A., Zalman Technology Company and pretty much every company that has manufactured modular PSUs.
Patch Tuesday is here with five critical and there important patches that address multiple vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office, Windows and Internet Explorer. One of the five critical patches is designed to resolve a flaw in Microsoft Office Project, which could allow attackers to take complete control of users' systems if they open a malicious Office Project file. A second critical patch is designed to tackle GDI (Graphics Device Interface) vulnerabilities in Windows. One of the security bulletins is a cumulative patch for IE, and the other is designed to resolve vulnerabilities in ActiveX Kill Bits. Microsoft also issued a critical Windows patch for vulnerabilities in its VBScript and JScript Scripting engines, which could provide attackers with access to users' systems and allow them to install programs, as well as view and change data. Download and find more information here:
Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for April 2008.
Lexar Media is now the first global memory provider to announce the immediate availability of Crucial DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) 204-pin SODIMM memory modules. Crucial PC3-8500 SODIMM modules support module bandwidths up to 10.6 GB/s with a data rate of 2,133 MT/s at a respective clock frequency of 1066MHz - effectively doubling the data rate of DDR2 1066MHz memory. In addition, DDR3 supply voltage is 1.5V compared to DDR2's 1.8V, reducing power consumption by up to 30 percent and also generating less heat. The DDR3 modules are able to obtain these advantages by utilizing improved package, pin-outs, and signaling on the components, as well as an improved overall module design. The Crucial SODIMMs are available in 1GB and 2GB densities plus they come with a lifetime warranty.
Delivering new levels in performance scalability, virtualization performance and energy efficiency, AMD announced customers can get the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor today in systems from HP as well as other system providers. The recently-launched HP ProLiant G5 platforms represent the first of many systems that are expected to be available in the coming weeks from global OEMs and system builders based on the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor.
Tuesday, April 8th 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Graphics Cards
Diamond's latest HD 3650 card features a huge video memory of 1 GB, but uses only slow DDR2. For media PC systems an extra HDMI output has been added which natively supports HDCP and audio. We run this card through our benchmarks and check whether the extra memory can make a performance difference.
As of today NVIDIA is lifting the overclocking ban for all of its partners, so expect more cards like BFG GeForce 9800 GTX OCX and Zotac GeForce 9800 GTX AMP! Edition to be announced in the following days. Based on NVIDIA's G92 GPU, the ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GTX AMP! Edition comes with increased core clock by 11-percent to 750MHz (675MHz stock) and 5-percent increased memory clock to 2.3GHz (1100MHz stock). Additionally the shader clock speed of the card is bumped up to 1890MHz (1688MHz stock). "Our customers demand the fastest performance available from NVIDIA GPUs. Our ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GTX AMP! Edition features cream of the crop NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX GPUs that are screened for high-speeds," said Carsten Berger, marketing director, ZOTAC International (MCO) Ltd. "The ZOTAC GeForce 9800 GTX AMP! Edition is the graphics card to get for users seeking the best single-card performance, with the ability to upgrade to SLI later-on."
abit today announced its latest AMD platform motherboard, the A-S78H, supporting ATI Hybrid CrossFireX Technology for advanced 3D graphics performance. The A-S78H is based on the AMD 780G chipset with ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics and the SB700. It supports AMD AM2+/AM2 processors running HT3.0 up to 5200MT/s. Four 240-pin DIMM sockets offer a maximum of 8GB memory capacity for Dual Channel DDR2 1066 modules. 1 x PCI-E X16, 1 x PCI-E X1, and 2 x PCI slots hold enough potential for further expansion and system upgrades with different add-on cards.
BFG Technologies announced today the BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX OC, OC2, and OCX 512MB PCI Express 2.0 graphics cards.
BFG GeForce 9800 GTX OC, OC2, and OCX graphics cards offer customers a choice of three different levels of factory overclocked Graphics Processing Units which are all thoroughly tested and backed by the company's famous lifetime warranty.
Toshiba Corporation today announced the start of sample shipping of the SpursEngine SE1000 (SpursEngine), a high-performance stream processor integrating four Synergistic Processing Element (SPE) cores derived from the "Cell Broadband Engine" (Cell/B.E.). Sample shipping started from today, and Toshiba expects sales of 6 million units within the first three years of the SpursEngine's release.
Microsoft today said that it would resume automatic distribution of the Servicing Stack Update (SSU) needed for installing Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1). On February 12th, Microsoft first began pushing the Servicing Stack Update (SSU). While several million customers installed the updates successfully, many users reported endless restart problems with their PCs caused by the KB937287 SSU patch. This prevented them from successfully installing the Vista SP1. Microsoft then suspended automatic distribution of the SSU, until now. Starting from tomorrow, the fixed SSU patch will be available for automatic download via the Automatic Update feature on Windows Vista OS. The company also revealed more information today about the root cause of the endless reboots. "SSU has special code to check whether there are any pending reboots or other updates to install, ... If it sees either of these circumstances, it prevents the install from starting.", the
Microsoft Update Product Team Blog posted. "During our investigation, we discovered that there were a few unknown and rare events during the middle of the installation of the update that could cause the update to think it needed a reboot to complete the installation. If this happened, the system entered a repeating reboot loop." Continue reading the full post
here.
To help schools offer affordable computing to every student, HP today introduced a full-function, mini-notebook PC priced starting under $500. Designed for the education market, the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is flexible enough for students to use from the classroom to the family room. The HP Mini is packed with 8.9-inch WXGA LCD screen (1280x768 resolution), integrated VGA webcam, two battery solutions - three-cell for lightest-weight configurations or optional six-cell for longer battery life, Wi-Fi and optional Bluetooth. Calculations are done by a VIA C7-M processor from 1GHz to 1.6GHz with Chrome 9 graphics and VIA's CN896/8237S chipset combo. Hard drive options include a wide variety of 120/160GB (5400 rpm), 120/160GB (7200 rpm), 64GB SSD, and even an optional 4GB PATA flash module HDDs. The 2133 has one memory slot and can run up to 2GB of RAM (the basic version comes with 512MB RAM). Operating systems available for HP 2133 include Windows Vista Business, Vista Home Basic, FreeDOS, or SuSE Enterprise Desktop 10. The HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is expected be available later this month.
This information from
Expreview may dissapoing many GeForce 9800 GX2 owners if true. NVIDIA is about to EOL (end-of-life) the GeForce 9800 GX2 line-up in just three months, as a result of two new GT200 cards - the single GPU GeForce 9900GTX and the dual GPU GeForce 9900 GX2. One of the GT200 cards will have similar performance and production cost as the GeForce 9800 GX2, which will force the manufacturer to cut down the "older" card. There will be no rebranding for 9800 GX2, like the GeForce 8800 GS which will become 9600 GSO, but just a sudden death. Meanwhile, details of the new GT200 graphics are still unknown.
Seagate Technology today also introduced a new breed of hard drive, the Cheetah 15K.6 FDE (Full Disk Encryption) disc drive family, the world's first self-encrypting hard drives for mission-critical servers and storage arrays. As part of the award-winning Cheetah family, the industry-standard in performance and reliability in data centers, the new Cheetah 15K.6 FDE hard drive now also encrypts data as well. And that encryption goes anywhere the hard drive goes - whether it is moved, stored, or retired.
Seagate today announced it has begun worldwide shipment of its 1 terabyte (TB) enterprise-class Barracuda ES.2 hard drives with a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) interface. Applications addressing rich media content and collaborative applications like email can benefit from the average 135% performance boost over SATA-interface drives along with robust enterprise features and native compatibility.
DFI has kindly sent
TweakTown pictures of their upcoming X48 boards and it looks like there will be no less than three different DDR2 models coming. DFI
LanParty UT X48-T2R,
LanParty LT X48-T2R, and
LanParty DK X48-T2RS are all Intel X48 motherboards that support Intel Core 2 CPUs with 1600FSB and have four DDR2 667/800MHz DIMMs. The first two will share the same PCB design and features with the only difference being the chipset cooling. Both cooling systems will be from Thermalright, but DFI LanParty UT X48-T2R will use a premium new version, while LanParty LT X48-T2R will have the same old cooling found in DFI's previous X38 motherboards (LanParty LT X38-T2R). The third Lanparty DK X48-T2RS will be a more basic version, with ordinary heatpipe cooling and different PCB and slots colors. Despite its "basic" layout this model will have all the goodies found in the Intel X48 chipset. Release dates and pricing are unknown at this time.
OCZ Technology Group yesterday unveiled the EliteXStream power supply family for high-powered gaming systems and workstations. Designed to offer the consumer market an enthusiast-grade computer power supply with a state-of-the-art architecture, the EliteXStream is the ultimate power solution for those users that require an ultra-efficient, highly reliable, high-wattage solution for their leading-edge gaming machine.
Microsoft is now backing off comments by chairman Bill Gates that the next version of Windows could be available as early as next year. "We are currently in the planning stages for Windows 7 and development is scoped to three years from Windows Vista consumer" general availability, a Microsoft spokesman said in an e-mail Friday to
InformationWeek. Windows Vista was released to consumers in late January 2007. That means Windows 7 would not be released until January 2010, regardless of the fact that Bill Gates told Windows 7 may be released "sometime in the next year [2009] or so". Microsoft said Gates may have been referring to trial versions of Windows 7. "As is standard with the release of a new product, we will be releasing early builds of Windows 7 prior to its general availability as a means to gain tester feedback," the spokesman said. "We're not sharing additional information at this time," the spokesman added.
Monday, April 7th 2008
Today's Reviews
In a disappointing but agreed upon move, AMD has decided to cut 10% of its workforce due to lower than expected first quarter financial results. The majority of business segments (mainly CPU) did not meet financial targets and in most cases lost money (again, mainly CPU). The cuts will hit all groups (including the ones that generated profit like the graphics division, albeit at a smaller scale).
AMD currently employs 16 000 in its workforce; a 10% cut will mean approximately 1600 people will be relieved. The cuts are expected to begin mid-April and finish by the end of the 3rd quarter of 2008.
Overclockers Kinc and Elmor from
NordicHardware, have managed to break the 3DMark06 world record this weekend using two of ATI's latest dual GPU video cards. With Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (C1 stepping) @ 5.719GHz (439.9x13), ASUS P5E64 WS Pro motherboard, 2x ASUS EAH3870X2 TOP overclocked to 990MHz/1125MHz core/memory and Windows Vista OS they were able to reach
32,601 3DMark. The cooling used for the CPU was liquid nitrogen (LN2) while both graphics cards were air cooled.
Hynix Semiconductor today introduced the world's first and fastest 1 Gigabite mobile LPDDR2. This product meets JEDEC standard and is expected to lead international LPDDR2 standard. 1Gb LPDDR, Low Power DDR2, is built on the Company's leading edge 66nm process technology. It boasts maximum operating speed of 800Mbps at 1.2V power supply. It consumes less power but operates at a faster speed than mobile DDR. With the fastest speed and small form factor package of 9mm x 12mm,, it is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of mobile applications which demand high memory density and fast operating speed features. This new product has function of Hynix's 'One Chip Solutions' and it allows Hynix the flexibility of offering wire bonded options to meet the specific needs of the customer by combining SDRAM/DDR DRAM interfaces, and x16/x32 organizations on a single chip. Hynix plans to start mass production of LPDDR2 in the fourth quarter of this year to meet the increasing demand for high performance mobile applications.
Taiwan's ASUSTeK Computer Inc. said on Monday that it had filed a patent infringement suit against International Business Machines Corp (IBM) in a US court earlier this month.
We sued IBM for its infringing two of our patents related to storage on the Internet and server technology,
said an ASUSTeK spokesman who declined to give more details. ASUSTeK's move is part of a legal battle that first started on December 7th, when IBM filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission against ASUSTeK and its North American subsidiary ASUS Computer International. Back then IBM said the infringing products include notebook computers, servers, routers and some components. It said the patents cover important aspects of computer systems, including power supplies, computer cooling and computer clustering capabilities. IBM sought import restrictions on some ASUSTeK computer products and components.
In response to this
story, the Board of Directors of Yahoo! Inc. today sent the following letter to Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation.
At the Storage Networking World conference AMD today announced availability of the first Reference Design Kit (RDK) for the Storage Bridge Bay (SBB) 2.0 Specification based on the AMD Athlon processor. This RDK can simplify the design process and provide a standardized platform powered by AMD's unrivaled Direct Connect Architecture. AMD expects to help storage vendors deliver low power, high performance, entry-level networked storage systems while helping reduce time-to-market, allowing them to focus more on specific innovations that their customers require. AMD also today announced an expansion of its embedded product offerings with three new, low power AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core processors for embedded system designs.
ASUS' Windows XP preinstalled Eee PC has now become
available on Best Buy, two days before the previous April 9th shipping date. Dubbed EEEPC4G-BK010X, and coming with two color options - Black or White (available only online), the Windows XP Eee PC have a price tag of $399.99, identical to that of the Linux Eee 4G version. Specs of EEEPC4G-BK010X are as follows: Intel Celeron M processor 900MHz, 512MB DDR2, 7" WVGA TFT-LCD widescreen display (800x480 resolution), Intel UMA graphics with up to 64MB shared video memory, 4GB SSD, built-in Web cam and microphone, and Windows XP Home Edition preinstalled.
Sunday, April 6th 2008
Today's Reviews
Heatpipes certainly seem to be the big thing in cooling at the moment, and memory is no exception. As this year's Intel Developer Forum, Kingston has been showing-off some dual-heatpipe HyperX RAM modules, as you can see in the image below. There's no firm information about specs or availability yet, but you can expect these modules to have tight timings and clock quite nicely - although they aren't likely to be particularly affordable.
None of the big record labels support music piracy, but it has to be said that Sony BMG has come into the spotlight more than most about this topic, especially when it sold CDs which secretly installed a rootkit on the customer's computer in an attempt to prevent them illegally sharing songs. However, the company is now on the receiving end of an anti-piracy case regarding software installed on four of its servers. French software developer PointDev discovered that Sony BMG was supplying pirated license keys to some employees for the company's Ideal Migration software, which meant it was able to mandate a seizer of Sony BMG's assets. The subsequent raid has revealed that as much as 47% of software on Sony BMG's servers may be pirated, and the music label now faces a €300,000 (over $470,000) lawsuit from PointDev.
Creative has received much criticism for charging owners of Audigy sound cards for its ALchemy software, which offers improved audio support for certain games under Windows Vista. However, a modder by the name of Daniel Kawakami has managed to build hybrid drivers using a combination of XP and Vista files as well bypassing certain driver checks to enable several features including:
- Dolby/DTS decoding
- CMSS, CMSS2 and Stereo Surround (originally only CMSS was available, but this setting also affects ALchemy/OpenAL and Kawakami notes that it's thus particularly useful)
- Advanced EQ and Special FX presets
- DVD Audio
- Hardware MIDI synthesizer (Kawakami says he wrote a small utility that automatically detects and changes the default Vista MIDI Synth during driver install or can change it later using its GUI. Some media players let you choose the MIDI synthesizer)
- Equalizer
- WaveRT
You can read some more complete details of his work at
Custom PC and download the files from
here. The modded driver was originally uploaded to Creative's forums, although the company responded in a somewhat heavy handed manner, as you can see in
this thread.
It would seem that Microsoft has grown a little impatient over its takeover bid for Yahoo! earlier this year and has now sent a letter to the company persuading it to sit down and negotiate a deal:
It has now been more than two months since we made our proposal to acquire Yahoo! at a 62% premium to its closing price on January 31, 2008, the day prior to our announcement. Our goal in making such a generous offer was to create the basis for a speedy and ultimately friendly transaction. Despite this, the pace of the last two months has been anything but speedy.
With the continuous recommendation around the world, Thermaltake XaserVI has once again written down another successful story among PC enthusiasts. To fulfill middle tower demands, Thermaltake has released XaserVI's twin brother, XaserVI Mx.
Saturday, April 5th 2008
Today's Reviews
NVIDIA's lack of marketing for the 8800 GS meant that it didn't really catch on particularly well when it was first launched. However, the company is now planning to try and rectify this by rebranding it as the GeForce 9600 GSO according to Expreview. Assuming the current price remains more or less the same, this card should sell for a little below the 9600 GT and offers similar performance levels.
Scythe today announced a new all-aluminum hard disk cooler called "Himuro". The product name "Himuro" comes from the old time preservation storage for snow and ice. Hard disks are often neglected for cooling compared to other components inside the computer system, yet it is also important to cool the data storage to prolong its life. The flexible mounting system is built-in for this product to allow the user to mount the hard disk cooler in various ways (bezel hidden or exposed on 5.25inch bays). Compatible with either parallel or serial ATA 3.5inch hard disks up to 10,000rpm. Anti-vibration mounting legs are included to further contribute to silence!
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said on Friday that Windows 7, the next major version of Windows, could come within the next year, far ahead of the development schedule indicated by the software maker. In response to a question about Windows Vista, Gates, speaking before the Inter-American Development Bank, said: "Sometime in the next year or so we will have a new version." Referring to Blackcomb or Windows 7, the code names for the next full release of Windows client software, Gates said: "I'm super-enthused about what it will do in lots of ways." Previously it was generally believed that Windows 7 OS would ship sometime in year 2010. The current version of Windows, known as Vista, shipped in January 2007. Microsoft's Windows XP is still widely available though, with no plans to be stopped until Windows 7 is released, Microsoft also announced yesterday.
Friday, April 4th 2008
Today's Reviews
For users who require extreme graphical support and robust performance, ASUS is launching the new ASUS Crosshair II Formula Motherboard. This powerful motherboard includes innovative technologies like CPU Level Up, Hybrid SLI and 3-Way SLI for the best performance and graphical support. It is also ready for AMD Socket AM2+ Phenom FX / Phenom X4 / Phenom X2 / Athlon X2 / Sempron and legacy AM2 processors; and features up to 5200 MT/s via HyperTransport 3.0-based system bus speeds for AM2+ CPUs.
Yet another world's first from ASUS, the EAH3650 SILENT/HTDI/1G graphics card model with 1GB graphics memory. This powerful graphics card features the latest generation of ATI GPUs; and with an unparalleled large onboard memory size, is designed to provide feature-rich DirectX 10.1 gaming and the best multimedia playback at ultra-high resolutions and maximum quality settings. Additionally, it natively supports HDMI and is equipped with a noiseless cooling solution - allowing home theater lovers to enjoy enhanced and convenient home multimedia to the fullest.
ASUS today also unveiled the world's first on-board dual HD3850 graphics card with the ASUS EAH3850X2/HTDI/1G. Equipped with two HD3850 GPUs, an astonishing 34% and 5% improvement in speeds can be achieved when compared to single-GPU solutions and two single-GPU Crossfire configured graphics cards respectively. The EAH3850X2/HTDI/1G also comes specially designed with dual fansinks for both GPUs - ensuring efficient heat dissipation for more stable operations. On top of all this, the ASUS EAH3850X2/HTDI/1G is equipped with a large onboard memory size of 1GB - designed to provide feature-rich DirectX 10 gaming and the best multimedia playback without any lagging at ultra-high resolutions and maximum quality settings.
ASUS, producer of top quality graphic solutions, today unveiled the latest generation of NVIDIA GPUs - the GeForce 9800 GTX, in the form of the ASUS EN9800GTX/HTDP/512M graphics card. Showcasing the most powerful single GeForce 9800 GPU, the ASUS EN9800GTX is able to deliver full-throttle gaming experiences at extreme HD resolutions; while providing optimal power management with the built-in HybridPower technology. It also features full compatibility with the 3-way SLI technology, an integrated SmartDoctor feature that overclocks the Shader Clock for exceptional graphical boosts, and GamerOSD for real-time overclocking, benchmarking and video capturing in any PC game.
After the release of Opera Mini for mobile phones two days ago, the Opera Software team today released Opera 9.27 for desktop PCs. Version 9.27 is a recommended security and stability upgrade for all Opera users. Changes in the web browser since Opera 9.26 include fixed BitTorrent transfer stability issue, solved stability issues with the Acid 3 test and some additional stability fixes you can read about
here. Download
Opera 9.27.
Futuremark has just launched another interactive web based benchmark application called VirtualMark, that allows users to determine their 3DMark score, without actually running the 3D benchmark software on their system. Once you allow the web application to run in your browser and analyse your system, it checks the ORB database for submitted results which match your system specifications as closely as possible. It's not going to be 100% accurate but with the millions of results already in its database, you should be able to find a match which is pretty close. Obtaining a common score is a simple three step process with VirtualMark which takes only a minute or so to run. You can give it a try
here.
OCZ Technology Group today announced the release of all-new additions to the Silencer line of power supplies from PC Power & Cooling including a 500W EPS12V and Dell compatible model. The efficient and economical 370W, 420W, and 500W Silencers offer mainstream system builders and professionals a robust power resource at an affordable price point.
Thursday, April 3rd 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
CPU Coolers
Most HTPC users will find that there are only a limited number of CPU coolers available to use in most HTPC cases because of their smaller size. OrigenAE created the C10 to help fill that void. The C10 has three U-shaped copper heatpipes that come in direct contact with the CPU, and 35 aluminum fins behind a standard size 70mm fan.
Atari has confirmed to Shacknews that Eden Games' Alone in the Dark has been delayed again, pushing the reimagining of the classic survival horror franchise back to a June 20 release. Alone in the Dark had been previously slated for a May release, which itself was a result of a delay from a March release window. Publisher Atari said that the delay was enacted to "allow the development team at Eden Games to polish the game to an even higher standard and deliver the best possible experience to gamers." The delay applies to the PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, and PC versions of the title, with the PlayStation 3 version of Alone in the Dark due out late this year.
Microsoft who once extended the life period of its Windows XP operating system is now going to do it again. The company originally planned to suspend the sale of Windows XP on June 30, 2008, but the big success of all low-cost notebook offerings is forcing Microsoft to further extend the life of XP. Microsoft will now make Windows XP Home available for ultra-low-cost PCs (ULPCs) until June 30, 2010 or one year after the release of the next version of Windows. Microsoft goes on to state that it "Heard from partners and customers that they want Windows broadly available for this new class of devices, because they want the familiarity, compatibility and support only available on the Windows platform." Microsoft also acknowledged that Windows XP makes more sense than Windows Vista for these machines adding, "While Windows Vista provides many benefits, including an easier and more secure user experience, Windows XP Home provides an effective solution on these devices from a performance and cost perspective." Unfortunately, only XP Home will get a reprieve from Microsoft.
Epic Games, the award-winning developer of multimillion-selling games and the world's leading game engine, Unreal Engine 3, today announced plans to follow up the original "$1 Million Make Something Unreal Contest" with an all new competition to include esteemed sponsor, Intel Corporation. Winnings exceed $1 million in value, and consist of one coveted Unreal Engine 3 license as a grand prize and other cash awards and prizes, including Intel Software Development Products and Velocity Micro PCs based on the Intel Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform with two Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processors. The 2008 "$1 Million Intel Make Something Unreal Contest" will be judged in four preliminary phases and a grand final. Judging will begin in June 2008 and will conclude, with the grand final prizes being awarded, in fall 2009.
With the success of the previous Armor+ full tower, Thermaltake has created the middle tower version of Armor+, the Armor+ MX. The aluminum Armor+ MX is now compact, lightweight, cool, quiet, user-friendly, yet still stylish - an ideal concept for the modern users. Thermaltake has included tool-free and cable management features into Armor+ MX, two 120mm fans (1300 rpm, 17DBa) one front and one rear, plus an enormous 230mm side intake fan rotating at 700 rpm (15DBa). The case can accomodate up to 5x 5.25" devices and has 4x 3.5" drive bays for hard drive installation. Armor+ MX can be purchased in stealthy black or elegant silver color. Please take a look at Thermaltake's special flash site
here for detailed specs.
Asetek, the firm that created the mighty Vapochill phase-change cooling system and recently became entirely OEM cooling manufacturer has announced the availability of its latest creation - a full-cover liquid cooling block for GeForce 9800 GX2. The block is using a hybrid cooling technology whereby the GPU is cooled by a liquid cold plate while the memory and power sub-systems are cooled by a fan. This enables the cooling system to reduce the GPUs' temperatures by over 25°C compared to the standard all-air solution and do so while maintaining noise levels of just 22dBA. Asetek's GeForce 9800 GX2 cooling system is said to be ready for OEMs but its price tag has not been revealed. From what I know this type of cooling might pop-up in the form of the next gen exotic ASUS and Leadtek graphics cards, where the water block price will be included in the overall price.
Intel Corporation unveiled a new design of the Intel-powered classmate PC today at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai. As announced in a keynote by Andrew Chien, Intel vice president, Corporate Technology Group and director of Intel Research, the second-generation Intel-powered classmate PC is an affordable, fully functional, rugged Internet-centric computer platform. These simple-to-use PCs have wireless capability, longer battery life, water resistant keyboards and are more shock resistant if dropped. Intel is calling this category of PCs "netbooks."
ASUS today released the ASUS MS-71 Ultra-Mini Wireless Mouse. Heralded as the world's smallest 2.4GHz wireless mouse, the MS-71 proves that there is truth in the adage of "Good things come in small packages". Ideal for use together with small and portable notebooks like the ASUS Eee PC, the MS-71's compact size however, belies its interior, where several key innovations provide total user convenience through exceptional power management for power savings, quick charging and much more.
Antec, the leading global brand of high-performance computer components for the PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, today launched the Three Hundred enclosure. Built on the Nine Hundred's success in the market, this affordable enclosure combines versatility, convenience and robust cooling to deliver an unbeatable value. Standing 18 inches tall and weighing 15.9 pounds, the Three Hundred is an exceptionally manageable case, but still has enough space for nine drive bays and seven expansion slots.
Wednesday, April 2nd 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Headphones
Head-Direct RE2 is the name of a completely new entry level pair of earphone. Head-Direct was until recently just a headphone and amplifier reseller, but that has changed with the arrival of the RE2s. their new earphones are among the best when it comes to price/performance, even rivaling some of the twice as expensive competition.
As of next week water cooling experts Aqua Computer will start offering the aquagrafx 9800 GX2 for all GeForce 9800 GX2 video cards. Made out of 2 pure copper water blocks (99.9%) connected via a terminal made of Delrin, the aquagrafx 9800 GX2 is said to be extremely thin and therefore pretty light, with total weight under 800g. The aquagrafx cools both GPUs, all mosfets, the GDDR3 RAM chips and the bridge chip. The fittings of the aquagrafx are G 1/4". Pricing for the cooler will be 129.90 Euro. Aqua Computer also offers to sell you a GeForce 9800 GX2 card with the block preinstalled and covered by their warranty for 619.90 Euro.
The
Crymod Modding Portal updated its blog today to inform all Crysis players that new Patch 1.3 is in the works.
Crysis - New Patch in Development
In an earlier weekly update we already confirmed that Crytek will continue working on patches for Crysis and supporting the community with new updates. Currently our Multiplayer dev team is fully concentrating on the upcoming Patch 1.3. It has been in development for quite a few weeks already, but we do not have a release date available just yet.
As for the content we can already say a bit, but not that much. The patch will not only include bug fixes and further gameplay balancing, we will also introduce new features to it. Unfortunately we cannot tell you too much about the content at this point, but be sure to not miss out the upcoming weekly update next Wednesday since it will include more news and details on the content itself.
It was yesterday when I first saw the
report from DigiTimes, and I decided to wait on purpose before posting it here. First it was the 1st of April, second it sounded too good to be true: "Lite-On IT is developing built-in Blu-ray Disc-(BD) ROM drives for the Microsoft Xbox 360 game console" that will start shipping in the second half of 2008. Well I was right, the unspecified DigiTimes sources have misled a lot of hardware news sites. Microsoft responded today to the rumour with the following statement: "No. Lite-On is not manufacturing Blu-ray drives for Xbox 360. As we have stated, games are what are driving consumers to purchase game consoles and we remain focused on providing the largest library of blockbuster game available ... For our customers who want a premium movie experience we offer the largest library of on-demand HD content available and the ability to play back DVDs in high definition." This is the second time when a rumour is spreading around the web that Xbox 360 will get Blu-Ray support, but unfortunately that's also the second time when Microsoft crushes all hopes with a single sentence.
Mozilla announced Firefox 3 Beta 5 today, intended for developer testing and community feedback. Beta 5 includes new features as well as dramatic improvements to performance, memory usage and speed.
- Improvements to the user interface based on user feedback, including changes to the look and feel on Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux.
- Changes and fixes for new features such as the location bar autocomplete, bookmark backup and restore, full page zoom, and others, based on feedback from our community.
- Fixes and improvements to platform features to improve security, web compatabilty and stability.
- Continued performance improvements: changes to our JavaScript engine as well as profile guided optimization continues to improve performance over previous releases as measured by the popular SunSpider test from Apple, and in the speed of web applications like Google Mail and Zoho Office.
Download Firefox 3 Beta 5 for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux in 45 different languages. Also check the
Release Notes.
The British computer and watercooling manufacturer
Vadim Computers has prepared two cooling plates for the recently released NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 and GeForce 9800 GTX graphics cards. The 9800 GTX plate comes in handy when paired with
Vadim's BlastFlow water block. Once combined both pieces create a full cover waterblock that cools the memory, VRMs and other hot parts of the card. The plate (
BFC9800GTX512) is priced at $49. The second BlastFlow Siberian kit fits on the
Blastflow Siberian Rev2 VGA block to form a complete cooling solution for the GeForce 9800GX2 cards. It consists of a Blastflow copper top cover for the second GPU and 2x cooling plates for the memory and VRMs on both sides of the sandwich card. The BlastFlow Siberian 9800GX2 kit is currently available in limited quantities for $115.
I promissed more details on Intel Nehalem yesterday, and now it is time to keep my word. During the first day of Spring IDF 2008, the guys over at HEXUS.net have pictured the first working sample of a quad-core Intel Nehalem processor operating at 3.2GHz (revision A1). The 1366-pin, 731M-transistor 45nm native quad-core model, utilizes 256KB of L2 cache for each core, as well as 8MB of L3 cache. The CPU also integrates triple-channel DDR3-1333MHz memory controller and SSE4 instructions. Like the new 533MHz
Silverthorne-based Atom processors, Nehalem will also incorporate Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) which is also known as Hyper-Threading (HT). Each physical core in a single Nehalem processor is paired up with its own virtual core. As a result, the quad-core processor will be detected to have eight cores (on the picture). Predictions say that this new architecture will offer around 30% better performance, on a clock-for-clock basis, when compared to Core 2, in a heavily-multithreaded environment - HPC and low-end servers, mainly. Current Intel roadmaps list the Nehalem launch date for Q4 2008, with a simulteanous rollout across servers and desktops.
AT&T and Microsoft Corp. today announced a collaborative alliance that will transform the way consumers shop for mobile devices. AT&T will become the first company in the world to bring Microsoft Surface to life in a retail environment, giving customers the ability to explore their mobile worlds using touch and device recognition technology. Microsoft Surface is the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft. Beginning April 17, customers can experience Microsoft Surface in select AT&T retail locations, including stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco. Based on the success and learning from these initial pilot deployments, plans for further expansion across AT&T's 2,200 U.S. retail stores will be determined.
The Everex CloudBook MAX - an improved version of the company's low-cost ultraportable laptop - will be available in the second half of 2008, according to the product page at Everex's website. The new CloudBook MAX delivers up to four hours of battery life, weighs less than 2.2 pounds and measures a mere 9.4" x 6.9" x 1.1" (w x d x h). It will boast a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M Processor ULV, 1GB DDR2 533MHz SDRAM (up to 2GB), 80GB HDD, 8.9"WVGA TFT Display (1024x600), embedded single chip Mobile WiMAX solution, 4-in-1 Media Card Reader, 2MP Webcam and a lot more. The CloudBook MAX runs Windows Vista Home Basic operating system. Currently, there is no information on pricing. For more details, please visit the Everex
product page.
The PLAYSTATION 3's redesigned DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controllers are currently shipping to North American retailers and are expected to appear on shelves by next week, according to a post on the official
PlayStation.Blog. The DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller includes pressure sensors that rumble with each action. SIXAXIS technology is also included, so you can still use motion control, and the controller features Bluetooth technology for wireless gameplay. The titles that support the rumble feature will require a patch (
DUALSHOCK 3 Compatibility Chart). The patch will automatically download to your PS3 if your console is connected online. You can pick up the DUALSHOCK 3 controller for $54.99 MSRP.
Enterprising engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy have developed a bomb-defusing robot that is maneuvered by the very same Nintendo Wii remote that millions of gamers consider a natural extension of their hands. Packbot, made by iRobot in Burlington, Massachusetts, disposes of bombs, sniffs out explosives and checks for landmines for US soldiers. It is 70 centimetres long, and moves on wheels or tracks. Some even have machine guns attached, although these are yet to be used in battle. Head engineer David Bruemmer said: "Our tests show 90 per cent of the operator's workload goes into driving the robot rather than keeping an eye on the sensor data," He believes that now with the help of Nintendo's Wiimote manoeuvring the Packbot will become a breeze, and thus allow operators to focus more on the collected data and less on how to steer the Packbot. Bruemmer and his crew have also tweaked the Wii's vibration feedback technology to "buzz" the operator when the Packbot detects something of interest in the field. More information on the Packbot can be found at the
official site.
WD today introduced its My Book Studio Edition II high-performance dual-drive storage systems which are designed to seamlessly work with Mac computers and provide an ideal blend of power savings and high performance. Available now at select retailers and the WD
online store, the new My Book Studio Edition II dual-drive storage systems are available in capacities of 1TB and 2TB.
Micron Technology today announced that it is sampling 4GB DDR3 modules, designed using 2Gb components, to provide the industry's highest density DDR3 modules for notebook computers. High-density memory modules are becoming increasingly important for notebook computers as graphic-intensive operating systems and other content heavy applications continue to make their way onto the market. The fast speeds, high-density and low-power of Micron's portfolio of DDR3 modules - ranging in density from 512MBs to now 4 GBs - allow these systems and applications to perform more effectively and utilize power more efficiently.
Intel Corporation today introduced five new Intel Atom processors and Intel Centrino Atom processor technology for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and embedded computing solutions. The technology package includes the Intel Atom processor (formerly codenamed "Silverthorne") plus a single-chip with integrated graphics called the Intel System Controller Hub that enables PC-like capabilities, an uncompromised Internet experience and long battery life in smaller devices that can fit in your pocket. Manufacturers around the world are planning to ship Intel-based MIDs beginning this summer.
Tuesday, April 1st 2008
Today's Reviews
Review
Graphics Cards
Today NVIDIA launches their new GeForce 9800 GTX cards. Like many products in the GeForce 8 Series they are based on the G92 graphics processor. This is also the reason why there are no real technological innovations on this $299 card.
Ubisoft is delivering a slate of more than 40 action-packed games to Steam, including Assassin's Creed and the Tom Clancy series. Two fan favorites are now available to customers in Canada and the United States: the acclaimed action shooter, Far Cry, and the debut game in the groundbreaking stealth action series, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Save 10% on either game when you buy before Tuesday, April 8th.
Following the official release of GeForce 9800 GTX, NVIDIA has updated the ForceWare driver package to version 174.74. This driver adds support for GeForce 9800 GTX and enables 3-way SLI with GeForce 9800 GTX. Please read the
release notes for more information on product support, features, driver fixes and known compatibility issues.
DOWNLOAD
It may sound impossible, but sometimes even companies like Microsoft (or big people like my boss who accidentaly changed my system specs) have a sense of humour. :) Today's Spring false announcements advertised over at
Xbox.com include the wood paneled Vintage Edition Xbox 360, a monstrous Xbox 360 wireless helmet, the Xbox 360 Recon Edition with 1TB energy-efficient HDD, and a board game that connects to Xbox Live witout internet connection. If you want to learn more on one of these unique Microsoft products please follow Microsoft's steps closely.
Step 1: Check Tuesday's date
Step 2: Slap yourself
VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today launched the new VIA VX800 Series of digital media IGP chipsets featuring the latest video, graphics and connectivity performance in a single chip measuring just 33 x 33mm. The VIA VX800 Series comprises two primary digital media IGP chipsets, the VIA VX800 for ultra thin and light notebooks, mini PCs and embedded devices, and the ultra low voltage VIA VX800U for the fast-expanding ultra mobile market, including the rapidly-emerging mini-note, UMPC and UMD markets.
IBM announced today that it has learned that it has been temporarily suspended from participating in new business with U.S. Federal government agencies.
The notice of temporary suspension was issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and relates to an investigation by the EPA of possible violations of the Procurement Integrity provisions of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act regarding a bid for business with the EPA originally submitted in March 2006. The temporary suspension applies to all Federal agencies and IBM business units. IBM may continue awards in existence as of the date of this suspension, unless a particular agency directs otherwise.
EVGA is now introducing an update to the fastest graphics solution, the EVGA 9800GX2 Superclocked, KO and SSC. Up to 86.4 Billion/sec Texture Fill Rate on the SSC Model gives you the ultimate in extreme performance. 100% testing ensures the highest level of performance and stability possible. This same level of testing and quality allowed Vince "k|ngp|n" Lucido to hit nearly 30,000 points with a single EVGA 9800GX2. EVGA makes the GX2 even more extreme giving you the ultimate in high-definition gaming performance.
The graphics card specialist Club 3D has increased the product range of high-end graphic cards by launching the GeForce 9800 GTX. Powered by the latest NVIDIA G92 chipset, the
Club 3D 9800 GTX (CGNX-X982DD) graphic card raises the performance bar by enabling full-throttle lifelike game play and offering to everyone extreme HD gaming and a first-class entertainment experience.
Albatron Technology has just announced its new enthusiast VGA, the
9800GTX-512X. This card is being released on the heels of its sibling dual-GPU 9800GX2 with all of the same high-performance NVIDIA features plus 3-way SLI capabilities. The 9800GTX-512X has one less GPU than its big brother (9800GX2) but it makes up for it with higher clock speeds and a trimmed down price.
Toshiba today announced a new addition to its 17.1-inch desktop replacement laptop line with the Satellite L350 series, with AMD's advanced family of dual-core processors and an affordable starting price of $749.991. The new Satellite L350 offers users premium multimedia features including a 17.1-inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite display (1440x900), up to 4GB PC2-5300 DDR2 memory, 200GB (4200 rpm) SATA HDD, built-in Webcam, ATI Radeon X1250 graphics and a DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash. The laptop comes preinstalled with Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit version). It also features a fresh unique feature also introduced today, the Sleep-and-Charge USB ports which make it possible to charge and power electronic devices no matter if the laptop is powered-on, off or in sleep mode. Three of these USB ports are presented in the Satellite L350. The Satellite L350 series is
available now in several configurations, including the Satellite L355D-S7810, which features an AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-60 processor (2.0GHz, 1MB L2 Cache).
Micro-Star International (MSI), has always been committed to give its consumers the best gaming performance, that's why MSI has prepared P7N series mainboards to support the 45nm Intel processor and 3-way SLI base on new nForce 7-series chipset.
BFG Technologies, the leading North American and European supplier of advanced NVIDIA-based 3D graphics cards, power supplies and other PC enthusiast products, announced today the BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB PCI Express 2.0 graphics card. "The BFG GeForce 9800 GTX features 128 screaming fast stream processors each running at a new record high 1688MHz", said John Malley, senior director of marketing for BFG Technologies. "The BFG GeForce 9800 GTX is unquestionably the fastest graphics card in its price range-providing intense gaming at extreme HD resolutions."
Intel to Ready DirectX 10 IGP Driver By the End of April
Intel is planning to announce a DirectX 10 driver for its IGP chipsets around the end of April, DigiTimes reports. The company's G35 chipset was originally planned to launch last year with native DirectX 10 support, however due to driver issues products eventually went to market without support. The driver will be labeled as version 15.9 and will support the G35 chipset as well as the upcoming G45/GM45 IGP chipsets and notebook GM965/GL960 chipsets. The only Intel product that was reported to support DirectX 10, but will be missing in this driver will be the desktop G965 chipset.
Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Shanghai, China, officially opens its doors from April 2nd to April 3rd. Topics set to be covered at IDF Shanghai include Netbook, Nettop, Bloomfield (Nehalem), solid-state drives, QuickAssist (accelerators), system-on-chip (Tolapai), and USB 3.0. The pictures below are from one of these topics, the new quad-core Nehalem CPU, or more specificly its core. Intel's future Nehalem will bring a totally new system architecture and a next-gen platform architecture. It will come in new socket, and will be the first processor to have up to 8 cores and integrated DDR3 memory controller. Expect more details tomorrow.
Hard drive manufacturer Seagate has quietly
updated its Barracuda 7200.11 series of hard drives to now include a 320GB single-platter HDD. Previously starting at 500GB, the 7200.11 family now includes a 3.5-inch 320GB drive with only one platter (model number: ST3320613AS), which features SATA 3.0 Gbps interface, 16MB of cache (no 32MB version available like the other models) and MTBF (mean time before failure) of 750,000 hours. The drive is said to have a slightly lower noise output and power consumption as well as improved read/write characteristics.
Hynix plans to produce 54nm-based DRAM chips this year on schedule, saying this will "reduce the technology gap with Samsung," according to the company's CEO, quoted by the Korea Times. The company schedules to start production of 54-nano DRAMs in the third quarter, while Samsung is expected to commence production of 56-nano DRAMs near the end of the second quarter. The company also plans to gradually increase its use of 300mm chip fabrication lines to account for 95 percent of its entire DRAM production by 2012. The company runs three 300mm lines and five 200mm lines in its two plants in South Korea and one in China.
Dell today detailed additional actions in its previously announced program to restore the competitive advantage of the company's operating model, rationalize its operations and improve profitability and cash flow. "We believe we have a $3 billion opportunity to drive both productivity and efficiency," said Michael Dell, Dell's chairman and CEO. "We've analyzed the business and opportunity, so we know - without question - where our priorities should be. And as we've reignited growth in our business, we're taking deliberate steps across the company to improve our competitive position."
An iMac owner sued Apple on Monday claiming the 20-inch iMac desktop computers can't display the "millions of colors" Apple promises in promotional materials. The Cupertino-based company touts that ability on its Web site and other marketing material even though it knows iMac monitors can display only 262,144 true colors, according to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Users are fooled into seeing many more colors because the monitors use technological tricks that involve showing many similar shades at high speeds to create the illusion of the desired shade, according to the lawsuit. Those techniques can cause "crippling" problems for people editing pictures and videos because the colors don't always appear entirely smooth, the lawsuit said. The plaintiff, Texas resident and iMac owner Chandra Sanders, is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit. The lawsuit targets the 20-inch "Aluminum iMacs" introduced in August 2007. Apple said it doesn't comment on pending litigation.
HP and Tower Software today announced that they have signed a pre-bid agreement for HP to acquire Tower, a document and records management software company based in Canberra, Australia. The deal will enable HP to expand its offerings in the fast-growing electronic discovery and compliance software market.