Legit Reviews News History
AMD Slashes Opteron Prices
Advanced Micro Devices has quietly reduced pricing on its server microprocessors for various infrastructures, possibly, in an attempt to stimulate demand for its server processors while Intel Corp. is ramping up production of its server chips based on the new micro-architecture.
The majority of AMD Opteron microprocessors have lost 20% - 30% of their previous price in 1000-unit quantities, however, certain models of the previous generation AMD Opteron 200-series chips designed for 2-way servers now cost nearly two times ? or 47% ? less than previously. If the price drop between 20% and 30% indicates that the company wants to encourage demand for its products, then price reduction by nearly a half may be a sign of that AMD?s plan to get rid of certain processors as quickly as possible. As a result of the price reduction, AMD?s most expensive processor ? AMD Opteron 8220 SE designed for multi-processor machines ? now can be acquired for $2149 (in 100-unit quantities), down from $2649, while the model 8218 is now priced at $1514, 30% lower price-point than before. The top-of-the-range processor for dual-chip servers ? AMD Opteron 2200 SE with dual-channel DDR2 memory controller ? now costs $786, down from $1165, whereas previous-generation chip that supports dual-channel DDR memory is priced $611, or 42% less than before. Several days ago AMD has also lowered pricing of certain mobile and desktop processors by 4% ? 36%, but not on all models, but mostly cost-effective ones. AMD typically does not release any statements concerning price decreases.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 31, 2006 - 04:09 PM
Microsoft targets auctioneers of pirated software
Thinking of selling counterfeit software? Don't. Worldwide crackdown by Microsoft with over 50 lawsuits.
The actions include 15 lawsuits in the U.S., 10 in Germany, 10 in the Netherlands, six in France, and five in the United Kingdom, Microsoft said. Additional cases are being filed in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Korea and Poland, the company said. "This is a worldwide enforcement against sellers of counterfeit software on online auction sites," said Matt Lundy, a senior attorney at Microsoft. "We're finding more and more that auction sites are becoming a popular way for counterfeiters to distribute counterfeit software to consumers." The lawsuits are part of Microsoft's continued crackdown on software piracy, which the company acknowledges cuts into its earnings. According to the Business Software Alliance, about a third of all the software installed on personal computers worldwide in 2005 was pirated, a multibillion-dollar loss for the software industry.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 06:09 PM
IBM Keeps Chips Cool with New Technology
Don't throw out your CPU cooler just yet...
IBM claims the technique, called "high thermal conductivity interface technology," allows a two-fold improvement in heat removal over current thermal paste methods. The innovation could pave the way for continued development of creative electronic products through the use of more powerful chips without needing complex and costly systems to cool them. Big Blue researchers say they were inspired by the natural branching patterns of tree roots and human veins, and they used these designs on the chip surfaces. When pressure is applied, the paste used to improve the thermal contact between chip and the attached heat sink spreads more evenly. Michel said this advance will allow engineers to design more powerful chips and continue to follow the Moore's Law trend of packing more transistors in ever smaller sizes.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 06:01 PM
SoundBlaster X-Fi 2.09.0007 Drivers Released
Finally, for those who have been suffering with the buggy beta drivers...
Creative has released a new Version 2.09.0007 driver for the SoundBlaster X-Fi range. These drivers provide improved OpenAL 1.1 support as well as some bug fixes. It is recommended that all X-Fi owners upgrade to this version.
Download
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 05:45 PM
Windows Media Player 11 Released
Microsoft has released the final version of Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP. Version 11 sports a redesigned user interface and incorporates seamless integration with MTV's URGE music service. According to Microsoft, the URGE online catalog provides customers with over 2 million songs by over 110,000 artists. Microsoft is also boasting that its improved search engine in Windows Media Player 11 provides faster results than any other media player on the market.
- A visually driven experience using thumbnail and album art, an elegant and simple design, and customization capabilities for more personalized interaction
- Improved device experience with new shuffle sync and reverse sync options, device exploration using the library view, and intuitive help icons that ensure seamless and intuitive syncing and burning of rights-managed content
- Highly simplified navigation capabilities, enhanced shortcut options, and dedicated category views for all media types, including music, photos and video
- Better access to content with deep integration of services that blurs the line between online service and media player experiences
- Industry-first audio fingerprinting capabilities that recognize and import track information for unidentified or misnamed audio files
- New formats for ripping and music playback, including Windows Media Audio Professional and WAV Lossless
The final version of Windows Media Player can be downloaded from the official website.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 01:59 PM
GE acquires take in DFI
DFI used to focus on motherboards but has extended its production to IPCs, which the company calls applied computing platforms (ACPs). Currently, ACPs and motherboards account for 80% and 20%, respectively, of total revenues, DFI pointed out.
US-based General Electric (GE) has invested NT$347.13 million (US$10.44 million) for a 5.26% stake in DFI, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of industrial PCs (IPCs), in an attempt to enhance the Asia-Pacific marketing of GE Industrial, one of the six business groups of GE, according to DFI. The investment comes through GE Commercial Finance, another GE business group, DFI indicated. Industrial automation solutions and products are among the various product lines of GE Industrial, DFI noted. Related to the investment, GE Fanuc, a joint venture of GE and Japan-based Fanuc, plans to negotiate in early 2007 with DFI for OEM production by the company, according to DFI.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 12:36 PM
People Just Look Funny Playing The Nintendo Wii
This YouTube clip on people playing the Nintendo Wii caught my eye today and I thought I'd share it. I believe most people have heard what the Wii gaming console, but unless you see people playing it it doesn't do justice. My thoughts on the Wii are that it is innovative, but I'd rather be doing the real thing than standing up swinging a remote around for hours on end.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 09:21 AM
DAMMIT Radeon X1650 XT Review Round-Up URL's
If you are looking for Radeon X1650 XT reviews that are out so far here is a list that will get you going. Don't get too worked up on it though as AMD said they won't be available in strong numbers for a couple more weeks.
ATI Radeon X1650XT CrossFire @ [H]ard|OCP
ATI Radeon X1650XT CrossFire @ HotHardware
ATI Radeon X1650XT CrossFire @ Legit Reviews
ATI Radeon X1650XT CrossFire @ PCPerspective
ATI Radeon X1650XT CrossFire @ Rage3D
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 09:02 AM
Sony looks for profits elsewhere to offset PS3
Sony is looking for profits in movies and consumer electronics to offset the costs related to its upcoming PlayStation 3 game console, the company said Monday. However, the world's second largest consumer electronics maker said it still plans to achieve profit margins of 5 percent next year.
However, Sony expects losses at its game unit to nearly double from its initial estimate to $1.71 billion (200 billion yen) for the fiscal year that ends in March. That's in part because it has chosen to cut the release price of a PS3 with a 20GB hard drive by 20 percent in Japan.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 06:50 AM
Asustek snatches Toshiba notebook orders from Compal
Asustek has received an order to supply Toshiba with one million notebooks, an order which before went to Compal Electronics, with shipments to commence in May 2007, according to the Chinese-language Commercial Times.
Following Inventec, which took over an order from Compal to supply Toshiba with 300,000 notebooks each month, Asustek will ship nine million notebooks in 2007, up from 5.5 million in 2006, on new orders from Toshiba and Dell along with Apple MacBook orders and own-brand shipments, the paper said.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 06:48 AM
AMD Launches the ATI Radeon X1650 XT Mainstream Graphics Card
AMD today introduced an innovative graphics card that makes use of its new native CrossFire technology, the ATI Radeon X1650 XT. With its incredible image quality features and superb performance, the ATI Radeon X1650 XT delivers enthusiast-class technology at an impressive price point. The ATI Radeon X1650 XT will hit store shelves during the week of 13 November, at an estimated street price of US$149. Be sure to check out our review of the X1650 XT here.
The ATI Radeon X1650 XT enables a breathtaking gaming experience, as the graphics card has the ability to enable High Dynamic Range effects and anti-aliasing at the same time. Sharp texture filtering captures every element and detail of each scene. ?The ATI Radeon X1650 XT redefines value at this phenomenal level of performance and features,? said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD. ?This new product simplifies the CrossFire experience by using two identical ATI Radeon X1650 XT CrossFire branded cards. Gamers can expect strong performance, flexibility and upgradeability with this new card.?
Posted by | Mon, Oct 30, 2006 - 06:44 AM
Used phones drive Third World wireless boom
With the number of cell phones in use worldwide hitting 2.5 billion and rising, recycled phones are playing a growing role in the spread of wireless communications across the developing world, where land lines can be costly or unavailable. While most used phones in this country still land in a drawer or the trash, a rising number are finding their way to places like Bolivia, Jamaica, Kenya, Ukraine or Yemen, with more than half of them coming from a company named ReCellular Inc.
Refurbished cell phones are opening doors to wireless communication in much of the developing world, where a new cell phone might otherwise be prohibitively expensive, Blumberg said. "Sometimes, you have someone in a village who has a cell phone and rents out time," he said. In the U.S., service providers offer cell phones at big discounts and make their money off service contracts or sale of minutes. In the rest of the world, customers generally pay the full retail price, then separately sign up for service.
Posted by | Sun, Oct 29, 2006 - 07:58 PM
Judge mulls if site demoted by Google was defamed
A federal judge on Friday questioned whether Google Inc. defamed a small company by cutting it from its Web search ranking system or whether Google is free to choose which sites it features.
Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California heard arguments in a lawsuit by KinderStart.com LLC that seeks to challenge the fairness of how Google calculates the relative popularity of Web sites. KinderStart, a Norwalk, Connecticut-based Web parenting site that features links to information about raising children, alleges violations of antitrust, free speech, unfair competition and defamation and libel laws in its suit.
Posted by | Sun, Oct 29, 2006 - 07:56 PM
New Take-Two Interactive Game Has Boys Kissing -- Bully
The video game maker that sparked uproar over a hidden sex scene in "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" is courting new controversy with its latest schoolyard title "Bully"--featuring boys kissing. That sexual twist came to light only after Take-Two Interactive Software released the "Teen"-rated game on Oct. 17, having weathered protests from antiviolence advocates who tried unsuccessfully to block its sale to minors.
"Bully" stars 15-year-old Jimmy Hopkins, who must navigate cliques, fights and young love at his new boarding school, along the way winning brawls, completing missions and plying girls with candy and flowers in exchange for kisses. But Jimmy can also use the same approach with boys. When Jimmy approaches a tall, blond boy with some flowers, the boy replies, "I'm hot. You're hot. Let's make out." Gay video game enthusiasts have embraced "Bully," which was was the U.S.'s third top-selling game in the week ending Oct. 27, according to figures from UBS.
Posted by | Sun, Oct 29, 2006 - 07:54 PM
Creepy Sony Play Station 3 Gaming Console Commercial Video Clip
One of our forum members pointed out that a Sony Play Stayion 3 ad has been made available on YouTube and to be honest it's just down right creepy. Sony does have a couple normal commercials that can be viewed here and here.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 27, 2006 - 08:03 AM
Microsoft has shipped 6 million Xbox 360 video game consoles
Microsoft Corp. on Thursday said it has shipped 6 million Xbox 360 video game consoles worldwide since releasing the unit about a year ago. The company is "confident" it can meet its target to ship 10 million of its next-generation game consoles by the end of 2006, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in an interview.
In July, Microsoft said it had shipped 5 million Xbox 360s. The software giant, which competes with Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. Ltd. in the video game console market, said 3.6 million units have already been sent to North America, 1.7 million went to Europe and that about 700,000 went to other regions. Sony's competing PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii will each make their debuts in November.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 27, 2006 - 07:38 AM
Sony battery emits sparks during recall pickup
A Sony-made battery used in a Fujitsu laptop computer overheated and emitted sparks, Fujitsu said Friday, amid a massive global recall involving Sony batteries. A Fujitsu worker was visiting a customer's home to retrieve the laptop as part of the company's recall of Sony batteries when it overheated and started giving off sparks, according to Fujitsu spokesman Toshiaki Koike.
Fujitsu is recalling more than 280,000 lithium-ion laptop batteries made by Sony Corp. because they pose a risk of overheating and bursting into flames. Sony officials have said the problems were caused by microscopic metal particles left inside the battery, which can cause them to short circuit.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 27, 2006 - 07:36 AM
Apple + new patent = iPhone speculation
Apple Computer Inc. won a patent for a speech-recognition technology earlier this week, fueling speculation that the iPod-maker is laying the groundwork for a future "iPhone." The patent, approved Tuesday by the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office, allows Apple to assign "meanings to spoken utterances in a speech recognition system."
he Apple-focused blog Mac News Network, which first reported the news, suggested that the patent, which was first filed in February of 2004, could be used for a future "iPhone." "We believe in six months the halo effect will expand beyond a simple iPod-to-Mac correlation into a four-way relationship with iPod, Mac, iPhone, and iTV benefiting from each other's success," Munster said in a note to clients, Reuters reported.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 27, 2006 - 07:35 AM
'Grand Theft Auto' maker loses round in lawsuit
A federal judge refused a request from Take-Two Interactive Software to immediately dismiss some claims in a lawsuit accusing it of selling "Grand Theft Auto" video games containing sexually explicit images under the wrong content label. The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, said Take-Two's alleged misconduct violated consumer protection laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since the suit was filed in July 2005, a number of cases making the same claim have been consolidated in Manhattan federal court.
Take-Two and its subsidiary, Rockstar Games, had argued in the motion to dismiss parts of the lawsuit that the plaintiffs could only file claims in the states where they resided, not in all 50 states. But U.S. District Judge Shirley Wohl Kram denied Take-Two's motion and said she would reconsider if class-action status were granted in the case.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 27, 2006 - 07:34 AM
For AMD, more money means more problems
For the past two years Advanced Micro Devices has made Intel, one of the world's most prominent companies, look bad. Better products and better timing have brought AMD significant market share and prominent new customers like Dell. But Intel is on the comeback with new processor designs better suited for the power-efficient multicore era, and it will beat AMD to the quad-core punch by using a design strategy that makes purists scoff but accountants happy.
The next six months will be tricky for AMD CEO Hector Ruiz. For starters, his company is taking a hit in the stock market after disclosing that its gross margin fell five points from the second quarter to the third, which ended last week. Part of that was due to the price war in the PC processor market, but AMD also is facing a challenge of overall demand is rising before new manufacturing technologies are completely ready.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 26, 2006 - 10:34 AM