Legit Reviews News History

Apple Co-Founder Spotted In Line For iPhone

Now, I'm really not sure why, but Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak joined the queue to wait to buy his own iPhone. Woz says Steve Jobs would have sent him an iPhone if he wished, but it wouldn't arrive until Saturday. That wasn't good enough for Woz, so he did what many around the country did - he got in line to get his on the first day.

Steve Wozniak arrived at the Apple store at Valley Fair Mall in San Jose at 4 a.m. to begin the wait wearing a button that read, "The line starts here. Woz #1."

San Francisco Chronicle

Posted by | Sat, Jun 30, 2007 - 11:55 PM

Western Digital to Acquire Komag for $1 Billion

Western Digital Corporation and Komag Incorporated announced yesterday that the two companies have entered into a definitive agreement for WD to acquire Komag for $32.25 in cash per share for a value of approximately $1 billion. The acquisition of Komag, a leading media manufacturer, will further strengthen WD's position as a highly-efficient hard drive maker by integrating media, one of the critical technology components of a hard drive.

"This acquisition is a significant step in the evolution and differentiation of WD as a leader in the worldwide hard drive industry," said John Coyne, WD President and Chief Executive Officer. "Following the successful integration of the Read-Rite head assets since 2003, we are very excited by the opportunity to drive incremental profitability and efficiencies in the WD business model through the full integration of Komag's media operation. This acquisition will enable WD to optimize synergies through the integration of heads and media, secure our long-term supply of media, and sharpen our ability to deliver high quality, highly reliable and cost-effective products to our customers. We believe that Komag's highly-skilled employees, an industry-leading position with perpendicular magnetic recording media, and its operational excellence will further strengthen WD's competitive position. Together, we have the right team to deliver on WD's strategy to achieve profitable growth."

Legit Forums

Posted by | Fri, Jun 29, 2007 - 03:11 PM

AMD to Ship First Native x86 Quad-Core Processors In August

AMD announced today that Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, code-named "Barcelona," are planned for shipment in both standard and low power versions at launch later this summer. This would be the first time AMD has made both standard and low power parts immediately available as part of a new processor launch.

With planned availability at launch in a range of frequencies up to 2.0 Ghz, AMD expects its native quad-core processors to scale to higher frequencies in Q407 in both standard and SE (Special Edition) versions. Designed to operate within the same thermal envelopes as current generation AMD Opteron processors, AMD estimates that the new processors can provide a performance increase up to 70 percent on certain database applications and up to 40 percent on certain floating point applications, with subsequent higher frequency processors expected to significantly add to this performance advantage.

Legit Forums

Posted by | Fri, Jun 29, 2007 - 08:13 AM

Dell introduces new mobile PCs for mobility and performance

Dell has introduced two new portable systems – the ultra-mobile Latitude D430 notebook and Dell Precision M4300 mobile workstation. I love my 12.1" notebook and use it for traveling all the time!

The 12-inch widescreen Latitude D430, starting at three pounds, is designed for customers who want mobility that fits their on-the-go lifestyle, yet still provides performance, productivity and all-day computing, said Dell. The system is available with the option of Intel Core 2 Duo processors and extended batteries. In addition an optional solid state drive can improve Latitude D430 performance up to 23% and can reduce boot time by up to 34%, the company claimed.

DigiTimes Daily IT News

Posted by | Fri, Jun 29, 2007 - 08:11 AM

Forums Down For Updating

I just wanted to let our community know that the forums will be down tonight for a few hours while we migrate from PHPBB2 to PHPBB3. This move has been planned for a number of years and it's finally happening tonight. We will for sure have a few formatting glitches with the CSS and layout that we will fix on the fly after PHPBB3 is installed and our current database is converted over. This forum update is proudly sponsored by Corona Beer and was done on a Dell M1710 notebook with a Razer mouse pad cooled by a Thermaltake iXoft cooling pad... Remember to have a designated coder!

Posted by | Thu, Jun 28, 2007 - 08:03 PM

June 26th through 28th News From Around the Web

News From Around the Web

"The design team that created this case did an amazing job at making it look good. The cooling in the case would be more than adequate if a blowhole and side panel fans had been included. The all aluminum finish really does stand out but its not enough to warrant the price tag. At an expected price of close to 300 Euro this case could use a lot of work before I would even consider recommending it. No one will want to spend this much on a case only to have to purchase fans and cut a blowhole in it so its safe to use."

Legit Forums

Posted by | Thu, Jun 28, 2007 - 05:32 PM

AMD Launches ATI Radeon HD 2600 and HD 2400 Video Cards

AMD today announced the arrival of the ATI Radeon HD 2600 and ATI Radeon HD 2400 series, the mid-range and entry-level graphics processors in the ATI Radeon HD 2000 series. These next-generation graphics processing units (GPU) bring premium support for Windows Vista with feature-rich DirectX 10 graphics, and built-in multimedia functions for an immersive HD video experience on the PC. Ranging from USD $89-$149 (SEP) for the ATI Radeon HD 2600 series and USD $50-$85 (SEP) for the ATI Radeon HD 2400 series.

“The ATI Radeon HD 2600 and ATI Radeon HD 2400 series drive high definition innovation to the mainstream with an incredible price and performance proposition,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president, AMD Graphics Products Group. “With the launch of these new products, AMD is broadening the reach of The Ultimate Visual Experience™ by putting next-generation, DirectX® 10 discrete graphics technology within reach for more users than ever before.”

Legit Forums

Posted by | Thu, Jun 28, 2007 - 09:17 AM

U.S. Economy Expands at Slowest Pace in Four Years

The U.S. economy expanded at an annual pace of 0.7 percent in the first quarter, the slowest in four years, and a gauge of inflation watched by the Federal Reserve was unexpectedly revised up.

The increase in gross domestic product compares with the 0.6 percent rate estimated last month and follows a 2.5 percent gain the last three months of 2006, according to a report from the Commerce Department issued today in Washington. The price measure rose at the fastest since the second quarter of 2006. Last quarter was probably the low point for growth as the trade deficit narrows and businesses boost spending and rebuild inventories, economists said. The increase in prices suggests Fed policy makers, meeting today, will hold interest rates unchanged for months to come.

Bloomberg

Posted by | Thu, Jun 28, 2007 - 09:13 AM

Intel's venture capital arm getting aggressive

Intel Capital invested in more U.S. deals last year than several local VC heavyweights, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital. Once a back-seat investor that let others "lead," or structure deals, Intel Capital is displaying a new aggressiveness.

The changing focus is already apparent. In 2006, Sodhani's first full year as the organization's president, Intel Capital invested $1.07 billion in start-ups, a leap from the $265 million it spent a year earlier. That represented the largest sum it had doled out since the height of the dot-com bubble in 2000. While the total included an exceptionally large $600 million investment in Clearwire, a wireless service provider, it was still up 77 percent without the deal.

SiliconValley.com

Posted by | Thu, Jun 28, 2007 - 09:12 AM

One iPhone per person at AT&T stores

If you're planning to stand in line for an iPhone at an AT&T store, or if you're already there, understand that you can only buy one of those babies this weekend.

AppleInsider received an e-mail from AT&T informing potential customers that it's one-and-done for iPhone purchases starting this Friday at 6 p.m., at least at the onset. Apple is also expected to limit purchases, but the company hasn't said how many devices you'll be allowed to take home. Neither company's Web site appears to have that info at the moment.

CNET News

Posted by | Thu, Jun 28, 2007 - 09:10 AM

AMD Preps for Barcelona Server Processor Launch

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is getting ready to launch Barcelona, its first quad-core server chip. A successful Barcelona launch, expected to happen during the third quarter, is critical for AMD, which has seen its share of the server market battered in recent quarters by Intel. Those market-share losses came with a heavy price, dragging AMD's finances into the red. In April, the company announced a $611 million loss, largely attributed to tougher competition and a price war with Intel.

Barcelona is not just a quad-core chip, it's more than quad core. We've made fundamental, significant changes to the architecture as part of the chip. We looked at the overall design, at the cache and the pipelines, so it's a lot more than just taking two dual-core chips and saying it's quad core. It's a true, native quad-core design with enhancements at the processor level.

InfoWorld

Posted by | Thu, Jun 28, 2007 - 09:09 AM

Apple iPhone accessory market set for slow start

Owners of Apple Inc.'s iPod love to trick out the music players with cases, speakers and other accessories and its upcoming wireless iPhone promises to be no different. But the iPhone accessory market looks like it will get off to a slow start when the device goes on sale this Friday due to the tight grip Apple kept to prevent information leaking to the market about its most anticipated product in years.

"Apart from measurement purposes, developers haven't been given access to the iPhone. Nobody's really been able to test it electronically with anything," said Jeremy Horwitz, editor- in-chief of iLounge, a top Apple news Web site. "The reality is that they want to have a tighter grip on accessories this go around."

Reuters Technology News

Posted by | Thu, Jun 28, 2007 - 09:06 AM

Intel Tigerton processors aim for September

The Intel's 4-way server processor Tigerton has been scheduled to launch at the beginning of September this year, according to sources at server makers. Tigerton will launch in dual-core and quad-core versions. The company will launch two dual-core versions with prices of US$1,177 and US$856 for 1000-unit tray quantities, while there will be six quad-core versions with prices ranging from US$856-2,301, noted the sources.

In the first quarter, Tulsa was planned to take up 85% of the production ratio for 4-way server processors, rising to more than 97% in the second. However, when Tigerton is released in the third quarter, Tulsa will scale back to take up 85% with Tigerton accounting for the other 15%. In the fourth quarter, Tulsa will be demoted further taking 45% while Tigerton becomes the leading processor with 55%, according to previous reports.

DigiTimes Daily IT News

Posted by | Thu, Jun 28, 2007 - 09:05 AM

PC Power & Cooling Launches Silencer 750 Quad CrossFire Edition Power Supply

OCZ Technology Group today announced the release of the Silencer 750 Quad CrossFire Edition under the PC Power & Cooling line. Designed to offer consumers a combination of legendary PSU architecture and the ultimate in quiet power management, the CrossFire Silencer is the ideal power solution for gamers and ATI enthusiasts. The "fiery red" exterior of this special edition PSU is the perfect compliment to any CrossFire-based high performance graphics system or gaming PC.

Delivering 750 Watts of continuous power, all Silencer 750 Quad high-efficiency power supplies offer the industry's most powerful single rail design on the market; and if noise is a concern, the Silencer 750 Quad series is engineered to be the quietest PSU available, with up to 90% (10dB) less noise per watt. Expertly designed by PC Power & Cooling engineers, the powerful Silencer 750 Quad CrossFire Edition remains virtually silent even at peak loads.

Legit Forums

Posted by | Wed, Jun 27, 2007 - 09:18 AM

Apple gives cost of iPhone service - $1400 to $2400

Apple Inc. said on Tuesday its hotly anticipated iPhone could cost as much as $3,000 with a required two-year service contract, but a handful of eager fans still lined up early to spend their money.

Buyers of the iPhone must commit to a two-year contract with AT&T. The device combines a wireless phone, music, video and Web browsing, and will be sold exclusively through AT&T for at least two years. While that is consistent with other AT&T wireless plans, it adds $1,400 to $2,400 to the cost of what many say is already a steeply priced $500-to-$600 gadget. "Given the additional features embedded in the iPhone, we believe the pricing is attractive," UBS analyst John Hodulik said in a note to clients. He said the service costs were competitive when compared to similar plans from rivals like Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

Reuters Technology News

Posted by | Wed, Jun 27, 2007 - 08:44 AM

Asustek launches ahead of iPhone

Taiwanese electronics maker Asustek Computer launched a Windows Mobile 6 smartphone with a touch-sensitive screen on Wednesday, just days ahead of the launch of Apple's iPhone.

Asustek's new handset, the ASUS P526, wasn't meant to be an iPhone rival, nor is the timing auspicious, being so close to the launch of the iPhone, the year's hottest product. Development on the device started a year ago, and Asustek has simply followed its own timeline, according to Sannie Lee, a spokesperson at Asustek, talking to the press on the sidelines of Asustek's news conference in Taipei.

InfoWorld

Posted by | Wed, Jun 27, 2007 - 08:41 AM

Intel G35 chipsets will not support DirectX 10 until 2008

Intel's IGP (integrated graphics processor) chipset G35, which is scheduled to launch in third quarter this year will not support DirectX 10 until 2008, according to sources at motherboard makers.

Intel's G35 chipset was originally planned to support DirectX 10 at launch time, but due to the delay of a DirectX 10 driver, Intel currently schedules to launch the alpha version DirectX 10 driver in fourth quarter of 2007 and will launch the final version in first quarter of 2008 if the process goes well, noted the sources.

DigiTimes Daily IT News

Posted by | Wed, Jun 27, 2007 - 08:40 AM

T-Mobile says hello to Wi-Fi calling service

T-Mobile USA, the No. 4 U.S. mobile service, said on Wednesday that it is starting to offer customers a new service that uses short-range Wi-Fi networks to improve reception when needed.

Subscribers would pay an extra fee of up to $19.99 per line of service or $29.99 for five lines on top of regular monthly cellular bills for unlimited calls in a subscriber's home or the nearly 8,500 places T-Mobile runs Wi-Fi, like Starbucks coffee shops.

CNET News

Posted by | Wed, Jun 27, 2007 - 08:39 AM

VIA Introduces Dual-LAN, Dual-LVDS Mini-ITX Mainboard

VIA Technologies today announced the VIA EPIA LT-Series Mini-ITX mainboard based on the VIA CX700 system media processor. Powered by the highly efficient 1.5GHz or fanless 1.0GHz VIA C7 processor, the VIA EPIA LT has a maximum operating power consumption of less than 20 watts.

Boasting VIA’s market-leading ultra low power consumption VIA C7 processors at 1.5GHz and fanless 1GHz, the VIA EPIA LT-Series platform provides exceptional performance per watt and a feature set that creates high standards in connectivity. Supporting up to 1GB of 533MHz DDR2 memory, the VIA CX700 drives a plethora of connection options including dual LVDS support and two 10/100 fast Ethernet modules, with a Gigabit option, 2 SATA connectors and up to 6 USB2.0 ports.

Legit Forums

Posted by | Tue, Jun 26, 2007 - 07:58 AM

IBM to show its new fastest supercomputer today - BlueGene/P

IBM said it developed a system that can reach the latest holy grail of supercomputing - it has designed a supercomputer that can surpass a sustained performance of one quadrillion operations per second, also known as a petaflop. The new supercomputer, called BlueGene/P, is expected to be introduced today at the International Supercomputing Conference in Dresden, Germany

IBM said it has received an order from Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Ill., which will deploy the first BlueGene/P later this year. IBM also said the Max Planck Society and Forschungszentrum Julich plan to install BlueGene/P systems in late 2007. Forschungszentrum Julich researchers in Germany will use the system in areas such as particle physics and nanotechnology.

SiliconValley.com

Posted by | Tue, Jun 26, 2007 - 07:42 AM

NEXT