Legit Reviews News History
Cisco Offers to Aid Gulf Coast Schools
Cisco Systems, a worldwide leader in enterprise networking technology, is donating $40 million to Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast region schools, so they can restore the equipment and Internet services they once had.
Cisco Systems and some of its executives plan to donate $40 million in cash, equipment and services to install wireless Internet access and other high-tech services in Gulf Coast schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina, the chief executive, John T. Chambers, said yesterday. Mr. Chambers, speaking at a presentation in Jackson, Miss., said the devastation left by the storm presented an opportunity to upgrade the schools and to provide a model for other districts around the country. The program might also increase the market for Cisco products, company executives said.
New York Times Technology News
Posted by | Wed, Oct 26, 2005 - 09:31 AM
Microsoft joins book search plan
In yet another move to make more information digitized, Microsoft and Open Content Alliance (OCA) are teaming up to start putting books you would normally find in a library on the web. It's not without it's problems, however, as there's been litigation against search-engine giant Google due to their intentions to carry out a similar plan, though it's been revised to the point that only a few sentences could be viewed rather than the whole book.
The software giant said it would work with the Open Content Alliance (OCA), set up by the Internet Archive, to initially put 150,000 works online. The move comes as Google faces growing legal pressure from publishers over its own global digital library plans. Microsoft said it would initially focus on works already in the public domain. This way, it hopes to avoid similar legal issues over copyright. Google said in a statement that it welcomed the move to make more information accessible to anyone online. Earlier this month, the Association of American Publishers filed a lawsuit in New York claiming Google's Print Library Project plans would infringe their copyrights. Google's project would involve digitising millions of works from Harvard, Stanford, and Michigan universities to make them searchable. Once the texts were digitised, users would not be able to download or print the whole book, but would be able to view a few sentences from each. Copyright holders have been given a deadline of 1 November if they do not want their books to be scanned.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 26, 2005 - 09:16 AM
Dell unveils new data recovery system
Planning on getting a Dell XPS 400, E310, or E510 Dimension desktop? Looking for a simple, convenient way to recover your personal files without having to set up the software and drive yourself? Dell has the solution for you, as of November anyway. As an option, by using RAID (what appears to be striping) and software designed to monitor your HDD health, Dell will be providing this on the systems listed for $99 extra. It's a good thing if you're looking for peace of mind and convenience, or for that family member who may have limited computer knowledge but still wants to recover their personal files on their own.
Dell Inc. announced an all-inclusive way Wednesday to help consumers who've accidentally deleted precious photos or lost valuable data because of a hard drive crash. Starting in November, Dell will install its "DataSafe" option on new Dimension E310 and E510 and XPS 400 desktop computers. For $99, consumers get a second, 80-gigabyte hard drive inside the computer which acts as a mirror, continually backing up data on the primary drive. Larger disk sizes are planned. While consumers could conceivably buy an extra hard drive and third-party software and do the same thing, the idea was to make it simple for consumers, spokesman Liem Nguyen said. "You don't have to mess with any widgets or gears," he said. "It's ready right out of the box." Included software will monitor the health of the drives and alert users to any problems. It also will let people restore their computer to an earlier point in time, should problems arise.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 26, 2005 - 09:05 AM
Wednesday Reviews from Around the Web
Today, [H]ardOCP asks the question, "Is Falcon Northwest still the gold standard for premium computing?" as they post the Falcon Northwest FragBox 2 Evaluation. Find this and other reviews by visiting the Legit Forums!
Without mincing words, I'd have to say that I would have returned this system for an exchange. I was extremely disappointed by the stability issues we were having in Battlefield 2, and I wasn't convinced that the combination of hardware that we received would ever work 100% together. I applaud Falcon's efforts in making it right, and I can even chalk up some of the problems to unforeseen incompatibilities, but the bottom line is that Falcon knew what we were purchasing this system for, and it didn't perform.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 26, 2005 - 08:14 AM
ATI?s Radeon X1800 XT Breaks 1 GHz Speed Barrier
Looks like ATI's X1800 XT graphics processor is very overclocker friendly as a two Finnish over-clockers broke the 1GHz mark. ATI said that once faster GDDR-4 memory arrives next year, users can expect to see the hidden potential of ATI?s innovative new memory controller design. ATI said the processor and board PCB are GDDR-4 ready, so I can't wait to see the numbers then!
An independent team of Finnish over-clockers has made world history by over-clocking a graphics processor to engine clock levels above 1 GHz. The record was set on the recently-announced Radeon® X1800 XT graphics processor from ATI Technologies. Noted Finnish over-clockers Sampsa Kurri and Ville Suvanto achieved graphics engine clocks of 1.003 GHz and a memory speed of 1.881 GHz (940.50 MHz DDR memory clock) with maximum system stability and no visual artifacts.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 26, 2005 - 08:01 AM
LG Electronics Enters the U.S. Flash Ram/USB Market
In their continuing effort to gain U.S. market share, LG USA?s IT Brand Division will be entering the Flash RAM/USB market. The transfer, storage and use of digital media is everywhere and LG is jumping into the game with RAM USB drives and RAM memory cards. It will be interesting to see how well this US $37.7 Billion company breaks into the U.S. market!
LG Electronics IT Brand Division today announced it is expanding its line-up of award-winning products by launching a line of flash RAM/USB Drives into the U.S. market. With products ranging from fashionable flash RAM USB drives to an assortment of flash RAM memory cards suitable for any digital media, LG is making it easier for users to store and transfer data across a variety of today?s popular digital devices. All LG flash RAM products come with a one-year Warranty and exceed ISO 9000 standards.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 26, 2005 - 07:53 AM
OCZ Technology Launches XTC Memory Heat Spreaders
OCZ Technology has some new patent-pending XTC (Xtreme Thermal Convection) Heatspreaders that allow increased ventilation and heat dissipation due to an innovative honeycomb design. The new design provides better air flow to the actual memory ICs. I'm starting to wonder why companies even put heat spreaders on memory modules these days. We have a thread going in the forums about the looks of these IC's.
The unique design used in the XTC heatspreaders optimizes the thermal management of memory modules by promoting greater airflow by means of micro-convection throughout what is usually the dead air space inside conventional heatspreader designs. In this manner, build-up of heat is avoided and thermal dissipation of the memory components is offloaded more efficiently through the honeycomb design. At the same time, mechanical stability is maintained. "Our goal is to get rid of the thermal load as quickly and efficiently as possible. A honeycomb perforation contour promotes the physical escape of hot air from the space in between the individual memory components, thus enhancing the performance of the high performance Gold GX series and preserving the life of the ICs and future parts to come.?
Posted by | Tue, Oct 25, 2005 - 12:25 PM
Web-based software challenges Windows
One of Microsoft's creations may just turn on them after all. Ajax, a developer of online "Office-like" applications, is knocking on Microsoft's back door with its gradual release of web-based office tools. Don't have Microsoft Office? Still need to type a letter with some form of formatting? No problem, it can all be done online with Writely word processor, one of several Ajax web apps. This can definitely bring to the home a cheap alternative to the $300-$600 Office software currently provided by Microsoft.
Such tools make computing less of a chore because they sit on distant Web servers and run over standard browsers. Users thus don't have to worry about installing software or moving data when they switch computers. And that could bode ill for Microsoft Corp. and its flagship Office suite, which packs together word processing, spreadsheets and other applications. The threat comes in large part from Ajax, a set of Web development tools that speeds up Web applications by summoning snippets of data as needed instead of pulling entire Web pages over and over. "It definitely supports a Microsoft exit strategy," said Alexei White, a product manager at Ajax developer eBusiness Applications Ltd. "I don't think it can be a full replacement, but you could provide scaled-down alternatives to most Office products that will be sufficient for some users." Ironically, Microsoft invented Ajax in the late 90s and has used it for years to power an online version of its popular Outlook e-mail program.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 25, 2005 - 11:09 AM
Legal P2P opens for business
Well, it appears the time of free P2P sharing is coming to an end quickly. iMesh, one of the largest P2P (Peer-to-Peer) file-sharing services, is going "regulated". They will start charging $6.95 a month for its file-sharing services, and while the old iMesh is still up, they will have to pay $4.1 million to record labels. We can expect more lawsuits to come for other unregulated file-sharing companies as they will all be pushed toward subscription services.
iMesh is the first of several "label approved" peer-to-peer networks hitting the market this year after long delays in their development. Mashboxx, created by former Grokster President Wayne Rosso, is also slated to go live this fall. Marco's company may provide a real test of file swappers' loyalty. In the last week alone, more than 1.5 million people have downloaded the old iMesh software, according to Download.com, a software aggregation site operated by News.com parent CNET Networks. Many of those people were seeking free access to music and video, which will be sharply curtailed under iMesh's new life as a $6.95 per month music subscription plan similar in many ways to those offered by Yahoo or Napster. "If it's trying to pull people over from the P2P world, it's an important first step," said GartnerG2 analyst Mike McGuire. "But meeting the basic bar that's been set by legitimate services like iTunes or Rhapsody is going to be a real challenge."
Posted by | Tue, Oct 25, 2005 - 10:57 AM
New Xbox processor offers powerful speeds
I believe I just found a reason to go with the Xbox 360 over the PS3: their processor is a monster! Three PowerPC engines, each can handle 2 tasks at once, and capable of over 3 GHz??? I think we already know who the winner is here, not to mention the price of the 360 is going to be one to jump on: $399.99. I can't wait to see the graphical intensity of the games for this console (I managed to catch a glimpse of the Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer, and developers say the gaming graphics aren't all that far off from the trailer, so you can expect some great titles!)
Less than a month before Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 hits store shelves, International Business Corp. revealed details of the microprocessor that powers the long-awaited video game console. The IBM-built chip features three customized PowerPC computing engines that can each handle two simultaneous tasks at clock speeds greater than 3 gigahertz. It was customized for Microsoft in less than 24 months from the original contract. "Working with IBM gave us the flexibility to design a processor to give game developers the kind of targeted power they need to make great games," said Todd Holmdahl, Microsoft vice president of Xbox hardware.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 25, 2005 - 10:44 AM
Intel Delays Itanium "Montecito" Processor Release
Looks like those waiting on Intel's new Montecito processor will have to wait a half year longer as the launch has been delayed. Looks like the entire Itanium processor family is going to get shifted down the road map after this is all done and over with.
On Monday, Scott McLaughlin, Intel spokesman, said thousands of the new Montecito processors had already been seeded out for testing with customers. However, instead of ramping the product for a full launch early next year, this had been put back to the middle of 2006 "until we are satisfied with the quality coming from Montecito." This would impact follow-on Itanium processors on Intel's road map, he said. Montvale would now appear in 2007 rather than 2006 and Tukwila would arrive in 2008 rather than 2007. Madison is the current version of Itanium and the spokesman said Montecito was still on track to provide double the performance of the present generation.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 25, 2005 - 08:48 AM
Active Forum Topics
If you haven't stopped by the forums lately you might want to stop in and take a look at the community we have going. If you are into modding then you will want to look at the thread on the PSone 5" LCD Monitor for $13 @ Kmart. If you are wanting to upgrade your system and run a PCI Express video card the thread on the $149.99 Geforce 6800 should be a good one. We also have the thread on when we took an old 17" KDS CRT monitor to the range. Don't forget to sign up for the contest of the month, which is an AOpen 1558J Notebook Chassis!!
Posted by | Tue, Oct 25, 2005 - 07:24 AM
ProMOS Blames Intel For Low DDR2 Sales
DDR2 demand is still impacted by the shortage of Intel chipsets, and the situation will be not alleviated until the first quarter of 2006, DRAM vendor ProMOS Technologies said at its investor conference. Due to slower than expected ramp-up in DDR2 demand, we expect DDR demand to stay healthy throughout the whole last quarter of this year, ProMOS vice president of sales and marketing group Ben Tseng stated.
The key to wider DDR2 adoption by the industry in the second half of 2005 could be mainstream Intel platforms based on entry-level 945 series chipsets, but these chipsets are still subject to shortage, Tseng said. Touching memory pricing trends, he noted that both OEM and spot prices suffered some erosion earlier this year, but are now stabilized. He defined current DDR2 prices as considerably lower compared to DDR.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 25, 2005 - 07:12 AM
Korea Markets Own CDMA Chip
Korea looks to get out the long shadow of Qualcomm, a U.S.-based mobile giant that retains source technologies of code division multiple access (CDMA), by developing its own modem chips. This is bad news for Qualcomm (QCOM)as they might lose a good number of chip sales.
Eonex, a venture start-up, Monday said its modem chips for CDMA2000 1X were adopted by a local handset maker, which the company asked not to specify. "This marks a turning point to challenge the 15-year dominance of Qualcomm in the CDMA modem chip market. Plus, Korea will be able to save a big chunk of money required to snap up CDMA modem chips," he added. CDMA is one of two mainstream techniques for mobile telephony services together with global standard for mobile communications (GSM).
Posted by | Tue, Oct 25, 2005 - 07:07 AM
Intel Invests $650 Million In U.S. Manufacturing Site
Intel Corporation today announced plans to invest $650 million in the company?s existing manufacturing site in New Mexico. The investment will be used to increase the capacity of the 300mm wafer fabrication facilities in Rio Rancho, N.M., called Fab 11X. It is good to see Intel pumping this kind of money into a location here in the states!
This investment is part of Intel?s strategic goal to increase manufacturing on 300mm wafers that use 90nm, 65nm and future process technologies. Intel has several fabs manufacturing with 300mm wafers today. These facilities are Fab 11X in New Mexico, D1D and D1C in Oregon and Fab 24 in Ireland. Manufacturing with 300mm wafers (about 12 inches in diameter) dramatically increases the ability to produce semiconductors at a lower cost compared with more widely used 200mm (eight-inch) wafers. The total silicon surface area of a 300mm wafer is 225 percent, or more than twice that of a 200mm wafer, and the number of printed die (individual computer chips) is increased to 240 percent. The bigger wafers lower the production cost per chip while diminishing overall use of resources.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 25, 2005 - 07:01 AM
Vending Machines Sell IPods to Go
Zoom Systems has come out with an interesting new way of selling iPods to consumers. If you're disenchanted with the retail or outlet experience, just go to the nearest airport or mall, and you'll find a vending machine- yes I said it, vending machine- that has the iPod, and right next to the digital cameras and snacks. Just remember the bring the credit or debit card, as it doesn't take cash.
You want an IPod? It's over there: just beneath the NyQuil and next to the Gatorade. Apple Computer's hot digital music players may be better associated with the company's hip Apple Stores, but in the past few months they've also popped up next to less exotic products in special vending machines built by Zoom Systems. Since spring, the San Francisco company has been selling IPods across the U.S. in "robotic product delivery systems" (don't say the words "vending machine" around Zoom Systems executives; they find the term archaic). The first IPods were sold in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and the players can now be found in "Zoom Shop" machines operating in malls, hotels and grocery stores across the country, the company said. Though Zoom Shops sell plenty of other products, including digital cameras and snacks, the IPod is the top seller, said Rick Cusick, Zoom Systems' executive vice president of merchandising. "It seems to unleash an incredible impulse opportunity," he said. "You can walk up and buy and IPod in 20 seconds."
Posted by | Mon, Oct 24, 2005 - 10:02 AM
New iPods make some add-ons yesterday's hits
Before you buy the newest version of the iPod or Nano, here's something you should know. Apple has eliminated with the top port that the older versions had, thus all of the accessories that worked with the older version of the iPod will be useless on the new ones. Though they have started releasing new accessories geared toward the new devices, such as a $29 remote that works with both the iMac and iPod, perhaps they tripped themselves up on this one in the accessory column.
William Weems had never owned an iPod, but when he saw Apple Computer's new video-playing version he decided to buy one from Apple's Web site. To complement the player, the Georgia Web designer also bought a pair of Logitech wireless headphones. Unfortunately, not all of the headphones' features work with the video iPod. That's because Apple's latest player, unlike previous iPod generations, doesn't have a small connector near the headphone jack. With both the latest iPod and the recently introduced Nano, Apple has done away with the top connector, rendering a whole slew of existing iPod accessories incompatible with the newest players. It remains unclear what impact this might have on sales of the new players. Weems debated sending back the video-capable iPod and getting an older model. He says he is leaning toward keeping the new model, but thinks many other consumers may decide to stick with the older model rather than have to buy new add-ons.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 24, 2005 - 09:56 AM
AMD Turion 64 Mobile CPU prices slashed up to 26%
Going with the "out with the old, in with the new" routine, prices on the X2, mobile Turion, mobile Sempron, desktop Sempron, and desktop Athlon 64 chips are falling. Now would be a great time to get your hands on an AMD dual-core or mobile processor, but maybe prices will drop even further the closer the holiday season comes?
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) today cut prices for its mobile Turion 64, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64 for full-size notebooks, Sempron, and mobile Sempron CPUs for desktop PCs and notebooks, with the steepest reduction in the mobile Turion 64 line, according to the price list on the company?s website.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 24, 2005 - 09:44 AM
Monday Reviews from Around the Web
Today, OverClocked inside posted a Direct comparison of 11 AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 & 939 Motherboards. Find this and many other reviews at the Legit Forums!
In order to keep the overview before the purchase of an AMD Athlon 64 Motherboard, a new comparison list of all so far on ocinside.de tested Motherboards is now online. In the overview is a summary of all results and the most important overclocking options e.g. multiplier, Vcore, etc.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 24, 2005 - 08:38 AM
Free Tech Magazines For Legit Readers
Like getting things for free? If so, take a look at our free magazines and publications! All of the publications are absolutely free to professionals who qualify. Last week we had more people sign up for BioProcess International than any other magazine. Must have some people in the Biofield reading!
Oracle Magazine contains technology strategy articles, sample code, tips, Oracle and partner news, how to articles for developers. BizTech contains actionable insights that allow CEOs and IT managers to determine if a particular implementation is right for them and identify the next steps in the process. Processor is a leading weekly trade publication for data center and IT employees and decision makers. Baseline is the only magazine for business technology executives whose jobs depend on quantifiable results from technology initiatives. Last but not least is eWeek, which is the essential technology information source for builders of e-business. If none of these fit the bill click the below link and see if any of the other publications do!
Posted by | Sun, Oct 23, 2005 - 08:44 AM
Major layoffs expected at Novell
Novell appears to have lost a lot of steam in this quarter. The server software company will be undergoing organizational restructuring (read layoffs) of about 20% of its employees after reporting poor revenue and extremely poor net income numbers.
The layoffs are expected to hit about 20 percent of the company's 5,800 employees and likely will be announced near the end of Novell's fiscal year, which ends Oct. 31, sources said. Novell is under increasing financial pressure, particularly after the company reported third-quarter results in August in which revenue dropped 5 percent to $290 million and net income dropped 91 percent to $2.1 million. The loudest call for reform came from Blum Capital Partners, which owns more than 5 percent of the company's stock. Blum has urged major changes for months, including new top management, a greater emphasis on Linux and sales of several divisions. Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Jayson Maynard also called for major changes in September, including new management.
Posted by | Sat, Oct 22, 2005 - 11:04 AM
Accidental invention could light up the future
It's amazing how a mistake or an accident can sometimes lead to a remarkable discovery. This is no exception, where a student messing around with quantum dots and a laser created a new light source. This is an amazing discovery because it will completely change how lighting is done in the future I personally believe, especially since it has a life much longer than that of a standard 60W light bulb.
When you shine a light on quantum dots or apply electricity to them, they react by producing their own light, normally a bright, vibrant color. But when Bowers shined a laser on his batch of dots, something unexpected happened. "I was surprised when a white glow covered the table," Bowers said. "The quantum dots were supposed to emit blue light, but instead they were giving off a beautiful white glow."
Posted by | Sat, Oct 22, 2005 - 10:55 AM
The world's smallest car
And you thought a clown car was small! Scientists have created a molecular "car" that is about 4 nanometers across (to put that into perspective, it's 20,000 times thinner than a human hair!). This technology may one day be useful, but for now, it's nothing more than an experiment.
Using the parts inside a single molecule, scientists have constructed the world's smallest car. It has a chassis, axles and a pivoting suspension. The wheels are buckyballs, spheres of pure carbon containing 60 atoms apiece. It'd be a real squeeze to take it for a spin, however. The whole car is no more than 4 nanometers across. That's slightly wider than a strand of DNA. A human hair is about 80,000 nanometers thick.
Posted by | Sat, Oct 22, 2005 - 10:45 AM
Budweiser and Bud Light ended Beer Pong
Anheuser-Busch has spent $500 million trying to teach people that responsible consumption of alcohol can still mean a fun night out. It turns out that Beer Pong should really be called Bud Pong and that you shouldn't be getting drunk while playing bar pong. All I can say is thank you Anheuser-Busch for making my greek life in college fun and exciting with Beer Pong. My pledge season hazing included many a game of "Bud Pong"!
The St. Louis-based brewer says it devised Bud Pong "to create an interactive experience for contemporary adults at bars and clubs, where adults must be 21 and older to participate." That sounds like a winning formula, as countless adults use bars as an excuse to interact under the influence of water. But even the best-laid plans of well-hydrated companies can end in big hangovers. Anheuser, which previously has pledged to keep beer fun and social, awoke to that unpleasant reality Tuesday. "It has come to our attention that despite our explicit guidelines, there may have been instances where this promotion was not carried out in the manner it was intended," chief flack Francine I. Katz said in a press release.
Posted by | Sat, Oct 22, 2005 - 10:04 AM
RIM ruling risks U.S. Blackberry shutdown
An appeals court denies motion to stay patent case, which could cause a service shutdown in the near future for Blackberry users. RIM and NTP reached a $450 million settlement on the dispute in March, but the deal fell apart in June. Who knows what is going to happen on this one.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied RIM's motion to suspend the case pending RIM's request for a U.S. Supreme Court review. The case goes back to 2002, when patent holding company NTP successfully sued RIM in a lower court. It won an injunction in 2003 to halt U.S. sales of the BlackBerry and shut down its service, although that ruling was stayed pending appeal.
Posted by | Sat, Oct 22, 2005 - 08:34 AM
U.S. Navy Blocks Commercial Web Mail
Citing security and viral risks, the Navy's decision discharges Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., America Online Inc. and others, from its mail. Looks like you will have to find another way to reach your loved ones. Marines have had commercial e-mail blocked since 1999 and the Army has no restrictions. Before you enlist in the military make sure you pick the branch that best suits your e-mail needs!
The Navy on Friday confirmed blocking access to commercial email services provided by Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., America Online Inc. and others, saying they posed a security risk to its networks. The decision, which went into effect this week, applied to military and civilian personnel on ships or ashore in the United States and overseas. That action was taken in order to prevent viruses or other malicious software from entering the system, which is used to carry information related to Naval operations, as well as business and administrative work.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 21, 2005 - 09:11 PM
Swedish couple names baby boy "Google"
A Swedish couple has chosen to name their first born son Google, after the well-known search engine. It was bound to happen, but come on people! Google Kai already has his own website at www.google-kai.com, which is good because with your name being Google you best be on the web.
The father, Elias Kai, says he's a "great fan" of the search engine and wanted to honor the service by naming his son after him. But Mr. Kai says he and his wife also chose the name because of the similar word googol. "[Googol] means 1 followed by 100 zeroes," stated Mr. Kai, "and I want my son to have lots of friends." Google's weblog on hearing the news said "We wish him long life and good health, and hope his schoolmates aren't too hard on him".
Posted by | Fri, Oct 21, 2005 - 08:53 PM
Thinnest (0.4nm) Carbon Nanotube Developed
A team of scientists developed the thinnest carbon nanotube ever, as slim as 0.4 nanometers in diameter. A nanometer is equal to one billionth of a meter. This is big news because it might speed up the advancement of the next-generation field emitters, precision machines, optical elements, molecular filters and artificial muscles. Imagine all the injured people that this might help.
Scientists cannot create single-walled sub-nanometer-sized nanotubes due to their instability. So Kim?s team searched for an alternative way of making them through peeling away outer layers of stable multi-walled nanotubes. Thus far, the thickness of the slimmest carbon nanotube was just over 1 nanometer. We broke through the barrier using a new idea, Kim said. Kim plans to apply for international patents on the process.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 21, 2005 - 08:40 PM
Super 'Firefox' previewed
With Web 2.0 coming out in the near future, a browser based on the popular Firefox browser, called Flock, has been released. Sporting organization tools that out-foxes (pardon the pun) that of Firefox, not to mention a blog editor, it's sure to please those who are familiar and enamored with the simplistic and efficient browsing of Firefox.
The preview, or V0.5, can do a lot of things that Fireferret can?t. It has a lot of automated controls and there is no need to move your favourite sites into folders to manage and manage them. You can also add tags to favorites at the touch of a button.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 21, 2005 - 10:01 AM
Intel chip glut may bring holiday cheer to PC buyers
Thinking about what to get that special loved one for Christmas this year? How about a computer system? This holiday season, expect to see a drop of around 10% in PC pricing due to AMD ambitious task to further increase their share in the market, as well as Intel's abundant supply of processors.
Potentially, the situation could lead to promotional prices of $199 for entry-level desktops with an Intel Celeron or AMD Sempron processor, 256MB of RAM, a hard drive with at least 40GB, and Windows Home Edition in the package. The PC would also be bundled with a 17-inch CRT display and, possibly, a printer, Duboise said. Approximately 18 percent of the desktops selling at retail at this moment are priced at less than $500 after rebate, she added.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 21, 2005 - 09:54 AM
'Zombie' ring allegedly hit 1.5 million computers
With identity theft and worries of being hacked a constant in this time, the good guys can chalk another one up. Three Dutch hackers involved in a crime ring designed to steal passwords, credit card information, and other private information via a "zombie network" have been arrested recently. Specifically, if you're an E-bay or Pay-Pal user, you may be at risk in this one as the hack was worldwide, hacking 1.5 million machines, with theft of personal information from the two previously mentioned sites. If you see an unauthorized purchase or sale under your personaly account, it would be wise to notify the site immediately.
Three suspects in a Dutch crime ring hacked 1.5 million computers worldwide, setting up a "zombie network" that secretly stole credit card and other personal data, prosecutors said Thursday.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 21, 2005 - 09:42 AM
AOpen to launch mini PC in November
For those of you familiar to this site and have recently read the review entitled AOpen's Pandora Box Makes it to the Market, you have a pretty decent background on the product and its capabilities. However, there has been a few changes, mainly in price. Slated to release November 1, the low end of the spectrum, which has a Celeron M, will start at $609 USD.
Motherboard maker AOpen will launch its AOpen mini PC on November 1, with volume shipments of the Intel mobile CPU-based desktop system to follow in mid-November, according to market sources.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 21, 2005 - 09:26 AM
Friday Reviews from Around the Web
Halloween is just around the corner! Are you thinking about a festive casemod? Check out Leecho's Creature Case Project Part 1 at MODTHEBOX.COM!
Find this and other reviews at the Legit Forums!
As an artist at an early age, I’ve always loved creating things a little out of the ordinary. Drawing was always my favorite thing to do. As I grew-up and began to explore the world of computers, I witnessed people creating works of art into their CPU boxes. Computer modding here I come, I was drawn into this new hobby instantly. I knew that with all my knowledge in the sheet metal fabrication trade (3-1/2 yrs.), airbrushing (10+ yrs.), and professional spray-painting (20+ yrs.), with this kinda background I knew I could build something unique.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 21, 2005 - 05:43 AM
H-P urges Blu-ray to focus more on consumers
In the ongoing battle by DVD format corporations to protect "intellectual property", there is a show of flexibility by one of those corporations to allow their format to be shared over a home network. The Blu-ray Corporation, whose technology aims to lock DVD information on the disk so it can't be shared or copied, was urged by one of their backers, HP, to be more flexible in their format due to the competition, HD DVD (an Intel and Microsoft-backed company) allowing the consumer to make a copy of a legally-owned DVD and store it on a home network.
Hewlett-Packard Co., a major backer of the Blu-ray high-definition DVD format, is urging that it be more consumer-friendly in a bid to forestall a lengthy and costly war with a competing standard.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 20, 2005 - 10:32 AM
Sony hopes to sell 3 million PSPs
Looks like Sony is trying to make some "change" this holiday season with its PSP handheld, projecting sales of 2.5 to 3 million units.
Sony Corp. plans to sell between 2.5 million and 3 million PlayStation Portable handheld video game devices in its first North American holiday season, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment America said.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 20, 2005 - 10:18 AM
NATO tests RFID to prevent friendly fire
Considering the US is entrenched in a war, it is good to see the point where "ground-pounding" meets technology. NATO has been testing out a variety of RFID technologies- everything from the bulky, tank-mounted and jet-mounted units, to a mere handheld unit that only requires 4 AA batteries for its power source- to greatly reduce casualties caused by "friendly fire".
Earlier this month NATO's Operation Urgent Quest exercise tested the potential of a number of combat identity systems, under battlefield conditions on Salisbury Plain in England with 800 troops, 94 combat vehicles and nine aircraft putting a number of technologies through their paces.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 20, 2005 - 10:12 AM
Crude Oil Drops Below $60 a Barrel
Oil futures plummeted Thursday, briefly going below $60 a barrel for the first time since in nearly three months. Gasoline inventories increased when they were predicted to decrease, which is one of the reasons for the oil futures price drop.
November crude fell $2.11 recently to $60.30. Unleaded gasoline was down 7 cents to $1.61 a gallon. Heating oil was off 7 cents to $1.85 a gallon, while natural gas sank 74 cents to $12.81 per million British thermal units. The Energy Information Agency said Wednesday that crude inventories rose last week by 5.55 million barrels, about twice the expected gain. Gasoline inventories defied predictions for a decline and rose by 2.9 million barrels. Distillate stocks fell by 1.9 million barrels, in line with estimates.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 20, 2005 - 09:05 AM
Is the Desktop Storage Market Going NAND Flash Based?
Samsung expects to take 20% of desktop storage market with NAND flash based drives by 2008! After hearing news of Samsung calling hard drives dead Rob Pait, director of global consumer electronics, said ?I think they [Samsung] were being completely irresponsible, extremely short-sighted and simply weren?t telling the truth.? Looks like a new battle is growing in the desktop storage market.
Samsung estimates that the 8Gbit and 16Gbit NAND flash market should grow by 2.5 times in 2006 and the company will migrate 70nm single level cell (SLC) production for 8Gbit and 16Gbit flash chips to multi level cell (MLC) production in 2006. In 2007, Samsung will produce 16Gbit flash on MLC on 55nm node, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News report. Samsung stated that with global desktop PC demand reaching 100 million units, the company aims to grab 20% of the related storage market with its NAND flash drives. Samsung will boost the density of flash by 3-4 fold over the coming years in order to fulfill the goal and the company plans to debut 32GB NAND flash based HDDs for the desktop PC market.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 20, 2005 - 09:00 AM
Convertibles: The new laptop bling?
A laptop that has a screen that can flip around 180 degrees and be used as a Tablet PC? Not only is it possible, it's an inevitability, and will become more commonly known by 2008. Sales of these "convertible" laptops are projected to skyrocket 708%, from 1.2 million units this year to around 9.7 million by 2008.
With manufacturing prices dropping and Microsoft touting tablet PCs, shipments of the products are expected to hit 9.7 million units by 2008. That's up 708 percent from the 1.2 million units expected to ship this year, according to a forecast by market researchers at IDC. Convertible notebooks are expected to make up the majority of those shipments, IDC said.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 19, 2005 - 09:41 AM
Video game makers sue to overturn Calif. ban
Here's yet another story involving GTA: San Andreas and the "hidden material" found therein . Two trade groups representing video game makers are suing over a law California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law recently banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.
The Video Software Dealers Association and Entertainment Software Association contend the law is unconstitutional and violates First Amendment free speech rights, according to the suit filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose. The suit names Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed the bill earlier this month, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and other local officials.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 19, 2005 - 09:32 AM
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