Legit Reviews News History
Awesome Crysis Video On YouTube
If you are a dedicated PC gamer then you already know all about Crysis, but have you seen the latest video on the upcoming DX10 game title? If you haven't be sure to check out this clip that has been uploaded to YouTube as it is well worth the watch!
Posted by | Thu, Oct 26, 2006 - 07:52 AM | Comments
Ubuntu 6.10 Has Been Released for Download
Canonical Ltd, the commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, the world?s fastest growing Linux distribution, today announced its latest desktop and server version. Following months of development and user feedback, Ubuntu 6.10 offers a cleaner, sharper design, together with new and enhanced desktop applications and advances in security. Significantly faster boot up times and the best in leading edge free software technologies make the latest Ubuntu the first choice for many new and existing Linux users.
"With Ubuntu 6.10, we've made improvements across the board, both on the desktop where they're a visible part of the user experience, and in the underlying infrastructure where they improve performance and reliability for servers and desktops. The result is a system which is easier to use, faster, and more robust than ever. A great release in its own right, it will also be a solid base on which to build the next generation of Ubuntu features," said Matt Zimmerman, Ubuntu CTO. The Ubuntu server edition builds on the functionality from the previous release simplifying common Linux server deployment processes. It also includes a pre-release of the upcoming LTSP-5 (Linux Terminal Server Project). LTSP-5 offers clients a lower TCO (total cost of ownership), simpler installation and easier maintenance than typical IT deployments. With all data stored on the server, administrators have substantially eliminated the cost of updating individual workstations to ensure their security.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 26, 2006 - 07:48 AM | Comments
'Tower of Babel' translator made
Scientists at The Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are developing a rival to 'Bable fish', an online translator. Their invention will not be web based, but will translate spoken word. The days of Star Trek and the 'Universal Translator' may soon be upon us! The BBC have details, linked below and there is more details over on New Scientist.com
The translation systems that are currently in use work by using voice recognition software. But this requires people to speak out loud and then wait for the translation to be read out, making conversations difficult. But the new device, being created by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, is different. Electrodes are attached to the neck and face to detect the movements that occur as the person silently mouths words and phrases. Using this data, a computer can work out the sounds being formed and then build these sounds up into words. The system is then able to translate the words into another language which is read out by a synthetic voice... The team currently has two prototypes: one that can translate Chinese into English and another that can translate English into Spanish or German.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 26, 2006 - 05:42 AM | Comments
NVIDIA and TSMC Celebrate Milestone: 500 Million Processors
NVIDIA Corporation and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Inc. today celebrated the shipment of the 500 millionth processor designed by NVIDIA and manufactured by TSMC. These processors--which include NVIDIA GeForce GPUs (graphics processing units) and NVIDIA nForce MCPs (media and communications processors)--were created on 2.6 million eight-inch equivalent wafers.
NVIDIA and TSMC began high-volume production in 1998 when NVIDIA was developing processors on the 0.35 micron technology node. Today, NVIDIA leverages TSMC's process technology leadership and is producing processors on the 65nm node in state-of-the-art 300mm fabs. "Graphics processors are having an increasingly profound effect on society in computing, consumer electronics, mobile devices, and automobiles. The GPU has become one of the largest semiconductor market segments and has made NVIDIA one of the fastest growing technology companies in history," commented Dr. Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research, a market research and consulting company specializing in graphics, multimedia and consumer electronics.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 25, 2006 - 06:31 AM | Comments
Microsoft to start Vista coupon plan for PC buyers
Microsoft Corp. this week will begin a coupon program for personal computer buyers to upgrade to the new Vista operating system when it premiers next year in an effort to avoid a drop-off in PC sales over the holidays and ahead of the software's release.
The program allows customers who buy a PC running Windows XP to still be able to upgrade to Windows Vista when the new operating system becomes available in early 2007. A similar program is in place for Office 2007, also due out early next year to consumers. Most large PC manufacturers, including industry leaders Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. will participate in the upgrade program, although upgrade offers may vary depending on the company.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 25, 2006 - 06:27 AM | Comments
A-Data confident about Vista impact on DRAM and NAND flash
After posting a confident outlook for the memory market this quarter, A-Data Technology again stressed the positive impact that new Microsoft's Windows Vista operation system (OS) will bring to the memory business. Company chairman Simon Chen anticipates influence of Vista to emerge from 2007 and bring a 20-30% growth for DRAM per year. Vista-ready systems require a minimum of 1GB of bundled, up from 600-700MB for mainstream systems, which are not Vista-ready, he detailed.
Chen expects Vista to provide two "good years" for the DRAM industry in 2007-2008, although the cost of DRAM content per box should not exceed 10%, according to a Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) report. He reiterated that recent DRAM price correction is reasonable. The NAND flash market is also expected to enjoy the benefits brought by Vista, Chen noted. With the Windows ReadyBoost feature that appears in Vista as a way to increase the available memory for the OS in the form of a special cache, another wave of demand for USB flash disks will likely be spurred, he said.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 25, 2006 - 06:26 AM | Comments
AMD Completes ATI Acquisition - DAAMIT Formed
AMD today announced the completion of its approximately $5.4 billion acquisition of ATI Technologies Inc. Combining the complementary strengths of the two technology leaders, the new AMD opens for business as a processing powerhouse committed to driving innovation, choice and growth in the technology industry. With approximately 15,000 employees, the company merges AMD?s technology leadership in microprocessors together with ATI?s leadership in graphics, chipsets and consumer electronics.
?Today marks a historic day for our employees, our partners and our customers as we officially welcome ATI into the AMD family,? said AMD Chairman and CEO Hector Ruiz. ?On day one, we are delivering a winning set of complementary technologies, igniting a new level of innovation and continuing to champion choice for the industry. Thanks to the strength of our talented employees, the new AMD now has a full range of intellectual property (IP) in microprocessors, graphics, chipsets and consumer electronics to deliver open platforms and integrated solutions. In the near term, customers gain a new level of choice, and in the long term, we believe the possibilities for innovation are truly limitless.?
Posted by | Wed, Oct 25, 2006 - 06:25 AM | Comments
D-LINK Now Shipping 200Mbps Powerline Network Kit
D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumer and business, today announced availability of its fast 200Mbps PowerLine Network Kit that enables consumers to tap into existing electrical wiring to extend their home network. This is pretty cool stuff, but $220 for the PowerLine Network Kit (DHP-301) seems a bit high if you ask me.
Network-enabled devices can easily be added to a home network using the new D-Link PowerLine Network Kit (DHP-301), which contains two PowerLine adapters, Ethernet cabling and an easy-to-follow installation disk. No new cables or wires are needed since the kit adapters take advantage of ordinary AC power and ever-present wall sockets for transferring data. "Our PowerLine networking solution makes it even easier for consumers to enjoy the benefits of a true digital home designed for high-definition media streaming, online gaming and other next-generation applications," said AJ Wang, chief technical officer for D-Link "The technology is fast, extremely easy-to-use, and is a natural complement to our popular wired and wireless home networking for moving data into areas of a home where it may be difficult to run a cable or achieve a strong wireless signal."
Posted by | Tue, Oct 24, 2006 - 08:37 AM | Comments
MacBook Pro laptops upgraded with Core 2 Duo
Apple Computer has revved up its MacBook Pro notebooks with Intel Core 2 Duo processors, double the memory and a faster FireWire peripheral connection. Unlike some of Apple's computer announcements--like last month's unveiling of Core 2 Duo-equipped iMac desktops--the new MacBook Pros look just like their predecessors. The high-end laptops, geared toward business and creative professionals, are still available in 15-inch and 17-inch models in the familiar brushed aluminum.
With the souped-up chips, Apple estimates that the 2.33GHz dual-core model is up to 39 percent speedier than the previous the MacBook Pro with 2.16GHz Intel single-core processors--and seven times faster than the older PowerBook G4 laptops with 1.67GHz IBM PowerPC processors. In addition, a new FireWire 800 port now complements the existing FireWire 400 port so that MacBook Pro users can connect to higher-end peripheral devices.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 24, 2006 - 08:08 AM | Comments
Nvidia CEO in Taiwan to secure TSMC capacity for DirectX 10-compliant GeForce 8800
Nvidia CEO Huang Jen-hsun is in Taiwan to make sure that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will have sufficient capacity for the production of Nvidia's GeForce 8800 (codenamed G80), reportedly the world's first graphics chip that supports DirectX 10, according to sources with Taiwan's graphics card makers.
With GeForce 8800 expected to be unveiled in November, Huang wanted to make sure that production of the graphics chip will not be affected by competitor ATI's bookings for TSMC's 80nm capacity, the sources claimed. About 90% of Nvidia's production is outsourced to TSMC, the sources indicated. Huang is eager to get a head start on the G80 because ATI's DirectX 10-compliant R600 may not hit the market until the first quarter of 2007, the sources said. The G80 stands a good chance of seeing strong demand in the high-end graphics-chip markets during the Christmas shopping season, the sources added.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 24, 2006 - 08:06 AM | Comments
Google offers personal searches
BBC News have announced the release of Google's new custom search engine. Users can create a customised search engine on their own site. They will have the option to use Google's "Adsense" program in their results, or not if they wish. If you wish to include the Adsense tool in your custom search engine you can recieve a portion of Google's profit gained from users clicking on these adverts. A link to Google's new venture can be found Here.
Google Custom Search Engine, as the tool is known, allows users to choose which webpages to search. Users can also customise the look of results, how web content is prioritised or add paying adverts to the results.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 24, 2006 - 04:21 AM | Comments
$100 laptops to debut in Q2, 2007
The $100 laptop PC at the heart of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative aimed at school children in developing countries will start rolling off production lines in the second quarter of next year. Taiwan's Quanta Computer, the largest contract notebook PC manufacturer in the world, was tapped by the OLPC project to produce the low-cost devices, and says it's gearing up to play its part.
The $100 machine will run the Linux OS on a 500MHz microprocessor from Advanced Micro Devices, will be wireless broadband-ready, and contain 128MB of DRAM and 500MB of flash memory for storage. The only major component missing will be a big hard disk, according to the group. The group believes that mass producing the laptops in very large numbers will keep costs down. The group had said it would not begin production until 5 million to 10 million of the laptop PCs had been paid for in advance.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 23, 2006 - 08:22 AM | Comments
Hardware Reviews From Our Affiliates
Today Legit Reviews took a look at the Vigor Gaming Monsoon II Active TEC CPU Cooling System and found that it cools better than air, but also that it has limitations. HardOCP also reviewed something from Vigor Gaming today as they ordered its midrange Force Recon L2 system to see what the company is capable of. As it turns out, they were pleasantly surprised, but not totally impressed. Be sure to click the link below to see the rest of our affiliate reviews.
"This is a system that delivers on its 'gaming' promise without ever really exceeding our expectations, but never falling too short of them either. It's essentially - a you get what you pay for machine, in that there's no extravagant goodies included, no exceptional internal wiring, but instead a very solid machine that does what it's supposed to do without any hassles or problems."
Posted by | Mon, Oct 23, 2006 - 08:16 AM | Comments
Will 2007 be a bad year for flash memory manufacturers??
If SanDisk's stock price is of any indication, 2007 is going to be a bad year for flash memory manufacturers. On Friday, SanDisk shares took a nosedive, dropping roughly 20% in afternoon trading following its third-quarter earnings announcement. Once the market opened today shares of SanDisk continued to move south and is trading down $0.78 (1.60%) this this morning.
SanDisk expects a pricing decline of 15% to 20% in the fourth quarter. Some analysts have expressed concern that the market for NAND flash memory, which can store data without access to power and is used in devices like MP3 players and cell phones, will be oversupplied. "Pricing turned out to be worse than expected and while management and the company did a good job in terms of execution and lowering their cost structure?folks were hoping for gross margin improvement and potentially a substantial lift in margins in the fourth quarter.
Posted by | Mon, Oct 23, 2006 - 07:08 AM | Comments
The Apple iPod Turns 5 Years Old on Monday
Apple's iPod celebrates its fifth birthday Monday, marking a milestone for the music player that not only reinvigorated the "other" computer maker but revolutionized the way people buy and listen to music. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the first iPod on Oct. 23, 2001, he said: "With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again."
iPod sales are still growing - shipments rose to 8.73 million in the latest quarter, up 35 percent from a year earlier- even though there's some serious competition out there now for the world's most popular digital music player. Sales of iPods have helped fuel sales of its Mac computers, and analysts say the company is now more of a contender in the race against personal computer makers like Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
Posted by | Sun, Oct 22, 2006 - 07:15 PM | Comments
Judge won't suspend Spamhaus Project URL
A federal judge presiding over a spam dispute rejected a marketing company's request to suspend the domain name of an anti-spam group that ignored an $11.7 million judgment against it. I think it's great that The Spamhaus Project is taking a stand, but I hope they don't get nailed for it. I just tried to visit www.spamhaus.org and it was down, so maybe something did happen to the URL over the weekend.
U.S. District Court Judge Charles P. Kocoras denied a proposed motion from e360 Insight, which sued the Spamhaus Project over its "black list" of spammers. Wheeling, Ill.-based e360 Insight contends it is improperly on the list because it is a direct marketer that does not send unsolicited e-mail. The Spamhaus Project did not bother defending itself and refused to recognize Kocoras' $11.7 million judgment against it, saying the court had no jurisdiction over the U.K.-based group. So e360 Insight asked that the judge order the spamhaus.org domain suspended.
Posted by | Sun, Oct 22, 2006 - 07:11 PM | Comments
South Korea Web cafes take hit from video gambling
When a South Korean police squad cracked down on illegal computer gambling, they did it by literally smashing hard disc drives with hammers. It took more than a dozen men and an excavator to destroy 670 computers seized from illegal Internet gambling salons in the southern city of Ulsan.
Just a few years ago, the cafes known as PC baangs were full of teenage boys slaying virtual beasts in the virtual universe of multiplayer online games, standing next to grown-ups staring intently at Asian checker screens, contemplating their next move. Now the industry faces a formidable competitor -- adults-only video casino bars, which are thriving across the country, where gambling is mostly illegal.
Posted by | Sun, Oct 22, 2006 - 07:07 PM | Comments
YouTube's no friend to copyright violators - You're Responsible For Uploads
People posting copyright material on YouTube shouldn't be surprised if the company makes no effort to protect them in a copyright battle. The video-sharing site may hand over information on those who post video clips of movies and TV shows if they're accused of copyright infringement, something perhaps not well known by those who do so.
That YouTube will not cover up for accused lawbreakers shouldn't come as a surprise. The company has consistently said that it will obey the law and that it doesn't want copyright material on its site. That message is spelled out in YouTube's user agreement, as well as in a computer prompt that appears before a person uploads a clip. The company also says it removes clips once notified of a copyright violation. But YouTube owes much of its early fame to the unauthorized posting of movie and TV show clips.
Posted by | Sun, Oct 22, 2006 - 07:04 PM | Comments
Navy SEAL falls on grenade to save comrades
A Navy SEAL sacrificed his life to save his comrades by throwing himself on top of a grenade Iraqi insurgents tossed into their sniper hideout, fellow members of the elite force said. Monsoor, a 25-year-old gunner, was killed in the explosion in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. He was only the second SEAL to die in Iraq since the war began. It's acts of honor and courage like this that often go overlooked. Hats off to Muchael Monsoor who had earlier demonstrated courage under fire in unreleated events. He has been posthumously awarded the Silver Star for saving another SEAL that was wounded in battle.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor had been near the only door to the rooftop structure Sept. 29 when the grenade hit him in the chest and bounced to the floor, said four SEALs who spoke to The Associated Press this week on condition of anonymity because their work requires their identities to remain secret. ?He never took his eye off the grenade, his only movement was down toward it,? said a 28-year-old lieutenant who sustained shrapnel wounds to both legs that day. ?He undoubtedly saved mine and the other SEALs? lives, and we owe him.?
Posted by | Fri, Oct 20, 2006 - 01:32 PM | Comments
Microsoft Vista security talks off to bad start - Bad URL Sent!
Security vendors looking to gain insight into Microsoft's plans for opening up the Vista operating system kernel were frustrated Thursday morning when a technical glitch kept many from joining the first online discussion of this issue. "Oops," wrote Microsoft Senior Product Manager Stephen Toulouse in a blog posting on the subject. "We had a glitch where we sent out a messed up link. ... We're very sorry about that, it certainly was not intentional and we definitely see that was not a good thing for people to experience on such an important topic."
Microsoft set up the meeting to talk about how it plans to give security vendors access to Vista's kernel on 64-bit systems. This has been a contentious issue, as Microsoft had initially planned to lock software vendors such as Symantec and McAfee out of the kernel, claiming that this would make Vista more secure. The security vendors said this would harm their products, and Microsoft finally capitulated, after first being warned by European Union regulators. Microsoft rescheduled its Thursday morning Web conference after it realized it had sent out a bad LiveMeeting link to participants, but in the end some security vendors were shut out of the meeting.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 20, 2006 - 07:06 AM | Comments
Lunar lander prototype passes test - Armadillo Flies!
After months of deliberation and a crucial flight test, the Federal Aviation Administration cleared Armadillo Aerospace on Thursday to compete for a share of the $2 million Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. The rocket-powered, remote-control Quad lander did what it was supposed to do during a test at Las Cruces International Airport: It blasted off, moved over in the air and touched down without hurting anybody.
Armadillo stands to win a first prize of $350,000 from NASA if the Quad can rise to a height of 50 meters (164 feet), hover for at least 90 seconds, set down on a landing pad 100 meters (328 feet) away from its starting point, and retrace the route back to the start after refueling. A million-dollar prize is being offered for an even more ambitious feat, involving a hover time of 180 seconds and a more rugged landing pad, but it's not clear whether anyone has a chance of reaching that goal this year. Any unwon prize money ? including the money that was set aside for any second-place finishers ? will be saved up for next year's Lunar Lander Challenge.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 20, 2006 - 07:04 AM | Comments
Sony gives PlayStation 3 online service details
deo game console leader Sony Corp. on Thursday demonstrated the online service for its upcoming PlayStation 3, which will let players compete and chat online and download games, music and movies. Gamers have long been clamoring for details about the online system for Sony's much-anticipated PS3 console.
The PlayStation Network, as the service will be called, uses a navigation system already available on Sony's hand held game player, the PlayStation Portable (PSP), Sony Computer Entertainment America said on Thursday. Sony said its service will allow PS3 users to compete and chat with other gamers on the network; download game content like weapons or maps; store and view pictures and video; download and listen to music; browse the Web; and shop at the online PlayStation Store. Online play, chat and other features will be free to users, who will have to pay to download some content.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 20, 2006 - 07:03 AM | Comments
Sony PlayStation 3 shines in prelaunch test
CNET has an editorial posted online about one of their reporters expierences at a recent Sony PS2 prelaunch test session that they were able to attend. He thinks that while the Xbox 360 has a year's head-start that Sony will find a way to stay on top when the PS3 launches. I guess we will find out next month when the PS3 launches.
The graphics are beautiful--as should be expected. But as I've written before, the problem with such realistic graphics is that anything unrealistic stands out. And in every next-generation sports game I've seen where the realism is so good that you can see muscles rippling, the players' ghostly, vacant eyes leave me feeling so creepy I just want to slink away. I wish there was something that could be done about this. But this is the concept of the "uncanny valley," which, to paraphrase, states that the more realistic something seems to people, anything that stands out as not being so makes us uneasy.
Posted by | Fri, Oct 20, 2006 - 07:01 AM | Comments
Samsung develops 50nm DRAM chip for DDR2 Memory Modules
Samsung Electronics has announced that it has developed the industry's first 50nm DDR2 DRAM chip, which will increase production efficiency from the 60nm level by 55%. The new 1Gbit DRAM incorporates advanced technologies such as three-dimensional (3D) transistor design and multi-layered dielectric technology, which greatly enhance performance and data storage capabilities, according to Samsung. Looks like enthusiasts are going to have to wait a bit for these chips to come out as mass production will start sometime in 2008.
With the 50nm DRAM development, we're continuing our technology leadership, paving the way for our customers to reap not only greater cost efficiencies but also to make superior products," said Nam Yong Cho, executive vice president of memory sales and marketing at Samsung's Semiconductor Business. According to Samsung, key to the production efficiencies in the newly developed 50nm process is the use of a selective epitaxial growth transistor (SEG Tr). The 3D transistor has a broader electron channel that optimizes the speed of each chip's electrons to reduce power consumption and enable higher performance. Continued miniaturization of the overall memory circuit and an increasingly limited area of coverage within a wafer cell make it much harder to secure and sustain sufficient volumes of electrons. Adding to the 50nm design improvements, the SEG transistor introduces a multi-layered dielectric layer (ZrO2/Al2O3/ZrO2) to resolve weak electrical features. In addition, the new dielectric layer sustains higher volumes of electron to increase storage capacity, ensuring higher reliability in storing data.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 19, 2006 - 12:20 PM | Comments
NVIDIA Announces NVPerfKit 2.1 Suite of Tools
NVIDIA Corporation today announced NVPerfKit 2.1, a comprehensive suite of next-generation performance tools for the debugging and profiling of OpenGL and Direct3D software applications for Windows and Linux.
Developers working on 32- and 64-bit Linux or Windows platforms can now benefit from the same technology that powers the NVIDIA NVPerfHUD performance analysis tool, a robust profiling and visual debugging heads-up display (HUD) program for Direct3D applications supporting Microsoft DirectX 9.0c and Windows XP on select NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs). Developers using NVPerfHUD 4 experience an average performance improvement of 35%, and find an average of 11 rendering bugs. Dan Speed, graphics engine programmer at CCP Games, relies on NVIDIA performance tools to streamline the development process and pinpoint problems in the creation of games such as Eve Online, a science fiction, Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG). ?NVPerfHUD proved extremely easy to integrate, and has become an indispensable tool in telling us where we're being foolish, by giving us impressive performance gains for key content in Eve Online.?
Posted by | Thu, Oct 19, 2006 - 07:26 AM | Comments
Ex-Gizmondo Exec Stefan Eriksson Pleads Not Guilty
Bo Stefan Eriksson, 44, a former executive with the now bankrupt video game company Gizmondo Europe, pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from the dramatic 160 mph (257.5 kph) crash of the rare red Enzo Ferrari in February along the winding Pacific Coast Highway. A month before wrecking the Ferrari, Gizmondo Europe declared bankruptcy with more than $200 million in debt.
California prosecutors allege that the crashed Ferrari along with another Enzo Ferrari and a Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR -- worth a total of nearly $4 million -- were reported stolen by British banks because payments on a lease had ceased in late 2005. They also say Eriksson imported the cars to the United States in violation of those lease agreement. Three witnesses from Britain are flying to Los Angeles to testify at the jury trial, which is expected to last about two weeks.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 19, 2006 - 07:07 AM | Comments
HP overtakes Dell in PC market - Thanks to ~15% growth
Hewlett-Packard snatched the top position in global PC shipments from rival Dell by a slight margin in the third quarter. That's the finding market researchers Gartner and IDC reported separately Wednesday when they released their respective quarterly studies on the PC market.
This is the first time HP has earned top honors since the fourth quarter of 2003, Gartner said. Gartner estimates that HP shipped 9.652 million units, or 16.3 percent of the total, while Dell shipped 9.541 million, or 16.1 percent. IDC called it closer, estimating 9.831 million units for HP and 9.803 million units for Dell, both equivalent to a 17.2 percent market share and a "statistical tie," the firm said in a statement. The two market researchers calculated HP's growth, compared with last year's third quarter, at slightly over 15 percent, and both put Dell's growth at 3.6 percent.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 19, 2006 - 06:59 AM | Comments
Credit card firms cut off AllofMP3.com
Visa International and MasterCard Inc. have stopped accepting credit card transactions for purchases of online music made on a Russian Web site accused of selling music illegally, officials for both payment systems said Wednesday. Now that's an interesting way to fight illegal music downloads. I wonder what they are getting in return for stopping the transactions.
San Francisco-based Visa asked member banks not to process purchases from AllofMP3.com as of Sept. 1, said Simon Barker, a spokesman for the company. "The action Visa has taken is in line with legislation passed in Russia and with basic international copyright and intellectual property norms," Barker said.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 19, 2006 - 06:57 AM | Comments
Samsung, Hynix execs indicted over price fixing
Executives of Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor have been indicted as part of a U.S. government investigation into price fixing in the memory chip business, the Department of Justice said. A federal grand jury in San Francisco handed down indictments Wednesday against two executives from Samsung and one from a Hynix U.S. subsidiary, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
The indictment charges that Samsung executives Il Ung Kim and Young Bae Rha and Hynix's Gary Swanson participated in the conspiracy during 2001 and 2002, the government said. The government has blamed the alleged price fixing for driving up the price of chips used in personal computers, servers, cell phones, cameras and game consoles.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 19, 2006 - 06:53 AM | Comments
Margin Woes Crush AMD - Fell 4%
Advanced Micro Devices said Wednesday that it grew its sales sequentially 9% in the third quarter, beating Wall Street estimates and matching rival Intel's pace of growth during the same period.But the ongoing price war between AMD and Intel took a toll on profit margins, sending the company's shares down more than 10%.
AMD said its operating income was down 8% year over year, adjusting its 2005 third-quarter results to exclude the contribution of its memory business, which it has since spun off. Gross profit margin fell to 51.4% compared with 55.4% at this time last year. AMD blamed the eroding margins on lower desktop processor prices, which dragged down the company's overall average selling prices.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 19, 2006 - 06:50 AM | Comments
Intel to spend US$300 million in Centrino Pro push
Intel will upgrade its Centrino technology to Centrino Pro, with the launch to come with the availability of Microsoft Windows Vista OS, notebook makers said. Similar to the chip giant's marketing investment in Centrino, a total of US$300 million will be injected into Intel's worldwide sales promotion of Centrino Pro, according to the makers.
Recognized as the Santa Rosa platform, Centrino Pro technology will be built around the 64-bit dual-core Merom core, said the makers citing the chip giant's latest product roadmap. In the second quarter of 2007, Intel will launch its new Core 2 Duo (Merom) CPU lineup, which includes the T7300, T7500 and T7700 models, featuring Socket P connector, 800MHz FSB and 4MB L2 cache, as well as the T7100 with 2MB of L2 cache, the makers indicated. Simultaneously, Intel's GM965/PM965 chipsets and 82566MM Gigabit Network/Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN network chips, which all support Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT) and Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT), will be announced to complete the Santa Rosa platform, according to the makers.
Posted by | Thu, Oct 19, 2006 - 06:49 AM | Comments
NVIDIA First GPU Company to Ship Windows Vista Drivers
Following the NVIDIA press release at DigitalLife 2006 last week, where Microsoft announced the Windows Vista logo program, NVIDIA has posted the WHQL certified drivers for a broad range of their GPUs on on the corporate site in preparation of the upcoming release of Windows Vista.
NVIDIA, the worldwide leader in programmable graphics processor technologies, today announced that its first publicly available Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) graphics driver is currently ready and available for download for Windows Vista. NVIDIA offers these certified drivers for the industry?s broadest range of graphics processing units (GPUs), supporting over 100 different products.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 18, 2006 - 02:25 PM | Comments
Microsoft blamed for Apple virus
Apple computer has warned Windows users that in the past month it has shipped iPods from its factory carrying a virus. Around 25 cases have been reported so far and Apple assures its customers that the issue has been solved. What is most interesting though is Apple's attitude as to why Microsoft is to blame.
Apple?s technical support website warns: "We recently discovered that a small number?less than 1 percent?of the video iPods available for purchase after September 12 left our contract manufacturer carrying the Windows RavMonE.exe virus. As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it."
Posted by | Wed, Oct 18, 2006 - 09:25 AM | Comments
Scientists Add New Element To The Periodic Table- 118 ununoctium
American and Russian scientists announced on Monday that they had discovered a superheavy element, known as 118, albeit one that has only existed in three different atoms lasting a fraction of a second over months of experiments.
In the latest experiments, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, bombarded californium with calcium ions to create 118 ? the heaviest ever created in such experiments. Scientists said they found their first superheavy element 118 atom in 2002, then found another two atoms in 2005 in a second round of experiments in which they fired 10 to the power of 19 calcium ions at the californium. In the end the atoms of element 118 ? also known as ununoctium ? lasted 0.9 milliseconds, researchers said.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 18, 2006 - 08:47 AM | Comments
Music industry in 8,000 new file-share lawsuits around the world
he music industry has launched a fresh wave of 8,000 lawsuits against alleged file-sharers around the world, escalating its drive to stamp out online piracy and encourage the use of legal download services. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the world's music companies, said on Tuesday the new cases were brought in 17 countries, including the first ones ever in Brazil, Mexico and Poland.
IFPI has said some 20 billion songs were illegally downloaded worldwide last year. The industry has now filed about 18,000 lawsuits in the United States, the largest market for music sales, and 13,000 in the rest of the world. The legal proceedings involve both criminal and civil suits and are aimed at "uploaders" -- people who put copyrighted songs onto Internet file-sharing networks to offer to music fans without permission. The group added that more than 2,300 people had already settled their case for illegally file-sharing copyrighted material with an average payout of 2,420 euros ($3,034).
Posted by | Wed, Oct 18, 2006 - 08:43 AM | Comments
Legit Folding Contest - A Chance to Win ATI Graphics Cards!
This month Legit Reviews is promoting the Folding For ATI Graphics Cards contest in our community forums and so far the contest is a success. Right now in the F@H points per CPU challenge Cadaveca has a demanding 542 point per day lead and when it comes to overall F@H points Novicegamer leads by 3676 points! Both are aimed at winning kick ass ATI graphics cards like the ATI Radeon X1950 XTX and the Radeon X1900 XT 256mb to play games and fold on their GPU's! If you haven't tried folding our joined our team it's not too late as we will be having a random drawing for all those that enterest to win another ATI graphics card. To join the team and start folding all you have to do is download F@H and enter Team #38296!
Posted by | Wed, Oct 18, 2006 - 07:49 AM | Comments
Intel Core 2 Quad Prices Leak! QX6700 - $999 Q6600 - $851
Intel's first quad-core desktop processor, the Core 2 Extreme QX6700, which is scheduled to be released next month, will sell for US$999 in 1,000-unit quantities, according to sources at Taiwan motherboard makers who are familiar with Intel's latest roadmap. The Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor will be available in January 2007 at US$851, the sources added.
As prices for both the QX6700 and Q6600 are too high, it will prevent the quad-core CPUs from gaining popularity, stated the sources. According to Intel's roadmap, quad-core processors will only account for 3% of the company's total desktop CPU shipments within one year following the launch, the sources indicated. The sources suggested that prices of quad-core CPUs may start declining in the third quarter of 2007 when Intel is expected to launch its next-generation quad-core processors, codenamed Yorkfield. At the same timeframe, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will likely begin releasing its own quad-core CPUs, the sources said.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 18, 2006 - 06:17 AM | Comments
LG unveils new Chocolate phone
LG Electronics, the world's No. 4 mobile phone maker, on Wednesday unveiled a new handset model aimed at repeating the success of its premium Chocolate phone and building market share. "The new version of the Chocolate phone follows the current consumer preference for (slim) metal casings. It's a global market trend," said SR Kwon, an analyst at Hyundai Securities.
LG's mobile phone business, trailing Nokia, Motorola and Samsung Electronics, is on the rebound after seeing its market share ravaged by blockbuster models such as Motorola's Razr and Sony Ericsson's Walkman music phones. LG expected to sell more than 6 million Chocolate phones this year after launching the model in Europe in May and in the United States in August.
Posted by | Wed, Oct 18, 2006 - 06:15 AM | Comments
Intel Earnings Beat Expectations, but stiff competition remains
Intel Corp. said late Tuesday that third-quarter profit plunged 35% from a year ago as the world's largest chipmaker faced stiff competition from its smaller rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. The world's largest maker of computer chips said net income was $1.3 billion, or 22 cents a share, down from $2 billion, or 32 cents, in last year's same period.
The results beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call expected the company to post earnings of 18 cents a share on revenue of $8.62 billion. Intel said its latest results included gains of $230 million, resulting from the sales of businesses and an investment in Micron Technology Inc. Intel, which has been saddled with a glut of chips for most of the year, also said it wrote-off older microprocessor inventory worth $100 million.
Posted by | Tue, Oct 17, 2006 - 02:07 PM | Comments
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro Reviews Around The Web
In case you didn't notice the ATI Radeon X1950 Pro reviews that were posted around the web here is a list of those that we have been reading today. Read ours of course, but also compare our thoughts to the other sites to see what the overall community thinks about ATI's latest graphics card!
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro @ Bit-Tech
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro @ [H]ard|OCP
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro @ HotHardware
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro @ Legit Reviews
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro @ PCPerspective
Posted by | Tue, Oct 17, 2006 - 01:12 PM | Comments
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