Legit Reviews News History
Google to offer domain registration services
Google announced on Thursday evening that a domain name search and registration service will be added to its Google Apps for Your Domain offering. Google will partner with GoDaddy and eNom, two domain registration companies to offer the service.
Registration fees are a nominal $10 per year, which will include private registration to protect personal information and will support .com, .org, .net, .biz, and .info domains. Besides search and registration, the service also includes the creation of an administrative account for managing the site and a configurator to ensure the Google Apps are immediately available on the new site.
Posted by | Fri, Dec 15, 2006 - 10:23 AM
Dell delays third-quarter financial report
Dell delayed its third-quarter financial report Thursday, citing an ongoing probe of its accounting practices. Dell initially postponed its press release detailing third-quarter results in November as a result of the accounting probe, releasing limited information about the results later that month and omitting the customary briefing with analysts.
The investigations are examining certain accounting and financial matters, including issues related to reserves and other balance sheet items that may affect its past financial results, Dell said. The company said the investigations are ongoing and that no determination has been made about whether restatements will be necessary but that it could not predict whether any such restatements could materially affect past results. Dell said it hopes to resolve the issues raised in the investigation and regain compliance with filing regulations as soon as possible.
Posted by | Fri, Dec 15, 2006 - 10:22 AM
Friday Office Humor: Mars:2020:Springtime
I thought I'd share this clip that was sent to me from a reader about technology and Mars. What's funny about it is the fact that NASA does have a bunch of 'Space Junk' floating around, so it's partly true! The animation is using Carrara Studio software.
Posted by | Fri, Dec 15, 2006 - 10:15 AM
Adobe Releases Beta Version of Photoshop CS3
Today, Adobe Systems will make public their beta of Photoshop Creative Suite 3. The big news is that this is the first version to run natively on Intel-based Apple Macs. Anyone who is a Mac fan has probably noticed the sluggish response of Photoshop since Apple switched to Intel processors this year.
"This is an exciting time for the Mac, and Adobe wanted to ease the move to new Intel-based systems with a preview release of Photoshop CS3," said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe. "We still have some surprises in store, but this beta gives customers an early chance to see the power of another great Photoshop release, optimized and tuned to run natively on the latest hardware and operating systems."
Posted by | Fri, Dec 15, 2006 - 10:13 AM
'Gears of War' wins top spot in game sales
Microsoft's gory Gears of War video game, where soldiers slay alien invaders with chainsaw-mounted rifles, topped U.S. sales charts in November. The title, for the software giant's own Xbox 360, sold 1 million units--the most of any game in November--to ring up sales of $61.5 million, market researcher NPD said Thursday.
The top 10 games, based on sales in November:
- Gears of War (for Xbox 360, published by Microsoft).
- Final Fantasy XII (PlayStation 2, Square Enix).
- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii, Nintendo).
- Guitar Hero II (PS2, Activision).
- WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2007 (PS2, THQ).
- Call of Duty 3 (Xbox 360, Activision).
- Madden NFL 07 (PS2, Electronic Arts).
- Need for Speed: Carbon (PS2, Electronic Arts).
- Nintendogs--Dalmatian & Friends (Nintendo DS, Nintendo).
- Pokemon Ranger (Nintendo DS, Nintendo).
Posted by | Fri, Dec 15, 2006 - 08:40 AM
Nintendo respond to Wii breakages
Nintendo have announced that they will replace any broken straps on the new Wii. There have been a number of reports across the internet of people breaking their TV sets after getting too involved in their gaming. Nintendo have said they will replace all broken straps for free. They also announced that all new Wii's will come with a new "enhanced" strap to circumvent any future mishaps by over enthusiastic gamers.
Games firm Nintendo has said it will replace all broken straps for its Wii console, following customer complaints. The strap is connected to a motion sensitive remote which is used to control the on-screen action.
Posted by | Fri, Dec 15, 2006 - 06:44 AM
Solar Panels using Blueberries?
Scientists in Italy have discovered how to collect solar power from Blueberries. This is no joke. Currently the process isn't as efficient as the current technology, but it is cheaper, and with ever rising fuel bills it might not sound like a bad idea in a while from now.
The panel, as opposed to traditional ones, eliminated completely the use of silicon. The result is a much cheaper product and more efficient to a certain extent because the panels are more flexible and in the near future they could even become transparent sheets.
Posted by | Thu, Dec 14, 2006 - 05:53 PM
Samsung Solid-State Hard Drives Unveiled
I can't wait to get my hands on one (or three) of these drives! Should be a nice boost in data transfer performance for many situations. And hopefully the risk of storage errors will be next to nothing since it will not have any moving parts!
The drives will be introduced in 1.8- and 2.5-inch form factors for notebooks. While streaming performance can't equal that of hard disks, Samsung claims that random-access performance is more important and that (e.g.) Vista users would see a 4x speedup in many key operations. Pricing was not announced.
Posted by | Thu, Dec 14, 2006 - 10:20 AM
XFX Launches 7600 GT Fatal1ty Professional Series - 650MHz
The first collaborative effort by gaming industry leader XFX and the world’s No. 1 ranked gamer, Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel debuted today. The 7600 GT Fatal1ty Professional Series Video Card is touted as quite possibly the fastest 7600 GT card in the world.
The 7600 GT marks the first release in the XFX/Fatal1ty partnership announced earlier this year. “This card proves that teaming XFX technology with the hardcore gamer’s demands results in performance that buyers literally haven’t seen before,” said Eddie Memon, Vice President of XFX. “With Fatal1ty doing his best to challenge our capabilities as a development team, and our efforts to impress and outperform his expectations, the card not only stuns visually, it delivers the goods in efficiency and state-of-the art performance. It is truly for gamers by gamers.” The 7600 GT Fatal1ty Professional Series currently out-clocks Nvidia’s default speed by 14%. Better still, this is a performance overclocked product that features an affordable price that will appeal to all players. Best of all, with input from extreme gamer Fatal1ty, this card is a competition-ready piece of equipment that will satisfy the most serious gamer.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 13, 2006 - 11:03 AM
Skype's free call plan to charge annual fee
Skype, the Internet calling service owned by eBay, said Tuesday that as of January 1 it would begin charging $30 a year for unlimited calls to landline and mobile phones within the United States and Canada. Those calls had been free since last spring.
The new annual fee for unlimited calling, while still nominal compared with other Internet calling plans, is part of a broader strategy by eBay to expand Skype's product offerings and revenue. eBay, the online auction giant, paid $2.5 billion for Skype in October 2005, prompting criticism from some analysts that it had overpaid for a start-up company focused on a different market and technology.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 13, 2006 - 08:17 AM
Apple Sales Are Off-Key on iTunes, But Don't Worry?
Apple shares hit a monthly low Tuesday after a report on slowing song sales in the iTunes Music Store apparently tempered investor enthusiasm, but even the author of the report said Apple shouldn't worry too much.
The report found that iTunes sales steadily increased from the beginning of the survey date to January 2006, but tapered off in the following months. The number of monthly transactions rose from just two per 1,000 households in April 2004 to almost 17 in January 2006. At the same time, the average amount spent per purchase nearly doubled to $6.69. But since January, the number of transactions fell 58%, Forrester found, and the size of each purchase declined 17%, resulting in a 65% drop in monthly iTunes sales.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 13, 2006 - 08:13 AM
Christian Video Game 'Left Behind: Eternal Forces' Causes Controversy
A Christian video game has become the latest battleground in America's "culture" wars, with its maker claiming it promotes prayer while critics charge it carries a message of violent religious intolerance.
The game is set in New York City after millions of Christians have been transported to heaven. Players are charged with recruiting, and converting, an army that will engage in physical and spiritual warfare with the antichrist and his evil followers. An advocacy group "Campaign to Defend the Constitution" -- which monitors right-wing religious activities -- says the game is violently pro-Christian and has petitioned retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to pull it from its shelves.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 13, 2006 - 08:11 AM
Skype releases beta for Windows Mobile smart phones
Skype released the beta version of Skype 2.2, a software client that allows Windows Mobile smart phones to access the company's VOIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service over Wi-Fi connections. Too bad phones like Cingular's Samsung Blackjack don't have Wi-Fi!
The beta works on 120 different Windows Mobile devices, Skype said. Users in range of a free Wi-Fi network can make free VOIP calls to other Skype customers. Users can also pay via their SkypeIn and SkypeOut accounts to receive and make calls to landline phones. New features in Skype 2.2 for Windows Mobile include an enhanced screen with presence status and notification of events such as missed calls and voicemails. The client also now supports secure connections including HTTPS, HTTPS/SSL, and SOCKS5 proxies.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 13, 2006 - 08:09 AM
Non-Vista-supporting motherboards and video cards are the suck
With Windows Vista up and coming, makers of motherboards and VGA cards are now worried they will incur losses from their inventory of low-end products that do not support Microsoft's new operating system (OS), according to industry sources. The makers are now raising the proportion of shipments to emerging markets and government purchases, worrying that if they are unable to clear their inventories of such low-end non-Vista-supporting motherboards and graphics cards, prices of such products will plummet after the new OS hits the market, the sources said.
The sources pointed out that non-Vista-supporting products, such as the ATI Radeon 9250 and Nvidia MX4000 have seen their prices fall to US$35 and below US$30, respectively. Sources in Taiwan's PC sector said the proportion of products that do not support Vista is currently very low in the market, as Nvidia and AMD-ATI have already reduced the output for such products. They pointed out that almost all PC products in the market now support at least Vista Basic, with little demand for low-end products that do not support Vista at all.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 13, 2006 - 08:07 AM
AMD and IBM Talk About 45NM Chips with Immersion and Ultra Low-K
At the International Electron Device Meeting (IEDM) today, IBM and AMD presented papers describing the use of immersion lithography, ultra-low-K interconnect dielectrics, and multiple enhanced transistor strain techniques for application to the 45nm microprocessor process generation. AMD and IBM expect the first 45nm products using immersion lithography and ultra-low-K interconnect dielectrics to be available in mid-2008.
“As the first microprocessor manufacturers to announce the use of immersion lithography and ultra-low-K interconnect dielectrics for the 45nm technology generation, AMD and IBM continue to blaze a trail of innovation in microprocessor process technology,” said Nick Kepler, vice president of logic technology development at AMD. “Immersion lithography will allow us to deliver enhanced microprocessor design definition and manufacturing consistency, further increasing our ability to deliver industry-leading, highly sophisticated products to our customers. Ultra-low-K interconnect dielectrics will further extend our industry-leading microprocessor performance-per-watt ratio for the benefit of all of our customers. This announcement is another proof of IBM and AMD’s successful research and development collaboration.”
Posted by | Tue, Dec 12, 2006 - 03:47 PM
Mod Of The Year 2006
These mods will make you look at your own case and sigh in disgust
The premise is simple - take some of the mods published on the site in the past year and ask the readers, the modding community, to vote on which one is the best. There is some great variation in the mods we've published - from simpler paint and hack mod jobs through to full scratch builds. Each embodies the spirit of modding in a different way, and picking a winner is going to be very hard.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 12, 2006 - 02:23 PM
Micron Technology (Crucial Memory) Buys Avago Tech
Micron Technology has purchased the image-sensor business of privately held Avago Technologies in a deal worth at least $53 million, the memory maker announced Monday
Avago's 90-person imaging team will join Micron, which already makes image sensors used in camera phones and other products. The addition of Avago's expertise will help Micron expand its imaging offerings into automotive, security, consumer electronics and medical applications, the company said
Posted by | Tue, Dec 12, 2006 - 11:04 AM
Red 5 - Online video game studio gets cash infusion
Red 5 Studios, an online video-game developer led by members of the team behind the wildly popular "World of Warcraft" game, said on Monday it has raised $18.5 million in venture capital.
Mark Kern, Red 5's chief executive and former team leader on "World of Warcraft," said his California-based game studio will create original games for online game operators and distributors -- much as Pixar Animation Studios did in the movie world with its animated films such as "Toy Story" and "Finding Nemo". Red 5 is already working on a massively multiplayer online game for Webzen Inc. The South Korean company is financing the development of the game, which Webzen will distribute.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 12, 2006 - 11:02 AM
RIM sues Samsung over BlackJack name
Research In Motion is suing Samsung, claiming that the name of the company's new BlackJack smart phone is too similar to that of RIM's own BlackBerry devices. The suit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. RIM is seeking an injunction against the sale of the new BlackJack phones. In the complaint, RIM said Samsung's use of the "BlackJack" name "constitutes false designation of origin, unfair competition and trademark dilution."
Samsung launched the BlackJack in early December with a huge marketing campaign; currently, the phone is sold exclusively for Cingular's network. Ironically, the launch coincided with RIM's launch of the BlackBerry Pearl on Cingular's network as well. Until December, T-Mobile had been the exclusive carrier of the Pearl.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 12, 2006 - 10:53 AM
UMC to make AMD RS690 at 80nm, paper says
AMD has selected United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) to produce its next-generation ATI RS690 chipsets at the 80nm node, according to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN). This will be the first chipset that will be launched since the AMD-ATI merger!
Before its acquisition by AMD, ATI worked with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) as its chief partner for 80nm production, the paper said, adding that the selection of UMC for the next-generation RS690 chipsets raises speculations about possible changes in AMD's outsourcing policy.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 12, 2006 - 10:52 AM
Not Your Average USB Key - The Humper
The Humper Flash Drive company has announced their first humping dog USB flash drive called the Hump Drive 180. Not only does it have a nice er tail, it also comes with a clean up kit to boot! Very sweet eh? Just kidding!
Posted by | Tue, Dec 12, 2006 - 10:48 AM
UCLA Database Hacked!
Approximately 800,000 UCLA affiliates have been warned about their personal information, including SSN's, being exposed by hackers for nearly a year! That's a long time for a hacker to have control of a system!
The attacks on the database began in October 2005 and ended Nov. 21 of this year, when computer security technicians noticed suspicious database queries, according to a statement posted on a school Web site set up to answer questions about the theft.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 12, 2006 - 10:41 AM
abit introduces first PCI-E Wi-Fi card - AirPace
abit has introduced a unique Wi-Fi solution by bringing the first PCIe Wi-Fi card to market. The abit AirPace Wi-Fi card is the very first IEEE 802.11b/g WLAN device for universal use with PCI-E interfaces. Unlike proprietary solutions the abit AirPace Wi-Fi is highly flexible as it is compatible with ANY PCI-E socket.
By using the PCI-E X1 interface abit is once more extending their “Future Proof” concept. Since the PCI interface is bound to disappear in the very foreseeable future, the PCI-E bus will become the prevailing connection standard for add-on cards. So with abit’s solution you will also stay well-connected in the future. The added software Access Point function increases the AirPace Wi-Fi’s usage models dramatically. It allows other networked PCs and laptops to not only use storage and data on your computer but also take advantage of its connected peripherals such as printers or Internet access, to mention but a few options.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 11, 2006 - 11:45 PM
Futuremark comic strip competition - Win Alienware Prizes!
I just wanted to give our readers a quick heads-up before they go home for the day that Futuermark will be doing a comic strip competition and have just posted up the competition details on their site. This contest is for those of you that can draw! I know my limits! ;)
The idea is to ask users to download a comic-strip template created by Futuremark and then have them draw their own mini comic-strip (subject is free). We will then pick out the winners based on the idea's originality and how funny it is.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 11, 2006 - 05:47 PM
TG Daily Top-10: Technology disappointments of 2006
From the Apple's Ipod, yes the Ipod, to Sony, to IE7, Tom's showcases a list of the top 10 Technology Dissapointments
I am certain that there will be many readers who will not agree with all our choices of disappointing technologies for 2006. You may have been completely happy with some of the products mentioned and could have added a bunch more instead. While I maintain that the contestants mentioned have serious flaws, they are merely a high-profile selection of dozens or hundreds more that we have seen in 2006. Depending on your priorities, you may have chosen a completely different Top-10. However, no matter which ten products, technologies or companies you would chose, they are likely to share a key similarity.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 11, 2006 - 12:03 PM
Home Foreclosures Rising in America - New Report To Come
More and more Americans are in danger of losing their homes; a survey out this week is expected to show. After seeing all the people purchase homes with ARM's and interest only loans it was only a matter of time for everything to catch up. The same thing happened in the automotive industry as 0% financing got the cars sold, but now sales are sluggish as everyone has a new car!
A mortgage survey due on Wednesday is expected to show that more and more Americans are in danger of losing their homes. The quarterly report from the Mortgage Bankers Association is also expected to show that the same mortgage products that helped send the housing market into the stratosphere are now weighing homeowners down. In a hint at Wednesday's data, October saw more foreclosure actions than any other month this year according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 11, 2006 - 09:59 AM
Sun goes multilingual with Java SE 6
Over two years in the making, Sun Microsystems is due to release the latest version of its Java Platform Standard Edition (Java SE) software Monday, placing particular emphasis on the application development platform's support for other scripting languages. Java SE 6 is the first version that lets developers mix Java technology with other languages. This means that developers can now mix Java with other languages such as PHP, Python, Ruby and JavaScript!
"Java SE 6 is an extremely significant release for us," said Jean Elliott, Sun's senior director of Java platform product marketing. She drew particular attention to community participation in the platform's development. For the first time, hundreds of non-Sun developers had some input into the Java SE development process, beginning in September 2004 as Sun released Java SE 5.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 11, 2006 - 09:52 AM
Playing it safe with Windows Vista
Microsoft is pitching a security feature in Windows Vista as a boon for consumer online safety, but others think its benefits lie elsewhere. The software maker is promoting the use of Windows Security Center, a feature in the long-awaited operating system, as a way for Web sites and third-party software programs to gauge the security status of customer PCs
Microsoft is actively pitching the possibility of the PC security checks to banks and online retailers. The feature was actually introduced in Windows XP Service Pack 2, in August 2004, but Microsoft hasn't talked about it much. "We are promoting that a lot more to the community now than we did with SP2," Robinson said. Windows Vista is slated to be broadly available in February. Though they say Microsoft's goal is noble, others don't expect many consumer Web sites or online services to start conducting PC security checks. According to Microsoft's own data, about 70 percent of consumers aren't running up-to-date antivirus protection.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 11, 2006 - 09:50 AM
Ouch - Take-Two Interactive Software to Restate Years of Historical Financials
Take-Two Interactive Software said it will need to restate several years of historical financials to record charges for compensation expenses associated with past stock option grants.
As a result, the video-game maker, known for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, said its financial statements from 1997 through April 30 this year should no longer be relied upon. The restatement plan was laid out after a special committee of Take-Two's board reported the preliminary findings of a review of the company's option awards. The committee had been established to conduct an investigation into the timing of Take-Two's option grants.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 11, 2006 - 09:48 AM
Quanta ships 2.2 million notebooks in November - up 10%
Quanta Computer shipped 2.2 million notebooks in November, up 10% from October's 2.0 million units, according to company sources. In comparison, November notebook shipments from Compal Electronics totaled 1.74 million units and those from Asustek Computer reached 900,000 units, according to sources in the companies.
Additionally, Wistron and Inventec shipped 1.04 million and 880,000 notebooks, respectively, in November, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN) quoted sources in the companies as saying. Including shipments of 100,000 handheld devices and 80,000 servers last month, Quanta's November revenues hit a record high of NT$53.56 billion (US$1.65 billion), up 1.1% sequentially and up 4.5% on year.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 11, 2006 - 09:45 AM
Cyber Criminals Recruiting
Security firm McAfee reports that criminals are using the net to search for and recruit students to commit internet crime. Because of the world economy as well as the low risk of getting caught, I'm afraid that stories like this will become more common in the near future.
"Many of these cybercriminals see the Internet as a job opportunity," McAfee quoted FBI Internet security expert Dave Thomas as saying. "With low employment, they can use their technical skills to feed their family."
Posted by | Fri, Dec 08, 2006 - 10:59 AM
China creates third DVD format - EVD will own all
The DVD format, known as EVD, is part of state-backed efforts to create standards for mobile phones and other products and reduce dependence on foreign know-how and possibly reap licensing fees if they are adopted abroad. EVD, or Enhanced Versatile Disc, was first released in 2003, but an effort to promote it was dropped in 2004 after the players failed to catch on with consumers and producers squabbled over licensing fees.
Promoters of EVD say it provides crisper pictures and sound, bigger recording capacity and better anti-piracy features than standard DVD. Zhang Baoquan, general secretary of the EVD Industry Alliance, a group promoting the alternative format, expressed confidence that sales in China's booming consumer electronics market will be strong enough to support producers after they stop making DVD players. "By 2008, when EVD replaces DVD, there will be no major impact on Chinese manufacturers," he said at a news conference.
Posted by | Fri, Dec 08, 2006 - 10:09 AM
Blu-ray DVD drive no bonus for some Sony PS3 buyers
Gamers love Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation 3 for its graphic capabilities and firepower, but the advanced Blu-ray DVD drive is annoying some by raising the cost, slowing production and forcing them to buy into a format they've not yet aligned with.
"Blu-ray is adding $150 to $200 to the product. They've created something that is not for today's market. It's not a market driver, it's only driving the price higher," he said. In the gaming console war this holiday season, Sony's PS3, priced at around $600, faces two main competitors in Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 at around $400 and Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii for about $250.
Posted by | Fri, Dec 08, 2006 - 10:06 AM
Sun puts 16 cores on high-end Rock processor
Sun Microsystems, already an aggressive advocate of multicore processing, will try to stay a step ahead of the game by putting 16 cores in its high-end Rock chip. With overheating capping chip speeds, chipmakers have been scrambling to improve performance instead by packing multiple processing engines onto a single slice of silicon. Sun got an early start with its UltraSparc T1 "Niagara" processor, which has eight cores, and it looks like Rock will keep the company a step ahead of the competition.
Rock will have 16 cores, John Fowler, executive vice president of Sun's systems business, said in an interview Thursday. Rock-based servers, due to arrive in servers in 2008, will likely come as competitors' chips have at most eight cores, analysts say. Boosting performance is crucial to Sun's attempt to reverse the diminished influence and use of its Sparc family of processors, which have lost share to mainstream x86 chips from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices and to rivals such as IBM's Power family.
Posted by | Fri, Dec 08, 2006 - 10:03 AM
Will Foxconn PR work magic for its brand push?
The usually low-keyed and mysterious Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world's largest EMS provider best known by its trade name of Foxconn, is behaving rather unusually in 2006. In June it trumpeted a push in the brand-name graphics card market. Last month it made a big splash by announcing well in advance the formation of a partnership with Singapore-based eSys Technologies to distribute Foxconn components in Taiwan's retail market. More unusual is the fact that Foxconn even publicly told reporters its shipment figures, something almost unthinkable in the past. All such efforts, apparently, have been done in order to counter the collaboration between Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology.
During Computex 2006, Foxconn formally announced its entry into the own-brand graphics card market by showcasing a lineup of self-made Foxconn-branded graphics cards powered by Nvidia graphics solutions. At the time, the company demonstrated its confidence by saying that vertical integration within the group would allow its motherboards and graphics cards to pose a strong challenge to market leader Asustek. It also revealed that it had achieved a motherboard shipment goal of 40 million units in 2005.
Posted by | Fri, Dec 08, 2006 - 10:02 AM
Nintendo cautions gamers on Wii remote safety - dry hands only!
Nintendo has some cautionary advice for players of its Wii video game console: when waving the controller, use the wrist strap, keep your palms dry and, whatever you do, don't let go. The Wii has been pitched as a cheap alternative to pricier machines from Microsoft and Sony, but some gamers complain they are facing unexpected costs after losing their grip on the console's remote control and smashing their televisions and other appliances.
In an e-mail sent to Wii customers and posted on various Web sites on Wednesday, Nintendo said extreme motion could snap the strap by causing players to lose their grip on the remote.Copies of the e-mail were posted on sites such as Joystiq, and a company spokesman confirmed it was authentic. "Hold the remote securely and avoid excessive motion during game play. If your hands become moist, stop and dry your hands," the company recommended.
Posted by | Thu, Dec 07, 2006 - 08:40 AM
ATI loses five percent in 3Q, says Jon Peddie
Intel saw a flat quarter in graphics shipments in the third quarter, but was still the largest supplier of PC graphics devices worldwide, while ATI remained the second largest supplier in the third quarter but with a 5% sequential decline in shipments and decreased market share, according to research firm Jon Peddie Research (JPR). Nvidia, the third largest supplier in the third quarter, closed the gap with ATI with a 2.0% sequential increase in shipments and increased market share.
JPR estimates that approximately 76 million PC graphics devices shipped from major suppliers in the third quarter, a 5.2% increase from the prior quarter and an 11.2% increase over the same period the previous year. The desktop graphics segment saw shipments increased 2% from the second quarter to the third quarter and shipments grew 4.7% on year. Integrated desktop shipments dropped 3% sequentially (the second consecutive quarter of decline) but increased 3.3% annually. Discrete desktop shipments jumped 10.2% on a quarterly basis and grew 6.8% year-over-year, noted JPR. Overall, Intel held at 35% of the desktop graphics market, ATI dropped to 22%, and Nvidia grew to 25% market share. In the discrete desktop segment, Nvidia also grew, to 57% share and ATI claimed 43% share during the period.
Posted by | Thu, Dec 07, 2006 - 08:35 AM
Kingston Technology First with DDR2 1.2GHz Memory Modules
Kingston today announced the immediate availability of 1.150 GHz and 1.200 GHz DDR2 HyperX memory modules. To the delight of gaming and computing enthusiasts worldwide, Kingston is first to bring 100% production tested PC9600 HyperX memory to market and is concurrently bringing new high frequency PC9200 modules to market.
“Kingston HyperX memory is 100 percent production tested at full frequency specifications,” said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston. “Add in a high-end gaming motherboard, AMD CPU, a proper power supply, proper cooling capabilities and overclocking skills--that’s when great gaming and benchmarking can be achieved,” continued Tekunoff. The new Kingston HyperX 1.1 GHz and 1.2 GHz modules are available in 512 MB and 1 GB capacities and 1- and 2-GB kits to support the latest in high-performance computing. Each module completes 24 hours of burn-in reliability testing, extensive dynamic testing and visual inspection. HyperX DDR2 memory comes with a lifetime warranty and 24/7 technical support.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 06, 2006 - 05:30 PM
Cisco Gets a Second Life
Cisco Systems has joined Dell and Sun Microsystems among the ranks of tech giants venturing into the virtual world of Second Life. Cisco quietly opened two adjoining private islands in the virtual realm this week amid continued server problems in Second Life, the 3-D online world created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab. The tech company decided that it would rather cater to the Second Life community first before generating press about its involvement in the so-called metaverse.
The launch of Cisco's presence in Second Life coincides with the introduction of the company's Integrated Services Router (ISR) Empowered Branch. Cisco recognizes the benefit of 3-D models in that consumers can immediately be shown different routers and can be educated about which will work best for their needs. Cisco's second island, named Cisco Island, is a community-based foray, meant to take advantage of the socialization benefits of Second Life. By that, the company means that it will conduct classes and executive meetings and provide personal technical support.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 06, 2006 - 04:28 PM
CNET's James Kim Update: His Body Has Been Recovered
Officials confirmed that James Kim, 35, an editor at the Web site CNET, had been found dead. Brian Anderson, Undersheriff of Josephine County, broke down and could not finish speaking as he announced that Kim's body was found at 3:03 p.m. ET. His body was found at the bottom found of a steep ravine where he had left clues for searchers. Legit Reviews would like to send our most sincere condolences to the family of James Kim and please know that he will be missed in the tech industry.
Searchers were attempting to remove Kim's body, and his family members have requested that their privacy be respected, officials said. Kim walked into the snowy Oregon mountains Saturday to find help for his wife and two young daughters. They were rescued by searchers on Monday. Clothing and bits of an Oregon map turned up Tuesday in a steep canyon that drains into the Rogue River. Searchers said they believed he was marking his trail for them. The clothing, which was wet, included two gray sweat shirts, a red T-shirt, a sock and a blue girl's skirt, said Lt. Gregg Hastings of the Oregon State Patrol. Family members said Kim carried the items when he left.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 06, 2006 - 04:28 PM
Big shakeup at Yahoo - two senior executives gone!
Yahoo announced a major reorganization last night, addressing critics who for months have questioned the search giant's ability to effectively compete with other Internet companies. According to the release, Chief Operating Officer Dan Rosensweig will leave Yahoo in March. Lloyd Braun, a former ABC executive who has headed Yahoo Media for the past two years, is leaving immediately.
Analysts believe one of the chief reasons behind Yahoo's current woes is its failure to deploy software that could prioritize the placement of the most lucrative ads on its Internet properties. Indeed, during the past year, Yahoo's financial performance has repeatedly disappointed investors who have sent its stock price plunging more than 35 percent. Earlier today, Wenda Harris Millard, Yahoo's chief sales officer, assured investors at a New York conference that Yahoo's advertising business was continuing to grow ``in every single category.''
Posted by | Wed, Dec 06, 2006 - 11:31 AM
Intel and TSMC tested 32nm development prototypes - Looks Good!
While the semiconductor industry has yet to migrate to 45nm production, major players, such as Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), are already gearing up the development of the 32nm node. Intel's director of technology strategy Paolo A Gargini yesterday described the US chip giant's development of its 32nm process as being "in good shape." Speaking at the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) forum being held in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Gargini said Moore's Law is expected to apply for 10-15 years more.
Industry sources pointed out that TSMC is also seeing breakthroughs in its development at the 32nm node. The world's number-one pure play foundry has already conducted a few tests on 32nm wafer prototypes, the sources said. TSMC CEO Rick Tsai recently revealed that the company has an ad hoc team devoted to the development of 32nm technology. According to ITRS's estimation, products at the 22nm node may not be available on the market until 2015 at the earliest. As for 32nm processes, the industry is still probing the pros and cons of adopting extreme ultraviolet (EUV) or double-exposure 193i immersion lithography, according to ITRS
Posted by | Wed, Dec 06, 2006 - 11:26 AM
100 gig iPod Around the Corner?
With Toshiba's Announcement of their new mobile-PC drive, how long will it take for Apple to release a 100gig iPod? I bet we have one in time for Spring Break.
The drive, the MK1011GAH, contains two 50GB platters, and four read and write heads. The drive spins at 4,200rpm and has an average seek time of 15ms. It connects across an ATA-7 bus. The drive consumes 0.3W of power, making it ideal, Toshiba indicated, for handhelds and sub-notebooks.
Posted by | Wed, Dec 06, 2006 - 11:26 AM
CNET's James Kim Left Pants on a Steep Slope - Marker?
Authorities searching the southwest Oregon wilderness for missing CNET editor James Kim said they believe they are close to finding the missing man, who has been stranded in a remote area for 10 days. James Kim is believed to be within 5 miles of the location where the family was rescued, near the Rogue River, in the area of Bear Camp Viewpoint off Bear Camp Road. Please keep James Kim in your thoughts and everyone here at Legit Reviews hopes for the best.
A pair of gray pants found Tuesday on a steep slope near footprints is believed to belong to Kim, Anderson confirmed. He said the pants were not the blue jeans Kim was known to have been wearing when he left on foot seeking help, and added that he may have layered the gray pants on top of his jeans. Rescuers may also have found another of Kim's personal items near the pants, Anderson said. Anderson did not name the second item, but said the team was hoping to retrieve it by dropping a person down into the canyon. Snow in the canyon has started to melt, Anderson said.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 05, 2006 - 07:54 PM
NVIDIA Launches Quadro FX 3500M Graphics Solution For Workstations
NVIDIA Corporation today announced the NVIDIA Quadro FX 3500M, a high-performing mobile workstation graphics solution for CAD, Digital Content Creation, and Scientific Visualization. Pricing wasn't mentioned and none could be found listed for sale at popular online resellers when this news post was made.
Engineered to deliver unprecedented performance for accelerated workflow and shortened design cycles, the Quadro FX 3500M with support for OpenGL and DirectX, offers up to 512MB G-DDR3 memory, a 256-bit memory interface, up to 38.4GB/s memory bandwidth, and up to 2GB/s pixel read back. The Quadro FX 3500M includes adaptive power management tools designed to provide performance scalability and visualization of extensive datasets with extremely high image quality. This new Quadro FX graphics solution is available immediately as an option on the award-winning Dell Precision™ M90 system. The Dell Precision M90 is one of the most powerful mobile workstation solutions ever offered by Dell, delivering the performance and features on-the-go Engineers, Artists, and Professionals demand in an ISV-certified mobile platform.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 05, 2006 - 10:49 AM
Police kill 18 year old suspect in Sony PlayStation 3 robbery
A teenager accused of robbing a student of two new Playstation 3s on the day the popular game consoles were introduced was shot to death by police sent to arrest him. Peyton Strickland, 18, was killed Friday at a house he shared with three roommates, New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey said. Strickland’s dog, a German shepherd, also was shot to death. I'm not sure what happened, but I hope shots were fired for a good reason.
Roommate Mike Rhoton said Strickland was unarmed, but may have been holding a video game controller when he went to the door as it was bashed in by officers. The sheriff said Strickland was shot by members of a a special police unit who went to help university officers serve warrants. He would not say why the special team was assisting.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 05, 2006 - 08:51 AM
Corsair Announces Availability of 2GByte DDR2-667 Fully Buffered DIMMs
Corsair today expanded its Fully Buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) family of products to include new high density DDR2-667MHz speeds to support the latest dual-core Intel Xeon based platforms. Corsair high density high-speed FB-DIMMs offer enhanced memory throughput allowing for superior application responsiveness. Based on the JEDEC standards, the new DDR2-667Mhz FB-DIMMs are designed to provide ultimate flexibility and expandability to balance capabilities of Intel dual core processors.
Corsair is committed to support new memory technologies and to bring more scalable server memory solutions to the market. Using Corsair FB-DIMMs on the latest Intel dual core platform will result in a robust combination of hardware that provides increased productivity and reliability, with the legendary quality that Corsair is known for,” said Richard Hashim, Director of Product Marketing at Corsair.” Every Corsair FB-DIMM memory module is tested on Intel Xeon based server motherboards to guarantee utmost compatibility and is fully compliant with the JEDEC standards. The FB-DIMM memory architecture allows two channels to read and write in parallel by the memory controller, hence provide simpler interconnects. The design also provides more memory bandwidth with up to six memory channels and eight dual-rank memory modules per channel.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 05, 2006 - 08:25 AM
What's Next For Nvidia Now That G80 Launched - G84!
Fudo over at The Inq. says that NVIDIA needs a mainstream DirectX 10 capable contender and that’s what G84 is all about. He believes that the chip is derived from G80 and will have less real pipelines and one a bit smaller in overall size. This is great news for gamers and enthusiats as a $199 to $249 graphics card is the model that is affordable for most.
It is scheduled for late March or early April 2007 introduction and we can also confirm that AMD won't have its mainstream DirectX 10 to compete with this in time. So this one might once more be the dominant mainstream chip in the market. This means the birth of $199 to $249 DirectX 10 part is not that far away after all.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 05, 2006 - 08:05 AM
AMD and Hynix leap into top-10 chip supplier rankings, says iSuppli
After years of coming close to breaking into the top-10 global semiconductor rankings, AMD and Hynix Semiconductor finally hit the big time in 2006, according to research firm iSuppli. AMD's semiconductor revenue is expected to explode by a stunning 90% in 2006, which will propel the company's ranking up eight places to the world's seventh-largest chip maker for the year, iSuppli said.
According to iSuppli, AMD's revenues in 2006 are expected to increase to US$7.5 billion, up US$3.6 billion from US$3.9 billion in 2005. AMD's rapid rise in revenue this year is due to strong growth in its microprocessor sales, combined with its acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI Technologies in October. AMD is expected to achieve about 37.5% growth in its microprocessor revenue in 2006 on the strength of its highly popular dual-core products. However, the addition of ATI's revenue was a more significant factor behind AMD's near-doubling in sales for the year.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 05, 2006 - 07:57 AM
CNET editor's wife, daughters found; search continues for James Kim
The wife and two young daughters of missing CNET senior editor James Kim have been found alive and well after surviving more than a week stranded in the wilderness of southwest Oregon, authorities said Monday afternoon. Law enforcement officials plan to provide an update on the progress of the search by 10 a.m. PST Tuesday
A full-scale ground and air search has now shifted to the 35-year-old editor, who left the car on foot Saturday morning to seek help and has not yet been found, Josephine County sheriff's authorities said at a news conference in Merlin, Oregon. "He's a resourceful guy and we're hoping for the best," said Mike Weinstein, a detective with the Portland Police Bureau's Missing Persons Unit.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 05, 2006 - 07:55 AM
AMD Announces The Shift To 65nm Processors
Launching the next generation of energy-efficient computing, AMD today announced the transition to 65nm process technology, beginning with the immediate availability of energy-efficient AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 dual-core desktop processors. The move to 65nm process technology enables AMD to produce more processors on a 300mm wafer, for increased production capacity, while continuing to aggressively scale performance and reduce power consumption. More information on the move to 65nm can be found in the full press release that is linked below.
AMD processors built with 65nm line-widths are designed to deliver exceptional performance when running multiple applications, as well as enable small form factor PCs that complement both home and office environments. By mid-2007, AMD expects to be fully converted to 65nm production at Fab 36. With the rapid conversion to 65nm process technology, AMD is scaling capacity intelligently to meet growing demand worldwide for x86 processors.
Posted by | Tue, Dec 05, 2006 - 07:47 AM
Washington gets $1M settlement in first spyware case
Washington's attorney general has settled the first case prosecuted under the state's 2005 Computer Spyware Act. The company and president will pay $725,000 in legal fees and $200,000 in penalties, and reimburse the state's customers $75,000. I'm amazed that out of the $1 million dollars that was handed over only $75,000 will be handed over to the customers.
The settlement. announced Monday, is with antispyware vendor Secure Computer LLC. The White Plains, New York, software company was accused of marketing its product via deceptive spam and pop-up ads, which offered free spyware scans that always detected a problem with the computer that was scanned. The company and its president, Paul Burke, will pay $725,000 in legal fees and $200,000 in penalties, and will reimburse Washington state customers $75,000, said Paula Selis, senior council with the attorney general's office. "Given the scope of the defendants' practices and the amount of consumer harm out there, we feel this is a very fair settlement."
Posted by | Mon, Dec 04, 2006 - 08:13 PM
Take-Two Interactive Inks Deal on In-Game Advertising
Take-Two announced on Monday a deal with independent player Double Fusion for delivery of in-game ads across at least nine titles. Double Fusion will be the exclusive North American and European representative for integrated advertising opportunities in Take-Two's 2K titles debuting in 2007 and 2008. The ads will be delivered to games across all PC and most console platforms except Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360.
In-game advertising is expected to become big business. Technology research firm Yankee Group estimates that the in-game advertising market will reach $732 million by 2010, up from $56 million in 2005. "The Double-Fusion deal is incrementally a positive for Take-Two," says Chris Bouma, research analyst with Denver Investment Advisors, which owns shares of Take-Two. "There's a lot going on in the video game market and it is something that could make investors more interested in this company."
Posted by | Mon, Dec 04, 2006 - 08:10 PM
Second Life's Update Causes Concern
Second Life's grid problems from last week's system wide update bled into the weekend, leaving users unable to navigate the virtual world. The question, though, is how badly the glitches and errors are affecting the economy, and whether residents' concerns are justified. The update has not caused major repercussions in the Second Life economy. The population count has continued to rise, now just shy of the 1.8 million mark. In addition, the amount of real-life dollars changing hands in Second Life in the form of the in-world currency, the Linden dollar, is near record highs. Over the last 24 hours, nearly $655,000 has swapped between users and businesses in the virtual world.
Linden Lab released a new software version of Second Life on Wednesday, disabling the system for more than five hours during the change. Once residents downloaded the new update, they found themselves with a number of virtual headaches. Typically, the system wide updates are meant to fix bugs and make essential changes to the Second Life program that will make things run smoother for users. However, Wednesday's upgrade has done nothing to aid performance of the system and has instead added to residents' frustrations. Following Linden Lab's scheduled update, some visitors were denied the ability to log in, as the grid dealt with a bottleneck of traffic
Posted by | Mon, Dec 04, 2006 - 12:53 PM
Azureus Goes HD
Azureus, the file sharing company, today announced a new version of their P-2-P sofware introducing legal downloads of high definition (HD) video called Zudeo. We have the official press release here in our forums detailing Zudeo's effort to "freely promote and distribute digtal creations."
The company claims that users with a fat enough download pipe -- over 300 KB per second -- can view streaming DVD-quality videos on demand. This is a feature that Azureus CEO Gilles BianRosa hopes will catch the attention of video producers who are eager to display their creations on a more flattering stage.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 04, 2006 - 11:27 AM
Experts unravel secrets of ancient computer
Imagine tossing a top-notch laptop into the sea, leaving scientists from a foreign culture to scratch their heads over its corroded remains centuries later. A Roman shipmaster inadvertently did something just like it 2,000 years ago off southern Greece, experts said last week. The box-shaped mechanism — the size of office paper and operated with a hand-crank — could predict an eclipse to a precise hour on a specific day.
They claim to have identified a handful of puzzling metal scraps found in the wreck as the earliest known mechanical computing device that pinpointed astronomical events. Known as the Antikythera Mechanism — from the island off which the Roman ship sank — the assemblage of cogs and wheels looks like the innards of a very badly maintained grandfather clock.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 04, 2006 - 07:19 AM
NVIDIA Says Windows Vista Driver for Their G80 Powered Cards Coming Soon
The NVIDIA Geforce 8800 GTX and GTS have very good drivers for Windows XP, but they have yet to launch a DX10 driver for Windows Vista that supports their latest video cards. Rumor has it that the drivers will be coming out later this month and that they are looking good!
NVIDIA told world + dog that it's Geforce 8800 GTX and GTS driver is now scheduled for the middle of December. Nvidia still doesn’t want to give away the driver to its partners nor the press but some key guys were informed that the G80 driver is in a good shape and works well. We certainly hope that they are right.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 04, 2006 - 07:17 AM
Overall PC growth slows during Black Friday, Current Analysis says
Overall growth in the number of PCs sold in the US retail channel slowed during the Black Friday week of 2006, compared with the Black Friday week of 2005, according to Current Analysis. On year growth for Black Friday 2006 for all PC unit sales was 22.9%, compared to 36.2% during the same period last year. Desktop unit sales were down 7.2% and notebook unit sales were up a robust 51.6%.
The Black Friday week is traditionally the highest-volume week of the year for PCs, as holiday shoppers flock to retail outlets to take advantage of deeply discounted systems. The slowing is not all bad news for the PC industry, though, as the notebook category continued its strong performance (notebook unit sales are up 44.8% sequentially so far in 2006). The strong growth in notebooks reflects the aggressive pricing strategies that manufacturers have undertaken to boost sales during the key holiday selling season, just ahead of the launch of Microsoft's Vista operating system, said Samir Bhavnani, research director at Current Analysis.
Posted by | Mon, Dec 04, 2006 - 07:08 AM
Samsung's Latest Gun-Toting Robot
Samsung's Intelligent Surveillance and Security Guard Robot is being developed by their Techwin unit thanks to funding from the Korean government. To keep a vigil for intruders, the armed-and-dangerous bot has two cameras--one for daytime watch and another, infrared one for the night--and a laser rangefinder. Nothing was mentioned about what round the gun uses, but if I had to guess I would say something small as the housing can't store that many rounds. More on it can be found on the SamsungTechwin website.
Would someone please tell the folks at Samsung about Isaac Asimov's three laws of robotics? Specifically, the very first one, which says in its entirety: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." That's not at all the spirit of this machine-gun-toting robotic sentry that Samsung is working on.
Posted by | Sun, Dec 03, 2006 - 10:04 PM
Go Watch Sunday Football - Legit Reviews Server Maintenance
The Legit Reviews Forums will be down for a little bit as we are upgrading some hardware on the servers that power the site. Once the upgrades have been completed the site and forums will be fully functional and hopefully a bit faster for our community. Thank you for your understanding during this time of transition.
If you are bored and need something to do the Bears take their second shot at winning the NFC North this afternoon, and it'll have to come against Minnesota, the team chasing them in the standings. This game isn't the only one with playoff implications as Week 13 continues. The game is in the 1st QT with only 5:34 remaining and the score is 0 to 0!
Posted by | Sun, Dec 03, 2006 - 10:30 AM
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