Legit Reviews News History
Software industry embraces AMD's 4x4 enthusiast platform
AMD announced today broad software developer support for its upcoming four-core, multi-socket enthusiast platform, codenamed 4x4. Leading software developers including Bioware, Cakewalk, Crytek, Havok, Irrational Games, Midway, NERO and Sony have been working on software applications and games to take advantage of multi-core processors and benefit from AMD?s Direct Connect Architecture.
?We?re looking at a decidedly multi-core processor, multi-threaded application future for the PC industry,? said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president, Desktop Business, AMD. ?AMD has planned this enthusiast platform so that software developers can design outstanding multi-threaded applications for consumers who demand the very best immersive computing experience.? Multi-threaded games are among the first applications to see immediate advantages from using multi-socket, multi-threaded architectures like the upcoming 4x4 enthusiast platform and make exceptional demonstrations for new PC technologies.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 26, 2006 - 06:56 AM
Cell phone signals excite brain, study finds
ell phone emissions excite the part of the brain cortex nearest to the phone, but it is not clear if these effects are harmful, Italian researchers reported on Monday
They had 15 young male volunteers use a GSM 900 cell phone for 45 minutes. In 12 of the 15, the cells in the motor cortex adjacent to the cell phone showed excitability during phone use but returned to normal within an hour. The cortex is the outside layer of the brain and the motor cortex is known as the "excitable area" because magnetic stimulation has been shown to cause a muscle twitch.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 26, 2006 - 06:52 AM
AMD partners prepare 4x4 mobos
AMD recently had talks with its motherboard partners and revealed to them its 4x4 anti-Conroe strategy according to sources at The Inq. I'm not sure how these dual Athlon 64 FX based boards are going to sell with the processors costing over $1,000 each. Time will tell and in this day and age I'm sure many will buy it.
Nvidia taught us all that you can put two cards or even four cards together and flog them, and this is exactly what AMD wants to do. Two Athlon FX 64s in a dual-CPU motherboard will certainly give Conroe a run for its money, no matter how aggressively Intel clocks its new babies. Q4 is the target and by, Q1 2007, AMD should have established its quad-core babies to take the fight to Intel's Conroe.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 23, 2006 - 08:16 AM
Toshiba to launch world's first HD DVD recorder for $3,466
Toshiba Corp. said it planned the launch of the first next-generation, high-definition optical disc recorder based on the HD DVD format on July 14 in Japan as it intensifies competition with rival Blu-ray products. Toshiba, which already debuted the world's first HD DVD player in March, expects the new recorder, equipped with a 1 terabyte hard disk, to sell for $3,466. Doesn't look like I'll be getting one any time soon!
Toshiba is a leading proponent of next-generation HD DVD optical disk technology, which competes with the Blu-ray standard promoted by Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., a maker of Panasonic brand electronics. Their failure to settle on a unified format has paved the way for a costly battle, similar to the VHS-Betamax war which caused widespread customer confusion in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. "This is a new product packed with our engineers' and all our employees' dreams and passion," Toshiba Corporate Senior Vice President Yoshihide Fujii told a news conference on Thursday. "The price might have surprised you. But this is the kind of product that I would want to buy even for 1 million yen."
Posted by | Fri, Jun 23, 2006 - 08:13 AM
AMD, Intel Serve 70 Subpoenas
The legal brigades of Advanced Micro Devices and Intel sprang into action Wednesday, serving more than 70 companies with subpoenas in the latest phase of a court battle between the two chipmakers. It looks like this is going to be a long battle!
The list of third parties receiving document requests is a who's who of the tech industry, ranging from PC makers to software firms and electronics retailers. AMD sent subpoenas to 32 companies Wednesday, including PC makers Alienware (which was recently acquired by Dell), retailer Wal-Mart and software firms Adobe and BEA Systems. The document requests represents AMD's second major batch of subpoenas, following its initial round of third-party subpoenas in October.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 23, 2006 - 08:10 AM
Intel Says They Have a Sufficient Core 2 Duo 'Conroe' Processors Supply
Intel intends to strengthen its relationship with channel players by not only quoting the same desktop CPU prices to OEM and channel players, but it has also promised to supply sufficient Core 2 Duo processors to the channel market when the processors come out in July, according to sources in the channel market. Intel is looking to gain back merket share from AMD and if this Conroe launch goes well they just might do that.
ntel used to provide larger-quantity orders and rebates to OEMs, with the price gap ranging from 10% to 30% between its price offerings to OEM and channel players, indicated the sources. As reported on May 26, Taiwan makers have been informed by Intel that the chip giant will give the same quotes to OEMs and channel companies, as well as the same quantity of orders, after upcoming price reductions on July 23. In addition, the new CPU prices that Intel is going to publish on July 23 will still have a price gap of up to US$6 between prices offered to OEMs and the channel, stated the makers
Posted by | Fri, Jun 23, 2006 - 08:06 AM
Intel opens Fab 24-2 in Leixlip, Ireland
Intel Corp. inaugurated a factory Thursday that manufactures the semiconductor company's newest chips, using an industry-leading technology that allows computers to work faster using less energy. Bring on the 65nm processors!
Chief Executive Paul Otellini officially opened the Fab 24-2 plant in Leixlip, west of Dublin, Intel's major manufacturing base in Europe since 1989. The plant, which began production three months ago, joins similar facilities in two U.S. states in making Intel's most efficient microprocessor, the chips that run computers and other electronic devices. Intel's first plant that uses circuit widths of 65 nanometers (a human hair is about roughly 80,000 nanometers in diameter) began production last year in Portland, Ore. The second started up earlier this year in Chandler, Ariz.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 22, 2006 - 07:07 AM
Quanta snatches 1 million Dell notebook orders from Compal
Quanta Computer has recently snatched from its chief competitor, Compal Electronics, a Dell order for 1 million units of a 15.4-inch notebook model! Now that is a ton of notebook orders! Someone in sales over at Compal has some explaining to do.
Quanta is expected to ship 10 million notebooks to Dell next year, retaking the crown from Compal as the US vendor's biggest notebook supplier, the paper said. Quanta will ship a total of 8.8 million notebooks in the first half of 2006, up 25.7% from the same period of last year, while Compal will ship 5.5 million notebooks in the first half of this year, up 22.2% on-year, according to the paper.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 22, 2006 - 07:04 AM
OCZ Technology Stock Starts Trading at 19 Percent Premium
California-based OCZ Technology began trading at a 19% premium to its issue price when the computer components maker listed on London?s AIM today. Congrats to OCZ for becoming listed and raising millions of dollars this week. We know that OCZ has been working on this for a number of years and it's good to see things working out for OCZ.
OCZ, whose high-performance components increase the speed and reliability of computers for the commercial and retail markets, raised £4.9m from a placing at 65p, valuing the firm at £27.2m. The company focuses on products for the high-performance and consumer memory sectors, computer power supply units and portable memory storage (flash).
Posted by | Thu, Jun 22, 2006 - 07:01 AM
US FCC: Internet phones must pay into subsidy fund
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday voted to require Internet telephone services like Vonage Holdings Corp. to contribute to the universal service subsidy program. With Vonage's IPO leaving their customers that bought the reserved shares at $17.25 hurting (currently $8.90) the FCC price hike is going to add salt to the wounds. I wonder how many customers will be leaving in the upcoming months.
The agency also decided to increase the amount wireless telephone providers would have to pay into the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes phone service to rural and low-income households as well as communications services and Internet access for schools, hospitals and libraries. The move may lead to higher bills for wireless and Internet telephone customers because the companies typically pass the fees on to subscribers.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 21, 2006 - 08:30 AM
Rumor: AMD considering plant site in upstate New York
State leaders and semiconductor maker Advanced Micro Devices are in discussions to build a $3.5 billion chip manufacturing plant that could bring 2,000 permanent jobs to upstate New York, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said Tuesday. Good news for the United States as more jobs are staying here and also New York for getting 2,000 high tech job positions.
AMD, based in Sunnyvale, is considering two possible locations for the plant: One in a technology park about 25 miles north of Albany and the other on an 800-acre site in the central New York town of Marcy the state purchased 25 years ago.``They have narrowed their search to New York,'' Silver said. ``These are the two sites.'' Silver met with representatives of AMD to discuss terms of an agreement
Posted by | Wed, Jun 21, 2006 - 08:23 AM
H-P Resellers will get a 50 percent jump in compensation
Resellers selling H-P systems will be happy to learn that H-P is going to increase their compensation on select systems by up to 50%. This is a huge increase and hopefully the systems will be those that consumers need, otherwise consumers are going to be buying the wrong things.
Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's largest printer maker and No. 2 personal computer company, boosted compensation for partners who sell to business customers in the United States, Canada and Latin America to expand sales this year. Resellers will get a 50 percent jump in compensation for selling certain PCs, server computers, printers and services by the close of the fiscal year in October, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard said Tuesday.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 21, 2006 - 08:21 AM
Intel Price Cuts and World Cup Soccer Slow NAND Flash Sales
Is everyone watching the World Cup? It seems that the World Cup and the fact that Intel is cutting processor prices in July has put the hurting on NAND Flash pricing. With sufficient inventory already built up in the market, spot transactions in the week from June 13-20 were constrained, and the World Cup also temporally puts NAND flash trading on hold, according to DRAMeXchange.
The firm commented that overall DRAM demand remains low as Intel has pushed back demand to the the third quarter by not hiding its plan to cut CPU prices in July. With chipmakers facing pressure from mid-year financial reporting, the market saw some inventory clearing as well, which strained prices further, especially from the second half of June. NAND flash trading was also sluggish last week amid limited transactions due to the World Cup in Europe. Industry players have already prepared their stocks and are in no hurry to secure supply from the spot market.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 21, 2006 - 08:18 AM
Electronics Arts Buys Mythic
Electronic Arts is expanding its realm, agreeing on Tuesday to purchase Mythic Entertainment, developer of Dark Age of Camelot, an online multiplayer game. The move is only the latest in an ongoing effort by EA, the leading video-game publisher, to diversify its products beyond traditional console games. This buy sounds like a smart move to me and I like the guys over at Mythic and their upcoming title Warhammer.
EA already owns Ultima Online, one of the most popular multiplayer online-gaming titles, and the acquisition of privately held Mythic could help the company as it attempts to tap into the video-game market in China. Because of piracy concerns, game publishers typically don't sell console games in China. Instead, the video games there are largely played online. In addition to Dark Age of Camelot, Mythic is developing a multiplayer online version of Warhammer.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 21, 2006 - 08:15 AM
Opera 9 Released with Widgets and BitTorrent Support
Opera Software today released Opera 9, its newest Web browser for PCs. You can download it free in more than 25 languages for Windows, Mac, Linux and other platforms from www.opera.com. Opera 9 enhances the way you access, share and use online content by including innovative widgets - fun, small and useful Web programs - and support for BitTorrent(TM), the popular file distribution technology.
"For Opera 9, we worked hard to push the limits of what people expect from a Web browser, with increased speed, new Web standards support and innovative features such as widgets and BitTorrent," said Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "Even though we shaped this browser for the Web?s future, we have the powerful features people want and need for their surfing today. I truly feel Opera 9 has something for everyone."
Posted by | Tue, Jun 20, 2006 - 07:30 AM
Bill Gates' Legacy: Microsoft's Top 10 Flops
Gates will be remembered as a visionary and PC industry leader. But even Microsoft's Chairman hasn't been right in all of his bets. Microsoft-Watch has a top 10 list of his flops that is well worth a look for all in the tech industry.
10. No Microsoft Linux!: Microsoft could have and should have done its own version of Linux. It could have bought a Linux distro vendor or just christened some branch of Windows (with some Unix-compatibility add-ons) as Microsoft Linux. By doing this, Microsoft could have thrown a real monkey wrench into Linux companies' plans. Instead, Microsoft continues to spend lots of money, time and attention fighting open-source software on a whole host of fronts. They should have joined the camp, rather than obsessing on beating them.
Posted by | Tue, Jun 20, 2006 - 07:24 AM
L.A. to use surveillance drones
In the months ahead, the Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Department will test an unmanned, remote-controlled surveillance plane. The next time you think that you are being watched look up and search the sky for a drone.
Depending on the outcome of the tests, the department could eventually put as many as 20 of the aircraft into service, expanding their use to searching for suspects on the run and monitoring hostage situations, among other things. The drones would be used in addition to the sheriff?s fleet of 18 helicopters. ?We?re really beyond the cutting edge,? said sheriff?s Cmdr. Sid Heal, who heads the department?s technology exploration project. ?We think this has great potential.?
Posted by | Tue, Jun 20, 2006 - 07:20 AM
Georgia Tech/IBM Demonstrate 500 GHz Silicon-Germanium Transistor
A research team from IBM and the Georgia Institute of Technology has demonstrated the first silicon-germanium transistor able to operate at frequencies above 500 GHz. Though the record performance was attained at extremely cold temperatures, the results suggest that the upper bound for performance in silicon-germanium devices may be higher than originally expected.
The silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors built by the IBM-Georgia Tech team operated at frequencies above 500 GHz at 4.5 Kelvins (451 degrees below zero Fahrenheit) - a temperature attained using liquid helium cooling. At room temperature, these devices operated at approximately 350 GHz. Performance measurements were made using a specialized high-frequency test system in the Georgia Electronic Design Center.
Posted by | Tue, Jun 20, 2006 - 07:11 AM
Kingston Launches Mobile Phone Village Web Community
Kingston Technology Company, Inc. today announced it is launching a special portal within the Flash products area of the Kingston Web site to support the usage and promote the benefits surrounding expansion memory for feature-rich mobile phones. Dedicated to serving the growing global community of mobile phone consumers, the new Kingston Mobile Phone Village will enlighten visitors on topics ranging from selecting the right Flash memory card for a particular device to tips on using and optimizing memory with certain mobile applications, and more.
To celebrate the Village launch, Kingston and Handango are offering promotional discounts on popular content downloads and will continue to encourage consumers to personalize their mobile memory with specials throughout the year. Consumers can access the promotion through the Mobile Phone Village. The first phase of the Kingston Mobile Phone Village features a custom configurator to help visitors easily determine the best memory for their mobile device and will include other areas of interest, such as: a Tip Square to highlight how-to's for various applications on mobile devices; a newsstand sharing latest developments; an Expansion Row providing factoids about expansion memory uses; and a Product Plaza featuring the different types of Flash memory card formats. Additional mobile content will be added to the portal, www.kingston.com/mpv as it is developed.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 19, 2006 - 10:23 AM
Dutch site linking to MP3 files loses court case
A Dutch music website which links to MP3 files had to stop promoting the infringement of artist rights and copyrights, the Dutch court of appeal said in a ruling that overturned an earlier one in favor of the site. I'm not sure about the $13,000 a day fine, but I'm sure there has been worse.
The website www.zoekmp3.nl, operated by Techno Design, had been taken down on Monday after the ruling on Friday which said that failure to comply with the injunction would lead to fines of 10,000 euros ($12,590) per day, or 1,000 euros per infringing file. Techno Design will also have to pay damages, with the amount to be determined at a later stage. Making mp3 files available on the internet is illegal under Dutch law, where it is done without the permission of the copyright owner.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 19, 2006 - 06:33 AM
Nestle buys Jenny Craig diet firm for $600 million
Switzerland's Nestle bought U.S. weight-loss company Jenny Craig for around $600 million, it said on Monday, expanding its high-margin nutrition and health business. I'm not sure how the diet community will react when they start seeing Nestle candy pop up in diet plans!
Nestle, the world's largest food company, bought the California-based company from a private equity group including ACI Capital and MidOcean Partners, it said, adding the deal would not dilute group earnings. "This acquisition will ... reinforce Nestle Nutrition's presence in the USA, the world's largest nutrition and weight management market," Nestle said in a statement. Jenny Craig offers its products in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 19, 2006 - 06:32 AM
UBS Slaps a Buy on Intel Stock
Headcount reductions and improving microprocessor unit sales should help Intel raise margins over the next two years, UBS argued in upgrading the shares to buy from hold Monday. UBS also raised its Intel price target to $23 from $21, reflecting a higher 2007 earnings estimate of $1.28 a share and a higher estimate of Intel's price-to-earnings multiple.
The brokerage expects Intel's year-over-year growth in microprocessor unit sales to go from nothing to near 10% by the end of 2006, then remain in the double digits through 2007, in part because of the Microsoft Vista release. Intel's shares, down 26% for the year, are trading near a three-year low. UBS believes the stock will climb back to levels of late 2005.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 19, 2006 - 06:28 AM
ATI to begin 80nm production at UMC later this year
In addition to scheduling 80nm production at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for September, ATI Technologies will begin producing its graphics processor (GPU) on an 80nm manufacturing process at United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) in the second half of 2006, according to industry sources. If this is true that means we could see ATI's R600 based graphics cards in early 2007.
The sources indicated that UMC had gained ATI validation on its 80nm production node and volume production should officially start in the second half of this year, and the move should help ATI diversify its foundry partners and reduce its production risk. In related news, the sources suggested that Nvidia has also started placing limited amount of orders at UMC for 90nm production.
Posted by | Mon, Jun 19, 2006 - 06:26 AM
Core 2 Extreme benchmarks hit the scene. Should AMD worry?
If you're into the electrical engineering side of the equation, the slides should make your mouth mater with anticipation. For the rest of us, we rely on the numbers, and there's certainly no shortage of them. The Core 2 Extreme X6800 steals the show from AMD's AM2 FX-62 in nearly every test, all the while drawing considerably less power. While the numbers for these specific processors likely won't mean much to the average consumer or even enthusiast, the low end and mid range products are spun off the flagship chips, so it's a useful comparison of products that will me made on the same architechture and fabrication process. If you don't understand Chinese, don't worry. Just skip a few pages over to the charts which use standard English labelled benchmarks.
Posted by | Sun, Jun 18, 2006 - 04:18 PM
ATI's R600 80nm Core Still on Track According to ATI
Edward Chou, marketing director of ATI Technologies Asia-Pacific division, responded to earlier reports that its 80-nanometer (80nm) production has been delayed by saying that ATI has succeeded in completing trial production of its 80nm graphics chips. Chou estimates that ATI will start switching its complete graphics processing unit (GPU ) lineup to an 80nm manufacturing process at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) from September.
The ATI RV560 and RV570 chips will feature the company's CrossFire dual-card graphics technology and will target the mainstream market, whereas the entry-level RV516 and RV505 will each feature a 128-bit memory interface, said the sources. In addition, ATI will also introduce the 64-bit RV505CE chip to compete with Nvidia's G73 series, the sources added. The sources further indicated that ATI plans to release a transitional GPU, the R580+, prior to the R600 launch and that it would be available by the end of this year. Chou declined to comment on the year-end availability of ATI's high-end R600 chip, which is aimed to compete with the Nvidia G80.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 16, 2006 - 10:14 AM
Blu-ray Disc ready to hit play next Tuesday
Blu-ray format finally set to launch next week--with seven movie titles! The first batch of seven Blu-ray titles, all from Sony Pictures Home ntertainment, are scheduled to arrive in stores Tuesday. The first Blu-ray player, from Samsung, is slated to go on sale five days later.
SPHE president Benjamin Feingold said about 15,000 copies of each title are being shipped to retailers that also will carry the player, including Best Buy, Circuit City and Amazon.com. "It's really about where there is hardware," he said. Retailers also are receiving corrugated cardboard displays with the Blu-ray Disc logo and the sell line "Experience High Definition Today." The standees hold three rows of three titles each.
Posted by | Fri, Jun 16, 2006 - 10:12 AM
Bill Gates Leaving Microsoft...
Microsoft Co-founder, Bill Gates announced today that he be will greatly reducing his role at the world's largest software company. Gates will remain Microsoft's chairman, but he will be devoting most of his time to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an organization that endows funding, grants and donations to schools, health organizations and charities around the world.
In a surprise announcement, Microsoft revealed that co-founder, Chairman, and former CEO Bill Gates will be giving up his day-to-day duties at Microsoft. Gates is relinquishing his title of Chief Software Architect now, but will continue to be involved in the company's operations on a daily basis until July 2008. He will then stay on as Chairman of the Board and an advisor on "key development projects" after the transition is complete.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 15, 2006 - 03:43 PM
Intel Moves to Beat AMD in Quad-core Race
Intel is ready to attain leadership in performance and energy efficiency over rival Advanced Micro Devices during the coming months, with processors that continue to be built differently than those of other companies, according to an official with the chip-making giant. Intel was the first to bring out a dual-core processors known as the 'Prescott' and a couple years down the road that move might not have been the best choice possible. I'm not happy with the rumor that Intel is going to launch a part at the sacrifice of some performance just to get its "Clovertown" chip on the market before AMD's offerings. Been there done that and AMD took off with better performing parts.
Speaking at a conference June 13 in New York hosted by analyst firm Bear Stearns Security, Dileep Bhandarkar, architect at large for Intel, in Santa Clara, said that when Intel's quad-core "Clovertown" is released in the first half of 2007, it will be a single package of two dual-core chips, and that the chips will not have the memory controller integrated into the chip.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 15, 2006 - 05:13 AM
Mobile players form Linux platform pact to open-source code
A group of the world's mobile operators and handset makers said on Thursday they are to join together to develop an open-source Linux-based operating system that could to be used in phones by the end of 2007.
Mobile network operators Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo and handset makers Motorola, Samsung, NEC and Panasonic, said they would form an independent not-for-profit group to share the costs and speed up mobile software and handsets and cut the number of operating platforms on the market. Similar to PCs, mobile devices use operating systems onto which applications such as text messaging and video and music players are loaded, much like a computer program would be loaded onto Microsoft's Windows platform or Apple's OS X.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 15, 2006 - 05:09 AM
U.S. console game sales fell 10 percent in May
U.S. console video game software sales fell 10.2 percent in May to $286.1 million as the industry continues to work through a transition to new console technology that has kept many consumers to the sidelines, market research group NPD said Wednesday.
Consumers are awaiting Sony's launch of its Playstation 3 console in November and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s launch of its Wii console in the fourth quarter. Microsoft Corp. introduced its Xbox 360 last year. NPD measures nearly two-thirds of video game retail sales in the United States and makes projections for the remainder of the market. Its May data excludes sales of PC games.
Posted by | Thu, Jun 15, 2006 - 05:03 AM
AMD Slows Down AM2 2x1MB Cache Desktop CPU Marketing
According to various news posts around the web it seems that AMD is up to something with their larger cache AM2 processors. No word on to exactly what is going on, but I'm sure things will be clear in the following weeks.
AMD representatives are telling its CPU distributors to play down 2x1MB L2 cache Windsor processor sales in favor of the 2x512KB AM2 parts. Several days ago, DailyTech published the entire AMD July 24th pricing guide complete with price cuts across the board. The price list was surprisingly devoid of AMD 2x1MB cache CPUs, and today we know the reason why
Posted by | Wed, Jun 14, 2006 - 01:04 PM
Chicago Cubs First Baseball Team to go Wireless
The Chicago Cubs are the first major league baseball team to utilize wireless technology to communicate between the dugout and the bullpin. Its amazing that no major league team has gone wireless yet! Now, if only this change could improve the Cubbies record... 'Go Cards!'
The Cubs and Motorola, who announced the arrangement Monday for both the home and visiting dugouts and bullpens, said it will be the first wireless bullpen phone system used by a major league team. Cubs officials approached Major League Baseball with the idea last November after watching a playoff game in which a team had problems communicating with its bullpen, according to John McDonough, the Cubs' senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 14, 2006 - 08:47 AM
NVIDIA Told That Their AGP Bridge Chip Is No Longer Being Produced
IBM, which makes AGP bridge chips for NVIDIA, informed NVIDIA Corporation that they will no longer going to produce the bridge chip needed for NVIDIA to have any AGP cards. This leaves Nvidia rushing to find another foundry partner for the bridge chip while their supply continues to decrease. No word on how long the current inventory will last, but I'm sure they will have some stock on hand.
"IBM is no longer going to produce the bridge chip needed for Nvidia to have an AGP part," said Chris Caso, an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. (Arlington, Vir.), in a report. "Our checks indicate that IBM has notified Nvidia it would no longer be able to produce the 'bridge chip' that provides the AGP interface on Nvidia's low-end graphics cards."
Posted by | Wed, Jun 14, 2006 - 07:45 AM
The Sony PS3 Cell Processor Will Go 65nm in 2007
Ken Kutaragi, Sony Computer Entertainment President, revealed today in an interview with Japan's Impress Watch that the PS3's Cell processor will make the switch to a 65nm manufacturing process in 2007. The move to a smaller die means that Sony will save some money on each processor and that the processors will consume less power.
The Cell is in production at IBM's Fishkill and Sony's Nagasaki fabrication facilities. Currently, the chip is being produced using a 90nm process. Switching to a 65nm process will reduce costs, potentially leading to a price reduction of components that use the chip.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 14, 2006 - 07:38 AM
Intel Scores A Coup With Conroe
In offering up teasers for Conroe, its new family of processors due to ship in July, Intel has scored its biggest media coup in a long time. Alexander Wolfe posted his thoughts about Conroe in his blog this morning and is worth a quick look for those interested.
While Intel will likely steal the headlines this week for Conroe (more formally, the Core 2 line), one should point out that the reason the Intel news is so notable is that AMD's desktop dual-core Athlon family has itself been front and center for the past year. AMD recently extended the high end of that line with two new processors, which are also earning plaudits. The upshot is, it looks like we finally have a decent dual-core duel on our hands. While the battle rages on the technology front, it's likely that we'll see a price-cutting war on the consumer front.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 14, 2006 - 07:32 AM
EBay to add 'Skype me' button
EBay Inc. said Tuesday that it would add a "Skype Me" button to certain categories of listings, allowing prospective buyers to contact sellers directly through the Internet phone service it acquired last year for $2.6 billion. Pretty nice if you ask me!
EBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman said the function is one way the company was pressing its "Power of Three" strategy to make the most of its acquisitions of the PayPal online payment service in 2002 and Luxembourg-based Skype last year. "Each of these businesses is incredibly powerful on its own," Whitman told about 15,000 eBay buyers, sellers, partners and employees at a convention in Las Vegas. "EBay is No. 1 in e-commerce, PayPal is No. 1 in online payments and Skype is No. 1 in voice communications."
Posted by | Wed, Jun 14, 2006 - 06:34 AM
Dell seen using AMD chip in desktop PC come September
Dell Inc., the world's largest personal computer maker, is expected to offer a desktop PC using a microprocessor from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in September, Citigroup Inc. analysts said on Tuesday. It was bound to happen and now we have a date for it to take place by!
Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn declined to comment on the note. Yeung said details of the desktop computer's configuration were not available. Installing AMD chips in desktop computers would be a further step in Dell's budding relationship with Advanced Micro Devices after Dell for 22 years exclusively used processors from chipmaker Intel Corp.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 14, 2006 - 06:04 AM
Asustek sees great potential to develop white-box notebooks
Asustek Computer has mapped out a long-term plan to develop white-box notebooks as the company sees a great growth potential for the entire notebook market, including the no-brand segment, until 2009, according to sources at the company. With Intel's push for the development of the clone notebook market, white-box notebooks will become a major segment of the global PC industry, the sources stated.
In addition to establishing an exclusive business unit to handle white-box notebooks in March, Asustek began to ship no-brand notebooks in April and also highlighted its white-box models at the Computex 2006 IT trade fair, which ended on June 10, the sources indicated. By working with Intel to cultivate the clone notebook market, Asustek has an opportunity to grab notebook orders with a higher level of profitability.
Posted by | Wed, Jun 14, 2006 - 05:57 AM
PCs Show Signs of Life as Q1 2006 Results Come In
According to industry research firm IDC, PC sales in the first quarter were higher than expected, thanks to international demand. In a report released Tuesday, IDC said worldwide PC shipments grew 12.6% during the first three months of the year, compared with projections made in March of 11.8% growth.
IDC raised its full-year estimates for 2006 to 10.8% growth from 10.5% growth. In 2007, IDC now expects PC sales to increase 11.7%, up nearly one percentage point from its prior estimate. The firm trimmed its growth estimates for 2009 and 2010 slightly but said that total PC shipments through 2010 will nonetheless come in higher than expected. Total PC shipments in 2010 will reach 334 million units, up from the 208 million units shipped last year.
Posted by | Tue, Jun 13, 2006 - 10:04 AM
Kingston Launches 2-GB miniSD and MMCmobile Cards
Kingston Technology Company, Inc., today announced it is producing larger capacity miniSD and MMCmobile Flash memory cards to support the growing storage demands of feature-rich mobile phones. The new mobile memory cards are immediately available in 2-GB capacities.
"As consumers become more knowledgeable on the variety of features and functions offered by new multifunction mobile handsets, the need for larger capacity Flash memory continues to increase to optimize the devices? storage capabilities,? said Keyla Velazquez, mobile media product manager, Kingston. ?Our research of the emerging global mobile market indicates a growing demand for higher capacities to allow users to store even more data, music, photos and video. For example, a 2-GB memory card can hold up to 1,100 photos, depending on a device?s megapixel, resolution and compression,? continued Velazquez.
Posted by | Tue, Jun 13, 2006 - 07:17 AM