Legit Reviews News History
Rumor: AMD and ATI To Ask Shareholders For Merger Approval
With AMD and ATI merger rumors going around for nearly a month now it wouldn't be shocking if it was true, but who knows. Today The Inq. posted up a news story saying that it will happen right after the weekend when the new work week starts. None of our sources confirmed anything, so add this rumor to the mill.
It's an interesting idea - AMD doesn't quite have the shekels in the bank to buy ATI outright. The deal, subject to shareholder approval, may still founder. If the deal goes through, Nvidia and its SNAP partnership with AMD will definitely be reconsidered and Nvidia will all of a sudden become a super underdog compared to the new juggernaut. It may also stop the endless bickering between ATI and Nvidia that's entertained the world+dog for some years now. AMD will be glad to get its hands on ATI's very profitable handheld division. The firm needs good chipsets and will also benefit from a great consumer digital chip segment. It will also like the integrated graphics business and will now get a piece of this action.
Posted by | Fri, Jul 21, 2006 - 08:14 AM | Comments
Toshiba to mass-produce microSD memory cards
Toshiba will begin mass-production of microSD memory cards, the world's smallest, in September, aiming to take market share amid strong demand for smaller cards, the Nihon Keizai business daily said on Friday.
The paper said Toshiba will make 3 million to 4 million units a month. MicroSD cards measure 15 by 11 by 1 millimeter, about a quarter the size of the miniSD cards commonly used in mobile phones. The company has been producing microSD cards since last fall, but like other SD card manufacturers including Matsushita Electric Industrial, it had not began mass output due to high production costs and a lack of devices that are compatible with the cards, the paper said.
Posted by | Fri, Jul 21, 2006 - 08:11 AM | Comments
Dell Sinks 13 Percent on Lower Guidance
For the second time in two months, the personal computer maker took a knife to earnings estimates Friday, predicting net income of 21 cents to 23 cents a share on sales of $14 billion in the second quarter. Analysts were looking for earnings of 32 cents a share on sales of $14.23 billion. Right now shares are down $3.09 (-13.98%) with the last trade going for $19.01.
Shares of the Round Rock, Texas, computer maker tanked $2.61, or 12%, to $19.25 Friday morning. Earlier, the stock fell to $19.05, its lowest price since September 2001. "These estimates primarily reflect aggressive pricing in a slowing commercial market worldwide," Dell said.
Posted by | Fri, Jul 21, 2006 - 08:09 AM | Comments
World Cup slows PC sales in Q2
PC market growth slowed during the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year as the World Cup soccer tournament distracted Europeans, leading to a steep slow down in shipment growth on the continent, market researcher IDC said in a report. This just goes to show you how sports can impact the world economy!
Global PC shipment growth softened to 9.7 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, from a blistering 12.9 percent pace during the first quarter, IDC said. "While overall growth remained strong, there were some unexpected twists in regional performance. Inventory from the first quarter and distractions from the World Cup significantly cut into European growth," the market researcher said.
Posted by | Thu, Jul 20, 2006 - 08:22 AM | Comments
AMD to widen price cuts for Athlon 64 X2
According to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (EDN), sources at channel motherboard makers are indicating that AMD has decided to widen its originally-planned price cuts for its Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processors, on July 24, by up to 55%. As reported on June 22, the pricing of AMD's Athlon 64 X2 processors was expected to be reduced by up to only 46%.
Market sources, compiled by investment bank Fubon Securities, have indicated that AMD will not only attempt to match Intel's new price levels for its processors, when it reduces prices on July 24, but the vendor also plans to offer steeper discounts. AMD originally planned to reduce prices for its dual-core Athlon 64 X2, Athlon 64, and Sempron by 40%-50%, 20%-50% and 10%-20%, respectively, on July 24. Now, the price reductions have been enlarged, with a price drop of 50%-60% for the Athlon 64 X2, 40%-60% for the Athlon 64 line and 20%-30% for the Sempron series, according to the sources.
Posted by | Thu, Jul 20, 2006 - 08:10 AM | Comments
ATI's X1950 XTX Shows 7 Percent Gains Over X1900XTX's
We just published an article today showing how top end gaming systems are often GPU limited and happened to use the ATI X1900XTX as the graphics card. Today Fudo is reporting that ATI is coming out with an R580+ GPU that will be used on an X1900XTX video card. With the move to faster GDDR4 and an updated core these upcoming cards are rumored to be 7% faster than the current leading card from ATI. This is good news for gamers as we need faster graphics cards to play this games at high resolutions.
ATI'S UPCOMING R580+ based card will sit at around the ?399 price mark when it arrives next month. We expect it to start off at ?419 but will soon drop to ?399. ATI wants to push this card hard and is dropping the price to fight Nvidia's 7950 GX2 card. It will still be slower than the doubled-up GX2 but we are sure that two X1950 XTXes will beat the single 7950 GX2. It may even give quad SLI to run for its money. The cards will surface in late August and should be available from launch. We know that they will use GDDR 4 and that will end up seven percent faster from the current X1900 XTX cards.
Posted by | Wed, Jul 19, 2006 - 08:14 AM | Comments
Intel Merom CPU to top 50% of Intel notebook processors in 1Q 2007
Intel plans to raise the proportion of Merom to over 50% of its notebook processor shipments of in the first quarter of 2007, making 64-bit dual-core models the mainstream in the notebook market, according to industry sources. My sources have told me that Merom is roughly 20% faster than the dual-core Yonah processor!
Intel's latest plan will reduce production of its Yonah processors in the fourth quarter, and by the end of the 2006, Yonah processors will only account for 30% of Intel's notebook processor shipments, down from the current 50%, the sources revealed. By the end of the first half of 2007, Yonah processors will total less than 10%, the sources added. While Intel is expected to officially unveil its Merom processors by the end of July, volume production may only begin in mid-August, and the first Intel-based 64-bit dual-core notebooks may not hit shelves until the end of August, the sources pointed out.
Posted by | Wed, Jul 19, 2006 - 08:10 AM | Comments
Mushkin Enhanced Launches New HP-550 Power Supply
Mushkin Enhanced, a leading manufacturer in high-performance computer components, has announced the addition of the HP-550 Power Supply to their current power supply series that includes the XP-650. Legit Reviews just recently looked at the XP-650 power supply and found that it passed all of our stress testing on the latest AMD and Intel gaming test platforms.
The Mushkin HP-550 power supply is designed to offer the mainstream user quiet, stable and trouble-free operation for virtually any usage pattern. "The HP-550 provides a price/performance point that is highly competitive in today's PSU Market," says Brian Flood, Mushkin Research and Development Director, "With this unit we are able to attract a wider customer base without sacrificing the high level of quality Mushkin loyalists expect." The Mushkin HP-550, like its predecessor, includes Mushkin unique features such as RailFusion, Advanced Thermal & Acoustic Design, and VersaPlug. The Mushkin HP-550 power supply unit will be followed by a series of other high-performance power supplies.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 18, 2006 - 01:18 PM | Comments
HD Moore posts Google-based malware
HD Moore, a well-known security researcher, has released code that can be used to mine Google Inc.'s database for malicious software. Using a database of digital fingerprints of known malware -- called "signatures" -- the Malware Search tool uses the popular search engine to find a number of known worms and viruses. HD Moore put a site up on Monday thay allows the public to search the database here.
Though Google is widely used to search the Internet for Web pages and office documents, the search engine also can peek through the binary information stored in the normally unreadable executable (.exe) files that are run by Windows computers. Google won't say when it added this feature, but it has gained the attention of security researchers over the past three months. Moore built his tool to help shed some light on how much malware was actually being indexed by Google, he said. His findings: not much. When the security researcher examined a sample of about 4G bytes of executable code, he found that very few of the programs were malicious. "You can search for malware, but it's not a big risk," he said. Of the approximately 2,400 samples he examined, 125 contained malware. More than 90 of these popped up as part of malicious e-mail messages stored in online e-mail archives. The rest of the samples came from Web sites that were actively distributing malware.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 18, 2006 - 08:40 AM | Comments
Video game sales rose 25 percent in June
Nintendo of America's "New Super Mario Bros" grabbed the No. 1 spot on the U.S. video game sales chart in June for the second month in a row with 453,000 units sold, according to market research firm NPD Group. The title, for the Nintendo DS portable player, is the latest version of the iconic game starring Italian plumber Mario and his brother Luigi. I don't care what title is number one as long as the game sales are going back up!
Video game sales rose 25 percent in June to $844.5 million, according to NPD, which measures nearly two-thirds of video game retail sales in the United States and makes projections on the remainder of the market.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 18, 2006 - 08:08 AM | Comments
IBM's second-quarter results looking blue
The sentiment surrounding IBM's second-quarter results has looked rather blue as analysts near and far have stepped up to temper their expectations for the company's performance while the stock has reset new 52-week lows. The entire tech sector has had a rough past few months with Vista being delayed, so hopefully nobody is shocked by this news.
Since IBM last reported its quarterly numbers, investors have avoided the shares. Mirroring the pattern of many technology stocks, shares of the IT services giant have slipped about $10 lower than what investors were willing to pay in April. The stock closed Monday at $73.70.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 18, 2006 - 08:06 AM | Comments
Microsoft files 26 U.S. piracy lawsuits
Microsoft Corp. has filed 26 lawsuits accusing U.S. companies of selling pirated software, the latest move in its ramped-up efforts to boost sales by cracking down on illegal copies.
The world's largest software maker filed the lawsuits Friday in federal courts in Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, South Carolina, New York and New Jersey. The lawsuits accuse the companies of selling illegal copies of its Windows operating system and Office business software. The lawsuits are the latest in Microsoft's increasingly aggressive steps to curb piracy of its two flagship products ? and cash cows? Windows and Office. The company has begun widespread distribution of a program, called Windows Genuine Advantage, that checks whether users are running legitimate copies of Windows. And it scored a coup earlier this year when China agreed to crack down on piracy.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 18, 2006 - 08:02 AM | Comments
Movielink Allows Users To Backup Downloaded DVD Movies
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Movielink has purchased technology from software company Sonic Solutions that makes it possible for customers to transfer the movies they download onto DVDs, according to a Sonic Solutions' spokesman. This is great news for all those that legally pay for a movie and would like to watch it on device other than their personal computer.
In the past, top Hollywood studios--fearful of illegal copies being made by pirates--demanded that movies be protected by strict digital rights management software (DRM), which prevents movies from being copied to DVD. The problem with such a strategy was that many customers resented being forced to watch them on their PCs, analysts say. Now, Sonic Solutions is providing DVD-burning software that comes equipped with DRM protection, which would prevent the making of numerous copies, according to a statement from Sonic Solutions.
Posted by | Mon, Jul 17, 2006 - 03:04 PM | Comments
Intel Employees Are Working From Bomb Shelters In Israel
Several barrages of rockets fired by Hezbollah guerillas in southern Lebanon hit the Israeli port city of Haifa on Sunday. The coastal city is home to one of Intel Corp.'s most important processor design centers and it's still staffed by dedicated Intel employees. Reports are coming from Isreal that Intel employees are working from bomb shelters thanks to WiFi and laptops.
Despite the rocket attacks, operations at Intel's Haifa design center have so far not been disrupted, said Koby Bahar, a spokesman for Intel Israel. The center employs around 2,300 workers, he said. Responding to the Home Front Command's orders, essential employees are working inside protected areas at Intel's development center while others work from bomb shelters near their home. "The protective shelters in Haifa are equipped with wireless connections and all Intel employees have laptops, so that hasn't affected work," Bahar said. Intel has a total of 5,400 employees at several locations in Israel. Qiryat Gat, in southern Israel, is home to a US$1.6 billion manufacturing plant, Fab 18. The Intel design team in Haifa, on Israel's northern coast, produced the Pentium M chip and is responsible for the design of the company's next-generation mobile processors.
Posted by | Mon, Jul 17, 2006 - 02:11 PM | Comments
Yahoo Finance gets a face-lift
Yahoo Finance was set to get a face-lift on Monday with new interactive stock charts, improved message boards and business-related video clips from content partners. In addition, Yahoo is offering Internet publishers the ability to easily add a stock chart, quotes and news headlines to their Web site.
The new Yahoo Finance beta site features a full-screen application that allows users to add events like whether a company has had stock splits or dividends with one click, see competitor charts and click and drag to customize a chart's time range, as well as type in specific dates. Yahoo Finance message boards also will provide more information on postings, the ability to rate messages, and to sort and filter messages based on ratings. Discussions appear as threaded conversations under topics as opposed to being listed chronologically.
Posted by | Mon, Jul 17, 2006 - 05:06 AM | Comments
HP's Memory Spot Gets Ready To Shake The Industry
Researchers at Hewlett-Packard Co. have developed a tiny wireless data chip that can store up to 100 pages of text and could ultimately be used in a variety of consumer and commercial applications, HP said late on Sunday. Memory Spot, a technology devised by the research division of HP, is a self-contained storage device with a radio and processor that sticks to photos, documents or cards. About the same size as a shirt button but thinner, a Memory Spot can be stuck onto the corner of a family photo: Wave a reader over it, and the spot will serve a video or audio recording of the subject of the picture to a nearby computer or cell phone. Amazing technology that will help out a bunch of industries.
Developed over four years by HP Labs' campus in Bristol, England, the chip is about the size of the head of a match and could potentially store a patient's medical chart on a hospital band, said Howard Taub, associate director at HP Labs. The chip can transfer data at 10 megabits per second, 10 times faster than Bluetooth wireless technology, comparable to Wi-Fi rates and far faster than RFID. Also, HP has managed to store up to 4 megabits in working prototypes of the chip, far more than an RFID chip can store. HP said the chips could be embedded in paper or stuck to surfaces, and may be sold eventually as self-adhesive dots.
Posted by | Mon, Jul 17, 2006 - 05:03 AM | Comments
Intel to launch Core 2 Duo E4300 in 1Q 2007
Aiming to counter pressure from the launch of Socket AM2 Sempron processors by rival Advanced Micron Devices (AMD), Intel plans to further cut the prices for the complete line up of its entry-level Celeron D processors in late October following a planned price reduction for the majority of the lineup on July 23, according to sources at Taiwan motherboard makers. By the second quarter of 2007, Conroe-L CPUs will account for 11% of Intel's desktop CPU shipments, with the portion of Celeron D's to drop to 8%, the sources added.
Intel originally planned to position the E4200, which will represent the entry level of its Core 2 Duo CPU family, against AMD's forthcoming Socket-AM2 Athlon 64 X2 3600+ CPU. However, recent tests indicated that the E4200 could hardly outperform the Athlon 64 X2 3600+, prompting Intel to change its roadmap, the sources said, noting that the E4300 CPU will feature a core speed of 1.8GHz, as compared to a core speed of 1.6GHz for the E4200.
Posted by | Mon, Jul 17, 2006 - 04:59 AM | Comments
Intel Core 2 Duo Conroe Launch Articles Are Here!
Last night at 11pm central time the NDA lifted and reviews flowed in on Intel's latest processor series. The new "Core 2 Duo" microprocessor family from Intel needs no introduction as rumors about it and benchmark numbers have been leaked out on the web for many months.
- LegitReviews
- Tech Report
- Phoronix
- Hardware Secets
- HardOCP
- Hot Hardware
- Hexus
- Neoseeker
- MadBoxPC ( Translated )
- MBReview
- TweakTown
- SimHQ
- ByteSector (1)
- ByteSector (2)
- Trusted Reviews
- Overclockers AU
- Madshrimps
- bit-tech
- GamePyre
- Anandtech
- ExtremeTech
- SharkyExtreme
- XBit Labs
Five Intel Conroe parts will ship initially: the E6300, E6400, E6600, E6700, and X6800. All of these parts follow Intel's new processor numbering scheme, introduced when the Core Duo mobile processor family arrived earlier this year. The five dual-core Conroe processors are clocked at 1.86, 2.13, 2.40, 2.67GHz and 2.93GHz, respectively, run on a 1066MHz front side bus and contain either 2MB or 4MB of cache shared between the two cores.
Posted by | Fri, Jul 14, 2006 - 04:59 AM | Comments
Dell abandons mail-in rebates
Dell has decided to cut back on mail-in rebates and will try to simplify its prices after customers moaned that its pricing structure was too complex.
Dell said the number of promotions for US consumers and small businesses would be cut by between 70-80 per cent and the reductions will be implemented over 12 to 18-months. The first to see the pricing changes will be Inspiron notebook computers and Dell televisions which will happen sometime in August. In May the outfit announced that it was cutting prices and is spending $100 million to improve customer service.
Posted by | Fri, Jul 14, 2006 - 12:28 AM | Comments
Intel to Cut 1,000 Managers
Intel is laying off about 1,000 managers -- representing about 1% of its workforce -- worldwide as part of a previously announced restructuring program, the company said on Thursday. I know a good number of managers at Intel and I hope they all will still have a job come the end of next week.
The job cuts will begin immediately and will happen over the next few days, company spokesman Chuck Mulloy said. The layoffs are being done to reduce costs and to "improve decision making," he said. The chipmaking behemoth plans to release second-quarter earnings next week, he said. The outlook the company will provide then for coming periods will reflect the benefits of the job cuts, he said.
Posted by | Fri, Jul 14, 2006 - 12:25 AM | Comments
OCZ Technology Announces the PC2-7200 Special Ops Edition
OCZ Technology Group today announced the PC2-7200 DDR2 Special Ops Edition. The new DDR2-900 SOE is part of the limited edition Special Ops series which is a line of memory that caters to the needs of gamers and features a unique camouflage motif XTC heatspreader. I'm not too sure how these modules are selling, but they are pretty nifty looking.
The PC2-7200 SOE will be available in 1GB (2x512MB) and 2GB (2x1024MB) dual channel kits for the ultimate memory upgrade on the latest DDR2 platforms. Rated at 5-5-5 latency timings, these modules offer faster access times than standard JEDEC reference design and give gamers the additional performance edge over conventional DDR2-900 memory. With today?s games requiring a minimum of 2GB of system memory, the Special Ops Edition is the ideal solution for gamers who need high capacity options in addition to superior reliability and bandwidth management without a hefty price point. ?Gamers have been asking us for a quality high speed DDR2 part capable of handling all the latest FPS games,? said Alex Mei, VP of Marketing, OCZ Technology Group, Inc.
Posted by | Fri, Jul 14, 2006 - 12:09 AM | Comments
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Conroe For Sale $1,359.99
Newegg has the retail boxed Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 processor (model number BX80557X6800) priced at $1,359.99 for those with deep pockets that want one. Be sure to read our article for the complete details on this new core!
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Conroe 1066MHz FSB 2 x 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail $1,359.99
Posted by | Thu, Jul 13, 2006 - 10:34 PM | Comments
Cingular launches mini HBO series for cellphones
Cingular Wireless, the No. 1 U.S. cellphone service, said on Wednesday that cable channel HBO has produced a special mobile mini-series based on the popular show "Entourage" that extends the story beyond what is shown on television. I'm all for video on phones, but I'm not sure about a $14.99 bill plus another $4.99 for HBO on my phone!
Cingular said its mini "Entourage" series, with episodes that last 4 minutes each, will follow one story line based on "Entourage" character Johnny Drama and not distract from the regular series. HBO is owned by Time Warner Inc. The wireless company said it would also show full-length episodes from the first season of "Entourage" and from other popular shows such as "Sex and The City" and "Curb your Enthusiasm." Cingular customers who wish to watch "Entourage" must sign up for Cingular's $14.99 monthly media plan and its HBO premium service which costs another $4.99 a month.
Posted by | Thu, Jul 13, 2006 - 06:50 AM | Comments
Toshiba delays RD-A1 HD DVD recorder launch
Toshiba said on Thursday it is delaying the launch of the world's first high-definition optical disc recorder based on the HD DVD format until the end of the month as it hasn't built up enough prelaunch inventory.
Toshiba, Japan's second-largest electronics conglomerate after Hitachi, said last month it would launch the first HD DVD recorder on July 14 in Japan. It now plans to release the product on July 27. Toshiba has no plans at the moment to ship the new machine, RD-A1, overseas. The Tokyo-based company expects the new recorder, equipped with a 1-terabyte hard disk capable of storing up to 130 hours of high-definition terrestrial digital broadcasting programs, to sell for 398,000 yen ($3,453).
Posted by | Thu, Jul 13, 2006 - 06:48 AM | Comments
Dell Takes On Pricing in Image Makeover
As part of its efforts to get back on track, Dell is expected to announce a simplified PC pricing scheme for small businesses and consumers. We will let you know what happens when the news comes out this afternoon
Dell, which has scheduled a news announcement for July 13, is expected to reveal a revised PC pricing strategy that will present SMBs (small and midsize businesses) and consumers with a more straightforward menu of price options. The move, which doesn't appear to affect large business accounts, comes as Dell attempts to recover from a series of missteps that curbed its growth during the first quarter of 2006.
Posted by | Thu, Jul 13, 2006 - 06:47 AM | Comments
Rumor: Kingston Betting Q2 DRAM and NAND Flash Sales Will Jump
Kingston believes its shipments of both DRAM and NAND flash products will jump by 35%, sequentially, in the third quarter, in the Asia-Pacific region, thanks to price cuts by Intel, said Scott Chen, vice president of the company's APAC business division.
Chen said Kingston has observed warming demand this month, and he is confident about the company's NAND-flash business outlook for this quarter. NAND-flash sales in the Asia region should grow by 30-35% on-quarter, he noted. For DRAM-module sales, Chen admitted that demand had been put on hold in the second quarter amid the traditional seasonal downturn and price cuts by Intel. Since the traditional hot season will be arriving, and Intel's price cuts will have a growing impact, Kingston is projecting a healthy outlook for DRAM-module sales, which should see growth of an anticipated 35% in the third quarter.
Posted by | Thu, Jul 13, 2006 - 06:44 AM | Comments
Multi-GPU World Tour Part II: GPUs
Bit-tech has posted part II of the Multi-GPU World Tour for your viewing pleasure. Keep an eye on each article as each stop will provide insightful information on the state of multi-gpu gaming. Stay tuned as the tour will make a stop here at Legit Reviews later this month!
If you haven't already read Josh's introduction to the series of articles, we suggest you have a read here. He outlines the plan of action for the articles coming over the next few weeks, and also covers the history of multi-GPU.
Over the course of today's article, we will be covering the video card choices at the three different price points decided by the team and why we will also go into a bit of detail as to why we made those choices. Later this week Bjorn3D will evaluate the performance and features of the various multi-GPU ready motherboards that were chosen for the differing price points.
Following Bjorn3D's article, HardInfo, Neoseeker, NVNews, Rage3D and Legit Reviews will cover the meat of the guide, covering around 50 games and benchmarks. HardInfo will cover many of the 'common' applications used in reviews that you would normally read, while the other four publications cover a selection of games that are not particularly popular with reviewers, but are popular with the general public according to Xfire and 2005's list of best selling games in North America.
Finally, Guru3D will round up the findings, wrapping up the series of articles by highlighting the benefits and shortcomings for all of the six configurations.
Posted by | Wed, Jul 12, 2006 - 11:07 PM | Comments
InfoSonics and Kingston Join Forces To Offer Mobile Memory Solutions
InfoSonics Corporation (AMEX: IFO), one of the fastest growing distributors of wireless handsets in the United States and Latin America, announced today it is joining forces with Kingston Technology Company, Inc., to assist in the distribution of Kingston mobile memory solutions. InfoSonics is now offering Kingston Flash memory to its existing carrier customers as well as other retail outlets servicing the mobile community. This should prove to be a great move for both companies as Kingston will move more flash products and InfoSonics will now carry memory from the number one memory maker in the world.
?Kingston is working with InfoSonics to provide expansion memory for a wide variety of mobile phones and together, we are deepening our reach into the global marketplace,? said Keyla Velazquez, mobile media product manager, Kingston. ?InfoSonics has established strong channels throughout the United States and Latin America and we will cooperatively cross-promote their handsets and our Flash memory,? added Velazquez. Given the myriad of expansion memory formats selected by wireless handset manufacturers, Kingston designs and builds Flash memory ranging from microSD, miniSD, and MMCmobile cards, in addition to standard SD and MMCplus cards for use in multifunction mobile phones.
Posted by | Wed, Jul 12, 2006 - 01:25 PM | Comments
Shares of video-game publishers keep dropping
Shares of video-game publishers are nearing rock-bottom prices, but is it time to start betting on a rebound? hat depends on who you talk to and how long you feel like waiting. Some investors, for instance, see short-term plays to be made in at least some of the names -- Electronic Arts comes up repeatedly -- in the run-up to the holiday season.
We're there. We're still buying. We still think it's time to be buying," says one hedge fund analyst who asked to remain nameless, but whose firm is long shares of EA and Take-Two and is looking at Activision. Although short-term results at many of the firms won't be good, "longer term, we're definitely not worried," the analyst says. Still, other investors say that the best play right now is to simply stay away. Even if these stocks rally going into the holidays, they'll likely sell off afterward, just like they did last year. And the stocks likely won't pick up for good until sometime next year -- if that soon.
Posted by | Wed, Jul 12, 2006 - 08:08 AM | Comments
Sony pulls controversial Dutch PSP ad
Sony said on Tuesday it had pulled a Dutch billboard advertising campaign for the new white version of its PlayStation Portable video game player and apologized to anyone offended by the ad, which critics dubbed racist. After looking at the billboard I don't know what Sony was thinking by running the ad campaign.
A billboard ad in the campaign -- which Sony said was launched in the first week of June and created locally and exclusively for the Dutch market -- portrayed a white woman aggressively grabbing the face of a black woman and read "PlayStation Portable White is Coming." Sony said that the Netherlands campaign intended to highlight the color contrast between the existing black PSP and the new ceramic white PSP.
Posted by | Wed, Jul 12, 2006 - 08:06 AM | Comments
Hackers target State Department computers
The State Department is recovering from large-scale computer break-ins worldwide over the past several weeks that appeared to target its headquarters and offices dealing with China and North Korea, The Associated Press has learned.
Investigators believe hackers stole sensitive U.S. information and passwords and implanted backdoors in unclassified government computers to allow them to return at will, said U.S. officials familiar with the hacking. The break-ins and the State Department's emergency response severely limited Internet access at many locations, including some headquarters offices in Washington, these officials said. Internet connections have been restored across nearly all the department since the break-ins were recognized in mid-June.
Posted by | Wed, Jul 12, 2006 - 08:04 AM | Comments
Microsoft slapped with $357 million fine by the EU
European regulators hit Microsoft with a $357.3 million fine Wednesday, citing the software giant's continued noncompliance with its landmark 2004 antitrust ruling. I know that Microsoft can pay the fine, but damn that's a bunch of money.
The European Commission issued the 280.5 million euro fine for the period between Dec. 15 and June 20. That figure amounts to a daily fine of 1.5 million euros, which the Commission is prepared to increase to up to 3 million euros per day if the software giant does not come into full compliance beginning July 31. "I don't buy Microsoft's line that they didn't know what was being asked of them because the March 2004 order is absolutely crystal clear," Neelie Kroes, who heads the Commission's antitrust bureau as its competition commissioner, said Wednesday at a press conference in Brussels. "And in order to increase the incentive for Microsoft to comply, the Commission has decided the ceiling for potential fines will be raised."
Posted by | Wed, Jul 12, 2006 - 08:02 AM | Comments
First-tier notebook shipments to miss 2006 targets
First-tier Taiwan-based notebook makers are expected to see their notebook shipments in 2006 fall short of their targets by 5-10% due to slower-than-expected shipments in the first half of this year, according to sources at the makers. It looks like the blame is being put on Microsoft fot the delay in launching their upcoming Vista operating system.
Quanta shipped 8.7 million notebooks in the first six months of this year, lower than its target of 9.6 million units, whereas Compal Electronics' first-half notebook shipments totaled 5.44 million units, slightly lower than its projection of six million, according to sources at the two companies. Quanta president Michael Wang has said that about 10% the company's projected notebook shipments for this year might be affected by uncertainty in the market.
Posted by | Wed, Jul 12, 2006 - 08:00 AM | Comments
Rumor: Google to hire 1,000 in Ann Arbor, Mich., area
Google Inc. plans to open a new facility in the Ann Arbor, Mich., area that will employ 1,000 people within five years to handle advertising generated by the Internet search engine, people familiar with the deal said Tuesday.
he plan, which could be a significant boost to Michigan's lagging economy, was scheduled to be unveiled at a news conference in Lansing, Mich., on Tuesday morning, said two people who had seen the announcement and who were familiar with its details. They requested anonymity because of Google's wish for confidentiality ahead of the announcement. Google's project involves opening an office for its AdWords unit, which handles "pay-per-click" advertising to users of Google's Internet search engine, the people said.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 11, 2006 - 09:12 AM | Comments
Bill Gates Says Vista likely to be ready in January
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Tuesday there was an 80 percent chance the company's next-generation operating system, Windows Vista, would be ready in January. However, Gates said at a presentation in Cape Town to Microsoft software partners that he would delay the launch if beta testing uncovered shortcomings.
He said Microsoft was investing $8 billion to $9 billion in developing Vista and the company's next version of Office, its key cash-generator. He said the company's software partners, in developing and adapting their own products for the two launches, would invest 20 times as much as Microsoft. Gates said he hoped the next version of Office would be ready in December. The new Vista operating system will have speech and visual recognition tools and be backed by strong security measures, he said. It would move away from reliance on easy-to-crack passwords to greater reliance on visual identification and software shields on Internet attacks.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 11, 2006 - 09:10 AM | Comments
Transcend profits up 85% on quarter
In line with posting continued revenues growth in June, Transcend Information should report that its second quarter profits jumped 85% sequentially and earning per share (EPS) will exceed NT$2.
The memory module maker was not affected by traditional seasonality in the second quarter and had accumulated sales of NT$5.55 billion for the quarter, representing on-quarter growth of 24% and on-year growth of 57%. Company sources estimate that Transcend should record profits (pre-tax) of about NT$680 million in the second quarter with its EPS exceeding NT$2. Sales of NAND flash applications currently contribute 60% to the company's overall sales and Transcend saw a significant jump in flash memory card and disk drive shipments in the second quarter, said company sources. Monthly capacity of NAND flash applications have been boosted to 2.1 million units, more than double what the company was shipping last year during the same period.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 11, 2006 - 09:07 AM | Comments
The Definitive Multi-GPU World Tour Kicks Off!
Today we are kicking off the opening installation of a 9 part series from 9 different sites worldwide covering the Multi-GPU market from top to bottom. Covering over 60 benchmarks and applications with six complete test systems, this is the definitive coverage of multi-GPU systems to date. My introduction sets the stage for a series of articles covering the technology, performance, and features of complete mult-GPU systems. In the coming weeks we will see coverage that has never been attempted before on this exciting technology offered by ATI and NVIDIA. Strap in, and hold tight, as the ride is about to start! Stay tuned as Legit Reviews will be posting our part of the article later this month!
In the spring of this year nine sites around the world decided to work together on a single, comprehensive article covering the multi-GPU space. We decided not just to take a look at the cards themselves, but the supporting ecosystem of products that make up the base systems. We explore what we consider the three major price ranges for such setups throughout, and we compare both ATI CrossFire and NVIDIA SLI at each point.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 11, 2006 - 08:34 AM | Comments
Dell to Unveil Pricing Initiative on Thursday
Dell plans to announce a new "pricing initiative" on Thursday that should help concumsers looking to buy small-business and home products. Sounds like a great move if you ask me!
The "major" move, which the PC maker plans to unveil on Thursday, will affect the company's products and services aimed at home and small-business customers, said company spokesman Venancio Figueroa III. Figueroa declined to give details of the upcoming announcement, such as whether the company is cutting prices or which of the company's products would be affected. Obviously, Dell's main product for consumers and small businesses are its desktop and notebook PCs. But the company also offers MP3 players, printers, TVs and handheld computers.
Posted by | Tue, Jul 11, 2006 - 06:22 AM | Comments
Take-Two Gets SEC Inquiry AGAIN!
Take-Two Interactive is facing another inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission, this time over its stock-options grants. I swear Take-Two Interactive can't get a break this year!
The video-game software maker disclosed on Monday that the SEC has launched an informal investigation into its grants dating back to 1997. The company did not say what prompted the SEC's inquiry or what the regulator was investigating. A Take-Two representative declined to comment on whether the SEC's inquiry related to allegations of the backdating of options. More than 50 other public companies are being investigated by the SEC and other regulators over charges that they handed out options to executives and employees at extraordinarily low exercise prices that were known after the fact.
Posted by | Mon, Jul 10, 2006 - 03:39 PM | Comments
Intel takes the crown from AMD for being number one in U.S. retail
ntel is back on top in retail in the United States, and it can thank Toshiba. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant saw its share of computer processors sold in retail outlets in the United States rise from 42.2 percent in May to 51.2 percent in June, according to Current Analysis. Meanwhile, the percentage of PCs running processors from Advanced Micro Devices declined from 57.4 percent in May to 48.5 percent in June. Since Intel can thank this lead to their notebook chipsets I feel it's only right to take a look at our article today, Building Your Own Intel Core Duo Gaming Notebook!
The shift came because of an emphasis on inexpensive notebooks containing Celeron M chips, according to Sam Bhavnani, director of research at Current Analysis. In notebooks, Intel expanded its market share from 57.3 percent in May to 66.2 percent in June. AMD's notebook share dropped from 42.3 percent in May to 33.4 percent in June. A lot of those Celeron notebooks were Toshiba models selling for $599 and less, Bhavnani said. "They are challenging HP-Compaq," he said, referring to a Hewlett-Packard division. "Where Intel really came back strong is notebooks."
Posted by | Mon, Jul 10, 2006 - 03:02 PM | Comments
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