Legit Reviews News History
Vista blockade -- security measure, or business strategy
After years of delays and billions in development and marketing efforts, it would seem that Microsoft Corp. would want anyone who possibly can to buy its new Windows Vista operating system. Yet Microsoft is making it hard for Mac owners and other potentially influential customers to adopt the software.
Microsoft says the blockade is necessary for security reasons. But that is disputed. The circumstances might simply reflect a business decision Microsoft doesn't want to explain. Now that Macintosh computers from Apple Inc. use Intel Corp. chips, just like Windows-based PCs, virtualization programs let Mac users easily switch back and forth between Apple's Mac OS X operating system and Windows. That could appeal to Mac enthusiasts who want access to programs that only work on Windows, including some games.
Posted by | Fri, Feb 23, 2007 - 10:26 AM | Comments
PlayStation 3 in Europe will play fewer old games
The European version of PlayStation 3 will play fewer PlayStation 2 video games when it launches on March 23 compared with models launched earlier in Japan and America, Sony Corp said on Friday.
"The backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as the U.S. and Japan models," a Sony spokesman said. Software will take over some of the functionality that was originally taken care of by dedicated chips, which means far fewer PlayStation 2 (PS2) games can be played on a European PS3 compared with the Japanese and American PS3 models which play 98 percent of old games.
Posted by | Fri, Feb 23, 2007 - 10:24 AM | Comments
Jury Orders Microsoft to Pay $1.52B
Microsoft Corp. must pay $1.52 billion in damages to telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent SA for violating two patents related to digital music, a federal jury ruled Thursday. The Redmond, Wash.-based software company said the patents in question govern the conversion of audio into the digital MP3 file format on personal computers.
"We believe that we properly licensed MP3 technology from its industry recognized licenser - Fraunhofer. The damages award seems particularly outrageous when you consider we paid Fraunhofer only $16 million to license this technology," Burt said. Microsoft said the damages were calculated by multiplying Windows sales volumes and PC sales prices worldwide since May 2003. "We've made strong arguments supporting our view, and we are pleased with the court's decision," Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman Mary Lou Ambrus said.
Posted by | Fri, Feb 23, 2007 - 10:00 AM | Comments
Norton 360 to ship next month
Next-gen security package Norton 360 is being positioned as an alternative to Windows Live OneCare and McAfee Total Protection. Symantec has been working on the software for more than a year and is heavily marketing it as an alternative to Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare and McAfee's Total Protection 2007.
Norton 360, which can be used by as many as three PCs simultaneously, is list-priced at $76.99, but Symantec is offering a $20 rebate, putting the Amazon.com price at $56.99. That's a lower list price than McAfee's comparable Total Protection software, which lists at $99.99, but after rebates and pricing breaks, a three-license version of Total Protection can be had on Amazon.com for just $39.99.
Posted by | Thu, Feb 22, 2007 - 11:52 AM | Comments
Kingston Releases 4GB PC6400 HyperX Kits
Kingston Technology today announced its 800MHz DDR2 low-latency HyperX memory is now available in 4GB capacity kits and 2GB modules. The ability to reach higher speeds while using less power makes the memory a perfect choice for overclockers and PC enthusiasts. I'm glad to see Kingston step up to the plate with some great looking DDR2 kits!
"Kingston low-latency HyperX memory kits are ideal for gamers or enthusiasts wanting a high speed, low-latency memory solution," said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston. "Another benefit of going with low-latency 4GB kits is an overall lower system power requirement compared to high frequency overclocking," continued Tekunoff.
Posted by | Wed, Feb 21, 2007 - 05:05 PM | Comments
Confirmed: ATI R600 / X2900 launch delayed
Legit Reviews has been able to confirm that the upcoming DAMMIT R600 launch has been delayed. The card has been pushed back for strategic purposes and the from the sounds of things it will be roughly a month. This means that the launch event in Europe has been canceled and there is no word if ATI will be letting partners show the card in systems during Cebit. Delays are nothing new for the R600 as it was slated to be launched in November 2006 and has yet to show face. Expect to see the Radeon X2900 XTX in Q2 after AMD.ATI get ready to really launch the card!
Posted by | Wed, Feb 21, 2007 - 01:09 PM | Comments
Deaths: Co-inventor of the television remote control - Robert Adler
Robert Adler, a physicist and prolific inventor best known as the co-inventor of the television remote control, died Feb. 15 in Boise, Idaho. He was 93. The cause was heart failure, said his wife, Ingrid Adler. He designed the Space Command ultrasonic remote control, which used high-frequency sound, to change channels that was introduced by Zenith in 1956.
Adler, who held nearly 200 United States patents, worked at Zenith Electronics on and off for nearly 60 years. He was director of the research division during an era when consumer electronics companies like Zenith and RCA operated fully staffed research laboratories on par with AT&T's Bell Laboratories.
Posted by | Wed, Feb 21, 2007 - 09:06 AM | Comments
IBM's Power6 looms large
AMD’s Barcelona CPU is loaded with “invented here” innovation. It is also inspired by IBM’s Power architecture. IBM’s newest Power CPU, Power6, is due mid-year, along with quad-core processors from Intel and AMD. And while x86 will get more headlines in IT publications, Power6 is arguably more deserving.
With Power6, what strikes you first is the clock speed: 5GHz. Power6 builds on a concept that Intel (unwisely) sidelined: SMT (symmetric multithreading). Each of Power6’s two cores is blessed with plenty of cache: 128KB of Level 1, 4MB of Level 2, and a share of up to 32MB of on-chip Level 3. Power6 has room for up to 1,024 hardware-managed partitions, IBM’s term for virtual machines. Memory segments are locked with keys to make one partition’s memory entirely inaccessible to malicious software, and memory can be reallocated among partitions both to improve utilization and to work around memory errors.
Posted by | Wed, Feb 21, 2007 - 09:03 AM | Comments
Hewlett-Packard's fiscal first-quarter profit up 26%
Strong sales of notebook PCs and printers pushed Hewlett-Packard's fiscal first-quarter profit up 26% and lifted its top line above Wall Street expectations.
The Palo Alto, Calif., company grew first-quarter sales 11% to $25.1 billion, ahead of its own guided range of $24.1 billion and $24.3 billion, as well as Wall Street's expectation of $24.3 billion. "This was a solid start to the year: revenue grew, margins expanded and we continued to take market share," said CEO Mark Hurd in a conference call with the press following the release of the results.
Posted by | Wed, Feb 21, 2007 - 09:00 AM | Comments
OCZ Announces the Vindicator Premium CPU Cooler
OCZ Technology Group today announced the OCZ Vindicator CPU cooler, an enthusiast-grade thermal solution for the latest high performance processors. The Vindicator can be used as a passive or active cooler depending on the needs of the enthusiast.
“We are excited to expand our thermal solutions with the introduction of a CPU cooler designed specifically for hardcore gamers and enthusiasts,” said Jacky Huang, VP of Product Management, OCZ Technology. “The Vindicator’s six copper heatpipes and high-stacked fin array push the envelope when it comes to superior cooling while overclocking, and give enthusiasts increased flexibility with the passive or active fan configuration.”
Posted by | Wed, Feb 21, 2007 - 08:58 AM | Comments
Legit Folding Team #38296 Breaks 5 Million Team Points
I'd like to take a second and congratulate the Legit Reviews Folding@Home team on breaking the 5 million point threshold and for turning in over 27,000 work units over the years. The team currently has had 100+ members contribute to the grand total and has 210+ processors active in the project. If you don't know what F@H is or are interested in joining be sure to check out the great group of guys and gals here in the forums. If you have an ATI X1K series graphics card remember you can fold with your GPU now! Here is to another 5 million team points!
Posted by | Wed, Feb 21, 2007 - 06:54 AM | Comments
AMD Launches the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Processor
AMD today introduced desktop processors designed for users seeking the ultimate in energy-conscious or high-performance computing. The new energy-efficient 45-watt AMD Athlon 64 single-core processors 3500+ and 3800+ can help consumers and businesses save energy and experience significant performance-per-watt benefits. And for those who crave high performance, AMD has also introduced the AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor 6000+.
"With the introduction of the AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor 6000+, Alienware continues a tradition of featuring the latest and greatest AMD processing technology as soon as it became available," Frank Azor, senior vice president and general manager for Alienware's Worldwide Product Group. "Alienware's AMD-based Aurora 7500 and Aurora ALX systems have racked up prestigious awards across the industry, from Computer Shopper to PC World, for outstanding performance that maximizes our customers' capabilities. Integrating the AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor 6000+ will play a key role in helping Alienware to extend that winning streak."
Posted by | Tue, Feb 20, 2007 - 08:00 AM | Comments
Corsair Enhances SD Family with New 4GB SDHC Card
Corsair today expanded its Secure Digital (SDTM) card family with the new 4GB SD High Capacity (SDHCTM) cards. Based on the SD Association 2.0 specification and tested to be fully compliant with SDHC host devices, each Corsair 4GB SDHC card blends Class 2 performance and high capacity to offer expanded storage for rich digital media.
“We see a growing trend of availability and affordability of high performance digital recording devices. This means more consumers are going to demand storage larger than 2GB in order to record and store rich media content. The new SDHC format addresses this unique need by blending both the small footprint of SD and the technology to integrate maximum storage density,” said Dan Le, Senior Director of Applications Engineering at Corsair.
Posted by | Tue, Feb 20, 2007 - 07:56 AM | Comments
Surgeons who play video games more skilled
Playing video games appears to help surgeons with skills that truly count: how well they operate using a precise technique, a study said Monday. There was a strong correlation between video game skills and a surgeon's capabilities performing laparoscopic surgery in the study published in the February issue of Archives of Surgery.
Out of 33 surgeons from Beth Israel Medical Center in New York that participated in the study, the nine doctors who had at some point played video games at least three hours per week made 37 percent fewer errors, performed 27 percent faster, and scored 42 percent better in the test of surgical skills than the 15 surgeons who had never played video games before.
Posted by | Mon, Feb 19, 2007 - 11:29 PM | Comments
MIT improves analog circuit for consumer devices
The MIT team showed a comparator-based switched capacitor (CBSC) circuit, which could be manufactured with smaller size and better power efficiency than traditional analog circuits using operational amplifiers. The team had presented a rougher version in 2006, and improved on the design this week by unveiling an 8-bit, 200 MHz analog-to-digital converter at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco.
"Analog circuits sit on PC boards; when you put a disc in a CD-ROM drive to play music, the music is encoded in digital format, but what you're hearing is analog. That's a digital-to-analog converter doing that," Lee said. Engineers could use the new CBSC circuit as a more efficient tool to filter and modulate analog data, leading to less expensive, longer-lasting devices. "Current analog circuits consume a disproportionate amount of power, which really drains the batteries. We think we can reduce the power consumption of analog circuits by at least an order of magnitude," he said.
Posted by | Mon, Feb 19, 2007 - 07:51 AM | Comments
AMD Releases Final 'R600' Specs -- Welcome Radeon X2900 XTX
Six weeks from now, the world will get the first retail Radeon X2900 XTX, or at least that is what the Daily Tech staff believes. AMD's guidance claims R600 will feature 700 million transistors. By comparison, the Radeon X1900 series R580 GPU incorporated 384 million transistors into its design; the half-generation before that, R520, only featured 320 million.
On March 30, 2007, AMD will initially debut the R600 as the ATI Radeon X2900 XTX in two separate configurations: one for OEMs and another for retail. The OEM version is the full length 12" card that will appear in high-end systems. ATI guidance claims the X2900 XTX retail card comes as a two-slot, 9.5" design with a vapor chamber cooler. Vapor chambers are already found on high-end CPU coolers, so it would be no surprise to see such cooling on a high-end GPU either. The OEM version of the card is a 12" layout and features a quiet fan cooler.
Posted by | Sat, Feb 17, 2007 - 07:42 AM | Comments
Nvidia GeForce 8600 series will launch in the middle of 2Q
Nvidia is preparing to launch a series of GeForce 8600 cards in the middled of the second quarter 2007 to help satisfy the increasing demand for DirectX 10 supporting graphics cards caused by Windows Vista, according to market sources. The GeForce 8600 series will be priced to target mainstream markets, the sources add.
According to the release plan several versions are currently being prepared, the sources claim. The GeForce 8600 GT with 512MB memory will be priced between US$219 and US$229, while a 256MB version will be available at US$199. Additionally, targeting an even lower price point will be the GeForce 8600GS at between US$159 and US$165, the sources have revealed. DirectX 10 graphics cards will be the main focus for both Nvidia and AMD (who is now a player in the graphics card market after the acquisition of ATI) at the upcoming CeBIT trade show to be held from March 15 to 21, 2007, according to industry sources.
Posted by | Fri, Feb 16, 2007 - 03:44 PM | Comments
Windows Vista Sales Are Slower Than When Windows XP Launched
Although the consumer version of Vista saw tepid sales during its first week on store shelves, the new Microsoft operating system did seem to help PC sales. Sales of boxed copies of Windows Vista at retail stores significantly trailed those of Windows XP in each product's first week on shelves. Market research data showed that the number of copies of Vista purchased was nearly 59 percent lower than the number for its predecessor. Revenue was also down, but less dramatically, with the dollar value of first-week Vista sales off 32 percent from that seen with XP.
Sales may be hurt further by an IT professional who claims to have discovered a way of upgrading to a full version of Vista from scratch, while paying only the cost of an upgrade for an earlier version of Windows. As part of the Vista launch, Microsoft is offering Windows users a range of upgrades, allowing them to move to one of six versions of Vista without paying the full cost. These upgrades are supposed to work only on a PC that contains an existing copy of Windows. The key to the IT professional's method is that the upgrade package contains a complete version of Vista, which the package can be encouraged to install on a machine without checking for an existing authorized copy of Windows.
Posted by | Fri, Feb 16, 2007 - 03:42 PM | Comments
NVIDIA CUDA Unleashes Power of GPU Computing
NVIDIA today released a public beta of the NVIDIA CUDA Software Developer Kit (SDK) and C-compiler for computing on NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPUs). GPU Computing with the CUDA SDK is a new approach to computing where hundreds of on-chip processors simultaneously communicate and cooperate to solve complex computing problems.
The GPU is now a powerful, programmable processor that is ideally suited for computationally intensive applications such as seismic processing for oil and gas exploration, computing in bioscience, and financial modeling. With the recent introduction of CUDA technology, the parallel computing power of the GPU is now accessible to virtually any developer through standard C programming language,” said Andy Keane, general manager of GPU Computing at NVIDIA.
Posted by | Fri, Feb 16, 2007 - 02:38 PM | Comments
abit Launches the Fatal1ty F-I90HD Motherboard
abit is launching the Fatal1ty F-I90HD motherboard today, but don't expect this one to win awards for overclocking or gaming performance. The abit F-I90HD is based on the ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 chipset, which features integrated ATI Radeon X700-based graphics. The board is passively cooled and allows for a fully fledged high definition home theater system with digital HDTV in 1080p resolution, so maybe a Fatal1ty board is coming to a HTPC near you. abit expects the F-190HD to run around $100 and will bring MicroATX gaming to life
Don’t let the small size fool you, the Fatal1ty Performance F-I90HD is armed to the teeth with Intel Quad-Core CPU support, a factory overclocked system bus, carefully selected high quality components, and enough upgrade paths to keep your system and digital media library happy for years to come. “We wanted to create a simple all-in-one solution for gamers who want to get up and running fast, without having to spend too much time or money hunting down the extra parts. At the same time, we wanted a board that was ready for HDMI/HDTV output and would work just as great in the living room as at the LAN-party with your buddies. This way you can start playing games and enjoy High Definition entertainment instantly, and only upgrade the parts when you really need them.”
Posted by | Thu, Feb 15, 2007 - 08:27 AM | Comments
PowerColor Special Edition Year of the Pig Graphics Card
TUL Corporation, a leading provider of graphic cards, today announced the PowerColor Chinese New Year Special Edition graphics card. This card features a limited edition golden pig fan to celebrate the year of the pig; to welcome a joyful and prosperous year to come.
“We’re in the fast moving industry of graphics cards that reaches people from all over the world, but PowerColor still hasn’t forgotten its roots of Chinese traditions.” says Ted Chen, CEO of TUL Corporation. “We want to take this opportunity to share the good fortunes of Year of the Pig.”
Posted by | Thu, Feb 15, 2007 - 08:00 AM | Comments
Annual U.S. Data Center Energy Consumption: 45 Billion kWh
In a keynote address at the LinuxWorld OpenSolutions Summit in New York today, Randy Allen, corporate vice president, Server and Workstation Division, AMD (NYSE: AMD), revealed findings from a study that comprehensively calculated, for the first time, the energy consumed by national and global data centers annually. Addressing the need for thorough, credible estimates on data center power use, the study found that in 2005, in the U.S. alone, data centers and their associated infrastructure consumed five million kW of energy, the equivalent of five 1,000 MW power plants.
The study found that in 2005, total data center electricity consumption in the U.S., including servers, cooling and auxiliary equipment, was approximately 45 billion kWh, resulting in total utility bills amounting to $2.7 billion, with total data center power and electricity consumption for the world estimated to cost $7.2 billion annually. The report also examines the growth in electricity demands since the year 2000, concluding that over the last five years server energy use has doubled.
Posted by | Thu, Feb 15, 2007 - 08:00 AM | Comments
Dell hires Solectron CEO, Michael Cannon
Dell on Thursday announced that Michael Cannon, the current president and CEO of electronics maker Solectron, will head a newly formed group that will oversee much of the company's operations, including manufacturing, procurement and suppliers.
Cannon's appointment is the latest sign of a management shakeup underway at Dell, and underscores the seriousness of the challenges facing the company. Paul Tufano succeeds Cannon and will serve as interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent replacement.
Posted by | Thu, Feb 15, 2007 - 07:56 AM | Comments
Apple still quiet on game strategy - Wonder Why?
Anyone who has seen Apple's television ads knows "PC" is a stodgy business guy. But he sure spends a lot of time chasing down alien terrorists in video games. Given the "cool factor" of the Mac as portrayed in those ubiquitous ads, some might think gamers choose Macs more often than the average PC buyer.
Some believe, however, that Apple could be preparing for a renewed attack on the game industry through products like the iPod and Apple TV. Certainly, many games are available for the Mac. Apple maintains a list of games on its Web site that are currently available for its technology, and that roster includes popular titles such as Age of Empires III and Civilization IV. And with the switch to Intel, it's easier than ever to compare the performance of the Mac to other PCs on the market. "The Mac is faster and more powerful than ever, has stunning graphics and a growing list of popular games that our customers enjoy, including World of Warcraft, Prey and The Sims 2.0," Apple spokeswoman Lynn Fox said in a statement.
Posted by | Thu, Feb 15, 2007 - 07:55 AM | Comments
IBM reveals embedded DRAM breakthrough
In papers presented at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) today, IBM revealed an on-chip memory technology that features what the company claims are the fastest access times ever recorded in eDRAM (embedded dynamic random access memory).
This new technology, designed in stress-enabled 65nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) using deep trench, dramatically improves on-processor memory performance in about one-third the space with one-fifth the standby power of conventional SRAM (static random access memory), IBM indicated. The company added that the breakthrough will more than triple the amount of memory contained on a single high-end chip, and its prototype eDRAM contains over 12 million bits and high-performance logic. IBM expects the technology to be a key feature of its 45nm microprocessor roadmap and will become available beginning in 2008.
Posted by | Thu, Feb 15, 2007 - 07:51 AM | Comments
Google Earth gets overlay search
Google has created a searchable index of Google Earth data files, a feature that should make it easier for users to find and adopt third-party overlays for this popular mapping application.
"Users can now search through all of the world's KML files, making the millions of Google Earth layers on the Web instantly accessible for geobrowsing and exploration," wrote Chikai Ohazama, a Google Earth product manager in an official company blog. Google expects to later extend this capability to its mapping Web site Google Maps, Ohazama wrote.
Posted by | Wed, Feb 14, 2007 - 06:42 PM | Comments
AIDS virus weakness detected
Scientists have captured an image of the AIDS virus in a biological handshake with the immune cells it attacks, and said on Wednesday they hope this can help lead to a better vaccine against the incurable disease.
They pinpointed a place on the outside of the human immunodeficiency virus that could be vulnerable to antibodies that could block it from infecting human cells. U.S. National Institutes of Health researcher Peter Kwong said the study, published in the journal Nature, may reveal HIV's long-sought "site of vulnerability" that can be targeted with a vaccine aimed at preventing initial infection.
Posted by | Wed, Feb 14, 2007 - 06:42 PM | Comments
Take-Two founder pleads guilty to options charges
Ryan Brant, the former chief executive of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to criminal charges related to backdating of stock options. Brant, who in 1993 founded the company best known for the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto urban-action game, pleaded guilty in New York State Supreme Court to falsifying business records.
"I am deeply sorry for my role in the inappropriate manner Take-Two granted incentive stock options," Brant said in a statement. "I accept responsibility for my actions, and apologize to the company's shareholders," said Brant, who agreed to pay $6.3 million to settle the civil charges and $1 million in penalties related to the criminal case.
Posted by | Wed, Feb 14, 2007 - 06:41 PM | Comments
Thursday's News from Around the Web
Tweaktown have the scoup on Gigabytes new DQ6 Rev. 3.3 motherboard, which has native support for 1333MHz FSB! This and more can be found in the Legit Forums.
Today we will explore the revision 3.3 DQ6 motherboard as there have been quite a few changes made to the overall design. We’ll check out those new changes and then compare it to the first DQ6 released and against one of the best P965 motherboards we have tested so far, the ASUS Commando."
Posted by | Wed, Feb 14, 2007 - 05:05 PM | Comments
NVIDIA ForceWare 100.64 Drivers Released For GeForce 8800 Series
NVIDIA released a new driver today that adds support for the 320MB GeForce 8800 GTS. This is an incremental driver release since v100.59 with a few additional fixes. Be sure to head on over to NVIDIA to grab these drivers as they do fix a few issues!
ForceWare driver 100.64 fixes include:
- A black screen bug with Quake 4
- an issue with the NVIDIA DirectX 10 demo “Cascades”
- a Control Panel bug
- a flat panel scaling issue
- a number of other bugs to improve overall stability
Posted by | Tue, Feb 13, 2007 - 06:09 PM | Comments
Belgian newspapers win claim against Google
A court on Tuesday ruled in favor of Belgian newspapers that sued Google Inc., claiming that the Web search Internet search leader infringed copyright laws and demanded it remove their stories. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company that operates the world's most-used search engine immediately said it would appeal, claiming its Google News service was 'entirely legal.'
The court ordered Google to remove any articles, photos or links from its sites -- including Google News -- that it displays without the newspapers' permission. But in the future, it said it would be up to copyright owners to get in touch with Google by e-mail to complain if the site was posting content that belonged to them. Google would then have 24 hours to withdraw the content or face a daily fine of 1,000 euros ($1,295). The court cut a retroactive daily fine of 25,000 euros ($32,390) for each day Google did not comply -- far lower than an earlier judgment that threatened 1 million euros ($1.3 million) a day.
Posted by | Tue, Feb 13, 2007 - 10:39 AM | Comments
Sun puts Unix in open-source stack - Enter SAMP
I'm sure you've heard of LAMP, the popular open-source infrastructure stack featuring the Linux operating system, the Apache Web server, MySQL's database, and the Perl, Python and PHP scripting languages. This server is an example of LAMP! It seems that Sun wants to get involved and is now replacing Linux with its own Solaris Unix OS as part of its Solaris + AMP, or SAMP, stack for building Web applications.
The Solaris + AMP unveiling is part of a multifaceted announcement of free development offerings to debut on Tuesday with Sun hoping to sell support as a way to generate revenues. While stressing that Sun was not trying to compete with LAMP itself, Dan Roberts, Sun's director of developer tools marketing, did note that Sun believes its Solaris platform presents a viable competitor to Linux. Developers can build to Apache, MySQL, and the scripting languages but deploy their applications on Solaris or the open-source variant, OpenSolaris, to get advantages such as reliability and security, he said.
Posted by | Tue, Feb 13, 2007 - 09:21 AM | Comments
Opera Mobile browser selected by ASUS
Opera Software today announced that the Opera browser for mobile phones has been selected by ASUSTeK to bring the Web to the company's Vodafone deliveries. Opera 8.65 for Mobile will be initially integrated on the V1210 for Vodafone International or the VDA IV for Vodafone Germany.
"Our strategy is to deliver a phone that has basic functionality without cumbersome accessories, and yet have the power to simultaneously bring the full Web to the user," says H. C. Hung, Head of ASUSTeK's Handheld Business Unit. "Opera completes our strategy by bringing a superior Web experience to the V1210, allowing customers to get the information they want, when they want it, from the convenience of their simple, business-minded mobile phones."
Posted by | Tue, Feb 13, 2007 - 09:07 AM | Comments
Bigfoot Networks Introduces $149.99 Gaming Nic Called K1
Bigfoot Networks, Inc., a research and development company, today introduced the Killer K1, a new, more affordable version of its flagship gaming product, the KillerTM NIC. The Killer K1 is available for a limited time from selected e-tailers for a price as low as $149.99 after rebates. Powered by Lag and Latency Reduction (LLR) Technology, Killer K1 uses Bigfoot Network’s 333 MHz Network Processing Unit (NPU) and 64 Megabytes of dedicated DDR RAM to offer gamers a faster online gaming experience.
“We often hear gamers saying that they believe in the power of LLR Technology but that the Killer NIC is too expensive for their budget.” said Harlan Beverly, co-founder and CEO of Bigfoot Networks. “The new Killer K1 is exactly what they are asking for: LLR Technology at a price they can afford. Killer K1 offers the same great gaming performance of the Killer NIC and works with all games including popular titles like World of Warcraft and Battlefield 2.” Unlike the original Killer NIC, the Killer K1 does not require a heat sink and does not come standard with Flexible Network Architecture (FNA™) enabled.
Posted by | Tue, Feb 13, 2007 - 09:05 AM | Comments
Symantec CEO Says He Has Never Insalled Vista and Has No Use For It
Coming off a good quarter for Symantec's consumer businesses, CEO John Thompson warns against viewing Windows Vista as a solution to security woes. He goes on to say that he has never installed the operating system and that he sees no need for it for what I do online today. Ouch!
Consumers should not be confused. Vista is not a security solution. Vista is an operating system, and Vista provides some very important advances from Microsoft's perspective and for the industry's point of view on building a more stable, more reliable, more secure operating platform, but people still need the efficacy that comes with the products that Symantec and others in the industry build, and so we should not be confused by the marketing rhetoric with what Vista is. It's a hopefully much better product than XP or any of its predecessors, but it's not a security solution.
Posted by | Tue, Feb 13, 2007 - 09:03 AM | Comments
Sony to slash chip spending and may move to TSMC or UMC
Sony Corp. will cut back on future chip spending and may not produce advanced chips used in its PlayStation 3 (PS3) in-house, a senior executive said on Tuesday, in a move aimed at driving the semiconductor unit's nascent earnings recovery.
Sony Executive Deputy President Yutaka Nakagawa told reporters that investment in chips would come down significantly from the 460 billion yen ($3.8 billion) allocated over the three business years since April 2004. Sony is already producing the cell chips, dubbed "supercomputer on a chip", using 90- and 65-nanometre circuitry for the PS3, and plans to move onto the 45-nanometre variety by 2009. A nanometre is one billionth of a meter.
Posted by | Tue, Feb 13, 2007 - 09:00 AM | Comments
AMD sees first fruits of ATI integration in 2009
Advanced Micro Devices will likely see the first fruits of its $5.4-billion acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI in 2009, according to what Paul Dal Santo told the media today. It's amazing how long these things take, but remember that ATI and AMD are two giant companies from different countries!
Dal Santo said AMD would sell more intellectual property (IP) licences, such as one agreed with European semiconductor group STMicroelectronicsfor mobile multimedia graphics technology that was announced earlier on Monday. "We'll see more like this," he said, adding that such agreements were part of a drive towards open industry standards needed to create a real market for mobile multimedia.
Posted by | Mon, Feb 12, 2007 - 09:20 PM | Comments
AMD "Barcelona" Quad-Core Details Released
Lots of news from AMD today capped off with them releasing detailed information on their "Barcelona" chip. This will be their native Quad-Core processor and AMD claims that there will be about a 40% increase in performace over its competition. Available in mid-2007, Legit Reviews hopes to be one of the first to bring you real-world results when Barcelona is released.
"Today's IT system purchasers must weigh performance-per-watt as well as raw performance as they make their buying decisions," noted Nathan Brookwood, Research Fellow at Insight 64. "By doubling the number of cores, adding a shared third level cache and applying a variety of other extensive CPU design enhancements, AMD's 'Barcelona' designers clearly have addressed the numerator in the performance-per-watt equation. The combination of these new performance and power-saving features should drive a dramatic improvement in the already strong performance-per-watt AMD Opteron processor-based systems offer today."
Posted by | Mon, Feb 12, 2007 - 11:47 AM | Comments
AMD Introduces Imageon Media Processors
Today, AMD announced the AMD Imageon 2298, 2294 and 2192 media processors. These processors, available now to handheld devices makers, offers next-generation features such as high-resolution image processing, DVD-quality video and high-definition audio for mobile devices and on-the-go multimedia experiences. It will be interesting to see just how many devices these new chips end up in.
Next-generation AMD Imageon 2298 and 2294 processors are designed to bring the latest multimedia performance to mobile devices with a combination of features that enable a seamless, high-quality, multi-tasking entertainment experience unprecedented in today's handheld market. The AMD Imageon 2192 media processor enables similar feature-rich devices for mainstream consumers.
Posted by | Mon, Feb 12, 2007 - 11:15 AM | Comments
More AMD price cuts announced, Athlon 64 X2 targeted
AMD has published yet another set of price cuts this time for its mid- to high-end dual-core desktop CPUs, the Athlon 64 X2. A recently as January 22, AMD announced similar cuts for its lower-end desktop models, and on February 7 the company slashed prices for its Opteron series server-targeted processors.
The price cuts published on AMD's website today begin with the Athlon 64 X2 5600+, currently the top-end processor in the range, falling in price from US$505 to US$326, while the next highest model, the 5400+ is reduced even further from US$485 to US$267. The 5200+ and the two versions of the 5000+ (based on 90nm and 65nm processes) each see their prices cut by US$63, from US$295 to US$232 for the 5200+ and from US$285 to US$222 for both 5000+ models.
Posted by | Mon, Feb 12, 2007 - 06:03 AM | Comments
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