Legit Reviews News History
Google profit soars 69% to $3.66 billion
The Mountain View Internet giant reported first-quarter profit increased 69 percent to $1 billion and revenue increased 63 percent to $3.66 billion, pleasantly surprising Wall Street analysts who had expected less exuberant results.
David Garrity of Dinosaur Research said $115 million worth of glee came from an unexpected boost that Google's overseas business got from a weakened U.S. dollar. With that extra money, overseas advertising sales accounted for $1.71 billion, or 47 percent of total revenue. Without that boost, Garrity said, Google would have disappointed analysts, who had expected total revenue of $3.57 billion, according to the Reuters survey.
Posted by | Fri, Apr 20, 2007 - 10:54 AM | Comments
No Computex Trade Show for Nvidia
Nvidia has made the decision not to participate at Computex Taiwan 2007, according to sources at the company. However, it will maintain a small display room during the time. This is an interesting move, but investments at trade shows can be very expensive.
Earlier this year Nvidia chose not to participate at both CES, in the US, and CeBIT, in Germany, two of the three major international IT trade shows. The decision to also not participate at Computex could give the company's competitor AMD a chance to hit back, according to sources at Taiwan-based graphics card makers. Sources at Nvidia pointed out that the company has changed its strategy over its investments at trade shows. However, although the company will not participate at Computex, it will set up a small display room to showcase new products. Additionally, the company will focus upon cooperation with its partners in the future.
Posted by | Fri, Apr 20, 2007 - 10:52 AM | Comments
AMD reports first quarter results
AMD reported financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2007 yesterday. AMD reported first quarter 2007 revenue of $1.233 billion, an operating loss of $504 million, and a net loss of $611 million, or $1.11 per share. These results include ATI acquisition-related and integration charges of $113 million, or $0.21 per share, and employee stock-based compensation expense of $28 million, or $0.05 per share. In the fourth quarter of 2006, AMD reported revenue of $1.773 billion and an operating loss of $529 million. In the first quarter of 2006, AMD reported revenue of $1.332 billion and operating income of $259 million.
“After more than three years of successfully executing our customer expansion strategy and significantly growing our unit and revenue base, our first quarter performance is disappointing and unacceptable,” said Robert J. Rivet, AMD’s chief financial officer. “We are aggressively addressing the issues that led to our significant revenue decline. We are aligning our business model, capital expenditures and cost structure with the goal of accelerating our return to profitability. Lastly, our customer relationships remain solid, reflecting their confidence in our strategic direction, current and new products, and technology roadmaps.”
Posted by | Fri, Apr 20, 2007 - 10:51 AM | Comments
April 15th through April 20th News from around the Web
April 15th through April 20th Web Reviews
"Anyone who is serious about gaming should take a closer look at the Tracer mouse pad. The ultra-slick surface is just the right size and performed great with both a laser and optical mouse. Movements were fast and precise without the mouse overly sliding around and because it's so thin I didn't experience wrist soreness like I have in the past with thicker pads."
Posted by | Thu, Apr 19, 2007 - 07:32 PM | Comments
Mushkin Launches 4GB HP-6400 5-4-4- Memory Kit
Mushkin, a global leader in high performance computer products, today released the HP2-6400 5-4-4 modules available in 4GB dual-channel kits and 2GB single DIMMs. Designed for high-performance and value, the HP2-6400 is specified for operation at 800MHz, 5-4-4-12 latencies. Each kit is tested beyond its rated specification to ensure the overclocking headroom and quality that Mushkin customers expect.
“This product brings both high performance and great value to our 4GB DDR2 product class”, said Brian Flood, Director of Mushkin Product Development. “Along with the industry-leading XP2 4GB kits, we now offer end users the best range of options for upgrading to 4GB.” The HP2-6400 reinforces Mushkin’s already strong position in the high-density DDR2 overclocking segment. It showcases Mushkin’s ultimate objective: to enhance the computing experience by providing reliable, high performance products.
Posted by | Thu, Apr 19, 2007 - 05:43 PM | Comments
Microsoft plans $3 suite for emerging markets
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Thursday is expected to unveil a global initiative by Microsoft to bring computers and technology education resources to emerging countries during an appearance in Beijing. This is an interesting idea and I'm sure it will take off if done right, but it still has to compete with burnt $1 copies!
As part of the new plan, Microsoft will offer a $3 software package called the Student Innovation Suite, which includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0, Learning Essentials 2.0 for Microsoft Office and Windows Live Mail desktop. The suite will be available to select qualifying governments that are working to supply PCs directly to students to promote technology skills by the end of 2007. In 2008, Microsoft will extend its availability to all of the countries with economies defined as low- or middle-income by the The World Bank.
Posted by | Thu, Apr 19, 2007 - 10:05 AM | Comments
Intel First Quarter Revenue $8.9 Billion
Intel Corporation today announced first-quarter revenue of $8.9 billion, operating income of $1.7 billion, net income of $1.6 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of 27 cents. The results included the effect of a $300-million reversal of previously accrued taxes that increased EPS by approximately 5 cents.
"The strong momentum of our industry-leading Intel® Core™ microarchitecture product family, combined with ongoing structural cost improvements, delivered solid financial results in the first quarter," said Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini. "Our product strength is reflected in the fact that average selling prices for the quarter held up well in a very competitive environment."
Posted by | Wed, Apr 18, 2007 - 11:44 AM | Comments
DDR3 Memory won't be mainstream till 2009
Amid sluggish market demand, DRAM spot prices continued to drop. Contract prices for 2HApr are also expected to decline further, but at a slower rate. On a different note, Intel will officially unveil the Bearlake chipsets for DTs at the end of April. The new P35 and G33 will be compatible with both the DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules. Therefore, DDR3 supportable motherboards and modules will soon begin to appear in the market in 2Q07. However, as the DDR3 512Mb chip price is still too expensive, it is expected they won't become the mainstream standard until 2009, according to DRAMeXchange.
Another development worthy of pointing out is the Bearlake chipset launch for the DT at the end of April by Intel. The new chipset includes the mainstream Bearlake-P and IGP Bearlake-G in handling the future DT requirements. Among the various models, the P35 and G33 chipsets not only feature a 1333MHz FSB, it is also compatible with both the DDR2 and DDR3 memory modules, supporting both DDR2-800 and DDR3-1333. Therefore, DDR3 motherboards and DRAM modules will soon begin to appear in the market in 2Q07.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 18, 2007 - 09:18 AM | Comments
Microsoft denies it will sell fuel cells
Microsoft won't resell the fuel-cell battery rechargers it is buying from Medis Technologies, the company said Tuesday. Medis, which is developing fuel cells for consumer electronics devices, told IDG News Service on Monday that it has started commercial production of a Microsoft-branded recharger.
Microsoft simply ordered a small number of the Medis rechargers to give away at events, according to a representative at the software company's public relations firm, Waggener Edstrom. Neither company has commented on the size of the order, although Medis CEO Robert Lifton said it is the company's first commercial sale and what he believes is the first sale of quantity for the industry.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 18, 2007 - 08:50 AM | Comments
Vonage says patent fight could force bankruptcy filing
Vonage Holdings, the pioneer of Internet-based phone calls, said patent fights could lead to bankruptcy and the company's liquidation. I recently canceled my Vonage phone line that I had since 2005 as I wasn't using it enough to pay for the service. I had to wait on hold for over 10 minutes as that many people were closing accounts with billing!
Vonage lost a patent lawsuit with Verizon Communications last month that, if upheld on appeal, will force the company to pay $58 million in damages and 5.5 percent of revenue from phone lines. The company may also lose the use of technology that lets customers make calls to standard phones. In a filing Tuesday, Holmdel, N.J.-based Vonage listed bankruptcy and liquidation as risks of the litigation. Legal fights could affect business results and "the continued viability of our company," the company said.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 18, 2007 - 08:49 AM | Comments
RIM says it has BlackBerry outage
Research In Motion Ltd. said on Wednesday its BlackBerry mobile e-mail network had an interruption, and gave no time frame for restoring service.
"We are currently experiencing a service interruption that is causing delays in sending or receiving messages," the company said on an automated customer service help line. According to media reports, the infrastructure failed on Tuesday night, and e-mails were not being delivered to the handheld devices.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 18, 2007 - 08:47 AM | Comments
Quad-core CPUs in half of all mainstream PCs by 4Q09, says iSuppli
Presently employed exclusively in high-end PCs, quad-core CPU technology over the next two years is expected to spread rapidly to more-affordable computers, appearing in nearly half of all mainstream desktop systems by the end of 2009, according to data from iSuppli's new Technology Penetration Database.
"Quad-core technology is coming to the mainstream, and with it is coming capabilities that presently are reserved only for high-end systems," said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, compute platforms, for iSuppli. "It will allow users to do more tasks simultaneously, but now, the more can be converting videos, burning DVDs, playing complex 3D games, or ripping music – all at once – and still have performance to spare. To put this into context, a quad-core-based PC is very similar to a quad-processor system from the pre-multicore era, such as a workstation or server, which would have been very high-end system, priced well in excess of US$10,000.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 18, 2007 - 08:46 AM | Comments
Hitachi Delivers One-Terabyte Hard Drive
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi) today announced that its Deskstar(TM) 7K1000, the world's first one-terabyte hard disk drive (HDD), was ranked at the top or near the top across the PC World Test Center's test suite. As a result, PC World ranked the Deskstar 7K1000 a top score of "superior" on its tests, calling it a "formidable performer."
The Deskstar 7K1000 began shipping to retailers and online retailers at the end of March 2007, meeting Hitachi's commitment to ship the world's first one-terabyte hard drive to retail customers within the first quarter of 2007. As demonstrated in PC World's test suite, the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 hard drive delivers superior performance, as well as leadership capacity, to meet the needs of consumers who want to create, share and store their digital information in ever increasing volume.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 17, 2007 - 04:26 PM | Comments
Intel Unveils Quad-Core Storage Server
Intel Corporation today announced the industry's first 2U, 12 drive, integrated quad-core storage server: the Intel Storage Server SSR212MC2. This hardware platform enables a new price/performance class for the small- and medium-sized business (SMB) market. Powered by the quad-core Intel Xeon processor 5300 series, this new rack mount server can be configured as a broad range of enterprise and small business storage solutions, including Network-Attached Storage (NAS), Storage Area Network (SAN) and application servers.
The Intel Storage Server SSR212MC2 also comes with an option of including one or two Dual-Core Intel Xeon 5100 series processors, as well as a choice of enterprise-class Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS) or high-capacity Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives. "Intel has made it easier and more cost-effective for storage solution providers to bring enterprise-class storage solutions to businesses of all sizes with this highly customizable system," said Mike Wall, general manager, Intel Storage Group. "With more than twice the performance improvement over our previous product generation, the SSR212MC2 hardware platform provides resellers and integrators a high-performing building block upon which they can build effective solutions."
Posted by | Tue, Apr 17, 2007 - 02:27 PM | Comments
Sony may launch PS3 with larger hard disk capacity
Sony Corp. said on Tuesday it is considering launching PlayStation 3 (PS3) game consoles with larger hard disk drive capacity, in a bid to cater to the needs of hardcore gamers and other heavy users. While they stated an increase was being planned, the size of the new hard disk not mentioned.
"For users who vigorously store (games and other entertainment content) in the PS3, 20-giga is probably going to be too small, and even 60-giga may not be big enough eventually," Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman Satoshi Fukuoka said.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 17, 2007 - 08:34 AM | Comments
Nokia to launch WiMax phones in early '08
Nokia expects to start selling mobile devices using WiMax technology in early 2008, the world's top handset maker said Monday.
Nokia's closest rival in the handset market, U.S.-based Motorola, also plans to bring its first WiMax-enabled mobile phone to the market in 2008. Intel, Nokia, Samsung and Motorola all support the open-standard WiMax as an alternative wireless broadband Internet connection alongside third generation mobile telephony networks, on which Internet access can be slowed if networks fill up with voice callers.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 17, 2007 - 08:32 AM | Comments
Intel processor hits 2 teraflops in demo
Intel demonstrated its fastest multicore processor yet at the Spring Intel Development Forum (IDF) in Beijing on Tuesday, an 80-core processor that hit a speedy 2-teraflops (trillions of floating point operations per second) in a demonstration. If you want to see pictures of this research processor check out the coverage that Legit Reviews had a couple months ago when this very processor hit 1 teraflop.
A first-run of the processor reached 1 teraflop and used 46 watts. A second test reached 1.5 teraflops on 93.98 watts. Then, a final run achieved 2 teraflops, utilizing 191.79 watts. The new chip improves over the performance of its predecessor, which Intel showed off in February. The 80 core chip, which was just the size of a fingernail, hit a computing speed of 1.81 teraflops.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 17, 2007 - 08:01 AM | Comments
Ubuntu 7.04 to be Released Thursday
Ubuntu 7.04, or 'Feisty Fawn', is still set to be officially released out of beta this Thursday. Also, in case you haven't heard, the successor to Feisty Fawn is Gutsy Gibbon for Ubuntu 7.10.
For Linux business users, the most important Linux release of 2007 so far is Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. But for most other Linux fans, the upcoming release of Ubuntu Version 7.04 on April 19 demands more attention.
Posted by | Mon, Apr 16, 2007 - 09:20 AM | Comments
Intel R&D on slow boat to China
ntel may be plunging ahead with manufacturing plans in China, but its research-and-development arm isn't moving at quite the same pace. Engineers at labs in Beijing and Shanghai are working on important research into areas such as parallel programming tools and Intel's terascale research program. But no processors are in development over here as of yet, and it may be some time before that happens, said Justin Rattner, chief technology officer at Intel and chief of the company's labs.
This is something Intel is working on, said Tan Wee Theng, president of Intel China. The company is spending a lot of time and money working with the local university education system on science and technology education. When it announced plans to set up a plant in Dalian, it also set up an educational program with the local university to focus on electrical engineers and computer science, he said. Intel has been more aggressive with research and development in India. Much of the design work for its 80-core processor prototype was done in Bangalore, and Intel India actually came up with a processor design, called Whitefield that, while it never saw the light of day, was based on design principles that Intel plans to incorporate into its Nehalem generation of processors next year.
Posted by | Mon, Apr 16, 2007 - 09:17 AM | Comments
Intel to boost dual-core processor supplies in 2Q, will launch QX6850 in 3Q
Intel has scheduled to boost the proportion of dual-core processors in its product line up in the second quarter and will launch the quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX6850 in the third quarter, according to sources at Taiwan-based motherboard makers.
Intel plans to boost the proportion of dual-core processors in its product lines to over 80% in the second quarter. However, with single-core Celeron processors still generating demand in the market, the company will keep 15% of its products as single-core processors in order to keep supply volumes normal and to keep pricing low to target emerging markets. Intel will launch a new Extreme-series quad-core processor, the QX6850, in third quarter. The processor will have a clock speed of 3GHz with support for FSB speeds up to 1333MHz. The CPU will be supported by the upcoming Bearlake-series X38 chipset, and 1000-unit pricing will be US$999 at launch, noted the sources.
Posted by | Mon, Apr 16, 2007 - 09:15 AM | Comments
Intel offers look beyond Santa Rosa - Centrino Notebooks
The next version of Intel's Centrino notebook platform, called Santa Rosa, will hit the market next month, but the company is already looking ahead to other products, including an updated "Santa Rosa refresh" and a quad-core mobile processor set for release next year.
The update to Santa Rosa will be based on a mobile Penryn processor, the name given to the upcoming 45-nanometer shrink of Intel's current chip designs. The first Penryn chips will be produced later this year and the updated version, or refresh, of Santa Rosa will hit the market during the first half of 2008. "We will be able to take Penryn, the 45-nanometer [chip], and plug it into exactly the same platform to enable a fast ramp," said Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of Intel's mobile platform group, in an interview.
Posted by | Mon, Apr 16, 2007 - 09:14 AM | Comments
April 6th through April 14th News from around the Web
This Week's Web Reviews
The new Foxconn N5M2AA-EKRS2H is an inexpensive solution for overclocker and all-rounder. Although the nVidia nForce 4 chipset is meanwhile somewhat outdated, Foxconn developed a good alternative to the latest Socket AM2 chipsets with this relaunch. Because beside a good basic equipment the board offers several overclocking options and was overclocked up to 300 MHz reference clock during the test. All strengths and weaknesses of the Foxconn WinFast motherboard will be shown in the review and can be compared in the overview with more than 25 AMD Athlon 64 motherboards.
Posted by | Sat, Apr 14, 2007 - 06:35 PM | Comments
Sony discontinues 20GB PlayStation 3 game console
Sony Corp. has discontinued the 20-gigabyte PlayStation 3 game console so it can focus on a more popular - and expensive - model that has a bigger hard drive.
Since the launch of the PlayStation 3 in November, consumers have been buying the 60-gigabyte model 10 to 1 over the cheaper unit, said Dave Karraker, spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. Retailers still have several thousand 20-gigabyte models on store shelves, Karraker said Thursday. The 20-gigabyte consoles will continue to have a suggested retail price of $500 until supplies run out.
Posted by | Fri, Apr 13, 2007 - 09:09 AM | Comments
Former Computer Associates executive to pay $800 million in restitution
Sanjay Kumar, the former chief executive of Computer Associates, has agreed to pay almost $800 million in restitution to investors who lost money because of the company's accounting fraud. Kumar, who is scheduled to begin serving a 12-year prison term this month, will actually pay about $52 million this year, the majority of his and his family's assets. Most of the remaining restitution will probably never be paid, although when Kumar leaves prison the government will have the right to garnish 20 percent of his wages.
Kumar, once a part owner of the New York Islanders and one of the highest-profile executives on Long Island, pleaded guilty last year to a conspiracy to inflate Computer Associates' sales in 1999 and 2000 and to interfere with the subsequent federal investigation. As part of the conspiracy, Kumar lied repeatedly to investigators and even authorized paying $3.7 million to buy the silence of a potential witness.
Posted by | Fri, Apr 13, 2007 - 09:07 AM | Comments
Apple confirms Leopard delayed until October - Blames iPhone
Apple has confirmed a previous report that the next release of its OS X operating system (OS), Leopard, will be delayed from its originally scheduled launch "in Spring." Apple said it will now distribute near feature complete but not quality assured beta versions of the OS at its World Wide Developer's Conference (WWDC) in June in preparation for launch in October
Apple stated that in order to complete development on its upcoming iPhone it needed to shift key software engineering and QA resources from the Mac OS team, and this was the reason for the delay.
Posted by | Fri, Apr 13, 2007 - 09:05 AM | Comments
IBM To Replace System Bus w/ TSV
IBM will link chips together in a relatively new way that the company says will improve performance and cut power consumption.
The technology, called through-silicon vias, or TSV, involves connecting different components--processors and memory, for example--or different cores inside of two respective chips through thousands of tiny wires that will carry data back and forth. Now, chips mostly transfer data over channels called buses, which can get overwhelmed, embodied in wires. With TSV, far more data can be transferred per second in a less energy-intensive manner.
Posted by | Thu, Apr 12, 2007 - 05:15 PM | Comments
Intel GPU Architecture Mapped Out
Beyond3D revealed the future Intel discrete graphics plans with slides from the Visual Computing Group. The architecture is based on 10+ mini-cores that has 10mm2 die size and 6.25W TDP each. Each core has 16-wide 512-bit vector unit capable of executing VLIW instructions. 10 of such cores will be sharing at least 4MB of L2 cache and has a total die size at 140mm2 and 90W TDP. Performance could hit 1.2TFlops. The slides also revealed some fixed functions units and a high-bandwidth memory I/O. Most probably the first card will be pairing up with GDDR5 memories to provide an off-die bandwidth of more than 150GB/s.
Posted by | Thu, Apr 12, 2007 - 05:13 PM | Comments
Google draws 64 percent of search queries
Web search leader Google's market share inched up to 64 percent of all queries among U.S. Internet searchers in March, gaining further ground against Yahoo and Microsoft, a survey released on Wednesday by Hitwise found.
The number of search queries on Google rose to 64.1 percent in March, compared with 63.9 percent in February and 58.3 percent a year ago, according to Hitwise, which bases its report on the surfing habits of 10 million U.S. Web users.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 11, 2007 - 04:51 PM | Comments
There's history and money in obsolete computers
Do you have an old computer sitting around the basement just collecting dust? Don't throw it out just yet as it might be worth thousands of dollars!
The pride of his collection is an Apple Lisa, one of the first computers (introduced in 1983) with a now standard graphical interface. Such items sell for more than $10,000.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 11, 2007 - 04:50 PM | Comments
Google plans global developer day
Google hopes to woo more developers to its Web services software platform with a 27-hour-long "Developer Day" on May 31.
To spark more interest in its development tools and APIs (application programming interfaces), the company on Wednesday invited developers to attend workshops at Google offices in 10 countries. Topics to be covered will include developing location-based services with Google Maps, Google Earth, and SketchUp; creating mash-ups with AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language) and Google Gadgets, and developing with the Google Web Toolkit.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 11, 2007 - 04:49 PM | Comments
Motherboard makers see March shipments and revenues up
Following a recent report that motherboard makers Micro-Star International (MSI) and Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) announced strong shipment and revenue figures for March, Asustek and Gigabyte Technology also reported rising revenue and shipment figures for the month.
Asustek reported consolidated March revenues of NT$88.02 billion (US$2.66 billion), an on-year growth of 159%, while Gigabyte reported consolidated revenues of NT$4.91 billion for a 22% on-year growth. Asustek reported it shipped 5.34 million motherboards in March, while Gigabyte shipped 1.55 million units. MSI's shipments ranged from 1.60 million to 1.70 million units while and ECS shipped 2.32 million units during March.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 11, 2007 - 04:48 PM | Comments
GeForce 8300 Spotted in Taiwan
Due to hit shelves in the very near future, the GeForce 8300 GT has been pictured in Taiwan. The card is physically shorter than even the venerable 6200 and has a small fan on it.
The first ultra-low-end card to have its picture taken is the upcoming G86-powered GeForce 8300GT which will start bragging with its very low price around May (2007), about a month after the release of Nvidia's mainstream offer and around the time AMD releases its R610-powered cards.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 10, 2007 - 06:52 PM | Comments
Take-Two Interactive has unveiled a "100-day plan" for revitalization
The new management at Take-Two Interactive has unveiled a "100-day plan" for revitalizing and restructuring the video game publisher's business. As part of the plan, interim CEO Ben Feder said in a Tuesday conference call that the company would concentrate on reviewing and optimizing the organizational structure, complete the hiring of all key management that recently left the company and address the cost structure of the firm.
Take-Two also will look at developing strategic alternatives for assets that it terms as "noncore" to its business and look to make all "core" businesses profitable, said Feder. However, profitability of Take-Two's 2K Sports division, which had earlier been forecast to happen in calendar 2007, might get delayed till the next year, said Zelnick.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 10, 2007 - 06:48 PM | Comments
Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta Coming May 16 for Xbox 360 Users
Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today confirmed the multiplayer beta of Halo 3 will debut to audiences worldwide via Xbox LIVE on May 16 at 5 a.m. PDT and run through June 6 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. Coming exclusively to the Xbox 360 console this fall, Halo 3 is the highly anticipated third chapter in the groundbreaking Halo trilogy from legendary developers Bungie. Halo 3 lets gamers experience Master Chief’s greatest battle as he launches an epic mission to stop the Covenant, destroy the impending Flood threat and ultimately save mankind.
When gamers gather online to play the multiplayer beta via Xbox LIVE in May, they will be treated to three richly detailed, action-oriented maps: Snowbound, High Ground and Valhalla, which represent a mixture of large- and medium-scale combat environments and are brand-new to Halo 3. Each map will test gamers’ mettle as they are placed behind the controls of new Halo 3 vehicles such as the agile Mongoose all-terrain vehicle, and armed with deadly weapons such as the new and improved Assault Rifle, the ferocious Brute Spiker, the devastating Spartan Laser and the treacherous new Spike Grenades. This is just a taste of what gamers will experience later this fall when Halo 3 goes on sale.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 10, 2007 - 09:58 AM | Comments
An Apple milestone: 100 million iPods sold
Apple Inc.’s announcement Monday that it has sold 100 million of its iPod music players marks more than just a business milestone for the once-struggling computer company.
Apple said Monday that it had sold 100 million iPods since the gadget was introduced in November 2001. The company also noted that it had sold more than 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows and more than 1.3 million movies through its iTunes music and media store. If there was any doubt, the numbers offer definitive proof that the iPod has crossed from being a gadget for music lovers and technology geeks to being a mainstream hit with everyone from kids riding the bus to grandparents out for an afternoon walk.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 10, 2007 - 09:57 AM | Comments
Price war hurting chip maker AMD
Advanced Micro Devices lowered sales expectations for the second time in a month and pledged to cut hundreds of millions of dollars worth of costs in the face of a brutal price war with archrival Intel.
"The rumor was that the numbers were going to be terrible, and that rumor was true," said David Wu, an analyst at Global Crown Capital. "It's a sea of red ink - it's just a question of how much red ink." Investors applauded the company's move, driving AMD's stock up 49 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $13.35 Monday.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 10, 2007 - 09:48 AM | Comments
Matsushita to sell 42-inch full high def plasma TV
Panasonic maker Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. said on Tuesday it planned to launch the world's first 42-inch plasma TVs with full high definition panels on April 27 in Japan. The 42-inch TVs from Matsushita are expected to sell for $3,449-$3,617, the Osaka-based company said.
Matsushita hopes to challenge liquid crystal display TV makers by providing a better lineup of full high definition models, which can produce images with a resolution of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 10, 2007 - 09:47 AM | Comments
OCZ Introduces New SDHC Memory Cards
As digital cameras and video recorders produce higher and higher resolution images, the need for more memory has reached a new high. OCZ Technology today introduced a new line of SDHC flash memory cards to their high performance Secure Digital(TM) family. OCZ SD High Capacity (SDHC) cards comply with the new SDA 2.00 specification to support capacities over 2GB. Available in 4GB and 8GB configurations, OCZ SDHC cards are ideal for the latest digital cameras and electronics.
Compliant with specifications determined by the SD Association, OCZ SDHC cards are Speed Class 4 rated, ensuring a minimum write speed of 4MB/s. These high capacity cards are only compatible with SDHC compliant products and are not backwards compatible with traditional SD format devices. More and more next generation devices are expected to host SDHC.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 10, 2007 - 09:46 AM | Comments
Microsoft: 2007 China sales to rise 20 percent
Software giant Microsoft said on Tuesday it expects its China sales to rise more than 20 percent this year, boosted by new products and a national crackdown on software piracy. It will be interesting to see if they can hit this mark and if they do I doubt it has anything to do with cracking down on software piracy.
Reflecting the trend, only about 30 percent of Lenovo PCs now being sold will ultimately contain pirated Windows systems, down sharply from 90 percent last year, said Timothy Chen, chief executive officer of Microsoft's greater China region. "We've made great progress there," he told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. China is the world's second-largest PC market by unit sales, with more than 20 million units shipped last year, according to data tracking firm IDC.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 10, 2007 - 09:45 AM | Comments
Monitor prices may rise in May
Monitor vendors are feeling the pressure from rising panel prices, with market watchers predicting that monitor prices may go up as early as May. Monitor vendors have admitted that rising panel prices – which have gone up US$2-5 since the beginning of April – are heaping pressure on them, but they remain conservative about adjusting their monitor prices upwards at present.
BenQ said it will take 1-1.5 months for the prices on the terminal market to reflect the rising panel costs in April. BenQ said its currently available monitors have been on the market for quite some time, and therefore it has no plans to raise the prices in the near term. Viewsonic said it has yet to decide whether it will adjust its monitor prices, which will depend on costs, market situations, and competitors' reactions. Viewsonic raised its monitor prices ahead of competitors to reflect rising panel costs in the third quarter of 2006. But when competitors did not promptly follow suit, the higher prices created heavy pressure on sales.
Posted by | Tue, Apr 10, 2007 - 09:41 AM | Comments
Hard Drive Maker Seagate Tech Cuts Outlook
Seagate Tech cut its third-quarter outlook due to diminished demand and pricing pressures for its high-capacity 3.5-inch ATA disc drives. The hard-drive maker said Monday that it now expects revenue to be about $2.8 billion, compared with previous expectations of $2.9 billion to $3 billion.
The company said it believes that its market share, both in total and within each market currently served, is virtually unchanged from the previous quarter. "Overall, the company's results continue to be healthy and are reflective of its leadership position in an industry where consumers and applications are using, creating and sharing digital content at an accelerating pace," the company said in a press release.
Posted by | Mon, Apr 09, 2007 - 06:06 PM | Comments
AMD Cuts Desktop CPU Prices Big Time!
AMD has published price cuts for its desktop processor range with prices falling up to US$200 for high-end Athlon 64 FX-70 series processors. Several products have also been discontinued including the socket AM2-based Athlon 64 FX-64, and the socket 745-based Sempron 3400+ and 3000.
Under the newly published list, socket 745 has been phased-out, while only three socket 939 units remain suggesting that this architecture will also be discontinued soon. The majority of AMD's desktop lineup is now composed of socket AM2-based CPUs, while the high-end FX range CPUs are Socket F (1207FX).
Posted by | Mon, Apr 09, 2007 - 01:45 PM | Comments
World's First DivX Mobile Phone is Unveiled - Samsung SGH-F500
DivX, Inc. today announced the DivX Certification of the Samsung Ultra Video (SGH-F500) mobile phone, a revolutionary phone that features an unrivaled design and brings a superior range of multimedia experiences to consumers including high quality DivX video playback. The F500 is the first mobile phone to achieve DivX Certification to ensure true interoperability between the device and the over 70 million DivX Certified consumer electronics devices in the world today.
"The addition of DivX Certification to the Samsung F500 mobile handset opens a broad ecosystem of digital media that can be taken on the road while preserving the kind of high-quality experience that video aficionados demand," said Kevin Hell, President of DivX, Inc. "DivX is working to build a common digital media language that offers real interoperability across devices and platforms, and innovative devices like the Samsung Ultra F500 phone are an important piece of that ecosystem."
Posted by | Mon, Apr 09, 2007 - 10:17 AM | Comments
AMD Updates First Quarter Outlook - Tough Times
AMD today announced it expects to report revenue of approximately $1.225 billion in the quarter ending March 31, 2007. Revenues declined sharply quarter-over-quarter for the Computing Solutions segment, primarily due to lower overall average selling prices and significantly lower unit sales, especially in the resale channel.
MD plans to restructure its business model to increase operational efficiencies and lower its operating cost structure. AMD will reduce 2007 capital expenditures by approximately $500 million, which the company believes will not materially impact capacity plans for the year.
Posted by | Mon, Apr 09, 2007 - 10:16 AM | Comments
Intel Launches QX6800 - 2.93Ghz Quad-Core Desktop Processor
Intel Corporation today advanced its enthusiast-level quad-core processor family with the introduction of the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor QX6800, the company’s twelfth quad-core processor offering. Running at 2.93 GHz -- the fastest native clock speed yet reached with the Intel Core microarchitecture for the quad-core desktop -- this addition to Intel’s innovative processor family sets new standards for desktop PC performance. The Intel Core 2 Extreme processor QX6800 is produced on Intel’s industry-leading 65 nanometer process, key to enabling the large 8 megabyte cache. A 1066 MHz system bus is supported and the processor is available now at a cost of $1,199.
The Intel Core 2 Extreme processor QX6800 is also being embraced by media users and developers. Adobe*, Cakewalk*, DivX*, Sony Creative Software* and dozens of other developers have delivered applications that use all four cores, enabling media professionals to do what they do best-- capture creativity quickly and reliably. For example, the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6800 is up to 65% faster1 than the Intel Core 2 Extreme dual-core processor X6800 on video encoding. This is a key capability as more households are recording and editing high-definition video to capture, preserve and share memories.
Posted by | Mon, Apr 09, 2007 - 06:57 AM | Comments
Rogue NVIDIA 8600GTS Sold in Australia
The elusive video cards NVIDIA has been touting for some time have quietly made their way onto the market, the Australian market anyway, where one fortunate PC enthusiast bought it and posted some preliminary benchmarking results on a forum post.
The card is made by Albatron, and has a 675MHz core clock, 256MB of GDDR3 memory on a 128-bit memory interface and a 2000MHz memory frequency. That gives the video card a 32GB/s data bandwidth, and of course, after the overclocking record set at VR-Zone.com for a similar video card, the Aussie tried a little set of tests of his own, working on his personal computer. Though drivers for this model are generally available, the drivers supplied on the CD were enough to help him, and us for that instance, get a better view of the little monster's abilities.
Posted by | Sun, Apr 08, 2007 - 09:55 AM | Comments
Intel Readies Merom-L Core
In a bid to make manufacturing of Celeron M 500 CPUs economically more efficient, Intel will introduce a shrunk-down core in the near future.
Last January Intel introduced the Celeron M 520, a low-cost entry-level mobile CPU based on Core microarchitecture. At $134 the CPU was relatively low-cost from a consumer point of view -- with scheduled price drop to $107 on April 22nd. Under the hood the CPU featured a "fully fledged" Merom core with the current B2 stepping. It's safe to assume that these feature at least 2 cores and 2MB L2 Cache -- given the processors have different manufacturing lines for 4MB and 2MB models. In the recent PCN 107423-00 Intel notified its customers about a stepping change for Celeron M 520. Although a Celeron M 530 was introduced on March 25th at $134, in the PCN this model is not mentioned at all. Intel informs that said model will transition from a Merom B2 stepping core to a new Merom-L core with A stepping, which will be available starting the 1st of June.
Posted by | Sun, Apr 08, 2007 - 09:50 AM | Comments
Mid-range GeForce 8000-series Launch Dates, Prices
NVIDIA's next-generation mid-range offerings are just 10 days away
DailyTech published technical details of these cards last month. In a nutshell: * GeForce 8600 GTS -- 256 MB GDDR3, 675 MHz core clock, 1000 MHz memory clock * GeForce 8600 GT -- 256 MB GDDR3, 540 MHz core clock, 700 MHz memory clock * GeForce 8500 GT -- 128 to 256 MB DDR2 or GDDR3, 450 MHz core clock, 700 MHz memory clock
Posted by | Sat, Apr 07, 2007 - 01:54 PM | Comments
Intel Centrino Pro Announced
Intel is expanding its Centrino branding today with the announcement of Centrino Pro. Centrino Pro will take its place beside the existing Centrino and Centrino Duo brands in Intel's mobile lineup.
Centrino Pro is analogous to Intel's vPro platform on the desktop. Centrino Pro is based on the Santa Rosa platform and supports Core 2 Duo processors with Intel Virtualization Technology (VT) running on an 800MHz front side bus. Intel's 965 Express chipset (GM/PM) is paired with the ICH8M-Enhanced southbridge, which also features Intel Active Management Technology 2.5 (AMT).
Posted by | Sat, Apr 07, 2007 - 12:10 PM | Comments
Study: Violent Video Games Only Affect Unstable Youth
Research into what affect violent video games has on youth continues.
Researchers had 110 boys and 15 girls -- mean age of 14.6 -- play Quake II for 20 minutes after obtaining a personality profile of each participant. Anger levels were measured again immediately after the gaming test session ended. Researchers discovered three distinct groups upon analyzing the data. Seventy seven participants maintained the same anger level. Twenty two subjects had anger levels that doubled from the same starting point as unaffected participants. Eight participants started out a higher level of anger before the test started, but dropped down to normal levels after 20 minutes of game play.
Posted by | Sat, Apr 07, 2007 - 12:09 PM | Comments
March 29nd through April 5th News From Around the Web
News from March 29th to April 5th
Mushkin shows with their current XP2-8500 DDR2-1066 memory modules that it's possible to get high performance for low money. Because ocinside.de was able to overclock an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Socket AM2 CPU to approx. 3000 MHz and the normously high memory overclocking up to 600 MHz (DDR2-1200) was an important factor for these results. If you're using a DDR2 motherboard with some overclocking options, you shouldn't miss this Mushkin XP2-8500 Review.
Posted by | Thu, Apr 05, 2007 - 05:35 PM | Comments
Best Buy to carry Apple computers in 200 stores
Best Buy Co. said Wednesday it will carry Apple Inc. computers in 200 stores by this fall after a successful test last year. The nation's largest consumer electronics retailer has long carried iPods, But it stopped selling Apple computers in 1998 because sales were slow.
Best Buy vice chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brad Anderson said Best Buy had resisted selling Apple computers because of concerns they couldn't be sold profitably. But the test in 50 stores "has worked out very well for those stores in terms of being able to find a way to serve that Apple customer, and growing the business in those stores."
Posted by | Thu, Apr 05, 2007 - 08:46 AM | Comments
AMD debuts 3GHz dual-core Opteron 2222 SE Processor
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has begun shipping two 3GHz versions of its dual-core Opteron chip to server vendors, continuing a battle over multicore processing power with Intel, the company said Wednesday.
AMD plans to begin full-volume shipments by early May of the new Opteron 2222 SE chip for two-processor servers and the 8222 SE chip for eight-processor servers, said Patrick Patla, director of Opteron marketing for the company. The new chips are similar to AMD's previous top-shelf dual-core chip, but they run as fast as 3GHz instead of 2.8GHz for customers with general-purpose servers and workstations who need the extra speed to handle larger databases or more complex technical computing tasks.
Posted by | Thu, Apr 05, 2007 - 08:45 AM | Comments
Google chief gets $1, but his security costs $532,755
The Internet search giant Google paid its top executive, Eric Schmidt, a salary of $1 and a holiday bonus of $1,723 in 2006, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday. But Schmidt's personal security cost shareholders $532,755, representing the bulk of his compensation. Schmidt also received $22,456 to offset taxes due on a perk: the use of a Google-chartered aircraft by family members and friends.
The salary and bonuses paid to Schmidt, Brin and Page reflect little change from 2005, when they each earned a salary of $1 and bonuses of $1,630 to $1,723. For the latest filings, guidance by the Securities and Exchange Commission included personal security as a perk that should be listed as compensation, said Jon Murchinson, a Google spokesman. He would not give further details about Schmidt's security expenses.
Posted by | Thu, Apr 05, 2007 - 08:43 AM | Comments
Super Talent Introduces IDE Flash Disk Modules
Super Talent Technology today launched a series of IDE Flash Disk Modules (FDM’s), which are on display this week in Super Talent’s booth at the Embedded Systems Conference.
These FDM’s are based on NAND Flash technology, which is an ideal non-volatile storage medium for FDM’s due to its compact size, high performance and reliability, and low cost. With an industry standard IDE interface, Super Talent’s FDM’s are compatible with virtually any motherboard. Super Talent offers models with a 40-pin or 44-pin IDE connector, and with the connector oriented either vertically or horizontally. The horizontal IDE connector is designed for low-profile enclosures. These FDM’s are offered in a variety of capacities up to 8GigaBytes.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 04, 2007 - 05:58 PM | Comments
Micron Technology Has Net Loss of $52 Million in Second Quarter 2007
Micron Technology swung to a loss in its fiscal second quarter, as the company endured plummeting prices and weak demand from cell phone makers. The Boise, Idaho chipmaker said Wednesday it lost $52 million, or 7 cents a share, for the three months ended March 1. A year earlier, the company earned $115 million, or 15 cents a share. The loss was greater than analyst expectations, which had called for Micron to lose one penny a share in the quarter.
Megabit sales of memory products increased approximately 35 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2007 compared to the first quarter. During the second quarter, the Company increased its production of DRAM and NAND flash memory products by 15 percent and 60 percent, respectively, resulting from improved DRAM manufacturing efficiencies and the ramp of NAND production in Virginia. Memory production slightly outpaced memory sales in the second quarter, leading to a higher level of finished goods inventories. As a result of the higher levels of production, the Company's per megabit manufacturing costs for DRAM and NAND flash memory products decreased approximately 15 percent and 25 percent, respectively, in the second quarter compared to the first.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 04, 2007 - 03:48 PM | Comments
Intel looks to bury AMD's 'elegant' Barcelona Processor
Intel is betting on a combination of manufacturing prowess and pragmatic chip design to outsell Advanced Micro Devices' upcoming quad-core Barcelona processor. Barcelona, slated for release later this year, is the next version of the Opteron and AMD's answer to the dual-core Woodcrest and quad-core Clovertown Xeon processors introduced by Intel last year. Billed as a "true" quad-core chip, Barcelona has four processor cores on a single piece of silicon, or die, compared to Clovertown, which straps together twin dual-core dies inside a single package, yielding a quad-core processor.
"I think Barcelona could be an intellectually elegant chip. Will the market care if its cost is higher and it can't ramp into volume at the [clock] frequency targets? Well, we'll have to see," he said For AMD's part, the company is betting that the single-die Barcelona design will yield lower power consumption and offer higher performance than anything Intel can bring to market this year.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 04, 2007 - 03:45 PM | Comments
FBI checks gambling in Second Life virtual world
FBI investigators have visited Second Life's Internet casinos at the invitation of the virtual world's creator Linden Lab, but the U.S. government has not decided on the legality of virtual gambling.
Hundreds of casinos offering poker, slot machines and blackjack can easily be found in Second Life. While it is difficult to estimate the total size of the gambling economy in Second Life, the three largest poker casinos are earning profits of a modest $1,500 each per month, according to casino owners and people familiar with the industry. The surge in Second Life gambling coincides with a crackdown in the real world by the U.S. government, which has arrested executives from offshore gambling Web sites.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 04, 2007 - 03:43 PM | Comments
Intel to cut prices of Viiv platform chipsets
Intel will attempt to push its multimedia platform, Viiv, further into the market later in 2007 with plans to charge motherboard makers just US$1 for its upcoming ICH9-DH chipset, compared to the first and second quarter pricing of US$5 and US$3 for the ICH8-DH, according to sources.
However, some motherboard makers think that even though many top-brand PC makers have adopted the Viiv platform on some of their products, Intel is unlikely to repeat the success of its Centrino platform due to low consumer awareness and demand, as well as competition from AMD Live!.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 04, 2007 - 03:42 PM | Comments
Microsoft sued over Vista branding - I Need an Upgrade?
Microsoft has come under attack for the way it advertises the Vista operating system. A lawsuit, filed in Seattle, alleges that the company advertised systems as "Vista capable," when in fact the systems were not able to run Vista properly. The suit alleges that the marketing around Vista was designed to deliberately mislead potential customers.
According to the legal action, which was filed as a class action suit on Thursday, "consumers were falsely led to believe they would be upgraded to a dramatically new operating system bearing the key features marketed by Microsoft." In particular, the court action highlights Microsoft's "Express Upgrade" plan, which upgraded users from Windows XP to Vista Basic. This was an upgrade to Vista "in name only," the suit alleged, and "not the functionality." Microsoft said it had made extensive efforts to inform buyers about the hardware resources needed to run Vista.
Posted by | Wed, Apr 04, 2007 - 03:41 PM | Comments
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