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Pictures of ATi's Juniper Card show up
With all the news on ATi DX11 hardware coming out of Quakeconn it is interesting to see that someone finally managed to get a good picture of the whole adapter used.
The picture that we found comes from Chiphell and shows us what the 40nm Juniper will look like.
The new card will look familiar as it closely resembles the HD 4770 with the exception of the black PCB. The card pictured also shows two DVI ports, one HDMI, and one Display Port. Not bad for connectivity.
Continue reading: Pictures of ATi's Juniper Card show up (full post)
Clarkdale 32nm CPU+IGP tested early
Remember when AMD talked about integrating a GPU into the CPU? Remember when this was going to be the next big thing? Well somewhere along the lines AMD seems to have stopped working on this new technology.
Intel, on the other hand, did not. They have been at work and are close to the release of their Clarkdale CPU. This is a 32nm CPU that has an IGP stuck under the IHS with the CPU core.
Now we have all heard about this but with the recent fervor over leaked Lynnfield CPUs, e-tailers and retailers selling Lynnfield early and pretty much everything else about Lynnfield many have lost track of Clarkdale.
Continue reading: Clarkdale 32nm CPU+IGP tested early (full post)
nVidia to make another name change of GPUs
What's in a name? After all a rose... ok no Shakespeare this morning. But you know, you really have to wonder about that. I can remember a time when naming was simple. CPUs were nammed after their speed. For example the Pentium 133 was a 133MHz Pentium CPU. The K62 333 was a 333MHz CPU. They we got into equivalent performance Like P1200+ meaning that it should run like a competing 1.2GHz CPU. But nothing on how fast it was.
Well over the years this has gotten worse and worse, especially with companies like nVidia renaming and rebranding continually in an attempt to confuse the consumer.
Well it looks like nVidia is at it again with another name change for the upcoming 40nm GPUs. Gone is the GT and GTX labeling and back is the old GeForce so we are going to see things like GeForce 210 (like the old GeForce 3 and 4 series. I suppose next we will see the GT and GTX go at the end of the number again just to keep things simple...
Continue reading: nVidia to make another name change of GPUs (full post)
Rumor says Intel's Braidwood put on the shelf
We have more Intel rumors today. This one is surrounding the Turbo Memory successor Braidwood. Intel Turbo memory was a method of increasing I/O performance through the use of an NVRAM module. This feature showed up in a few notebooks but never really took off. On the whole the performance gain was not measureable so it was deemed as un-needed by many people that tested it.
Braidwood was supposed to bring this technology to the P55 in the form of the P57 chipset.
All of that is out the window if the rumors being reported are true. You see they claim that Intel is shelving the whole Braidwood project until a later date. This means that since the P57 is not much more than a P55 with Braidwood there is no reason to release the P57.
Continue reading: Rumor says Intel's Braidwood put on the shelf (full post)
SilverStone launches Raven RV02 PC Enclosure
It is not often that you see true innovation in case designs. Far too often PC enclosures are simply a revamp of the same old tired design. Even the enclosures that flip the mainboard upside down or move the PSU from the top to the bottom are not all that exciting.
However today I got a chance to see something truly different. This new design represents a new direction and a new way of looking at the PC and how it works.
SilverStone has launched their new Raven RV02 case. This new case rotates the mainboard 90 degrees. This means that your I/O ports are no longer facing the back of the PC, now they are easily accessible right on the top of the case. The next added benefit is that heat from components is not stacking up or stagnating in the middle. instead the heat from these is able to rise naturally without heating the next component above it.
Continue reading: SilverStone launches Raven RV02 PC Enclosure (full post)
Windows 7 to cost less in the UK than US
In what seems to be a "Twilight Zone" moment it has been uncovered that UK pricing for Windows 7 will be roughly half of what the cost will be in the US.
According to a CNET article Microsoft is pushing Windows 7 Home Premium full version for less than you can buy an upgrade in the US. The official pricing is 65 GBP, which converts to $107 USD. This is $13 less than the US upgrade price for the same product.
Of course the 65 GBP does not include the standard VAT (Very Annoying Tax) that is imposed in the UK. This 17.5% tax adds 11.37 GBP to the cost pushing it up to 76.37 GBP $126.11 plus shipping.
Continue reading: Windows 7 to cost less in the UK than US (full post)
Asus Holds on to Number 1 Spot for Reliability
Asus has maintained its lead over Apple in RESCUECOM's reliability report for the second quarter running.
Now the report is interesting as it only deals with trouble calls that are placed with RESCUECOM directly. This makes it at the very least inaccurate in terms of true reliability.
Still we can see an interesting localized trend here. Asus has been increasing its market presence beyond of the Ad-in and component segments for the last few years. They are increasingly a one stop shop for many, many products. These products on the whole are well put together and designed for the average consumer. Typically when a manufacture does this there are growing pains involved.
Continue reading: Asus Holds on to Number 1 Spot for Reliability (full post)
Sony finally announces PS3 Slim for $300
This morning K-Mart let the proverbial cat out of the bag on the Sony PS3 Slim. This is the same console that Sony has been denying for the better part of a year. Well K-Mart messed up by putting this up on their website for $299.99. The launch date was set for the 24th of August.
At the same time Sony was preparing for a news conference at Noon Eastern Time in the US. Many knew that they would hear word of the PS3 Slim from the horse's mouth.
Well Sony did officially announce the PS3 Slim and for the listed $299 but the launch date is a little off. Sony says that it will be ready in early September. The new PS3 will have a larger HDD at 120GB but will feature pretty much the same hardware otherwise.
Continue reading: Sony finally announces PS3 Slim for $300 (full post)
Microsoft readying 720P HD webcam
720p HD video is coming to a Microsoft webcam near you. The Redmond based giant is planning the release of their LifeCam Cinema. The new product should be able to capture video at 1280x720 @ 30 fps.
The device also has a noise canceling microphone on top of the camera. The camera uses a now traditional USB 2.0 connection. It will be out-of-the-box compatible with Windows 7, Vista and XP. The new camera will integrate with Live Messenger, Live Movie Maker and Photo Gallery.
The system requirements are quite high with a Dual Core 1.6GHz CPU just to run the camera while MS recommends a 3GHz Dual Core and 2GB of memory for best performance.
Continue reading: Microsoft readying 720P HD webcam (full post)
AMD holds 53% of Discrete Mobile market
AMD had some good news this morning. It seems that although they are running far behind Intel in the CPU market and behind nVidia in the desktop GPU market they are the leader in the Discrete Mobile GPU market.
This is an interesting turn of events since nVidia has been shoving its higher end mobile GPUs into everything it can. The reasons for the change are probably less complex than you would think.
The biggest reason is going to be the lingering effect of the defective bump material that is still hurting nVidia. Since the effects of this appeared to be confined to the mobile GPU space it has only impacted consumer confidence in this small area.
Continue reading: AMD holds 53% of Discrete Mobile market (full post)
Cydia Store breaks 53,000 Purchases
More news about the iPhone but this one has a little twist. We always hear about how insanely popular the App Store is. It is on the TV, on the web you name it, there is Apple telling you that.
But you know what? It is not the App store at all, it is the Apps. Yes here I am to state the obvious. People like the idea of downloading and installing different applications for their mobile devices. To prove this point Cydia, the most popular of the third party applications repositories has just passed over 53,000 purchases totaling in almost $.25 million US dollars.
This number will only grow as Apple continues to ostracize its own developers. Look at what happened to GV Mobile, Apple rejected it and now it is available on Cydia. The more arbitrary and inane their approval process the more people will jailbreak their phones just to have access to freedom of choice.
Continue reading: Cydia Store breaks 53,000 Purchases (full post)
Tim Sweeney predicts the end of the GPU Roadmap
With the advent of possible new CPU manufacturing processes and materials come an interesting article saying that they GPU may reach its limit by 2020.
The article is not an Intel product (in response to nVidia's repeated claims that they CPU is dead). No this is from Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder of Epic Games.
In a recent presentation Sweeney says that by 2020 developers will move away from the highly optimized GPU and push for more flexible code. Thie code will take advantage of parallel processing and move most hardware "fixed functionality" features to software.
Continue reading: Tim Sweeney predicts the end of the GPU Roadmap (full post)
IBM working with DNA to improve CPUs
The race for new methods of manufacturing CPUs is on in earnest. Although most of us cannot see the efforts on the back ground, we do hear little bits from time to time about this or that new technology that could be used in CPU manufacturing.
The problem is that no matter what the new idea is today, it will take the better part of a decade to realize any real changes in the way we make our processors.
So while we have news that IBM is working with DNA strands to find new ways to make CPUs or that Intel is working on Grpahene (a 2 dimensional sheet of pure carbon) and Carbon Nano Tubes. These changes will not see daylight until 2020 or later.
Continue reading: IBM working with DNA to improve CPUs (full post)
nVidia maybe working on a Dual GT300
I have already talked about how much I enjoy new operating system releases but to be honest with you I enjoy the hype that leads up to and following any product launch.
Since we have word that ATi/AMD is launching Evergreen in September we need a new rumor about nVidia. Well we have one. According to a few sources we hear that nVidia will be pushing out a dual GT300 card. This will be a direct competitor to ATI's planned dual RV870 card.
There is not much information to go on other than what we already know about the GT300. The big thing to ask will be what form factor will this be. Traditionally nVidia has chosen to implement dual cards with a dual PCB solution. However recently nVidia allowed for a single PCB design that worked very well.
Continue reading: nVidia maybe working on a Dual GT300 (full post)
nVidia to make entry level LGA 1156 chipset
In the early part of last year there was talk that nVidia would not be making any new chipsets. According to the rumor at the time nVidia asked a group of OEMs if there was any reason for nVidia to continue; after a few minutes of silence nVidia made the decision to drop out of the chipset market.
This rumor seemed to be confirmed when it was announced that nVidia would license their SLI technology to Intel for the X58 chipset. This would not be in the usual NF200 bridge chip, but by actually enabling native SLI support for the X58. a few months later Intel announced that nVidia's current licensing did not cover new CPUs with an integrated memory controller. Things were not looking good for anything new in the mainboard world from the green team.
All that might be changing though as there are now rumors of an LGA 1156 chipset from nVidia. Unlike the past where nVidia would hit in the high-end and enthusiast market, the new boards appear to be all entry level with an IGP that has its own memory bus (64 bit).
Continue reading: nVidia to make entry level LGA 1156 chipset (full post)
Rumored September Apple Event Brings new Rumors
With the rumor of an Apple special event in September of course there are rumors about possible new Apple products.
One that is gaining ground is a rumor that the next gen iPod Touch will have a built in camera. This would be a great idea and would give the Touch a feature that many have asked for.
But is this one of the announcements that is really going to happen? With Apple's track record of leaks and hints and hype it very well could be.
Continue reading: Rumored September Apple Event Brings new Rumors (full post)
Zune HD's HD TV out videoed
We have been talking about the Zune HD a lot lately especially given its potential as a true competitor of the existing champ, the iPod touch/iPhone.
We have seen the browser, the case, the hardware underneath, the dock. pretty much everything. The one missing component has been just how well does the 720p HD out to TV work?
If it is crap then the Zune loses a big part of its attraction. If it is great then there is another bit of ammo to fire at the iPod.
Sony and MS working to get Apps ported from iPhone
In the war of the PMPs the big deal now is developing third party applications for the device. This is even more important than base functionality (but is still behind proper marketing).
So what do you do if you are trying to enter or get back in the game in the PMP space? We know that Apple has a very large number of mobile developers. This is evidenced by the large number of Apps in the iTunes App store. How do you tip the scale to your favor?
The plain and simple answer is money.
Continue reading: Sony and MS working to get Apps ported from iPhone (full post)
Maxitweet gives you 200 characters from Twitter
In today's episode of short attention span theatre we will show you how to expand your attention from a mere 2 seconds to a staggering 3.5.
To do this all you need to do is expand your twitter from 140 characters to 200. I am not sure why you would want to do this. After all most of your followers would not be interested in anything that would require them to read an additional 60 letters and/or spaces.
But as this must be in some sort of demand a company in New Zealand has found a way to do it. What they do is allow you to put your "tweet" into their web page and convert it to a slimmer version using Unicode characters. This makes your tweet look like a letter from a bad TV movie killer but does allow you to drone on about all the little things you are doing.
Continue reading: Maxitweet gives you 200 characters from Twitter (full post)
Lenovo Issues battery recall on ThinkPads
Important news for any Lenovo ThinkPad owners as Lenovo announces another recall on their batteries.
This is not the first time Lenovo has had to recall its batteries but this one is not about anything overly dangerous. These batteries are merely defective and cause mundane things like "irreparable damage" errors popping up.
Other indications are your battery life becoming very short. a message saying that the battery cannot be charged. Lenovo has announced that they will replace the batteries for free and have even posted a tool to help you determine if you have a bad battery.
Continue reading: Lenovo Issues battery recall on ThinkPads (full post)
