Latest News - Page 3226

Here is our interesting picture of the day. With all the rampant news of Lynnfield and the P55 chipset coming we find this image of what appears to be an AMD twelve core CPU.

The CPUz shot calls it a K10 but does not list anymore details including the process size. For some reason it shows as 0nm. Now, as far as current information goes this should not be any smaller than 45nm as AMD/ Global Foundries has not managed to produce a 32nm sample CPU as far as anyone knows.

Still we can garner some interesting information from this picture (if it is real and not some forgery). We see the socket listed as G3, the technology standards included and the different levels of Cache.

So Microsoft might release project Natal in 2010 and they might have a new XboX 360. That is a lot of mights to be perfectly honest. But Sony on the other hand is saying they will have 3D TV support for the PS3 in 2010.

This was demonstrated recently. The new 3D Support will come in the form of a firmware update for the PS3. This simple (relatively) update to your console will enable 3D support for all existing titles.

That last line is the most important; this is not an update that will make it available for "future products" no it will enable it for all existing titles. All I can say there is wow.

I have talked about Snow Leopard at length and about how I feel that Apple's newest OS is actually following MS and Linux this time around.

I have received more than my share of e-mail over this. Some have been reasoned, some have been rants and name calling. But all that aside I will say this; Apple is not being completely honest or upfront with its users and consumers

According to Adobe, Apple has shipped Snow Leopard with and older version of Flash. This version has known security issues. Adobe knows about them, Apple knows about them and you can be the hackers do.

WooooHooooo! Finally, after a few months and a few Class Action Lawsuits AT&T is going to extend the blanket of MMS to their service for the iPhone.

This is great news for anyone that is tied to the Exclusive iPhone carrier. When the iPhone OS 3.0 and 3G S launched on June 19th this year it was bathed in "hard sell" for the new and exciting features. Including such ground breaking things like Cut, Copy, and Paste, tethering, and of course MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service). Now while everyone else in the world was able to use these pretty much at launch AT&T said sorry, you'll have to wait until end of summer.

No one is sure why as every other AT&T phone sells with this technology, but AT&T stood firm. Well in the last month or so AT&T and Apple have had to answer a number of lawsuits for false advertisement. That seems to have spurred AT&T to finally offer the service.

Information about AMD/ATi's pricing for the upper end of the new DX11 cards has hit the internet.

If the rumors about the naming structure are correct we should see a single PCB Dual GPU card called the 5870X2 hit the stores at $599. While the single GPU version will be called the 5870 and only set you back about $399. At the bottom end of the 58xx line we will see the 5850 sell for about $299.

This fits in with what is typical of a new GPU. You can also bet that once nVidia responds AMD will be quick to offer incentives which should filter down to the consumer.

I love marketing and PR. Not because I enjoy it or because I like dealing with most PR people. No I enjoy it because of the funny things that are done all to gain more press time.

For example AMD is often found right across the street from Intel events to make sure they can counter anything that Intel says. Products are launched in "leap-frog" style or many times on the same date in an attempt to drown out the attention competitors get.

ATi and nVidia have been known to schedule events on exactly the same date and in different locations just to split the press. This last one has not happened in some time but has reared its ugly head again.

After we heard the big news on Tegra being dropped into the new Zune HD we had a chance to talk to nVidia about this new System on Chip product.

At the time nVidia was unusually willing to talk about future generations of Tegra but was very tight lipped about what Tegra might be used in.

We hear tiny rumors of Smart Books, Smart Phones, and MIDs in general but nothing concrete or detailed.

Nintendo has finally come out of its tiny little hole. What hole is this you might ask? Well it is the hole they have been living in while they thought it was ok to charge for the internet, or at least their internet channel.

Starting today you can get this handy little feature (complete with a new version of Flash Lite 3.1). This means that now you can browse the internet from your couch with a lazy wave of your hand. What could be better?

Well I guess there is more; you get access to a virtual QWERTY keyboard, favorites and even a home page.

With all of the news about Core i5 and the annoying (to Intel) early sales it is no wonder that they Core i3 (32nm Clarkdale) has not gotten much press.

But, we do hear some interesting news about it. If the information out is correct we should see the 32nm dual-core i3 show up with a clock speed of no less than 2.93GHz in the lowest-end model. The core i3 will fit into the existing 1156 sockets but will not work with the existing P55. The reason for this is the lack of the controls needed to translate the information from the IGP to the VGA/DVI/HDMI connections.

Interestingly the Core i3 530 will only have a 73 Watt TDP. This is pretty impressive when you consider that number includes the IGP.

Asus' Eee (EEE??) PC line up has been aired. Someone has gotten a hold of a few slides from what looks like an inside product/roadmap briefing and they have put them up on the internet. This means that as of right now just about everyone has read them.

So what is new in the Eee line up? Well the first thing that jumps out is the switch from XP Home to Windows 7. This does not mean that the Eee PC is now a power house. It just means that MS is pushing the new OS and it is slimed down enough to work on the new netbooks (I have it installed on an MSI Wind U100).

Next up is the inclusion of nVidia ION chipsets. This comes as a surprise; there was much talk at Computex from Asus that they would not be moving to ION. However it is interesting to note that ASRock (still controlled partially by Asus) has a couple of ION offerings. This may have been a case of Asus using ASRock to test the waters and once they saw they were ok, jumping in themselves.

Earlier today we made a mention that nVidia might have a demo of their GT300 (NV70) DX11 GPU ready for September. Well we have a little more information.

If the information we are reading is correct, nVidia already has the GT300 and has only been working out driver issues. Add-in-Board makers should be setting the timelines for demoing the new product. The Demos should start in September.

One thing that is interesting. While we hear that technical demos of the GT300 are starting in September, we hear from another source that the GT300s that will be shown will be renamed GT200 parts.

The future looks bright for ATi, Microsoft and DX11. Windows 7 is receiving some of the best press that MS has received in the last 5-7 years. This is a great comeback after the technical press and bloggers condemned Windows Vista before it even hit the shelves. Of course this has all changed.

DX11 is taking off much faster than DX10 did and we have even seen some game developers postpone games to recode their engines to take advantage of the new DX. We know of roughly 4 games that should be DX11 and available at the time that Windows 7 Launches.

Two of these titles Grid and DiRT are popular games that should help to bolster sales of Windows 7 for gaming. But on the opposite side we have ATi already showing off DX11 hardware and with highly anticipated titles (like Grid and DiRT). Meanwhile nVidia might show off DX11 capable hardware in September. ATi has already promised DX11 hardware on the shelves for the Windows 7 Launch.

Over the next month or two you will be reading (unless you choose not to) a lot of articles explaining why Snow Leopard is an amazing leap forward.

However what you won't be reading is the same thing that is mysteriously absent from many iPhone OS reviews. This omission is the truth about how far behind Apple really is in terms of technology.

While yes Snow Leopard represents a good step forward and does bring many new features and performance improvements to the Mac, it is still not up to par with your average Windows or Linux install for technology.

Gigabyte has some new GPU technology coming out. This new tech will fall under the name of their Super Overclock line. The Super Overclock line will feature a number of improvements that will make these cards perform faster and more stable than any other.

The first new tech up at the plate is something called GPU Gauntlet Sorting. This is not looking for a glove but is actually a system to "cherry pick" GPUs to get the best performance out of each one.

Only GPUs they have gone through testing to see what the maximum OC they can take is they are then run through a series of benchmarks from FutureMark (3D Mark Vantage). The reason for this is to ensure they can operate under stress. Then GIGABYTE tests the GPUs switching power. This is to make sure that the board is able to provide clean and consistent power as needed.

Ok, I just had to write something about this one. We all have read that France is holding Apple accountable for the issue with the 12 or so exploding iPhones.

Well Apple apparently is saying that there is no problem; there are no issues with the batteries overheating...nope nothing at all. They instead blame something they refer to as "External Pressure".

I have to wonder if we will see an advisory about how tight you can hold the iPhone soon. After all they released a ridiculous advisory about operating temperatures. That piece of CYA work pretty much told you to stay inside with your iPhone with the AC on High.

If you have never heard of the company gScreen you are not alone. I had never heard of them either before this morning. But they are going to be in my head for a long time to come.

gScreen is coming out with a dual screen laptop. This is not like Lenovo's where they tacked on a small 10-inch screen to one side. No this is a full dual screen notebook.

And they did not scrimp on power either. According to the specifications this book 15.4-inch book will have some healthy power under the hood.

Wow this one sort of sent a chill down my spine until I remembered that my home network is protected by WPA-2 enterprise with a RADIUS server, 4096-bit certificates, (machine and user) and a bunch of tin foil hats and black radar repelling spray paint.

If you are wondering what I am so paranoid about well there is this group of scientists in Japan that have figured out how to break the WPA protocol as long as you are using the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol TKIP. If you are using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) you are safe for now.

The problem lies in the fact that not all wireless devices support AES. Yes most new ones do but you still see a smattering of TKIP only or devices that default to auto for the encryption standard.

In our review of the ASRock X58 Extreme we had a few issues with memory; most notably with our kit of Kingston KHX160003K3/3GX. For some reason we could not get that RAM to post. Well this started a series of e-mails between ASRock and TweakTown.

We tried a different BIOS and still could not get the board to post with that kit of memory in the board. Well today an ASRock Engineer actually stopped by our lab In Orlando, FL to take a look at the board and at the setup.

This is an impressive move by a mainboard company and the first time a company engineer has actually wanted to physically see the issue. I am very used to getting a new product or trouble shooting over the phone or through e-mail but a personal visit is something altogether different.

If you are a fan of BioShock then this is right up your alley. After a couple of years wait BioShock 2 is coming closer to its release. The developers of BioShock and BioShock 2 are the remnants of Looking Glass Studios. LGS was the mastermind behind the games System Shock and System Shock 2 (are you seeing a trend here?)

As with the move from System Shock to System Shock 2 BioShock 2 takes place years after the event. Unlike System Shock 2 you are returned to the scene of the original event; the City of Rapture. You take on the character of the first Big Daddy.

This time due to your status as a very powerful Big Daddy you have access to the outside of the city. This was not possible before and adds a new level to the scope of game play. The same role-playing like style exists in BioShock 2 that was pioneered in System Shock 2 is present in the new BioShock. This system has been copied by many other games including Lucas Arts and even id Software in their latest release Wolfenstein.

The rumors about Microsoft dropping the price on the Xbox 360 Elite have come true. But the secondary rumor about the Xbox 360 Pro going the way of the Dinosaur also seems to fallen through a lttle.

According to Microsoft the new pricing will put the Elite at $299.99 a full $100 cheaper than before while the Pro will drop down to $249.99. These will continue to be sold until current supply is gone and then they will be no more.

The pricing puts the Xbox 360 Elite in line with Sony's new PS3 Slim. But according to MS that was not the plan. MS says that they had the price reduction in mind for the holiday season. They have also removed the HDMI cable from the packaging saying that their research indicates most people do not use them.