AMD CEO says that every laptop on earth has enough processing power

Anthony Garreffa | Laptops | May 23, 2012 12:26 AM CDT

AMD CEO, Rory Read, has been quoted with quite a powerful quote: that there's enough processing power on every laptop on the planet today. He's specifically referring to what he calls the conclusion of the era between AMD and Intel to develop increasingly faster processors.

AMD spokesperson, Mike Silverman told the San Jose Mercury News that AMD needed to let go of the old AMD versus Intel mindset, as technology moves forward this strategy will no longer be the key focus. AMD CEO Rory Read also talked to Bloomberg Businessweek, where he said that computing is increasingly moving into the cloud where data centers are able to process computations much faster than a single computer, tablet or smartphone can.

Personally, I thought we were over this? I think the whole AMD versus Intel thing ended when we moved into multiple cores? Intel, in my opinion, is so far out in front right now, that CPU power just doesn't have the same effect it did years ago. You can upgrade from a Core i3, to a Core i5 and if you're not utilizing all of that power - is there a difference? If you're using your PC for Facebook and e-mail and move from a dual-core AMD to a quad-core AMD, do you notice the difference?

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GeForce 301.42 WHQL drivers are here, provides 4-way SLI support to the GTX 670, and lots, lots more

Anthony Garreffa | Software & Apps | May 23, 2012 12:00 AM CDT

NVIDIA have just released some new drivers to the public, and what makes these stand out from the other R300 series of drivers is that these are the first WHQL-certified drivers from the R300 family of drivers. NVIDIA have baked plenty of improvements, and features into the R300 series of drivers.

The GeForce 301.42 WHQL does contain some nuggets of gold, such as improving support for the GTX 600 Series of cards. We're looking at the inclusion of GEFORCE GTX 670 4-way SLI support, and a bunch of HDTV displays getting a dded support, as well as the usual single- and multi-GPU bugs being squished. New and/or improved SLI and 3D Vision profiles have arrived, for new games such as Max Payne 3, Dirt: Showdown, Sniper Elite V2, and Street Fighter X Tekken.

For more information on the GeForce 301.42 WHQL drivers, check out NVIDIA's page.

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Japan, Russia looking to set up bases on the Moon

If you've ever imagined being a fly on the wall in an important meeting between companies, or corporations, this might be it. The heads of the space agencies for Europe, Canada, and Russia as well as senior representatives from the space agencies of India and Japan, were all together in a hotel in Washington, DC, where they were talking about the benefits of international collaboration at the Global Space Exploration Conference.

The leader of the space agency who's HQ is just a few blocks away, was not on the stage. NASA administrator, Charles Bolden, was in Florida where he was watching the attempt by SpaceX to launch a capsule to the International Space Station. But, it's not strange for NASA to not be involved with these talks, as the agency has had a hard time working with others in joint ventures, and Europe in particular has had to turn elsewhere for partners.

NASA is still interested in space, but are looking to head into manned missions to asteroids, but several space agencies representatives reiterated that the Moon was still a very big deal to them. The head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, Vladimir Popovkin, said that Russia intends to pursue extensive, long-lived operations on the Moon's surface. Popovkin has said:

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Facebook shares continue to tank, now down 18.1% below the IPO launch price

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | May 22, 2012 8:45 PM CDT

Yesterday I reported that Facebook shares were down 11-percent from the IPO launch price of $38 per share, to a shave over $34 per share. Today, they've dropped even more, down a total of 18.1-percent from $38 per share to $31.12 per share.

An 11-percent drop, is significant in itself, but an 18.1-percent drop is even more significant as it's barely days from its IPO launch. Business Insider has a great piece on it, where they've explained that once again, Wall Street insiders had some great information, where small investors an individuals were left out in the cold.

It seems that Facebook was not as powerful on the stock market, and that this information was shared among the elite before the IPO itself. If we take note that Mark Zuckerberg himself sold 30.2 million Facebook shares, netting him (before tax) a very tidy $1.1 billion. Various people along the line who have the means and power to have much more knowledge than you or I, or the normal investor, were told to cut estimates.

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Xfinity Voice gets free voice, text messaging over WiFi using Xfinity Connect Mobile app

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | May 22, 2012 5:32 PM CDT

Customers of Comcast's Xfinity Voice will be getting some new features which could help customers save money. The new feature is called "Voice 2go" and will allow users to make calls over WiFi using their home phone number. The new service will also allow users to text from the number while on WiFi.

"We continue to enhance our Xfinity Voice service by adding new features consumers have come to expect from smartphones and mobile technology," said Cathy Avgiris, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Data and Communications Services. "These new tools enable customers to stay connected to their home phone service and take it with them virtually wherever they go."

Using the newly redesigned Xfinity Connect Mobile app, customers can make and receive calls and texts messages for free while using WiFi. The service will also work over a mobile phone's 3G or 4G data connection and not use any minutes. These text messages can also be sent internationally to over 40 countries, including Canada, Brazil, China and, soon, Mexico.

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Nuance shows off Dragon Drive, Siri like concept for your car

Trace Hagan | Electric Vehicles & Cars | May 22, 2012 4:32 PM CDT

Voice control is gaining momentum everywhere thanks to Apple's Siri: Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S III is going to feature a Siri alternative. Google has voice search. Now, Nuance, the people behind the Dragon software, is showcasing a new technology to allow for natural language processing. Nuance technology is already seen in Ford's Sync and My Ford Touch.

The current Nuance system recognizes about 10,000 voice commands, but can't cope with anything outside of that pre-programmed library. The new technology being showcased is called Dragon Drive and will use Nuance's cloud-based servers to allow natural language processing, similar to how Apple's Siri works.

The technology is moving forward slowly and starting with an SMS service. The SMS service will allow users to send and receive text messages. As more people get used to the technology and the technology advances, Nuance will bring the technology to services like navigation, traffic updates and music playback.

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Samsung Galaxy S3 most pre-ordered Android phone Vodaphone has ever offered

Trace Hagan | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | May 22, 2012 3:34 PM CDT

Vodaphone is singing praises about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III. We had previously reported about the Galaxy S III surpassing 9 million pre-orders, but it now has reached the point where it is the most pre-ordered Android device that has been offered by Vodaphone. It hasn't quite reached the same popularity of an Apple device, but Samsung is getting closer.

A spokesperson told TechRadar: "We've been really encouraged by our customers' response to the Samsung Galaxy S III. With over a week to go until launch, it's already the most pre-ordered Android device we've brought into our smartphone line-up to date and our limited time offer of 2GB of mobile data and 100 free music tracks is being snapped up."

The Carphone Warehouse has stated something similar: "Pre-order demand for the new Galaxy SIII has surpassed expectations since the handset was first unveiled two weeks ago. The first 24 hours alone saw thousands placing their pre-order at Carphone Warehouse".

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Alienware will be first to launch laptop containing Killer Wireless-N 1202 NIC

Trace Hagan | Laptops | May 22, 2012 2:33 PM CDT

In order to further user's gaming experiences, Alienware will be the first to feature Qualcomm Atheros' new Killer Wireless-N 1202 chipset. The new wireless chip "is designed to provide improved performance and advanced control by automatically classifying and prioritizing gaming, video and audio network data to provide a superior, uninterrupted online entertainment experience."

"Alienware continues to be the leader in performance laptops and we appreciate that its customers are used to getting the best gaming experience possible," said Mike Cubbage, director of business development, networking business unit, Qualcomm Atheros. "The Killer Wireless-N 1202 will continue the tradition of delivering a superior gaming and real-time communication experience for Alienware laptop users by providing the best in online application performance, intelligence and control to ensure that critical online applications get the bandwidth and priority they need, when they need it."

"Gamers everywhere depend on Alienware to deliver superior experiences that help them achieve that 'epic win'," said Frank Azor, general manager at Alienware. "Integrating the Killer Wireless N-1202 technology-another first from Alienware-allows gamers to experience exceptional online gaming."

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Windows 8 receives tweaks for multiple monitor, betters user experience

Trace Hagan | Software & Apps | May 22, 2012 1:32 PM CDT

Since this is an enthusiast site, I imagine a majority of the readers are running multiple monitor setups. If you are, I'm sure you're aware of some of the difficulties associated with such a setup on previous versions of Windows. Well, Windows 8 isn't just receiving a touch screen UI upgrade; it's also receiving tweaks for multiple monitor setups.

There are several different tweaks that Microsoft is making in the upcoming Windows 8. One of the more minor tweaks is that you will now be able to put different backgrounds onto different monitors as seen in the picture above. Additionally, it will be possible to span a single panoramic picture across multiple monitors.

Microsoft has also improved the slideshow function to take advantage of multiple monitors. This is an especially important feature for users who have monitors in different orientations. Some pictures are more suited for a portrait or landscape monitor, so Microsoft has added a piece of logic code to show images on monitors to which they are better suited.

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Google announces finalization of Motorola Mobility acquisition

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | May 22, 2012 11:01 AM CDT

Motorola has had a good run as its own company. They literally invented the mobile phone. But, as of late, they haven't been doing so well and Google has been courting them for some time. The deal has finally closed over seas in China, which is the last place that was holding back approval of the acquisition. Google has acquired MMI for $40.00 per share in cash which totals near $12.5 billion.

The CEO of Motorola Mobility has stepped down and Google has replaced them with one of their own. Dennis Woodside, formerly President of the Americas region for Google, will step up and become Motorola's next CEO. Google will continue to run Motorola as a separate company as well as keeping Android an open operating system.

Larry Page, CEO of Google, said:

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