ASUS Preps Non-Reference Radeon HD 4890

Zac O'Vadka | Video Cards & GPUs | Mar 24, 2009 12:10 AM CDT

With the launch of the ATI Radeon HD 4890 just weeks away, it should come as to no surprise that pictures are starting to pop up all over the web. It is unusual however that we see non-reference designs so early.

ASUS is working on a high-end version of the 4890 with beefed up power circuitry. TechPowerUp thinks that it will fit in nicely as either a "TOP" or "MATRIX" lineup when released.

ASUS Preps Non-Reference Radeon HD 4890

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New iPhone rumored for June?

Sean Kalinich | Mobile Devices, Tablets & Phones | Mar 23, 2009 2:09 PM CDT

The gang over at Boy Genius Report has spoken with someone high up in AT&T and they seem to be confirming the third coming of the iPhone.

According to the article it looks like June will again be the time of mayhem and non-working servers that have come to expect from AT&T and Apple. They have never quite been able to deal with the demand on upgrades and new hardware.

But that is not the biggest or worst news, If the Boy Genius is right we might just start seeing AT&T's horrible shovelware on the iPhone. Yup AT&T's U-verse applications might be coming to the new iPhone.

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AMD VP calls Intel's Debate Stance Offensive

Sean Kalinich | | Mar 23, 2009 12:40 PM CDT

In other AMD related news, it seems that it not only lawyers at AMD that are talking trash about Intel lately. Even the VP of Advanced Marketing is getting in on the act.

According to an article by Sylvie Barak, Patrick Moorhead has publicly declared Intel's refusal to deal with battery life and other issues on blogs and twitter "offensive and derogatory to consumers".

Moorhead was quick to push openness and a transparency but held out that AMD will not publicly release Cross-License info without Intel releasing all the Anti-Trust info.

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AMD to Demo Havok on ATi GPUs

Sean Kalinich | | Mar 23, 2009 11:45 AM CDT

AMD is jumping on the Physics on GPU bandwagon finally (after being the first ones to talk about it years ago)

This time they are teaming up with Havok and are even planning a demonstration at the Gamers Development Conference on the march 26th.

This is an interesting shift from AMD's previous direction. At the demo AMD will talk about open standards based physics with OpenCL and ATi Stream. They will also talk about Server-side rendering by AMD's Fusion Render Cloud. In all I think the highlight will be the Physics Demo on ATi GPUs.

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Office 14 to ship in x86 and x64 versions

Sean Kalinich | | Mar 23, 2009 10:17 AM CDT

Microsoft is making good on its commitment to 64 bit computing. In 2006 at CES Bill Gates made the statement that Microsoft would move all server side and business applications to 64bit in roughly five years. Consumer Products would follow in an additional 5 to seven years.

Now the gang over at Fudzilla is reporting that Office 14 will ship in both x86 and x64 flavors. This was discovered while tinkering around inside the new RC for Windows 7 by Ed Bott from ZDNet.

While checking the registry they came across an x64 entry for office.

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Quantum Computing Could be a Reality

Sean Kalinich | | Mar 23, 2009 9:24 AM CDT

Quantum computing has been a big buzzword and a dream of many. If the findings of a recent study are correct it might be moving from fantasy to reality.

The breakthrough came from a device created at Edinburgh and Manchester universities. Which is a non-silicon molecular device could be used to form the base of a quantum computer system.

The power of quantum computing lays in the fact that quantum binary digits can represent multiple values at the same time. This makes the highly parallel and far more advanced than traditional silicon based parts.

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Smoothcreations Unveils Reaper i7 Value Series

Zac O'Vadka | | Mar 23, 2009 12:14 AM CDT

Smoothcreations, in collaboration with us here at TweakTown, is proud to announce the Reaper i7 value series.

Smoothcreations Unveils Limited Series Reaper i7 Value PCs

The Reaper features a hand painted Sliverstion mid-chassis, BFG GTX 280's, an Intel Core i7 940 CPU, and Corsair memory. We worked closely with Smoothcreations to bring you one bad-ass system that is as stunning on the outside as it performs on the inside, all without requiring a second mortgage.

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Apple Updates iTunes With HD Movies

Zac O'Vadka | TV, Movies & Home Theatre | Mar 22, 2009 11:35 PM CDT

Apple announced that iTunes customers will finally be able to purchase and rent movies through the iTunes store.

Purchasing a movie in HD costs $19.99 and rentals will cost $4.99. The rentals will be available within 30 days after release. Currently the hit thriller Twilight is available and Quantum of Solace will be available on March 24. More movies will be added soon and you can view what iTunes has to offer here.

You can read the full press release if you'd like.

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Students Send $80 Camera Into Space with a Balloon

Sean Kalinich | Cameras, Printers & Scanners | Mar 20, 2009 1:11 PM CDT

A teacher and a group of students from the IES La Bisbal school in Catalonia, Spain managed to get a pair of latex balloons and an $80 Nikon CoolPix camera to an altitude of 100,000 Feet and actually managed to capture images from Space with it.

The balloon was intended to take images from 30,000 feet but before it was all done had exceeded its design by reaching the outer edges of the atmosphere.

The rig had some custom built electronics to control the camera and also to radio its position so it could be tracked on Google Earth.

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Tide is turning against Apple

Sean Kalinich | | Mar 20, 2009 12:50 PM CDT

Microsoft Head Honcho Steve Ballmer is declaring that the tide is turning on Apple.

In a recent speech at conference in New York, Ballmer stated "Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction,". This seemed to indicate that he felt Apple's recent market acceptance was coming to an end.

Ballmer went on to say "The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be."

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