Microsoft to intro file copy improvements in Windows 8
Microsoft are pumping away at Windows 8 and it is not only bringing big UI changes to Windows 8 but another area they've put their magic on is the file management and this should make copying, moving, renaming and deleting files easier than ever before. One improvement in Windows 8 is the ability to view all copy tasks in a single window. This is a much more efficient design and will be welcome on all desktops.
From the single window a user will be able to pause or resume copy operations and will also get a detailed rundown of speeds achieved in each individual task and what the task is up to at a particular time (compete, paused, etc). Another feature exposed today is the redesigned Conflict Resolution dialog window, this window pops up on the event of file name collisions. The revamped window shows [in a much clearer fashion] where everything is located, the time/date and size of the file and gives check boxes and options of what to keep and what action to take.
On top of this, you can hover the mouse cursor over the thumbnail image to see the file path or double-click to open the file itself. Windows 8 is set to remove much of the confirmation dialogs such as "are you sure you want to move this file to the recycle bin?' or "are you sure you want to merge these folders?' which is set to streamline your experience even more.
Continue reading: Microsoft to intro file copy improvements in Windows 8 (full post)
Steve Jobs steps down as Apple's CEO
Steve Jobs has officially submitted his resignation to the Apple board today, and as of this afternoon he will no longer be Apple's Chief Executive Officer. Tim Cook is set to take over as CEO. The exact details as to why he's stepping down as CEO are not disclosed, but many are guessing it's health-related. Jobs has been on medical leave since January 17 - the second time in two years. Steve Jobs' letter is below:
My good friend Alex Mihal put me onto this news, and has put his hand up to be the new CEO. I don't know how successful he would be, maybe we can start a viral campaign?
Continue reading: Steve Jobs steps down as Apple's CEO (full post)
Details on NVIDIA's upcoming 28nm mobile lineup leaked
Some slightly fuzzy details on NVIDIA's upcoming 28mm mobile GPU parts have been leaked today; these being Fermi based shrinks, not based on next-gen Kepler.
It should first be noted, the chart provided by semiaccurate that you see above gives a list of the majority, but not all of the upcoming mobile GPU parts on the way, as there will likely be a few more 40nm parts entering the market in amongst this lot.
The other important attribute of what we can learn from this chart is the mass production periods noted. Sources are indicating that the much anticipated Kepler lineup of GPUs won't start being released until (at least) three months after these begin rolling out. So if we're not seeing 28nm parts hit the market until January or so, chances are Kepler will miss the boat for a Q1'12 release.
Continue reading: Details on NVIDIA's upcoming 28nm mobile lineup leaked (full post)
AMD Bulldozer, design details surface - team red kicks it up a notch or three
AMD has released some nifty documents which outline the architecture behind their upcoming Core i7 competitor, Bulldozer. The Bulldozer CPU architecture is one of the biggest things to come from AMD in the form of CPU technology in a long time and the slides below outline Zambezi for the Socket AM3+ platform. The AM3+ socket infrastructure adds quite a few new things and a few surprises along the way. Check out the below images for a bit of a tease of things to come from team RED.
One of the surprising things is older AM3 processors are plug-in compatible with AM3+ motherboards, which would allow people to pick up a board in preparation for the new CPUs and then upgrade as they see fit. As well as the impressive 72-bit DDR3 memory channels which will see support for DDR3-1866. Bulldozer is quite power-efficient too, as it will increase clock speeds if there is spare TDP headroom and when there is not much workload on the CPU, it will disable un-used cores.
Very impressive, AMD. If it can keep up with Sandy Bridge-based Core i5/i7's, then we'll finally see some true competition in the CPU fight.
Gearbox has no intention to let Duke die with dignity...
Oh no, please leave it alone now Gearbox. We've all been through enough false promises followed by eventual (catastrophic?) disappointment that has deeply tarnished an iconic memory of our gaming past.
Would you believe guys, Gearbox is already looking to reboot Duke despite no doubt taking notice of all the negative reviews and feedback following DNF's recent launch. In actuality, they were already working on the "Duke Begins" project before they took over development of DNF; and as an agreement was made to hand ownership of the Duke Nukem IP to the studio, they can do whatever they like with it now. Once they've wrapped up development on their current title - Aliens: Colonial Marines they'll be waking the poor bastard back up for more.
Whatever they have planned, obviously they must think they can somehow make it up to us very unsatisfied, crippled fans. The real question now, however, is whether or not us fans are willing to give it the slightest of attention, after an over 15 year saga filled with broken promises and what some say was the final nail in the coffin when Gearbox offered up a rather weak result, worsened by the extended wait and frustrating hype we all had to endure.
Continue reading: Gearbox has no intention to let Duke die with dignity... (full post)
Apple's next "absolutely different" product rumored, could we see something revolutionary, magic, again?
Think back before the iPod, could you have imagined how much it would change the industry? What about the iPhone? Could you have predicted that? Well, Makorakara, a Japanese site has published a rumor on what the next "absolutely different" Apple product could be. The rumor contains no detail at all, but here it is:
Now, they say it's a new "Mac line", and if it were up to my "expertise", I would be guessing a touchscreen Mac? Or maybe a touchscreen MacBook? But, personally... if I was in control of this, here is my idea - let me know what you think:
HP outs new business All-In-One PC - Compaq 8200 Elite
While things are a little up in the air as to what exactly is on the cards for HP following this news late last week, it hasn't stopped them releasing new models just yet, with a new all-in-one PC becoming available in stores from today under their Compaq series.
The new Compaq 8200 Elite is a business oriented all-in-one PC which uses a 23-inch LED-backlit 1920x1080 display. Packed inside is a 2nd Gen Intel Core (Sandy Bridge) processor, up to 8GB of system memory, a HDD (or optionally, SSD), webcam, SRS Premium Sound and highly efficient power supply (up to 89% efficiency).
HP backs the Compaq 8200 Elite with a 3 year warranty (honored, regardless of what becomes of the company in its volatile future) and bears a base price of $999 USD.
Continue reading: HP outs new business All-In-One PC - Compaq 8200 Elite (full post)
AMD polishes off Brazos with three new APUs
While inevitably not bringing anywhere near the amount of excitement the upcoming FX-Series will once launched, AMD has just kicked out three new APUs catering to its Brazos platform - the E-450, E-300 and C-60.
Using AMD's Bobcat x86 architecture, all three models are dual-core, built on the 40nm process. The new top dog "Zacate" E-450 APU clocks in at 1.65GHz (where the previous top model, the E-350 ran at 1.60GHz). The integrated Radeon HD 6320 GPU has its core clocked at 508MHz and with its TurboCore tech it can be driven at up to 600MHz.
THe E-300 lacks TurboCore on both its CPU and GPU components, with the CPU clock at a fixed 1.30GHz, and the Radeon HD 6310 GPU at 488MHz. As for the C-60, this is AMD's latest ultra low power APU with a TDP of only 9W (the other two are double that). The C-60 does have TurboCore technology embedded for both its CPU and GPU components. The CPU's stock clock rate is 1.00GHz, but with the help of TurboCore can head north to 1.33GHz, while the Radeon HD 6290 GPU has its core clocked at 276MHz, but TurboCore can increase it to 400MHz.
Continue reading: AMD polishes off Brazos with three new APUs (full post)
Intel's "Cedar Trail" Atom platform delayed due to DX issues
Late last week news hit the web that Intel was pushing back its new netbook platform, Cedar Trail-M from a September release to November, with the reason given that the platform had encountered some graphics driver hiccups resulting in a failure to meet Windows 7 certification.
Fast forward to the other side of the weekend and we're now finding out that there's unsurprisingly more to it than that. Where it was initially thought to be just some video decoding issues holding them back, it's actually a different, more alarming element of the driver that Intel can't rustle out at this time, one directly relating to DX9 (not a typo).
The story goes that while the graphics core in Cedar Trail is based around DX10.1, Intel wasn't going to have supporting DX10.1 drivers ready in time for the platform's launch as it was, so that's where (what was supposedly) easier to build DX9 drivers came into play, to give a working base for the launch until such time as Intel can produce the DX10.1 drivers.
Continue reading: Intel's "Cedar Trail" Atom platform delayed due to DX issues (full post)
Ukrainian champions hold a cool $1M following fierce DOTA 2 battle at Gamescom
After five days of intense competition in the International DOTA 2 Championships at Gamescom, six Ukrainian kings have emerged victorious, known as team Na'vi (yes, Avatar fans). And along with the immense pride in securing their #1 result, they also get to walk away with a cool $1M in prize money.
Chinese team EHOME came in a close second, securing their runner up prize of $250,000. The remaining top six teams (out of 16 teams in total for the event) that were awarded include :-
1. Scythe.SG - $150,000