What is after multi-core CPU's?
Sooner or later we all get "uber" gear, we might have to wait...but we will get it...eventually...

The Future of CPUs: What's After Multi-Core?

• By David Chisnall.
• Date: Oct 27, 2006.

Predicting the Future

It’s very easy to make accurate predictions about the future of technology. Stuff will get smaller, faster, and cheaper. This has been true for centuries and is unlikely to change—at least until we start running out of oil. Making interesting and accurate predictions is somewhat more difficult.

One trick employed by many futurists is to predict as many things as possible, and then remind people of the correct predictions when they happen, while brushing the less accurate predictions under the carpet. This approach works, to an extent, but isn’t much fun.

One good technique in the computing world is to look at what’s happening in the mainframe and supercomputer communities and predict that the same sorts of things will happen in the personal computer arena. This rule was driven home to me when I attended a talk by an IBM engineer about his company’s new virtualization technology. He commented that his company had an advantage over other people working in the area: Whenever they were stuck, they could go along the hall to the mainframe division and ask how they solved the same problem a couple of decades ago.

This trend is a good guide to the future: Things always trickle down eventually from the high end to the consumer bracket.

Another trend is that the high end is constantly getting smaller. SGI’s mistake was not to realize this truth. Ten years or so ago, SGI was the company to go to for high-end graphics hardware. They still retain this niche; their latest hardware allows a large number of GPUs to share the same RAM and therefore work together tightly. The difference now is that the GPUs are developed by NVIDIA. The people who originally formed NVIDIA used to work for SGI, but their management didn’t want them to produce a consumer-level graphics accelerator, since it would compete with their high-end hardware. These folks went on to form their own company, and now own about 20% of a market that is orders of magnitude larger than the entire market in which SGI competes. Worse from SGI’s perspective is that many of the people who needed high-end hardware a decade ago now barely tax their consumer-grade equipment.

New uses for high-end equipment constantly emerge, but eventually the consumer segment catches up.

Read all about it here, courtesy of informit.com:

-Eric

Sony PlayStation 3 details revealed
...now where have I seen PowerPC chips before, hmmm...

Looks like IBM's chips gain a new home after losing thier MAC homes.


The PlayStation 3 will have a 3.2GHz Cell processor that consists of a single PowerPC-based core with seven synergistic processing units. The Cell is the result of a joint effort between IBM, Sony, and Toshiba. The primary PowerPC core has a 512KB L2 cache, and each SPE has 256KB of its own memory to work with. The CPU has an eighth SPE for "redundancy," which means that each Cell chip only needs seven working SPEs to pass muster for the PS3.The Cell processor will be powerful enough to drive a new class of gameplay physics impossible to run on older console hardware, including cloth and fluid simulations, as well as large-scale rigid-body interactions with hundreds and thousands of objects colliding onscreen. Today's PCs in comparison will need a physics add-on card or find a way to tap the GPU for physics processing to run PS3-level physics effects. Additionally, developers will be able to use the Cell's SPEs to give games new audio effects previously only available on the PC with dedicated audio processing.


Read all about it here, courtesy of gamespot.com:

-Eric

Dell set to sell sub $500 AMD based laptops
Rumors of processors in short supply, won't apply for pc maker Dell. AMD promises 500k units to Dell for first run of notebooks.

Dell is set to begin shipping notebooks that feature AMD CPUs from the last week of October, according to Taiwan-based notebook makers. By the beginning of November, the first batch of 500,000 AMD notebook from Dell will officially hit the market, added the makers.

Dell will target the low-end of the notebook market with its AMD models, with prices ranging from US$449-499 for a 15.4-inch model coming first, though a 17-inch model will be added in the first quarter of 2007, the notebook makers noted,

Dell's 15.4-inch notebook is being manufactured by Taiwan-based Quanta Computer while the company's 17-inch model will by produced by Compal Electronics, the Taiwan notebook makers pointed out.

AMD currently accounts for less than 15% of the global notebook CPU market, but the company expects to grow its share significantly by partnering with Dell, the notebook makers said. According to the notebook makers, Dell will use 20 million AMD CPUs during the first year of their partnership (4Q06-4Q07) with notebook CPUs accounting for at least 20% of the total.

Although sources indicated that supply of AMD CPUs is running tight, AMD is willing to supply Dell with 500,000 units for the first batch. If sales go well, AMD will continue securing Dell with similar shipment volumes, the sources added.

Read all about it here, courtesy of digitimes.com:

-Eric

Gigabyte releases certified Windows Vista Motherboards
I am not sure how you make a "certified" motherboard for Windows Vista other than it has DX10 built in on board video...

Taipei, Taiwan, October 25, 2006 - GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards and other computing hardware solutions is proud to announce the GA-945P-DS3 2.0 has received the Windows^® Vista™ Premium logo from Microsoft^®, enabling users to take advantage of the stunning graphics and revolutionary new features Windows Vista has to offer.

In cooperation with the Microsoft Taiwan WHQL lab, the GIGABYTE GA-945P-DS3 2.0 underwent a rigorous evaluation and testing process to ensure complete compatibility with Microsoft Windows Vista Premium. By officially passing the Windows^® Vista™ Premium logo process, the GA-945P-DS3 2.0 enables users to experience the breathtaking Windows Aero™ 3D visual interface and a host of groundbreaking features with the potential to fundamentally change how they view, find and organize their digital information.

The Vista Premium GIGABYTE GA-945P-DS3 2.0 delivers a fresh and unique desktop experience that will be more informative, intuitive and completely new. In addition to providing optimized High Definition audio for a more rich, theatre-quality sound, the GA-945P-DS3 2.0 features state-of-the-art, all solid capacitors for extended durability and maximum system performance.

GIGABYTE continues to work closely with Microsoft to test a number of our motherboards in order to offer our customers the industry's most feature-rich Vista Premium solutions. With the GA-945P-DS3 2.0 promising to be the first of a wide rage of top-to-bottom GIGABYTE motherboard solutions to receive the Vista Premium logo, GIGABYTE guarantees our hardware delivers the most reliable, performance-driven solutions to power Windows Vista Premium.

Read all about it here, courtesy of gigabyte-usa.com:

-Eric

$100 Laptops to roll off production lines by mid-next year
Don't look for it here in the United States, these laptops are destined for 3rd World Countries...

Well, these kids may not have food to eat, running water or any form of formal education, but darnit they will have laptops! I can see it now, 5 year olds in Bangladesh will be well versed in file sharing, "pron", YouTube and MySpace. Everything they need to know....
...joy...

By Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service
October 23, 2006

The $100 laptop PC at the heart of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative aimed at school children in developing countries will start rolling off production lines in the second quarter of next year.

Taiwan's Quanta Computer, the largest contract notebook PC manufacturer in the world, was tapped by the OLPC project to produce the low-cost devices, and says it's gearing up to play its part.

Although the final numbers will depend on how many orders come in for the $100 laptops, Quanta expects to produce 10 million of the devices in the first year of production, a company representative said Monday.

The OLPC group, led by Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of OLPC and a cofounder of the MIT Media Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, plans to offer the low-cost laptops to governments and organizations around the world as an educational tool to ensure school children in poor nations keep up in the digital age. A number of academic and industry groups worked together on the project to come up with the $100 laptop design.

An improvement to inexpensive LCD display technology was key to pushing the cost of the laptop so low, according to the OLPC Web site. OLPC improved LCD displays commonly found on inexpensive DVD payers, resulting in a laptop screen costing $35. Normally, such screens make up hundreds of dollars of the cost of a notebook PC.

OLPC also reduced the amount of software in the laptops, cutting the fat out of the system. "Today's laptops have become obese. Two-thirds of their software is used to manage the other third, which mostly does the same functions nine different ways," the OLPC Web site says.

In addition, the group believes that mass producing the laptops in very large numbers will keep costs down. The group had said it would not begin production until 5 million to 10 million of the laptop PCs had been paid for in advance.

The $100 machine will run the Linux OS on a 500MHz microprocessor from Advanced Micro Devices, will be wireless broadband-ready, and contain 128MB of DRAM and 500MB of flash memory for storage. The only major component missing will be a big hard disk, according to the group.

Read all about it here, courtesy of :

-Eric

Happy Birthday iPod!
The hand held music device that propelled Apple celebrates its 5th birthday...

Lance Ulanoff - PC Magazine

Oct. 23

Dear iPod,

First of all, let me say Happy Birthday.

You don't look a day over five. It is five, right? So young and yet, you've obviously had some work done. I mean, your face is quite different from when I first met you. You dropped the buttons and you've lost a lot of weight. Not that you were fat before, but gosh you're incredibly slim these days—easy to carry around.

I've never met your father, Steve, but I can only imagine how proud he must be of you. Like any good dad, he predicted big things for you. He said you'd transform the music industry. I, for one, did not believe him. The idea of playing digital music on portable players wasn't new and, up until 2001, it had been an abysmal failure. Plus, I don't know if you know this about your dad, but he has a tendency to overstate things.

Whenever someone I know or care about reaches a milestone, I like to reflect on how they got there and what makes them special. And you are special, iPod. Pretty much all my doubts disappeared the first time you arrived at PC Magazine labs. Your face (or should I say interface) was unlike anything I'd ever seen on a portable device. The circle buttons and "scroll wheel" offered a seamless marriage of form and function. Steve doesn't kiss and tell, but I'd love to know who your mom is, because your looks must come from her side of the family.

The other big surprise was your relationship with iTunes. For someone so young, you had (and continue to have) and unbelievably tight bond with the music software and download service. Again, downloading music was nothing new (many of us were doing it illegally). I remember thinking that no one would ever pay for music—no matter how good the player and software service. You proved me wrong iPod.

Read all about it here, courtesy of :

-Eric

Firefox 2 arrives on October 24th
The biggest competitor to IE7 launches October 24th. Let the browser wars begin!

Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service

Friday, October 20, 2006 03:00 PM PDT

Not to be outdone by Microsoft's recent release of Internet Explorer 7, Mozilla will release the second major version of its rival Firefox browser on Tuesday, October 24.

According to Mozilla Vice President of Products Christopher Beard, Firefox 2.0, which should be available on Tuesday if all goes according to schedule, includes key new usability features missing in the new IE 7.

(Read PC World's comparative review of IE 7 and Firefox 2.)

Updated Mozilla Features

Mozilla has also enhanced the popular tabbed browsing feature in 2.0 that Firefox introduced when it emerged two years ago as the first significant rival to IE in years, Beard adds. Tabs allow users to navigate more easily between multiple Web pages when browsing the Internet, and Microsoft added tabs to IE 7 after Firefox's success with the feature.

In Firefox 2.0, Mozilla has added a "close" button on its tabs, as well as new visual features to make the tabs appear more obvious to the user, Beard says.

New usability features in Firefox 2.0 that differentiate it from IE 7 include one that will restore the browser to pages where the user was working if a sudden OS restart is required. "If your browser needs a restart or the OS asks you to reboot, losing all of those Web pages and content is pretty disruptive," Beard notes.

Firefox 2.0 is offering two options for enabling this feature. One way is that, by default, the browser will give the user an option to restore his or her browser sessions if there is an unexpected shutdown; the other is an advanced option to set the browser so that it always restores the last five pages visited before a sudden reboot.

Read all about it here courtesy of pcworld.com:

-Eric

Should Dell make Apple hardware?
A new report/rumor is gaining ground on the speculation Dell and Apple may broker a historic agreement for both companies.

I dont know how to feel about this. Part of me is horrified and another part is pretty curious to see if it can be pulled off. The key to this will be quality control. If Dell slacks off in this department it could spell disaster for both companies. I do know life in the PC industry and related buisness sector are about to get a whole lot more interesting in the forthcoming year.

Increasing component costs and pressure to cut its prices mean Apple's best bet for long-term success is to quit the hardware business and license the Mac to Dell, analyst firm Gartner claimed on Tuesday.

In a surprisingly ambitious report, called Apple Should License the Mac to Dell, Gartner says Apple should concentrate on what it does best -- create software -- and make use of Dell's production and distribution infrastructure.

"Apple should leverage its close relationship with Intel and team up with Intel's closest ally, Dell," the report states. "We recognise that this move would surprise and even shock many. We are aware that Steve Jobs cancelled previous Mac licenses when he took over at Apple and that he guards the Apple brand zealously."

Up to around 1997, companies including Power Computing were given the rights to license Mac technology from Apple. However, when Jobs returned to the company, he attempted at first to renegotiate the licenses but eventually opted to cancel them.

Apple increased its share of the PC market to around 4.6 percent in July this year, according to analyst figures.

Gartner claims that with the right partners, distribution channels and a more affordable price, computers running the Mac OS could eventually account for 20 percent of the total PC market.

Read all about it here, courtesy of zdnet.com:

-Eric

EA Game's Battlefield 2142 now come with free in game ads!
Ads while playing your online pc games is the new horizon for annoying the heck out of you. This is a very bad idea. One I predeicted a long time ago. Sadly, it has come to frutition.

Q&A: IGA's Townsend On BF2142 In-Game Ads

Talking to Gamasutra, IGA Worldwide CEO Justin Townsend has explained his company's work with EA on Battlefield 2142's in-game ads, following earlier controversy over a disclaimer shipped with the European version of the game.

The disclaimer had some users concerned over what they termed 'spyware' related to the dynamic in-game advertising supplied by IGA. But Townsend made it clear that IGA "does not capture any personally identifiable information" for those playing BF2142, going on to explain exactly what details the game's users are supplying when they play.

IGA's In-Game Ad Capture Specifics

Specifically, IGA's software uses the IP address for geotargeting of in-game ads (so that European ads are not shown to those in the U.S., for example). It also creates a unique user number that's generated locally, and is able to re-identify the gamer when he next appears online.

In addition, IGA's in-game ad solution does capture the time of day that the user started to play each gaming session - Townsend mentioned, as an example, that "if the brief says 'Males 18 to 34'", the ads may only be served between 6pm and 9pm on a weekday evening or similar, to replicate 'primetime' viewing.

The time that each ad impression takes place is also recorded by IGA, alongside what type of ad content it was (billboard, megaboard, or video stream), the duration (how long was the ad seen for), the size of the ad relative to the player, and the angle of deflection (what angle the ad is viewed at).

Anonymity, The Need For Ads

IGA's Townsend went on to explain exactly why identifying specific consumers is not part of his company's goal, explaining: "In the advertising sector, generally you have two very distinct forms of advertising - above the line and below the line."

The company's advertising is 'above the line', which is to say that it's communicating the brand image, much like TV, and it's not 'below the line' advertising like the Internet & direct mail which seeks to get into a dialogue or a transaction with the consumer. Thus, Townsend explained that there's no need to know who exactly customers are. He clarified: "For us, all we need to do is to make sure we are serving the right ads to the right IP."

Regarding today's online controversy, Townsend noted that "you are always going have that hardcore vocal minority" who don't want in-game ads. But he suggested that if those same people "knew the kind of painful transition that most publishers are going through right now", they might approve of in-game ads as an important financial support function for next-gen titles.

He particularly commented: "If gamers still want to have a high amount of good quality titles year in and year out, there needs to be alternate revenue streams" for next-gen gaming - IGA clearly sees in-game advertising as a notable example of this.


Read all about it here, courtesy of :

-Eric

Study finds U.S. full of internet addicts
Hello, my name is Eric and I am addicted to the Internet...lol j/k...maybe... :)

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - The United States could be rife with Internet addicts as clinically ill as alcoholics, a study suggested.

"In a sense, they're using the Internet to self-medicate," Aboujaoude said. "And obviously something is wrong when people go out of their way to hide their Internet activity."

According to preliminary research, the typical Internet addict is a single, college-educated, white male in his 30s, who spends approximately 30 hours a week on non-essential computer use.

While the profile might hint that online pornography is at the root of the Internet obsession, that was only one piece of the equation, Aboujaoude concluded.

"Online pornography and, to some degree, online gambling, have received the most attention but users are as likely to use other sites, including chat rooms, shopping venues and special-interest websites," Aboujaoude said.

"Pornography is just one area of excessive Internet use."

Stanford researchers interviewed 2,513 adults in a nationwide household survey. Because Internet addiction has not been clinically defined as a medical condition, study questions were based on established addiction disorders.

Research indicated that nearly 14 percent of the respondents found it difficult to stay away from the Internet for several days and that slightly more than 12 percent often remained online longer than expected.

More than eight percent of the people surveyed said they hid "non-essential" Internet use from family, friends or employers and nearly the same number went online to flee from real-world problems.

Nearly six percent of the respondents felt that their personal relationships suffered as a result of their excessive Internet use

Read all about it here, courtesy of news.yahoo.com:

-Eric

Microsoft says Vista is "on track"
Ummm, on track for what?

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 13, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. today confirmed that it is on track to deliver Windows Vista™ for worldwide availability to its volume license business customers in November and worldwide general availability in January. The company also confirmed that it would be releasing Windows Vista in Europe and Korea on schedule, following what the company called “constructive dialogue” with the European Commission and the Korea Fair Trade Commission.

“We are excited to bring the security enhancements and innovative new features of Windows Vista to our customers and partners around the world, and we are committed to adhering to local law in every region of the world,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft.

Ballmer said the company over the past two years had submitted information to competition authorities around the world about Windows Vista as it was being developed.

Microsoft agreed to make a number of changes to Windows Vista in response to guidance the company received from the European Commission, said Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith. Smith confirmed that the company has also incorporated changes to Windows Vista in Korea to comply with its legal obligations there.

“We recognize that the European Commission does not give ‘green lights’ for new products, and we have not asked for one,” Smith said. “We appreciate the constructive dialogue we have had with the commission and the guidance the commission has provided. Based on this guidance, we have made changes to ensure that we’re in compliance with our competition law obligations, and we are moving forward to make Windows Vista available on a worldwide basis.”

“We welcome the constructive discussions we have had with governmental authorities around the world, and we are committed to continuing this type of dialogue in the future,” Smith said.

Read all about it here, courtesy of microsoft.com:

-Eric

Internet Security Expert: "User Education is Pointless"
Unless you explain internet safety and security in a way people can understand...your wasting your time.

MONTREAL--Forget about teaching computer users how to be safe online.

Users are often called the weakest link in computer security. They can't select secure passwords, and they write down passwords and give them out to strangers in exchange for treats. They use old or outdated security software, can't spell the word "phishing," and click on all links that arrive in e-mail or instant messages, and all that appear on the Web.

That's the reality, Stefan Gorling, a doctoral student at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, said in a talk at the Virus Bulletin conference here Wednesday.

When things go wrong, users call help desks, either at their company or at a technology supplier, such as a PC maker, software maker, or an Internet access provider, which can cost a fortune. The solution, many technologists say, is to educate the user about online threats. But that doesn't work and is the wrong approach, Gorling said.

"Might it be so that we use the term and concept of user education as a way to cover up our failure?" he asked a crowd of security professionals. "Is it not somewhat telling them to do our job? To make them be a part of the IT organization and do the things that we are bound to do as a specialized organization?"

In Gorling's view, the answer to those questions is yes. In corporations in particular the security task belongs with IT departments, not users, he argued. Just as accounting departments deal with financial statements and expense reports, IT departments deal with computer security, he said. Users should worry about their jobs, not security, he said.

It isn't productive, for example, to ask users to detect e-mails that seek to con them into giving up personal e-mail, he said. "Phishing is too hard to detect, even for experts."

And even if people can be trained, they can't be trusted to be on guard all the time, he said.

"I don't believe user education will solve problems with security because security will always be a secondary goal for users," Gorling said. "In order for security to work, it must be embedded in the process. It must be designed so that it does not conflict with the users' primary goal. It can't work if it interferes."

Some examples of built-in security mentioned at Virus Bulletin include a phishing shield in Web browsers, virus filtering in e-mail services and programs, and protection as part of instant messaging services such as Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger.

Read all about it here, courtesy of news.com:

-Eric

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We have been around since 1999! That's unheard of in this industry!! But we manage to build on our global base of customers. We just don't list any product. We research the market and resell only those products we would use ourselves.

We would appreciate your constructive input on how we can best serve you! Thank you.

DirectX 10 - What it means to the PC industry
Considering most games run off of a variant of the Doom3 engine (which uses OpenGL) just how much of a real impact will the "new" DX10 be?
I am thinking more hype, than actual tangible results. It certainly seems Microsoft's Chris Donohue will have a bright future in politics based upon the amount of "spin" he puts in this interview.

We recently had the chance to sit down with Microsoft DirectX 10 guru, Chris Donahue, and ask him some hard-hitting questions about his company's pending release of DirectX 10 and what it means to gamers and PC users at large.

BD: DX10 - tell us in once sentence why should gamers care?

Chris: We consider DirectX 10 to be the biggest leap in graphics performance since we introduced DirectX with Windows 95, and expect it to be a revolutionary new technology for game play.

BD: Why should non-gamers care?

Chris: DirectX 10 will deliver the highest quality graphics and best performance on the Windows platform, resulting in incredibly immersive experiences for everyone.

BD: It's a simple fact that many of today's top games are running on the Doom3 engine, which of course uses OpenGL - what are a few of the advantages a developer can have using DX10?

Chris: We rebuilt DirectX 10 in Windows Vista from the ground up in order to provide a rich, incredibly detailed experience for gamers and industry partners, while delivering many times the graphics performance and increased stability over previous versions of Direct3D. DirectX 10 will greatly improve graphic fidelity via Shader Model 4.0 which will allow developers to create more complex environments and characters as well as include more items on the screen.

Read all about it here, courtesy of bootdaily.com.

-Eric

Jury awards $11. 3 Mil for "Internet Defamation"
Bloggers who defame can get sued. Moral of the story make sure your statements are truthfull and not imflammatory.

A Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing her of being a "crook," a "con artist" and a "fraud."

Legal analysts say the Sept. 19 award by a jury in Broward County, Fla. — first reported Friday by the Daily Business Review — represents the largest such judgment over postings on an Internet blog or message board. Lyrissa Lidsky, a University of Florida law professor who specializes in free-speech issues, calls the award "astonishing."

BEWARE OF BLOGS: Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites

Lidsky says the case could represent a coming trend in court fights over online messages because the woman who won the damage award, Sue Scheff of Weston, Fla., pursued the case even though she knew the defendant, Carey Bock of Mandeville, La., has no hope of paying such an award. Bock, who had to leave her home for several months because of Hurricane Katrina, couldn't afford an attorney and didn't show up for the trial.

"What's interesting about this case is that (Scheff) was so vested in being vindicated, she was willing to pay court costs," Lidsky says. "They knew before trial that the defendant couldn't pay, so what's the point in going to the jury?"

Scheff says she wanted to make a point to those who unfairly criticize others on the Internet. "I'm sure (Bock) doesn't have $1 million, let alone $11 million, but the message is strong and clear," Scheff says. "People are using the Internet to destroy people they don't like, and you can't do that."

Read all about it here courtesy of usatoday.com.

-Eric

Asustek developing low cost pc's for emerging markets
Just another reason why I admire Asus products...

It's great to see a major manufacturer of pc parts taking strides to make pc more affordable, when the current trend has been more expensive pc's. The sad part is we may never see these pc's stateside.

Asustek Computer is developing US$150-250 PCs without built-in hard disk drives (HDDs), following other vendors who plan to launch low-cost PCs in emerging markets, according to the Chinese-language Apple Daily. Asustek's low-cost PC development is expected to bear fruit by the first half of 2007, the paper said.

In related news, Asustek's board of directors on October 2 approved NT$12 billion (US$362 million) worth of five-year unsecured convertible bonds (CBs).

Read all about it here, courtesy of digitimes.com.

-Eric

Microsoft promises Vista security
I have to be "fair & balanced" in reporting this article. I however, have many many reservations...

A senior Microsoft executive has promised that its new operating system will be more secure than ever.

Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International, said that beefing-up security was one reason behind delays to Windows Vista.

Microsoft has been criticised for flaws in previous systems that left users vulnerable to attacks by hackers.

Mr Courtois said Microsoft had done "tons of work to make Vista a fantastic experience when it comes to security".

The firm had originally aimed to launch Vista - the first major update since Windows XP was introduced five years ago - in the second half of 2006.

The new operating system will now be released to business customers "within the next few weeks" and to consumers early next year, he said.

Read all about it here, courtesy of news.bbc.co.uk.

-Eric

Tech myths BUSTED
A fun little article seperating the tech bunk from fact...

Looks like most of us here at Tech ARP are in a mood for some myth busting, after getting our chops busted by all manner of public misconceptions on technology. So we decided that enough is enough and I was given the task of putting my fat foot down and drawing the line. Some of these old wives tales have to be shot in the head, decapitated and then cremated and have their ashes scattered across all creation!

You, dear reader, are probably wondering, "Why?"

Well, as a tech enthusiast, I've put up with my share of inane questions, while asking inane questions of my own. In a way, we here are going help you save a lot of time by busting common myths about computer technology so that you won't have to waste time going "What the butt is this?" or wondering if what someone said was not just some technobabble that his grandmother with only working knowledge of a toaster taught him.

With all that time saved, you could find yourself free to take up old passions like torturing animals, blogging about your ex, downloading smut, etc. I wish I had this guide 7 years back. If I did, I would probably be a millionaire playboy by now. Okay, you might not benefit from it quite as much, but you'll certainly save yourself a whole lot of embarrassment and money by believing these myths.

So, what do you have to lose by reading this? Absolutely nothing. But what you could possibly gain is the power to make the right purchase, defend yourself against the ignorant, and save yourself from potential embarrassment. More importantly, chicks dig tech-savvy people (or so we believe!).

So, do yourself a favor, read through this, and liberate your mind from dumb beliefs that some 12-year old probably cooked up on a boring Saturday afternoon!

Read all about it here, courtesy of techarp.com.

-Eric

NVIDIA "G80" next gen video card details unveiled
DirectX 10 compliant GeForce 8800GTX and 8800GTS headed your way...

DailyTech's hands-on with the GeForce 8800 series continues with more information about the GPU and the retail boards. The new NVIDIA graphics architecture will be fully compatible with Microsoft’s upcoming DirectX 10 API with support for shader model 4.0, and represents the company's 8th generation GPU in the GeForce family.

NVIDIA has code-named G80 based products as the GeForce 8800 series. While the 7900 and 7800 series launched with GT and GTX suffixes, G80 will do away with the GT suffix. Instead, NVIDIA has revived the GTS suffix for its second fastest graphics product—a suffix that hasn’t been used since the GeForce 2 days.

NVIDIA’s GeForce 8800GTX will be the flagship product. The core clock will be factory clocked at 575 MHz. All GeForce 8800GTX cards will be equipped with 768MB of GDDR3 memory, to be clocked at 900 MHz. The GeForce 8800GTX will also have a 384-bit memory interface and deliver 86GB/second of memory bandwidth. GeForce 8800GTX graphics cards are equipped with 128 unified shaders clocked at 1350 MHz. The theoretical texture fill-rate is around 38.4 billion pixels per second.

Slotted right below the GeForce 8800GTX is the slightly cut-down GeForce 8800GTS. These graphics cards will have a G80 GPU clocked at a slower 500 MHz. The memory configuration for GeForce 8800GTS cards slightly differ from the GeForce 8800GTX. GeForce 8800GTS cards will be equipped with 640MB of GDDR3 graphics memory clocked at 900 MHz. The memory interface is reduced to 320-bit and overall memory bandwidth is 64GB/second. There will be fewer unified shaders with GeForce 8800GTS graphics cards. 96 unified shaders clocked at 1200 MHz are available on GeForce 8800GTS graphics cards.

Additionally GeForce 8800GTX and 8800GTS products are HDCP compliant with support for dual dual-link DVI, VIVO and HDTV outputs. All cards will have dual-slot coolers too. Expect GeForce 8800GTX and 8800GTS products to launch the second week of November 2006. This will be a hard launch as most manufacturers should have boards ready now.

Read all about it here, courtesy of dailytech.com.

-Eric

Fujitsu to recall 287,000 Sony batteries
The battery woes for Sony gets even worse...

Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu said on Wednesday that it would recall 287,000 notebook PC batteries made by Sony, bringing the number of Sony batteries recalled to more than 7.5 million.

Fujitsu last week joined a growing list of computer makers recalling Sony batteries but did not say at the time how many batteries would be affected.

Besides Fujitsu, Dell, Apple Computer, Lenovo, IBM and Toshiba have recalled the laptop PC batteries, which Sony has said can short-circuit on rare occasions, overheat and catch fire.

Following the recall announcements in August by Dell and Apple of a total 5.9 million batteries, Sony said the two recalls would cost it between 20 billion yen and 30 billion yen, or $170 million to $254 million. The company is also planning its own recall, which would include previously announced ones, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

But a Sony spokesman said after the Fujitsu announcement that total recall costs for Sony are now likely to exceed the previous estimate. The company will make an announcement as soon as its latest estimate and impact on the company's earnings become clear, he said.

Prior to the Fujitsu announcement, shares of Sony ended down 3.3 percent at a nine month closing low of 4,450 yen ($37.68). The Tokyo stock market's electrical machinery index was down 1.27 percent.

Compounding the blow to Sony's reputation as a top-class manufacturer is a delay in the launch in Europe of its long-awaited new video game console, the PlayStation 3.

Read all about it here, courtesy of news.com.

-Eric

Canon gets into the TV manufacturing buisness
I love their camera, I can only hope the same for the new ultra thin and sharp looking TV's...

CHIBA, Japan (Reuters) - Canon (7751.T) and Toshiba (6502.T) said on Tuesday they would start mass production of ultra-thin flat-panel TVs in early 2008, entering a market dominated by makers such as Matsushita Electric Industrial (6752.T) and Samsung Eletronics (005930.KS).

Canon Inc. and Toshiba Corp. are developing a new type of flat panels, which they say are thinner and consume less energy than the existing liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma televisions.

The production of the new surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) TVs would start at the end of 2007, and expand into full-scale in 2008, Kazunori Fukuma, head of the venture set up by Canon and Toshiba, said at Japan's biggest electronics trade show, where he presented a 55-inch full high-definition TV for the first time.

Canon aims to roll out SED TVs to match surging demand from consumers who want to watch the 2008 Beijing Olympics with bigger, clearer and thinner screens. The spread of digital broadcasts will also spur demand.

Read all about it here, courtesy of washingtonpost.com :

-Eric

HP Not Recalling Sony Batteries
HP goes for the hat trick of brilliant moves....

Hewlett-Packard is making a high-stakes bet that it won't get burned by a bad battery.

Dell, Apple, Lenovo, Toshiba and Fujitsu are recalling 7.7 million laptop batteries made by Sony. The batteries can, in rare instances, overheat and catch fire.

HP uses Sony battery parts, too, but it is not recalling them. The company believes it is safe because it reviewed and rejected Sony battery parts for nearly a year before buying any, spokesman Mike Hockey says.

Although HP can't say for sure, since it doesn't have all the information from Sony, it believes the problematic batteries were among those that did not meet its quality standards, Hockey says. About 1 million to 2 million HP laptops currently have the Sony battery parts. No overheating problems have been reported, he says.

But HP may just be "playing the odds and waiting it out," says tech analyst Richard Shim at researcher IDC.

Read all about it here, courtesy of usatoday.com:

-Eric

Gainward BLISS 7800 GS+512MB AGP Silent
Gettin' back to the basics, for our 100th blog!

512MB of video ram and a sliencer made by Arctic Cooling! This has the makings of a great, near silent video card.

The Gainward BLISS 7800 GS+ Silent follows the mindset of the GeForce 7800 GT and GTX. It is a good looking card with outstanding performance and comes in a dual slot design. The cooler isn't deducted from the reference design from NVIDIA, but is based upon the very successful Silencer series designed by Arctic Cooling. The main difference related to the GeForce 7800 GT and GTX is the interface; whereas the GT and GTX are PCI Express based cards the GeForce 7800 GS is all about the AGP connection.

The full blown Gainward BLISS 7800 GS+ Silent looks impressive. The actual PCB is almost completely hidden away behind the dual slot cooling solution. Peeking out at the bottom we see the AGP interface connection. On top of the cooler, or better the cooling exhaust displays the Gainward brand making sure that we all know it is a Gainward product. It is rather interesting to see a dual slot cooling on the GeForce 7800 GS, as the reference design by NVIDIA comes with a single slot cooling solution. Although such a cooler following the Arctic Cooling line of products does stand for silent operation and some reasonable overclocking potential.

The table above shows where to situate the GeForce 7800 GS products according to NVIDIA's design. When looking at the processing power of the GeForce 7800 GS you may notice that with only 16 pipelines it would mean a downgraded GeForce 7800 GT. And that it's in fact when it comes down to the numbers. From that perspective the GeForce 7800 GS is leaning closer to the GeForce 6800 GT, which is also featuring 16 pixel pipelines. However, it is a different story when looking at the BLISS 7800 GS+ Silent, which comes with a G71 core and the full blow 24 pixel pipelines. That alone will leave the default GeForce 7800 GS far behind in term of raw performance and gaming experience.

Read all about it here, courtesy of mvktech.com:

-Eric