4,243 Topics
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 | Microsoft has kept it fairly quiet, no press releases or launch trumpeting, but it now looks like the Xbox 360 has been upgraded with the new Jasper motherboard. The new Xbox 360 has been spotted in the wild by the eagle eyed [URL="http://www.xbox-scene.com"]Xbox Scene[/URL] chaps and as a result we … |
| | John Tu is the President and Co-founder of Kingston Technology which just happens to be one of the biggest providers of memory products on the planet, so when he talks about trends and developments in the memory market a lot of people start listening. Especially when he does so against … |
 | The fact that Hewlett-Packard is taking its netbooks more seriously is to be welcomed. A while ago I was going away and my laptop broke down; armed with my existing 3G dongle and an Asus eeePC I was able to use Google Docs to keep all my work up to … |
| | It’s not a new snack food and it’s not a plan to help save the Earth. The low power chips are a series of application processors and digitial signal processors announced in July by Texas Instruments that consume significantly less power than predecessors and prolong battery life of the devices … |
| | Two years after selling off its Xscale operations, Intel is once again turning its attention to building microprocessors for small devices. But rather than designing Xscale-like chips to form the foundation of devices such as the Palm Treo and RIM Blackberry, the strategy announced today will focus instead on system-on-chips, … |
| | Could it be that Apple, [URL="http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080702PD209.html"]having placed an order[/URL] for some 50 million 8Gb flash chips, is planning to sell rather a lot of the new iPhone 3Gs? At the very least it will mean that the competition, such as Samsungs other customers, will have to go hang. Indeed, Samsung …  |
| | Amidst the carnage that is Wall Street this year (the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 20% since last October, classifying the stock market as being in official “bear” territory), there are glimmers of good news, and a good portion of it is coming from the tech sector. The latest … |
| | [URL="http://www.zotac.com"]Zotac[/URL] has today announced the availability of what it claims is the fastest core clock speed for a graphics card straight out of the box. The GTX 280 AMP! Edition overclocks the NVIDIA GTX 280 card to top, are you ready for this, 700 MHz. OK, so it adds about … |
| | Tom Wolfe once wrote that “you can’t go home again.” In the computer world, at least, Wolfe has been proven wrong. Prodigal son Steve Jobs was shown the door at Apple and returned to strike gold with the PowerMaC, the iPod, and the iPhone. Now it’s Michael Dell’s turn to … |
 | ASUS announced that their new EEE 900 PC sporting Windows XP (Vista won't run on it) will cost $50 AUD less than its Linux counterpart. I am no economist but I can figure out quickly that a computer that comes with Windows XP Home and Microsoft Works pre-installed is going … |
| | According to [URL="http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com"]Fujitsu Siemens Computers[/URL] the days of simply upgrading to faster processors in order to squeeze extra performance out of legacy applications are rapidly coming to an end. In a press release distributed today the company warns that the increasing use of multi-core processors, and the simple replacement of …  |
| | [URL="http://usa.asus.com"]Asustek Computer[/URL] on Saturday unveiled the Eee PC 900, a beefier version of the ultra-mobile PC it introduced late last year. The new unit is available with Xandros Linux or Windows XP, and is scheduled to begin shipping on May 12 with a sticker price of US$549. Last year’s model … |
| | A CIA analyst speaking at the SANS 2008 SCADA and Process Control Summit in New Orleans has admitted that hackers have not only been able to penetrate the power grids of several countries, but also successfully cut power to several cities, all from the relative safety of the Internet. Central … |
| | Interesting news from a new study of 112 homes in the Seattle area that shows a 10% reduction in home energy bills through the use of "smart grid" technology. The study, conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy, and reported on CNet News this morning, says its GridWise Project not … |
| | Firefox ticks many boxes, but the one big cross it has had to bear over the years is the memory leakage problem that many users have experienced. Here's how it works: user has Firefox browser open and visits websites, Firefox slurps up some system resources, user continues to keep Firefox … |
| | Yeah, yeah, yeah – how can an operating system be environmentally unfriendly I hear you ask? User friendly, security friendly, productivity friendly even, but environmentally unfriendly? Well that is exactly the claim that I am prepared to make considering reports from the likes of [URL="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-6181366.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=zdnn"]ZDNet[/URL] regarding the sorry state of …  |
| | Intel continues to prove their commitment to chip evolution with the [URL="http://news.com.com/Intel+moves+closer+to+flash+memory+replacement/2100-1006_3-6176959.html?tag=nefd.pop"]demonstration of new phase-change memory[/URL]. A possible replacement for flash memory, PRAM uses [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcogenide_glass"]chalcogenide glass[/URL] to switch between 1s and 0s. This method could theoretically allow for faster and smaller chips, while using less power. PRAM will also last … |
| | [URL="http://www.apple.com/macpro/"]Without further ado[/URL], Apple has added a new build-to-order option to their Mac Pro that allows 2 Quad Xeon processors instead of the previous 1, promised to run at 3 Ghz, and making the Mac Pro the first 8-core Mac. The upgrade doesn't seem like a huge one, as all …  |
 | For those who may not have heard, former network leader Novell (who owns SuSE Linux) made a deal with Microsoft exchanging some intellectual property rights. Those in the business-end of IT know that Microsoft is busy applying for thousands of patents concerning Intellectual Property -- have a look at Network … |
| | Dell has today announced the addition of its ninth-generation PowerEdge servers, the first to be powered by Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors. Not only is this good from the performance perspective but also when it comes to bang for your buck in the enterprise, with up to 40 percent enhanced performance … |
| | [I]I’m the trouble starter, notebook instigator. I’m the Dell addicted, Sony illustrated. I’m a fire-starter, notebook fire-starter. You’re the fire-starter, notebook fire-starter.[/I] With apologies to The Prodigy for ruining a perfectly good lyric, but it does serve to highlight the problem de jour: that of flaming laptops. If you thought … |
| | What Caused Microsoft to Create DirectX10? It all started with the Windows Error Reporting Tool. Microsoft was collecting hundreds of Bugs per day only for its Operating System. Microsft Found out that 70% of all errors and bad user Experience in Windows XP comes from Graphic Display drivers. First, Microsft … |
| | Intel officially announced the introduction of 10 Core 2 Duo and Core Extreme microprocessors for desktops, workstations and notebooks. Intel said it has over 550 customer system designs underway, with the CPUs built on 65 nanometre technology. Machines using the desktop chips will be available in early August, while notebooks … |
 | After months of possible merger information it finally happens and I am surprised at the amount of money that AMD had to spend on this. This is a huge step for both companies. Currently Intel is the lead manufacturer of microprocessors, semiconductors, and graphics chips with AMD being the second … |
| | American chip maker [URL="http://www.freescale.com"]Freescale Semiconductor[/URL] has today announced the development of a magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) chip which can maintain data using magnetic properties and not the traditional electrical charge methodology. Think of it in terms of storing data more like a hard drive, albeit a very small one indeed, …  |
| | The world of malware could be turned upon its head if the Blue Pill virtualization based rootkit due to be demonstrated at the [URL="http://syscan.org"]SyScan 06[/URL] Conference, Singapore, in a couple of weeks proves as undetectable as the security researcher who has created it claims. [URL="http://invisiblethings.org/"]Joanna Rutkowska[/URL] is a stealth malware … |
 | I was recently working on a personal project to setup a PVR system for my living room. The first part of this project was relatively easy; I just bought another dell computer. The next step was a little bit complicated, see, personally I would typically like to use an OS … |
| | At [URL="http://www.supercomp.de/"]ISC2006[/URL], the 21st International Supercomputer Conference, in Dresden, Germany today an interesting announcement was made by [URL="http://www.tyan.com"]Tyan Computer[/URL]: the launch of the Personal Supercomputer. Not quite a desktop machine, it is being marketed as a deskside unit, the [URL="http://www.tyan.com/products/html/clusterservers.html"]Typhoon PSC[/URL] certainly promises to pack quite a punch. The 8 … |
| | According to just released research from Michigan based [URL="http://www.onlymyemail.com"]OnlyMyEmail [/URL]Inc it would appear that Sender ID is ineffective as an anti-spam solution. Despite the high profile, and frankly somewhat aggressive PR campaign by [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/safety/technologies/senderid/default.mspx"]Microsoft[/URL], the 60 day statistical analysis certainly suggests that it isn’t the Holy Grail of anti-spam that …  |
| | The reports that are popping up all over the web that [URL="http://www.ibm.com"]IBM[/URL], along with [URL="http://www.gatech.edu"]Georgia Tech[/URL], has [URL="http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=1019"]demonstrated [/URL]the world’s fastest ever chip are, sadly, not quite as exciting as you might at first think. Not least because this wasn’t a chip at all, but rather a transistor, and even … |
| | The triple-gate transistor is not new, almost exactly three years ago on June 12th 2003 at the [URL="http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20030612tech.htm"]Symposia of VLSI Technology and Circuits in Kyoto[/URL], Japan, [URL="http://www.intel.com"]Intel [/URL]was heralding it as the future of chip design. However, the fact that at the same [URL="http://www.vlsisymposium.org/index.html"]Symposium this week in Hawaii[/URL], Intel reveals … |
| | Multiple core processors are set to dominate the marketplace by the end of 2007, after [URL="http://www.amd.com"]AMD [/URL]follows [URL="http://www.intel.com"]Intel [/URL]down the ‘more performance for less power’ road. Having already beaten Intel to the dual-core processor punch, the announcement from AMD that it will ship four-core processors for high end desktops, servers … |
| | In 2002, IBM scientists managed to produce a magnetic data tape capable of a storage density of 1 billion bits per square inch. This week the [URL="http://www.almaden.ibm.com"]IBM Almaden Research Center [/URL]boffins have done it again, in conjunction with Fuji, to the tune of 6.67 billion bits per square inch. That … |
| | Remember this week, for it was the week that we lost the fight against spam. On May 5th I reported how militant spammer PharmaMaster had brought down the Blue Frog anti-spam vigilante service. I wondered then if it was the end of the toad for Blue Security, and sadly this …  |
| | Just when you thought the spam problem couldn’t get any worse, comes the news that spammers are fighting back against the pro-active anti-spam community approach using tit-for-tat Denial of Service attacks and intimidation. The [URL="http://www.bluesecurity.com"]Blue Frog[/URL] anti-spam approach is a relatively simple one of ‘hit them where it hurts’ and … |
| | Part of my new job as a Linux Engineer is to evaluate different Operating Systems. I am most familiar with RedHat, having grown up with their OS since 5.2 back in the mid-90's. Wow, have things changed. So, I looked at a linux that a lot of people are talking …  |
 | The Mozilla Corporation announced tonight in a media alert that tomorrow it will be releasing an updated version of its Firefox web browser, which has sent for-profit rivals, including Microsoft, scurrying to hang onto market share. Although Mozilla Corp says that official details of Firefox 1.5 will be released Tuesday … |
| | Early in November, Microsoft began a free web-based Virus Scanner, allowing members of the general public to come to their website, download a tool, and then proceed to tie up your box and scan it for all of the creepies that have infested your computer while on the internet. What … |
| | Microsoft this week updated Microsoft Works -- the consumer-level "home" edition of Microsoft Office. Microsoft Works Suite 2006 is now available for SRP $99.95 Microsoft Works is an integrated word processor, spreadsheet, database, calendar, and email client wrapped up into one large program. The programs are sufficient for most home … |
| | Yes, it's finally out of Beta and into final release. New [url=http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/features/2.0/index.html]features[/url] are plentiful, and add both functionality and improved MS Office compatibility. Discussion of this upgrade to the excellent and well known freeware office software suite has been plentiful during the period of Beta release, so there's no need …  |
| | The [url=http://theinquirer.net/?article=26628]Inquirer[/url] has just published their recommendations for the ‘value points’ in processor purchasing. Their recommendations are quite similar to those promoted by a number of reviewers, but closer inspection leaves me quite unconvinced. The assumptions they make fall somewhat short of the mark in my eyes, and leaves their … |
| | Microsoft's new Digital Locker system allows users of Windows computers to download computer software from a variety of vendors. A number of software vendors already provide this functionality -- Microsoft's system brings those vendors under "one roof", manages the financial transactions, and then stores the license information for later use … |
| | OpenOffice.Org, the creaters and maintainers of the open-sourced OpenOffice, have just released version 1.1.5 of their office software suite. The update addresses a security problem concerning a buffer overflow; there are other issues that are repaired since version 1.1.4, such as porting updates (OpenOffice was developed for Linux first, and … |
| | Microsoft is currently reorganising itself into three main divisions, in an effort to streamline the processes of decision making and bringing products to market. The three divisions will be: [b]Microsoft Platform Products and Services Division[/b] Responsible for Windows products, corporate server products and MSN web services. [b]Microsoft Business Division[/b] Responsible … |
| | Massachusetts has a new state policy that requires state agencies to use an "Open Document" format in their business applications. Not surprisingly, propriety software giant Microsoft has filed complaints with the state concerning the policy. Back in 2003, the Massachusetts Office of Administration and Finance directed the state agencies to … |
| | Last week, Intel announced a new chip design that promises less power use per unit time, along with embedded security and management functions. The goal is to provide a 3.5 times performance-per-watt improvement over today's single-core Xeon based server CPU. Intel's CEO Paul Otellini said that this new design goal … |
| | Nigel Page, strategist for Microsoft Australia, has clarified the hardware needs for effectively running the upcoming Windows Vista. Speaking at Microsoft’s [url=http://apcstart.com/teched/pivot/entry.php?id=6]TechEd[/url] conference, he indicated the following in response to questions asked. Vista, we are told, is much more graphics focused. There is a fundamental shift from bitmap images to … |
| | “Can I have that in English, please? |
| | Since the Electronic Entertainment Expo held in May this year we’ve heard increasing levels of concern about the capabilities of multi-cored processors to be included in soon to be released game consoles. Now PC hardware developers are raising concerns about the multi-cored processors included in desktop PCs. Software developers simply …  |
| | Has the next major upheaval in PC hardware reared it’s head? Every once in a long while, a new type of component arrives which dramatically changes how we consider our computers. The development of components such as video capture cards and TV tuners have added functionality, but that functionality is … |
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