Intel Releases Latest USB 3.0 Spec

Intel shot out a press release yesterday that I somehow completely overlooked, which details the 0.9 spec for USB 3.0, and it clears up many questions that lingered in the air. The most important one being that the spec is becoming available to all members of the USB 3.0 Promoter Group and contributor companies that sign an agreement, under the 'RAND-Z' licensing term.

Beyond that, a spec 0.95 is due out in Q4, and it shouldn't be too long after that point before we begin to see products on the market that can both accept and utilize the new spec. Given this new draft is being released a week before IDF, it would be unlikely to not see example of the technology there, so we'll be sure to report on whatever we find out.

Seeing someone quoted from AMD in an Intel press release is unusual, but what Phil Eisler has to say is, "USB 3.0 is an answer to the future bandwidth need of the PC platform. AMD believes strongly in open industry standards, and therefore is supporting a common xHCI specification." Sounds good, but we knew that already, right? Dell, Microsoft and NEC also have plans to take full advantage of the new spec, and I personally cannot wait to see the products to be equipped for it.

"Dell welcomes the availability of Intel's xHCI specification because it provides a single interface standard that will expedite the industry transition to next-generation USB 3.0," said Rick Schuckle, client architecture strategist. "This interface standard is important to ensure that our customers have interoperable USB 3.0 systems, devices and software drivers."

Source: Intel Press Release

Best Desktop Search Applications?

There's little worse than needing a file fast, and not being able to find it. The search tool in Vista is almost useless, and overly complicated, but what other options are there? Surprisingly, there are loads of options available and they go far beyond anything the simple finder tool in your native OS can handle.

Lifehacker rounds-up five different search tools, so that you can find one perfect for you. The most common solution is Google Desktop, which has the major benefit of working on all three major OS'. It has the ability to search inside of documents, your web history, in e-mails and others, in order to show you the result fast. I admit, I like this idea... being able to find documents because of words found inside is a huge benefit.

Other popular tools is the oddly-named Locate32, a Windows-only offering and Copernic Desktop Search. That name brings back memories, because in the earlier days of the web, Copernic developed some really great tools that allowed you to find anything on the web. I used it often, but nowadays, you don't need such an application for the most part. But I digress. If you want a cool desktop search tool, check out the post.

Copernic Desktop Search indexes and searches your desktop-including email and pretty much anything else that lives on your hard drive. Copernic has been around for years, and despite lacking a strong backer like Microsoft or Google, it's still a must-have desktop search application for many faithful users.

Source: Lifehacker

Peeved Developer Gets His Responses

This past Monday, I linked to an Ars Technica article that discussed Cliff Harris, an agitated game developer who's tired of his games being pirated, and rightfully so. He raised the question to the pirates themselves, "Why do you pirate games?" Seems like a straight-forward question, but did he get straight-forward answers back?

It depends on how you view things. Some hardcore freedom enthusiasts believe everything should be free, while others believe games are simply too expensive. Both of these are foolish for the most part, given how much money people waste on other things without a second thought (how about those $5 coffees or GAS?!). 'Going to the shops is annoying' was another, which is another poor excuse, since even the laziest person can easily order the game online.

The most popular complaint is one I can actually agree with... DRM. I've mentioned my own thoughts many times before, but the overall idea for me is that if you pay for something, you shouldn't have to put up with copy protection, on anything. I'm tired of seeing warning labels on my $30 Blu-ray movies, I hate having to find a no-CD crack for my $50 games, and don't get me started on music DRM.

Developers (well, publishers more so) need to get a clue and reward the paying customers, given the fact that no matter the protection put in place, crackers will defeat it. It sometimes even happens before the game's release, so who's kidding who here?

Starship Tycoon - One of Positech's many titles

In many cases DRM ensures that pirates get the superior version of the game, while people who purchased the boxed game have to put up with annoying piracy counter-measures. This issue became even more surreal last month when Ubisoft used an actual crack from the piracy scene to "fix" an issue customers were having with Rainbow Six Vegas 2. The truth is that as long as DRM hurts gamers while pirates enjoy more stable releases, there will always be an incentive to steal.

Source: Ars Technica

Lenovo Brings Wacom to their W700 Notebook

It's not all too often that a new notebook comes around that is truly unique, because let's face it, it's hard to do something interesting with such a confined amount of space. Well, Lenovo has gone ahead and released what appears to be the mobile warrior's ultimate notebook.

Not only does this 17" feature the option for WUXGA resolution (1920x1200), an NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M 512MB or a 1GB Quadro 3700M, DVI/VGA/DisplayPort, support for up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, and two hard drives in RAID 0 or 1, but it also includes, get this... a Wacom tablet. Finally, someone did something unique, and useful.

We've of course taken a look at a few Wacom tablets in the past, and attest to their usefulness, and how much they can add to your productivity. The notebook obviously doesn't offer a huge pad to work with, but if you are already accustomed to a tablet at your desktop, then being able to bring one with you on the go seems like a great option. The downside, if any? The base model begins out at $2,978...

Lenovo's ThinkPad W700 will use Intel's latest and faster Penryn-based mobile processors and can be equipped with up to 8GB of DDR3 memory. In addition, the system can be configured with up to 2GB of Intel Turbo Memory. Because of its large frame, the ThinkPad W700 can also accommodate up to two HDDs in either a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration.

Source: DailyTech

August 14th Tech Roundup

• ASUS P5E64 WS Pro X38 - Benchmark Reviews
• ASrock 1600SLI X3-WiFi - PCSTATS
• ASrock X38 TurboTwins-Wifi - Pro-Clockers
• Gigabyte EP45-DS3P - Overclock3D

• Palit Radeon HD 4870 X2 - Motherboards
• AMD HD 4870 X2 - Madshrimps
• Sapphire Toxic HD 4850 - Bjorn3D
• MSI GTX 280 - HotHardware
• XFX GeForce 9600GT XXX Edition - Legit Reviews

• Maxtor BlackArmor 160GB External HDD - Bigbruin

• NZXT Sentry LX Display- Pro-Clockers
• Optimus Maximus Keyboard - Digital Trends

• ASUS Triton 78 CPU Cooler - Overclockers Club

• Hiper Osiris - The Tech Report
• Thermaltake Armor+ - ThinkComputers

• ASUS Treasure Hunt - Overclock3D
• Gateway P-7811 FX Notebook - ComputerShopper