Intel Develops Hardware and Software for Healthcare

For the most part, Intel is known as a semi-conductor company, one that's known for producing some of the best processors on the planet, and also chipsets, SSDs and so forth. They're not entirely known for software, though, except for their developer tools, and those of course are designed for a select audience. As Bright Side of News* discovered at the company's Technology Summit, Intel is actively looking to branch out into other markets as well, producing both the hardware and software for the products.

The product being demonstrated is an important one, as it focuses on the healthcare for the elderly, or anyone else with severe enough health problems that makes it a non-option to leave the house on occasion. The secondary goal is to allow doctors an easier time to deal with more patients, which is also undeniably important. The device that they've developed is an all-in-one computer, with specialized software and also a touch-screen display. It comes equipped with various security measures to make sure data does get intercepted, and also that it remains safe.

This FDA approved device is a lot more than a simple computer, though, as the software is designed to be easy to use on both ends. Essentially, the patient in their house would have one of these, and doctors at their clinic would also. So, doctors at the office can keep up-to-date on the client's progress, and they can adjust their activities accordingly, which the patient would then see on their screen.

It goes a bit further, because thanks to the fact that it includes a web cam, the patient and doctor can talk to each other via video, which is important since the doctor would then be able to visually see how the patient is doing. There's a lot more than discussed here, but progresses like this are important, and I can't wait to see something like this become mainstream. If all the elderly had access to this kind of technology in their home, it'd no doubt make their lives a lot easier (well, unless they hate technology, of course).

With their FDA approved Health Guide, Intel is branching out into the medical arena. Why? The baby boomers are rapidly reaching the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) stage of life. As they age, their chronic illnesses will need to be addressed. And statistics show that there just won’t be enough youngsters in the care giving profession to give them the attention they need. Louis Burns, VP and GM, Intel Digital Health Group presented slides, video, and commentary illustrating those concerns.

Microsoft Reveals Anytime Upgrade & Family Pack Pricing

Last Friday, Microsoft posted some interesting information on their Windows Team blog that I somehow overlooked... pricing for Anytime Upgrade, and also their family pack. First, to reiterate what WAU (Windows Anytime Upgrade) is. This feature was first introduced with Vista, as a way to allow consumers to purchase one version of Windows, and later have the option to upgrade to another. This is useful since it allows you to save money early on, and only spend more if you need to.

I admit... the pricing makes absolutely no sense to me, but here it is. To upgrade from Starter to Home Premium, it's $79.99 USD. To upgrade from Home Premium to Professional, it's $89.99, and from Home Premium to Ultimate, it's $139.99. The reason I find this odd, is that if you combine the retail pricing for a full copy of Home Premium and add in the WAU price to go to Professional, it's actually $10 less expensive than buying Professional outright. Then where Ultimate's concerned, you'll spend $20 more...

Then there's the family pack, which actually happens to be offered at a very good price: $149.99 for a 3-pack. The problem is that the blog doesn't go into detail and give pre-requisites for the pack, but for now, we could assume that you could upgrade from either XP or Vista. Another strange fact is that the family pack looks to be sold in limited quantities, and also limited markets. Why Microsoft would take this route, I have no idea, but hopefully they'll change their mind.

Any way you look at it, $149.99 for three upgrade copies is a great deal, so you'll want to take advantage of that soon after launch to avoid missing out.

Credit: madstork91

The Windows 7 Family Pack will be available starting on October 22nd until supplies last here in the US and other select markets. In the US, the price for the Windows 7 Family Pack will be $149.99 for 3 Windows 7 Home Premium licenses. That’s a savings of more than $200 for three licenses. This is a great value and we’re excited to be able to offer it to customers.

NVIDIA's Derek Perez Swaps GPUs for Pucks

In any industry, it's common to see people come and go, but I'd be willing to bet that in the tech industry, as thriving as it is, it happens a bit more often than you'd expect. Some people jump around from position to position at various companies like there's no tomorrow, so it's notable when someone decides to change things up and leave a position that they've held for over a decade.

A week ago today, though, Derek Perez, NVIDIA's Director of Public Relations, posted on his Facebook account that he made the decision to leave NVIDIA after 11 years to set out to tackle a new adventure. He waited a week to fill us in on just what that adventure was, though, and believe it or not, it has not much to do with the tech industry. Rather, Derek is off to become the head of marketing for the Nashville Predators, an NHL team.

Anyone who knows Derek knows what kind of sports nut he is, with an incredible love for hockey (and he's not even Canadian!). So while this new job puts him in a completely different environment, his expertise with management and marketing, along with his love of hockey, makes the move a no-brainer. In his words: "I think I got a dream job".

On behalf of our site, I'd like to give Derek wholehearted congratulations and also a big thanks for all the help and support he's given us for as long as we've been doing business with NVIDIA, and we wish him the best of luck. Keep your eyes on the ice, DP!

Credit: Igor Stanek

Here are some quick fun facts. When Derek joined NVIDIA in 1998, it was around the same time that the company moved their offices to Santa Clara, California, where they still remain today. The hot new product of the year? It was none other than the RIVA TNT, the successor to the RIVA 128, and direct competition to 3Dfx's newly-launched Voodoo2 (NVIDIA acquired 3Dfx's assets in 2000).

In addition to offering improved texture filtering techniques and trilinear filtering, it also introduced 32-bit color and a 24-bit Z-buffer for gaming. Then of course, the TNT2 followed the next year. Also that year, NVIDIA released their first Vanta graphics card, and also the GeForce 256. Boy, how time flies!

Tech Roundup - August 4, 2009

Motherboards & Processors
• AMD 785G Chipset - PC Perspective
• AMD 785G Chipset - The Tech Report

Displays & Video Cards
• GeForce GTX 275 Versus Radeon HD 4890 - Legit Reviews
• GIGABYTE GV-R465D2-1G1 Radeon HD 4650 - Motherboards.org

Memory & Storage
• Crucial M225 256GB SSD - TweakTown
• OCZ Vertex 32GB SSD - Think Computers
• Patriot Xporter Magnum 64 GB Flash Drive - techPowerUp
• Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB - Bigbruin
• Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB - Club Overclocker

Peripherals & Gadgets
• Cooler Master SNA 95 Notebook Charging Kit - CCE Reviews
• Logitech G13 Gaming Keyboard - Modders-Inc

Cooling
• Evercool Transformer 4 CPU Cooler - Hardware Bistro
• Xigmatek Dark Knight-S1283V CPU Cooler - Overclockers Club

Chassis & Power Supplies
• Antec True Power 750 Power Supply - Hi Tech Legion
• OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W Power Supply - VerdisReviews
• QNAP TS-219P NAS - Ninjalane

Competitions, Complete Systems & Et cetera
• Windows 7 versus Windows XP on the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA Netbook - Legit Reviews
• Xbox 360 Media Server Setup - Digital Trends