- Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Mobile Platform
- AMD Launches Ryzen PRO 7000 Series Mobile & Desktop Platform
- Intel Launches Sleek Single-Slot Arc Pro A60 Workstation Graphics Card
- NVIDIA Announces Latest Ada Lovelace Additions: GeForce RTX 4060 Ti & RTX 4060
- Maxon Redshift With AMD Radeon GPU Rendering Support Now Available
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OCZ Cooperates with Shuttle, ASUSTeK, and ABIT to host 2006 Asia Pacific Summit
Taipei, Taiwan—December 6, 2006—OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, today hosts a special APAC Summit with key platform partners to address overclocking and introduce the new products, the latest platforms and total solutions for the coming year. This event takes place on Dec 7th, and is co-hosted by leading edge manufacturers Shuttle, ASUSTeK, and ABIT.
You can read the full press release here.
Super Talent Ships 2GB 667MHz DDR2 Modules
San Jose, California – December 7, 2006 — Super Talent Technology, a world leader in memory modules and flash products, today announced general availability of 2 Gigabyte 667MHz DDR2 ECC Registered DIMMs (RDIMMs) and 2 Gigabyte 667MHz DDR2 Fully Buffered DIMMs (FB-DIMMs).
You can read the full press release here.
Blockbuster Gives Free Rentals to Netflix Clients
In a wonderful display of competition, Blockbuster said today that it is giving Netflix subscribers free rentals from Dec. 5 through Dec. 21 in exchange for the tear-off address flaps of their Netflix rental envelopes. Netflix subscribers who wish to participate in the program can tear off the address flaps they normally discard when mailing back their DVDs and turn them in at any participating Blockbuster store to receive a free in-store movie rental.
Here’s a sly way to gain customers! If you are a Netflix customer, then you virtually get easy free rentals until the 21st. Blockbuster hopes to capture a lot of people with their Total Access service, and this may very well help. Regardless, nothing to complain about if you are liable for a few free movies.
Toshiba Announces 100GB 1.8" Drive
Toshiba Storage Device Division today announced its latest 1.8” hard disk drive—the MK1011GAH. The latest 1.8” hard disk drive comes in at 100GB. Previously, 80GB was the largest 1.8” hard drive Toshiba offered. Toshiba SDD achieves 100GB with a 1.8” foot print by using a two-platter design coupled with perpendicular magnetic recording. Hitachi, Samsung, Seagate and Western Digital also use perpendicular magnetic recording on their hard disks.
Thanks to this HDD, Apples iPod could be capable of holding 100GB worth of your music. Whether that will happen soon or not is yet to be seen, but it’s a great thought to think of that much music on the go.
Warner CEOs kids stole music
On the last day of the recent Reuters Media and Marketing Summit in New York, Warner Music Group CEO admitted that he was “fairly certain” that one or more of his seven children had downloaded music without the permission of the copyright owner, which Reuters referred to as stealing.
Finally, the solution to getting away with stealing music. Simply be born in a record exec family. Fair enough.
AMD Drives Next Generation of EE Computing with 65nm
SUNNYVALE, CALIF. – Dec. 5, 2006 – Launching the next generation of energy-efficient computing, AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the transition to 65nm process technology, beginning with the immediate availability of energy-efficient AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 dual-core desktop processors. The move to 65nm process technology enables AMD to produce more processors on a 300mm wafer, for increased production capacity, while continuing to aggressively scale performance and reduce power consumption. AMD processors built with 65nm line-widths are designed to deliver exceptional performance when running multiple applications, as well as enable small form factor PCs that complement both home and office environments.
You can read the full press release here.
Microsoft launches tools for "flash killer"
Microsoft has announced an integrated suite of tools for designers, as well as a new preview of the company’s “Flash killer” technology, putting Microsoft squarely into competition with Adobe. Microsoft on Dec. 4 announced its Expression Studio suite of tools for designers, consisting of four tools—three of which had been introduced heretofore and a new tool stemming from an acquisition the Redmond, Wash., company made last summer. In addition, Microsoft announced a new CTP (Community Technology Preview) of its WPF/E (Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere) technology.
Though it seems very unlikely that anyone will ever overtake Flash in the web animation department, eWeek is confident that this release will overshadow both Vista and the new Office 2007. I have to admit, I am impressed by the slew of screenshots. The GUI is similar to Visual Studio, so it’s very robust.
Why Vista might be the last of its kind
Imagine this. One of the world’s most powerful monopolies puts 10,000 people to work for five years to create one new product. And nobody is really sure if anyone wants it. How’s that for a gamble? That’s what we have with Windows Vista, the new computer-operating system from Microsoft that debuted last week for businesses and, next month, for consumers. There has been so much buildup for this moment that you would expect Vista to cure cancer.
It seems that a few people think this will be the last version of Windows to be released. It’s hard to imagine, but they make a few valid points. They also estimate that over $10 Billion has been used during development, which seems a little extreme. Even if it was remotely close to that number though, that’s an insane amount for something that nobody seems excited for.
Firebug 1.0 webdev toolbar released
Firebug integrates with Firefox to put a wealth of development tools at your fingertips while you browse. You can edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.
I don’t normally link to simple Firefox extensions, but this one caught my eye and could be beneficial for any web developer out there. It gives you very quick access to crucial information regarding any website and presents it in a clean and clever manner in order to get whatever you need done, done quick. I have used Web Developer for quite a while, but I may very well make the move to Firebug.
Sysadmin of the year announced
Michael Beck is a young go getter. The word “no” and phrase “I can’t” are not in his vocabulary. He has always strived to meet the demands that this company places on him and always excels. It has not mattered if the requirements levied were within his scope of IT knowledge or his set job functions.
After taking a look at the long list of abilities and accomplishments this guy has, you will understand why he was chosen as the Sysadmin of the year. Even the runners-up get some cool swag, including a case of bawls!
James Kim’s family found, he’s still missing
After having been missing for nine days, a San Francisco woman and two young daughters she kept alive by breastfeeding were found safe today in the snowbound mountains of southwestern Oregon, authorities said. The woman’s husband and father of the two children went to look for help two days ago and has not been found. Authorities said they were tracking his footprints through the snow.
Many of you may know James at CNET where he is a Senior Editor. He was previously an editor for the now defunct TechTV. It’s great to see the rest of his family found safe and in good health after a full 9 days of being on their own. Our thoughts go out to the Kim family and we hope to see James found in good health and brought back to his loved ones soon.
Corsair announces availability of 2GB DDR2-667 FB-Dimms
Fremont, CA (December 4, 2006) –Corsair a worldwide leader in high performance computer products, today expanded its Fully Buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) family of products to include new high density DDR2-667MHz speeds to support the latest dual-core Intel Xeon based platforms. Corsair high density high-speed FB-DIMMs offer enhanced memory throughput allowing for superior application responsiveness. Based on the JEDEC standards, the new DDR2-667Mhz FB-DIMMs are designed to provide ultimate flexibility and expandability to balance capabilities of Intel dual core processors.
You can read the full press release here.
Novell to support Microsoft Office documents
Novell said Monday it is participating in an open-source project designed to bridge rival document formats and thus enable its OpenOffice.org customers to work with Microsoft Office documents. Novell, a business software maker, distributes its own edition of the open-source desktop productivity suite OpenOffice.
This is great… for Novell users. In the press release it makes mention that the code may be submitted to OpenOffice for consideration of inclusion. If that happens, then all Linux users would be able to read .docx files. OpenOffice themselves have something similar in the works though, so alternative OS users will not likely be in the dark either way.
Nintendo Wii Not For the Wiik
The controller on the Wii differs from typical videogame controllers, as the player swings it around in many games, as they would a tennis racket or a sword. This of course makes us wonder if the pain that people are feeling is not injury, but rather the typical soreness associated with actually getting some, you know, exercise.
I can relate to this to a small extent, although I find the Nunchuck controller is far more uncomfortable to hold after a long game session than waving your arm in the air.
Windows Vista trojan abounds
A new download has started circulating around the crack boards called “Windows Vista All Versions Activation 21.11.06”. It purports to be an activation crack for any version of Vista. However, the file is actually a trojan-carrier which will install Trojan-PSW.Win32.LdPinch.aze onto your PC.
Great for system administrators, bad for people wanting to crack Vista. It doesn’t go into detail as to what the trojan does, but it’s probably best to stay away from the likeness of any trojan regardless.
How Sega ruined Sonic
It was clear at this point that Sega had lost sight of what worked in the minds of Sonic’s most dedicated fans and had also failed to bring the sense of speed and tight control to the 3D world. Once the novelty of Sonic Adventure’s slick graphics wore off, the more experienced gamers realized this wasn’t nearly the same game they had grown up with.
As sad as this truth is, I still thing Sonic Adventure was the -last- great Sonic game. I really with Sega would smart up with the series… Sonic doesn’t deserve this decline.
Linux Overclocking Software
In 2005 we had featured several articles on the state of NVIDIA graphics card overclocking under Linux. In early 2005 the only option for Linux users was NVClock. The open-source NVClock was started by Roderick Colenbrander in 2001 and since then has been evolving. However, coming out in June of 2005 from the NVIDIA camp was CoolBits support for their alternative operating system drivers. This feature was certainly revolutionary for Linux gamers and enthusiasts. However, after a recent inquiry on the Phoronix Forums, this article has been constructed to spell out a few things about overclocking software available for GNU/Linux.
If you want to know how to overclock your GPU under Linux, here you go. Coolbit is probably one of the easiest tools to use, but NVClock seems solid as well.
Gran Turismo HD to become free download?
In Japan there will be a free download that includes ten cars and two layouts of a single track. Not exactly an embarassment of riches, but hey, free is free. There is no hint at when we’ll see this download in the US, but I don’t think it will be too long. Gran Turismo isn’t exactly a small property here, and a free taste of the game in full 1080p will give gamers something to show off to other car buffs on their shiny HDTVs.
Free games are good, regardless of how small they are! This sounds more like a tech demo really, but again, if it’s free who cares?
Windows Vista and Office 2007 released
Last Vista news for the day, I swear!
Microsoft announced the availability of Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 for businesses on Nov. 30, an event company CEO Steve Ballmer said was the “biggest launch we’ve ever done.” After delivering a media address at the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in New York to celebrate the product availability, Ballmer sat down with eWEEK Senior Editor Peter Galli to talk about why he feels this is a new day for Microsoft, developers and its customers.
“A new day” can be taken so many ways. Is it a new day for being more productive? Or is it a new day for downing half a bottle of Asprin due to having to spend eight straight hours fixing what this new software broke? Ok ok, I am jumping the gun here. On a lighter note, you can see what Ballmer says you should be looking forward to.
Xbox 360 update still doesn’t fix 1080p
After Microsoft’s fall dashboard update promised to bring 1080p into your living rooms, a many people were dismayed over problems like screen tearing when using a VGA connection. Enough that Microsoft quickly promised another dashboard update to fix this one. That update landed today. The good news? It reported “improved support for HD video output over VGA”, along with improving wired headset performance and the recently played games list. The bad news? It didn’t actually fix the VGA problem.
Note that the fix does actually seem to work fine for regular component connections; the VGA output seems to be the main glitch. Surely Microsoft is diligently fixing up this bug, again, so we will likely see another fix in the coming weeks. Where again is that promised HDMI cable Microsoft?
Epson Clamps Down on Ink Cartridge Makers
Luckily for Epson (and sadly for consumers), the company’s winning streak has extended into the United States. The company filed complaints with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) against 24 companies in February of this year. The infractions cited ranged from manufacturing aftermarket ink cartridges to importing ink cartridges from foreign countries for sale in the United States.
Epson can’t be that bright because this is not the way to sell more printers and ink cartridges. If you want to sell more ink, stop charging asinine prices, like $70 for a color cartridge. That wouldn’t be so bad if they lasted, but they don’t. Despite the fact that you won’t be able to buy these budget carts anymore, at least legally, you can always look into refilling your own if you want to save money. For simple printing, food coloring works wonders.
Will Vista make an impact?
Will sales of computers jump? What about peripherals? Anything? If you talk to the suppliers of components, manufactures and even the average geek, the answer is no, no and no. Worse the buzz surrounding Vista is nothing like the buzz that surrounded Microsoft’s Windows 95, 98, Win NT and even Windows 2000 and XP.
Dvorak is on a rampage yet again and hits everything spot-on. I don’t think at this point there is any reason to get excited, because there’s nothing you can do with Vista that you can’t do with XP. It only looks prettier. I don’t think many people will actually upgrade to Vista until DX10 becomes more mainstream, which may be a little while.
Hackers ready to hack Vista
Microsoft’s long-awaited Windows Vista release Thursday for business customers will get more than just the passing attention of network administrators. That’s because hackers will be eagerly waiting to do what hackers do best: start some mischief. The software that took $7 billion, five years, and armies of programmers is now going to be the target of hacker attacks looking to prove a point: that no Microsoft software is secure.
We can hope that the worst bugs found before now and February will be fixed before regular consumers go to install. If Vistas state of security is anything like XP though, it shouldn’t be long before we see regular lists of “critical risk” bugs fixed.
Zune not doing zo bad
Reports of lackluster sales of Microsoft’s Zune that surfaced earlier this week might be a bit premature. Microsoft’s newest MP3 player, which launched just over two weeks ago, took second place in the portable digital player market in its first four days of sales, according to numbers generated by the market research firm NPD Group.
I assume the reason the iPod stayed in first place during the first week was due to fanbois wanting to make sure that Apple did not lose the top spot. I kid! Fair enough either way, but Microsoft is still likely pleased with the performance. It could be better, but when something launches that errors out during an install, it’s destined to not do so well.
Linux 2.6.19 Released
For all of the alternative OS users (and there are many who visit this site), you can check out the latest Linux kernel. Linus touts this as being a rarity, because it’s “perfect”. Lots of bugs have been fixed, including AM2 specific ones that I have been waiting for. For bleeding edge users, you can try out the latest ext4 filesystem and see how it stacks up against ext3.
So go get it. It’s one of those rare “perfect” kernels. So if it doesn’t happen to compile with your config (or it does compile, but then does unspeakable acts of perversion with your pet dachshund), you can rest easy knowing that it’s all your own d*mn fault, and you should just fix your evil ways.