- 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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Logitech celebrates 25 years
How did Logitech get here? To commemorate its 25-year anniversary, the company presents slices of its history in the following documents, which identify the most important products, defining moments, and trends that have made the company what it is today: the world´s leading provider of personal peripherals that people want to buy and love to use.
Congrats to Logitech! I have had great experiences with most of their products, so their 25 years of experience shows. To commemorate, they offer a look at their 25 most important products, top 25 defining moments and also a 25 year timeline. All links are to PDF files, so you may wish to right-click and save as.
NBC Universal and Intel to Deliver Series Premieres on Intel VIIV and Centrino Platforms
New York and Santa Clara, Calif. Sept. 28, 2006 – NBC Universal and Intel Corporation today announced the launch of the NBC VIP Access online service that will provide on-demand broadband-delivered entertainment content for free to consumers with Intel Viivtechnology-based PCs and Centrino mobile technology-based laptops. Starting this week, NBC.com will provide Intel customers the opportunity to download and view many of their favorite NBC Universal programs in high-resolution video, including access to the entire fall season of two new shows, “Heroes” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip”.
You can read the full press release here.
Lineage II Remix Contest
Chronicle 5: Oath of Blood features a fantastic new soundtrack composed by Inon Zur. To celebrate the release of the new Chronicle and the recent launch of Lineage Radio, we are happy to bring you the Lineage II Remix Contest! Put your own spin on a selection from Chronicle 5 and you might win fantastic prizes. Your remix might also be played on the air of Lineage Radio for all Lineage II players to enjoy!
Well, it’s about time that L2 has smartened up and had a wicked contest! The grand prize includes an iPOD, t-shirt, game time card and more.
Review Roundup for October 2
- Antec P180B – Computing On Demand
- Icy Dock MB454 Drive Enclosure – Overclocker Cafe
- Icy Dock MB124 2.5″ HDD Enclosure – Red & Blackness
- Icy Dock MB124E – Big Bruin
- LC Power Mobile Hard Disk – Cooling-Station
- NZXT Trinity – Modders-Inc
Cases & Enclosures
- AeroCool Xfire Heat Sink Fan – Legit Reviews
- Corsair Nautilus 500 Liquid Cooling Kit – Futurelooks
- Koolance EHX-1050SK External Water Cooling Kit – Virtual-Hideout
- Noctua NH-U12F CPU Cooler & NF-S12-1200 Fan – Bjorn3D
- OCZ Technology Tempest CPU Cooler – Virtual-Hideout
Cooling
- BUSlink 400GB External Firewire & USB 2.0 Hard Drive – Think Computers
- Crucial PC2-5300 10th Anniversary Memory – 3D Gameman
Memory & Storage
- Asus P5W DH – Neoseeker
- Epox EP-MF570 SLI nForce 570 SLI – PC Stats
- Fall IDF 2006 Wrap-up Coverage – Legit Reviews
- Gigabyte GA-M59SLI-S5 – Motherboards.org
- MSI P965 Platinum – Hardware Info
Motherboards & Processors
- Antec TruePower Trio 650 PSU – Pro-Clockers
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- ATI Radeon X1650 Pro: Sapphire vs HIS – Hardware Info
- LCD Monitor Guide – Are Higher Contrast And Brightness Better? – The Tech Zone
- X1300pro, Theatron DTS, ZAP2202 – Technic 3D
Displays & Video Cards
- Backups: What You Should Know – ASE Labs
- HP + Voodoo: The Back Story – Digital Trends
- HTPC on the Cheap: Intervideo’s HomeTheater – OC Mod Shop
- Pioneer Inno – Digital Trends
- Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Eft Beta 1 – Phoronix
Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
Dell’s no-excuse recycling program begins
Unlike recycling programs offered by many other manufacturers, the Dell program does not require people to purchase a new product. Dell said the aim is to further motivate its customers to recycle, particularly those who may have put it off due to cost or inconvenience.
Apparently this has already been available in Canada and Europe for some time, but it’s great to see it spread out into the US also. Now for other companies to follow suit would be nice.
Sony recalling many batteries
Sony said Thursday it will initiate a global replacement program for certain battery packs that use its lithium-ion cells in notebook computers in order to address concerns related to recent over-heating incidents. Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK) and International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) initiated a voluntary recall Thursday of about 526,000 lithium-ion batteries worldwide manufactured by Sony.
Whew, over 500,000 batteries! I can’t think of how this year could possibly get any worse for Sony. They used to be a name you could trust… and now trust is a laughable thought.
A Decade of Nintendo 64
It might just be the most controversial console in the history of mass market gaming. Staunchly iconoclastic and profoundly innovative, the Nintendo 64 has irrevocably changed the current landscape of gaming. But it began the descent of Nintendo from the throne – with this console, the Big N failed to achieve majority sales for the first time in history, and has been unable to regain its glory since.
It’s incredible that 10 years have passed so quickly! This is a of the N64s history, and if you call yourself a gamer then you probably have fond memories of the console as well. Ahh, all those nights of DK64 and Ocarina…
HP to acquire Voodoo PC
Voodoo PC has agreed to be acquired by Hewlett-Packard, Voodoo founder and Chief Technology Officer Rahul Sood announced on his blog Thursday. Details of the transaction were not released. Rahul Sood and his brother Ravi, currently the CEO of Voodoo, will take positions within a new game business unit in HP’s Personal Systems Group reporting to Phil McKinney, that group’s chief technology officer, according to the posting on Rahul Sood’s blog.
HP was apparently threatened by Dells purchasing Alienware. It’s somewhat of a surprise to see such a notable acquisition performed while there is so much legal hoopla being thrown around at HP, really. Just maybe… HP will help grow Voodoo. It would be nice to see.
Microsoft Zune to cost $249
Microsoft announced Thursday that its new Zune media player — likened by some industry experts and analysts as a potential iPod killer — will go on sale for $249.99 when it debuts on November 14th. The Zune features a color display and 30GB of storage capacity — the same amount of space as an equivalently-priced iPod.
I’ve never been a fan of the iPod, so such a killer intrigues me. $249US for a 30GB player? Sounds like it could actually be a hit this holiday season.
Nikon D60 on the horizon?
It hasn’t been announced yet. Don’t wait up for it. If you have something to shoot today or next month, get something that exists today… It will replace the D50 and looks almost identical, unless you get it in gag-me silver. I expect the D60 to sell for about $599 for the body alone.
It could be that this guy is making this up, but it does actually make sense. The D50 has been out for well over a year and the new fangled D80 is still out of reach for many, so a D60 would do well to fill the gap. It is somewhat odd that Nikon wouldn’t make such an announcement at the Photokina conference running now, though.
Intel Announces New Ultra-Wideband Silicon, Host Reference Designs
INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, San Francisco, Sept. 28, 2006 – Intel Corporation today announced the availability of the Intel® Wireless UWB Link 1480 MAC (media access controller) silicon and reference designs for ultra-wideband host solutions. These solutions, based on the Certified Wireless Universal Serial Bus (USB) specification from the USB Implementers Forum and the WiMedia Network specification from the WiMedia* Alliance, will allow independent hardware vendors, PC manufacturers and device OEMs to deliver high-bandwidth, low-power wireless solutions that provide personal area network connectivity in the digital home and office.
You can read the full press release here.
Intel Centrino Mobile Technology Gets Multiple New Features, Improvements
INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, San Francisco, Sept. 27, 2006 – Today Intel Corporation disclosed details of its next-generation Intel® Centrino® Duo mobile technology platform that will enable laptops to operate faster and with enhanced wireless communication capabilities. At the heart of the platform, the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor will deliver greater performance and power saving capabilities.
You can read the full press release here.
Review Roundup for September 29
- Spire Pininfarina – ModTheBox
- Vantec NexStar 3 SATA Drive Enclosure – A True Review
Cases & Enclosures
- Antazone AS-C1000 Universal Heatpipe CPU Cooler – Big Bruin
- Asetek WaterChill Xternal High-End Water Cooling – OC Inside
- nMedia System ICETANK Cooler – Bjorn3D
- SilverStone Milo ML01 – Phoronix
Cooling
- A-Data 1GB DDR2 PC8000 Xtreme-Edition – Xtreme Computing
Memory & Storage
- Benchmarking The Core 2 Extreme QX6700 – Legit Reviews
- Biostar TForce P965 Deluxe – PC Modding Malaysia
- DFI NF4 Ultra-D to SLI-D Mod Guide – Overclockers Club
- DFI LANParty UT NF590 SLI-M2R/G – TweakTown
- Intel Kentsfield Quad-Core Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Performance Preview – HotHardware
- Kentsfield quad-core performance previewed – Tech Report
Motherboards & Processors
- Corsair HX620W Modular PSU – TweakTown
- Logitech Harmony 720 – Digital Trends
- Logitech MX518 – techPowerUp!
- Xpad Laptop Pad – DragonSteelMods
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- “Chuck Patch Tool” – NGOHQ
- HIS X800 GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB – XYZ Computing
Displays & Video Cards
- Fujifilm FinePix F20 Zoom – BIOS Magazine
- Microsoft Gears Up For the Holiday Season – Think Gaming
- OCZ Special Ops “Undercover” DDR2 Competition – Overclock3D
- Royal 8.0″ LCD Digital Picture Frame – GideonTech
Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
Seed is Dead
We’ve reached the end of the road, and to all those of you who have followed us along this wild, weird ride I say a big, big thank you. It’s been a pleasure serving you our game, and your constant faith in us has been a major morale booster when times seemed tough.
Yet another MMO bites the dust. Sad to see you go Seed.
HPs top lawyer leaves
Hewlett-Packard General Counsel Ann Baskins has resigned, the company announced Thursday. Baskins also said through her lawyers that she will not testify before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that is set to meet Thursday morning to investigate an HP probe into leaks to the media.
Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse for HP. Surely this is still only the beginning.
Intel Hints at SSE4
Intel’s Pat Gelsinger announced today that Intel has published the white paper on its SSE4 instructions that will appear in its next-generation 45nm products. The new SSE4 instructions add 50 new performance enhancing instructions. These instructions optimize vector compiling, media, string and text processing and application targeted accelerators.
Don’t expect the benefits of SSE4 anytime soon… we won’t see it implemented until late next year in Intels 45nm chips. Glad to see SSE4 takes care of PCMPEQQ and DPPS though. I almost lost sleep over not having those in SSE3.
XBOX 360 HD DVD Drive to Retail for $199 in the US
Microsoft today announced that its HD DVD add-on for the XBOX 360 will be released in the United States in mid-November with a price tag of $199.99. This comes just a week after the announcement that the drive would launch in Japan on November 22 for 19,800 yen ($170 USD).
Can’t complain about $200! Some HD-DVD players run an upwards of $700, so this is a great deal. There’s a couple things to note… first off is that instead of paying $700 for an HD-DVD player, you could pick up the Xbox 360 and this add-on for $600. On the other side of the coin, the PS3 will run around $600 also, but forces their luxury player on people.
Symantec says Vista will "reduce consumer choice"
Paden’s beef is with the new Windows Security Center, an update to the control panel that made its first appearance with Windows XP’s Service Pack 2. He claims that the interface comes with default programs to handle virus protection, a software firewall, and a spyware scanner, and that the user can install replacements for these applications but not access them through the security center program.
Ahh, Symantec stirring the pot again. Though, they may have some valid points. However, the default Windows Vista as far as I know, doesn’t offer AV protection. If it did, it may reduce consumer choice, but it may actually be a good thing. Just not for Symantec.
IBM, Intel Propose Innovative Extension To Popular PCI Express Computing Standard
INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM, San Francisco, Sept. 27, 2006 – IBM and Intel Corporation, with support from dozens of other companies, have developed a proposal to enhance PCI Express* technology to address the performance requirements of new usage models, such as visualization and extensible markup language (XML).
You can read the full press release here.
AGEIA Joins Futuremark’s 3DMark Benchmark Development Program
Saratoga, California – September 27th, 2006 – Futuremark Corporation, the leading provider of system performance-analysis software and services for PCs and handheld devices, and AGEIA(tm) Technologies, Inc., pioneers of hardware-accelerated physics for games, announced today that Mountain View, California based AGEIA has joined the 3DMark Benchmark Development Program. Futuremark has created the 3DMark Benchmark Development Program (BDP) to build partnerships with leading PC and gaming industry stakeholders that have an interest in the development unbiased benchmark software that accurately measures the performance of next generation technology and hardware. Futuremark provides all its BDP Members with specifications and pre-production versions of its benchmarks and, in turn, evaluates the feedback provided by those members.
You can read the full press release here.
AMD Opens New North American Chip Design Center
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Sep. 28, 2006 — AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the opening of an advanced microprocessor development facility in Fort Collins, CO. Dubbed the “Mile High Design Center” (MHDC), the facility is the latest in AMD’s growing international network of chip design hubs. AMD plans to use the increased flexibility and efficiency provided by the MHDC to accelerate the introduction of next-generation microprocessors that are more closely aligned with the evolving priorities of customers, partners and end-users worldwide.
You can read the full press release here.
Review Roundup for September 28
- Cooler Master Mystique 631 – Think Computers
- Fantec Multi-function Storage – Technic 3D
- Gigabyte 3D Aurora 570 Case – 3D Gameman
- Vantec NexStar LX Network Attached Storage – hardCOREware
- Zalman HD135 HTPC Case – techPowerUp!
Cases & Enclosures
- CoolerMaster NotePal P1 Laptop Cooler – Virtual-Hideout
Cooling
- OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 Platinum Revision 2 – Hardware OC
Memory & Storage
- ABIT Fatal1ty AN9 32X AM2 – OC Tools
- “AMD’s AM2 – What Went Wrong” – XYZ Computing
- Intel D975XBX2 Motherboard Details and QX6700 Overclocking – Legit Reviews
Motherboards & Processors
- Thermaltake ToughPower 750W Power Supply – Red & Blackness
Peripherals & Power Supplies
- ATI Catalyst 6.9 Performance Analysis – TweakTown
- ATI Radeon X1950XTX 512MB – Motherboards.org
- Inno3D GeForce 7600GS AGP – NGOHQ
- LCD Display Buying Guide Part 2 – Response times – DV Hardware
- Sparkle GeForce 7950 GT – Hardware Info
Displays & Video Cards
- Home Theatre Buying Guide- The Tech Zone
- HP DV2000T Laptop Video – Digital Trends
Complete Systems, Competitions & Etcetera
Intel "Kentsfield" Named Core 2 Quad
Contrary to what Intel roadmaps had previously indicated, Intel today officially announced the Intel Core 2 Quad processor. The Core 2 Quadro moniker that was designated earlier appears to have been changed at the last minute, as launch material from late September 2006 claimed the official product name would be Core 2 Quadro.
Is this actually a surprise? I mean.. Quadro was ok, but a simple Core 2 Quad just looks better. I look forward to seeing how they will name future processors with more than 4 cores. Core 2 Octo?
Google hits number 8
It’s been 8 years since Google unleashed itself on the world wide web, and they celebrate by… changing the logo of course.
Microsoft sues over source code theft
Microsoft has filed a federal lawsuit against an alleged hacker who broke through its copy protection technology, charging that the mystery developer somehow gained access to its copyrighted source code.
So, Microsoft sues to apparent source code theft, although they haven’t proved anything yet. They figure since it’s cracked so quickly, that he must have access to the code. This will prove an interesting case!