Microsoft demonstrates Windows 7 touch interface

Microsoft released a video which shows the new multi touch user interface of Windows 7, which is identical to the one found in Microsoft Surface.


Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7

Samsung develops 256GB solid state drive

Samsung Electronics, the world leader in advanced memory technology, announced today that it has developed the world’s fastest, 2.5-inch, 256 Gigabyte (GB) multi-level cell (MLC) based solid state drive (SSD) using a SATA II interface at the fifth annual Samsung Mobile Solution Forum held at the Westin Taipei Hotel. Samsung’s new 256GB SSD is also the thinnest drive with the largest capacity to be offered with a SATA II interface.

With a sequential read speed of 200 megabytes per second (MB/s) and sequential write speed of 160MB/s,
Samsung’s MLC-based 2.5-inch 256GB SSD is about 2.4 times faster than a typical HDD.

Furthermore, the new 256 GB SSD is only 9.5millimeters (mm) thick, and measures 100.3x69.85 mm. Power consumption is also exceptionally low at 0.9 watts in active mode.

Samsung is expected to begin mass producing the 2.5-inch, 256GB SSD by year end, with customer samples available in September. A 1.8-inch version of the 256GB SSD is expected to be
available in the fourth quarter 2008.

10 Craziest PC Case Mods

Nowadays, a computer is indispensable in our homes, but don’t you think they all look about the same? It would be nice to have something special, a PC like no other, therefore there are many people who try to create their own design for a computer and the first thing that you should change is the PC case. There are many great, cool, impressive and genuine ideas, but today we’ll bring you 10 Craziest PC Case Mods.

#10. Dialup

If your furniture is kind of old-fashioned and your grandma freaks out when she spots your PC, then here is the perfect solution - the Dialup PC. The PC was specially designed for online voice chatting as when someone calls you on Skype or MSN voice, you simply pick up the phone and start talking as you are using a regular phone. For old fashioned people, who have a passion for computers.

#9. Atlas Mech

This scary battle-mech is called Atlas and it will destroy anybody who stands in front of him. Just kidding, but the Atlas PC case could lure away a thief because it could be mistaken with some battle machine. Inside is painted with glow in the dark paint and the UV cathodes complete the mod.

#8. Digg

This PC case doesn’t need any introduction or too many details as Digg is one of the most renowned social media website. The Digg PC case is made of 0.5? medium density fiberboard (MDF) and a few acrylic windows and also, the Digg logo looks great on blue. Although there are many other inspiration sources, the designer got his idea from the Digg community.

#7. Dashboard

What should a car fanatic’s PC should look like ? Take a look at this PC and you will find out. Of course there are more possibilities, but this one features three gauges that do work, displaying the RAM, CPU and hard drive usage. The gauges were taken from a Honda Civic Si and have an idiglo overlay lightkit. Other cool feature of this PC is the remote control keychain that turns it on/off and ejects the CD-RW. All this PC lacks is a steering wheel and a gearshift, but this problem can be solved by getting a gaming one. WoW, thats adventurous, eh ?

#6. R2-D2

R2-D2 is best known as a tiny droid which appeared in six Star Wars movies, but someone thought to build a PC case inspired from the clever robot. The case resembles perfectly the blue-white companion, but without that crazy beeping for talking. The R2-D2 PC case features two CD/DVD drives, a pop-up WebCam and multiple USB ports.

#5. John Deere Gas Pump

This PC case was made from a John Deere Gas Pump toy and it sure is crazy because when you pull up the gas pump the gas costs only 19 cents per gallon. The gas pump handle has the privilege to be the power button, push it forward and the computer is on.

#4. WMD

This is the ultimate WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction).

#3. Pumpkin

The Pumpkin PC was created specially for Halloween because after a while it will rust out and stink, but for a few days it will provide a creepy atmosphere. By ejecting the CD-ROM, the Pumpkin PC looks like it pulls out the tongue, but that’s not too scary.

#2. Microwave

Behold, the Microwave PC. This case doesn’t cook but allows you to surf the Web and to play Solitaire or something else.

#1. Toilet

I bet no one will be 'Wowed' by this casing ! Well, well, well, a toilet in a room how many of you would like to keep this in your room ?

Source: Devicedaily

This week's recommended download: Avira AntiVir Personal

From Avira: Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus is a comprehensive, easy to use antivirus program, designed to offer reliable free of charge virus protection to home-users only. Avira offers: Extensive Malware Recognition of viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, worms, etc. Automatic incremental updates of antivirus signatures, engine and entire software. Permanent virus protection, with Virus Guard real time monitoring.
Version 8 adds an enhanced interface, a modularized AV-search engine for improved scan performance, an integrated failsafe security system, and SMTP support for AntiVir MailGuard.

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Possible GTX 280 and 260 specs

There a lot of rumors about the specs of nvidia's upcoming video cards i.e. GTX 280/GTS 260, here are the possible specs with their expected price tag:

The GTX 280 works at 602MHz for the core, and it comes with 1GB of GDDR3 paired up with a 512-bit memory interface and clocked at 1,107MHz. It also has 240 stream processors and 32 ROPs with Shaders running at 1,296MHz, and should be priced around $600 at launch.

The GTX 260 works at 576MHz for the core. This card will have a 448-bit memory interface and it will come packed with 896MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 896MHz. It will have 192 stream processors and 28 ROPs, with Shaders clocked at 999MHz, and a price of around $450 at launch.

Intel to update desktop CPU lines in 3Q 08

Intel is planning to cut desktop CPU prices in the third quarter this year, along with the launch of more quad-core and dual-core models, according to sources at motherboard makers.

The performance-level Core 2 Quad Q9650 with a core frequency of 3GHz will launch priced at US$530 in thousand-unit tray quantities, while the Core 2 Quad Q9550 will drop around 40% from its original price of US$530 to US$316.

The Core 2 Quad 9450, currently priced at US$316, will be phased out of the market to be replaced by the Core 2 Quad 9400 at 2.66GHz and a price of US$266. The Core 2 Quad Q9300 and Q6700 will both be phased out at the same time too, leaving the Q6600 as the only 65nm quad-core CPU left in Intel's lineup, and which will drop from US$224 to US$203.

For dual-core CPUs, Intel will launch the Core 2 Duo E8600 at 3.33GHz and US$266, and will phase out the Core 2 Duo E8300. The company will also drop pricing for the Core 2 Duo E8500 and E8400 from US$266 and US$183 to US$183 and US$163, respectively.

Intel will also add the Core 2 Duo E7300 at 2.66GHz and US$133 to its entry-level line and to drop the price of its Core 2 Duo E7200 from US$133 to US$113.

With the updated pricing, motherboard makers and channel vendors both expect increased demand in the third quarter, with motherboard makers predicting an average sequential growth of 15% in third-quarter revenues.

Source: Digitimes

Microsoft Silently Rolls Out Anti-Hack Update For Windows Vista

The release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 not only heralded a long-awaited update of the operating system, it also meant the end of two common Windows Vista anti-activation exploits - the Grace Timer exploit and the Paradox OEM BIOS activation crack. But those who think they can escape by not updating to Service Pack 1 would be sadly mistaken.

That's because Microsoft has surreptitiously released an anti-hack detection update via Windows Update. Those who chose to have Windows Vista install updates automatically would have this update installed and running by now. If you chose to manually select updates to be installed, you should find this update listed.

You can see that the KB940510 update is listed as Important. At this point, most users would assume it's an important patch that fixes flaws in Windows Vista and install it. Double-click on the update and you will find this short description.

Microsoft describes the KB940510 update as such :

This update enables Windows Vista to detect activation exploits that bypass product activation and that interfere with usual Windows operation. An exploit is a form of software that replaces or modifies authentic Windows components. When exploits are present on a system, it indicates that a software or hardware vendor may have tampered with genuine Windows to enable the sale of counterfeit software. Therefore, the security and the privacy of the computer are put at risk. After this update is installed, you will know if exploits are present on the system.

In truth, the KB940510 update installs an anti-hack detector that looks for the two most common hacks - the Grace Timer exploit and the Paradox OEM BIOS activation crack. If none of them are detected, then the update silently exits.

If these exploits are detected though, you will be sent to a Microsoft website that will teach you "how you can remove the exploits". Removing the exploits will require you to use a valid product key to activate Windows Vista. However, if you refuse to remove the exploits, Windows will disable them anyway, forcing you to activate Windows Vista using a valid product key.

Currently, KB940510 appears to detect only the Grace Timer and the Paradox OEM BIOS hacks. Both the hardware SLIC BIOS mod and the software Vista Loader hack are not affected.

If you do not wish to install this update, you can ignore and hide it. Just right-click on the update in Windows Update and select Hide update. However, Microsoft may eventually require you to install this update should you wish to receive further updates on Windows Updates, just like what they did with the WGA update in Windows XP. It's a matter of time really.

Do note that this update cannot be uninstalled or rolled-back (AFAWK). If it is installed into a PC with a hacked version of Windows Vista, then the only way to remove it would be to reinstall Windows Vista and avoid the update.

Updates

Update @ May 7 : Microsoft has just "re-issued" KB940510 update via Windows Update. This targets those who have chosen to ignore and hide the earlier KB940510 update. Those who do not wish to install this update can choose to ignore and hide this update as well.

Source: Techarp

Police arrest man accused of murder over PS3

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Edward K. Stoddard Jr. was arrested Wednesday night on a charge of first-degree murder

A man police say shot his neighbor over a missing Playstation 3 was arrested Wednesday night.

Edward Keith Stoddard Jr., 28, was arrested after the Pasco County Sheriff's Office SWAT team surrounded a home in Dade City. According to police reports, he surrendered without incident and was booked into the Land O'Lakes jail.

Stoddard is accused of shooting his neighbor, Douglas F. Abrams, 26, on Apr. 24 over a dispute regarding a missing Playstation 3. He is being charged with one count of first-degree murder.

Source: Baynews

NVIDIA GeForce To Quadro Soft-Mod Guide

The NVIDIA Quadro family of professional graphics cards are very, very expensive. They are generally 2-5X more expensive than their gaming counterparts, the NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. But everyone knows that Quadro and GeForce graphics cards are virtually identical in hardware.

Yes, you read that right. Even with the unbelievable price tag, the NVIDIA Quadro is really no different from their desktop GeForce counterparts. So why is NVIDIA charging you so much for a Quadro?

It all revolves around the driver support for professional 3D applications like 3ds Max or Maya. Quadro drivers allow the Quadro to be used to accelerate the rendering operations of such professional 3D applications while GeForce drivers do not. This is the basis for the premium prices NVIDIA (and ATI) charge for their professional-grade graphics cards.

Obviously, you cannot just use Quadro drivers with your GeForce graphics cards. After all, it represents the thin red line between a really, really fat profit margin and just a "normal" profit margin. NVIDIA Quadro drivers are designed to detect the presence of an NVIDIA Quadro graphics card. It will not install if a GeForce card is detected instead.

However, there is an easy way to soft-mod (modify in software) a NVIDIA GeForce desktop graphics card into a NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics card. We will show you just how to do it in this guide.

Some Caveats

Before we start, you need to understand that soft-modding your GeForce card into a Quadro will not improve your graphics card's gaming performance in any way. All it does is enable hardware acceleration of professional 3D applications like 3ds Max and Maya.

There have been reports that modded GeForce cards may suffer some drop in gaming performance. It is not unknown if this is a problem that affects all Quadro cards, or just modded GeForce cards. It is also not known if the reported problems are really due to the use of older drivers.

To summarize , unless you really need the Quadro's ability to accelerate the rendering process in a professional 3D application, you should not soft-mod your GeForce graphics card into a Quadro. Otherwise, read on!

Step 1 : Identify & Verify Your GPU

The first thing you should do is identify the GPU used in your NVIDIA GeForce graphics card, and determine if you can soft-mod it into an equivalent Quadro. To do that, download and run GPU-Z. It will help you identify your GPU. In the example below, the GPU of the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS is G80 and the Device ID is 10D - 0193.

Then you will need to verify that the GPU used in your GeForce card is also used by a Quadro card. To do that, download the latest NVIDIA Quadro driver and extract it to a folder. Look inside the folder for the nvdisp.inf file and open it using Notepad. You will see a list of strings like the second screenshot above.

Comparing the data we obtained earlier, you can see that the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS is equivalent to the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600. So yes, this GeForce card can be soft-modded into a NVIDIA Quadro graphics card.

Alternatively, you can also consult the Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide if you know the model of your GeForce card (e.g. GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB or GeForce 8800 GT). Then compare its specifications with the list of Quadro cards in the Workstation Graphics Card Comparison Guide.

Step 2 : Soft-Mod It Into A Quadro!

If your GeForce graphics card has been verified to have a Quadro equivalent, you should proceed to download and install RivaTuner. When you run RivaTuner, you will see the Main screen (picture below). In the Target adapter section, click on the little icon next to the Customize... option.

A series of icons will appear. Select the first icon (Low-level system settings). This will open up a new window called "Low-level system tweaks". Click on the NVStrap tab (first picture below). In the PCI DeviceID settings section, select custom from the list of Graphics adapter identification options (second picture below).

Next, check the Use ROM straps for PCI DeviceID programming option (third picture above). This allows you to select the specific NVIDIA Quadro card you want to emulate. In this case, I chose the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600. After you have selected the NVIDIA Quadro graphics card you want to emulate with your GeForce card, click on the Apply or OK buttons. Then reboot your PC for the change to take effect.

Step 3 : Install The Quadro Driver & Verify

After rebooting your PC, Windows XP/Vista will detect your GeForce card as a Quadro. Install the latest NVIDIA Quadro driver which you had already downloaded earlier. Then reboot the PC again for the driver to complete its installation.

The next time you boot up, your GeForce graphics card will start using the NVIDIA Quadro driver and you should be able to benefit from a tremendous performance boost in your favourite 3D rendering application.

To verify, you can run GPU-Z again. It should now identify your graphics card as a NVIDIA Quadro. In this example, you can see that my NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS is now identified as the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4600!

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it. Three simple steps to soft-mod your GeForce desktop graphics card into a really expensive NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics card!

Again, I have to stress that unless you intend to use it with a professional 3D application like Maya, you will not benefit from soft-modding your GeForce into a Quadro. But if you work with such applications, well, you have just saved yourself a huge bundle of money!

Source: TechARP

Gears of War 2 'Assault Analysis' HD

This week's recommended download: Auslogics BoostSpeed 4.1.3

From Auslogics Software:

If your computer or Internet feels slower than usual, Auslogics might have a remedy--its award winning Auslogics BoostSpeed. Run the program on a weekly basis to clean up disks and the registry, fix errors, and tune up the one-size-fits-all Windows settings to your particular computer configuration. Not only will this improve Internet speed, it will reduce computer startup and shutdown time, and tweak Windows to its top performance.

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Nvidia CEO details his beef with Intel

Jen-Hsun Huang doesn't pull any punches. And Intel is a favorite punching bag these days.

I had a chance to sit down with the Nvidia CEO as he described his company's philosophy and what sounds like the first volleys of a long battle with Intel.

Nvidia CEO and founder Jen-Hsun Huang

(Credit: Nvidia)

A quick backdrop: Nvidia is the largest graphics chip company in the world, with quarterly revenue in the $1 billion range. Although Intel and Nvidia seem to exist in symbiotic bliss inside many PCs, this doesn't reflect the two companies' business models, which are in many respects far apart.

Intel is a chip manufacturer. Nvidia is not; it's a fabless company. Intel supplies the central-processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor. Nvidia supplies the graphics-processing unit (GPU), a special-purpose chip.

Huang is relentless in driving GPU performance--and fearless when challenging Intel. This is admirable, if anything. Even the world's largest PC makers treat Intel with great deference--publicly--because the chipmaker is so instrumental in supplying and defining the core electronics in their PCs (And partly due to the fact that they use Intel advertising dollars).

But Huang will tear into Intel when he thinks it's warranted. And Intel may have reason to be worried about the content of Huang's candor. Despite Intel's colossal size and and clout, Nvidia--not Intel--supplies the defining chip for the most savvy computer users: game enthusiasts. They depend on Nvidia graphics chips to deliver the spectacular visuals of games like Crysis.

And few people will deny that computing is becoming more visual. The GPU is essentially a parallel-computing engine that is extremely efficient at running visual (and scientific) software--that is, many of the popular graphics, video, and photo applications now running on PCs.

Nvidia is set to challenge Intel in the mobile Internet device space. It is getting set to make a big platform play in tiny, fit-in-your-pocket devices with its APX 2500. This "system on a chip" will house everything that comes on a PC circuit board today. Intel is targeting the same market with its Moorestown processor, due in late 2009 or 2010.

One important note: because Huang had made so many references to Intel over the last few months, particularly at the financial-analyst day in April, the interview revolved around this topic. In some cases, I asked pointed questions about Intel and posed hypothetical--i.e. devil's advocate--scenarios. In other cases, Huang volunteered statements about Intel.

Huang has spoken forthrightly in the last few months about Intel. The obvious question is why.

"People thought that I had lost some of my patience with Intel recently. The fact of the matter is that they're out spouting things that are just not true. And I was just correcting that," he said.

"Intel is a big, powerful company," I noted to Huang. "And there aren't many people like you in the industry, who are so blunt about Intel."

The whole idea that the PC industry is good, better, best, faster microprocessors, more memory--that psychology of the PC industry is so yesterday.

His reaction: "Because they are Intel. Because they are a monopoly. Because they are a market-dominant player. They ought to be held to a higher standard. They shouldn't be able to say that other peoples' businesses are going to die."

Huang, here, is referring to a statement by an Intel executive who recently said current graphics technology (sometimes referred to generally as rasterization) will be replaced by another kind of graphics technology (sometimes referred to as ray tracing), on which Intel is working.

Intel has also been dropping more hints about its upcoming high-end graphics chip, called Larrabee, with relatively few specifics. I asked Huang if he thought there was a reason so few details had been given.

"Larabee is a PowerPoint slide," Huang said. "I haven't met a product on my PowerPoint slide that I don't like. You know, they're floating Larrabee out there just to put a shadow over us, cast a cloud over us. They've already slipped it two years from the time they talked about. They would love to slip it another four years and leave a cloud over me."

"Just to play devil's advocate," I said, "Intel sees the success of the GPU. So it has to crank up its skunk works and develop a fast GPU too (Larrabee). Then Intel, being Intel, has to fill its factories and sell these things. Again, I'm playing devil's advocate here."

Huang's immediate reaction: "You and I have a deal. If you're going to write controversial stuff about what I say, can you write what you just said? Here's what I believe: I believe that the entire world believes that what Intel does is build a factory, stuff that people don't want to buy, and then shoves it down its customer's throats. Just like you said."

Huang also spoke about how the PC industry is shifting away from the CPU-centric vision.

"We would love it if people would buy more GPUs, but the fact of the matter is, we don't have Intel's budget to tell you to buy something you don't need. We're going to let the market decide for itself," he said.

"Selecting the right GPU for the right CPU--and having these two processors collaborate. We call it the optimized PC design," he continued. "Notice, we didn't call it 'increase your GPU' design. Notice we didn't go 'buy more quad cores.' It's not a market benefit message. The optimized PC asks what your work flow is. Take the work flow, and benchmark it on the machine. And decide for yourself."

Huang had a few points to make about changes in PC marketing.

"The whole idea that the PC industry is good, better, best, faster microprocessors, more memory--that psychology of the PC industry is so yesterday," he said. "Not a single person believes it. Sony doesn't believe it. Dell doesn't believe it. HP doesn't believe it. God knows Apple doesn't believe it. Nobody believes it anymore."

Huang elaborated, saying that at the other end of the computing spectrum is the minimalist PC, which Nvidia's APX 2500 system-on-a-chip addresses.

"There's a movement toward 'I want the most minimal of PCs': the ThinkPad (X300)," Huang said. "In the future, if it's not thin like a sheet of paper, it's just too much. There should be no electronics. There should be just one tiny chip. And this computer ought to cost nothing. The display should be the most expensive thing. It's not about the CPU. It's not about the GPU. It's about the computer on the chip."

But Intel, and its capacity to integrate more and more of the PC's function into its chipsets, is never far from his mind. Huang gave a number of examples of companies--as smaller and smaller chip geometries have allowed more and more transistors to be packed into a single chip--that disappeared because they were integrated out of existence. (Think sound chip and multimedia chip companies as just a few examples.)

"Make me...list one single example where Moore's Law is not your enemy today," he said. "At this very moment, the only one we know of is the GPU."

Every year, Huang said, "we're making chips that are twice as big as the (year) before that. And every single year, we deliver an experience that is twice as good as the year before. And every single year, people say, 'It's not good enough. I want more. I want more.'"

Throughout it all, Moore's Law is still Huang's friend, he said.

"Notice in the case of CPUs, people are saying, 'I don't need that many gigahertz,' or 'I don't need that many cores,'" Huang noted. "(CPU makers) are going down that path. And that's why it's possible now to build an Atom CPU. At that point, the technology becomes good enough."

Huang said he is not trying to wish Intel away. He is willing to co-exist. But he doesn't believe that Intel is able to do this. This probably is his biggest beef.

"There are going to be two important processors in the system," he said. "A microprocessor that is used for all kinds of complicated, unpredictable sequential code. And a parallel processor, called a GPU, that is really dedicated toward doing very parallel, very heavy-lifting mathematical operations."

Huang refocused his attention on Intel.

"Intel cannot share the world with someone else. They want the world to have one processor. They don't want the world to have two processors, even if it's good for them. (The Nvidia chip) just happens to be so famous, and just happens to be so popular, and happens to be so delightful that it just really makes them upset. That's an anti-innovation feeling. That's a monopolistic feeling, right? You can't share the world with somebody else."

His attitude borders on paranoid. But in Silicon Valley, the credo "only the paranoid survive," put forth by former Intel CEO Andrew Grove, is followed by many.

"People have been predicting the demise of our company for 10 years now," Huang said. "Intel has been in the graphics business for 10 years. They've been predicting our death for 10 years. They'll be predicting our death 10 years from now."

Source: Cnet

Call of Duty 5 to Launch on Six Platforms

Yes, there will be a Call of Duty 5, and you'll be able to play it on (almost) every single console you own.

During a conference call with investors yesterday, Activision announced that the next game in the popular first-person shooter series will launch on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PC, and it will be out before the end of this fiscal year. (Only the PSP gets no love.)

Of course, since 5 won't be developed by Infinity Ward, who produced the award-winning, critically acclaimed fourth game in the series, we can't be sure that this year's entry will be as good.

What war, or era, will the game cover? "For [the next] Call of Duty, we'll bringing the intensity of the recent Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare title to yet a new military theater to engage our significantly larger user base, which nearly doubled last year as new users came into the franchise," announced Activision president and CEO Mike Griffith during the call.

I guess we'll have to wait some more to find out where that new military theater is located.

And for all of us (and we are legion) still blasting away on Call of Duty 4, we can also expect more downloadable content throughout the year.

Source: Wired

XP SP3 vs. Vista SP1 - Which is faster ?

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes on Zdnet benchmarked both operating systems using PassMark PerformanceTest 6.1 and brought the desired results. Throughout the testing the hardware platform has remained unchanged.

XP Professional:
* XP RTM
PassMark rating: 1001.4
* XP SP2
PassMark rating: 891
* XP SP3
PassMark rating: 990.8

Vista 32-bit:
* Vista RTM
PassMark rating: 1002.4
* Vista SP1
PassMark rating: 972.3

Vista 64-bit:
* Vista RTM
PassMark rating: 1183.1
* Vista SP1
PassMark rating: 1128.8



The data speaks for itself. At the top of the list is Windows Vista 64-bit, while at the bottom is XP SP2. In the middle we have XP RTM, XP SP3, Vista 32-bit RTM and Vista 32-bit SP1 fighting it out.

Source: Zdnet

Toshiba Plans to Equip Multimedia Laptops with SpursEngine Processor.

Toshiba plans to equip some of its multimedia-oriented mobile computers with its multimedia processor that can accelerate various applications, including graphics, physics, video and so on. Toshiba did not disclose how much its customers should pay for the part.

On the 8^th of May Toshiba disclosed its growth strategies for investors for the year 2008, one of which was integration of the SpursEngine processor into advanced media center AV Qosmio notebooks. According to Toshiba, the Cell-derivative processor will upscale standard picture quality to high definition resolution. While the manufacturer did not disclose into details, it claimed that the notebook would be available in 2008.

It will depend on software support whether special-purpose accelerator from Toshiba brings any benefits, but recently the company announced that its chip is supported by such software companies as Corel and Cyberlink.

SpursEngine is a co-processor that integrates four of Cell high-performance RISC core SPEs, half the number of the full configuration, hardware dedicated to decoding and encoding of MPEG-2 and H.264 video, XDR memory interface as well as PCI Express interface. By combining the high level, real time processing software of the SPEs with the hardware video codecs, the SpursEngine realizes an optimized balance of processing flexibility and low power consumption. The prototype of SpursEngine operates at a clock frequency of 1.5GHz and consumes power at 10W to 20W.

The SpursEngine SE1000 reference board is compliant with PCI Express 1.1 x1 and x4 slots, sports 128MB of 1.6GHz XDR memory and carries SpursEngine processor at unknown clock-speed.

Toshiba’s SpursEngine processor may be used for various products and in various markets. In the computer industry the SpursEngine may be used for video processing, graphics computations, physics computations and various other applications that involve processing of data streams. Potentially, video professionals may find useful to decode or encode four full-HD (1920x1080 with progressive scan, 1080p) streams at once. In the consumer space currently only two full-HD video decoders are required to provide picture-in-picture functionality on Blu-ray and HD DVD players, however, as high-definition television becomes more popular and more channels are broadcasted digitally, four-way video processing may become a necessary feature for advanced HDTVs.

Source: Xbit

Apple's Safari, Mozilla's Firefox lose market share

Apple Inc.'s ploy to gain browser market share by pushing Safari to users with an update tool normally used for security fixes failed to boost its overall share, a Web metrics company said yesterday.

Instead, Safari's share fell last month to 5.5%, down from March's 5.8%, while Microsoft's Internet Explorer increased its dominance by growing to 76% from March's 74.8%. It was the first time Internet Explorer (IE) gained share since October 2007.

In late March, Apple started using its Windows software update tool -- previously used only to provide patches for iTunes and QuickTime -- to offer Safari 3.1 to users who did not have the browser already installed. The tactic got the attention of, among others, Mozilla Corp. CEO John Lilly, who blasted Apple for using the security updater to push Safari. In a long blog post, Lilly said the practice "undermines the Internet" and "borders on malware distribution practices."

A few weeks later, Apple modified the tool to separate updates for already-installed programs from offers to install new software. Mozilla saw it as a concession to Apple's critics, and applauded the change even as it asked for more. "Now Apple needs [to] stop checking the box for 'New Software' items by default," said Asa Dotzler, Mozilla's director of community development, in a post to his blog on April 17.

The use of the updater, however, did boost the share of Safari for Windows, according to Net Applications' data, which it collects from traffic to the thousands of sites run by its clients. On Windows, Safari 3.1's share tripled last month, climbing to 0.21% from March's 0.07%. Even so, Safari's overall share dipped; the vast majority of Safari users own Macs and run Mac OS X.

Firefox's share also fell in April by nearly a percentage point from the month prior. The open-source browser, which had accounted for 17.8% of the usage market in March, dropped to 17% last month. It was the largest one-month drop in the browser's market share since May 2007, and put an end to a run of five consecutive months of gains.

IE, meanhwhile, reversed its long slide last month. In April, Microsoft's browser increased its market share by more than a percentage point over March, the largest gain since Net Applications began publishing browser data in May 2006. Ironically, the bulk of IE's increase in April came from the older IE6, which boosted its share from 28.9% to 30%. The newer IE7, meanwhile, climbed just 0.1% during the same period.

Both Mozilla and Microsoft are working on the next versions of their respective browsers. Firefox 3.0, which is still in testing, is expected to go final before the end of June, while IE8 will wrap sometime this year, Microsoft has said.

Source: ComputerWorld

A.M.D. Jumps to 12-Core Chip

Advanced Micro Devices plans to release processors with 12 cores, which changes its product road map and kills earlier plans to release 8-core chips.

The 12-core processor, code-named Magny-Cours, will be targeted at servers and is due for release in the first half of 2010, according to the company's updated road map announced Wednesday.

The chip will include 12M bytes of L3 cache and support DDR3 RAM, according to the road map.

AMD is jumping from a 6-core chip code-named Istanbul, due for release in the second half of 2009, straight to a 12-core chip the following year, an AMD spokesman said.

Until last month, AMD officials repeated plans to ship the 8-core server chip, code-named Barcelona, in 2009. Montreal has now been replaced by Istanbul, followed by a 12-core product in 2010, the spokesman said

Twelve-core chips will handle larger workloads better than 8-core chips and are easier to manufacture, said Randy Allen, vice president and general manager at AMD, during a conference call.

AMD is also planning to release a 6-core chip code-named Sao Paulo in 2010. The chip will include 6M bytes of L3 cache and support for DDR3 RAM. Sao Paulo chips could meet the need of systems that don't require 12 cores, Allen said.

The new chips will be more power efficient as they will be manufactured using the 45-nanometer process, an upgrade from the 65-nm process currently used to manufacture Barcelona.

AMD, which is struggling financially, is making financial and technical considerations in jumping from 6-core to 12-core chips. said Dean McCarron, an analyst with Mercury Research. That should allow the company to dump more cores on chips while delivering better product margins and lowering manufacturing costs.

AMD's 12-core chip will include two 6-core processors on separate chips in a single processor package, McCarron said. That is a more realistic goal than including 12 cores on a single chip, which can be expensive to manufacture, McCarron said.

The shift also allows AMD to avoid competition with Intel in 8-core chips, McCarron said. Intel is shipping a 6-core Xeon server processor, Dunnington, in the second half this year, after which it plans to jump to 8-core processors.

Even with AMD's altered road map, Intel will remain formidable. Intel shipped 78.5 percent of chips in the first quarter of 2008, while AMD held a 20.6 percent market share, a slight gain from the 18.7 percent market share it held in the first quarter of 2007.

The new product road map is a way for AMD to bounce back from recent chip and supply issues, said Gordon Haff, principal IT advisor at Illuminata.

AMD's most recent server chips, the quad-core Opteron processors code-named Barcelona, started shipping late last month after multiple delays and bugs.

"Obviously, AMD had some missteps over the past year, but they have a staple of OEMs and routes to markets with their processors. What you're seeing is much more public focus on what's going to happen in the next 18 to 24 months rather than longer term," Haff said.

AMD has had a string of recent problems. The company last month reported its sixth consecutive quarterly loss and plans to lay off 1,650 jobs by the third quarter.

Source: NewYork Times

Nvidia Admits Issues with Product Naming Scheme.

Just about a week after re-branding its GeForce 8800 GS into GeForce 9600 GSO, Nvidia Corp., admitted that its product lineup was too confusing for consumers because of its model numbering scheme. But while the top supplier of discrete graphics processing units (GPUs) acknowledged the issue, it made no promises or announcements.

“It is a challenge that we are looking at right now. There is a need to simplify it for consumers, there is no question. We think that the people who understand and know GeForce today, they are okay with it – they understand it. But if we are going to widen our appeal, there’s no doubt that we have to solve that problem,” said Roy Taylor, vice president of content business development at Nvidia, in an interview with Gamesindustry.biz web-site.

The mess with Nvidia’s model numbers began with the introduction of G92 graphics chip and update of the GeForce 8800-series lineup with new models that appeared to be faster than previous-generation GeForce 8800 models amid lower price. The introduction of the GeForce 9 series made the situation even more complicated: the new family does not support any new features but, in cases of models GeForce 9600 GSO and GeForce 9800 GTX, offers virtually similar performance as GeForce 8 predecessors.

Although the GeForce 8 and 9 series have identical capabilities, the GPU developer’s support of his products may be a significant factor for the end-user. The latest official GeForce 8 WHQL driver for Windows Vista 32 was released on the 20^th of December, 2007. The latest WHQL driver for GeForce 9 became available on the 1^st of April, 2008. Nvidia usually does not update drivers for an older series after a new series is released, so the lack of up-to-date drivers for GeForce 8 is not a surprise.

Nvidia is not the only graphics processor developer with confusing model numbering scheme. The recently released mainstream graphics cards from ATI, graphics product group of Advanced Micro Devices, the Radeon HD 3650-series also confuses customers due to the fact that the company sells two completely different versions of the product under one model number and also due to the fact that even the highest-performance ATI Radeon HD 3650 offers speed lower than that of previous-generation ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT GDDR4.

Source: Xbit

Microsoft's Answer to Google Sky to Launch at End of May

Microsoft will launch Worldwide Telescope, a tool for exploring images of the night sky, by the end of May, free to anyone who wants to use it, Microsoft's chairman said Friday.

Worldwide Telescope is software that allows people to gaze at the universe through the data collected by telescopes all around the world -- and above it: there's even data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

"This is taking data that's very complex, gathered over many years from many telescopes, and making it accessible," said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, at a speech in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The star-gazing software appears to be similar to Google Sky, which Google launched in August 2007. Microsoft could not immediately provide further details about Worldwide Telescope besides what Gates said during his speech.

People using Microsoft's software can also create their own tours of certain parts of the universe, say a galaxy or star, or listen to professors or others who have posted their own tour. For example, someone could view the planet Jupiter or Crab Nebulausing the software. Worldwide Telescope makes use of star databases all over the Web.

Gates said the data collection techniques in Worldwide Telescope could be applied to many other subjects, including genomics, but he did not say whether Microsoft was at work on any other projects.

Source: PC World

AMD plans to update 65nm Barcelona

AMD has something that it calls Continuous Transistor Improvement, or CTI, and this helps the company to slightly improve and fix its existing cores and transistors and to do it in a short time.

Traditionally, it takes more than six months to make core and transistor changes, but with CTI AMD can do it within six months.

This dynamic of processor tweaks was present from the launch of Barcelona and judging from the fact that B3 revision was ready in March, you should expect a new and slightly improved 65nm core by autumn (fall) time.

Intel tries to introduce a new transistor design every two years, while AMD tries to improve and evolve its existing transistors every six months. AMD believes that its approach is less risky, but at the same time it is less radical.

This will be the final revision of 65nm K10 production process and this last 65nm K10 should co-exist with 45nm K10.5 products for as long as necessary.

Source: Fudzilla