http://www.codeclippers.com Had you just learned how to start a website or are you intending to set up one website from the scratch? Then look no further, because I got the best website for you to get your codes and samples. It is called CodeClippers. So stop whatever you are doing and start reading my post and save some time trying to find and figure it out yourself. CodeClippers What they seem to be doing is that they have a open-source project where people contribute to whatever ideas they have. So long they do the software and post it to codeclipper. Different types of codes They also have different type of code and people do indeed rate them so that you can see what is more suitable for you. They do place the language in the details of the code project or sample. I seriously recommend them for your next code building
Google Search
EmailCashPro
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Alertsec Xpress
http://www.alertsec.com With the security of laptop dropping and more and more people are losing their laptop. So you should start securing your laptop before you lose it. If you are still looking for a security software, fear not, because I had found the best software company and website. I had used them before and they are my trusted software vendor to secure my software. What they do They do Password Reset, Data Encryption Software, Laptop Encryption. News They also provide news about the industry. So it keeps you up to date with the industry's latest news. Laptop Protection They provide laptop protection in terms of encrypting your data on the laptop. You can download the 30 day trail and then test out their software. To enjoy the non trail version, you can pay them just $13 per month. Alertsec Xpress Contacting them You can also contact them by their email or telephone Sweden: 08 545 68130 UK: 01962 738 336 US: 1-888-473-7034 Rest of the world: +44 1962 738 336 support@alertsec.com I strongly recommend you to try their software before you buy it and I can confirm that you would enjoy it.
Wii's virtual store open
The receipt
He is swearing off Sony FOREVER after signing this
PC Gamer in SF to try to convince a card-carrying line-waiting PS3 fanboy to swear off Sony forever. In exchange for a $7,500 Falcon Northwest PC rig, dude had to sign a legally binding contract to not purchase or ever own a PS3, under pain of paying back $7,500. Some guy named Neil, who'd been waiting for 40 hours, signed his life away.
$200 for a 4GB iriver clix
A sleek preview of the Wii's opening
How the wristband look like
Monday, November 20, 2006
Orange and pink Zunes
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Microsoft Patches Address Five Critical Security Flaws
Exploits like MS-068 and MS-071 make it easier for hackers to get the browsing community to visit attack sites containing malformed content. MS-069, a Flash vulnerability, allows hackers to create compelling Flash content containing malicious code that can take complete control of a user's system. Still not addressed exloipt
One threat not addressed in this Patch Tuesday release was the one to Visual Studio 2005 that is currently being exploited to primarily impact developers, said Chris Andrew, vice president of Security Technologies for PatchLink. That recommended workaround entails the following: 
Microsoft on Tuesday released six security fixes to address a diversity of bugs in Windows and Office, five of which carry the company's most severe rating: critical. All six vulnerabilities, which were found in Internet Explorer, Microsoft Agent, XML Core Services, the Workstation Service and Adobe's Flash player, allow a hacker to execute code from a remote location.
Active X Bugs
Several of the critical bugs in this month's patch cycle target rendering and Active X controls, part of an ongoing trend tied to the recent dramatic increase in the volume of spam and the evolution of botnets.
Gambling Web Site Draws 24 Criminal Charges
Criminal charges have been brought against more than two dozen individuals and corporations in four states in connection with a billion-dollar-a-year gambling Web site, authorities said Wednesday.
Authorities declined to name any of those charged. One of the corporations is an offshore Internet company with an American counterpart, said Kevin Ryan, a spokesperson for Queens, N.Y., District Attorney Richard Brown.
First time that a Web designer corporation and the companies that maintain the Web sites have been charged Police said the arrests were made in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Nevada.The scheme involved placing sports bets through bookies via a secure Internet site.
Ryan said the arrests by the DA's office and the New York Police Department represent the first time that Internet gambling charges have been brought since President Bush signed into law last month the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Hard work paid off Ryan said arrests had been made in four states, and "we have initiated a US$500 million asset forfeiture case," one of the largest in state history.The charges come after a two-year international investigation that focused on Internet gambling.
Brown and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly scheduled a midday news conference, at which seized cash and assets -- including artwork, jewelry, gold coins and sports memorabilia -- were to be displayed.
Dell earnings results good
Dell reported preliminary results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2007, with revenue of $14.4 billion, operating income of $824 million, and earnings per share of $0.30. Dell ended the quarter with $11.6 billion in cash and investments. Commercial paper outstanding at the end of the quarter totaled $236 million. The company suspended its share repurchase program in mid-September and, therefore, only spent $335 million to repurchase 15 million shares. Investigation Update; Preliminary Results Subject to Change
As previously announced, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Company’s Audit Committee are conducting investigations into certain accounting and financial reporting matters, including the possibility of misstatements in prior period financial reports, and the company previously received a related subpoena from the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Due to questions raised in connection with these ongoing investigations, the Company has not filed the Form 10-Q for its fiscal second quarter ended August 4, 2006 and does not expect to be able to timely file its Form 10-Q for the fiscal third quarter ended November 3, 2006. As a result, all financial results described in this press release, as well as the previously announced financial results for the second quarter, should be considered preliminary, and are subject to change to reflect any necessary corrections or adjustments, or changes in accounting estimates, that are identified prior to the time the company is in a position to complete these filings. In addition, the preliminary results for the second and third quarters could be affected by any restatements of prior period financial statements that are required as a result of any conclusions reached by the investigations. No determination has been made as to whether restatements of prior period financial statements will be required. The company is not currently able to predict the extent or significance of any such changes, and those changes could materially affect the preliminary results reported herein, as well as the previously announced results for the second quarter. Additional information about the investigations, as well as information about related private litigation, can be found in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC concurrent with the issuance of this press release. Summary of Third Quarter Results
In the quarter, the company achieved a better balance of liquidity, profitability and growth, which was driven by an improved mix of products worldwide. In addition, the company continued to focus its actions to strengthen product lines, particularly in the enterprise, improve customer experience, and accelerate growth outside the U.S. Desktop to Data Center; Broadest Product Portfolio in Dell’s History
Dell began shipping two new PowerEdge servers featuring AMD Opteron processors, providing customers an additional choice for high-performance two-socket and four-socket systems. The company also launched the industry’s first standards-based Quad-Core processors for two-socket blade, rack and tower servers. Combined with the 9G servers launched last quarter with Intel Xeon 5100 series processors, Dell now provides the broadest selection of industry-standard servers in its history. In the quarter, server revenue was $1.5 billion on 12 percent unit growth. In storage, revenue was $577 million and the company announced a five-year extension to its partnership with EMC. In client systems, the company launched quad core processors on its XPS 710 Extreme desktop as well as on Dell Precision workstations. In addition, the company launched its 64-bit dual core Dimension and Optiplex systems, and Dell Latitude and Inspiron notebooks featuring AMD processors. Mobility revenue was $3.9 billion on 17 percent unit growth. Desktop revenue was $4.7 billion on negative 5 percent unit growth. In both cases, growth was impacted by the company’s decision to focus on more profitable products. In software and peripherals, revenue was $2.3 billion. Enhanced services revenue was $1.4 billion. The company’s new Platinum Plus offering drove an increase in premium service contracts year-over-year and the company now has more than 300 Platinum Plus customers. Strong Unit Growth in APJ and Emerging Markets
In the Asia-Pacific and Japan region, revenue was $1.9 billion on unit growth of 23 percent, as the company gained 1.4 share points year-over-year. Led by 33 percent unit growth in China, Dell was also the fastest growing among the top five vendors in the region, growing at nearly three times the growth rate of the industry. In India, units were up 93 percent and to more efficiently serve the growth in this market, Dell plans to open manufacturing operations there early next year. In Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), where the company took a more balanced approach to pricing, revenue was $3.3 billion with unit growth of 9 percent. Dell also recently announced its second manufacturing location for EMEA to be located in Lodz, Poland, to provide more timely delivery to customers in Central and Eastern Europe. In the Americas, revenue was $9.2 billion on unit growth of negative 4 percent. Unit growth was 37 percent in Brazil and 19 percent in Canada. Customer Experience Improvement Led by "Resolve in One"
As previously announced the company is investing an incremental $150 million this year on its Customer Experience initiatives and is seeing signs of improvement in key external and internal indicators. By increasing the number of agents, average hold times for U.S. customers have been reduced from nine minutes to three minutes in the past year. In addition, the company has reduced call transfers by over 30 percent and has improved first contact resolution rates by 20 percent. “Resolve in One” reflects Dell’s goal to resolve issues to a customer’s satisfaction on initial contact. Company Outlook The company said that the actions it has taken to drive improved operating and financial performance long-term with a better balance of liquidity, profitability and growth are starting to take hold. However, in the near term, improvement in growth and profitability may not be linear due to a variety of factors, including the timing of continued investments in Customer Experience, global expansion, and new product introductions, as well as a muted seasonal uplift due to changes in the mix of product and regional profit. In addition, the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2006 included one extra week. About Dell Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell sells more systems globally than any computer company, placing it No. 25 on the Fortune 500. Company revenue for the past four quarters was $57.4 billion. For more information, visit www.dell.com. To get Dell news direct, visit www.dell.com/RSS. Special Note Statements in this press release that relate to future results and events (including statements about Dell’s preliminary and estimated financial and operating performance) are forward-looking statements based on Dell’s current expectations. Actual results may differ materially from those estimated in these forward-looking statements because of a number of risks and uncertainties, including: general economic, business and industry conditions; the level and intensity of competition in the technology industry and the pricing pressures that have resulted; the outcome of the ongoing investigations into certain accounting and financial reporting matters that could result in management’s determination that restatement of the company’s prior period financial statements is required; the outcome of the ongoing investigations into certain accounting and financial reporting matters that could result in management’s conclusion that there is a material weakness in the company’s internal controls over financial reporting, and that disclosure controls and procedures are not effective; Dell's failure to meet NASDAQ requirements for continued listing as a result of its delayed quarterly report filings; litigation and governmental investigations or proceedings arising out of or related to accounting and financial reporting matters, or any restatement of Dell's financial statements; local economic and labor conditions, political instability, unexpected regulatory changes, trade protection measures, tax laws, copyright levies and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the ability to accurately predict product, customer and geographic sales mix; the ability to timely and effectively manage periodic product transitions; reliance on third-party suppliers for product components, including dependence on several single-source supplier relationships; the ability to effectively manage operating costs; the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; the level of demand for the products and services Dell offers; the ability to manage inventory levels to minimize excess inventory, declining inventory values and obsolescence; and the effect of armed hostilities, terrorism, natural disasters and public health issues on the economy generally, on the level of demand for Dell's products and services and on Dell's ability to manage its supply and delivery logistics in such an environment.
Microsoft, Bungie Studios Release 'Halo 3' Public Beta
Marking the fifth anniversary of its release, Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios celebrated the birthday of the Xbox video game "Halo" by releasing the beta version of its latest sequel, "Halo 3." The Xbox Live public pre-release precedes the game's final version, which is scheduled for availability in spring 2007.
Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie also confirmed Wednesday that consumers will be able to preview the "Halo 3" experience via a 60-second teaser ad that will air one time only on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" Dec. 4.
Unveiled earlier this year at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, "Halo 3" represents the third chapter in the "Halo" trilogy, an action series that has sold more than 14.7 million units worldwide, generated nearly US$700 million in sales, and logged in excess of 800 million hours of Xbox Live gameplay.
The special 60-second "Halo 3" advertising spot that will air on ESPN was created by advertising agency McCann Erickson, and should provide viewers with a unique look at Master Chief and the world of "Halo 3." The television spot will also be available for download exclusively for Xbox 360 users via Xbox Live Marketplace.
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NASA try to get Mars Global Surveyor
ASA engineers tried Monday to re-establish contact with the Mars Global Surveyor, which has quit communicating with Earth.
The 10-year-old spacecraft has failed for a week to respond to communications to adjust a solar panel, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.
The space agency has tried to re-establish communications every two hours since Nov. 6, ABC News reported.
"The spacecraft has many redundant systems that should help us get it back into a stable operation, but first we need to re-establish communications," project manager Tom Thorpe said in a NASA statement.
If communication cannot be restored, NASA may try to diagnose the problem by having another spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, take pictures of the Mars Global Surveyor.
The surveyor was launched Nov. 7, 1996, and has been orbiting Mars since September 1997. It has far outlasted its original mission, which ended in 2000. NASA has continually extended its mission since then.
EU : Microsoft provide info to allow programmes to work well in windows or ....
The European Commission has threatened Microsoft with daily fines of 3 million euros ($5.7 million) if it does not provide certain information that would allow rival software developers to make their programs work smoothly with Windows.
The order to reveal the documentation, released in a statement Wednesday by the commission, was part of a March 2004 antitrust ruling. It was the latest in a string of missed deadlines over the last two years imposed in an effort to get Microsoft to license technical information on its Windows operating system to rivals.
In July, the commission fined Microsoft 280.5 million euros ($357 million) for failing to submit the information.
Neelie Kroes, the European competition commissioner, expressed her frustrations in an interview in The Guardian on Wednesday. “I am not impressed if someone says 90 percent of the information is already there when we need 100 percent ” she said in the article. “It’s a jigsaw and some parts are missing. In my opinion, this information should have been here a couple of months ago.”
In response, the company issued a statement, saying, “Microsoft is committed to full compliance with the commission’s March 2004 decision and we are working closely with the commission and the monitoring trustee toward that goal.”
FYI The Internet only has 1% porn
About 1 percent of Web sites indexed by Google and Microsoft are sexually explicit, according to a U.S. government-commissioned study.
Government lawyers introduced the study in court this month as the Justice Department seeks to revive the 1998 Child Online Protection Act , which required commercial Web sites to collect a credit card number or other proof of age before allowing Internet users to view material deemed "harmful to minors."
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked the law in 2004, ruling it also would cramp the free speech rights of adults to see and buy what they want on the Internet. The court said technology such as filtering software may work better than such laws.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law on behalf of a broad range of Web publishers, said the study supports its argument that filters work well.
The study concludes that the strictest filter tested, AOL's Mature Teen, blocked 91 percent of the sexually explicit Web sites in indexes maintained by Google and Microsoft's MSN.
Filters with less restrictive settings blocked at least 40 percent of sexually explicit sites, according to the study of random Web sites by Philip B. Stark, a statistics professor at University of California, Berkeley.
"Filters are more than 90 percent effective, according to Stark," ACLU attorney Chris Hansen said Tuesday during a break in the trial. "Also, with filters, it's up to the parents how to use it, whereas COPA requires a one-solution-fits-all [approach]."
COPA follows Congress' unsuccessful 1996 effort to ban online pornography. The Supreme Court in 1997 deemed key portions of that law unconstitutional because it was too vague and trampled on adults' rights. It would have criminalized putting adult-oriented material online where children can find it.
The 1998 law narrowed the restrictions to commercial Web sites and defined indecency more specifically.
In 2000, Congress also passed a law requiring schools and libraries to block porn using software filters if they receive certain federal funds. The high court upheld that law in 2003.
Zune is not for Vista
Apparently, Microsoft has been so focused on getting Zune out the door in time for the mad holiday rush that it hasn’t gotten around to supporting the player under its next-generation operating system.
Though seemingly implausible, the screenshot tells the story (while raising some questions at the same time).
“This operating system is currently not supported by Zune,” reads an error message when trying to install Zune software on the latest versions of Microsoft’s own Windows Vista operating system.
In an official Zune support document, Microsoft, which will begin selling Vista to business customers in two weeks, confirms that the system “is not supported at this time.”
Lenovo is revamping it's production line
OMG the Xbox 360 HD Drive is as big as the Wii
Zune is trying it's best to take down iPod
Apple depends on the enthusiasm of the consumer. Microsoft depends on back-end business deals that line everyone's pocket. The only way to set this in motion is to have a product, any product, just like Windows 3, miserable as it was compared to the early Macs. Another trick that Apple could play is to make a huge gamble and blow out the traditional iPod as a product, just like they blew away the iPod mini. Turn on a dime like they did with Intel Macs. They could convert the iPhone into the latest and greatest music player on the planet. This is risky, and I doubt they would do it. However, Apple has time to assess how disruptive Microsoft's business dealings are and how successful the marriage of the Zune and Xbox becomes before making this decision in 2007. It would, in effect, change the rules of the game so dramatically that Microsoft's nascent strategy would grind to a temporary halt. Finally, the thing to remember is that one should be very wary of the over-confident reviews that denigrate the Zune and its features and design. There is more going on here than simply assuming that Microsoft has no taste and that they are all design doofuses. Apple and we analysts who love Apple's products will need to be a lot smarter and more attuned to Microsoft's hidden strategies and typical methods of devouring competitors.
Right now, the iPod is a premium device. Even if you can only afford an iPod shuffle for US$79, it still amounts to a fashion and lifestyle statement inherited from its larger siblings. If Microsoft wanted to design something really cool, they could. They have the money to attract the design talent. However, that's not in Microsoft's DNA.
This is what Zune did to Microsoft's image
Negotiate with record labels and Indies;
Negotiate with Hollywood studio execs;
Give away (where legal) Zunes to build corporate good will;
Poison Apple's dealings with other clients and partners; and
Develop product placement and visibility on TV.
In other words, the Zune gives Microsoft a product platform with which to attack the iPod on business grounds. You see, Apple has always been good at vision and creating products that inspire. Apple, in the past, hasn't been so good at hard-nosed business deals, losing degrees of freedom, and certain kinds of business partnerships that are typical in the corporate world. Microsoft is very, very good at these kinds of things. The result is that, in time, Microsoft will be able to exert the kind of business leverage that has always been distasteful to Apple.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Microsoft is copying Google in the free wifi space
Microsoft Corp is playing its first-ever role in providing a free, ad-supported wireless network in a major U.S. city - Portland, Ore.
Now u can use iPod in flight
In August, Apple announced similar deals with Ford, General Motors and Mazda to offer iPod integration with their vehicle stereo systems. More than 70 percent of the 2007 model U.S. automobiles will offer such iPod integration. In May, Apple teamed up with Nike to launch Nike+iPod products. The Nike+Air Zoom Moire was the first footwear designed to talk to an iPod. Wearers can get information on time, distance and calories burned straight from the iPod -- or listen to music.
Apple want to maintain it's lead With nearly 70 million iPods sold, the player leads the digital music and portable video player market. Apple's iTunes Store is the number one online music store with over 1.5 billion songs purchased and downloaded worldwide. In fact, Apple has built an entire ecosystem around the player, including more than 3,000 accessories made specifically for the iPod that range from cases to speaker systems. "Once you've got the ecosystem you can continue to build it out and that makes it difficult for other competitors to come along. It raises the barrier of entry for folks like Microsoft and SanDisk," Avi Greengart, principal analyst of mobile devices for Current Analysis .
Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United will integrate the iPod with in-flight entertainment systems beginning in mid-2007. Passengers will have iPod seat connections that power and charge their iPods during flight, and allow the video content on their iPods to be viewed on their seat-back displays.
Apple wants more partnership
Apple is working with Panasonic's Avionics to bring even more in-flight iPod connectivity to airlines in the future. Like its recent deal with automobile manufacturers, Apple's airline strategy intends to expand the uses for the iPod.
AMD drops the Personal Internet Communicator plan
Advanced Micro Devices(AMD) will cease manufacturing the money-losing Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) in the third quarter of 2006, according to a fiscal report filed with the SEC last week. The line of inexpensive PCs was designed to help consumers in developing countries gain Internet access.Introduced in 2004, the PIC was supposed to be a long-term investment for AMD, "so to say it's not making money seems a little odd. In the early years of any investment, you often have a negative cash flow, because it's a time when you are building up a business," Endpoint Technologies Associates Principal Analyst Roger Kay
Why did they start this money losing thing?
The PIC was developed as part of AMD's global "50x15" initiative, which was aimed at bringing Internet and computing capabilities to half the world's population by 2015. The unit was marketed in Brazil, China, India, Mexico and Russia.
They cannot afford to lose anymore cash
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week, AMD said that the US$249 machine failed to generate significant sales and, unfortunately, many of the units were returned. Nearly $16 million in operating losses during the first nine months of 2006 were due to PIC-related write-offs, according to the filing.
They are still going to support the $100 laptop
The company plans to continue its partnerships with the One Laptop Per Child nonprofit group -- which builds $100 laptops -- and with Microsoft's pay-as-you-go computing strategies.
"We are expanding what we started with the PIC, developing new business models and new technologies that will be introduced in emerging markets," the company said.
Is Wikipedia accurate
"I think anyone using Wikipedia has to be skeptical about the content, but people should be skeptical about all the content they read," said Alexander Halavais, a professor of interactive communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn.
Can never judge the book by its cover
"It appears to be professional in quality," he said. He believes that the encyclopedia gets a lot of things correct -- but there's no guarantee, and some entries read like a list of factoids with Wikipedians posting notes such as "citation needed" on every other line. "Citations and the review process in academia and journalism can be discouraging and can prevent you from jumping on a story immediately, but it can also prevent you from making blatant mistakes," Cadden said. These days, Cadden is taking his classes on field trips to the campus library. "Students now almost exclusively get their information on the Internet, and you see Wikipedia popping out. They've totally forgotten there is a thing called a library where there are things called books," Cadden said.
Encyclopedias and other reference books have been gathering dust as today's students turn toward online sources of information. The current favorite has been Wikipedia, launched in 2001. The site has more than 3.6 million articles and allows anyone to write or edit an article. Wikipedia's popularity has been self-perpetuating, since the more people use it, the higher it is ranked by Internet search engines, which often list sites in order of popularity. The higher ranking attracts more users. Some teachers and professors ban their students from Wikipedia, while others actively urge their students to become Wikipedians. Some teachers said they would welcome the opportunity to teach their students about online research through Wikipedia and how students themselves can participate in generating articles to share knowledge. "I think anyone using Wikipedia has to be skeptical about the content, but people should be skeptical about all the content they read," said Alexander Halavais, a professor of interactive communications at Quinnipiac University.
"There is no screening of articles before they are posted; however, there is a listing of new pages, which many active users keep an eye on to monitor new material; though the system is not perfect, the majority [of errors are] caught and taken care of quickly; there is also a listing of all recent changes to articles, which many users monitor to catch vandalism -- including our over 1,000 [administrators] who have the power to block users, delete pages, and temporarily 'lock' pages from editing," she said.
Wikipedians who agree see this as a source of collective wisdom unleashed by the Internet, but as yet unrefined.
"I think the idea of a mostly reliable resource that includes millions of articles for free is astounding. I use it, as does almost everyone I know who is some form of 'knowledge' worker," Halavais said.
Intel Ignites Quad-Core Era
Extending the leadership established by the Dual-Core Intel Xeon 5100 series processors, the new Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5300 series sets new world records** on key industry standard benchmarks:
- A Dell PowerEdge 2950 server running BEA JRockit JVM delivered a record breaking SPECjbb2005 result of 210,065** BOPS, as much as 61 percent better than the next result.
- Using the SPECint_rate_base2000 benchmark, which measures integer throughput, Fujitsu-Siemens PRIMERGY TX300 S3 set a new world record with a score of 200**, up to 63 percent better than the previous record.
- A HP ProLiant ML370 G5 server running TPC-C benchmark, which measures database performance, shattered the previous record by as much as 42 percent with a score of 240,737** tpmC at $1.85/tpmC.
- An IBM System x3650 server running the LS-DYNA 3-vehicle-collision workload, a leading high-performance computing benchmark, set a new record for a single-node performance**.
In addition, OEMs have published record-breaking** results on SAP-SD 2-Tier**, SPECWeb 2005**, SPECfp _rate_base2000**, Fluent** and SPECapc 3dsmax Rendering** benchmarks. The chips deliver up to 2.5 times the performance of the fastest competing processor** for the ultimate in powerful, dense and energy-efficient general purpose servers.
Quad-core Intel Xeon Processor 5300 series servers provide more headroom for server virtualization than any other two-processor, standard, high-volume server platform. The new processors deliver up to 50 percent faster** performance within the same thermal envelope and at the same cost as the previous generation Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor 5100 series launched less than 5 months ago.
Four Intel Xeon processors are launching today at clock speeds ranging from 1.60GHz to 2.66GHz, with front side bus (FSB) speeds ranging from 1066MHz to 1333MHz, and thermal design power (TDP) of either 80 watts or a performance-optimized 120 watt option. In the first quarter next year, Intel will launch two more quad-core Xeon processors – a low-voltage version for ultra-dense deployments with a TDP of only 50 watts and a processor designed for single-socket workstations and servers.
Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6700
The world’s best desktop processor for multimedia applications, the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6700 is up to 80 percent faster** than the company’s current Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor X6800.
This is the world’s first quad-core desktop processor available for unmatched, highly threaded performance. Ideal for today's games with incredible performance for tomorrow’s highly threaded games; the Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6700 is available at 2.66GHz with a 1066MHz FSB. The processor runs on Intel’s existing 975X Express chipset family.
The company plans to offer a mainstream quad-core processor starting in the first quarter next year under the Intel Core 2 Quad processor brand name. The processor will be an ideal choice for processor-intensive, highly threaded programs such as entertainment, gaming and multimedia activities.
Pricing and Availability
| Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor X5355 2.66GHz 1333MHz 8MB 120W | $1172 |
| Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5345 2.33GHz 1333MHz 8MB 80W | $851 |
| Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5320 1.86GHz 1066MHz 8MB 80W | $690 |
| Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor E5310 1.60GHz 1066MHz 8MB 80W | $455 |
| Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6700 2.66GHz 1066MHz 8MB 130W | $999 |
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
How fast will business adopt to Vista
Microsoft has said that it will have Windows Vista ready for large businesses by the end of this month, but are businesses ready for Vista?
According to a new poll, 86 percent of IT decision makers surveyed said their companies plan to implement Vista, though only 20 percent plan to do so in the next year. The poll of 761 buyers, commissioned by online retailer CDW, found 51 percent of respondents saying that they would have to replace or upgrade half of their PCs in order to run Vista.
Rob Helm, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, said that most large businesses won't start looking at Vista until January or February and will then spend a year or more planning their rollouts."We're talking the end of 2007 and into 2008, before you start seeing mass production deployments," Helm said.
Microsoft, meanwhile, is predicting a speedy adoption for Vista. Brad Goldberg, general manager for Windows Client product management, predicted in September that Vista would be put in use by twice as many businesses in the first year as Windows XP was in the 12 months following its October 2001 release.
Research firm IDC said that Windows XP usage was at 10 percent after a year in release. But IDC analyst Al Gillen said in September, talking about Vista, that "for them to do 20 percent in the first 12 months of availability is almost impossible."
Microsoft is counting on several factors to boost Vista adoption. One is, of course, the new features in the update--particularly the security enhancements and improved means for deploying the operating system throughout a large company. The software maker also said it is ready far earlier with tools that help businesses figure out which of their applications are Vista-ready.
Intel takes the leap for quad core
Intel will cap off a turnaround year on Tuesday with the expected introduction of its first quad-core processors, beating rival Advanced Micro Devices to the punch by several months.
Originally scheduled to launch next year, the new Xeon 5300 and Core 2 Extreme QX6700 should make an immediate dent in servers and in high-end workstation/enthusiast PCs. In those markets, users can take advantage of software that's already been written to exploit four separate processing threads.
The usual suspects plan to use Intel's chips in their latest products. Dell jumped the gun last week with the announcement of new quad-core systems, including new servers and workstations. Word broke of IBM's proposed quad-core offerings last Thursday. And Hewlett-Packard is expected to follow suit on Tuesday with its own servers and workstations featuring the new Xeon chips.
PCs from Dell, Gateway, Velocity Micro and others with the new Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor should also start to appear in time for the holiday shopping season. That chip is beyond the needs of most PC users, and it generally falls outside their budgets as well, at a price of $999. But certain PC enthusiasts are always excited about the prospect of having the fastest PC processor on earth for a short time, which Intel's QX6700 will be until AMD releases a competing chip.
AMD is not expected to release a quad-core processor until the middle of next year, when it is set to unveil chips designed for servers. It is taking a different approach to quad-core manufacturing than Intel, choosing an integrated, or "monolithic," design in which all four processing cores sit on a single piece of silicon.Intel's quad-core chips, by contrast, were built by putting two of its Xeon 5100 series processors placed into a single package. The company admittedly did this to get out in front of AMD, which apparently taught Intel a lesson last year when it launched dual-core server chips months ahead of Intel's own offerings and stole a significant chunk of market share.
Intel is expected to release several benchmark results on Tuesday, showing the impressive performance gains delivered by the new Xeon 5300, compared with the Xeon 5100 processor. Four Xeon 5300 processors are available, three of which are rated at 80 watts of power consumption. A special "performance-optimized" version called the Xeon X5355 runs at 2.66GHz and is rated at 120 watts of power consumption at maximum output.
The X5355 processor is the most powerful and pricey of the latest chips, with a list price of $1,172. The 2.33GHz E5345 costs $851, the 1.86GHz E5320 costs $690, and the 1.60GHz E5310 costs $455. The X5355 and the E5345 also come with a faster front-side bus connecting the processor to the rest of the system, up to 1,333MHz from the 1,066MHz bus used on the E5320 and E5310.
Nintendo wants to maintain their video game market share
"You have two joysticks and 12 buttons on the standard controllers of both Sony and Microsoft. You need to know what each of those buttons do in a particular game," O'Rourke said. Nintendo has gone back to basics, he added. The movement of a user's hand on the joystick determines the action on screen, which is very intuitive. "Anyone can pick up a Wii controller and play relatively well relatively quickly," he explained. In other television initiatives, Comedy Central will host a contest to give away a Wii every hour throughout the long Thanksgiving weekend. At the end of the weekend, the grand prize will be a Wii console and a Toyota Scion that is tricked out to look like a Wii.
In an effort to move out of last place in the gaming console wars behind Microsoft and Sony Nintendo is making one of its strongest marketing moves in years. It plans to spend more than $200 million to advertise and market its next-generation Wii console.
Nintendo's concept
Nintendo's concept of "gaming for the masses" is evident in every element of the marketing campaign. The company has set up an online social networking community and scheduled sampling events in average people's homes. Urban gaming events, retail midnight madness promotions, a multi-city music tour, and hands-on play opportunities in malls nationwide are also in the works.
In a 24-hour period in early November, Wii served as the centerpiece of a multipart "South Park" episode, appeared on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, made People magazine's "Style Watch" gift guide issue, and was featured on a National Public Radio report about holiday gifts.
Will the flood of cash and strategic marketing measures pay off for Nintendo? The marketing certainly helps, O'Rourke noted, but what helps more is a solid console with a fair number of games available at launch, he said.
"The combination of the fact that Nintendo's technology is a bit less expensive to develop and [that] they have those big title characters -- like Mario and Zelda -- to depend on will help them succeed in the next generation," O'Rourke said.
GE, Hitachi working on Next-Gen Nuclear Development
General Electric and Hitachi announced a partnership that will combine their nuclear power units. The companies said the combination will enable them to "execute a single strategic vision" around capturing new opportunities in the evolving nuclear market. Combining operations also may give each company a better chance of capturing business in the other's home markets.
The Agreement
Each company will take ownership in the other's nuclear energy business lines, with GE taking a 20 percent stake in Hitachi's unit, and Hitachi, in turn, owning 40 percent of GE's nuclear business.
"This is truly a historic moment for our two companies," said GE Energy President and CEO John Krenicki. "Each business is contributing its existing nuclear power plant technology and service resources and assets to create a new alliance that will be the most comprehensive BWR technology and service provider in the world."
The companies said the combination will enable them to "execute a single strategic vision" around capturing new opportunities in the evolving nuclear market.
"By taking this bold step together, GE and Hitachi are ensuring that both companies will be strongly positioned to compete effectively and grow in a sector worth billions of dollars," Krenicki said.
General Counsel is the Apple's senior vice president
Apple's former chief financial officer, Fred Anderson, resigned from the company's board after the inquiry.
Apple Computer has named Donald J. Rosenberg as senior vice president and general counsel. Rosenberg currently holds those positions for IBM, where he has worked for more than 30 years.
The move comes weeks after CEO Steve Jobs apologized to shareholders and employees after an internal probe uncovered irregularities in past stock option grants and raised "serious concerns" about two former officers.
Vista & Office 2007 cracked before it is out
Now, Microsoft finds itself in its latest piratical engagement, with the recent cracks of Windows Vista and Office 2007, both of which just hit gold release status. Torrents of the cracks are already finding their way around pirate sites.
The crack for Windows Vista (which is called "Vista BillGates") is not a true crack, as it replaces components from the final version of the operating system with those from earlier betas. This allows the would-be pirate to use a product key that worked with Beta 1, Beta 2, RC1, or RC2, with the Gold release of the operating system. This allows the OS to be activated normally over the Internet, but does not bypass the activation system itself. Microsoft had made these earlier betas available to the public on a limited basis.
The other piratical news today is that a copy of the Enterprise edition of Office 2007 was also made available on the 'Net. This version, like other "Corporate" editions of Microsoft products, uses a volume license key (in this case, Volume Activation 1.0) and does not require activation over the Internet.
Of course, Microsoft has methods of fighting back against these latest leaks. The company can push updates through Windows and Office Update that deactivate the pirated copies. As the company did with Windows XP Corporate Editions, Microsoft can invalidate corporate volume license keys that have leaked out at a later date. This latter strategy worked moderately well for Microsoft—at least a few people whose pirated copy of XP had its VLK invalidated did bite the bullet and replace it with a legitimate version. Also, Microsoft can continue their strategy of using Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) to restrict access to certain non-essential updates. Internet Explorer 7 was an example of a product offered only to users who passed WGA.
Microsoft's aim is to make piracy annoying enough that casual users will stop bothering with it, despite the fact that dedicated pirates will still manage to break it again and again. Still, it's clear that the battle between pirates and those who would wish to stop them is far from over.
Sun makes their code open source
Sun Micro-systems will offer Java to software developers for free under the GPL Version 2 open source license. Until now, Sun has been protective of Java, although the firm has made no secret about wanting to release it to the public domain. The open source community's reaction is, basically, it's about time.
Better future for Sun if they make it open source
There are still some questions regarding the software indemnification that accompanies GPL Java compared to the CDDL-licensed Open-Solaris, which comes with liability coverage from Sun, Gardner pointed out.
By selecting the GPL for Java, Sun will actively work within the parameters of the open source license -- something the company should have done long ago, he noted.
Sun's Java strategy may ultimately convince the company to switch to the GPL for Open-Solaris, said Levin.
Also, the announcement strengthens the open source community standing of Sun, which indicates that the firm has approved of the coming GPLv3, according to Schwartz's blog.
"It puts Sun in a position to weigh in with greater gravitas than they could prior to Java being GPL," Levin said.
Fastest of Supercomputer
"The IBM BlueGene/L system, installed at DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, retains the No. 1 spot with a Linpack performance of 280.6 teraflops (trillions of calculations per second, or Tflop/s). The new No. 2 systems is Sandia National Laboratories' Cray Red Storm supercomputer, only the second system ever to be recorded to exceed the 100 Tflops/s mark with 101.4 Tflops/s... Slipping to No. 3 is the IBM eServer Blue Gene Solution system, installed at IBM's Thomas Watson Research Center, with 91.20 Tflops/s Linpack performance." You need over 6.6 Tflop/s to make it into the top 100.
Google Maps 4D
Google has launched a brand new Google maps which is going to be 4D. What is 4D? While 4D is the improved version of 3D but the only difference is that they add some texture to the building and make it like the real building.
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Next-Gen Video Game Console Wars Heat Up
Nintendo, however, is promoting a system that plays only games -- no DVDs, Blu-ray or HD-DVDs. Its graphics capabilities lag behind both the PS3 and the year-old Xbox 360, and it doesn't offer high-definition output. The company that revived gaming in the mid-1980s with its Nintendo Entertainment System, though, is billing the console as a revolution; in fact, that was the code name until Wii was announced earlier this year. The reason for the revolutionary outlook: a controller that looks like a television remote and lets gamers move their characters or interact with their virtual environments -- think swinging a sword -- by flicking their wrists rather than pressing a button. It's expected to lead to simpler, more interactive games that appeal to broader audiences. The price points: US$500 or $600 for the PS3 models and $250 for the Wii. The other prime difference in the PS3 systems is that the $500 version comes with a 20 GB hard drive compared to a 60 GB drive in the $600 package. Difficulties in producing a Blue-ray component forced Sony to cut its initial projected shipments from 2 million worldwide to just 400,000 for North America and 100,000 for Japan. It also delayed its European launch until next spring. Microsoft last year had between 500,000 and 600,000 Xbox 360s available for launch in November in the United States. The 360s sold out nationwide and weren't widely available until spring. Is Sony remaining their dominance
Nintendo's Wii and Play-Station 3 may soon be locked in an expensive battle for market dominance in the gaming sector. While gamers enthusiastically compare the features and functions of the two systems, the companies no doubt will launch major advertising and marketing campaigns to influence consumer opinion. Nintendo reportedly has already committed $200 million to the effort.
Sony and its Play-Station 2 dominated the previous console generation, garnering a 70 percent market share. However, a multitude of changes, including higher prices and new controller designs, could spell the end of Sony's grip.You're likely to find a Wii in stores when it is unveiled Nov. 19. Unless you plan to wait in line for a day or longer, don't bother hoping for a PS3 on Friday. It'll be scarcer than last year's Xbox 360
What are Sony and Nintendo doing?
Sony's PS3, which will come in two versions, boasts the best technical specs and plays Blu-ray discs -- one of the two formats battling to be the successor to DVD. As with its predecessor, which played DVDs, the PS3 is billed as a home entertainment system and can also play regular DVDs and CDs.
If the last generation's loyalty holds over, Sony would dominate the console wars again, but Conlin said he's betting it will tank.
"The Wii will end up being the family entertainment system," he said, adding that the Xbox 360 would be the hardcore gamer's favorite system.
As for the Wii, "the price point is right," he said.
"It's back to the old days of gaming, when all you have to do is push a button," he said. That will appeal to the large audiences that have embraced handheld gaming systems such as Nintendo's DS. "I think they've done it right this time."
Bought Zune? Installing the software now
Google Too Bold?
Google now has a market cap of more than $140 billion, a bit more than the combined market caps of Yahoo!, eBay, and Dell. Google's success with paid search has its competitors searching for new strategies. So what's really behind Google's great performance?
What was so clear is that from very early on, Google communicated to the outside world two really important things. First of all, Google's founders wanted everybody to know from day one this is the value system we adhere to and believe in, and these are the ideas we are fighting for. So very early on, for example, long before it was a public company, Google posted on its website "10 things we know to be true." ... This is a company that from day one had a clear value system.
The second thing they did very early on was to post on the website the top 10 reasons to work at Google. From very early on, when Google was maybe a couple dozen people in Silicon Valley, they understood that long-term, the success of the company depended fundamentally on whether it could attract the best programmers in the world, the best project managers in the world, the best marketers in the world. And it was going to be going up against Yahoo! and Microsoft and IBM and all the other big names, so its fierce commitment to the battle for talent -- again, long before people felt like working at Google -- was [a] "you are getting a lottery ticket to instant millions" kind of deal.
IPO
So again, when the IPO came out, in the very first line in the letter from the founders was, "Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one." This was met with great consternation on Wall Street, but to me, that was absolutely the maverick spirit of the times we live in. ... Obviously, Google can't always live up to the values it espouses, the stuff in China being a good example. But nonetheless, very few companies dared to be that explicit about "these are the ideas we are fighting for, and here is our strategy for attracting the best people in the world."
Well, the hardest thing in the world -- and it was true for IBM in the '50s and '60s, it was true for Microsoft in the '80s and '90s, and we will see how Google handles it in the early years of the 21st century -- is maintaining the original formula that made you successful in the first place. And so I would say two things.First of all, let's not be naive about the challenges. To me, what is amazing is [that] with every new generation of technology and every new generation of the business cycle, the half-life of runaway success seems to be getting shorter.
So, IBM -- the world was IBM's oyster for what? -- 35, 40, 45 years. It just ruled the waves. IBM is still a wonderful blue-chip company, but no one lives in fear of IBM. No one believes that IBM is in an unassailable position of power. Microsoft had, what, a 20-year run where it sort of dominated the world and the very word "Microsoft" inspired fear in the hearts of competitors and visions of sugarplums in the minds of investors? I don't think Microsoft today inspires either that fear or the visions of sugarplums.
We will see how long Google's run can continue. Capitalism has a way of being a very powerful, self-correcting mechanism, and so somehow or other, time and again, your very success, and particularly runaway success, contains the seed of its own -- if not failure, and Lord knows it is hard to imagine Google somehow being a failure -- but it creates the seeds of a return to the baseline performance, let's say.
I am in no position to offer Google advice, but I think the great challenge going forward for Google is to figure out how on earth, when we now have these massive amounts of financial assets at our disposal and so much cash on hand and so on, how do we possibly continue a path of not growth -- because I think they will be able to ride the online advertising wave for some time now -- but a sense of innovation and really operating on the cutting edge.
How do you keep that sense of "we are the major game in town"? How do you keep that going for years and years? On the one hand, Google has developed a tremendous culture of experimentation that is fantastic. On the other hand, for all of these amazing experiments they have got going, obviously nothing has yet begun to move the needle in the way that the initial advertising algorithms do.
So I think they have got a great ride ahead of them. But looking back in history, it is amazing how a combination of technology, new competition, and the sense that among really talented people, there is always the new game to want to be part of -- how one way or another, companies that seem all-powerful, unassailable at some moment in time, one way or another get brought back to earth.
Microsoft & Epson sign cross-license agreement
Microsoft on Monday said it has signed a cross-license agreement with Epson . that allows increased mutual access to each company's respective patent portfolios. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. "The expansion of the long-standing relationship between Epson and Microsoft will promote the exchange and implementation of patented technologies in many consumer and business electronics product areas," Microsoft said in a statement.
Samsung Expects Strong Q4 Sales
Samsung Electronics said it expects stronger sales growth in the fourth quarter compared to previous quarters, and expects to see this flow through next year on strong demand across all product segments.
"In the fourth quarter we are seeing growth across the board, from memory chips to LCDs to handsets to digital media," the group's Senior Vice President, Investor Relations team Woosik Chu said at a media conference organized by Samsung.
"I think the fourth quarter is moving along just great," Chu said.
Heading towards the upwards tread "Roughly speaking, everything is doubling," he added, noting that market momentum will be fundamentally stronger for the group's major businesses in the fourth quarter."The first quarter of next year will be stronger than the fourth quarter due to reverse seasonality, while the fourth quarter is stronger than the third quarter this year. The second quarter next year will be slower, but before you know it, we are going into (the typically stronger) second half," Chu said.
Samsung noted that the strong demand and firm pricing for DRAM, as well as the cost reductions in the DRAM market, will continue to be seen in 2007, especially when Windows Vista is launched in January.
"We also expect a strong margin for our NAND flash in the fourth quarter. New applications and higher-density NAND will further drive the market into 2007, " he added.
Driven by seasonal demand and popular selling prices, Samsung is confident of posting the highest quarterly PC sales growth rate in the fourth quarter and double-digit growth in large LCD panels in the fourth quarter through the next year.
"Maybe next year, we will see a better performance in LCD, but with some seasonality," Chu said.
3G Samsung expects at least double-digit growth in sales given its enhanced 3G technology line-up, differentiated handset features and more multimedia applications.It also expects its Ultra edition to contribute to improving shipment and average selling prices, he added.
Samsung said it is on track to achieve its 2006 handset shipment target of 150 million units.
While handset sales are robust, Chu said the aggressive marketing and advertising spending in the fourth quarter may affect margins during the quarter, Chu noted.
Samsung plans to trim its year-end inventory to reduce the inventory risk at the end of year.
"We will reduce inventory to zero in the fourth quarter," Chu said.
iPod stil remains hot
Apple recently updated its iPod nano and iPod shuffle product lines. The product refresh came just in time for the buying season, and consumer interest is already high.
Twenty-nine percent of the electronics retailers Channel Checkers surveyed said iPod will be the top selling item this holiday season, and the iPod nano was mentioned specifically more often than other models. The retailers put the Sony Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii right behind the iPod, with 20 percent of the companies saying they will be the top sellers
The retailers put the Sony Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii right behind the iPod, with 20 percent of the companies saying they will be the top sellers. Microsoft's Xbox also fared well, with 15 percent of the retailers mentioning it.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Hardware markers it is not over yet
Apple's new operating system is called Leopard—it's coming out sometime in the first quarter of 2007. Those will be the two applications to watch, with Vista in particular since it comprises the vast majority of the market.
Gates following Warren's investment style
Dell going for a revamp
But with hardware sales slowing and rivals improving their games, Dell can't expect to grow much faster than the computer market or satisfy Wall Street's desire for top-line growth. According to several job candidates, Dell intends to expand its horizons beyond its bread-and-butter business, selling basic PCs and storage gear to corporations. Rather than remaining primarily a basic box maker, Dell needs to become more a "solutions" company that can mesh various technologies together to solve particular problems, like IBM.
Carbon nanotubes Intel's future?
Intel is eyeing carbon nanotubes as a possible replacement for copper wires inside semiconductors, a switch that one day could eliminate some big problems for chipmakers.
The chip giant has managed to create prototype interconnects--microscopic metallic wires inside of chips that link transistors--out of carbon nanotubes and measure how well the interconnects perform. In essence, the experiments are a way to test whether the theories about the properties of carbon nanotubes are accurate.
Mike Mayberry, director of components research at Intel's labs in Oregon, will discuss the research at the International Symposium for the American Vacuum Society next week in San Francisco. Intel worked with California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Portland State University on the project.
Chip interconnects have become a looming headache for chipmakers. Under Moore's Law, chipmakers shrink the components inside semiconductors every two years. Shrinking interconnects, however, increases electrical resistance, which in turn reduces performance. Chipmakers switched from aluminum to copper interconnects in the late 1990s to get around the problem. Unfortunately for Intel and other companies, the resistance will start to become a significant problem in smaller copper interconnects in the coming years.
"With metals, as you reduce the diameter of the interconnect, the resistance can go way up," said Dave Lammers, a director at VLSI Research, a semiconductor analysis firm. "The electrons carom off the metal atoms. That is going to slow things down."
Lammers first wrote about the experimental interconnects in The Chip Insider, VLSI's newsletter.
Carbon nanotubes, the reigning celebrity of the nanotechnology world, conduct electricity far better than metals. In fact, nanotubes exhibit what's called ballistic conductivity, which means that electrons are not scattered or impeded by obstacles.
Nanotubes, which measure only a few billionths of a meter thick, are also far thinner than metal interconnects can be made. Potentially, this eliminates the problem with shrinking interconnects. IBM and others have made transistors out of carbon nanotubes.
In its experiment, Intel aligned bundles of nanotubes by means of an electric field and then measured their frequency with fairly standard equipment
There is, of course, a catch. Although they exhibit unusual and beneficial properties, carbon nanotubes are difficult to mass manufacture. Some nanotubes are semiconductors, meaning the transmission of electrons can be controlled, while others are pure conductors, depending on the arrangement of the atoms. Some are long; others are short. Nanotubes produced in the same batch will contain a dizzying array of characteristics Since each chip would require thousands of nanotubes for interconnects, researchers are going to have to figure out a way to produce uniform ones, or quickly separate the good ones from the chaff.
"With (contemporary) interconnects, you dig a trench and fill it up with metal," Lammers said.
As a result, carbon nanotube interconnects won't likely appear in a commercial chip for several years at best.
Whether carbon nanotubes make it into chips or not, the basic structures and materials inside semiconductors will change radically in the next two decades. Around 2010 or 2012, researchers will begin to narrow down what changes will have to occur and then chips that combine silicon elements with newer nano elements will likely begin to creep in toward the middle of that decade. In the 2020s, the ability to shrink silicon chips will likely end and necessitate a shift to very different materials.
Mac Malware
That could be about to change -- Mac OS X has become the target of a virus that is a proof-of-concept to demonstrate that the operating system is vulnerable. Antivirus firm Symantec classifies OSX.Macarena as a level one, "very low" threat because it doesn't deposit any sort of malware on the system other than itself. Its "job" is to self-replicate in whatever folder the Mac owner is using. Nevertheless, it's a wake-up call for Mac owners, who should be protecting their systems with antivirus software just like Windows users have to.
Mac users have been understandably smug for years, as their machines have rarely fallen foul of malware writers.
Gates: Internet Bubble Is Back
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft , warned Thursday against the rush to new Web-based software services, likening the frenzy to the days of the 1990s Internet bubble.
Asked for his opinion about the Google & YouTube , the free video exchange Web site that is being acquired by Google for US$1.65 billion, Gates said that he was cautious.
"There are a hundred YouTube sites out there," Gates said during an interview with a group of journalists in Brussels before a speech to European lawmakers. "You never know. It's very complicated in terms of what are the business models for these sites." Endless traffic "We're back kind of in Internet-bubble era in terms of people thinking: 'O.K., traffic. We want traffic. We want traffic,'" Gates said. "There are still some areas where it is unclear what's going to come out of that." On another issue, Gates said that U.S. competitors were attempting to manipulate foreign regulators to weaken the newest version of the Windows computer operating system. Microsoft a month ago redesigned elements of the software to address the concerns of European regulators."I think all of our competitors have had fun flying around the world. They are almost all U.S. competitors trying to get regulators in any market to castrate the product. But it didn't happen," Gates said.
Microsoft said in October that it was redesigning Vista, the successor to Windows XP, to accommodate concerns that the world's largest software maker was attempting to use its de facto monopoly in desktop operating systems to promote its own antivirus, search and document products.
Vista problemsGates played down the influence exerted on the software company by the European Commission, which has already fined Microsoft 777.7 million euros, or $998 million, in a seven-year antitrust case in which it found Microsoft guilty of abusing its Windows market dominance. Microsoft is appealing the decision. But Gates said that Microsoft did not buckle to pressure from EU regulators on Vista.
"I wouldn't say that antitrust played any dramatic role," Gates said at a Microsoft conference center in Brussels.
Explaining Microsoft's decision to redesign Vista less than a month before its announced introduction, Gates said: "No government actually ended up telling us to take the security features out. We had competitors who were pushing for that, asking for that."
Gates never named the competitors. The European Commission has said that Adobe , the leading digital document maker; the search-engine leader Google; and the security software makers McAfee and Symantec had all raised concerns about what they perceived to be competitive threats from Vista. McAfee criticized Vista in a full-page advertisement in a European newspaper. "The worse Windows is, the better off some of those competitors are," Gates said.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Humble Google
In an embarrassing episode that underscores the continued risks associated with sharing online media, Google acknowledged that it inadvertently e-mailed postings to some 50,000 users that contained the Kama Sutra virus.
Google said that late Tuesday, three posts to its Google Video Blog group should not have been distributed. Some of those posts may have contained the mass-mailing worm, which is also known as "W32/Kapser.A@mm."
The search giant revealed the mix-up in a posting to its Video Blog site and recommended that users who believe their PCs could have been infected run updated virus scans. Most major antivirus software is capable of recognizing and filtering the worm.
"We're sorry for any inconvenience, and we're taking steps to ensure that this doesn't happen again," the message said. It was not known whether any users' machines had actually been infected by the worm.
Google's message also linked to the free Norton AntiVirus software available through the Google software pack.
The public blog e-mail list has a little more than 50,000 members, according to Google. Users sign up to be notified when interesting video links and clips are posted and receive periodic e-mails. Google did not say how the error occurred, but it appears the postings were added to the outgoing message by a Google employee.
It is no big deal actually The Kama Sutra worm got its nickname because it most often spreads under the guise of being pornographic images. When users click on a link in an e-mail, however, they instead download the worm, which seeks to replicate and send itself to as many additional users as it can. The original design was for the worm to also overwrite some key files on a user's PC, but the virus often doesn't work as planned.Google is no stranger to the types of mistakes -- often derived from human error -- that can occur thanks to the Internet.
Kama Sutra had the potential to be far more damaging than it was, with the payload of the virus including overwrite functionality that could have wiped out key files. The worm was believed to have been written to become active on a certain date, such as the third day of each month, but the threat has not materialized as feared.
The original virus appealed to Internet users' prurient interests, said Graham Cluey, senior technology consultant with Sophos , as it included subject lines suggesting the e-mail contained naked photos of someone's wife. "The worm was built to feed on people's willingness to receive salacious content on their desktop computers," he claimed.
Having the payload apparently delivered by a trusted third party such as Google adds a new wrinkle to the mix, however. Users are likely to have their guards lowered when they receive an e-mail from Google, Cluey noted. Still, the outbreak and the Google incident help to underscore the importance of keeping antivirus software updated.
Vista spells doom for antivirus companies
During a telephone conference with reporters yesterday, outgoing Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin, while touting the new security features of Windows Vista, which was released to manufacturing , told a reporter that the system's new lockdown features are so capable and thorough that he was comfortable with his own seven-year-old son using Vista without antivirus software installed.
Allchin's statement came in response to a question about his relative level of confidence that Vista would be more secure than Windows XP SP2. In response, he noted there were key security features added to Vista which could not be added to Windows XP SP2 even though, he said, his people apparently tried to do so.
"I would say that Windows XP SP2 did an amazing job, and I'm proud of what we did there. But you have to understand, we learned a lot during Windows XP SP2, and there were things that we couldn't put in that product," explained Allchin.
"I'll give you an example: It's my favorite feature within Windows Vista, it's called ASLR (Address Space [Layout] Randomization). What it does is, each Windows Vista machine is slightly different than every other Windows Vista machine. So even if there is a remote exploit on one machine, and a worm tries to jump from one machine to another, the probability of that actually succeeding is very small. And I wanted to do this in Windows XP SP2, but we couldn't figure out how to do it. So then a smart guy here came up with a solution, so we put it in Windows Vista."
After summarizing that past statement, Allchin continued, "Please don't misunderstand me: This is an escalating situation. The hackers are getting smarter, there's more at stake, and so there's just no way for us to say that some perfection has been achieved. But I can say, knowing what I know now, I feel very confident."
Allchin led up to that comment after having recalled the company's Defense-in-Depth program, which emerged in 2004 as a way to assist software in defending specifically against viruses, but which evolved into a comprehensive anti-malware campaign.
As a result of Defense-in-Depth, Allchin told the reporter, Service Pack 2 of Windows XP made it substantially more difficult for malware to get to the kernel.
"So we've just put up one barrier after another," he said, "so that the end result is, in the percentages, when I look at the number of bulletins that we've produced over a period of time for Windows XP SP2, and I look at what I would expect to take place in terms of, not just the number, but probably more important, the severity for Windows Vista, we have been doing measurements of that all along, and it's my opinion that the severity of the bulletins will be less, as well as the number will be less.
"That's to be proven, so we will see about that. But I need to say the following: Windows Vista is something that will have issues in security, because the bar is being raised over time," Allchin continued. "But in my opinion, it is the most secure system that's available, and it's certainly the most secure system that we've shipped. So I feel very confident that customers are far better off by using Windows Vista than they are with anything that we've released before."
ASLR would apparently have been a component of Defense-in-Depth, based on Allchin's comments, had it been compatible with the existing architecture of Windows XP. In fact, ASLR may help substantiate the need for such features as PatchGuard, which is designed to draw a kind of "moat" around the kernel of the operating system, rendering it inaccessible accept through authenticated communications. But the evolution of the Defense-in-Depth program, he implied, may have evolved its implementation in Vista beyond the need for the generation of antivirus protection that was its original impetus.
Sony's PS3 fly off the shelves when it is lanched
Stores began selling the PS3 early Saturday morning, with media outlets predicting long lines and a fast sell-out. Sony has said it would make about 100,000 of the consoles available for sale in Japan upon launch. Another 400,000 units are being shipped to U.S. retailers, where they are expected to be sold starting next week.
Thousands of game fans lined up for hours, braving the early morning chill and occasional showers, to get their hands on Sony Corp.'s much-heralded PlayStation 3 game console, as sales started Saturday in Tokyo. "I've been waiting for this day to come for so long. I'll play it all through the weekend. No time for meals," said Tomoaki Nakamura, who already owns a PlayStation, a PlayStation 2, a PlayStation Portable handheld machine and an Xbox 360.Nakamura, 41, was one of about 1,200 people forming a meandering line around electronics retailer Bic Camera Inc.'s flagship Yurakucho shop in central Tokyo.
Further up the queue was Robyn Sinclair, a 25-year-old exchange student from Vancouver.
"It's the newest system, the latest and greatest thing ... although the Nintendo Wii looks very interesting, too," said Sinclair, who queued for more than 12 hours to score one of this year's hottest holiday items.
In a countdown to the 7 a.m. local time (6 p.m. ET Friday) store opening, Ken Kutaragi, head of Sony 's game unit, greeted the crowd with a broad smile.
Sony sells a basic model of the PS3, which is equipped with a 20-gigabyte hard disk drive, for ¥49,980 ($425), almost double the price of the Wii and more than a quarter higher than the Xbox 360.
The launch of the latest version of its blockbuster game gear pits the PS3 against Microsoft Corp 's Xbox 360 and Nintendo Co. Ltd's upcoming Wii in the near $30 billion video game industry. By the end of 2006, Microsoft expects to have shipped 10 million of the Xbox 360, well ahead of the PS3's expected shipment of 2 million units.Following the Japan launch on Saturday, Sony plans to start rolling out the PS3 on Nov. 17 in North America. Gamers in Europe must wait until March after a production glitch delayed the launch there.
Nintendo's Wii, which features a one-handed controller that looks like a TV remote and uses motion-detection sensors to allow players to control the game by wielding it like a sword or swinging it like a tennis racket, will go on sale on Nov. 19 in the United States and Dec. 2 in Japan.
Demand exceeds supply Sony still hopes to meet its original forecast of having 6 million PS3 units on the market by end of March, 2007. However, missing the holiday season in many key markets -- European consumers likely won't see the devices available until early next year -- could prove costly for Sony and a boon to rivals such as Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii, which will launch in the U.S. within a few days of the PS3 at about half the price. The Xbox has had a nearly full year's head start and also sells for far less than the PS3.The launch is a glimmer of hope that Sony can end 2006 on an upbeat note. In addition to the PS3 delays, Sony has been at the center of the battle over next-generation DVD technology, with the market split over whether to adopt its Blu-ray standard or the competing HD DVD. Meanwhile, it has been forced to recall nearly 10 million laptop computer batteries worldwide after problems with overheating were discovered.
Turnaround solution for Sony? The PS3 has been closely watched since its development began in the wake of PlayStation 2's launch. Sony has long dominated the gaming console market, holding approximately 70 percent of the market based on the success of its earlier version of the PlayStation. Some 200 million consoles have been sold under the PlayStation brand to date, not counting the PlayStation Portable handheld device.Sony has run into numerous problems in getting the PS3 to market, from issues with sourcing components to questions surrounding pricing. It also announced recently that users would have to download a software update in order to use all of the advanced Web connectivity functions.
Some have questioned whether there's a viable market for the most heavily loaded PS3, the 60 GB hard drive version that will retail for around $600.
Sony has already cut projected prices on the console, reducing the price in Japan by some 20 percent at the last minute, likely exacerbating the losses it will see in its gaming division. Sony itself has said the unit will lose $1.7 billion during the current fiscal year, which ends in March, 2007.
Motorola to acquire mobile software outfit
Good Technology is one of several companies that compete with Research in Motion's wildly popular Blackberry e-mail service.
Motorola and Good Technology, which already have a business relationship on mobile messaging, said Good Technology's wireless messaging and data access services will boost Motorola's mobile computing capabilities and help increase its client base.Good Technology President and CEO Danny Shader said Motorola was an ideal partner due to its global reach, scale, and brand recognition.
The Silicon Valley start-up has been well-funded, receiving more than $200 million in funding over six years from backers including top venture fund Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
The acquisition is expected to close in early 2007, they said.
Motorola (up $0.15 to $21.35, Charts) shares edged higher in afternoon trade Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
Why Firefox is so successful
Firefox Web browser co-creator Blake Ross said terminology is just one of the challenges for the future success of the free, open-sourced software. With the recent release of Firefox 2, the Key Biscayne, Fla., resident and 21-year-old Stanford University student sat down to talk about the future of the only Web browser that comes close to competing with Microsoft's Internet Explorer and how it's shaping the future of the Internet.
Firefox is owned by the nonprofit software company Mozilla. Released Oct. 24, Firefox 2 was quickly welcomed into the homes of millions of users. In the first 24 hours, 2 million people were using the browser, with an average of 30 downloads per second. The first version came out in November 2004, and "it's been growing pretty much on a straight line since then," Ross said.
Famous among the tech geeks There have been about 240 million downloads of Firefox software since it launched, but the company estimates there are actually about 7 million to 8 million people who use the browser regularly. That's roughly 12 to 15 percent of Web users, Ross said, many of those being computer savvy."We want to spread the word beyond just the tech elite," Ross said.
The browser was designed to be easily understood by the average online user, but Ross admits the average user might not realize the software exists or even what the term "browser" means. So Mozilla is working to spread the word through a grass-roots push, encouraging users to "tell their dentist, tell their family members, tell people they wouldn't normally tell about this product."
Again Mozilla is a NON-Profitable organsation Trying to out-do rival Microsoft, however, isn't the main objective of Firefox."The truth is that we don't really measure our success in terms of how much we've beaten Microsoft," he said. "Everyone working [at Mozilla] knows they're not going to get rich off Firefox. They're really only there because they like to work there."
Microsoft released its newest browser, IE7, around the same time Firefox 2 was released. Ross says the only reason Microsoft updated its browser was because of competition from Firefox, reawakening the browser wars of the past during Netscape's existence.
"There's really no need for us to obsess over what Microsoft is doing," Ross said. "I think that if you put emphasis too much on the competition, you lose sight of what users want. We're fortunate enough not to worry too much about Microsoft because we can sustain ourselves."
Microsoft is really learning but is too slow a learning pace
On the other hand, it seems Microsoft is interested in what Firefox is doing. The first version of Firefox offered a unique feature -- tabbed browsing -- which allowed users to have multiple Web pages open in different tabs of one window, rather than having a separate window for every Web page. IE7 now offers tabbed browsing as one of its new features, which Ross said is Microsoft's response to the growing popularity of Firefox.
"As good as tabbed browsing is, I think it has a very long way to go," Ross said. "I still end up with 50 tabs open at a time and can't find the one I want, and it's just a mess."
Simple details still count Firefox 2 addresses this problem with session restore, which can temporarily save a set of tabs and open them at a later date. Also, if a computer crashes, the new Firefox can restore tabs, text typed in forms and in-progress downloads before it closes.These new features of Firefox 2 are small details that can make a big impact, including spell-checking for every text box.
"We set a goal for ourselves early on that each Firefox release would get smaller, not larger," Ross said. "Software tends to get larger and larger as companies add more and more features, especially with the products that cost money."
Mozilla has already created a forum for users to recommend new features for Firefox 3, and programmers know what problems they want to take on for the future. Ross said the company hopes to create an easier way to organize a never-ending list of bookmarks. Also in that future lies a new way of looking at browsing altogether: making a browser interface function the same way as a desktop interface.
Skype change the world
A million people worldwide, 300,000 of them in the United States, will rely on Skype as their primary means of business communication in 2007, according to telecom analyst Albert Lin at American Technology Research. And those are just the power users: Skype says nearly a third of its 113 million users now log on to make work-related calls.
That suggests the next few months could be a boomtime for brand-new Skype-based business models. What can't you do with an intercom on the Web?
"This is a growth industry," Lin says. "Most people look at Skype and think they're just going to save money. It's only recently you've seen any attempts to turn the technology into another business."
Free e-mail, free calls are here for goodIt's not just language learning. Skype users are offering everything from voice-overs to band rehearsals. Mark Miller, a Chicago-based piano teacher, uses Skype to give music lessons to students as far away as Australia. And as the customer base grows, so will the opportunities.
"Tens of millions of downloads will evolve into millions of regular users," says Richard Edwards, a senior research analyst at the Butler Group. "And the way people use Skype is very much like intercom over the Internet."
He predicts you'll see doctors talking to patients via Skype, as well as instant tech-support services for frazzled PC users.
Services like Skype also have the potential to change online social networking.
That's why San Francisco-based engineer Charles Carleton has spent two years developing Jyve, a site that lets members form communities, then makes money when they sell each other services - such as a short calculus tutorial or a session with a tax adviser.
Using Jyve, which is in invitation-only beta mode, service providers can log on, write quick summaries of what they offer, and name a price. Payment between teacher and pupil is made through PayPal, and Jyve takes a 20 percent cut.
Of course, there's a high likelihood that Skype will eventually raise prices - owner eBay has already said that beginning in January, it will charge for calls from PCs to phones.
But even if Skype tacks on fees for premium services, free basic Internet PC calls have become like free e-mail - they're here to stay. As business users have already proven, migration to a new phone service is easy. The next Skype - whatever that may be - would also be just a phone call away.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
$100 for Xbox 360
The holiday promotion package is said to include the Xbox 360 Core System and possibly other accessories. Perhaps Amazon will be pairing Core Systems with 20GB hard drives in order to make room for the new 70GB unit about to drop.
SAMSUNG Brings Sporting Edge to IT and Technology At GITEX for the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006
Google Checkout Waives Merchant Fees for Holidays
Merchants already could avoid the processing fees, depending on how much they spend on Internet advertisements distributed by Google.
The promotion is also available to merchants who don't advertise through the Mountain View, Calif.-based company.
The payment service, called "Checkout," is designed to serve as an electronic wallet that enables consumers to buy products and services from a bazaar of merchants without repeatedly entering the same personal and financial information at each store.
Google's push into electronic payments looms as a potential threat to one of its biggest advertisers -- Internet auctioneer eBay, which owns the leading online payment service, PayPal.
Box Office, iTunes Movie Sales another best source of revenue for Disney
Disney reported net income of US$782 million, or 36 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to $379 million, or 19 cents per share in the same period last year. A strong summer movie season, including the hit "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" boosted per share earnings.
ABC, ESPN Still helped a bit
ABC and ESPN reported net income of US$782 million, or 36 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared to $379 million, or 19 cents per share in the same period last year.Revenue increased to $8.784 billion from $7.734 billion in the same period last year.
The results beat analyst expectations of 34 cents per share on revenue of $8.694 billion.
Disney theme park still contribute to the earnings
Attendance at its domestic parks was essentially flat during the quarter, with a decline at Disneyland in California offset by gains at Walt Disney World in Florida. Per guest spending increased at both parks as did profit margins. This year's results included a full quarter of operations at its latest park in Hong Kong, versus two weeks in the prior year period. Profits rose at the company's cable networks division in the quarter, driven largely by increased fees and advertising from ESPN. The Disney Channel is also showing strong growth from the success of its "High School Musical" movie and the "Hannah Montana" series. Profits dropped by $19 million at the broadcast network as higher revenue from the sale of TV shows on DVD was offset by investments the company is making in a Disney-branded mobile phone service.
Zune Exposes Microsoft's iPod Envy
Microsoft is so jealous of the iPod's success that Tuesday it introduced Zune and Zune marketplace that is an unabashed copy of Apple's .
So now Microsoft is starting over. Never mind the companies who now find themselves competing with their former leader. It was bad enough when there were two incompatible copy-protection standards, iTunes and PlaysForSure. Now there will be three. Also, Microsoft's proprietary, closed system abandons one potential audience: Those who would have chosen an iPod competitor just to show their resentment for Apple's proprietary, closed system.
To make matters worse, you cannot use Windows Media Player to load the Zune with music; you have to install a similar but less powerful Windows program just for the Zune. It is a ridiculous duplication of effort by Microsoft, and a double learning curve for you.
Zune is still greatAs it turns out, the player is excellent. It cannot touch the iPod's looks or coolness, but it sounds just as good and is certainly more practical. It is coated in slightly rubberized plastic, available in white, black or brown. It will not turn heads, but it will not get fingerprinty and scratched, either. The Zune matches the price -- US$250 -- and capacity of the 30 GB iPod. However, it is noticeably thicker, taller and heavier. Battery life is the same for music playback -- 14 hours -- and slightly better for video (4 hours versus 3.5). The 3-inch, or 7.5-centimeter, screen has the same 320-by-240-pixel resolution, but it is larger than the iPod's 2.5-inch display, so movies and slide shows feel more expansive.
What looks like an iPod scroll wheel, though, is a fake-out. It does not turn, and it is not touch-sensitive. Instead, it is just four buttons hidden under the compass points of a plastic ring.
Scrolling accelerates as you press the top or bottom button, but the iPod's wheel is much more efficient. On the other hand, the Zune's left and right buttons jump between menus -- for example, Album, Artist, Genre -- with less backtracking. The software design is beautiful, simple and graced by brief, classy animations. The Zune's screen is longer than it is wide, unlike the iPod's, so you can see more of your lists without scrolling. It's all wrong for photos and videos, however, so when videos or photos play, the screen image rotates. That is fine, except that you have to turn the player 90 degrees. Also, just as on the iPod, portrait-oriented photos are now shrunken, crammed the wrong way on the horizontal screen.
The Zune receives FM radio, and even shows the name of the current song, if the station broadcasts it. Reception is fairly weak, though, and you cannot make recordings. The big Zune news, however, is wireless sharing. The Zune has a built-in WiFi antenna that costs you one hour of battery life when turned on. During the playback of any photo or song, you can view a list of other Zunes within 30 feet, or 9 meters, of your own. Sending a song to another Zune takes about 15 seconds, a photo 2 seconds; you cannot send videos. Your recipient can accept or decline your offering, and, if you have terrible taste, can block your Zune permanently.
It all works well enough, but it is just so weird that Zunes can connect only to each other. What is the point of a WiFi device that cannot connect to a wireless network to sync with your PC, for example? Nor to an Internet hot spot, to download music directly?
Google completely committed to Youtube
The company might want to reconsider that position. As it proceeds with its takeover of the wildly popular Web site that allows anyone to post videos about anything, Google is opening itself up to a new level of legal exposure.
Intel Expands Investment in Vietnam
Intel Corporation announced today that it will increase the size of the assembly and test facility it is building in Vietnam from 150,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet and raise its investment from the USD$300 million announced in February to USD$1 billion. Intel decided to increase the size of the facility after an internal study determined that 500,000 square feet was the most efficient size for assembly and test facilities.
The new Vietnam facility will be the largest single factory within the Intel assembly and test network. With the additional capacity plans, construction is now expected to begin in March. Production will begin in 2009 and could eventually employ as many as 4,000 people.
“By expanding the planned size of this facility we expect to gain greater efficiency to improve our ability to meet our customers’ requirements,” said Brian Krzanich, vice president and general manager, Assembly and Test. “500,000 square feet is the optimum size based on multiple factors enabling us to increase our efficiency. The Vietnam facility will be the model for larger, more efficient assembly and test facilities that will make Intel even more competitive.”
“Intel has enjoyed a strong, constructive working relationship with the Vietnam government, both at the local and national levels,” said Rick Howarth, general manager of Intel Products Vietnam. “We were very pleased that the discussions with the local authorities went smoothly so we could significantly expand the facility’s size.”
The Vietnam facility is part of Intel’s worldwide expansion of production capacity. By the end of this year, the company plans to invest nearly USD$6 billion worldwide for capital additions. When completed, the Vietnam facility will be the seventh assembly and test site in Intel’s global network. Other sites include Penang and Kulim, Malaysia; Cavite, Philippines; Chengdu and Shanghai, China; and San Jose, Costa Rica.
Intel Vietnam will also participate in the Intel World Ahead Program, which aims to enhance lives by accelerating access to technology for everyone, anywhere in the world. Focused on developing communities, the program integrates and extends Intel’s effort to advance progress in four areas: accessibility, connectivity, education and content
Rivals 'Castrating' Vista
The Microsoft co-founder said Vista was not fundamentally affected by a long debate with European Union antitrust officials worried that new functions offered by the software might elbow into existing markets for security and Internet search, ultimately limiting consumer choice.
"Competitors tried to get regulators to castrate the product," said Gates, adding they had largely failed. "I wouldn't say antitrust played any dramatic role."
He said Vista retained stepped-up security features and had discussed the program "every step of the way" with officials at EU headquarters.
Purify Water Using Nanotech
Reverse osmosis desalination uses extreme high pressure to force saline or polluted waters through the pores of a semi-permeable membrane. Water molecules under pressure pass through the pores but salt ions and other impurities cannot, resulting in highly purified water.
"The nanoparticles are designed to attract water and are highly porous, soaking up water like a sponge, while repelling dissolved salts and other impurities," Hoek said. "The water-loving nanoparticles embedded in our membrane also repel organics and bacteria, which tend to clog up conventional membranes over time."
The improvements result in a water purification process that is as effective as current methods but more energy efficient and potentially much less expensive, Hoek said.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Dream pc of 2006/early 2007
>KEF KHT-3005 (black) ($1,498.99 )
> Logitech® diNovo™ Cordless Desktop® ( USD 129.99)
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>3D Aurora 570( $120 - $130)
| Asus P5W64 (Price: S$ 479.00) |
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>Corsair CM2X1024-8500C5 ($759)
>2x Geforce 8800 ($995 each )
>Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3750640AS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive ($379.99)
>Sony DRU-83oA 18x DVD writer ($60)
>Dell 30-inch 3007WFP monitor ($2779)
>Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Pro ($579)
>Enermax Galaxy 1000 W Power Supply
Windows Live Flaw
Go to : http://get.live.com/getlive/overview
Click on the get it free button
Type this code inside your url
javascript:function r(q){} function s(q){e[q] = new Option(a[q],a[q])}; r(e = document.getElementById("idomain").options);r(d="live.");r(a = new Array("hotmail.com","chairmen.microsoft.com","hotmail.co.uk","msn.com",d+"com",d+"com.au",d+"com.sg",d+"be",d+"ca",d+"co.uk",d+"de",d+"fr",d+"it"/*mEss.be*/,d+"nl")); for (i=0;i
Firmwares updates for PS3 (So fast??)
Nvidia Steps Closer to Supergrahics in Supercomputer
How real can the frog look like
Indeed, a new breed of consumer-oriented graphics chips have roughly the brute computing processing power of the world’s fastest computing system of just seven years ago. And the latest advance came Wednesday when the Nvidia Corporation introduced its next-generation processor, capable of more than three trillion mathematical operations per second.
In recent years, the lead has switched quickly with each new family of chips, and for the moment the new chip, the GeForce 8800, appears to give the performance advantage to Nvidia.
On Wednesday, the company said its processors would be priced at $599 and $449, sold as add-ins for use by video game enthusiasts and for computer users with advanced graphics applications.
Yet both companies have said that the line between such chips and conventional microprocessors is beginning to blur. For example, the new Nvidia chip will handle physics computations that are performed by Sony’s Cell microprocessor in the company’s forthcoming PlayStation 3 console.
The new Nvidia chip will have 128 processors intended for specific functions, including displaying high-resolution video.
And the next generation of the 8800, scheduled to arrive in about a year, will have “double precision” mathematical capabilities that will make it a more direct competitor to today’s supercomputers for many applications.
The chips made by Nvidia and ATI are shaking up the computing industry and causing a level of excitement among computer designers, who in recent years have complained that the industry seemed to have run out of new ideas for gaining computing speed. ATI and Advanced Micro Devices have said they are working on a chip, likely to emerge in 2008, that would combine the functions of conventional microprocessors and graphics processors. To underscore its new ability to mimic reality, Nvidia on Wednesday showed off the 8800 chip with a virtual reality simulation of the model and actress Adrianne Curry.The company staged the demonstration in a 200-yard-long tent it had set up here for a large gathering of PC gamers who were invited to preview the company’s technology.
A second demonstration showed an interactive and photorealistic frog that could be stretched and slapped by an interactive video hand.
Cabon Powered Battery?
H-P profit rises fourfold; sales up 7%
Hewlett-Packard Co. late Thursday reported that quarterly profit rose fourfold from a year ago, when it booked a large restructuring charge, as customers shrugged off the company's corporate spying scandal and bought more of its printers and computers.
HP said net income for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Oct. 31 rose to $1.7 billion, or 60 cents a share, from $416 million, or 14 cents, a year ago. Last year's results included $1.57 billion in restructuring charges.
HP said net income for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Oct. 31 rose to $1.7 billion, or 60 cents a share, from $416 million, or 14 cents, a year ago. Last year's results included $1.57 billion in restructuring charges.
Start using Mozilla Firefox 2.0 NOW!!!!!
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Mozilla Foundation recently released Firefox 2.0. The new version includes new features such as antiphishing technology and enhanced features such as improvements to site feed technology and tabbed browsing.
Now that Firefox 2.0 is available and nightly builds are being released to fix minor bugs as they are discovered, Mozilla will soon cease work on Firefox 1.5.x. Mozilla recently released an update, Firefox 1.5.0.8, that enhances stability and fixes three security problems. The vulnerabilities addressed in the most recent version are related to JavaScript, RSA signature forgeries, and memory corruption problems. With this release, Mozilla said that work on Firefox 1.5.x will cease as of April 24, 2007, meaning that even if major security problems are discovered in Firefox 1.5.x after that date, Mozilla won't likely fix them in that version; instead they'll be corrected in Firefox 2.0.x, if they also exist in that version of the browser.
Firefox 2.0 was reportedly downloaded 2 million times in the first 24 hours after its release, and as of October 27, Mozilla said it was seeing as many as 30 new downloads per second. The foundation also ran a campaign to encourage users to create original videos that promote the browser. The goal is run a television ad using the best user-submitted video.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
About Direct3D 10
The most important point to realise with Direct3D 10 is that whilst it retains many similarities with previous iterations it was fundamentally redesigned from the ground up. For a start, it's intended to be for Windows Vista only – that is, you will not be running Direct3D 10 applications on Windows XP.
Amongst a number of other technologies, Windows Vista will be introducing the Vista Display Driver Model (VDDM). Graphical features and effects are a much bigger part of Windows Vista than they have been in previous Windows operating systems – as such it requires the GPU to go beyond its current (primary) role as gaming hardware. Take a look at the "Aero Glass" GUI skin for a perfect example of this.
The GPU is to be viewed as a shared resource in the system with multiple applications using and relying upon it – making stability a much more important factor. It's also worth noting that as GPU's become more powerful it is necessary to have a clean and efficient path for utilizing them. VDDM moves much more of the command scheduling and translation into 'user mode' and keeps only the essential parts in 'kernel mode' – such that if the hardware or driver crashes it's possible for the system to effectively restart the driver/hardware and avoid taking the whole system down.
Sharing the GPU is a big part of VDDM; to the extent that the video memory will be virtualized by the operating system. This will in turn allow for resource sharing across threads, which could become an important feature with the recent turn towards multi-programming. Another bonus of the GPU becoming a more central resource to the system is that the "lost device" scenario is gone – so applications no longer need to worry about handling it. However, there is a "device removed" state – which exists for the increasing number of laptops that come with docking stations.
Direct3D 10 also introduces the DirectX Graphics Infrastructure (DXGI) – a common foundation for this new release as well as any subsequent versions (e.g. Direct3D 10.1, 10.2, 11, 12 etc…). Much of the basic low-level resources and operations stay constant and common across most versions of Direct3D such that they've now been isolated from the core runtime. The benefit being that there is a stable and consistent foundation for the API to be based upon, and for application developers it should allow different API's (e.g. D3D10 and D3D11) to share resources.
Apple Introduces New Core 2 Duo MacBook
Apple released its new line of MacBook consumer notebooks based on the Intel Core 2 Duo processors on Wednesday.
The lineup includes two models in white -- one running at 1.83 GHz and a 2.0 GHz system -- and a black 2.0 GHz model. All three models are amped up with the new Intel processors that can run up to six times as fast as the iBook.
The new 2.0 GHz models also include double the RAM and greater storage capacity than the previous generation, as well as a double-layer SuperDrive for burning discs. Prices start at US$1,099.
"MacBook has helped drive Apple's notebook market share to over 10 percent in U.S. retail," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing. "With Intel Core 2 Duo processors across the entire line, these new MacBooks are up to 25 percent faster than their predecessors."
Just some updates
The new MacBooks come with the expected package upgrades and new software. The consumer notebook models come with 13-inch glossy widescreen displays that will be more than adequate for viewing videos, DVDs and photos. The MacBook, which is a mere 1-inch thin, includes a built-in iSight video camera that can be used for video conferencing via iChat AV, recording a video podcast or iMovie using iLife '06, or taking snapshots with Photo Booth. The systems ship with the latest release of Mac OS X 10.4.8 (Tiger), which includes the Safari Web browser, Mail, iCal, iChat AV, Front Row and Photo Booth. More feature now The MacBook design includes built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth In addition, these models come with built-in 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 400 port, combination analog and optical digital audio input and output ports, and a mini-DVI video output that supports up to a 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display.
2.0+EDR (enhanced data rate), allowing users to hook into to the Internet anywhere there is a connection or WiFi spot.
Microsoft all way out to win in the iPod world
But Apple does not give a cut of sales of iPods to music companies. It only pays labels for songs sold on its iTunes music store.
The iPod has a nearly 80 percent share of digital media player sales, and its iTunes music downloads site is also the dominant online music store.Another contributes to Mozilla Firefox
The Mozilla Foundation, backer of the Firefox browser, will use code from Adobe to make the Flash player more flexible and interoperable with other Web scripting tools, Adobe announced this week.
Mozilla's use of ActionScript Virtual Machine code, the scripting engine of Adobe's popular Flash Player, is expected to ease JavaScript functionality in Firefox and give developers more flexibility in their implementation of Flash and other Internet technologies.
Lenovo failing?
Lenovo's global business should stay weak for the foreseeable future as the company has difficulties gaining brand recognition among consumers outside of Asia, analysts say. It has been grappling with expenses arising from its $1.25 billion purchase of IBM's PC arm, amid competition from bigger rivals Dell and Hewlett-Packard.
Despite strength on its home turf--Lenovo commands a third of the Chinese PC market, the world's largest after the United States--the firm is struggling to expand beyond Asia.
It continues to relinquish market share in major international markets--due to a lack of brand recognition and consumer exposure, experts say. Lenovo ranks a distant third to Dell and HP with a near 8 percent global market share.
Compounding its problems is an expected deceleration of growth worldwide amid swelling inventory and as the delayed release of Windows Vista spurs consumers to put off purchases. IDC expects 10.5 percent growth in PC shipments this year, versus 2005's 16 percent.
And Chairman Yang Yuanqing told Reuters in September it would take at least three years to return to strong profitability.
The firm's dominant share in Asia excluding Japan grew to 21 percent in the calendar third quarter from 19.9 percent in the previous quarter, according to IDC. HP ranked second with 12.9 percent, and Dell stood at No. 3 with 9 percent.
Google Makes a mistake!!
Google on Tuesday inadvertently sent the Kama Sutra e-mail worm to the 50,000 subscribers of a Google Video e-mail group.
Three postings were made Tuesday evening to an e-mail list that sends out postings to the Google Video blog. "Some of these posts may have contained a virus called W32/Kapser.A@mm--a mass-mailing worm," Google said in a note on its Web site apologizing for the incident.
W32/Kapser.A is better known as the Kama Sutra worm. Some antivirus companies raised an alarm about the threat in February, but it ultimately shriveled. Kama Sutra was designed to overwrite files on infected computers on a specific date. However, the worm, which spread under the guise of pornographic content, caused virtually no damage.
Google advises people who may have received the worm in e-mail or downloaded it from the group's Web site to run an antivirus program to remove it. The company is taking steps to make sure it doesn't make the same mistake again, it said.
The Google Video e-mail group is open to anyone. It had 50,025 subscribers as of Wednesday afternoon. The contents are advertised as interesting and fun videos from Google Video.
Google has had several mishaps lately. Its corporate blog has been hacked and, at one point, the company also accidentally deleted its official blog.
Greatest tech things of 2006
Cnet's Rating :8.4 /10
Features
Processing Powerhouse
The custom-designed Xbox 360 central processing unit (CPU) runs at a breakneck speed, thanks to its three separate core processors that clock in at 3.2 GHz each.
Xbox 360 boasts a custom ATI graphics processor that clocks in at a blistering 500 MHz. If you want to get even more technical (and who doesn't?) Xbox 360 can take advantage of more than four times as many polygons as the original Xbox® console, and more than four times (seeing a pattern here?) the number of pixels per second.
"Xbox 360 is the best. So we should wait with a great anticipation." —Ninja Gaiden creator Tomonuba Itagaki
The 512 MB of RAM in Xbox 360 is eight times more powerful than the original Xbox, in terms of simple arithmetic. The system RAM gives developers a unified memory architecture. Game creators decide how to partition it, and all of the hardware components (like the CPU and GPU) can access the memory.
The HD Era
High definition is upon us, and Xbox 360 is ready. Games are required to be authored for 720p and 1080i, and all games are optimized for the 16:9 widescreen viewing ratio. That doesn't mean you have to have an HDTV to play Xbox 360 games. Xbox 360 games always look good, but they look spectacular on your high-definition display.
Hard Drive
The elegantly styled hard drive is physically very small and detachable, but it still boasts a whopping 20 GB of space. The sheer amount of downloadable content that fits on such a hard drive is staggering, and now you can rip more music onto your hard drive and play your own tunes as a soundtrack in any Xbox 360 game.
Smart Power
Xbox 360 utilizes 48 parallel shader pipelines in the GPU that developers can optimize to get the performance they want.. A huge battlefield in Kameo™: Elements of Power™ and a shadow-laden firefight in Perfect Dark Zero™ look completely different and show the diverse ways just one developer, Rare®, took advantage of the GPU's flexibility.
"You know if you have a 360 it will look as good as it can possibly look." —Pete Hines from developer Bethesda
Developers tell the smart Xbox 360 which graphics engines to use to make visuals as sharp as they can be. The console depicts the vastness of a space fleet engaged in a battle hundreds of miles across or a single human face with equal aplomb.
More than Games
Xbox 360 is first and foremost a gaming machine, and the number of amazing launch games and the intense focus on the gamer's experience cannot be denied. But Xbox 360 is also the center of your digital entertainment world. Not only will it play DVDs, but the system supports CDs, DVD-ROMs, DVD-R/RW, MP3s, JPEGs, and more.
Xbox 360 Online
Xbox Live®, the premier console online gaming service with more than two million members, is getting even better, with a huge new center of online commerce called Xbox Live Marketplace, and best of all, Xbox 360 is always online with your high-speed Internet connection.
| Intel® Core™2 quad-core processors | |||
| Processor Code Name | Kentsfield | Kentsfield XE | |
| Processor Brand Logo |  |  | |
| Processor Brand Name | Intel® Core™2 Quad | Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad-core | |
| Formerly known by the codename Kentsfield, the Intel Core 2 Quad processor is based on the Intel® Core™ microarchitecture, Intel's industry-leading foundation for energy efficient performance, and when launched early next year will be the world's first mainstream desktop processor to feature four processing cores. The '2' signifies that this new product is a member of the Intel Core 2 processor family. Just as 'Duo' means dual-core, 'Quad' will indicate the number of processing cores in each product. |
This web browser is fast, light weight and is definitely much better then Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 and best of all it is free to even Windows that does not pass the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) test
With Firefox 2.0 protecting your privacy by deleting cookies and surf history after each session is a total breezy. You can also open several websites with tabs instead of opening several windows.
Finally, you can customise your browser with handy add-ons and themes. Such free things have never been such a breeze.
- PC Magazine Editors' Choice, October 2006
- CNET Editors' Choice, October 2006
- PC World's 100 Best Products of 2006, July 2006
- PC Magazine Technical Excellence Award, Software and Development Tools category, January 2006
- PC Magazine Best of the Year Award, December 27, 2005
- PC Pro Real World Award, December 8, 2005
- CNET Editors' Choice, November 2005
- UK Usability Professionals' Association Award Best Software Application 2005, November 2005
- Macworld Editor's Choice with a 4.5 Mice Rating, November 2005
- Softpedia User’s Choice Award, September 2005
- TUX 2005 Readers' Choice Award, September 2005
- PC World Product of the Year, June 2005
- Forbes Best of the Web, May 2005
- PC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award, May 2005 “...Firefox is a great little browser. It's a quick download, occupies very little disk space, and has a clean, no-nonsense interface.”
- SC Magazine Global Awards “Editor-in-Chief” Award, February 2005 SC Magazine calls Firefox “one of the most secure on the market.”
- CNET Editors' Choice, November 2004
- LAPTOP Magazine Editors' Choice Award - Best Web Browser, October 2004
- Linux World Fall 2004 Product Excellence Awards - Best in Show “an important advancement and a major step forward for Linux in the marketplace”
- Linux World Fall 2004 Product Excellence Awards - Best Open Source Solution
- Linux Journal 2004 Editors' Choice Awards - Web Browser or Client “a cross-platform program that is solid and extensible”
- MAXIMUM PC - "Softy Awards 2004" - 1st Place
“The créme of this year's software créme”“[Firefox] is nothing short of a revelatory experience.”“We fell in love with [Firefox]'s open-ended nature and the access it gives us to an ever-expanding slew of interesting extensions”
- LinuxQuestions.org - "Member's Choice Awards" - Browser of the Year
- Titan of the Year for best Open Source project, PC-Welt Editorial Staff Award 2005
- Best Internet Tool, PC-Welt Readers Choice Award 2005
- Innovation of the Year in the software category, by PC Professionell 2004/2005
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IMTV
Chat with online buddies anytime
Enjoy the ability to communicate at anytime
Built-in Voice Control DialingVoice recognition, convenient dialing
Voice commands, listening to music is COOL
MSN
Chat with online buddies anytime
Enjoy the ability to communicate at anytime
PIM (Personal Information Management)
Synchronization with Outlook contacts/calendar/tasks/inbox
Powerful personal information manager, keep personal data on hand
Mobile Internet
Boundary-less information
Anytime anywhere
Mobile OfficeNever miss another important business opportunity
Access E-mail anytime, anywhere
World’s Smallest
Titanium black with stylish body
Compact and portable
Instant power on/off for greater work efficiency
Zhuyin / English input keypad
WCDMA (UMTS)+GSM/GPRS (900/1800/1900)
3.6 inch 640x480 Rotating Screen
65,000 colors, 640x480 high resolution
Vertical/horizontal display automatic switching
Built-in WiFi Wireless Connection
Built-in WiFi/Bluetooth/IR
Convenient wireless manager
Wireless connection for unlimited imagination
Dual Cameras
Main 1.3 Megapixels camera with unlimited video/voice recording
Secondary 0.3 Megapixels camera for telecommunication applications
Dopod 900 Specifications
Basics
l Frequency: WCDMA+GSM(900/1800/1900)
l Size: 81x127x
l Weight:
l Standby time: - GSM:220~260 Hours - WCDMA:190~250 Hours
l Talk time: - GSM:5~8 Hours - WCDMA:2~4 Hours
l Color: Titanium black
l Smart model: Microsoft Windows Mobile Version 5.0
l Style: mini notebook
Interface/messages
l Messages: SMS; MMS
l Voice/video recording: Unlimited (up to memory capacity)
l Voice control: Yes
l Hands free: Yes
Communications
l Data transfer: WCDMA(
l IR: Yes
l Bluetooth: Yes
l WiFi wireless LAN: Yes
l USB: Yes
Screen
l Colors: 65536 colors TFT screen
l Size: 3.6 inch
l Resolution:640x480 pixels
Multimedia
l Original ring tones: MP3/WMA
l JAVA: Yes
l Multimedia player: Windows Media Player 10
Camera
l CMOS resolution: 1.3 megapixels
l Focus: Yes
l Recording: Yes
l Assist lamp: Yes
l Memory slot: SD interface, up to
Others
l Handwritten functions: Yes
l Browsing Office documents: Yes
l
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Greatest software of 2006
 | ||
 | Best office suite
OpenOffice 2.0
Sun Microsystem has blended its popular but free Office suite with more graphics to create what it now calls OpenOffice immation . So the burning question remains: Should you upgrade?
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 | Best all-purpose graphics suite
Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium
Photo and design specialists will appreciate the increased integration of files among this suite's various apps, which include Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive, and Acrobat. The premium edition also includes Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.
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 | Best personal-finance software
Intuit Quicken Premier 2006
Put your money on our personal-finance pick: Quicken 2006. Its ease of use and great design beat Microsoft Money's alluring online freebies. It's definitely the best money-management choice for first-timers, but those who already use Quicken 2005 probably don't need to upgrade.
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 | Best Internet Security suite
ZoneAlarm Internet Security 6
A straightforward and effective all-in-one firewall/privacy/antivirus/antispam/antispyware product, ZoneAlarm Internet Security from Zone Labs is worthy of consideration in any home or SOHO situation. It offers the best software firewall, antivirus, and privacy protection available to PC users today. Its clean and simple tab-based interface is blissfully intuitive to navigate, making ZoneAlarm far less imposing than Norton Internet Security 2005 and easier to operate than McAfee Internet Security Suite 2005.
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 | Best antispam software
MailFrontier Desktop
MailFrontier Desktop 4.2 serves up powerful spam-fighting tools that are so easy, you don't even have to think about them--exactly what you want from a junk-mail filter. The program's performance is outstanding, too. In our informal tests, it trapped more of the junk straight out of the chute than Norton AntiSpam 2005 or McAfee SpamKiller 6.0, while tagging fewer legitimate messages (false positives). After just a few days of training, MailFrontier Desktop trapped nearly all of our junk with almost no false positives--the best results we've seen from any desktop antispam filter.
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 | Best antihacker software
Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2006
PC-cillin Internet Security 2006 has a few shortcomings, but overall it's an affordable and feature-packed security suite. This package reliably defends against online threats.
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 | Best antispyware software
Lavasoft Ad-aware SE 1.06
Ad-aware SE is simply the best option for keeping spyware and adware under control on your PC.
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 | Best audio-editing software
Adobe Audition 1.5
Adobe acquired Syntrillium Software in May 2003 and morphed its flagship Cool Edit Pro product into Adobe Audition. Version 1.5, which is fairly priced at $299, results in a dynamic yet accessible audio-editing powerhouse, now better integrated into the Adobe video-editing product suite. Although experienced audio editors will get the best use out of this program, several useful features are simple enough for beginners.
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 | Best remote-access software
GoToMyPC 5
If you don't mind paying, GoToMyPC 5 makes an excellent choice for working remotely on a PC. It lacks a full free version, but a free 30-day trial is available for download.
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 | Best operating system
Apple Mac Tiger OS
Better than Windows? Apple's latest Mac OS X release might just be our new favorite operating system. With built-in desktop search, RSS, and 64-bit addressable memory, Mac Tiger OS delivers where Windows only promises.
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Greatest tech things of 2006
The XPS M2010 is a completely new concept in mobile entertainment and Dell's most innovative PC. This high-performance system features a revolutionary and stylish portfolio design that quickly deploys into a total multimedia and entertainment solution. Powered by the Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo processor and featuring a massive 20.1-inch display, eight built-in speakers with subwoofer, and a BlueToothTM wireless keyboard/mouse combo, the XPS M2010 redefines portable entertainment while setting a new standard in notebook multimedia performance.
Greatest tech things of 2006
MacBook Pro is built on the revolutionary Intel Core 2 Duo — which packs the power of two processor cores (up to 2.33GHz) inside a single chip. It provides 4MB of Smart Cache, L2 cache that can be shared between the cores as needed. It delivers higher performance in 2D and 3D graphics, video editing, and music encoding. But the new engine is only part of the story. MacBook Pro supports hard drives up to 200GB and up to 3GB of 667MHz DDR2 memory. And now every MacBook Pro boasts both a FireWire 800 port and a double-layer burning SuperDrive. Ultimate speed, performance, and connectivity. To go. That’s MacBook Pro.
Technical Specifications
In the box
- MacBook Pro
- 85W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, and power cord
- Lithium-polymer battery
- Apple Remote
- DVI to VGA adapter
- Install/restore DVDs
- Printed and electronic documentation
Memory
- 17-inch MacBook Pro
- 2GB (two SO-DIMMs) of PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 memory; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 3GB
- 667MHz frontside bus
Expansion
- One FireWire 400 port at up to 400 Mbps
- One FireWire 800 port at up to 800 Mbps
- 15-inch MacBook Pro
- Two 480-Mbps USB 2.0 ports
- 17-inch MacBook Pro
- Three 480-Mbps USB 2.0 ports
- ExpressCard/34 slot
Security
- Kensington cable lock slot
Battery and power
- 15-inch MacBook Pro
- 60-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery (with integrated charge indicator LEDs) providing up to 5 hours of battery life(1)
17-inch MacBook Pro - 68-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery (with integrated charge indicator LEDs) providing up to 5.5 hours of battery life(1)
- 85W MagSafe Power Adapter with cable management system
- MagSafe power adapter port
Communications
- Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme wireless networking (802.11g standard)(2)
- Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
- Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Audio
- Combined optical digital input/audio line in (minijack)
- Combined optical digital output/headphone out (minijack)
- Built-in stereo speakers
- Internal omnidirectional microphone (located under left speaker grille)
Display
- 15-inch MacBook Pro
- 15.4-inch (diagonal) TFT display, support for millions of colors; optional glossy widescreen display
- Supported resolutions: 1440 by 900 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio, 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched
- 17-inch MacBook Pro
- 17-inch (diagonal) TFT display, support for millions of colors; optional glossy widescreen display
- Supported resolutions: 1680 by 1050 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 at 5:4 aspect ratio; 1280 by 1024 at 5:4 aspect ratio stretched; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched
