Modern Kitchen

The kitchen is continuing its evolution into a natural part of people’s living areas. Now by following this trend Designboom hold a contest entitled “Kitchen is the heart of the home“, where 2980 designers from 102 different countries participated. The winning entry at this contest is a design created by 3 designers from China ( Cheng He, Liu Quang Kui and Zhou Dong ) and is called “Round cupboard assembling that can be rotated and lifted”.

The final design it’s futuristic, but still very realistic kitchen concept. Each element of the kitchen is designed to allow objects to come to the user, instead of having the user moving to reach them. In conclusion this concept can save a lot of time and space, because everything is very compact and handy …and finally improve your productivity.

Now here are a few words from the designers of the winning product :

1. Creating the new concept of happy kitchen: Sharing the joy with relatives and friends face-to-face.
2. Cupboard adopts double-deck rotator structure, can rotate 180°respectively, the three major work center of washing, mixing and cooking can rotate in the front of the operator, let “zero” distance in each workflow; And can lift in certain distance in order to be suitable for the different operator.
3. Flume has two kinds of outlets: The parallel water outlets of induction type lie on both sides of flume; The holding type faucets with metal hose lie in the middle of two flumes, that can be suitable for operating under various environments.
4.Abandon the board type, slide rail and hinge of the traditional cupboard completely. This cupboard regards the structure frame of aluminium alloy and the combination of stainless steel pipe as the integer structure. Adopt level bearing, hydraulic pressure system, shutting system to realize lifting of cupboard and wall cupboard.
5. Integrative structures with operational table-board, flume and kitchen, cupboard distribute icebox, disinfector and oven symmetrically, other borders are closets.
6. Lower cupboard is drawing structure, can pull out wholly while using, and make the operation simplify. Hang the kitchen ventilator under the top cupboard with function of illumination.

From : http://freshome.com

Technorati Tags: Kitchen,Modern,Technology,Hardware

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Tilera Announces the World's First 100-core Processor with the New TILE-Gx Family

Tilera® Corporation today announced its new TILE-Gx™ family - four new processors from Tilera including the world's first 100-core processor: the TILE-Gx100™.

The TILE-Gx100 offers the highest performance of any microprocessor yet announced by a factor of four.

Moreover, the entire TILE-Gx family raises the bar for performance-per-watt to new levels with ten times better compute efficiency compared to Intel's next generation Westmere processor. And Tilera has simplified many-core programming with its breakthrough Multicore Development Environment™ (MDE) together with a growing ecosystem of operating system and software partners to enable rapid product deployment.

The TILE-Gx family - available with 16, 36, 64 and 100 cores - employs Tilera's unique architecture that scales well beyond the core count of traditional microprocessors. Tilera's two-dimensional iMesh™ interconnect eliminates the need for an on-chip bus and its Dynamic Distributed Cache (DDC™) system allows each cores' local cache to be shared coherently across the entire chip. These two key technologies enable the TILE Architecture™ performance to scale linearly with the number of cores on the chip - a feat that is currently unmatched.

“"The launch of the TILE-Gx family, including the world's first 100-core microprocessor, ushers in a new era of many-core processing. We believe this next generation of high-core count, ultra high-performance chips will open completely new computing possibilities,” said Omid Tahernia, Tilera's CEO. “Customers will be able to replace an entire board presently using a dozen or more chips with just one of our TILE-Gx processors, greatly simplifying the system architecture and resulting in reduced cost, power consumption, and PC board area. This is truly a remarkable technology achievement.”

From : tilera.com

Technorati Tags: Tilera,100 Core,Processor,TILE-Gx

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List of DirectX 11 Games

AMD confirms DirectX 11 games: Battleforge, Stalker: Call of Pripyat, Dirt 2 and Alien vs. Predator.

AMD offers some insight on DirectX 11 powered games in a current blog on their website. According to AMD, Battleforge, Stalker: Call of Pripyat and Dirt 2 will feature DX11 so that their Radeon 5000 series will have serious advantages this year.

During the launch of Ati Eyefinity, AMD also talked about games that will come out in the next months powered by DirectX 11. There were a lot of rumours surrounding the DX11 games list, and until now just Dirt 2 was a serious contended. Now AMD lifted the curtain for:
• Battleforge (EA) - around September/October 2009
• Stalker: Call of Pripyat (GSC) - November 2009
• Dirt 2 (Codemasters) - December 2009

Also, it's rather obvious that the fourth game in the DX11 series will be Alien vs. Predator (beginning of 2010) as the Rebellion developers make an appearance in a DX11 video from AMD. So why does AMD now talk about DX11 games? Here's the reason from AMD itself:

    Now, if you are a gamer you undoubtedly will be asking me "What games are going to support DirectX 11″? This is always a tightrope to walk for us as we are unable to pre-announce our technology partners titles and the specs around those titles; still, we want to give the consumer confidence that we've been assured there will be substantial titles in the market that take full advantage of your ATI Radeon DirectX 11-compliant graphics card.

Source : pcgameshardware.com

Technorati Tags: Games,DirectX11,AMD,ATI

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ATI to launch DirectX 11 GPUs in seven weeks

For the past week and a half, we've been hearing rumors citing various dates for the launch of AMD's DirectX 11 graphics cards… ranging from GDC in China to newly invented delays that would push the launch window in to November.

However, all of these rumors are false, given that AMD has firmed its "Cinema 3.0/DirectX 11" launch. As tradition goes, the North American launch will happen in seven weeks in San Francisco on a very special place indeed - but we're not at liberty to say where the event will take place. All we can say is that it will be someplace that neither Intel nor nVidia would even remember.

ATI will catapult not one, but rather a complete DirectX 11 line-up into the orbit, ranging from $50 to the high end parts in their respective three-figure pricing brackets. Just like the Radeon 4000 series, consisting out of 4400, 4500, 4600, 4700 and 4800 parts, the new Radeon series will consist out of entry-level [Hemlock], mainstream [Cedar, Redwood], performance [Juniper] and high-end part [Cypress]. When it comes to codenames, you'll notice that all of these parts have codenames from plants, with some belonging into the same family [Cedar, Juniper, Redwood] Note that not all of these parts will be launched on the same day. Some parts might have to wait until Holiday season to get them in OEM-level numbers, but all in all - this is the strongest line-up ATI had in years. We might even dare to say strongest line-up ever from any GPU manufacturer.

According to information we have at hand, initial rumors about the names and specs proved true - these parts bring DirectX 11 compliancy from top to the bottom, and if you want to play upcoming DirectX 11 games [so far, there are six confirmed DX11 titles launching this year] in a budget less than $500, you have no other choice but to go ATI.

From : brightsideofnews.com

Technorati Tags: Ati,GPU,DirectX 11

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Intel Nokia Band Together

The world's largest chip maker has teamed up with the world's largest mobile phone maker to create what they say will be a "new exciting industry".

Intel and Nokia said their "technology collaboration" would deliver new mobile computing products - beyond existing smartphones, netbooks and notebooks.

But both companies added it was still too early to talk about product plans.

The deal gives Intel its first real breakthrough in the multi-billion dollar mobile-phone market.

"This collaboration will drive exciting new revenue opportunities for both companies and shape the next era of mobile computing," said Anand Chandrasekher, Intel's senior vice president of its ultra-mobility group.

Nokia's executive vice president for devices, Kai Oistamo said: "It will be compelling not only for our companies, but also for our industries, our partners and, of course, for customers."

"Brave new world"

Both companies said the partnership would centre around several open-source mobile Linux software projects, including the Moblin platform for Atom-based processors and the Maemo operating system developed by Nokia.

Intel will also acquire a licence from Nokia that is used in modem chips to connect to third generation cellular networks.

Intel's chips power most of the world's personal computers

Although Intel makes chips for Wi-Fi and WiMax networks, it has previously lacked the technology to provide a complete technology package for portable device makers.

In a conference call with reporters, neither company would not be drawn on what any future products would look like.

"We will talk about products when we are ready to talk about products," said Mr Chandraseckher

"With the convergence of the internet and mobility as the team's only barrier, I can only imagine the innovation that will come out of our unique relationship with Nokia. The possibilities are endless."

ABI Research says that last year a total of 1.2 billion mobile phones were sold globally.

Mr Oistamo was equally tight-lipped on the subject of future products, but he added: "We will explore new ideas in designs, materials and displays that will go far beyond devices and services on the market today.

"The future is truly exciting and there is a lot of room here to redefine what mobile is and what it can do as we create this brave new world."

"Wave of the future"

Intel's microprocessors are found in eight out of 10 personal computers, while Nokia boasts around a billion customers but is not as big a player in the US as it is in Europe.

The alliance could spell stiffer competition for ARM Holdings, which is one of the biggest suppliers of chips in the cell phone marketplace.

The deal will boost Nokia's presence in the United States

Analysts welcomed the collaboration, which they described as significant for both companies.

"Intel has really been trying to get a foothold in the wireless world in the worst way," Will Strauss, principal analyst with Forward Concepts told the BBC.

"They know portability, mobility is the wave of the future. Nokia is the world's biggest cell-phone maker in the world so getting a piece of Nokia's business is a big deal.

From : BBC

Technorati Tags: Intel,Nokia,Mobile,Gadget

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Final Fantasy XIII Is the Most Wanted Game for the PlayStation 3

The biggest announcement at the 2008 edition of the E3 trade show was that Microsoft had persuaded Square Enix to also bring Final Fantasy XIII to the Xbox 360. But the Japanese role playing game is still more interesting to those who plan to play it on the PlayStation 3, according to data compiled by research group OTX.

The data provided to Gamesutra shows which are the most wanted 20 videogames for the Sony made home gaming console. The chart was compiled during March and April, with about 1,000 gamers questioned.

God of War III, which is created by Sony Computer Entertainment Santa Monica, is in second place, with Madden NFL 10 from EA Sports being third in the most wanted chart. Assassin's Creed 2 from Ubisoft and Modern Warfare 2 from Infinity Ward complete the top five.

Tekken 6, from Namco Bandai, is sixth, followed by X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which is now out for all those who are interested in playing it. Uncharted 2 is also appealing to PS3 gamers, although its position is rather low, considering that it is an exclusive for the Sony platform. The new Need For Speed is at number nine, while Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time is at number ten.

The other half of the chart is made up off BioShock 2; Batman: Arkham Asylum; Fight Night Round 4; NCAA Football 10; Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10; Ghostbusters: The Video Game; Infamous; Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion; Half-Life 2: Episode Three; UFC 2009 Undisputed.

It's interesting to see that the list is rather similar to that compiled by OTX for the Xbox 360. Infamous, which sits at number 17 in the most wanted chart, is the only new intellectual property that is interesting to gamers. There are no new IPs in the Xbox 360 chart.

Source : Softpedia.com

Technorati Tags: PlayStation 3,Most Wanted,Game

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AMD, Seagate Show Off 6-Gbits/s SATA

AMD and Seagate will demonstrate a next-generation 6-Gbit/s SATA interface Monday in New Orleans, the companies said. Neither company is announcing products based on the technology yet, Seagate executives said.

The 6-Gbit/s SATA technology will be part of a future AMD south bridge chip, and may appear in solid-state-disc drives before it becomes part of a conventional hard drive.

The target markets will be gaming PCs and servers, executives said.

Currently, SATA uses a 3.0-Gbit/s interface, which should satisfy the throughput requirements of hard drives until 2011, when that channel will become saturated and the 6.0-Gbit/s interface will truly be needed.

But the SATA-IO Working Group and the industry has traditionally built in enough overhead into the interface to allow the industry time to prepare, said Marc Noblitt, senior marketing I/O development manager for Seagate. (extremetech)

Technorati Tags: Seagate,AMD,SATA

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Radeon 4870 Gets $50 Price Cut to $149, Radeon 4850 Will Drop to $129

The ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB will drop $50 in price, from the $199 segment down to $149. It will compete in this price point primarily against NVIDIA's GTS 250 1GB rebrand using the old G92 chip, variants of which were used in the 8800GT, 9800GT, 9800GTX, 9800GTX+, etc.

However, the HD 4870 has been shown to surpass the performance of NVIDIA's GTX 260 line, and value seekers may choose to leave NVIDIA for a better price/performance point.

The Radeon 4870 uses GDDR5 to provide more video memory bandwidth than the GTX260, even though it has more RAM, a wider memory bus, and higher clocked memory.

The ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB will drop to $129, and is designed to compete at the same price point as NVIDIA's GTS 250 512MB version. The Radeon HD 4830 will be replaced by another part soon at a lower price point.

ATI's price cuts are anticipated to take effect early this week. One of our sources indicates that NVIDIA and its partners will unveil GTS250 parts at the CeBit tradeshow in Hannover, Germany on Tuesday. (dailytech)

Technorati Tags: Graphic,Radeon,Price Cut,AMD

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Momentum for Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 Grows with Major Game Titles, Next-Generation 3D Game Engines, and Windows® 7 API

Today, Microsoft^® DirectX^® 10.1 graphics leader AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced expanded support for DirectX 10.1 from a number of developers, demonstrating growing momentum for the most advanced Microsoft graphics API Layer to date. GSC Game World released a DirectX 10.1 patch for their newest game title, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, bringing with it frame rate improvements of up to 10 percent while at the same time enhancing the visual experience of the game¹.

On the heels of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky announcement, game engine developer Unigine Corp. announced the availability of Tropics, a downloadable demonstration of its Unigine game engine that showcases the ability to deliver photorealistic virtual environments utilizing the power of DirectX 10.1. Lastly, Microsoft announced at the Professional Developers Conference the use of the DirectX 10.1 API in the Windows^® 7 Windows Desktop Manager.

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, benchmarks of DirectX 10.1 performance versus DirectX 10 have demonstrated frame rate improvements of as much as 10 percent, while delivering an improved visual experience.

"With S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, we set a very high standard for visual realism, and our efforts were rewarded with over two million copies sold,” said GSC Game World CEO Sergiy Grygorovych. "By using DirectX 10.1, we once again raise the bar with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, delivering to fans of the first person shooter genre an exhilarating exploration of a post-apocalyptic world.”

Unigine Corp., developers of Unigine cross-platform middleware for virtual 3D worlds, rolled out a DirectX 10.1 implementation in their recently announced Tropics demonstration. Using the Unigine 3D engine, Tropics delivers a stunning virtual island paradise. By drawing upon DirectX 10.1, Unigine has been able to take a step closer to their goal of delivering photo realistic virtual worlds.

"The new Tropics Demo 1.1, based on the latest Unigine technologies, pushes visual realism to new heights,” said Denis Shergin, CEO, Unigine Corp. "Our recent collaboration with the AMD team means that we’ve been able to quickly and easily add some of the killer features of DirectX 10.1 to enhance performance and raise image quality. That’s given us our first-ever chance to get perfect anti-aliasing on foliage, something that has been on our wish list for a long time. It has been a huge pleasure to see AMD’s ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 series arrive this year, as the entire line showcases the benefits of our new DirectX 10.1 technology."

Adding further momentum to DirectX 10.1, Microsoft used their Professional Developers Conference to announce the use of the DirectX 10.1 API in the Windows Desktop Manager of their next operating system, Windows 7.

"Game developers are realizing that supporting DirectX 10.1 is an investment in their future,” said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD. "Microsoft has announced that the forthcoming DirectX 11 API in Windows 7 will be a superset of DirectX 10.1, making it a stepping stone in preparing for Windows 7.”

For more information about ATI Radeon graphics, please visit http://ati.amd.com/products/home-office.html.

Source : newsticker.welt.de

Technorati Tags: DirectX,Graphic,Windows 7,3D

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Kingston 64GB DataTraveler 150 USB Flash Drive

DataTraveler 150 USB Flash drive is big news in mobile storage. With a capacity of 32GB & 64GB, it lets you store more digital files than ever before on one drive. DataTraveler® 150 from Kingston® helps budget-conscious users break storage barriers, allowing them to easily store and move files in a 32GB & 64GB device no bigger than a pocketknife. As easy as click and drag, DataTraveler 150 can hold just about any file you can think of — term papers, theses, digital images, spreadsheets or other important documents.

Backed by legendary Kingston reliability plus a five-year warranty and 24/7 tech support, DataTraveler 150 is a reliable, inexpensive solution for carrying digital files with you anywhere you go.

Features/Specifications:

• Capacities* – 32GB, 64GB
• Dimensions – 3.06" x 0.9" x 0.47" (77.9 mm x 22 mm x 12.05 mm)
• Operating Temperatures – 32º F to 140º F (0º C to 60º C)
• Storage Temperatures – -4º F to 185º F (-20º C to 85º C)
• Convenient – Pocket-sized for easy transportability
• Simple – Just plug into a USB port
• Practical – Stores cap securely on end of device to prevent loss of cap
• Guaranteed – Five-year warranty

Source : kingston.com

Technorati Tags: kingston,datatraveler,usb,flash,drive

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Finalized speedy USB 3.0 spec debuts

25GB in 70 seconds. That's the torrid transfer rate consumers can expect with devices based on the USB 3.0 specification, which debuted Monday.

As reported previously, the USB Promoter Group finalized the "SuperSpeed" USB 3.0 specification today and is doing a "comprehensive review" of the technology at a conference in San Jose, Calif.

Intel, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, and NEC are the leading players in the group.

Among the initial devices, external solid-state (flash) drives and hard drives are expected to be popular. "The first SuperSpeed USB devices will likely include data storage devices such as flash (solid-state drives), external hard drives, digital music players, and digitial cameras," the group said.

Products aren't coming until 2010, however. "It is anticipated that initial SuperSpeed USB discrete controllers will appear in the second half of 2009 and consumer products will appear in 2010," according to the group.

"The USB 3.0 Promoter Group is now accepting adopters of the USB 3.0 specification, which has been finalized at the 1.0 level," the group added.

As its name (SuperSpeed) implies, USB 3.0 is all about speed. About 10 times more speed, to be exact, than the 2.0 specification.

Here's data from a slide that Microsoft showed at WinHEC 2008 on November 6:

Transfer of a 25GB HD movie:

• USB 1.0: 9.3 hours
• USB 2.0: 13.9 minutes
• USB 3.0: 70 seconds

But the new specification is a long time in coming. USB 2.0 was launched almost eight years ago. At WinHEC, Microsoft expressed caution about USB 3.0 because finalization has taken so long. Because of delays, "we're challenged and we won't have support for USB 3.0 in Windows 7 at RTM (release to manufacturing)," Lars Giusti of Microsoft said earlier this month.

"If you look at the USB 3.0 industry timelines and checkpoints, it really has been a very long, difficult and challenging three-year effort," he added.

Currently, Microsoft is trying to figure out whether it should support USB 3.0 in Vista or just later operating systems.

Source : news.cnet.com

Technorati Tags: USB 3.0,USB,Speed,Spec

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Graphics market on fire; AMD gains

The economy may be under water, but the graphics chip market is on fire.

The market for graphics processing units (GPUs) saw the biggest increase in third-quarter shipments in six years, according to Jon Peddie Research (JPR), as AMD gained in both the desktop and laptop segments.

Laptop graphics chip shipments soared by almost 40 percent quarter-to-quarter, as AMD gained.

(Credit: Jon Peddie Research)

In the third quarter of 2008, more than 111 million GPUs were shipped, the market researcher said. During the same quarter last year, 91 million GPUs shipped, and 94 million units shipped in the previous quarter. That's an annual increase of 22.5 percent and a quarter-to-quarter increase of almost 18 percent, according to JPR.

In the overall market, Intel jumped from 33.4 percent in the third quarter of 2007 to 49.4 percent in the third quarter of this year, according to JPR. AMD saw year-to-year growth of 22.8 percent, while Nvidia lost 6.4 percent year-to-year.

For desktop GPUs, Intel increased its first place position to a 43.9 percent share, while Nvidia's position slipped to 32.6 percent, and AMD climbed to 20.3 percent, JPR said. Desktop GPUs saw an increase of 4.7 percent this quarter to 61.9 million units.

On the laptop front, Intel GPU shipments dropped one point to 56.2 percent, while Nvidia GPU shipments declined to 21.8 percent, and AMD jumped to 20.9 percent. Laptop graphics chips soared almost by 40 percent quarter-to-quarter to 49.4 million units, to claim 44.4 percent of the market, JPR reported.

Though the third quarter is typically up as PC makers place orders for chips for the holiday season, "this quarter was up more than any other for some time, and in spite of suggestions of a recession that started last Q4," said Jon Peddie, president of the Tiburon, Calif.-based firm.

Peddie cautions, however, that the doom-and-gloom scenarios may be having their effect on business and consumer spending plans and the fourth quarter could be flat (compared with the third quarter) this year.

Source : news.cnet.com

Technorati Tags: amd,graphics,hardware,intel

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Researchers hack wired keyboards, hijack keystrokes

A team of Swiss researchers say there are several ways to recover keystrokes from wired keyboards by simply measuring the electromagnetic radiations emitted when keys are pressed.

In all, the team of researchers from the Security and Cryptography Laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, found four different ways to fully or partially recover keystrokes from wired keyboards at a distance up to 20 meters, even through walls.

A research paper on the discovery will be published after a peer-review process. Team members Martin Vuagnoux and Sylvain Pasini explain the findings:

To determine if wired keyboards generate compromising emanations, we measured the electromagnetic radiations emitted when keys are pressed. To analyze compromising radiations, we generally use a receiver tuned on a specific frequency. However, this method may not be optimal: the signal does not contain the maximal entropy since a significant amount of information is lost.

Our approach was to acquire the signal directly from the antenna and to work on the whole captured electromagnetic spectrum.

We found 4 different ways (including the Kuhn attack .pdf) to fully or partially recover keystrokes from wired keyboards at a distance up to 20 meters, even through walls. We tested 11 different wired keyboard models bought between 2001 and 2008 (PS/2, USB and laptop). They are all vulnerable to at least one of our 4 attacks.

We conclude that wired computer keyboards sold in the stores generate compromising emanations (mainly because of the cost pressures in the design). Hence they are not safe to transmit sensitive information. No doubt that our attacks can be significantly improved, since we used relatively inexpensive equipments.

The team released two online videos (here and here) demonstrating the research findings.

Source: blogs.zdnet.com

Technorati Tags: security,keyboard,hijack,hack

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Touchscreen Eee PCs are on the way

The real problem with netbooks is that they are improving so rapidly in terms of speed and features on offer that it is never a good time to buy one, because next month there will be something notably better on the shelf for the same price.

The Asus Eee PC is a perfect case in point. Not only does Asus release the S101 this month – quite possibly the most beautiful bit of kit TechRadar has seen all year – the latest internet Eee rumours are that the company plans to release a touchscreen Eee PC in 2009.

"There is no official announcement on this right now," our Asus rep told us today, though we expect to hear something straight from the horse's mouth pretty soon.

Digital Etch-A-Sketch

BoingBoing sums it all up rather nicely, noting that "a cheap netbook tablet could be marketed as an affordable, digital Etch-A-Sketch, useful not just for idle MS Painting, but also email and web browsing."

Dual core Atoms are also coming soon, apparently.

Damn it! Why did we go and buy the Eee PC 901 last month!

By Adam Hartley

Source : techradar.com

Technorati Tags: asus,Eee PC

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Intel: Core i7 to Be Up to 52% Faster Compared to Core 2 Quad.

Intel Corp. expects its forthcoming Intel Core i7 processors to be much more powerful compared to existing central processing units, according to documents reportedly seen by the media.

If the information turns to be precise enough, then Intel has all chances to keep processor performance crown even after smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices launches its new chips.

Documents from Intel Corp. allegedly seen by Expreview web-site reportedly mention that Intel Core i7 processor delivers 52% speed improvement in 3D games, 41% higher performance in media encoding and editing applications as well as 38% greater 3D rendering speed when compared to Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770.

Intel Core i7 965 is a premium class Nehalem-micro-architecture microprocessor for desktops that operates at 3.20GHz. The Core 2 Extreme QX9770 is Intel’s top-of-the-range CPU at the moment at that also works at 3.20GHz. If the information regarding performance improvements is correct, then it means that the new micro-architecture in its first implementation provides roughly 52% more performance at the same clock-speed compared to currently used Core 2 micro-architecture.

Advanced Micro Devices recently said that its forthcoming quad-core processors powered by improved K10 micro-architecture will be roughly 35% more powerful than its existing chips at the same clock-speed.

Intel did not comment on the news-story.

Source : xbitlabs.com

Technorati Tags: intel,core i7,core 2 quad

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Intel releases six-core processors

Intel today claimed its new Xeon 7400 Series processors could increase performance by almost 50 percent. The new processors in the 7400 series consist of seven 45-nanometre-manufactured processors, each with up to six processing cores per chip and 16 MB of shared cache memory.

“The arrival of these processors extends Intel’s lead in the high-end server segment,” said Tom Kilroy, Intel VP and GM of the Digital Enterprise Group.

“With new features such as additional cores, large shared caches and advanced virtualisation technologies, the Xeon 7400 series delivers record-breaking performance that will lead enterprises into the next wave of virtualisation deployments.”

Intel said that applications built for virtualised environments and data-demanding workloads, such as databases, business intelligence, enterprise resource planning and server consolidation, could experience “dramatic” performance increases.

“We’ve made some advancements to improve both performance in a virtualised environment, as well as improve the virtualisation capability that you’re able to do for some of the new virtualisation models, like Virtualisation 2.0,” said Shannon Poulin, Enterprise Marketing Director.
“We see the need for virtualised infrastructure growing at a rate that will probably be double or triple in a couple of years.”

Platforms based on these processors can scale up to 16 processor 'sockets' to deliver servers with up to 96 processing cores inside.

The 7400 series has already set new four-socket and eight-socket world records on key industry benchmarks for virtualisation, database, enterprise resource planning and e-commerce.
Intel said that the new range delivered 50 per cent better performance with up to 10 per cent reductions in platform power. Poulin said that developers would snap up this extra performance for better applications.

“As we deliver more performance on the platform, people are going to increasingly creative ways to utilise this performance," Poulin said.

source : itnews.com.au

Technorati Tags: intel,processor,xeon 7400

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ATI Radeon™ HD 4670 Series

The ATI Radeon HD 4670 and ATI Radeon HD 4650 graphics cards feature AMD’s TeraScale graphics engine, with 320 stream processing cores, and are based on AMD’s advanced second generation 55nm process.

The result is that even in today’s most demanding games like Crysis, the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series delivers up to double the performance of competing products at the same price.

Both the ATI Radeon HD 4670 and ATI Radeon HD 4650 deliver substantial gaming horsepower with minimal power draw – the ATI Radeon HD 4670 operating at under 60 watts and the ATI Radeon HD 4650 operating under 50 watts under full load – eliminating the need for additional power connectors and making installation a cinch. The ATI Radeon HD 4670 is immediately available with a frame buffer of 512MB GDDR3 memory with an MSRP from USD $79, while a 1GB DDR3-based variant is scheduled to ship later this month. The ATI Radeon HD 4650 features a frame buffer of 512MB GDDR2 memory and is expected to be available later in the month at an MSRP from USD $69.

Leading DirectX 10.1 support
Only AMD graphics offer top-to-bottom DirectX 10.1 support and the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series continues that legacy. Leading game developers are working with AMD to create a new generation of game titles utilizing DirectX® 10.1 to deliver improved features and performance for a better game experience. Developers including Electronic Arts’ Phenomic Studio and its forthcoming fantasy online real-time strategy game BattleForge™, and SEGA and its futuristic military real-time strategy game Stormrise™, both exploit DirectX 10.1 for advanced gaming performance and visual realism.

“As one of the largest computer system manufacturers in North America targeting the mainstream gaming space, we are committed to building systems that deliver tremendous value to our customers,” said Eric Cheung, CEO, CyberPower. “The leading edge technology that AMD is delivering to the mainstream marketplace with the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series is unsurpassed and we are proud to support AMD’s efforts to bring a high-end gaming experience to the masses.”

“You don’t have to be a professional gamer to appreciate the incredible performance delivered by the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series for under $100,” said Orlando Garcia, president and CEO, Frag Dominant.

Stunning HD viewing experience
The ATI Radeon HD 4600 series brings high-definition, home theatre quality video features to the mainstream segment. AMD has incorporated its second generation Unified Video Decoder (UVD 2.0) for advanced hardware HD video processing ensuring a smooth HD viewing experience on HD-capable monitors. In addition, it features support for HDMI 7.1 surround sound audio for an immersive big-screen entertainment feel.

Home theater enthusiasts will be captivated by ATI Avivo™ HD technology that delivers sharp images and vibrant color fidelity for Blu-ray™ and HD content. In addition, ATI Avivo™ HD technology delivers dynamic contrast adjustment for a crisp, vibrant picture with incredible quality, the ability for users to upscale DVD content to nearly twice the display resolution of HD content⁵, as well as take full advantage of Blu-ray functionality with picture-in-picture capabilities for bonus features such as director commentary.

Unsurpassed performance-per-watt
Built with efficiency, scalability and performance in mind, the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series sets a new performance-per-watt standard for mainstream graphics products, thanks to the enhanced bandwidth of DDR3, new power management capabilities that provide greater performance and efficiency, and 55nm technology. The series features AMD’s second generation ATI PowerPlay™ technology which allows for automatic power adjustments based on the activity of the graphics processing unit (GPU), resulting in significant power savings when the GPU is idle. Moreover, ATI PowerPlay enables advanced clock gating, as well as increased voltage and memory scaling, delivering performance on demand with exceptional efficiency.

Ecosystem support
The ATI Radeon HD 4600 series is supported by a dozen add-in-board companies offering custom designs of the products. Building high-performance versions of the ATI Radeon HD 4600 series products are ASUS, Club 3D, Diamond Multimedia, Force3D, GECUBE, GIGABYTE, HIS (Hightech Information Systems), Jetway, MSI, Palit Multimedia, PowerColor, SAPPHIRE Technology and VisionTek.

source : amd.com

Technorati Tags: graphic card,radeon,hardware

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Harddrive Performance - Ntfs Cluster Size

Cluster is an allocation unit. If you create file lets say 1 byte in size, at least one cluster should be allocated on FAT file system. On NTFS if file is small enough, it can be stored in MFT record itself without using additional clusters. When file grows beyond the cluster boundary, another cluster is allocated. It means that the bigger the cluster size, the more disk space is wasted, however, the performance is better.

So if you have a large hard drive & dont mind wasteing some space, format it with a larger cluster size to gain added performance.

The maximum default cluster size under Windows NT 3.51 and later is 4K due to the fact that NTFS file compression is not possible on drives with a larger allocation size. So format will never use larger than 4k clusters unless the user specifically overrides the defaults by using the /A: switch (for command line format) or by specifying a larger cluster size in the format dialog in Windows Explorer.

However, when you format the partition manually, you can specify cluster size 512 bytes, 1 KB, 2 KB, 4 KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB in the format dialog box or as a parameter to the command line FORMAT utility.

The performance comes thew the bursts from the hard drive. by having a larger cluster size you affectivly have a larger chunk of data sent to ram rather than having to read multiple smaller chunks of the same data.

More info : support.microsoft.com

Technorati Tags: Tips,Hardware

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First look at Nvidia’s new GeForce 9-series laptop graphics cards

Nvidia recently revealed that their G92 GPU will soon be released in its mobile guise, but so far the company has been very tight-lipped over the details. However, Justin of Xotic PC, a US-based gaming PC and laptop manufacturer, has just posted 3DMark scores and the specs of the new GeForce 9800M GT graphics card on the notebookreview.com forums.

The screenshots do leave room for speculation on some points however. As you can see in this screenshot, GPU-Z tells us that the GeForce 8800M GTX card was based on the G92 GPU design whereas the GeForce 9800M GT uses a new GPU design called '060B'. This name doesn't follow Nvidia's typical codename naming convention so could indicate anything from an error with GPU-Z to the GeForce 9800M GT being a totally new and unknown design.

GPU-Z also reports that the 9800M GT only has 6 ROPs, a full 10 ROPs less than the GeForce 8800M GTX. ROPs are usually laid out in sets of four, making 6 a peculiar number. This could either be caused by GPU-Z reading the amount of ROPs in the GeForce 9800M GT incorrectly or it could be reading 6 sets of 4 ROPs, making a total of 24.

Clock speeds remain the same as with the GeForce 8800M GTX, with a 500MHz core, 799Mhz (1.598Ghz effective) memory and the stream processors running at 1.250GHz. The hardware produced results of 9,682 3DMark06 points, with 3DMark Vantage hitting P4130 in the test system which used an Intel Core 2 Xtreme X9100 mobile CPU.

Kobalt Computers' Neil Richards has also played with the new laptop GPU and told us, “What I can confirm for definite is that the performance of the 9800M GT is marginally better than an 8800M GTX, and £130 ex VAT cheaper”. That the 9800M GT will knock the previously reigning 8800M GTX from its pedestal and cost less can only be a good thing for mobile gaming, bringing down the often high cost associated with gaming on the go.

The launch of the mobile 9-series coincides with Intel’s launch of the new Centrino 2 yesterday, so the next generation of gaming laptops are just round the corner. Centrino 2 is the long-awaited update to the incredibly successful Centrino platform, and brings new 45nm Penryn processors (including the new Xtreme X9100), 802.11/n Wi-Fi, optional DDR3 memory support and Wi-MAX to laptops. We expect to have laptops based on all this new technology in the next two weeks.
More images for this article:

3dMark Vantage on an Nvidia GeForce 9800M GT

 

 

 

3dMark06 on an Nvidia GeForce 9800M GT

 

 

 

Kobalt Nexus 3 gaming laptop

 

 

 

Continue Reading : custompc.co.uk

Technorati Tags: hardware,graphics card

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Microsoft banning modified Xbox 360 consoles on Xbox Live service

Microsoft has confirmed that they are now stopping the owners of modified Xbox 360 consoles to join their Xbox Live servers.

The company said in a statement: “One of the great things about LIVE and the unified community is that we work hard to create a level playing field for all gamers and have a no tolerance policy towards inappropriate behavior like hacking or cheating.”

It added: “As part of our commitment to our members, we do not allow people that we have detected to have modified their console to connect to LIVE. This is an important part of our efforts to try and maintain a fair gaming environment for the large majority of gamers that play by the rules.”

the company stated that the account holders would not have their accounts banned from the service. They just would not be able to connect to the service with modified consoles.

Microsoft added: “We have stated in the past that customers can only enjoy access to the Xbox LIVE community through the use of a genuine, unmodified, Xbox console and we will continue to enforce this rule to ensure the integrity of our service, the protection of our partners and the benefits of our users.”

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Source: games.techwhack.com
Posted By: IndoSourceCode

Technorati Tags: xbox,games,bans

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