Friday Tech Madness - tech
(hx) 01:08 AM CEST - Jun,07 2003
- Post a comment / read (3)
- A Night in the Hotel of the Future -
PC World tests the gadgets and gizmos of a traveling techie's dreams.
Among the niceties of this high-tech hotel room are: a wall-mounted, 42-inch
flat-screen HDTV Panasonic plasma television connected to a Technics receiver
with surround-sound Bose speakers; a Philips DVD/CD player; a second, smaller
flat-screen LCD monitor next to the Jacuzzi bathtub; motion-detection lights
that activate when guests enter the room; a biometric room safe that uses a
thumbprint as the lock and key; free broadband, accessible via laptop or the
TV; a Panja touch-panel remote control that manages lighting levels and room
climate; opens and closes the drapes; controls the TV, radio, and DVD player;
and even repositions the head and foot of the king-size bed; a compressor-less
mini-refrigerator that is completely silent; a Panasonic massage chair, a
heated toilet seat/bidet, a computerized five-nozzle shower, and a defogging
bathroom mirror.
- Microsoft pledges to cut Xbox costs - Microsoft has
"aggressive plans" to reduce the cost of goods sold in its Xbox division
as part of a broad cost management exercise, CEO Steve Ballmer says. As
it stands, Microsoft makes a significant loss - thought to be over $150 - on
each Xbox console it sells, and the Home and Entertainment Division of the
company, which houses the Xbox project, regularly turns in large quarterly
losses as a result.
- The Tanatos Worm Returns - Kaspersky Labs reports the detection of
a new version of the
'Tanatos' Internet worm - Tanatos b (aka Bugbear.b). The new version of
this malicious program has an array of dangerous functions. Tanatos.b can
infect the executable files of many programs as well as cause the leakage of
confidential information. Presently, numerous incidences of infection at the
hands of Tanatos.b have been registered. The Tanatos.b Internet worm spreads
via e-mail as a file attachment. The e-mail message itself can have various
subjects, message texts, and file attachment names. Infection occurs when the
file attachment harboring the malicious code is activated, once this happens
the spreading routine is begun. There are several ways to launch the hazardous
file: via the IFRAME breech in the Internet Explorer security system (which
starts the worm upon message opening), manually when a user opens the infected
file attachment or through local area networks.
- Notebook flirts with $699 price tag - Notebook maker WinBook will
attempt to turn consumer heads next week when it releases a laptop priced at
$799 before a $100 rebate.
The WinBook J4 730 incorporates a 2GHz Intel Celeron chip, a 14.1-inch
display, 256MB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive and a DVD-ROM drive.
- Fossil says Wrist PDA will ship in the US this month after all -
Watch maker Fossil has denied that the US release of its Palm OS-based Wrist
PDA watch-cum-personal organiser has been delayed until early next year. But
it did admit that
overseas customers will now have to wait until some time during the first
quarter of 2004 to get their hands on the device.
- HP Unveils Presarios for Gamers - Presario is HP's consumer brand,
and the new PCs are designed to bring gamers a high level of performance in a
desktop priced below $1000, HP says.
The high-end Compaq Presario S4300NX comes with a 2.4-GHz Pentium 4
processor with hyperthreading and the faster frontside bus, 512MB of DDR
SDRAM, a 120GB hard drive, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, integrated Intel Extreme
Graphics 2, and an open AGP 8X slot. It costs $800 without a display, and is
available immediately.
- 1GB CD-RW Drives: Take a Pass -
Plextor's GigaRec technology, found in the company's latest 52X/32X/52X
Premium drive, increases the capacity of CD-Rs while also trying to maintain
compatibility with other drives that can read CD-R discs. GigaRec audio and
data discs played fine in firmware-updated 40X and 48X Plextor CD-RW drives,
but worked with only modest levels of success in non-Plextor drives and home
CD/DVD players. Unfortunately, GigaRec disables buffer-underrun protection,
too, and writes at a painfully slow 4X, or 30 minutes per disc.
- Mobile Graphics Showdown - EliteBastards let us know they have
published
some scans of a Mobile Graphics Showdown from a German magazine. The
graphics chips compared are the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 (M10), nVidia
GeForceFX 5600 Go (NV31M), ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 (M9) and nVidia GeForceFX
5200 Go (NV34M).
- DDR Festival at AMDboard - AMDBoard has posted
a links
collection for everyone looking for the best DDR information.
- iAudio CW300 Review -
The iAudio CW300 is a fine upgrade of the CW200. If you currently have a
CW200, I wouldn't recommend upgrading unless the 26hr playback time on a
single battery would really benefit you. Overall, the CW300 is a more complete
version of the CW200. The CW300 still has the same disadvantage of the CW200
which is it doesn't support WMA or other audio formats. In terms of sound
quality, they are pretty much the same. This is the best MP3 player I have
ever used. It is small, lightweight, and packed with many features. For users
who want to get their first digital MP3 player, this is a great product. You
will be very satisfied. This product deserves the Editor's Choice Award!
- Intel Pentium 4 2.6C Review - OCAddiction has checked out the
Intel Pentium 4 2.6C CPU. "Personally, I'm happy with the 2.6GHz
part we reviewed today. I've been running this CPU in my main rig for everyday
use at 3.25GHz (13x250) using default voltage (1.525v) and a 4/5 memory
divider (memory sits at 200Mhz) without a single hitch. With a 2.4GHz you will
likely gain slightly better results when going for the gusto in benchmarking,
but for everyday use I prefer the slightly higher multiplier allowing me to
remain at a sane FSB. (I can NOT believe I just referred to 250MHz as a sane
FSB!)."
- Intels Family of 800 MHz FSB Processors Compared - Techware Labs
had the opportunity to spend some time with Intel's new 800 MHz front-side bus
(FSB) processor family.
They compared from the affordable 2.4C GHz to the top of the line 3.0 GHz.
The review includes a overview of the features in this processor family,
Intel's new Springdale and Canterwood chipsets, and an analysis of processor
scaling within this family. The article also focuses on how the relationship
between CPU and video card affect various aspects of performance.
- ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon 9000 Pro Review - TweakNews has posted an
ATI
All-in-Wonder Radeon 9000 Pro Review.
- Tyan Tachyon G9500Pro 128MB VGA Review -
Tyan Tachyon G9500Pro is a feature rich graphics card, with a respectable
performance and an impressive hardware monitoring function. In addition, the
G9500Pro is the only R9500Pro that can be overclocked without flashing custom
BIOS. In our attempt, overclocking raise the performance by 2~10%.
- NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 Ultra (Final) Review - VR-Zone has tested
the
new GeForce FX 5600 Ultra final edition clocked at 400/400Mhz core/memory,
up from the previous 350/350Mhz core/memory clock. GeForce FX 5600 Ultra
(NV31) encompasses most of the nice features of the NV30 core architecture and
improvement to the core/memory clock from the usage of Flip Chip package and
2.2ns memory chips. The GeForce FX 5600 series are meant to replace the
current GeForce 4 Titanium series at a lower price point of US$199-250 for the
Ultra version and US$149-200 for the non-Ultra version.
- NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Review - Beyond3D has posted
a
review on the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra reference video card. Unlike
NV30, NV31 and NV35, NV35 is still based on TSMC's 150nm process technology,
and this is the reason why it has also been the most widely spread so far.
- 8x Budget Videocards Shootout -
Most cards are sub-100 dollar cards in this little roundup! All cards but
two are built on nVidias FX 5200 chip, that is 5200 "non-Ultra". The remaining
is a Radeon 9200 and a GF4 Ti4200-8x.
- ABIT IC7-G Canterwood Mainboard Review - OCWorkbench has posted an
ABIT IC7-G Canterwood mainboard review. Being one of the top company that
does overclocking, ABIT IC7-G not only overclocks but brings the best overall
performance to the IC7-G.
- Thermalright SK-6+ vs SK-7 - Viper's Lair has posted
a comparison review between the Thermalright SK-6+ against the SK-7.
- Xoxide UV LED Case Fans - Unlike other LED fans we have seen much
of lately,
these actually have UV LED's installed. What does that mean? Well, no
additional UV cathode light needed! Just plug in these UV sensitive fans and
the three installed LED's will provide the UV lighting. As shown above, you'll
notice there is no ugly green PCB strip around the fan to power the LED's.
They are installed using very thin wiring and have a strip of clear tape
around the fan for protection. Practically unnoticeable.
- Further NVIDIA optimizations for 3DMark03? - Tech-Report has found
out that there are
even more tweaks apparently being applied by NVidia to detect 3DMark.
- NVIDIAs UltraShadow and Doom3 Explored - HotHardware has posted
an article on NVIDIAs UltraShadow and Doom3.
- Running SETI@Home as a Service (NT / 2000 / XP) -
LittleWhiteDog let us know they have published
a guide on how to run SETI@Home as a service on a Windows NT / 2000 / XP
machine. What makes this guide so special? For starters, it has been written
so that even the most novice computer user should be able to have all the
required steps completed in about 10 minutes! Furthermore, the steps can
easily be applied to just about any distributed computing project including
Folding@Home. As an added bonus, the guide
also includes a batch file tool you can download that will allow you to
install your new "service" remotely to any machine on your network (assuming
you have sufficient rights on the remote box). Just behave yourself with this
tool.
- MS keyboard layout creator - Ever wanted to quickly and easily
define your own keyboard layout for a language Microsoft doesn't support? Or
define your own keyboard layout so you can quickly and easily enter your
favorite symbols with a simple keystroke? Well, want no more: the
Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator is here.
- Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer v1.1.1 - Microsoft have
relaeased a new version of the
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer v1.1.1 , which includes a graphical
and command line interface that can perform local or remote scans of Windows
systems.
- Tom's Hardware Guide Clock 1.2 -
Tom's Hardware Guide Clock is a special developer's tool designed to
detect dynamic overclocking in realtime. Unlike other CPU frequency programs
this one will give you the actual speed of your CPU in realtime.
- Klipfolio 2.1d -
Klipfolio (download)
is a small, efficient and easy to use desktop application that allows you to
collect, view and manage live information channels.
- DVD Shrink 2.00 -
DVD Shrink is software
to backup DVD disks. You can use this software in conjunction with DVD burning
software of your choice, to make a backup copy of any DVD video disk.
- Avant Browser 8.01 Build 105 -
Avant
Browser is a custom Web browser application based on Internet Explorer
with versatile multi-window support. It allows users to browse multiple Web
sites simultaneously and block all unwanted pop-up pages
- HyperSnap-DX 5.11.01 -
HyperSnap-DX (download)
is a screen capture and image editing tool for MS Windows. It captures screens
from standard desktop programs and even those hard-to-grab DirectX, Direct3D,
3Dfx, 3dfx, Voodoo and Glide mode games. What's new: New windows opened in
HyperSnap (File/Open or a new screen capture) now re-use zoom (magnification)
level of a currently opened window, instead of always reverting to 100%.
- Fresh UI 6.05 -
Fresh UI (download)
is a fresh solution for configuring and optimizing Windows. Loaded with
hundreds of useful hidden settings this software covers the customizing and
optimizing techniques that you'll be glad to know.
- PowerStrip 3.41 Beta Build 393 -
PowerStrip (download)
provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide
range of graphics cards - from the venerable Matrox Millennium I to the latest
Radeon 9700DV and Matrox Parhelia.
- Y'z Dock 0.83 -
Y'z Dock is a
program launcher like the dock in MacOS X. This application is currently in
beta, so please send all reports to the author. In order to add icons, drag
and drop a file (.exe, shortcut, etc.) straight from Explorer to the dock
area.
- Nvidia Omega Drivers 1.4403 - Omegadrive has released his new set
of
Nvidia drivers based on the 44.03 Detonator FX driver.
- Western Digital Offers Update For 180GB & 200GB Harddrives -
Apparently Western Digital 180GB & 200GB harddrives tend to drop from an IDE
RAID array after several days or weeks of operation. The company is offering a
fix (3Ware
controler cards ~ non
3DWare cards) for this odd behaviour deeply hidden in their FAQ's.
Affected drives are: WD2000BB (WD Caviar 7200 2MB 200 GB), WD2000JB (WD Caviar
7200 Special Edition 8MB 200 GB), WD1800BB (WD Caviar 7200 2MB 180 GB),
WD1800JB (WD Caviar 7200 Special Edition 8MB 180 GB). The problem is a result
of a feature that reduces idle acoustic noise in desktop drives. This feature
can cause a timeout in a IDE RAID environment. No firmware or hardware
changes are required. (thanks
Warp2Search).
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Updated:12:40 AM CEST Jun,21
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