Morning Tech Reading - tech
(hx) 01:26 PM CEST - May,28 2003
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- Sony Plans New Game Machine, Cost Cuts - Sony Corp, under
heavy pressure to cut costs and roll out hot new products after dismal
earnings last quarter, unveiled plans on Wednesday for a new game machine for
Japan and big savings. The world's largest consumer electronics maker and
creator of the hit PlayStation 2 home game console said
it would launch the "PSX" in Japan this year with a TV tuner, hard disk drive
and DVD recorder to create an integrated entertainment platform for games,
music and motion pictures. Earlier this month Sony unveiled the "PSP"
hand-held game machine, to be launched by the end of 2004, which spurred a
tumble in the shares of GameBoy maker Nintendo Co.
- Linux-based Playstation grid is no game - US research centre has
clustered 70 Sony PlayStation 2 game consoles into a Linux supercomputer
that ranks among the 500 most powerful in the world. According to the
New York Times, the National Centre for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at
the University of Illinois assembled the $50,000 (Ł30,000) machine out of
components bought in retail shops. In all, 100 PlayStation 2 consoles were
bought but only 70 have been used for this project.
- Europe's satellite navigation system gets final approval -
The member nations of the European Space Agency have finally agreed the
plan for the development of the
Galileo satellite navigation system. Galileo will consist of a
constellation of 30 satellites orbiting 23,600 kilometres above the Earth. It
will provide a more precise commercial service than GPS, letting users located
themselves to within a metre.
- Not Again ? Microsoft yanks security update after glitch discovered -
Microsoft Corp. has
pulled an update to security software from its Web site after some users
who downloaded the code saw their Internet connections go down. A "handful" of
users had problems after installing the update to Microsoft's IPSec (IP
Security) software because of the way it interacted with some third-party
software, according to a Microsoft statement. The problems caused the update
to think it was under attack, so it responded by blocking all traffic. This
behavior wasn't a security flaw, according to Microsoft.
- TheftGuard Protects Notebook Data - A stolen notebook can be a real
threat to a business's security, but
a new BIOS-level application offers protection and control over the use of
a stolen machine. The application, called TheftGuard, is supplied as part of a
new chip from Phoenix Technologies, a leading manufacturer of BIOS products.
When a TheftGuard-equipped system is stolen, the owner provides instructions
through the TheftGuard web site. The next time the lost computer connects to
the Internet, TheftGuard is activated and either disables the machine, wipes
its hard drive, or transmits information on the physical location where the
signal originates.
- Microsoft trims Office prices - The software giant cuts the store
price of
Office XP products by 15 percent to 30 percent, a day after it changes
licensing terms that raised a storm of protest.
- Longhorn goes to pieces - In a way,
Longhorn, due in 2005, can be thought of as the Mr. Potato Head of
operating systems: About 95 percent of the key functions of the operating
system will exist in a basic software core. To make a Longhorn PC for export
to France, for instance, PC makers will bolt the French language module onto
the basic Longhorn core through the Multi-Lingual User Interface (MUI), a new
subsystem within the operating system. Similarly, manufacturers will
take the Longhorn core and add select modules to tailor it for a tablet PC,
for example, or a media center PC destined for the Philippines. This process
will be managed through the Component Management Interface (CMI), a new
feature that can be used to upgrade the operating system over its functional
life.
- DVD Recording - Is There a Winner Yet? - Has any format won? I just
got back from Fry's and I could get either -R/-RW or +R/+RW and there were
even drives that did all of the formats.....check
this thread at Slashdot.org.
- AMD, Intel trim prices on chips - According to AMD's Web site,
the
company reduced the price of its desktop 3000+ by $60, or 18 percent, to
$265 and cut the cost of the 2800+ by $45, or 20 percent, to $180. AMD's
Athlon XP 2700+, 2600+, 2500+ and 2400+ were lowered to $137, $103, $89 and
$84, respectively, which translates to price drops between $19 and $45. Intel
reduced the price of its 2.4GHz Celeron by 18 percent to $84, the largest of
the price cuts, according to the company. The chipmaker also lowered the price
of its 2.3GHz Celeron by $10, or 11 percent, to $79. The 2.2GHz Celeron and
the 2.1GHz Celeron were reduced to $74 each.
- Major brand hard drive vendors recall defective products produced in
China - Three major brand hard drive vendors - Seagate Technology, Maxtor
and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies -
have started recalling some of their 40GB and 80GB products sold in Taiwan
due to similar defects identified in the products, Taiwanese channel
distributors said. About 12,000-15,000 defective hard drives are estimated to
have entered Taiwan. It is unclear whether the same groups of products, with
an estimated defect rate of 10%, have also been marketed in other parts of the
world, sources said.
- Sampo begins shipping 50-inch plasma displays - Sampo
America, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Sampo, on May 19 announced that it had
begun
shipping its 50-inch PME-50X6 plasma display at a suggested retail price
of US$6,999. Equipped with a MotionDSC digital image processor, the display
features 1,366×768 resolution, picture-in-picture and side-by-side picture,
3:2 pull-down for film scan conversion, dual high-definition component video
inputs, HDTV signal compatibility and many other functions.
- Toshiba moves 64-bit processors to 90-nm process - Toshiba
America Electronic Components Inc. (TAEC) is moving its
TX49
MIPS-based 64-bit RISC processor family to 90-nanometer manufacturing
process technology and would be able to sample chips in August 2003, TEAC said
Tuesday (May 27, 2003). The 64-bit MPUs, designated TMPR4955CFG-400 and
TMPR4956CXBG-400, are based on the TX49/H4 core. Power consumption is only
0.6 watt when operating at their maximum frequency of 400-MHz, the company
said.
- Sony VAIO PCG-Z1A review - At a system weight of 4.6 pounds and a
travel weight of 5.4 pounds (with transformer), the dazzling new
Sony VAIO PCG-Z1A ($2,299.99 direct) is the lightest two-drive
thin-and-light notebook we've tested. But a couple of design quirks-most
noticeably a bit of styling excess that messes up the keyboard-keep it from
moving into the first rank of mainstream notebooks alongside the IBM ThinkPad
T40 and the Dell Latitude D600.
- SiPix StyleCam Groove review - The inexpensive
SiPix StyleCam Groove ($69.95 list) is a small, slim, and exceedingly
simple to operate. Although it's a no-frills point-and-shoot model with only a
handful of features, the silver-colored Groove is versatile enough to capture
video with sound, record audio annotation, and serve as a Webcam. Should the
batteries die, however, stored images disappear. You'll also contend with poor
image quality, slow and irritating transfer software, and an inaccurate
optical viewfinder.
- Zalman ZM80A-HP Silent VGA Cooler review - Hexus.net has posted
a new
review of Zalman ZM80A-HP Silent VGA Cooler. "The Zalman ZM80A-HP
cooler achieves its aims of cooling even the fastest of current GPUs
passively. The clever engineering, large dissipation area, and excellent
heatpipe ensures that we can run powerful GPUs fanless. Installation should
take you no more than 30 minutes, even if you do go slowly. If you want to
quieten your PC, an excellent start would be with the Zalman ZM80A-HP cooler.
It does everything it promises and looks impressive doing"
- NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra Review -
The FX 5900 Ultra's expected US$499 price is not too bad considering that
the RADEON 9800 Pro 128MB cards are already retailing here for S$800 or above.
In comparison, the FX 5900 Ultra is equipped with double the frame buffer for
not much more cost. The FX 5900 non-Ultra version is expected to retail at
US$399 with 128MB frame buffer and that should be very competitive to the
RADEON 9800 Pro (if clock speeds are not going to differ from the Ultra
version). Both are expected to be available by mid or end-June. Yet to be
properly detailed is a value edition of the FX 5900 with 128MB DDR that should
retail for US$299 with probably much lower clock speeds.
- ATI Radeon 9000 All In Wonder Pro - So you have 200 bucks in
your pocket and you are looking for a great all round graphics card to beef up
that aging computer of yours. The ATI Radeon 9000 Pro All In Wonder is your
holy grail.
Consider the features for the price; TV Tuner, great gaming performance,
video capture and editing, wireless remote control (a $50 value in itself), a
full three year warranty, regular driver updates, and the list goes on and on.
If you are running a Geforce MX and refuse to throw down the $400 that a top
of the line card costs, you can't go wrong here.
- Plextor PlexWriter Premium 52/32/52 CD-RW review - Plextor's new
drive also comes with a "premium" price tag. With an suggested retail price of
$129, the
Premium is one of the more expensive 52x writers currently available. If
you shop around, it can be found for considerably less. Currently, the Premium
can be found for as low as $106 on Pricegrabber.
- Corsair PC3500 XMS Memory review -
With excellent stability and speeds, I would have to give this memory a
big thumbs up (Brian sticks up his thumbs). Since this memory is basically an
overclocked stick of PC3200, I'm sure Corsair has pushed it to its most stable
limits, but you may be able to squeeze a bit more out of it.
- Hotflashing Guide - Overclocked Cafe has published
a hotflashing guide for beginners.
- ShaderX 2 Contents - Clues to PowerVR Series 5? - The Table of
Contents for the upcoming ShaderX 2 3D techniques and programming book has
been published.
The book covers many topics from rendering of specific effects to DirectX9
HLSL programming, however of note are the contributions from the PowerVR
employees, which are: "Deferred Shading with Multiple Render Targets",
"Introduction to the vs_3_0 and ps_3_0 Shader Models", "Cloth Animation with
Pixel and Vertex Shader 3.0" and "Rendering Voxel Objects with ps_3_0".
- Messenger Spell Checker - 316Software has just release
an add-on Microsoft's Windows and MSN Messenger clients that allows you to
have the same great spell checking features as your Microsoft Office programs.
- Avant Browser 8.0 Final -
Avant Browser is a
fast, stable, user-friendly, versatile web browser. Avant Browser is a
multi-window browser which features with many functions such as Pop-up
Stopper, Built-in Google Searching, Safe Recovery, Integrated Cleaner and
Advanced Browsing Options.
- MagicTweak 2.40 -
MagicTweak (download)
is a special program designed to optimize and personalize Microsoft Windows.
This new version adds new function to Backup/Restore System Files, new option
to Disable Execute Attachments in Outlook Express and new option to Remove
Windows Messenger from Outlook Express.
- XP Smoker 2.0 -
XP Smoker is another
WinXP tweaker. They claim this program can increase the stability of Windows
XP and even
increase web browsing anywhere from 10% to 100% faster.
- Registry Watch 2.1.01 -
Registry Watch
(shareware) takes a snapshot of the Windows Registry and then you can review
any changes made in the Registry at a later time.
- AIDA32 - Personal System Information 3.60 -
AIDA32 (download)
is a professional system information, diagnostics and benchmarking program
running on Win32 platforms.
- PowerStrip 3.41.390 BETA -
PowerStrip 3.41 (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 9800.
- DirectX Eradicator 1.09 Beta 2 -
This utility is
designed to safely remove the DirectX runtime core component from Windows 9X,
Millennium and Windows 2000 operating systems. DXE gives you the power to
install and uninstall any version of DirectX as you wish.
- Adobe Reader 6.0 -
Adobe Reader 6.0 is free software that lets you view and print Adobe
Portable Document Format (PDF) files on a variety of hardware and operating
system platforms. Adobe Reader 6.0 is the newest version of the familiar Adobe
Acrobat Reader software. It also replaces Adobe Acrobat eBook Reader, software
for viewing high-fidelity eBooks on your notebook or desktop computer.
- Audiotools 4.40 Interim 4 -
Audiotools (download
~
changelog) is a direct-to-disk recording tool with the facility to
automatically split a recording into tracks.
- Audigy / Audigy 2 *BETA* Drivers WinXP/2k - Creative has released
some beta
Audigy drivers (warning - the beta drivers will stop working on August 1st
2003). They claims Sound Blaster Audigy: performance increased by 10%-15% for
EAX ADVANCED HD, Number of simultaneous voices has been doubled from 32 to 64;
For the Audigy and Audigy 2: Reverb presets setting by game audio engine is
now on average 10X faster, EAX Morphing performance enhanced, typically
yeilding a 2X improvement in framerates for morphed section. Try only at your
own risk.
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Updated:12:40 AM CEST Jun,21
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