News Archive for 08/04/17
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AT&T on Thursday became the first deployment of Microsoft's Surface computing, a new computing paradigm that leverages projection, cameras, and computer running Windows Vista along with a special management layer. As announced earlier this month, the company rolled out its new 22 "multi-touch surfaces" at five locations in four different cities around the US, including New York, Atlanta, San Antonio, and San Bruno ("San Francisco"). Microsoft Surface is made up of a 30-inch screen built into the top of a rugged, clear plastic surface that has the ability to "sense touches" and gestures as well as read barcode-like tags to identify and present information on products placed on the surface.
AMD's long-overdue quad-core Opteron processor is now offered in five Dell servers, the chipmaker announced on Thursday. Dell is offering AMD's quad-core Opteron chips in its PowerEdge SC1435, 2970, M605, 6950 and T605 servers, all of which are available on the company's website now and, together with offerings from Hewlett Packard, bring the total number of models utilizing the chip to 13.
AT&T is hastening the development of its 3G network in some areas to get ready for the iPhone's launch, according to e-mail sent to CNET's Buzz Out Loud podcast. A Pittsburgh show listener claims that AT&T is "ramping up" its 3G network in the area to ensure that the faster wireless service is ready for the iPhone by May. The audience member implies that the iPhone launch itself will take place in the timeframe, though such a launch would contradict analyst estimates and other predictions that have called for an Apple handset with faster access to appear by June.
Microsoft is already hiring lobbyists in order to speed up approval of a Yahoo acquisition, the lobby group in question has disclosed. Bryan Cave Strategies says it has been hired to aid and influence officials in the US government; this is despite the fact that Yahoo has not only refused Microsoft's efforts, it has actively sought out help in remaining independent, from companies such as Google, Time Warner and News Corporation. All Microsoft needs however is enough shareholder support in order to install a Microsoft-friendly board of directors.
The chairman of Samsung, Lee Kun-hee, has been cleared of bribery charges from the South Korean government, but indicted on accusations of tax evasion and breach of trust. The news is the outcome of four months of investigation into executive corruption at the company, in which several members of upper management have been accused of concealing $4.55 billion in Lee's assets. The executives are also alleged to have kept a $200 million slush fund, whose sole purpose was to bribe the likes of politicians and prosecutors.
A second iteration of RIM's upcoming BlackBerry 9000 series has been spotted in a theme file for the company's smartphones spotted by BGR. The 9100 is mentioned as a separate phone from the 9000 and is included multiple times throughout the file, including underneath a carrier-specific category: at least one mention is listed underneath a section for Vodafone, pointing to the European and Asian carrier as its most likely initial candidate.
French telecom company Orange has announced a new e-book reader, entitled the Read&Go. While most such readers -- like the Kindle -- are meant to be universal devices, Orange's machine concentrates almost exclusively on newspapers, namely Le Monde, Le Parisien, Les Echos, L'Equipe and Télérama. These are updated hourly throughout the day, through the unusual offering of both 3G and Wi-Fi reception. By contrast the Kindle is only equipped with 3G, and strictly through Sprint's EVDO service.
Computer and flash memory maker Corsair announced today the addition of high-density 2GB and 4GB DIMM kits to its Mac Memory line. Each new kit features two sticks of either 1GB or 2GB fully buffered 667MHz memory made to work in Mac Pro desktop computers. Previously, Corsair offered only 1GB, 2GB kit, 2GB and 4GB kits for the MacBook, MacBook Pro and Intel-chipped iMacs. The laptop memory chips were launched last month.
eMachines on Thursday released a pair of AMD-based towers that serve as the very entry level for desktops. At $300, the T3646 is the Gateway label's least expensive system and accomplishes the feat with a 2.2GHz Sempron, 1GB of memory, and a 160GB hard drive; Vista Home Basic also trims the price and reduces the operating system's demands on the computer.
NVIDIA has quietly upgraded the higher end of its workstation card line via the Quadro FX 4700 X2. A professional cousin to the GeForce 9800 X2, the Quadro shares the same tactic of incorporating two mid-range graphics processors into a single card; the approach offers more performance than a single chip but without consuming more than one PCI Express slot. While core clock speeds are unavailable, the combined card holds 2GB of video RAM clocked at 800MHz (1.6GHz effective).
Iomega on Thursday announced its newest addition, the Media Xporter Drive. The new drive is meant to work with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, as well as Apple computers and Windows-based PCs. The portable 160GB drive plugs into either game console via its USB 2.0 ports and streams media content without the need of a dedicated PC linked to either game console. Popular MP3, MPEG-4 and JPEG files are supported and downloadable software allows format conversions to Xbox 360 and PS3 compatible types.
Verizon has filed a lawsuit against Sprint in a federal court in Delaware, reports say. The former company alleges that Sprint has not only failed to pay almost $10 million in interconnection charges, but has in fact repeatedly refused to cooperate, despite numerous attempts to avoid going to court. These offers were "made over many months and through both written and personal communications," according to a Verizon filing, but have ultimately been "fruitless." The charges in question are said to be mainly for eastern states subject to tariffs filed with the FCC.
AMD's Phenom X3 processors, which use an unusual triple-core design as opposed to standard dual- or quad-core arrangements, are now available in a select number of HP and Gateway systems. Gateway's GT5670 desktop uses a 2.1GHz X3 8400, along with 3GB of RAM, a 320GB SATA II hard drive, and 3GB of RAM; graphics are limited however to an integrated GeForce 6150 SE chipset, as opposed to a dedicated card like the 8800. Best Buy is charging $550. The X3 8400 uses 2MB of L3 cache memory.
Wireless carrier O2's UK division today announced a 3.5G-based mobile broadband service for PCs that it hopes will improve over existing, slower 3G service. Unlike its existing UMTS offering, which tops at 384Kbps, the new service is based on HSDPA and allows downloads through notebooks as quick as 1.8Mbps, with the promise of 3.6Mbps service after a network upgrade in June.
The final launch info for AT&T's touted Mobile TV service has been slipped today courtesy of a source in touch with BGR. The carrier has left most details vague but is now believed to be offering three different tiers based on channel numbers, similar to conventional TV. A Limited tier will offer just four channels for $13 per month, including mobile versions of CBS, Fox, NBC, and NBC's News station; a slight increase in fees to $15 per month more than doubles the selections to nine with CNN, Comedy Central, ESPN, MTV, and Nickelodeon joining the selection.
Universal Studios, at one time backing only the discontinued HD DVD high-definition movie format, will announce on Thursday it will start releasing all of its new movies on Blu-ray starting this summer. The studio was quick to switch camps once HD DVD's demise was final, but has not released any Blu-ray titles or made any announcements until today. The first Blu-ray title from Universal will be Doomsday, which will be released sometime this summer and, like all its movies, on the same day as the standard DVD of the movie.
Yahoo is likely to expand its Google AdSense project after initially positive results, say sources speaking to the Wall Street Journal. Both of the involved firms say that early results for the new search ad approach are positive and may result in more outsourcing in the future. Anti-monopoly regulations are a concern given the relative statuses of Google and Yahoo in the web market but might be avoided by limiting the partnerships to certain areas or search types, according to the paper's contacts.
Nokia today set a reference point for the cellphone business in 2008 by publishing results for the first quarter of the year. The Finnish handset maker says it sold approximately 115.5 million phones during the quarter, or 27 percent more than it sold in the same quarter a year before. The results represent a drop of 13 percent compared to the last quarter of 2007 but are seen as characteristic of the post-holiday seasonal drop.
HP this morning extended the life of its MediaSmart TVs with a firmware update that adds a Windows Media Center Extender function. The LCD sets purportedly become the first TVs to add the Microsoft feature without an external hub and can now play music, videos, and other content from Windows Media PCs on a home Wi-Fi network. This includes the most recent Internet TV beta features and protected content from MovieLink and other services.
Samsung today unveiled a new premium LCD TV designed by Giorgio Armani in 46 inch and 52 inch sizes at the Milan International Furniture Fair in Italy. The TV features a four-mode lit power switch with the two companies' logos on the front, a remote with backlit buttons, and a smaller "pebble" remote with several essential buttons. Pricing was not immediately available, but Samsung confirmed that the smaller TV would ship in Europe, Korea, and Russia in mid summer, with the 52-inch version shipping late-summer.
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