News Archive for 08/06/16
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Dell recently announced the last day to purchase one of the company's Inspiron laptops, desktops or workstations with an OEM Windows XP license, which is due to expire on June 30 as per Microsoft's Windows Life-Cycle Policy. Buyers have until June 18 to purchase computers thus equipped, and have the option of buying Windows Vista Business or Ultimate with a downgrade service to Windows XP Professional thereafter. This news confirms earlier reports that the PC and laptop maker will not offer Windows XP pre-loaded onto its products past the Microsoft-imposed deadline.
Kensington today introduced 24 notebook accessories in its Power It, Control It, Carry It, Secure It, Optimize It and Connect It product lines. The offerings range from wrist rests and laptop locks to Bluetooth mice and USB hubs. To provide a more comfortable environment while reducing eye and neck strain, the company announced the release of its Column Mount Monitor Arm with SmartFit System, priced at $150. It sports dual pivot points for easy adjustment, and can hold notebooks and additional monitors, and is also available in an extended version ($180) or with dual arms ($260).
In the past several months since the second generation of Zunes went on sale, Microsoft has been busy addressing longstanding complaints about the Zune and its software: version 2.5 adds auto playlists, gapless playback, and other features that the iPod (and several other players) have had for awhile. With that in mind, we take a quick look at the Zune 80 and the new software not only to see whether they've truly caught up to iPods, but also to find out whether this Zune truly stands up against its smaller Zune 4 and 8 cousins.
NVIDIA on Monday used the occasion of its GTX 200 introduction to quietly update its Tesla line of workstation processor cards. The T10P chipset added to the cards is virtually identical to the 240-core GTX but is her spun entirely towards accelerating high performance computing tasks such as medical research and very high-level math. The very specialized nature of the chip lets it calculate as much as 900 gigaflops by itself, or 73 percent more than the earlier card it replaces.
HTC is gearing up to produce mobile Internet devices (MIDs) based on Intel's Atom processor as well as Qualcomm's Snapdragon mobile chipset, say reports from those in the industry. The reports would have the creator of the HTC Shift and other crossover computers produce the systems with the faster, more power-efficient chips as early as the second half of this year in a bid to improve HTC's standing in ultra-mobile PCs, which have been hurt by mini notebooks like the ASUS Eee PC.
Storage builder LaCie has announced a new version of its Little Big Disk Quadra, bringing maximum capacity up to 1TB. The Quadra is a portable external hard drive, and comes pre-configured for RAID 0, a move designed to enhance speed. The drive additionally includes USB 2.0, FireWire 400/800 and eSATA interfaces, the middle two enabling power solely through the data bus.
The rumored BlackBerry Javelin is real and has been in developent, based on a snapshot given to Engadget. An engineering sample confirms a look seen in concept drawings and suggests the phone will be slightly more conventional-looking than the Bold, with a non-chrome trim and a keyboard like that of the 8800 series. The Javelin will allegedly drop costs by shedding the Bold's 3G in favor of EDGE-only access but should keep the 480x320 display as well as GPS and Wi-Fi.
HP today followed up NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 200 unveiling with expanded details on an upgrade to the Blackbird 002. The Exhilaration Edition bundles two GTX 280 cards in SLI mode and gives the gaming PC a substantial advantage over its previous configuration. Both cards are also liquid-cooled and so won't overheat at full speed, HP adds. The system also gets a 3.2GHz Core 2 Extreme with a similar cooling treatment and is paired up with low-lag Corsair DDR3 memory.
Despite Microsoft's efforts, the majority of developers still aren't writing with Windows Vista in mind, a new study by Evans Data says. Only eight percent of software firms surveyed were specifically coding with Vista in mind, while additional data brought together by CNET indicates that 49 percent are still writing for Windows XP; 13 percent are programming for Linux, according to reports.
Korea's Samsung today announced two new cellphones, the W510 and the F268, at the World IT Show in Seoul. Rather than publicize performance specifications however, the company is concentrating on the reduced environmental damage of their construction. The W510 (pictured) is said to be Samsung's first built with "bioplastic," eschewing synthetic materials for those extracted from corn. The phone is further said to have been built without heavy metals such as mercury or cadmium, and use a water-soluble coating.
AMD has announced the FireStream 9250 (not pictured), a new device in its line of stream processors. The hardware is intended to accelerate a number of supercomputing applications, such as seismic analysis or intense financial computing, supplementing the power of CPUs. AMD claims that when handling single-precision operations the 9250 is the first processor to reach the 1 teraflop level, resulting in as much as a 55x speed increase over CPU-only data processing.
Microsoft's heavily rumored 60GB Xbox 360 Pro could make its appearance at the company's E3 keynote next month, claims a source for TrustedReviews. The upgrade would allegedly be announced at the start of the show and would at least replace the existing 20GB console when it ships in early August, providing a heavily requested boost to the storage of the default console without pushing users to the Elite model.
Rogers today became the first Canadian provider to pick up the Palm Centro. Similar to the version available through AT&T, this variant on Palm's smallest and most inexpensive smartphone runs on EDGE networks and comes with a 1.3-megapixel camera, microSD storage, as well as a larger-than-normal bundle of software such as DocumentsToGo (for Office and PDF files), Google Maps for Mobile, and Exchange push mail support.
T-Mobile's US branch today upgraded its entry-level phones through the Samsung t229. This replacement for the t219 adds a VGA camera as well as an "audio postcard" feature that lets users tie a recorded sound clip to a photo to document a vacation without writing a message. The phone otherwise offers basic data access that involves instant messaging; MyFaves support for unlimited calling to five contacts is also built-in.
NVIDIA today took the wraps from its anticipated GTX 200 series video chipset, introducing its first new architecture since the 8-series appeared in late 2006. All new boards have an architecture which is as much as 50 percent faster than even the top-end 8800 Ultra; the fastest part in the launch, the GTX 280, nearly doubles the amount of effects processors to 240.
In addition to introducing its two new Eseries phones, Nokia today rolled out a pair of hands-free kits for the car as well as a new Bluetooth earpiece. The CK-600 car kit headlines the launch and builds in a color display that lets users take Bluetooth phone calls visually; the LCD both shows inbound caller ID and, on supporting phones, sync contacts to make outbound calls. It also includes a separate media player function that will play music from phones with stereo Bluetooth support. A separate physical remote control allows thumbing through information from the steering wheel.
Nokia today ended a rash of leaks by announcing two high-end Eseries smartphones. The E71 is the company's new flagship and aims to improve on the earlier E61 both inside and out. The E71 has both a more upscale steel design and a narrower profile that allows it to be used one-handed while still fitting a QWERTY keyboard; it also marks the first full Eseries phone to support 3G over AT&T's HSPA network and introduces assisted GPS to the smartphone design.
JVC this morning unveiled three new HD Everio cameras that all offer something new to camcorders. The HD30 and HD40 (shown) are the first camcorders to capture HD in either AVCHD (H.264) or MPEG-2 format and give users the choice of format based on their editing environment; users can either record in the more efficient AVC format or else pick the larger but more widespread MPEG-2 format for easier editing on some computers.
The Federal Communications Commission's staff today tentatively proposed that the US government agency approve the long-delayed merger between satellite radio providers Sirius and XM. The move potentially leads to a completed approval in as soon as three weeks and has received the early blessing of FCC chair Kevin Martin, who states that the union would be "in the public interest" as long as the unified company continues to voluntarily abide by certain conditions.
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