Louis CK's successful online-only comedy video is promising to reverse the traditional model again through a TV deal. The Live at the Beacon Theater show will air on FX mostly uncensored in what Louis described as a "commercial, sort of" for the online version. FX president John Landgraf has noted that it could see the show qualify for an Emmy award.
Netflix just revealed that its subscribers watched over two billion hours of TV shows and movies in the fourth quarter of 2011, leading one analyst to name it as the 15th largest TV 'network.' Richard Greenfield from BTIG believes Netflix is replacing TV viewing time in households and is the second-most watched in homes with cable and the subscription service. He had previously expected it to be 25th rather than 15th in the quarter.
AMD staked out at least a short-term lead in desktop processors Wednesday with its first-ever eight-core processors for the home in its FX series. The 3.1GHz FX-8120 and 3.6GHZ FX-8150 have a two-core advantage over current Intel chips without sacrificing top speed. The FX-8120 can speed up to 3.4GHz in a Turbo Core mode by selectively managing the active processors, and up to 4GHz in a maximum mode shutting down key cores; the FX-8150 ramps up to 3.9GHz in its middle Turbo mode and 4.2GHz at its peak.
Gateway is finishing its week with a significant upgrade to its FX Edition gaming notebooks that brings its first mid-size models. Previously limited only to the 17-inch P series, the FX name is now attached to the M series with a new model that provides relatively quick performance at a smaller size. The M-6850FX is slightly slower than the base P series with a 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo and uses the cooler-running Radeon HD 2600 to provide better-than-average 3D to a category often neglected by PC builders. It also leaves little necessary to upgrade with 3GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive as stock. Gateway sells the system at retail shops for $1,000.
