Skype has been working on a new audio codec promising CD-quality audio through its calls. The codec, named Opus, has been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as a new standard for online audio, and is expected to become not only standard for all platforms Skype runs on, but also for other companies to take advantage of for their own products.
Olive Media on Wednesday announced the release of its newest digital music server, the OPUS N°4, which is capable of storing music from up to nearly 3,000 CDs without degrading their quality thanks to FLAC lossless compression. Stored music is sorted by genre, album or artist, and is accessed via a new software accessed through a fresh 4.3-inch color touch-screen. While the OPUS will play stored music and regular CDs, Olive's equally new MELODY N°2 is required to play audio stored in the N°4 in up to 10 rooms simultaneously, and is capable of doing so wirelessly.
Microsoft is prepping a major internal redesign of the Xbox 360 that will be both cooler and less expensive, according to a report from a historically accurate source. Nicknamed "Valhalla," the processor design will not only move both the IBM-built three-core processor and the ATI graphics to a more efficient 65 nanometer process (down from 90 nanometers) but will merge them into a single chip. The change will not only reduce the heat issues that have affected the console but also reduce the cost and noise of the Xbox: only one smaller, primary cooling system will be necessary, says the claim.
