Core Audience Will Love Kinect, Predicts Microsoft Exec

J. TECH - Aug - 18th

By Tony Bradley August 18, 2010

More details are emerging about a Chrome OS tablet set to launch for the 2010 holiday season. If the reports are accurate, HTC, Google, and Verizon are working together to launch a Chrome OS tablet on Black Friday to kick off the holiday shopping season. The team of HTC, Google, and Verizon makes sense. Google has an intimate relationship with HTC–maker of many of the most cutting edge Android smartphones including the fabled Google Nexus One. Both Google and HTC have a solid relationship with Verizon–the largest wireless provider in the United States, and the leading purveyor of Android smartphones like the HTC Droid Incredible. The HTC Chrome tablet will offer some much-needed competition for the Apple iPad. The Dell Streak is available now, but its diminutive size and phone functionality make it regarded primarily as a smartphone with a thyroid problem more than a tablet. The Samsung Galaxy Tab–an Android based tablet–is expected to launch this fall, but aside from that Apple stands virtually unopposed in the tablet arena.

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Nvidia graphics card partner refuses to honour ‘lifetime’ warranty

J. TECH - Aug - 16th

Winding up business
By Lawrence Latif Mon Aug 16 2010

FRAGGED GRAPHICS CARD MAKER BFG Tech has stopped honouring its “lifetime” warranty as it winds down operations. The outfit, known for its high-end Nvidia graphics cards aimed at the hard core gaming community, has been in free fall for some time now. Punters with failing cards requesting return merchandise authorisation (RMA) codes are unlikely to receive any, while those who have sent in broken cards will simply have them returned without repair. In a letter to one customer who sent in a BFG Tech graphics card, the firm said it was in the midst of “winding down and liquidating its business”. It said that due to a “major supplier” not supporting its business, the company was unable to repair the card, returning it to the customer. Earlier this year BFG Tech had said that it was leaving the graphics card game, though it promised that it would continue to honour warranties. At the time, the announcement mentioned that it would be focusing on power supply units and gaming machines. This letter does little to instill confidence in those looking to purchase anything further from it, however.

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15 years of Internet Explorer

J. TECH - Aug - 16th

By Dan Grabham 8/16/10

Microsoft’s browser is 15 years old today. The browser’s roots are far older though. Development at the National Center for Super Computing Applications (NCSA) produced 1987′s Mosaic browser. The tech was transferred to a company called Spyglass which in turn licensed it to Microsoft. The browser wasn’t launched with Windows 95 (which launched 15 years ago next week) but was part of the Windows 95 Plus Pack. This included a component called the Internet Jumpstart Kit now replaced by the Internet Connection Wizard. An interesting fact is that a lot of the team that created Mosaic went on to develop Netscape Navigator, the forerunner to Firefox. Let’s take a quick look at how the browser has evolved over the last decade and a half.

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Apple Manager Charged with Taking $1 Million in Kickbacks

J. TECH - Aug - 16th

By Elizabeth Heichler and Grant Gross Aug 16, 2010

An Apple manager with responsibilities for the company’s contract manufacturing in Asia was arrested Friday and charged with accepting kickbacks. Charges were filed against global supply manager Paul Shin Devine last Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to court documents. Several news reports said Devine was arrested Friday. Devine was accused of accepting US$1 million in kickbacks from half a dozen Asian suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories in a federal indictment and a civil suit, the San Jose Mercury News reported. Devine allegedly was paid for sharing confidential Apple information with contractors that helped them win Apple business on favorable terms, the paper said. Devine is charged with 15 counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering, one count of wire fraud conspiracy and one count of monetary transactions with criminally derived property, according to court documents. Wednesday’s indictment was sealed by the court, but Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd ordered it unsealed in a Friday ruling. The unsealed indictment is not yet available through the district court’s website.

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New AMD CPUs Slated for September 21

J. TECH - Aug - 13th

By Sebastian Pop August 12th, 2010

Advanced Micro Devices has been developing its new range of central processing units (CPUs) for quite a while now and, with the back-to-school period closing in, is intent on unleashing its latest six-core and quad-core chips on September 21. As consumers might know, the Fusion technology is, at present, AMD’s major project, but this doesn’t mean that its other outlets will go ignored. Thus, the CPU and GPU maker will perform a major product refresh next month, when it will unveil multiple chips. The most important of these parts will be the AMD Phenom II X6 1075T and the Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition. The former is a six-core chip (obviously) with a cache memory of 9 MB and a clock speed of 3.0 GHz which can go as high as 3.50 GHz by means of the TurboCore dynamic overclocking technology. This chip is expected to expand the existing line of Thuban processors, but is not exactly different, as far as clocks are concerned, from the quad-core unit. To be more specific, the AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Edition has a frequency of 3.50 GHz and a cache memory of 8 MB, which basically means it will perform just as well as the Thuban in applications that need up to four threads. Thus, it would make sense for the quad-core to be a fair bit cheaper than the six-core, in order to avoid internal competition.

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Report: Verizon iPhone will Have New Antenna

J. TECH - Aug - 13th

By Kevin Parrish August 13, 2010

While it still seems hard to believe that Verizon would poke fun at the iPhone and then later offer the device on its own network, reports of a Verizon CDMA iPhone continue to appear again and again. The latest rumor stems from an unnamed source who claims to have handled numerous prototypes over the last few months. If the report is true, then the device will arrive with improvements over the current iPhone 4. According to the report, the Verizon device will feature a new, internal antenna–reportedly at the company’s insistence–and an improved hull for a better grip. There was also mention of a larger screen for this particular model–bigger than what’s seen on the new iPhone 4. As for the faster processor speed, the number wasn’t specified however it’s speculated to run at 1.2 GHz.

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PayPal Said to Be in Talks With Google About Android

J. TECH - Aug - 13th

By Ari Levy and Joseph Galante August 13, 2010

EBay Inc.’s PayPal business is in talks to add its payment service to Google Inc.’s Android smartphone software, making it easier for users to pay for applications, three people familiar with the matter said. Users of Android phones, such as Motorola Inc.’s Droid X and HTC Corp.’s Droid Incredible, may be able to pay for apps with PayPal as soon as this year, said the people, who declined to be named because the discussions aren’t public. Customers currently pay via credit card and Google’s Checkout service. By adding PayPal, Google would give app developers another way to get paid, potentially making them more likely to create software for Android. While Android phones are beginning to outsell the iPhone, Apple Inc. still dominates in apps. There are more than 225,000 apps available for Apple devices, compared with about 70,000 for Android.

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PC demand worries proliferate, ding Intel and AMD

J. TECH - Aug - 10th

The worries about a slowdown in PC demand are beginning to pile up.
By Larry Dignan August 10, 2010

A bevy of analysts either downgraded or went cautious on the prospects for Intel and AMD after checks in the Asia supply chain. To wit: Wedbush analyst Patrick Wang said “following a round of industry checks, we come away incrementally more negative on the PC supply chain, in light of lowered 3Q forecasts for both Intel and AMD as well as an expectation for softer DRAM pricing and questionable demand.” Analysts said that inventories are rising and visibility into demand is hazy at best. Notebook builds were tepid in July and distributors are cutting inventory levels. Back-to-school demand just isn’t there. Barclays Capital analyst Tim Luke said “while still early in back to school cycle, broader PC trends for 3Q have continued to remain subdued & seasonal sales guidance may prove bold.” Meanwhile, Baird downgraded Intel based on weak PC demand. J.P. Morgan noted that PC orders are falling off a cliff. What’s the culprit? Analysts weren’t so sure. A few noted that Apple’s iPad is stealing sales from netbooks and low-end notebooks. Others just cite weak demand. Simply put, there appears to be a correction in the PC market underway despite upbeat what Intel and AMD are saying.

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Report: Apple to Rev iPad in 2011 with New Processor, 7” Display

J. TECH - Aug - 10th

by Bryan Chaffin August 9th, 2010

Apple is working on two new versions of the iPad the company will release in the first quarter of 2011, according to a report from DigiTimes. The Taiwan-based newspaper said that the first model will have the same 9.7” display as the current model and be powered by a new ARM processor based on the Cortex-A9 and sports 512MB of RAM. The second model will have a smaller 7” display, though with the same 1024 x 768 resolution as its larger cousin. DigiTimes is the source of many Apple-related rumors, with the company’s sources coming from the myriad of companies in Taiwan that supply components to Apple or manufacture the company’s finished products. The newspaper’s track record, however is spotty, though it’s often more the details that differ, rather than the main substance of its leaked stories. Apple’s current iPad and iPhone 4 are powered by the Apple-designed A4 processor, an ARM variant the company optimized for its own use that is based on ARM’s Cortex-A8 reference design. DigiTimes didn’t offer any details on whether the Cortex-A9 chip it says will be used in the new products will also be an Apple-designed variant, but the company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars acquiring outside companies that specialize in designing ARM processors.

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Microsoft keeps Mac vs. PC battle going on Windows 7 website

J. TECH - Aug - 10th

By Emil Protalinski 8/10/10

Microsoft has added a PC versus Mac section to its Windows 7 website. The webpage is under the Compare tab, where users can match up the three main Windows 7 editions, read a Top 10 list of reasons to buy Windows 7, and read Microsoft’s thoughts on why it believes Windows 7 has the advantage over Mac OS X. According to the new page, Microsoft says it has Apple beat in six categories: Having Fun (Macs might spoil your fun), Simplicity (Macs can take time to learn), Working Hard (Macs don’t work as well at work or at school), Sharing (Macs don’t like to share), Compatibility (Macs might not like your PC stuff), and Choice (Macs don’t let you choose). Each area makes a couple valid points, though Redmond makes sure to avoid naming any potential strengths Cupertino may have: this is strictly a pro-PC show. Each page ends off with a note to visit the Windows PC Scout to help the user find the right PC for them.

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