IT-Code-News: IT News HeadLines (Overclockers Club) 17/03/2010

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Intel Releases 15 New Xeon Processors

Intel today announced its new line of Xeon 5600 processors that promise to be faster and more energy efficient compared to the previous Xeon 5500 series launched just a year ago. The new 5600 chips offer low-power, quad- and six-core models and run up to 60 percent faster than their 5500-series counterparts. The 5600 chips, part of the Westmere architecture, are manufactured using a 32-nanometer process and all come with 12MB of L2 cache. The CPUs also include Hyper-Threading technology, allowing each chip to process two threads simultaneously. With many companies still running single-core servers, the advent of quad- and six-core serves means that datacenters can improve performance and reduce energy costs by switching to the new chips without having to increase the number of servers. In fact, according to Intel, one Xeon 5600 could potentially replace up to 15 single-core servers . Speeds range from 1.86GHz for the quad-core Xeon L5609 processor to 3.46GHz for the fastest Xeon X5677 six-core chip. Prices range from $387 to $1,663 and major OEM partners will be announcing servers based on the new chips today with shipments expected later this month.

Google's First Smartphone is a Flop

It happens from time to time, but it is still odd to see the word "flop" in the same sentence as a Google product. Just about everything it touches turns to gold, just look at what the company did with search and email. However, Google's first real venture into the Smartphone hardware world is being called a flop. Released on Janurary 5, 2010 the Google Nexus One (manufactured by HTC) is projected to sell only 135,000 units in 74 days.

By comparison, Apple's first generation iPhone sold one-million units in 74 days, the Motorola Droid sold 1.05 million units in the same time. The third generation iPhone (iPhone 3GS) sold 1 million units in just 3 days. Even Apple's iPad which just went up for preorders sold an estimated 120,000 units in 24 hours and is projected to sell a million units in two weeks of release.

James Cameron Wants To Sink Titanic Record With Titanic 3-D

James Cameron's semi-fictional film Titanic, about the tragic sinking of the "unsinkable" RMS Titanic, was released in 1997 and until late last year held the record as the top grosing movie of all time. That record was finally broken by James Cameron with his three-dimensional blockbuster, Avatar. Now James Camerson wants to sail on the success of both films and re-release Titanic in 3-D. The release is targeted for Spring 2012, which would concide with the 100th anniversary of the sailing/sinking of the ship.

Opera Mini 5 and Mobile 10 Released

"No mobile phone left behind." That's the actual tag line Opera Software is using this morning as it announces the release of Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10. With this release, Opera says nearly any mobile phone can support an Opera-driven web experience. Opera has a list of "5 reasons you cannot live without Opera on your phone", they are:

Get the best Internet experience on your phone: Opera delivers the full Web experience on nearly any mobile phone, and it is easy and free to download.
No more slow surfing: Opera mobile browsers are designed to boost your browsing speed significantly. Opera brings the best and fastest browsing experience on any mobile phone.
Get your mobile phone bills under control: Opera Mini’s compression technology reduces the amount of data sent to your phone by up to 90 percent, resulting in lower costs on pay-per-MB data plans or when roaming.
Web made easy, even on your phone: Opera keeps it simple with a sleekly designed user interface, regardless of the phone you are using, and with the same great feature set, such as Speed Dial, tabs, and the password manager.
Never leave your personal information behind: Opera Link lets you synchronize your bookmarks, notes and Speed Dial between your computer and your mobile phone. Make your information available wherever you are - at work, at home or on the road.

Opera Mini 5 is available on all Java-based and BlackBerry phones. Opera Mini 5 for Android and Windows Mobile are still in beta. Opera Mobile 10 is available on Windows Mobile and Symbian S60-based mobile phones. To get the latest version of Opera's mobile browser for your phone, simply access http://m.opera.com/ from your phone. Sadly there is still no word on when or even if the Opera Mini iPhone App will ever be available.

FCC Sends National Broadband Plan to Congress

Today the FCC will send Congress a National Broadband Plan which includes an "ambitious agenda for connecting all corners of the nation while transforming the economy and society with the communications network of the future -- robust, affordable Internet." The plan contains six main, long-term goals:

Goal No. 1: At least 100 million US homes should have affordable access to actual download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second and actual upload speeds of at least 50 megabits per second.
Goal No. 2: The United States should lead the world in mobile innovation, with the fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any nation.
Goal No. 3: Every American should have an affordable access to robust broadband service, and the means and skills to subscribe if they so choose.
Goal No. 4: Every American community should have affordable access to at least 1 gigabit per second broadband service to anchor institutions such as schools, hospitals and government buildings.
Goal No. 5: To ensure the safety of the American people, every first responder should have access to a nationwide, wireless, interoperable broadband public safety network.
Goal No. 6: To ensure that America leads in the clean energy economy, every American should be able to use broadband to track and manage their real-time energy consumption.

The plan sounds good, and if done correctly could certainly help out the nation. If Congress likes the plan, perhaps it can throw some the ARRA funds towards the FCC. A plan like this could certainly create new jobs and help with education. Of course, the plan is likely to meet resistance from service providers like AT&T, Comcast, TimeWarner, RoadRunner, and others.

Read the FCC's Press Release and Executive Summary.

Roughly 10% of Microsoft Employees Using iPhones

It shouldn't be a surprise that Microsoft employees are like the rest of us, and enjoy their gadgets. However, what is surprising is that an estimated 10% of Microsoft's global workforce is using the iPhone. That estimate comes from 10,000 users that accessed Microsoft's employee email system from an iPhone last year. As you might expect, this doesn't sit well with Microsoft's top brass, especially CEO Steve Ballmer. It was said that during a company meeting Mr. Ballmer snatched an iPhone from an employee’s hand, placed it on the ground and pretended to stomp on it.

Robbie Bach, Microsoft's president of the Entertainment & Devices division, said that employees often use a number of devices from competitors to "better understand the competition." According to the WSJ, Kevin Turner, Microsoft's COO, scoffed at Mr. Bach's explanation.

While some employees use their iPhones openly and in plain view of others, some employees go to great lengths to disguise their iPhones using cases in an attempt to make the iPhone look more like a generic phone.

Jan and Feb Mac sales up 39% in U.S.

The iPad isn't the only thing selling. According to data released by NPD, Mac and iPod sales in the U.S. were both up in Jan and Feb over 12 months ago. With Mac sales up an average of 39% that is expected to translate into around 2.8-2.9 million for Apple. However, what may be better news for Apple is that iPod sales were up for the first time in 16 months with an increase of 7% year over year, and is expected to bring in over 9 million. Apple's Q2 ends later this month and investors should be pretty happy with the increase in Mac and iPod sales.

Apple iPad Preorders Slowing After Initial Rush

Apple's ~~tablet~~ supersized iPod Touch became available for preorders on Friday, March 12th. Members of the APPL Sanity Board using order numbers submitted by Apple Enthusiasts that preordered the device estimate that as many as 120,000 iPads had been preordered within the first 24 hours of availability and as many as 51,000 during the first two hours alone. While the initial surge is pretty impressive, it is now estimated that the number of preorders has dropped to about 1,000 per hour. Further estimates speculate that no more than a half-million iPads (WiFi only model) will be preordered with one-million total units sold within the first two weeks of the April 3rd release

The iPad with WiFi only is available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models with a cost of $199, $599, and $699 respectably. A WiFi+3G version of the iPad will be available later in April with a $130 premium. You can preorder or reserve one for in store pickup on the Apple website.

Hard Drives Decide Performance

Throughout all the years of hard drive manufacturing, almost all hard drives have only been required to have a minimum of 512 byte sectors. As technology progresses however, some parts need to catch up, and hard drive makers will have to do that catch up by next year. The IDEMA is requiring every single manufacturer to now require a removal of the old 512 byte sectors, and the addition instead of 4KB sectors. While this sounds like a good idea, it may be problematic to Windows XP users. Windows 7, along with Windows Vista, both support this new technology upgrade, but sadly, Windows XP only supports the old and outdated size sectors. Depending on adoption rates to the new Windows operating systems, many users may see slower performance once these new drives hit. Luckily, they will still be able to be used on a Windows XP computer, for everyone who plans to make a hard drive upgrade. Though experts that are researching the situation are estimating that a ten percent performance loss will take place, due to some cases in which certain functions took a single operation, will now take two operations due to the emulation needed. Windows 7 users should see better power-consumption, as well as the overall speed and reliability of the entire operating system due to less wasted space and increase error detection from the larger block sector size.

Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series Shown Off

The build-up for the new Windows Phone 7 Series is slowly starting to take off. At its MIX10 event, Microsoft showed off the new marketplace for the platform. The marketplace appears to be similar to what the Zune already has, though it has received a nice facelift. Aside from looking great, the marketplace will allow for credit card purchases, operator billing and ad-supported content. Having ads with your apps is nothing new for Android and iPhone users and the new Windows phones will be no different. The Windows platform will also allow for demos of the apps, though it is up to the developer to say for how long it lasts. Once you have downloaded the apps of your choosing, you can pin them to the Quick Launch screen for easy access.

Windows Phone 7 Series is still on schedule to be rolled out this coming holiday season.

New Sam & Max Adventure is an Exclusive

The successful revival of the Sam & Max games within the last few years brought back the beloved crime solving duo. Now, Telltale Games is set to make a new, five-part adventure starring the dog and rabbit detectives exclusively for the PS3, PC and Mac. The new adventures will be called “Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse” and will be launching this April. There is a completely new enemy for the duo to face, which will also see some new abilities for Max during their investigation. Max will be able to shape shift, teleport, and see the future among other powers he will gain throughout the adventure. There will be new enemies to face, including an arcane scholar, all of whom will hunt you down in order to have the new powers for themselves.

Kingston Announces World's Fastest Memory

Earlier today Kingston announced it had developed the world's fastest Intel-certified memory. The dual-channel DDR3 memory kit is clocked at 2400MHz and was awarded Intel XMP certification on the Core i7 platform. The new modules have 9-11-9-27-2 timings at 1.65 volts and are targeted at benchmarkers and enthusiasts. The memory kits have been thoroughly tested on several P55 motherboards and will be available in the second quarter of this year. Kingston did not disclosure pricing information.

NVIDIA Announces 3DTV Play Software

NVIDIA today announced its new software, 3DTV Play, designed to work with computers equipped with compatible GeForce graphics cards that have an HDMI or DVI connector. The software lets you connect to all HDMI 1.4-compatible 3D televisions and use the TV's active shutter glasses. Using the new software, users will be able to automatically convert over 400 games to stereoscopic 3D in real time without the need for patches. Some of the titles include such as World of Warcraft – Wrath of the Lich King, Battlefield Bad Company 2, and James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game.

If all this sounds familiar to you, you're probably thinking about NVIDIA's GeForce 3D Vision which works with compatible LCD computer monitors. This software provides similar functionality to computers hooked up to 3DTVs. The 3DTV Play software will be available later this spring for a suggested retail price of $39.95 and will be made available at no charge to existing NVIDIA 3D Vision customers. NVIDIA is currently promoting the software in conjunction with Panasonic and its Touch the Future Tour that will be hitting 15 major markets in the US over the next couple of months in order to let consumers get a chance to experience the technology first hand.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

IT News HeadLines (Overclockers Club) 17/03/2010

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