Rambus wins patent case against NVIDIA
Watching Rambus win a patent case is always a heart-sinking moment given said company's history, but this certainly looks like it could be a nasty blow for NVIDIA - Although it won't stop them shipping GPUs just yet, it could cause them some major headaches a little further down the line.
Nvidia Corp., the world’s second- largest maker of computer-graphics chips, plans to appeal a patent ruling lost to Rambus Inc. and said customers including Hewlett-Packard Co. won’t see any disruption to their supplies.
The U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington yesterday said Nvidia chips infringed three Rambus patents, and issued an order that would ban imports of certain products containing the chips. Nvidia said it can continue sales by taking advantage of a licensing arrangement Rambus reached with European regulators as part of an unrelated antitrust case.
“I would expect that they would fight it to the extent the law provides, but having said that, they have to take care of their customers,†Chris Caso, an analyst with Susquehanna International Group in New York, said in an interview.
Bloomberg has more details on the story.The U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington yesterday said Nvidia chips infringed three Rambus patents, and issued an order that would ban imports of certain products containing the chips. Nvidia said it can continue sales by taking advantage of a licensing arrangement Rambus reached with European regulators as part of an unrelated antitrust case.
“I would expect that they would fight it to the extent the law provides, but having said that, they have to take care of their customers,†Chris Caso, an analyst with Susquehanna International Group in New York, said in an interview.
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Elite Bastards competition: Win a Lord of the Rings Online beta key!
With Lord of the Rings Online shifting to a free-to-play model later in the year, a revamped version of the game taking this into account is currently in beta - If you fancy checking it out prior to its final release then this competition is for you as we have not one, not ten, but one hundred Lord of the Rings Online beta keys to give away! Here are all of the details on how to enter:
This coming autumn marks an important milestone for The Lord of the Rings Online™ (LOTRO) as it moves to a Free-to-Play model. That’s right! LOTRO will be Free to play for everyone!
Players of all levels will explore incredibly detailed realms and join familiar characters in an evolving and persistent re-creation of Tolkien’s beloved world. They will face the dangers Frodo and the Fellowship left behind when they began their epic journey to destroy the One Ring.
Gamers can adventure solo or forge their own fellowships online with others, as they face hideous monsters and minions of Sauron, establish unique reputations, fight epic battles to defend Middle-earth, and immerse themselves in the greatest adventure of our time.
For a limited time, Codemasters Online are offering 100 lucky winners the chance to have access to the LOTRO Free-to-Play Beta so that players can experience first-hand the ultimate adventure and experience unlimited entertainment – free forever!
To get started, just answer this simple question:
What is the correct name of the land Gandalf and Frodo are fighting to defend?
A. Central-earth
B. Middle-earth
C.Higher-earth
If you know the answer (and really, I hope you do!) just send an e-mail to competition@elitebastards.com with a subject line containing your chosen answer to the question above, and leave us your name and a preferred contact e-mail address within the body of the e-mail's text. The competition closes at 9AM UK time on Tuesday, August 3rd 2010, and we'll be announcing and contacting the winners with their beta keys via e-mail shortly after.
For more information on the game, please visit the LOTRO Europe web site. Good luck!View or post comments.
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AMD on StarCraft II: Anti-aliasing will come when performance is better
While today is undoubtedly a great day for StarCraft fans, thanks to the release of StarCraft II, it isn't such a good day for those who don't like "jaggies" in their games, with Blizzard opting not to implement anti-aliasing in-game for some reason. PC Perspective discusses both NVIDIA and AMD's differing reactions to this situation.
One of the big keys to the SCII article linked above was the issue surrounding AA (anti-aliasing): Blizzard didn't feel the need to include it (and why the hell not is beyond me) but NVIDIA enabled it in their driver using a brute force method that, by the company's own admission, was less efficient than it could be with developer assistance.
You can read more, including AMD's response to the lack of in-game anti-aliasing, over here.View or post comments.
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AMD Catalyst 10.7 available for download
It's come rather late in the month on this occasion, but better late than never as they say, as today brings AMD's graphics driver for the month of July to its adoring public. Perhaps the biggest benefit of this release is the addition of GPU video playback acceleration for users of VLC 1.1.1, but here's the full list of what's new in this driver:
Highlights of the ATI Catalystâ„¢ 10.7 Windows release include:
New Features
ATI Eyefinity - HydraVision enhancements
Enhanced Pull-down detection
Highlights of the Linux ATI Catalystâ„¢ 10.7 release include:
New Features
Support for new Linux operating systems
ATI Eyefinity support
As always, you can download this new driver from the AMD game web site.New Features
ATI Eyefinity - HydraVision enhancements
- Maximizing a window across displays will now take user defined bezel compensation into account
- Automatically adjusts window position when dragging and dropping windows to ensure title bar visibility
- Proper dialog box placement - dialogs do not cross displays, are not hidden behind bezels, and can be designated to be shown on the users “preferred†display
Enhanced Pull-down detection
- The Pull-down detection algorithm has been enhanced for higher visual quality on certain types of video content
- Supported on the ATI Radeon HD 5000 Series
- This release of ATI Catalystâ„¢ enables end users running supported ATI CrossFireXâ„¢ configurations to rotate their displays (single or ATI Eyefinity display configurations) and still enjoy the performance benefits of ATI CrossFireX technology
- Enables GPU acceleration of h.264 video content when using the VLC 1.1.1 Media Player – delivering a better user experience by consuming less system resources
- Supported on the ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD 5000 and ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD 4000 Series of products
- Requires VLC version 1.1.1 and later
Highlights of the Linux ATI Catalystâ„¢ 10.7 release include:
New Features
Support for new Linux operating systems
- This release of ATI Catalystâ„¢ Linux introduces support for the following new operating systems:Â
- Ubuntu 10.04 production support
ATI Eyefinity support
- ATI Catalystâ„¢ 10.7 delivers support for ATI Eyefinity technology under all supported Linux distributions
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