IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 10/11/2012

Microsoft still working on secret OS called Midori, just has to add lemonade Microsoft is pretty much only known in the operating system world for Windows, but the Redmond-based software giant have been working on another OS in secret, cheating on Windows.

The secret OS is known as project Midori, and according to ZDNet's well-sourced Mary Jo Foley, it has definitely been beating along in the labs at Microsoft. Midori is a new OS believed to be designed around Singularity, which was a Microsoft Research microkernel OS. The under-development OS was, and most likely still is, overseen by senior vice president of technical strategy, Eric Rudder. The OS is reportedly a distributed, concurrent OS, and was referenced during a presentation last month at the OOPSLA 2012 conference. A handful of Microsoft employees presented a paper during the event which was titled Uniqueness and Reference Immutability for Safe Parallelism. Within this paper, Microsoft outlined what is described as a prototype extension to C# that facilitates security and parallelism.

Our type system models a prototype extension to C# that is in active use by a Microsoft team. We describe their experiences building large systems with this extension.... A source-level variant of this system, as an extension to C#, is in use by a large project at Microsoft, as their primary programming language.

That's not the only tease, with a recent job description over at Microsoft looking for a software architect to help develop a concurrent programming model. This is from the job description:

This programming model is a core component of a new, novel operating system, 99% of which is written in type- and memory-safe C#. A core principle we add to managed code is that 1st class, statically enforced concurrency-safety must become a peer of type- and memory-safety. This role demands innovation at each layer of the software stack: programming model abstractions, scheduling (kernel and user-mode/runtime), message passing and asynchrony more generally, shared-memory, data and task parallelism, distributed parallelism, heterogeneity (including vectorization and GPGPU), interaction with processor architecture, feedback directed optimizations, and even language design and compiler implementation.

I wonder if this is what will materialize into a future version of Windows, or will we see a change in Microsoft over the years. Would they ditch the Windows name if there was a truly next-generation OS to be unveiled? I just got a little excited about the future of Microsoft...

T-Mobile puts all Samsung phones on sale, will last for two days Samsung devices are a huge sales driver for T-Mobile, and well, for every other company and even the South Korean device maker themselves.

But, T-Mobile on-contract pricing can be a little bit steeper than the competition, but it looks like T-Mobile is feeling a bit festive, and this time, early. T-Mobile have a bunch of Samsung phones on sale, including the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy S III, either for free, or very cheap, when put on a contract. T-Mobile's pricing structure is built to incentivize you to buy phones through their Value Plans or Monthly 4G Prepaid plans, but it looks like this weekend's sales are pushing customers toward their Classic Plan, which will give customers the chance of saving hundreds of dollars if they grab a Note II or Galaxy S III.

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm gets delayed, won't be swarming near your heart until 2013 Rumors have unfortunately been confirmed, with Blizzard's expansion pack to StarCraft II has been delayed, Heart of the Swarm was scheduled for a Christmas release, but has been delayed until some time in 2013.

Heart of the Swarm originally was meant to add seven new units to the game, and remove three existing numbers for balancing reasons. But behind closed doors, Blizzard have changed their plans, dropping the planned Shredder and Warhound units for the Terrans due to balancing problems, replacing them with Widow Mines - variants on Spider Mines that fire splash-damage missiles, and tweaks to the Hellion, Ghost, Battlecruiser and Reaper units. Protoss players will receive three of the four new multiplayer units, while the Replicant has been thrown away over fears that it would encourage players to spam masses of identical units. There are also single player modifications where an expanded plot would continue where Wings of Liberty finished. The expansion pack was to also usher in changes to the game for competitive play, where Hearts of the Swarm would provide a new player progression system, support for custom clans, and resumable game replay functionalities. No firm date has been stamped down, with Blizzard chief exec Mike Morhaime telling investors that the game would be released in the first half of 2013.

Xbox 360 manages 22nd consecutive month as top gaming console The Xbox 360 has now spent 22 consecutive months as king of the hill of gaming consoles. Microsoft has just announced that in October, the Xbox 360 sold 270,000 units and has managed to stay on the top of the heap for 22 consecutive months, an impressive feat, especially considering the age of the console.

Part of the reason the Xbox 360 has managed to stay on top is the constant updates that Microsoft has pushed out. Innovations like the Kinect and Netflix have helped keep the Xbox at number 1. Netflix has turned the console into more than just a gaming console, and the Kinect revitalized the gaming aspect of the console. However, it's likely not going to be able to survive the onslaught of the WiiU and holiday shopping. The WiiU has seemingly proved popular, with pre-orders selling quickly. It will be the new, fresh holiday shopping item and features innovative controls that should help its sales beat out the Xbox.

Foxconn is looking to set up plants in the US, according to report DigiTimes is reporting that Foxconn is planning to set up manufacturing plants in the United States. Foxconn is the manufacturer behind popular products such as the iPhone and other electronic devices. Companies contract with them to build the designs that they create, for instance the WiiU from Nintendo.

According to DigiTimes, market watchers say that Foxconn is looking at cities such as Detroit and Los Angeles to build a new factory. The new factory is expected to build LCD TVs, since this task can be highly automated and wouldn't benefit much from the cheap labor available in China. It would also bring some goodwill to the company, which has seen many complaints as of late. Foxconn is also planning on creating a training program to help US-based engineers learn Chinese and product manufacturing and design. The program would bring US engineers over to China or Taiwan, whereupon they would learn Chinese and take part in the processes of product design and manufacturing.

Australian Blu-ray Importing: November 2012 Buying Guide Since last time we looked at the 'Guide to Buying Blu-rays from Overseas' last month, the Australian dollar has continued to dance around parity with the US dollar, based on strong commodity markets and a soft U.S. economy. With studios starting to open their catalogues to much anticipated titles, coupled with deep discounting in overseas markets, it's still a really great time to import some rarer Blu-ray titles. Let's jump into the latest instalment of the series, covering some of the later titles released overseas, but safe for Australian region coding.

Judge Dredd

Studio: Disney Home Entertainment Country of Origin: United States Purchase: Amazon.com Region: A, B, C With the reboot of the 2000AD graphic novel hitting cinemas, Disney have taken the flurry of interest to re-release the lambasted 1995 original, starring Sylvester Stallone as the eponymous hero, and Diane Lane as the love interest, Judge Hershey, and the immensely annoying Rob Schneider as the token comic relief character. To my mind, he makes Jar Jar Binks seem like a Shakespearean actor. After nearly 20 years, Judge Dredd is only really memorable for a level of camp reserved for the late 90's Batman films, some aged visual effects and hilariously slurred Stallone dialogue ("I am the lerrrr!"), but it's all in good fun. With a more than adequate video and audio transfer, some promotional bonus features including a 20 minute made for TV featurette, and a low price point, some fans may want to add this to their collections.

Dial M for Murder

Studio: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Country of Origin: United States Purchase: Amazon.com Region: A, B, C Picking out the best Alfred Hitchcock film is somewhat impossible. Many fans will point to Psycho as his best, while others to Vertigo or Rear Window. My personal favourite; The Birds is a fun romp, but Dial M for Murder is a slightly aged, yet compelling tale of revenge and murder. However, this Blu-ray release is notable for its inclusion of a 3D version of the film (including 2D) which was originally filmed with an experimental 1950's polarized 3D system (similar to today), however was not released so, because interest in 3D had lapsed. It's a fascinating feature and kudos to Warner for restoring this version long after the master has gone.

Dave

Studio: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Country of Origin: United States Purchase: Amazon.com Region: A, B, C With the 2012 presidential campaign nearing its end, Warner Brothers have pumped out a few U.S. presidential themed films. One of these is 1993's Dave starring Kevin Kline as the replacement President of the United States, until the charade slowly unravels in front of the American people. Whilst the film has received a 'so-so' HD transfer, with only a brief making of featurette as a bonus feature, Dave is certainly a film that I didn't expect to see on Blu-ray any time soon, and a great film that deserves to be re discovered by a new audience.

Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2

Studio: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Country of Origin: United States Purchase: Amazon.com Region: A, B, C Speaking of new audiences, the process of transferring and restoring the three decades of Looney Tunes shorts of the 1930's to 1990's ensures that these classic animations are preserved and accessible to a new generation. This second volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection rounds up a further 50 of the 1000 original shorts, including favorites such as Ali Baba Bunny and Bugs Bunny Gets The Boid. Fans will especially appreciate the absolute cavalcade of extra features presented over the three disc set, including numerous audio commentaries, insolated scores, featurettes and vintage curios. A lot of love has gone into these sets and if you want to see more of them, you should get purchasing to show Warner your support. ... Read the rest in your browser!

Mushkin Expands Award-Winning Atlas deluxe(TM) Product Line with World's Fastest 30GB mSATA Solid-State Drive Austin, TX -- Nov 08, 2012 / (http://www.myprgenie.com) -- Mushkin, Inc., an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance and mission-critical computer products, today announced the worldwide launch of its new 30GB Atlas deluxe(TM) mSATA solid-state drive (SSD), scheduled to start shipping this month.

The new 30GB Atlas deluxe(TM), the latest from the award-winning mSATA SSD product line, is the fastest on the market, featuring read/write speeds up to 555/365 megabytes per second, and 4KB random read/write IOPS up to 92,000/70,000. Atlas deluxe(TM) delivers SSD reliability and performance, in a lower-powered, smaller mSATA SSD form factor that measures about an eighth of the size for easy installation on any device with an mSATA slot. Validated for NVELO Dataplex(TM) caching software and Intel(R) Smart Response Technology, the Atlas deluxe(TM) mSATA is well-suited as a cache for existing hard drives or as a standalone SSD for thin and light laptops and Ultrabooks(TM).

"Atlas deluxe(TM) is one of the top mSATA SSDs on the market today, having won Editor's Choice from TheSSDReview.com for delivering 'top performance at an unbeatable price,'" said Brian Flood, Director of Product Development at Mushkin. "We are pleased to expand this award-winning product line with a new 30GB offering. Even the most demanding customers can now satisfy their performance needs at a price that just makes sense." Specifications:

SandForce SF-2281 SSD processor with unthrottled IOPS firmware
SATA 3.0 (6Gb/s) interface (backwards compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and 1.5Gb/s)
Supports ATA APM, Security Set, NCQ
TRIM support (OS/driver support required)
S.M.A.R.T. support
Built-in BCH ECC (Up to 55 bits correctable per 512 byte sector)
High speed MLC NAND
MO-300 (mSATA) form factor (50.80 x 29.85 x 4.85mm)
User-upgradeable firmware
RoHS, FCC, CE
3-year limited warranty

Cray Unveils the Cray XC30 Supercomputer Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. (NASDAQ: CRAY) today announced the launch of the Company's next generation high-end supercomputing systems -- the Cray XC30 supercomputer. Previously code-named "Cascade," the Cray XC30 supercomputer is the Company's most-advanced high performance computing system ever built. The Cray XC30 combines the new Aries interconnect, Intel Xeon processors, Cray's powerful and fully-integrated software environment, and innovative power and cooling technologies to create a production supercomputer that is designed to scale high performance computing (HPC) workloads of more than 100 petaflops.

"After several years of incredibly hard work focused on completing the most ambitious R&D program in our company's history, today's unveiling of the Cray XC30 supercomputer is an exciting moment for Cray employees and our customers who have been eagerly anticipating what is an amazing new system," said Peter Ungaro, president and CEO of Cray. "As a follow on to our most successful, productive line of supercomputers, the Cray XC30 is the realization of our Adaptive Supercomputing vision and will provide researchers, scientists and engineers with a system that can adapt to fit their most demanding applications. We're off to a great start with more than $100 million in contracts for this system, and we believe the Cray XC30 series of supercomputers will allow a broader base of users to leverage the world's most advanced supercomputing technology." Several leading HPC centers have signed contracts to purchase Cray XC30 supercomputers, including:

The Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano, Switzerland

The Pawsey Centre in Perth, Australia, owned by CSIRO and operated by iVEC

The Finnish IT Center for Science Ltd. (CSC)

The Department of Energy's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) in Berkeley, Calif.

The Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies (ACCMS) at Kyoto University in Kyoto, Japan

The University of Stuttgart's High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) in Germany

The first customer to sign a Cray XC30 contract was HLRS in Stuttgart back in 2010. "The Cray XC30 system will be a valuable supercomputing resource for our researchers and scientists, as well as for our industrial partners in the automotive and aerospace industries," said Prof. Dr. Michael Resch, director of HLRS. "We have worked closely with Cray over the years to ensure our users are equipped with innovative supercomputing systems that are built with leading-edge supercomputing technology, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Cray XC30." The first in a family of products that will span from technical enterprise computing to the largest systems in the world, the Cray XC30 supercomputer has been engineered to meet the real-world performance challenges of HPC users. Cray's new high-end system features the new HPC-optimized Aries system interconnect; a new Dragonfly topology that frees applications from locality constraints; an innovative cooling system that utilizes a transverse airflow to lower customers' total cost of ownership; the next-generation of the scalable, high performance Cray Linux Environment that also supports a wide range of ISV applications; Cray's HPC optimized programming environment; and the ability to handle a wide variety of processor types including the Intel Xeon processors -- a first for Cray's high-end systems. "Today's launch of the new Cray XC30 supercomputer is an exciting moment for Cray, Intel and more importantly, the vast HPC user community, which will be able to take advantage of the computational resources of Cray supercomputers powered by Intel Xeon E5 processors and Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors and supported by Intel's investments in fabric," said Raj Hazra, Intel VP and general manager of Technical Computing Group. "The Cray XC30 system is specifically designed to deliver sustained performance and scalability, providing researchers and scientists with a powerful, reliable and productive tool for achieving breakthrough innovations and discoveries." The Cray XC30 will utilize the Intel Xeon processors E5-2600 product family and with these Intel processors, Cray XC30 systems can scale in excess of one million cores. Additionally, future versions of the Cray XC family of supercomputers will be available with the new Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors and NVIDIA Tesla GPUs based on the next-generation NVIDIA Kepler GPU computing architecture. With these accelerator and coprocessor options, Cray customers will be able to customize a Cray XC supercomputer with the innovative processor technologies that best meets the HPC needs of their scientific applications. Early shipments of the Cray XC30 are starting now, and systems are expected to be widely available in first quarter of 2013. "Cray is a leader in the high-end of the supercomputing industry, and the Cray XC30 system promises to continue the Company's strong standing in the market for designing, building and installing leadership-class supercomputers, such as the 'Titan' system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the 'Blue Waters' supercomputer at the University of Illinois' National Center for Supercomputing Applications," said Earl Joseph, IDC program vice president for HPC. "The Cray XC30 supercomputer also advances Cray's Adaptive Supercomputing vision, which aims to boost application performance for their customers by exploiting hybrid processing." The Cray XC30 supercomputer is made possible in part by Cray's participation in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) High Productivity Computing Systems program. Additional information on the Cray XC30 supercomputer, including product collateral, technical details and a Cray XC30 networking whitepaper can be found on Cray XC30 system page on the Cray website.

Transcend Introduces Wi-Fi SD Memory Cards Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today proudly announced the release of its exciting new Wi-Fi SD memory card that instantly adds wireless capability to an SDHC-compatible digital camera. With the Wi-Fi SD card and the exclusive Wi-Fi SD App, users can take advantage of the high resolution of their digital camera and the versatility of their smartphone or tablet to easily share beautifully shot photos to the world as soon as they are taken. Perfect for Any Occasion The Wi-Fi SD card operates in two modes: Direct Share or Internet Mode. Ideal for use on outdoor photo shoots and vacations, Direct Share Mode is automatically activated as soon as the camera is powered on, allowing peer-to-peer connections between camera and mobile device in any location. Thanks to the convenient Wi-Fi SD App, users can quickly switch to Internet Mode, which allows the Wi-Fi SD card to connect to a nearby Internet hotspot or even use the personal hotspot feature of smartphones and tablets. When connected via Internet Mode, users can browse and download photos from the Wi-Fi SD card and instantly email to friends or upload to their social network profile.

Free Wi-Fi SD App Developed specifically for iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPod touch) and Android devices, the free-to-download Wi-Fi SD App automatically organizes Wi-Fi SD card data into intuitive categories. The convenient, easy-to-use design of the App allows users to effortlessly browse photos, watch videos, download content, and share via Facebook or email. Besides smartphones and tablets, Wi-Fi-enabled desktop computers and notebooks can access media with a similarly user-friendly interface by using a web browser. Instant Shoot & View The Wi-Fi SD App's Shoot & View feature takes advantage of the advanced capabilities of digital cameras and the large screen of mobile devices for a more efficient post-production process. First, simply capture a stunningly detailed picture using a high-megapixel camera, which then appears immediately on the smartphone or tablet. Next, download the image to local memory and manipulate in creative ways using today's sophisticated photo editing apps before sharing with friends and family. Superior Speed & Capacity Featuring the SDHC Class 10 speed rating, Transcend Wi-Fi SD cards provide higher transfer speeds and greater stability than currently available Class 6 cards. Combining excellent performance with a generous 16 GB (US$69) or 32 GB (US$99) capacity, each Wi-Fi SD card provides plenty of space and support for extremely high-resolution digital masterpieces.

LaCie Announces PetiteKey: Smaller Shape, Same Tough Design Today, LaCie announced the PetiteKey -- the next generation of the award-winning LaCie iamaKey. The LaCie PetiteKey kept the sturdy design and convenient key shape with keychain hole. Now it's nearly 30 percent smaller to more easily fit in a pocket or on a key ring. Best of all, with Private-Public software and Wuala Secure Cloud Storage, users can password protect and back up their data. Don't underestimate the PetiteKey's strength because of its small size. The USB key's metal shell is waterproof up to 100 meters. Users never need to worry about their data being damaged or erased by water damage, which is one of the biggest causes of accidental data loss. The thumb drive protects data even if it's dropped in a mud puddle or put through the washing machine. Plus, the key's cap-free connector is scratch-proof, so it won't get scuffed by other keys in a pocket, purse or backpack.

The LaCie PetiteKey is bundled with Private-Public -- the easiest way to protect important and confidential files. A businessman who works from home and at the office needs a safe and secure way to transport data back and forth. The AES 256-bit encryption and password protection keeps his data secure if he misplaces the flash drive. And with a one-to-one gigabyte ratio of integrated Wuala Secure Cloud Storage for one year, users can back up their key's content to the cloud so they have access to their data on the go. AVAILABILITY The LaCie PetiteKey with USB 2.0 was designed by 5.5 Designers. It is available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB capacities through the LaCie Online Store and through LaCie Resellers starting at $14.99. For more product information, visit http://www.lacie.com.

NZXT Adopts 15 mm Fan Spacing Standard Following the introduction of the 280 mm Kraken X60, NZXT is officially adopting the 15 mm fan spacing specification for 140 mm radiators. Prior to this, all NZXT cases with 140 mm radiator support had fans placed 20 mm apart. This was due to a split standard in the industry, leaving some radiator and case manufacturers supporting fans with 20 mm spacing while others supported 15 mm spacing. Since the 15 mm specification has grown to become the widely accepted standard among many companies due to the facilitation of a shorter radiator with better cooling efficiency, NZXT will now adopt the 15 mm spacing specification on all future projects. We would also like to address some concerns this change may bring regarding our previously released products:

Phantom 820 already features the required fan spacing specifications for the NZXT Kraken X60.
Switch 810 has already begun production with revised top steel panels which allows for both 15 mm and 20 mm spacing.
Phantom 410 and Tempest 410 will happily accept the Kraken X40; however they will not be able to natively support the Kraken X60 due to their inherent hole spacing.

At the moment, NZXT's Switch 810 will be the only case receiving revised top steel panels for native Kraken X60 support. If you already own a Switch 810 and wish to purchase an NZXT Kraken X60, you may contact NZXT Support (http://nzxt.com/support) for a free replacement. The revised steel panels utilize screws for its installation, allowing users to easily replace the top steel panel with a standard Phillips head screwdriver. For a complete list of Kraken X40 and Kraken X60 compatibility for both NZXT products and its competitors, please see the table below:

Available Tags:Microsoft , Samsung , Xbox , gaming , Blu-ray ,

Friday, November 9, 2012

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 10/11/2012

Judge Dredd

Dial M for Murder

Dave

Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2

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