Items tagged with TAI
Toshiba has announced a major upgrade to its SD card technology that should make it easier for users to record data to a device, especially HD video that requires fast access times. The company on Tuesday showed off the latest version of its Exceria SD cards. The company's flagship Exceria Pro series will be capable of a 240MBps write speed, which Toshiba says, is the world's fastest. Its standard Exceria SD card will deliver 120MBps write speeds. According to Toshiba, they were able to achieve the faster speeds by taking advantage of the UHS-II ultra-high-speed serial bus interface newly offered in SD Memory Card Standard Version 4.10. The interface is capable of delivering up to 312MBps...
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Late Friday Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's largest wireless carrier, signed an agreement to become the sole distributor of the iPhone in Taiwan. While this in and of itself is great for Apple, which continues to want to expand its iPhone 3G presence across the globe, the more interesting question is: will this mean a possible iPhone expansion to China soon? In a brief emailed press release, Chunghwa Telecom said that it "has signed a contract with Apple, and will provide third- generation iPhone services in Taiwan before the end of the year." The company said that it will be part of Phase Three of Apple's global iPhone 3G rollout; Phase Two was in late August and included 21 new countries to the...
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Well, Wal-Mart may be having trouble keeping up with iTunes as far as being the top music retailer, but it doesn't have iTunes as a competitor among video games. Thus, we are where we are ...eMarketer.com conducted a survey of 2,000 gamers aged 12 to 54, dubbed "Are You Game?" It found that Wal-Mart was the most visited retailer for video games, with Best Buy and GameStop tied for second. The margin was 8%, a pretty large margin, as you can see below.After those three comes Target, and then Circuit City and Amazon, tied. Yes, the "I'm closing 155 stores" Circuit City, you've got it; still decently high in the rankings.So, based on this, not only is Wal-Mart the world's biggest...
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This week there seems to be a subtle (or not so subtle) leaking of Intel Core i7 "ecosystem" supporting products from Intel's various manufacturing partners. In keeping with the buzz that will soon culminate into the launch of Intel's next gen platform, EVGA sends word and a few choice snaps of their HOT new X58 SLI FTW motherboard. EVGA is proud to show a sneak peak of a new motherboard based on the Intel(R) X58 Express Chipset, supporting the upcoming Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 processor. The EVGA X58 SLI FTW motherboard will feature 6 DIMMs of triple-channel DDR3 memory, and a board layout optimized for the enthusiast including 2-way and 3-way SLI support. EVGA VDroop control minimizes VDroop...
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FIRST DETAILS ON A FUTURE INTEL DESIGN CODENAMED ‘LARRABEE’ Intel Corporation is presenting a paper at the SIGGRAPH 2008 industry conference in Los Angeles on Aug. 12 that describes features and capabilities of its first-ever forthcoming “many-core” blueprint or architecture codenamed “Larrabee.” Details unveiled in the SIGGRAPH paper include a new approach to the software rendering 3-D pipeline, a many-core (many processor engines in a product) programming model and performance analysis for several applications.The first product based on Larrabee will target the personal computer graphics market and is expected in 2009 or 2010. Larrabee will be the industry’s first many-core x86 Intel...
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Delivering the World’s First Truly Affordable High-Performance SSD for Consumers at Price Points Less than 50% of Comparable High Performance SSDs Sunnyvale, CA—July 1, 2008—OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and computer components, today unveiled the OCZ Core Series SATA II 2.5” Solid State Drives (SSDs). OCZ has gained momentum in this pioneering technology, which uses NAND flash instead of rotating platters as the storage medium, and is a high-performance, highly reliable and energy-efficient alternative to conventional hard disc drives. The OCZ Core Series delivers the performance and reliability of the latest...
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Analysts at Gartner have estimated that there are already one billion computers in use worldwide right now. That's a big number, but it's the estimated rate of growth in PC ownership that jumps off the page in their report -- 12 percent a year. That means by 2014, they estimate two billion people worldwide will be able to leave bizarre comments on YouTube videos or press the autosum button on a spreadsheet. “Whereas mature markets accounted for just under-60 percent of the first billion installed PCs, we expect emerging markets to account for approximately 70 percent of the next billion installed PCs,” says Gartner research vice president Luis Anavitarte. The firm cites the explosive expansion...
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Starcraft II was announced in May 2007, and Korea went wild. While it may just be coincidence that a number of etailers have posted ship dates for Starcraft II, and that they all picked the same date, is it also a coincidence that Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational Event takes place in Paris on June 28 and 29 this week?Many froth-mouthed fans of Blizzard's intergalactic real-time strategy masterpiece Starcraft have anxiously been awaiting word on when the next installment of the series would land in their anticipatory laps. Blizz has been characteristically tight-lipped about the title's launch window, though we were recently informed that an online SKU search for Starcraft II on Best Buy, Circuit...
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We told you about Dell's attempt to get in on the mini-notebook market a little while ago. Just a glimpse of the lipstick red competitor for the wildly successful Asus Eee PC sent us all into a tizzy. After all, we keep telling manufacturers over and over again we want a smaller, cheaper, sturdier unit to lug around with us that can perform the few functions we need on the go, but handier than your average smartphone. The more details that leak out about the Dell E series of minis, the more it looks like something the average person might buy and use. The 8.9-inch E line, divided into three configs, is designed for what Dell says is "emerging markets" and children as well as "youth social...
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A few weeks ago, we showed you some pictures of what was supposed to be the ASUS Eee Box desktop PC. Initially, the images evoked mixed reactions from readers. Some thought the Eee Box looked just like a Nintendo Wii, while others questioned whether or not the images were real at all.In the weeks that followed, more news regarding the ASUS Eee Box desktop hit the web and any speculation that the images were 'faked' were eliminated. And today, we can finally put an official stamp on the images because ASUS has revealed the final specifications for what will become the first batch of Eee Box desktop systems. Take a look... Name and Model: Eee Box B202OS: Linux System...
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ENEMY TERRITORY: QUAKE WARS™ FOR NEXT-GEN CONSOLESINVADES RETAIL STORES NATIONWIDESANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The alien invasion has begun with the announcement that id Software’s Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars™ published by Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system has shipped to retail stores nationwide. Set in the year 2065, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars pits the armies of Earth’s Global Defense Force (GDF) against the invading alien menace, the Strogg, in an all-out struggle for the fate of the planet. Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars is slated to arrive on...
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The frequent flyers over at Flight are reporting that iPod connectivity to airlines' in-flight entertainment (IFE) systems are starting to take off: "Singapore Airlines last week started supplying iPod and iPhone connectivity on the first of five newly reconfigured all-business Airbus A340-500s. United Airlines is expected to soon offer this feature in the premium cabins of its international widebody fleet, and Air New Zealand has opted for iPod integration as part of a retrofit of Airbus A320s and Boeing 767s with Panasonic's new X Series platform.Panasonic appears well-positioned to capture even more business. It claims to have the only IFE solution that can natively support Apple's authentication...
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Gigabyte is so enthused by Intel's upcoming P45 chipset, it flew a multi-national crew of media from their respective home bases to its own headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan for two days of hands-on testing. During the event, Gigabyte gave us access to four SKUs based on P45 and an early look at a fifth extreme series board that will show off the P45’s flexibility in a $300+ package.We’ll get the bad news out of the way first. Because Intel hasn’t yet launched the P45 chipset (Gigabyte predicted the official unveiling will take place at Computex during the first week of June), none of the benchmarks we ran were allowed to be published—nor should they be, since all of the P45 boards made available...
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Enthusiasts love high-end hardware, and when it comes to Intel chipsets, that means the X48 and X38 Express platforms. The 910GL Express sits at the polar opposite of the company’s lineup, shoring up sales of entry-level systems where price is the principal consideration. In between, you have a massive list of discrete and integrated chipsets with mainstream appeal. These are Intel’s best sellers—the platforms you can find in everything from sub-$100 value boards to $200+ prosumer offerings. The P35, in particular, is a solid win for Intel. From Gigabyte’s $75 P35-S3G to DFI’s $230 LanParty P35 T2R, the mid-range chipset is incredibly flexible because it supports the most popular enthusiast...
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BioWare has produced numerous hit games over the years, and as such they’ve probably suffered more than the average company at the hands of pirates. As a result the company has decided to use SecuROM for some of their upcoming titles, and Technical Director Derek French provides some details: “Mass Effect uses SecuROM and requires an online activation for the first time that you play it. Each copy of Mass Effect comes with a CD Key which is used for this activation and for registration here at the BioWare Community. Mass Effect does not require the DVD to be in the drive in order to play, it is only for installation.After the first activation, SecuROM requires that it re-check with the server...
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For “the rest of us” here is a brief summary of the 2 dozen or so components that are being fixed or upgraded in the next Leopard build:“Among those components in need of evaluation, people familiar with the matter tell AppleInsider, are AddressBook, AppleScript, Audio, Back To My Mac, Dashboard, the Dock, DVD Player, Finder, Graphics, iCal, Mail, Portable Home Directories, Printing, Rosetta, Spaces, Spotlight, Time Machine, and VoiceOver.”While we can understand something like Rosetta requiring extensive and ongoing testing, we're still not quite sure about why DVD Player would need testing. Being a rather simple application, we wonder if it's gaining new features or if Apple is looking...
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With Firefox 3 nearing completion Mozilla's VP of Labs, Chris Beard, decided to start discussing what's next for their browser. Support for the upcoming HTML 5 standard is a given, but Mozilla's vision for the next Firefox is much grander:“Beard's basic push is to un-isolate the browser. He says that after 10 years the browser still remains isolated from your browser on other machines and from your computer environment. This leads to the focal point of Mozilla's efforts for Firefox 4. Mozilla is pushing strongly for two very different new lines of research: Prism and Weave.”Prism's function will be to meld online and offline applications. As Beard described Prism,...
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Formerly known as the netbook, we're now hearing a nearly complete list of details for Intel's new mini-laptop."The 2go features an Intel Celeron M CPU on top of the 915GMS chipset, 512MB of RAM (upgradeable to 1GB), a 9-inch, 800 x 480 LCD display, 40GB hard drive, 802.11b/g, SD / MMC reader, and a full complement of standard ports and jacks. The systems natively run XP (though Linux appears to be an option), feature a VGA webcam, and are expected to go about three hours between full charges."The 2go PC should be available in less than 2 months and is expected to cost about $400. With a price like that and specs like those, one might expect that more than just the education market to take interest....
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AMD's highly successful HD 3800 series of GPUs is about to get a new member, the HD 3830. Since the card hasn't shipped yet, all the details are subject to change. Now on to the details:“AMD's Radeon HD 3830 will be based on the RV670 core and will feature a 128-bit memory bus, potentially providing roughly half the memory bandwidth of the HD 3850 and 3870 depending on the type and speed of memory used. All other features of the 55nm RV670 core are still included: DirectX 10.1, PCIe 2.0 and UVD. The GPU still features 320 stream processors like the HD 3850 and HD 3870 revisions.”Topping out at 256MB of RAM and hitting shelves for $120-$130, the HD 3830 might be an incredible...
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TEAM FORTRESS 2, PORTAL, AND HALF-LIFE 2 EPISODE PACK STAND ALONE RETAIL RELEASEPC Games From The Orange Box Flying Solo Into Retail April 9 and 11March 13, 2008 - Valve, creators of Half-Life® 2 and Counter-Strike®, today announce the retail launch dates for the stand-alone, PC versions of Team Fortress® 2, PortalTM, and the Half-Life 2: Episode Pack are April 9th in North America and April 11th around the globe.Portal - the unique single player game that mixes puzzle, adventure and first-person action - is expected to retail for approximately $19.99.Portal has been named Game of the Year by over 30 publications worldwide and earned 40 more awards for special achievements in game...
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As with all rumors please take the following news item with a grain of salt until we receive official confirmation or denial from Intel. Intel's upcoming x4n series of chipsets doesn't just feature the flagship x48, but an entire range of chipsets to blanket virtually every market segment. One of the market segments that has been heating up recently is the IGP, and Intel doesn't plan to let AMD and NVIDIA run roughshod over them. Initial rumors suggest that their next-generation integrated graphics will offer a serious performance upgrade over the current GMA 3100/3500 cores as well as DX10 support.What about PCIe 2.0 support and 1600MHz FSB? One out of two isn't bad:“All...
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We've been hearing about AMD's “Puma” platform for over a year now, and wondering exactly what it is. Well the waiting is finally over as AMD has finally detailed exactly what the stealthy cat is:“In order to be branded as part of the Puma platform, notebooks must come with a Griffin CPU, RS780M chipset and WiFi adapter -- a discrete graphics card is optional.”We don't have full details on the Griffin CPU at this time, but we do hear that it will feature 1MB L2 cache per core and lacks L3 cache. This makes us wonder if it is a relative of the Phenom, or the venerable Athlon 64, or possibly a new architecture derived from both.The 780M should provide entry-level DX10 support, and this...
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