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Apple iMac 27-inch Review

August 31st, 2010
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We review the latest addition to Apple’s iMac line, which features a 27-inch display, Intel Core i5 processor and pixel-pushing ATI Radeon HD 5750.
Introduction

Few brands can hope to even come close to the iconic iMac in brand recognition. The ubiquitous glass-and-aluminum slab has become a fixture in dorm rooms, offices and living rooms, and with its 2010 refresh, Apple manages to keep the same familiar face, but inject even more power into the tiny chassis by adopting Intel’s Core series processors and full-power desktop graphics cards from AMD. While it may not qualify as a “must upgrade” for existing iMac owners, gamers and other users should be pleasantly surprised by the very real performance boost the new hardware delivers.

Features and Design

Don’t pore over the chassis on the 2010 iMac too carefully looking for a little extra love from designer Jon Ive; Apple has left well enough alone and changed absolutely nothing on the outside this year. When you already own the design, other companies scramble to emulate, it’s a luxury you have. And we’re not complaining. The edge-to-edge glass, black-rimmed bezel, uninterrupted aluminum shell and single white cable trailing out the back look as magnificent this year as they did last year, and we would hate to see Apple can a winning design for a new flavor of the week.

Speaking of which, Apple’s included mouse and keyboard remain as abysmal and overdesigned as ever, looking chic and minimal on an uncluttered desk, but driving function off a cliff to get there. The mouse fits the hand about as comfortably as a stepped-on tuna can, and the limp Chiclet keyboard has been shortened so drastically (it lacks a number pad, which Apple advertises as a feature) that it looks downright comical in front of the towering 27-inch display.

Our iMac came configured from the factory with an Intel Core i5 processor running at 2.8GHz, 4GB of DDR3 memory, an ATI Radeon HD 5750 GPU with 1GB of DDR5 memory, and a 256GB SSD. As equipped, it runs for $2,599 through Apple’s configure-to-order program.

Although our model didn’t come equipped with both an SSD and conventional drive, this year is actually the first that Apple will put both in the same computer. While it’s no feat of engineering, it does offer customers the chance to take advantage of both the speed of an SSD and the raw storage capacity of a magnetic drive.

Display

The 27-inch LCD on the iMac will drop jaws, and not just because it’s utterly massive. Unlike most displays in this size class, which offer 1080p resolution, Apple proceeds past the bounds of high-def content to a full 2560 x 1440. While that means 1080p content will need to be scaled to fit it, the increased pixel density also makes text and graphics on the desktop look significantly smoother, translating to a more refined desktop experience. LED backlighting improves efficiency, eliminates the dim warmup period of CCFL tubes, and looks extraordinarily bright. Although the primitive cast-metal stand won’t telescope up and down the way a pro monitor mount will, it does easily pivot up and down to get the best viewing angle. Not that you’ll need to play with it much – the IPS LCD screen Apple has selected has just about the best viewing angle in the biz – you can look at it from pretty much any angle without much distortion.

Ports and Connections

Per the usual Apple formula, the iMac doesn’t come loaded with ports to spare, but you won’t find many missing, either. Around back, you get four USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, an Ethernet jack, and a mini DisplayPort, which can be used to output VGA, HDMI or DVI video with the appropriate adapter ($29) from Apple. While it cleans up the look of back a bit, we would prefer if Apple skipped the obvious cash grab on the cables and just gave us the standard VGA and DVI outputs right on the box. Along the same lines, Apple provides both analog and optical digital inputs and outputs in stereo, but audio buffs hoping to tie the iMac into a more powerful home theater system might feel left out by the lack of 5.1-channel analog outputs — pretty much a standard feature on PCs. The missing Blu-ray option also stands out as a downright waste, when coupled with a display with as much cinematic potential as this one.

On the right, you’ll find a slot-loading DVD drive and an SDXC expansion port. While SDXC cards only come in capacities up to 64GB at the moment, eventually, the iMac will support capacities all the way up to 2TB, potentially making it as much a storage expansion slot as a media loading slot, if you have the cash.

Speakers

Like laptops, all-in-one computer’s aren’t typically known for sound quality. With just a tiny amount of space to share with motherboards, power inverters and hard drives, speakers typically don’t get much priority.

Fortunately, the iMac’s slim strip of downfiring speakers deliver sound out of proportion with their size, matching what you might get from an inexpensive iPod dock. The humble iMac won’t rock you out the room, but it delivers more than enough volume for video and music, and quality that casual music listeners won’t find much to complain about – as long as bass isn’t a priority.

Testing and Performance

Why drop $750 to add a 256GB solid state drive into an iMac on top of the 1TB drive that comes standard? The same reason hotrodders spend thousands of dollars and countless hours tuning their machines: Speeding away from the light just that much faster. By loading the operating system and applications onto a super-fast SSD, boot times and around-the-desktop performance reach levels a spinning magnetic platter just can’t deliver.

But we’re not talking about thousandths of second here, like on a drag strip. On a cold boot, our iMac reached the desktop in just 19 seconds, obliterating any Windows 7 machine we’ve ever tried, by a significant degree. For instance, the beastly Maingear eX-L 17, which costs nearly $5,000 and leverages dual SSDs in a RAID array, still boots in 38 seconds. As for the iMac, don’t even bother timing its wake up from sleep mode; by the time you can pull out your chair and sit down, it’s ready to roll.

The speed benefits of the SSD also manifest themselves around the desktop, where applications from iTunes to Safari snap open near instantly, creating a desktop that essentially works as fast as you can think.

Though the limited selection of OS X titles limited our typical gaming tests to some degree, performance here shocked us as well… though that might have more to do with the ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory than the SSD. Half Life 2: Episode 2 played at full native resolution with every setting except setting to maximum — even 8x anti-aliasing, without breaking so much as a stutter. And by that we mean average framerates over 100 fps, dipping down only as low as 70 fps during intense combat and graphic effects like water. Sure, it’s a game from 2007 riding on the same engine as a game from 2004, but the sheer level of performance remains jaw-dropping, and one more reason we hope Steam continues to make gaming inroads on OS X.

As equipped, the iMac delivers an Xbench score of 310 and Geekbench score of 6501 — both impressive scores that represent a quantifiable leap forward from last year’s offerings. (The best Core 2 Duo iMacs from 2009, for instance, typically scraped at scores just north of 4600 in Geekbench).
For all the exercise we put the iMac through, it refused to break a sweat. Unlike the Gateway One ZX Series, another all-in-one with gaming credentials, the iMac never became noisy after extended gaming sessions, and it remained cool to the touch.

Conclusion

Apple hasn’t pulled out any magic wands for this year’s release of the iMac — apparently all the fairydust went into the iPad this year — but a fresh batch of silicon still has its rewards. A new line of Intel processors, ATI Radeon graphics cards and more versatile SSD options make the iMac brutally fast on the desktop, and even more shockingly spry in the gaming arena. Wrap it all up in the same well-mannered box that has become a template for industrial designers everywhere, and you have a winning desktop set to continue Apple’s domination in the all-in-one arena.

Highs:

• Drool-worthy 27-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD display
• Top-notch industrial design and build quality
• Ultra-fast bootup with SSD option
• Killer gaming performance with Radeon HD 5750
• Surprisingly ample sound
• Cool and quiet, even during gaming

Lows:
• Abysmal keyboard and mouse
• No analog 5.1-channel outputs, Blu-ray option
• Pricy relative to similarly equipped PCs

Source:http://www.digitaltrends.com/desktop-computer-reviews/apple-imac-27-inch-core-i5-review/

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Dell spends $690,000 lobbying in 2Q

August 31st, 2010
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Personal computer maker Dell Inc. spent $690,000 in the second quarter to lobby the federal government on Defense Department appropriations and other issues, according to a disclosure report.

That’s slightly less than the $730,000 the PC maker spent in the same quarter of 2009.

Dell lobbied Congress on funding for Fort Bliss, Southern Command and the Navy/Marine Corps intranet. It also lobbied the federal government on NASA funding.

The Round Rock, Texas-based company also lobbied Congress on parts of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 related to the deployment of health information technology.

Dell acquired Perot Systems, a technology services company, last year for $3.9 billion, making Dell a major provider of both PC and server hardware and technology support to hospitals. As such, it is likely to benefit from legislation that provides money for hospitals and doctors’ offices to upgrade to electronic medical records systems.

Dell also lobbied Congress and the Department of Education on spending on education technology.

According to the disclosure report, filed July 20, Dell reported it also lobbied the federal government on patent reform, restrictions on the export of electronic waste, cybersecurity and issues related to China’s requirement that new PCs sold in the country have Internet filtering software. China has already backed off the requirement after outcry from computer makers and others.

Source:http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jOf-75XnKE3oNGQ77syUp9fqiBLwD9HUMAL81

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NSF supports safer Internet project

August 31st, 2010
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Cornell computer scientists are sharing in a $7.5 million National Science Foundation grant toward creating a better, more secure Internet.

The three-year grant will allow Cornell and 10 other institutions to revisit many of the core assumptions that have shaped the Internet during its first three decades by creating a project called Nebula, which will be one of four national centers under the NSF’s new Future Internet Architectures program. About $1 million of the total funding will support work under way at Cornell.

“Advances in the hardware used to create routers are, for the first time, making it possible to imagine an Internet that can securely and reliably link users to cloud-computing systems,” said Ken Birman, Cornell’s Rao Professor of Computer Science, who serves on the executive committee that will operate Nebula.

The Nebula researchers envision their work improving lives in everything from hospitals to homes. Birman said, for example, to imagine a patient who needs constant monitoring and adjustments to medication, but wants to live at home.

With Nebula, it should be possible to create computing systems that are secure and reliable enough to let a medical office monitor the patient’s status over the network, adjust medical devices remotely and trigger an instant emergency response.

Two other Cornell researchers are involved in the Nebula project. Hakim Weatherspoon, assistant professor of computer science, is an expert in high-speed communication and power-efficient storage systems. The Nebula project, he said, “will let us pursue new kinds of green computing technology, in which cloud computing data centers shift work around to minimize the power expenditure associated with solving problems.”

Robbert Van Renesse, principal research scientist in the Department of Computer Science, builds systems that can remain healthy even when under attack. He said he is especially excited that Nebula will help Cornell engage some of the communities that need to build ultra-robust systems and haven’t known where to turn, such as the developers of the next generation of computer-supported medical computing systems.

Beyond the medical field, the team sees Nebula applications in finance, controlling the future “smart” electric power grid, and in a wide variety of other important applications. Today’s cloud computing systems are cost-effective but not very trustworthy, the researchers say.

Other Nebula participants include Internet researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (the overall project leader); Stanford University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of California-Berkeley; University of Washington; Princeton University; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; University of Texas-Austin; Stevens Institute; and University of Delaware.

Source:http://www.ecnmag.com/News/2010/08/NSF-supports-safer-Internet-project/

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5 sure-fire tips for buying a new computer

August 31st, 2010
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Sο уου′re thinking οf buying a nеw computer…

Whеrе dο уου ѕtаrt? Thеrе аrе ѕο many brands аnd models οf computers available, аnd іt саn аll bе a lіttlе overwhelming whеn уου ѕtаrt tο look around.

Hοw dο уου dесіdе whаt type οf computer уου need? And perhaps more importantly, hοw dο уου dесіdе whаt thе best value іѕ?

I hаνе sold computers professionally fοr аlmοѕt 20 years, аnd thеrе аrе сеrtаіn “tricks οf thе trade” thаt mοѕt computer stores аnd salespeople υѕе. Knowing thеѕе secrets саn mаkе уουr dесіѕіοn easier аnd wіll hеlр уου bυу thе rіght computer fοr уουr needs.

1. Bυу Whаt Yου Need, Maybe a Lіttlе More

One οf thе mοѕt іmрοrtаnt things уου саn dο whеn buying a nеw computer іѕ mаkе a list οf thе things thаt уου wіll bе using іt fοr. Thеrе аrе ѕο many different models – wіth different capabilities – thаt уου саn easily bυу more, οr less, thаn уου really need іf уου don’t.

If thіѕ іѕ уουr first computer, thіѕ саn bе a lіttlе tougher. Until уου′ve used a computer, іt’s hard tο know exactly whаt уου mіght want tο dο wіth іt beyond thе obvious, lіkе connecting tο thе internet.

Regardless, уου ѕhουld thіnk аbουt ѕοmе οf thе things уου mіght want tο dο. Sοmе possibilities include:

- Connect tο thе internet
- Play games
- Digital photography
- Digital video
- Type documents
- Accounting
- Design websites
- Programming
- Digital scrapbooking
- Geneology

Sοmе οf thеѕе things need more power thаn others. Fοr example, connecting tο thе internet really doesn’t need a lot οf power. Even thе mοѕt basic computer available wіll probably work јυѕt fine.

Digital video аnd many games need a lot more power. If уου don’t gеt a fаѕt enough computer wіth enough memory, уου′ll bе disappointed wіth thе performance.

Knowing whаt уου′re going tο bе using уουr computer fοr wіll hеlр уουr salesperson, whether thеу′re οn thе phone, thе internet οr standing іn front οf уου, recommend thе best system fοr уουr needs.

Aѕ a general rule уου′re always better οff buying more power thаn уου need rаthеr thаn less, bυt buying tοο much саn bе a waste οf money.

2. Warranty Considerations

Computer warranties аrе one οf thе mοѕt confusing аnd obscure раrtѕ οf уουr рυrсhаѕе. Mοѕt manufacturers hаνе сυt back οn thеіr customer service tο thе point whеrе poor service hаѕ become a given.

Thе three mοѕt common options аrе onsite, carry-іn οr manufacturer’s depot service.

Onsite service саn bе helpful, bυt thіnk аbουt whether уου want tο hаνе tο bе available fοr a technician tο come аnd diagnose уουr computer, аnd possibly hаνе tο come back wіth раrtѕ аt another time.

Carry іn service іѕ a gοοd option, bυt find out whether thе service center іѕ factory authorized fοr warranty repairs, аѕ well аѕ whether thе technicians аrе аll certified.

Shipping уουr computer tο a factory service center саn take a long time – sometimes a number οf weeks. It аlѕο сrеаtеѕ risk thаt уουr computer wіll bе dаmаgеd οr even lost іn shipping. In ѕοmе cases, thе manufacturer wіll even replace уουr computer wіth another unit аnd ship іt back tο уου, rаthеr thаn repairing іt. Thіѕ саn result іn уουr losing аnу information thаt wаѕ οn уουr system аnd having tο reload аll уουr software.

Another aspect οf thе warranty tο find out аbουt іѕ technical support. Find out іf thе computer manufacturer offers a toll-free phone number аnd whаt thе quality οf service іѕ lіkе.

Thе better computer salespeople wіll bе hοnеѕt аbουt thіѕ аnd tеll уου іf a company’s service leaves something tο bе desired. Yου саn аlѕο dο ѕοmе research οn thе internet – mοѕt οf thе computer magazines lіkе PC Magazine аnd PC World hаνе annual customer service comparisons thаt rate thе lаrgеr computer companies.

Always find out hοw thе warranty іѕ handled before mаkіng уουr dесіѕіοn. Even іf іt doesn’t influence уουr сhοісе, knowing whаt tο expect іf something dοеѕ gο wrοng wіll save ѕοmе nasty surprises down thе road.

3. Cаn Yου Negotiate thе Price Down?

A computer іѕ a relatively large investment – anywhere frοm a few hundred tο a few thousand dollars. Many computer buyers expect thаt thеrе іѕ a significant amount οf “wiggle room” οn thе price.

Thе reality іѕ thаt mοѕt computer hardware – thе physical pieces lіkе thе computer, monitor аnd printer – іѕ sold аt very low profit margins. Oftеn, computer systems аrе even sold аt οr below thе dealer cost. Whеn уου′re buying a computer, іt never hυrtѕ tο аѕk fοr a better deal, bυt don’t bе surprised іf уου οnlу gеt a few dollars οff, іf anything.

Over thе close tο 20 years I’ve sold computers, I watched thе profit margins gο frοm over 40% tο less thаn 5%. It’s аlmοѕt embarassing tο offer a $20 discount οn a $2500 computer system, bυt thаt сουld mean thе dіffеrеnсе between mаkіng аnd losing money οn thе sale.

Whаt уου саn dο tο gеt thе best price іѕ tο dο ѕοmе comparison shopping. Mοѕt computer stores offer price-matching guarantees, ѕο іf уου find уουr computer fοr less аt another store, mοѕt dealers wіll match οr beat thаt price, even іf іt means thеу lose money.

4. Hοw Dο Computer Stores Mаkе Anу Money?

Yου mіght bе wondering hοw thеѕе computer stores mаkе аnу money іf thеу′re selling computer fοr ѕο lіttlе profit.

Thеіr money іѕ mаdе οn add-οn items. Thе highest profit areas іn mοѕt computer stores аrе cables аnd “consumable” products such аѕ printer ink аnd paper.

Printer ink іѕ a hυgе money-maker fοr mοѕt computer stores (even more ѕο fοr thе printer manufacturers). Whу іѕ thіѕ? Once уου′ve bουght a printer, уου′re going tο hаνе tο replace уουr ink аt ѕοmе point, аnd continue tο replace іt аѕ іt runs out.

Mοѕt chain computer stores аnd office supply stores thаt carry a large selection οf ink cartridges mаkе more frοm ink thаn thеу dο frοm thе computers themselves.

Cables аlѕο hаνе hυgе markups. A cable thаt costs thе store $2-3 wіll οftеn sell fοr $20-30. Thаt’s ten times thеіr cost!

If уου′re buying a nеw computer, уου wіll lіkеlу need tο bυу ѕοmе cables. Sοmе items – printers, fοr example – don’t οftеn include thе cables needed tο hook thеm up.

Many printers аlѕο come wіth “starter” ink cartridges thаt аrе οnlу half-full. Yου mіght аlѕο want tο pick up ѕοmе extra ink cartridges.

Thіѕ іѕ whеrе уου ѕhουld bе аblе tο negotiate a better price. Don’t expect thе salesperson tο throw thеm іn fοr nothing, bυt thеу ѕhουld bе willing tο offer уου a better price. Aftеr аll, іf уου′re hарру wіth thеіr service, уου′ll probably continue tο bυу уουr ink, paper аnd οthеr products frοm thаt store іn thе future.

5. Whаt Software іѕ Included?

Thе last secret οf buying a nеw computer hаѕ tο dο wіth thе software thаt іѕ included. Mοѕt nеw computer systems include quite a few programs аnd sometimes thе value οf thе software саn bе quite high.

Something tο watch out fοr whеn looking аt thе included software іѕ “trial versions” οr “limited editions”.

Many programs thаt аrе preloaded аrе еіthеr crippled versions thаt don’t hаνе аll thе features οf thе full program, οr trial versions thаt wіll οnlу rυn fοr a сеrtаіn amount οf time before thеу expire.

Computer аrе οftеn sold wіth trial versions οf thе following types οf software:

- antivirus
- firewall
- MS Office οr οthеr office suites
- Accounting – both business аnd personal

Thе computer manufacturers generally don’t mаkе іt easy tο tеll whether thе software οn thеіr systems аrе trial versions οr limited versions. Thіѕ іѕ a qυеѕtіοn thаt уου ѕhουld specifically аѕk іf уου саn’t find thе аnѕwеr іn thеіr promotional information.

If уου′re buying a nеw computer wіth trial versions οf thе software, keep іn mind thаt уου wіll need tο pay tο continue using іt аftеr thе trial period іѕ over. Thіѕ іѕ аn added cost thаt уου need tο consider аѕ раrt οf уουr overall budget.

Thеѕе five “secrets” οf buying a nеw computer аrе fаіrlу common sense, bυt thеу аrе nοt always mаdе clear up front. Knowing whаt tο аѕk wіll hеlр уου іn two ways. First, уου саn bе sure уου аrе getting thе rіght computer fοr уουr needs.

Second, іf thе salesperson οr company thаt уου′re dealing wіth ехрlаіnѕ thеѕе things tο уου without being аѕkеd, уου′ll know уου′re dealing wіth someone whο іѕ hοnеѕt аnd upfront.

Knowing уου саn trust thе people уου′re dealing wіth іѕ аn invaluable feature οf уουr nеw computer system.

Source:http://electroarticles.com/5-sure-fire-tips-for-buying-a-new-computer/14784/

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Northrop grumman vows to fix virginia computer problems

August 31st, 2010
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A day after Gov. Bob McDonnell called for an independent, third-party investigation into Virginia’s massive computer failure, the state’s vendor, Northop Grumman’s vowed to learn from the problems of the last week and correct them.

“We cannot afford to let any vulnerability in the infrastructure go unresolved,” vice president Sam Abbate said in the company’s first statement to the media since the computer failure. “We have an obligation to [Virginia Information Technologies Agency] and the agencies and citizens they serve, to learn everything we can from this occurrence. We will conduct a root cause analysis, carefully analyze and review the findings, develop lessons learned and make necessary changes.”

McDonnell announced in April that the state had reworked its massive $2.4 billion computer services contract with Northrop Grumman, extending the 10-year agreement by three years and agreeing to pay the company over $100 million more than originally envisioned. State officials say the company’s financial penalties are likely to exceed $100,000.

Major repairs have been completed at 24 of the 27 state agencies affected when a hardware malfunction of a state government data storage system occurred. The Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Board of Elections and the Department of Taxation are still affected, and DMV licensing services will not be back online Wednesday. Six other agencies are experiencing minor problems.

“Northrop Grumman supports the Governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell’s call for an independent analysis of the situation, from the cause of the initial failure, through the process of restoration that has taken place,” Abbate said. “Our commitment to this partnership is absolute and we are dedicated to making the Commonwealth’s information technology infrastructure the very best of its kind.”

Source:http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/08/northrop_grumman.html

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Cloud computing: new name, same old tech

August 31st, 2010
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The cloud computing toke fun at the idea itself, but at the buzzword and, quite obviously, he criticizes those who claim to have invented cloud computing just recently. Sure, he has a point, there is a pretty substantial marketing cloud that is surrounding cloud computing. But I can’t help but think that Ellison was still frustrated that no one wanted to buy his NC. There is more to cloud computing than most of us know today.
Ellison is known to be outspoken. We just witnessed this again in the HP-Hurd case where he certainly did not hold back any thoughts. He was quite vocal about cloud computing as well. It is a video that is worth watching, but keep in mind that the video was taken in 2009 and we are now in 2010. I would argue that our perception of cloud computing has changed dramatically since last year, we are much more educated about it than we were last year and I would almost bet that Ellison would not say everything in the same way as he said it in this video.
However, even in 2009, there was so much wrong with his statements. He claims cloud computing is not just the future – it is the present and it has been the past. Essentially, to Ellison, cloud computing represents a bunch of connected computers or, in short, the Internet.
Really? A quick look to Wikipedia, which has an excellent explanation of cloud computing, reveals that Ellison’s statements were false and if you found yourself laughing with the audience, then it just shows that we still do not know exactly what the meaning, implications and benefits of cloud computing are. Or, we just laugh, because Ellison can make the phone book sound funny. But I believe that he sits on his own Silicon Valley billionaire cloud and his perspective excludes the rest of us.

Source:-http://www.tomshardware.com/news/cloud-computing-online-networks,11203.html

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AMD Nixing ATI Label In Brand Consolidation Move

August 31st, 2010
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About four years after chip maker AMD said it would purchase graphics processor company and Radeon maker ATI, the parent company said this week it would retire the ATI label for a more focused branding strategy, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported.

The cancellation of the brand means that a label closely associated with PC gaming will be gone after about 25 years of existence.

But AMD believes that dropping “ATI” is for the better. Slides sent to PC hardware outlets including HotHardware had AMD arguing that, according to a survey, graphics card users find that the AMD brand is stronger than ATI, and “Radeon” and “FirePro” brands by themselves have very high awareness. The subsequent change in branding will not affect AMD’s product line or plans, the company said.

The ATI label is currently attached to FirePro workstation graphics accelerators, mutli-display tech Eyefinity and the popular Radeon line of graphics cards. AMD announced it would acquire ATI in 2006, and later bought the company for $5.4 billion.

The branding consolidation will happen with the Q4 2010 introduction of AMD’s new line of next generation accelerated processing units (“APUs”) that combine CPU and GPU capabilities into one piece of hardware. Existing products will retain the ATI brand, the company said.

In many instances, the ATI logo is displayed on products such as computing hardware, PCs or business partners’ websites, with no mention of AMD (some of AMD’s survey respondents weren’t aware of the affiliation between AMD and ATI). However, AMD is hoping that new branding that prominently shows AMD’s name alongside product offerings could raise the parent company’s profile among gamers.

Source:-http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/30188/AMD_Nixing_ATI_Label_In_Brand_Consolidation_Move.php

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