Lenovo revealed the upcoming ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop which the company is calling the lightest 14-inch Ultrabook in the industry. This ultrabook weighs less than three pounds thanks in part to its premium carbon fiber rollcage. Other key features include 3G connectivity, Lenovo RapidCharge, and Intel vPro technology. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook will be available this summer.

Lenovo also announced a new portfolio of ThinkPad laptops in the T, X, L and W Series. The new models feature 3rd Generation Intel Core processors, Lenovo Enhanced Experience 3.0 (EE 3.0) with RapidBoot technology, and a new ThinkPad Precision keyboard. Select models also offer 4G LTE mobile broadband connectivity. Among the new models you’ll find the ultraportable ThinkPad X230, the ThinkPad X230t convertible tablet, the ThinkPad T430/430s/530, the ThinkPad W530 mobile workstation, and the ThinkPad L430 and L530 business-oriented laptops. Lenovo also announced improved ThinkPad USB 3.0 docking solutions. The new ThinkPad laptops will be available in early June.

Accelerate Channel Partner Conference in Las Vegas previewed the upcoming ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop, the lightest 14-inch Ultrabook™ in the industry.1 With an amazingly thin and extremely powerful design, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon shatters the mold of traditional laptops. Also today, Lenovo announced a new portfolio of ThinkPad laptops in the T, X, L and W Series built to power small businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and large corporations. The laptops range from models designed for extreme portability to mobile workstation performance.

ThinkPad X1 Carbon: The Lightest Professional Ultrabook

Created for those who demand the highest levels of performance, mobility, entertainment and design, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon exceeds Ultrabook™ specifications by using a premium carbon fiber rollcage to create a durable UltrabookTM weighing less than three pounds. Other premium features include 3G connectivity for anywhere anytime access, Lenovo RapidCharge for a near-full battery charge in 30 minutes, and Intel vPro technology for manageability.

“We crafted the ThinkPad X1 Carbon with premium carbon fiber material in order to make it incredibly thin and light, yet durable,” said Lu Yan, senior vice president, Think Product Group, Lenovo. “Our new ThinkPad laptop portfolio embodies much of the innovative thinking exemplified in the X1 Carbon, such as a backlit keyboard, super-bright high definition display, Dolby® Home Theatre® and rich communications features that balance business performance with personal use.”

ThinkPad Portfolio: Class-Leading Laptops

The new ThinkPad X, T, W, and L Series models include a platform of innovations that respond to key business needs. Featuring 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ processors and Lenovo Enhanced Experience 3.0 (EE 3.0) with RapidBoot technology, the laptops boot 40 percent faster than a typical Windows® 7 computer.2 Also the new ThinkPad Precision Keyboard extends across the new lineup and features a backlit option and modern, clean design. For a clear and rich audio-visual experience, the laptops include Dolby audio and super-bright 300 NIT HD+ panels. Communication becomes simple with the introduction of 4G long term evolution (LTE)/mobile broadband on select ThinkPad laptop models and the introduction of Lenovo’s upcoming contract-free mobile broadband. The new ThinkPad laptop family consistently exceeds military specifications giving mobile professionals the confidence to work anywhere under almost any condition.

A Road Warrior’s Dream – ThinkPad X230 Ultraportable

Designed for business professionals on-the-go, the ThinkPad X230 laptop delivers top performance with an amazing 24 hours of battery life packed into a compact, lightweight form.3 Despite its small size, the laptop’s ergonomic design with the optional Precision Backlit Keyboard makes the laptop comfortable and easy to use. A road warrior’s dream weighing less than three pounds, the ThinkPad X230 laptop features a super-bright 12.5-inch, 300 nit IPS wide-viewing display. Its 4G mobile broadband, a first for ThinkPad laptops, delivers blazing fast wireless connectivity.

Flexible and Powerful – ThinkPad X230t Ultraportable Tablet

The ThinkPad X230t convertible tablet with pen combines the functionality and performance of a 12-inch ultraportable laptop with the mobility and flexibility of a tablet computer. In addition to many of the same features as the X230, the X230t also has a convenient optional touch screen and is complemented by adding the optional ThinkPad laser mouse.

Uncompromised Power and Performance – ThinkPad T430/430s/530

Lenovo’s T Series laptops offer ThinkPad’s best combination of mobility and performance. Work endlessly with up to 32.5 hours of battery life on some configurations and perform at the highest levels with features like optional NVIDIA® discrete graphics.4 The T430s is the ThinkPad line’s lightest 14-inch laptop featuring docking and vPro. The Series’ best-selling T430 also has a very compact form. For users who want a larger screen size in a thin light form factor, the T530 offers a 15-inch full HD display with a 95 percent color gamut. Other performance and mobility features on the T Series laptops include USB 3.0, Lenovo RapidCharge and 4G mobile broadband.

Mobile Workstation Made Easy – ThinkPad W530

Packed with strong laptop performance, the ThinkPad W530 is an independent software vendor (ISV)-certified workstation for those who require extreme processor and/or graphic performance combined with mobility. The full HD, 270 nit wide-viewing angle display meets intensive GPU requirements with its 95 percent color gamut and a built-in color calibrator. Up to four additional displays can be connected when paired with the ThinkPad Dock. Ideal for designers who need a bright, clear and colorful screen that shows true color consistency, this mobile workstation also includes NVIDIA® Quadro® mobile graphics processors with second generation Optimus™ power management technology. The ThinkPad W530 comes ready to handle out-of-the-box with multiple professional applications such as CAD/CAM, GIS and 3D modeling.

True to the Core – ThinkPad L430/530

Combined with the great features of the ThinkPad portfolio, the ThinkPad L430 and L530 laptops provide business users with an affordable PC without sacrificing performance. With a thinner and lighter design over its predecessor, the new L Series offers a high definition (HD) screen in either a 14-inch or 15-inch option.

Super Speed Docking – ThinkPad Series 3/USB 3.0 Dock

Users can maximize the power of the latest ThinkPad laptops with improved ThinkPad docking solutions. Lenovo enhanced the ThinkPad Series 3 docking stations with a USB 3.0 port that delivers 10 times the performance of USB 2.0. As the most compact USB 3.0 docking solution, the all new USB 3.0 Dock also packs in five SuperSpeed USB 3.0 data ports, dual beyond-HD video out, gigabit Ethernet and always-on mobile device charging. With common ThinkPad docking solutions, batteries, and power supplies, IT managers can swap hardware among employees to maximize their resources and minimize cost.

Industry Leading Services and Support

All ThinkPad laptops include Lenovo worldwide service and support including local language tech support. Lenovo offers a wide range of solutions for large businesses that help save IT departments time and money including transition services, accidental damage protection service and priority support. Additionally, Lenovo is offering a new option for Onsite Technician Installation of Customer Replaceable Units (CRUs) for ThinkPad laptops, which includes memory modules, optical drive, power supply, PCI cards, fan assembly and hard disk drive. This upgraded warranty option provides an authorized repair technician to install a part onsite to help less technical customers or those located away from company IT support desks.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Lenovo-Shows-Off-NextGen-Business-Ultrabook-Introduces-New-ThinkPad-Laptops/

Microsoft will charge users who buy a new Windows 7 PC $14.99 for an upgrade to Windows 8, according to a report.

The cost of the upgrade was revealed yesterday by Paul Thurrott, a popular blogger who writes SuperSite for Windows.

An earlier report by CNET had claimed that Microsoft would charge a fee for the upgrade, but had not spelled out the amount. CNET said that the program would kick off alongside the delivery of Windows 8 Release Preview.

Microsoft has said it will ship the preview the first week of June. If the company follows the same schedule it used in 2009 to deliver Windows 7’s release candidate, the most likely date is Tuesday, June 5.

Eligible customers must purchase a new Windows 7-powered PC between June 2012 and January 2013.

Unlike the past two upgrades — a 2006 program for Windows XP-to-Vista and the 2009 deal for Vista-to-Windows 7 — Microsoft will this time not upgrade users to the corresponding Windows 8 edition, but instead will provide everyone with Windows 8 Pro, the higher-end version of the two that will be widely available at retail, said both Thurrott and CNET.

The two previous upgrade plans offered the newer operating system for either no cost or for a small fee. Details varied, as computer makers fulfilled the offer, with some demanding small fees while others provided the upgrade free of charge.

Some OEMs had given customers free upgrades to earlier editions as well. In 1998, Gateway, for years a Dell rival in the direct sales market, offered free Windows 98 upgrades to people who bought a Windows 95 machine prior to the former’s release.

Although Microsoft has not divulged upgrade pricing for Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro, if it sticks to its current scheme, those versions will run customers $120 and $200, respectively. Microsoft’s $15 charge for the Windows 8 Pro upgrade would then represent a discount of nearly 93%.

Apple, which is also releasing a new operating system upgrade this year, has not announced an upgrade program. Last year it offered customers a free copy of OS X 10.7, or Lion, if they bought a Mac equipped with Snow Leopard.

Apple’s OS pricing, however, has been significantly lower than Microsoft’s of late: Upgrades to OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, and Lion ran users $29 and $30, respectively.

Users ineligible for the low-cost Windows 8 upgrade may be able to score a copy at a substantial discount if Microsoft’s promise of “limited-time programs and promotions” results in a repeat of the aggressive deal the company ran for Windows 7 pre-sales.

In mid-2009, Microsoft sold Windows 7 upgrades for between 50% and 58% off the sticker price, then delivered those orders after the late-October launch of the OS.

Source:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227169/Microsoft_to_charge_15_for_Windows_8_upgrade_deal

Intel’s 3rd-generation Core i7 CPUs are certainly forces to be reckoned with, but they aren’t the best option for most businesses. In order to give enterprise users an option, too, the company’s introducing a 3rd wave of their Core vPro CPUs. These units are shipping now, aimed at notebooks (Ultrabooks included) across the IT landscape.

To defend against identity theft, Intel introduced Intel Identity Protection Technology with public key infrastructure into Intel Core vPro processors. The technology provides a new second layer of authentication embedded into the PC that allows websites and business networks to validate that a legitimate user is logging in from a trusted PC by using a private key stored in a PC’s firmware. Intel has been working with solution providers and online Web properties such as Feitian, InfoSERVER, Symantec and VASCO to take advantage of Intel IPT technology to ultimately safeguard users’ identity. Clearly, enterprise features are at the heart of these chips.

The Intel Core vPro Processor family includes Intel Active Management Technology (Intel AMT) to remotely manage computing issues. For example, retailers with point-of-sale machines, digital signs or other intelligent devices can remotely diagnose and fix problems over the network. Further details can be found in the Via link below; no word on when actual machines with the new vPro gear will start to ship, though.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Intel-Touts-3rdGen-Core-vPro-CPUs-Security-And-IT-Focused/

The Ultrabook category is still alive and well, and in fact, still growing. Sony has just announced a new VAIO S, available in 13.3″ and 15.5″ screen sizes. The S Series 13 and 15 will ship with rigid cases crafted from magnesium, aluminium and carbon fibre (depends on model), with the S Series 15 models tipping the scales at below 2kg. All S Series feature a new slot-in optical drive (Blu-ray Disc or DVD), and the VAIO Display Premium is also available on S Series 13 models. Larger screen-size S Series 15 models feature a Full HD VAIO Display Plus, offering super-wide viewing angles.

Inside, you’ll get 3rd-gen Intel Core i7 quad-core CPUs, an optional SSD, NVIDIA GeForce hybrid graphics, and support for a docking station. There’s also an optional sheet battery that boosts battery life up to 14 hours for those long international flights. That’s impressive, right there. There’s no word on pricing yet, but as usual, we’re expecting the VAIO premium to remain.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Sony-Announces-13-and-15-VAIO-S-Series-Laptops/

LONG AWAITED PC and Mac gaming sequel Diablo III is upon us, bringing with it a raft of role-playing action glories.
It looks likely that Diablo III will be an absolute smash and Blizzard said that it has already taken some two million pre orders, which is a lot of swords, sandals, and elfs in anyone’s book.

Blizzard starting selling the game at midnight in launches around the world, and said that its users are already storming things in pursuit of a character called the Lord of Terror.

“This launch is a culmination of many years of hard work by our development team, and many years of passionate, dedicated support from gamers around the world,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment.

“We’re grateful for the enthusiasm of our players, and for the help of our beta testers in getting the game ready for release. Now that Diablo III is live, we hope everyone’s ready to have a hellishly good time slaying demons and collecting loot in Sanctuary.”
There are a couple of options for people buying hard copy versions, including one that sells for around the £100 mark and offers purchasers DVDs, a soundtrack and a bunch of other gew gaws.

In the understated title, players must don one of five guises – barbarian, witch doctor, wizard, monk, or demon hunter – and try to save the world of Sanctuary, a name that at best sounds misleading.

The popularity of the game might be its own worst enemy today, however, as gamers are already complaining that the servers are too overcrowded.
Players frustrated about this took to Twitter under the hashtag Error37. Searching for that term on the micro-blog brings up some colourful responses to the apparently common message.

Blizzard has acknowledged the problem in its Diablo III support pages. There it says that if users are having difficulties logging into the Battle.net then they should try logging in and out again.

“It is possible to get ERROR 37 (The servers are busy, please try again) when logging in if the servers are under heavy stress,” it said in its message to the collection of waiting barbarians, witch doctors, wizards, monks, and demon hunters.

Source:http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2174867/diablo-iii-arrives-pc-mac

Advanced Micro Devices hopes to provide thin-and-light laptops that are less expensive but equally speedy to Intel’s Ultrabooks with its new A-series chips, which the company officially announced on Tuesday.

The A-series chips, code-named Trinity, will enable laptops to be made that are comparable in size, weight and battery life to Intel’s Ultrabooks, said John Taylor, director of global product marketing at AMD. Users won’t have to pay “premium prices” for Trinity ultrathin laptops, which will be significantly cheaper than Intel’s Ultrabooks.

Laptops with Trinity chips will be priced at “mainstream prices,” and offer battery life of up to nine hours, Taylor said. AMD has said that Trinity laptops could start at $500, while Intel’s Ultrabooks starting prices of $750 to $800. Intel hopes to bring that down to $699 by the year end.

Laptops with Trinity chips will offer around eight hours of battery life, Taylor said. The chips will go into laptops up to 22 millimeters thick, just a hair over the 21-mm maximum set by Intel for Ultrabooks, AMD’s Taylor said. The chips will draw around 17 watts of power, similar to the upcoming Intel’s Ivy Bridge Ultrabook chips.

AMD will also provide quad-core Trinity chips for ultrathins, Taylor said. Intel has said Ultrabooks for now would be limited to dual-core processors, but quad-core chips could give AMD-based laptops a performance advantage.

“We have differing approaches [to Intel],” Taylor said. “You will see a spread of price points and configurations that will create more lower price points for consumers to jump in.”

The A-series chips will initially appear in systems from five PC makers, with hundreds of designs in the works, Taylor said. Hewlett-Packard last week introduced thin-and-light Envy Sleekbook laptops with options including AMD’s latest A-series chips starting at $599. That is $150 cheaper than HP’s new Envy Ultrabooks, which have Intel processors and start at $749.99.

HP said that Envy Ultrabooks and Sleekbooks offer similar battery life of eight to nine hours. HP also said that while Sleekbooks with AMD were strong on graphics, the Intel Ultrabooks were slightly thinner and lighter, offer better resume time from standby and also have antitheft features.

AMD’s Trinity chips come a month ahead of Intel’s launch of third-generation Core chips for Ultrabooks, code-named Ivy Bridge. Intel is pouring $300 million into the development of Ultrabooks, which will have tablet-like features such as instant boot, touchscreens and all-day connectivity. AMD said Trinity-based laptops will ultimately have features like touchscreens and high-resolution screens.

PC makers want to offer laptops at every price point, and designs are tweaked to get the smallest size and best battery life, said Dean McCarron, analyst at Mercury Research. AMD’s calling card in the past has been lower pricing.

AMD excels on graphics, but there are questions about whether the company’s chips can match Intel on power efficiency, McCarron said. AMD’s Trinity chips are a manufacturing generation behind Intel, whose upcoming Ultrabook chips will have 3D transistors and will be made using the 22-nanometer process.

The new chips replaces the current line A-series line of processors code-named Llano announced in June last year. AMD has improved the CPU, which is 25 percent faster than comparable Llano chips, and graphics core, which is 50 percent faster. The Trinity chips have a new CPU core code-named Piledriver, which succeeds the previous Bulldozer core used on the high-end FX desktop and Opteron server chips.

The first Trinity chips include low-power chips that could go into thin and low-power laptops. The dual-core A6-4455M chip runs at a clock speed of 2.6GHz and draws 17 watts of power, while the quad-core A10-4655M chip runs at 2.8GHz and draws 25 watts. The company also announced three 35-watt A-series chips.

Desktops and all-in-ones with Trinity chips will come next month, Taylor said. PCs with the new chips are ready for Windows 8 — for example the Metro user interface is offloaded to the graphics processor, leaving the CPU free to take on additional tasks.

The Trinity release comes as AMD rebuilds its product portfolio and restructures its business model. The company appointed former Lenovo executive Rory Read as CEO in August last year, and new chief technology officer Mark Papermaster was appointed in October.

The management changes didn’t alter the Trinity chip design, Taylor said. Going forward, the company is trying to maintain chip flexibility so it can include third-party intellectual property, in line with a change in chip design methodology set forth by the company on analyst day in February.

Source:http://www.infoworld.com/d/computer-hardware/amd-aims-undercut-intels-ultrabooks-price-new-trinity-chips-193180?page=0,1

Most computer users live in fear of a crashed computer and lost data, or are frustrated by a computer that seems to take hours to perform the simplest task. The trick is to learn from these problems and either fix the computer before the worst happens, or at least make sure it never happens again.
This is not work that can only be performed by experts. Even a blue screen can be helpful, since Windows uses it to deliver a Bug Check Code, which gives some hint about the cause of the problem.

Thus, the message KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED indicates a problem with a driver. Microsoft provides a complete list of all check codes — and possible solutions — online. Such tips are necessary; otherwise any effort to fix a computer can quickly turn into a waste of time.

“Unfortunately, the diagnosis is anything but easy,” says Hans Ludwig Stahl, director of the Institute for Computer Science at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. Problems can stem from issues with either hardware or software. Or the PC could be having resource issues related to working memory or hard drive space.

Viruses and other forms of malware can also make the computer unusable, which is why everyone should have up-to-date anti-virus software.

Stahl recommends seeking the source of the problem in the recent past. “Maybe the problem cropped up right after putting in a new piece of hardware or installation of some new software.” If that’s the case, remove the potential source of the problem as a test. Maybe the computer will work fine without it.

Sometimes combinations of hardware, software and operating system simply don’t work, says Stahl. “That can always happen with open systems like Windows.”

In a worst case scenario, that can mean living without the problem hardware or software. Sometimes a patch or a new driver from the Web site of a manufacturer can help. Or maybe the computer just wasn’t prepared properly for the new hardware. For example, new working memory will only function with the right settings for BIOS, the foundation of the PC’s firmware.

In such a case, beginners should leave any major changes to experts.

Source:http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Learn-from-Computer-Crashes–Delays/story.xhtml?story_id=033003ONXY30

Table computers like the Merel mTouch and the Samsung SUR40 running Microsoft’s Surface software (nee PlayTable nee Project Milan nee Microsoft Table) have been a thing for a while now. The basic idea is very simple, just the iPad writ large–a giant, HD-quality, touch-sensitive screen, backed by a reasonably powerful PC.

But hardware like that will set you back four or eight grand, respectively, putting it out of reach of all but the most dedicated hobbyists and institutions, and so table computers have consequently seen little uptake. A device like that makes a nice CES demo, and there are lots of cool /ideas/ swirling around it, but at that price point basically nobody can afford to use it, so nobody is really sure what it’s worthwhile to /do/ with it.

The Playsurface Kickstarter aims to change that. It’s an open-source, open-hardware touch table that can be used as a peripheral for an external computer or with an integrated computer as a table computer. In order to get high enough screen resolution at a reasonable cost, the Platsurface team is using an extremely short-throw projector (rather than the expensive high-resolution active displays that the Merel and Samsung devices appear to be using).

Unfortunately, this means that existing but expensive multitouch input hardware won’t work with the new display. As a result, making the touch table work as a peripheral will entail designing a board, called the Blob Board, to make it available over USB like a mouse or Wacom tablet or an existing multitouch screen. This will allow software developers to all write to the standard USB interface rather than needing to each roll their own drivers for the touch table.

The upside of this, though, is that they’re aiming to make the table available as an Ikea-easy kit with a full computer inside for $1750, or $1250 for just the table. This places it within range of hobbyists and general consumers. (The kit will ship with a Windows computer, but we here at GeekTech trust that Linux enthusiasts will quickly provide a palatable alternative, if the table doesn’t work out-of-the-box with Linux’s existing multitouch hardware support.)

The Playsurface is being developed by Templeman Automation, an engineering consultancy from Somerville, Massachusetts, who have done previous work on touch tables for the US Navy and the National Science Foundation, in the latter case together with Tufts University, so they have experience and reputation in this area to build on. The team also pledges that half of the money (at least the lower-level pledges?) will be spent on “getting the prototype hardware out in an educational environment,” maybe one much like the Tufts project, so even if you don’t want one of the devices yourself, your money will go towards productive uses.

Even the lower pledge levels will get you early access to the mechanical and electronic designs for the table, which is a neat way to engage hobbyists who might want to build peripheral devices. A company like Apple might only extend that kind of privilege to a select group of partners, but in the open-hardware world, anyone is a potential integrator.

If you felt like it, you could have your cabinet all built by the time the computer and screen shipped. (Not currently on the list, but something I’d like to see: early access to the software, for purposes of someone porting the drivers to Linux or building client software specifically for the table.)

There are clearly a ton of cool and worthwhile ideas for how a device like this could be put to use–educational play, ordering food at restaurants, displaying maps for tabletop RPG campaigns, playing arcade games, controlling a home theater system…

Source:http://www.pcworld.in/news/open-source-touch-table-puts-world-your-fingertips-71652012

NVIDIA puts its head in the clouds
Today at the 2012 NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference (GTC), NVIDIA took the wraps off a new cloud gaming technology that promises to reduce latency and improve the quality of streaming gaming using the power of NVIDIA GPUs. Dubbed GeForce GRID, NVIDIA is offering the technology to online services like Gaikai and OTOY.

The goal of GRID is to bring the promise of “console quality” gaming to every device a user has. The term “console quality” is kind of important here as NVIDIA is trying desperately to not upset all the PC gamers that purchase high-margin GeForce products. The goal of GRID is pretty simple though and should be seen as an evolution of the online streaming gaming that we have covered in the past–like OnLive. Being able to play high quality games on your TV, your computer, your tablet or even your phone without the need for high-performance and power hungry graphics processors through streaming services is what many believe the future of gaming is all about.

GRID starts with the Kepler GPU – what NVIDIA is now dubbing the first “cloud GPU” – that has the capability to virtualize graphics processing while being power efficient. The inclusion of a hardware fixed-function video encoder is important as well as it will aid in the process of compressing images that are delivered over the Internet by the streaming gaming service.

This diagram shows us how the Kepler GPU handles and accelerates the processing required for online gaming services. On the server side, the necessary process for an image to find its way to the user is more than just a simple render to a frame buffer. In current cloud gaming scenarios the frame buffer would have to be copied to the main system memory, compressed on the CPU and then sent via the network connection. With NVIDIA’s GRID technology that capture and compression happens on the GPU memory and thus can be on its way to the gamer faster.

The results are H.264 streams that are compressed quickly and efficiently to be sent out over the network and return to the end user on whatever device they are using.

Continue reading our editorial on the new NVIDIA GeForce GRID cloud gaming technology!!

On the client side, GeForce GRID comes into play again to decompress the H.264 stream and then render the final image to be displayed on the device. While this will obviously work on the PC and laptop side of things, there are still questions on whether GRID technology is necessary on the consumer end of phones, tablets and even TVs. Will NVIDIA require Tegra-based tablets and smart phones in order to take advantage of the streaming services with GRID–and does that mean that we will see NVIDIA-powered TVs in the near future?

UPDATE: The answer is no, it does NOT require NVIDIA technology on the decode side and in fact NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsen Huang said “just about any decent H.264 decoder will work.”

The primary benefit of GeForce GRID technology is that it is supposed to lower the latency between rendered images and the time the user sees them–and how soon they can respond to them. The lower bar on this graph, provided by NVIDIA, represents what a typical user’s latency would be on a “console gaming system.” The times here are pretty vague, though the 100 ms game pipeline and the 66 ms display latency seem somewhat reasonable.

The middle bar represents the first generation of streaming gaming – including services like OnLive – that I have discussed (and berated) in the past. Total latency in this case has gone from 166 ms from game time to display time all the way up to 286 ms with addition of 30 ms of capture and encoding time, 75 ms of network latency and 15 ms of decode latency on the client side.

NVIDIA GRID aims to bring the total latency UNDER that of current generation consoles. You still have latencies for capture, network and decode, though they are noticeably lowered. Game pipeline time is cut in half thanks to the performance of Kepler GPUs, and with the GPUs ability to quickly pass information from the frame buffer to the encoders. Capture and encode has gone from 30 ms down to 10 ms with the fixed function NVENC (hardware video encoder) unit on the Kepler graphics units. Decode time is also decreased on the client side with NVIDIA technology and even network latency is reduced from 75 ms to 30 ms.

Honestly, the only timing reduction I have a problem with is the network latency–how NVIDIA plans to solve the problems of physics involved with network infrastructures needs to be proven. The idea of “estimations” or “predictions” can work with some game types better than others, but I think hardcore gamers are going to skeptical until proven otherwise. The only real answer is to build out more data centers to make sure there is one withint a reasonable distance to the consumer.

Source:http://www.pcper.com/reviews/General-Tech/GTC-2012-NVIDIA-Announces-GeForce-GRID-Cloud-Gaming-Platform

For a long time, some Microsoft officials have privately griped that PC makers don’t present Windows in its best light. They clutter desktops with icons that are often little more than ads for third-party products; include confusing utilities that duplicate functions already in Windows; require lengthy setup; and configure PCs in ways that slow them down.

For the past few years, Microsoft has been offering streamlined versions of popular PC models that don’t have the extra software, utilities or settings that some consumers feel clutter their desktops. WSJ’s Walt Mossberg tests a couple of these “Signature” PCs.

One consequence, in the eyes of these Microsoft executives, is to confer an advantage on the company’s main operating-system rival, Apple AAPL -0.90% .

Now, Microsoft is doing something about the situation. In a program unknown to most computer users, the company has been using its small chain of retail stores and its online computer store to sell customized versions of popular PC models that have been streamlined for a cleaner look and better performance. It calls these machines “Signature” PCs. They retain the maker’s brand, but sport a special Signature desktop and configuration. And they cost about the same as the identical stock version of the machine sold elsewhere.

Microsoft also offers a program that, for $99, will turn users’ Windows 7 PCs into Signature versions, if the owner brings the computer into one of its 16 stores, due to grow to 21 outlets in coming months. All Signature computers come with 90 days of free phone support, as well as help at the stores’ “Answer Desks,” which are like the Genius Bars at Apple stores.

I’ve been testing three Signature models and comparing them with the same machines as sold elsewhere without the Signature modifications. I found the Signature versions much cleaner and easier to navigate and faster in a variety of tests.

Microsoft
A Folio 13 model PC desktop, as shipped by Hewlett-Packard, shows a cluster of thirdparty software icons.

I’d recommend that prospective Windows PC buyers who live near a Microsoft store, which are mostly in the West, or are willing to shop at the company’s online store, consider a Signature machine. Information on store locations, as well as a link to online PC shopping from Microsoft, is at microsoftstore.com. Information on Signature is at signature.microsoft.com.

Some important caveats are in order. The hardware makers presumably believe, and some consumers may well agree, that the extra software, utilities and settings, which Microsoft removes or buries, are beneficial. Some of these, like offers to join game or music services, may be viewed as welcome bonuses. Others, like customized networking utilities, or launchers for the PC makers’ own media software, may be viewed as better matched to the hardware, or superior to Microsoft’s approach, even though they duplicate Windows functions. Many can be turned off, or removed, by a user with sufficient skill and time.

Also, Microsoft loads Signature machines with its own add-on software, such as its free email, photo and video programs, its Zune music and video program, and a stripped-down “Starter” version of Microsoft Office, that includes only Word and Excel, plus ads, and an offer to buy the full version.

However, the company says the stores will remove any of these a customer doesn’t want and even help the customer install competing software, such as Google’s Chrome browser, or Apple’s iTunes for Windows.

Microsoft
The same PC as sold by Microsoft in its Signature Configuration.

At my request, Microsoft supplied me with before-and-after laptops from Hewlett-Packard, HPQ -2.46% Sony and Samsung 005930.SE -0.23% . Over the past few days, I’ve been comparing the stock and Signature versions, and testing how much time it takes to set them up, start them and restart them in daily use, resume them from sleep, and shut them down.

The Signature desktop, which is labeled “Microsoft Signature,” features a picture of a sunset over a lake as its wallpaper. It contains no icons other than the recycling bin. The Taskbar contains only icons for Internet Explorer, the Explorer file browser, and Microsoft’s free email, photo and moviemaking programs. The system tray, to the right of the Taskbar, contains only the bare minimum of items, such as the network and battery indicators.

Signature machines are also configured with battery, audio and touch-pad settings Microsoft considers optimal. The usual third-party security software—which is typically provided for only 30 to 90 days, makes you go through some setup, and nags you to subscribe—is replaced by Microsoft’s own Security Essentials program, which is free, required no registration or subscription and updates itself automatically.

By contrast, my test H-P Folio 13 had eight icons besides the recycling bin, including several that were come-ons for music and game services. It also featured several H-P utilities.

A Sony EH37FX included an app from Best Buy that launched every time the PC started (though you could turn this off). Both stock machines festooned the IE browser with two space-hogging toolbars, including one from Microsoft’s own Bing search service; the Signature machine had none.

The Digital Solution

Bing Goes Sleek And More Social
The Samsung Series 7 I tested came with 10 extra icons and a bunch of special utilities.

Signature isn’t the same on every machine. In most cases, it strips out some of the added software and utilities, and retains others, but hides them in a folder buried in the Start Menu. In some cases, however, where a utility is deemed essential for a computer’s particular hardware, it retains these.

Such decisions, and indeed all of the Signature settings, are controlled by a team of engineers housed in Microsoft’s retail division.

In my speed tests, Signature beat all the stock machines on all my trials, but the margins weren’t dramatic, usually from a few seconds to 25 seconds. On the H-P, the differences were especially minimal. Across all three machines, the biggest differences were the time it took to set the PC up out of the box and the time it took to shut down the PC.

One Microsoft official told me that Signature represents “Microsoft’s perspective on Windows,” rather than that of the hardware maker.

In my opinion, although it may generally benefit Microsoft at the expense of the hardware maker, it also makes for a better experience for the user.

Source:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304371504577406242849753100.html

Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, LG and other foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) will lose their grip on Nigeria’s Personal Computer (PC) market as the Federal Government yesterday finally moved to enforce a comprehensive ban on foreign computers and technology products in public institutions, including schools.

The aim of the ban is to encourage patronage of ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ products and foster growth in the local Information Communications Technology (ICT) industry.

Cleopas Anganye, director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) made this declaration on Tuesday, at a two-day retreat on draft guidelines for home grown IT hardware products.

Stressing the importance of benchmarking Nigeria’s IT products against international standards in order to make them competitive and marketable globally, Angaye further declared that the procurement by public institutions, of non made-in-Nigeria computers, where certified local brands exist, would be an offence punishable by a prison term and fine, under the NITDA Act.

Industry analysts told Business Day yesterday that Nigeria’s computer hardware market has remained underdeveloped due to poor policy formulation and implementation by government, as well as the attendant high cost of equipment acquisition in Nigeria.

According to the analysts, inspite of the growing number of local OEMs and resellers, and the significant growth recorded in the telecommunications industry after the sector was deregulated in 2001; PC penetration remains very low at 7 per 1, 000 Nigerians.

Angaye noted that the Federal Government’s accreditation of computer assembly plants had expired. This, he added, called for the development of new standards for computer manufacturing in the country. After the conclusion of the retreat and subsequent issuance of the new guidelines, the NITDA boss explained, it would be regarded as economic sabotage if Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) did not patronise Nigerian IT products.

Angaye, represented at the retreat by director, standards and regulation, NITDA, Inye Kemabonta, said the IT implementing agency would in the next fortnight, launch a monitoring scheme to ensure compliance by all public institutions across Nigeria.

According to NITDA, under its enabling laws, three key actions would be offences punishable by prison terms, fines or both, if flouted in the emerging dispensation.

First, the public procurement of non made-in-Nigeria computers and IT products where certified local brands exist, is an offence. Secondly, the display and use of non made-in-Nigeria computers in government offices and for government business, where certified local brands are available, is also an offence punishable by law. Lastly, use of non made-in-Nigeria computers in public schools at all levels is likewise an offence.

In the same vein, Chris Uwaje, president of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) enjoined government to provide the enabling environment for indigenous computer manufacturers to thrive.

Angaye further added, “To benefit from this policy, multinational companies are invited to set up production or assembly plants in Nigeria.

According to him, with more than half the population of West Africa, Nigeria has a large enough market to justify foreign direct investment in IT. “Instead, one finds that all the multinational firms operate only marketing and sales promotion offices. The transformation of Nigeria into a developed economy cannot be achieved by being a consumer nation.

“Use of non made-in-Nigeria computers in public schools at all levels. NITDA will seek the collaboration of the Federal Ministry of Education to ensure that the accreditation of schools and renewal of accreditation will depend partly on the establishment of Information Technology labs equipped with locally manufactured IT products”, Angaye concluded.

Local computer manufacturers at the retreat expressed confidence in government’s renewed efforts to develop the IT industry, create employment through local assembly of computers and build the capacity of Nigerian IT entrepreneurs.

“I do not see any reason why our people shy away from locally made PCs. If you open a locally made PCs and other foreign brands, you will find the same components in all of them. We all buy from the same component manufacturer.

If given a chance, we can compete favourably with the foreign brands. We already have the policies on ground that support usage of locally made computers. I think the fundamental issue militating against the development of the industry is implementation of these policies”, Tunde Balogun, president of the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) said.

Source:http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/news/76-hot-topic/37800-hp-lg-to-lose-as-fg-enforces-ban-on-foreign-computers

It’s been over six months since we last reported about FXI’s Cotton Candy “computer on a USB stick” and although the hardware remains mostly the same, the company has spruced up the product design in time for the launch. The company is in fact shipping its first pre-order units as of now and if you placed an order for a Cotton Candy, then you’ll be glad to know that the final units are shipping With Android 4.0.
NEWS

It’s been over six months since we last reported about FXI’s Cotton Candy “computer on a USB stick” and although the hardware remains mostly the same, the company has spruced up the product design in time for the launch. The company is in fact shipping its first pre-order units as of now and if you placed an order for a Cotton Candy, then you’ll be glad to know that the final units are shipping With Android 4.0.

The biggest change is the actual design of the device itself which is now made out of white plastic. At the rear the microSD card slot has been joined by a micro USB port which should make it easier to add thinks like a wired keyboard and mouse, although a USB hub would still be required. The internals remain the same as far as we’re aware, namely a dual core Cortex-A9 ARM SoC with ARM Mali-400MP graphics, 1GB of RAM, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

FXI almost ready to ship the Cotton Candy computer on a USB stick

In one end of the device is an HDMI port which allows the Cotton Candy to be attached directly to a display, be it a computer screen or a TV and in the other end is a USB port which allows it to be plugged into a computer and acting as a separate system while being able to take advantage of the keyboard and mouse/touchpad. By default it’ll ship with Android 4.0 as mentioned above, but a copy of Ubuntu Linux will also be an option.

It’s not all good news though, as apparently FXI has no intention of accepting any further orders and the current lot are simply sold as development devices. The company is looking for a partner to work with to try and sell the devices into retail. As far as the pre-orders are concerned, FXI has started to contact those that pre-ordered from Scandinavia first with Europe being second on the list and the rest of the world potentially not getting their units until later in the summer.

FXI almost ready to ship the Cotton Candy computer on a USB stick

The Cotton Candy is an interesting device, but we’re not sure if there’s a big enough market for it outside of the developer/hobby community. It has some appeal, but as to why you’d want to bring it with you over a notebook on your business trip is beyond us, as you couldn’t use it in the airport for one and not all hotels allow you to plug in HDMI devices to their TV’s and you’d still have to carry a keyboard and a mouse with you. It’s possible we’re missing the point here, but as a smart TV upgrade for a “dumb” TV, it might not be such a bad fit, as long as it handles most media formats, which it ought to.

Source:http://vr-zone.com/articles/fxi-almost-ready-to-ship-the-cotton-candy-computer-on-a-usb-stick/15881.html

Adding to the family of easy-to-use SimpleLink connectivity solutions, Texas Instruments has introduced the SimpleLink GPS CC4000 – the company’s first broadly available GPS solution.
The self-contained module minimises complexity synonymous with adding GPS functionality to products. For example, the push-to-fix function is hardware-controlled through a single general purpose input and output (GPIO); engineers can simply switch on the GPIO to receive National Marena Electronics Association (NMEA) strings containing location, time and velocity information.
The solution operates with any microcontroller (MCU) or microprocessor (MPU) while sporting a sub-100 mm² form factor. As a result, it is relevant for applications such as asset tracking, industrial M2M, sports and fitness, and precision timing.
The SimpleLink GPS CC4000 delivers better than 2,5 metre accuracy and pulse-per-second output functions to provide precise location and timing data. Its ‘watchful-eye’ feature uses the solution memory for automatic reuse of previously decoded satellite information to deliver fast time to first fix (TTFF) and optimisation of the overall system power consumption.
The highly precise timing capabilities driven by this solution also open up power-efficient MCU-based use case possibilities, creating compelling end experiences. For example, highly accurate scheduling can kick off a marketing campaign by displaying event messages on multiple electronic signs at one specified time. For applications requiring time-stamped records such as banking systems or the recording of industrial system failures, the exact time can be recorded down to a fraction of a microsecond.

Source:http://www.dataweek.co.za/news.aspx?pklnewsid=42076

AMD has given its processor line up a significant refresh with the newly launched Trinity APU. The new processors, just like Intel’s recently announced Ivy Bridge, do a lot to extend battery life, boost speed and increase graphics capabilities.

Without getting bogged down in technical details, the real juicy facts about Trinity are what it means for ultra-thin laptop fans. Not being Intel, these sleekbooks, as HP calls them, boast quad-core chips, a touted 50 per cent graphics performance boost on competition and up to 12 hours battery life when in resting state.

AMD is claiming up to 8 hours of straight web browsing with the new Trinity APUs, a particularly impressive figure and one we will definitely be testing once we have some Trinity-toting hardware to play with. So far the only two pieces of kit Pocket-lint has seen with Trinity inside have been a Toshiba Portege Z835 laptop – which was an empty demo shell at the time – and the HP Envy sleekbook, which appeared last week in Shanghai.

On top of the performance boost, Trinity also adds a few clever software tweaks only possible with the new processor grunt. First up is automatic image stabilisation and the ability to have multi-person HD video chat. AMD is also claiming a clever piece of tech called Quick Stream, which will divert the majority of network bandwith to video streaming, so you get smoother playback on low-speed connections.

Something to look forward to in the future is AMD’s hardware acceleration of Windows 8’s Metro UI and Metro style apps. There is also out of the box Direct X 11 compatibility and instant readiness for Windows 8 on its arrival.

Photoshop CS6 gets itself another 30+ hardware accelerated features on Trinity, as does Winzip, which allegedly performs better using the APUs. AMD is saying that Trinity will be appearing in the hardware of “leading manufacturers”. So far we know HP, Samsung, Toshiba, Acer, Asus and Sony are on the cards, but expect plenty more to be joining the party. The Trinity desktop chip will be arriving in June with ultra-thins and laptops carrying it appearing in July.

Source:http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/45634/amd-trinity-apu-launched-sleekbook

It all started with repeated beeps while turning on his laptop and with strange colours or images appearing on the screen and ended with complete hardware failure of the personal notebook of Shantanu Chatterjee, 21, an engineering student. He had to shell out over Rs 7,000 to get the problem corrected.

Chatterjee, who is a technology freak, couldn’t understand how despite using best firewalls, virus scanners, and anti-spyware applications this problem cropped up. And it turned out to be the case of complete hardware failure that had started with spilling of a few drops of water on his keyboard.

Computer hardware is one such area that often remains unattended by most of the users as many of them tend to take it for granted that it can’t be harmed. But no effective firewall or anti-spyware application will do good if the system has been interfered by an outsider or some hardware problem has erupted.

“I was having problems with charging of the battery and I did not take it seriously. I used to adjust the position of the adapter pin inside the connector and it would start working. But there was a problem with the charger and continuous use of faulty device damaged the whole battery,” Priyanka Jain, 26, a resident of Sector 8, told TOI. According to experts, laptops and notebooks require even more precision while troubleshooting various hardware problems.

“If something is wrong with the hardware then it would also affect windows and softwares. Such snags are very difficult to detect and in most of the cases, users keep ignoring them. They are just like silent killers and cause harm to the device on a slow but steady pace,” Suresh Deewan, a computer hardware engineer, told TOI.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/When-hardware-goes-haywire/articleshow/13159644.cms

The wide open worlds of 3D and Blu-ray are combining, and it’s Asus that’s bringing the two closer than ever. The company’s new SBW-06C2X-U is a 3D Blu-ray writer, fully supporting BDXL, 6x Blu-ray writes, Blu-ray 3D playback, 2D-to-3D conversions, DVD upscaling to 1080p HD, 5.1 channel Dolby EX and DTS-HD and the ability to even play nice with Mac machines — which cannot be ordered with Blu-ray from the factory, strangely enough.

The device can be used upright or horizontal, and the sleek black form factor is certainly nice to look at. The unit is aimed at those who need to archive massive amounts of data, with the ability to burn up to 100GB on BD-R(TL), and 128GB of BD-R(QL). There’s no word on a price just yet, but you can bet there will be some sort of price premium baked in for all of its good looks.

Sourcehttp://hothardware.com/News/Asus-Reveals-Snazzy-SBW06C2XU-3D-Bluray-Writer/

Lenovo announced the Lenovo ThinkStation E31 entry-level workstation. The ThinkStation E31 is available as a mini-tower or a small form factor (SFF), with both offering Intel Xeon E3 or 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor options. The workstations also feature 1600MHz DDR3 memory DIMMs, USB 3.0 ports, and Intel HD Graphics P4000 or NVIDIA Quadro graphic cards. Users have the option of up to 9TB of storage with the tower model or 6TB on the SFF. The ThinkStation E31 tower will be available in early June; the ThinkStation E31 SFF will be available mid-July. Pricing starts at approximately $629.

Lenovo (HKSE: 0992)(PINK SHEETS: LNVGY) today announced the Lenovo ThinkStation E31, an entry-level workstation for professionals requiring a powerful desktop workstation within a PC budget. Offered as a mini-tower or small form factor (SFF) both include choices of the latest speedy Intel® Xeon® Processor E3 along with enhanced memory performance and graphics capabilities.

“The ThinkStation E31 an ideal choice for small-to-medium businesses or professionals that need more power and performance than they are getting out of their desktop computer,” said Robert Herman, director of product and vertical solutions, Workstation Business Unit, Lenovo. “We have worked closely with customers to figure out how to deliver compact design, reliable hardware components and comprehensive support for the latest ISV applications to meet their needs. The ThinkStation E31 offers businesses a powerful way to get more from their business applications without breaking the bank.”

Strong, Seamless Performance

The dependable ThinkStation E31 tower and SFF feature the Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v2 product family or 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processor so applications run fast and reliably, helping to maximize productivity. Users also benefit from the workstation’s Error Correcting Code (ECC) memory which virtually eliminates memory-related failures, as well as 1600 MHz DDR3 Memory DIMMs, for application responsiveness and the ability to multitask without slowing down. Adding to the productivity features of this workstation is the inclusion of USB 3.0 ports which provides up to 10x faster transfer rates over USB 2.0.

Both models offer professional graphics capabilities with the option of Intel® HD Graphics P4000 or NVIDIA Quadro Graphic cards (up to the Q4000 in the tower model and Q600 in the SFF). The E31 ThinkStation can handle end users’ large storage needs with up to 9TB of storage for the tower model or 6TB on the Small Form Factor. Equipped with Windows 7 Professional, the ThinkStation E31 workstation supports a variety of independent software vendor (ISV) applications for professionals in the engineering, design and financial services industry, including Adobe, AutoDesk, Dassault, PTC, Solidworks and Siemens.1

“We are all about helping users employ technology to support them in acquiring greater insight faster. Lenovo’s ThinkStation E31 entry level workstation combined with our new Intel® Xeon® processor E3-1200 v2 product family is helping to do that by bringing workstation performance to designers, engineers, and others who until now believed this level of speed and capacity was out of reach,” said Frank Soqui, Workstation Group General Manager, Intel Corporation. “The ThinkStation E31 with Intel® HD Graphics P4000 is also an ideal upgrade for users who have been using consumer technologies to perform basic 2D, 3D, video editing, and financial modeling and require the support for up to three monitors.”

Sustainable Green Machine

The workstation’s eco-conscious design offers up to a 92 percent efficient power supply, as well as Energy Star 5.2, 80 Plus Platinum, EPEAT Gold and GREENGUARD certifications. Our innovative design allows our workstation to run cooler and quieter. Additionally, at less than half the size of the mini-tower, the newest SFF (11L) option provides an ideal space-saving choice for smaller office work areas.

Pricing and Availability

The Lenovo ThinkStation E31 tower model will be available in early June and the Lenovo ThinkStation E31 SFF will be available mid-July. Pricing for models starts at approximately $629.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Lenovo-Targets-BudgetMinded-Professionals-With-New-ThinkStation-E31/

AMD’s second-generation Bulldozer core processor microarchitecture, codenamed Piledriver, has made headlines at HotHardware many times in the past few months, including our CES sneak peek of the chip that AMD is launching today for the mobile market, codenamed Trinity. What this launch is all about is AMD’s answer to Intel’s Ivy Bridge-based Core series processors for notebooks. It’s that straightforward, though we’ll start by level-setting expectations based on how both companies and their respective architectures approach computing workloads.

For AMD, Trinity has also been reported as offering much-needed performance enhancements in IPC (Instructions Per Cycle) but also more of the same strength in gaming and multimedia horsepower, with an enhanced second generation Radeon HD graphics engine.

In the pages ahead, we’ll dive into AMD’s new Trinity architecture and AMD’s new A10 series APU, along with lots of benchmark data looking at the results of AMD’s recent efforts from a number of angles.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/AMD-Trinity-A104600M-Processor-Review/

AMD today announced the widely anticipated launch of its 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) for mainstream and ultrathin notebooks, All-in-One and traditional desktops, home theater PCs and embedded designs.

The 2nd-Generation A-Series APU, codenamed “Trinity”, is a grounds-up improved design over the previous generation, enabling a best-in-class PC mobility, entertainment, and gaming experience. New features of the product design include:

● Double the performance per watt of the previous generation;
● The AMD HD Media Accelerator with a unique set of technologies designed to optimize video quality available with premium and Internet video content, and accelerate video file conversion;
● An increase in CPU performance of up to 29 percent with higher processor speeds thanks to the next-generation AMD “Piledriver” CPU core with 3rd-Generation AMD Turbo Core technology, where power is dynamically shifted between the CPU and GPU depending on application needs, effectively providing a more responsive experience that can boost CPU frequencies to up to 3.2 GHz;

● AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series graphics for an increase of graphics performance up to 56% over the previous generation. Combined, the CPU and GPU cores deliver more than 700 gigaflops of computing performance – several times more than the fastest x86 CPUs – to boost performance of hundreds of applications;
● Up to 12 hours of battery life through CPU and GPU power enhancements, with clear battery life leadership in notebook form factors.

“The latest OEM notebooks, ultrathins, All-in-Ones and desktops based on the new AMD A-Series APU enable the best video and gaming experiences, highly responsive performance with AMD Turbo CORE, and accelerate an ever-increasing range of productivity and multimedia applications — in sleek, stylish designs at price points that make sense,” said Chris Cloran, corporate vice president and General Manager, AMD Client Business Unit. “Our 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APU is a major step forward in every performance and power dimension, allowing users to enjoy a stunning experience without having to give up the things that matter to them most. This experience doesn’t stop at mainstream notebooks. It carries over into affordable ultrathin form factors featuring the latest in AMD Radeon graphics.”

The Growing AMD Accelerated Application Ecosystem
The developer ecosystem continues to gravitate to the unmatched level of compute and unique processing capabilities of the APU as more than 100 applications and games are now accelerated by AMD APUs. The 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APU gives users superior Web-based video experience thanks to plug-ins for Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer 9 that make it easy for consumers to turn on AMD Steady Video technology. Recent applications that have been optimized for use on AMD A-Series APUs include Adobe Photoshop CS6, WinZip 16.5 and VLC Media Player. AMD A-Series APUs are also well-positioned to take advantage of the upcoming transition to the Windows 8 operating system.

“We are excited for the introduction of the 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APU and are confident it will continue the great work Microsoft and AMD have done together on the A-Series APU,” said Aidan Marcuss, senior director, Windows Business Planning, Microsoft Corp. “We look forward to seeing the A-Series APU in action with Windows 8 to deliver a great user experience across a variety of hardware.”

For developers who want to engage in the industry’s move toward heterogeneous computing, the upcoming AMD Fusion Developer Summit will offer them a unique opportunity to enhance their knowledge base. More information on AFDS can be found here.

Unmatched Mobility
With more than 12 hours of ‘resting’ battery life, AMD is now an industry leader in notebook battery-life performance. The 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APU delivers increased levels of performance, while consuming half the power as its predecessor.

These gains can be attributed to the new power-optimized “Piledriver” CPU core, as well as to AMD Start Now technology, which is designed to maximize system responsiveness by quickly entering and exiting low power states. With AMD Start Now, the computer resumes from sleep mode in as few as two seconds and boots to the desktop in as few as 10 seconds.

In ultrathin form factors, AMD enables an uncompromised visual experience thanks to a power-efficient and premium AMD Radeon graphics engine. Consumers can expect to see ultrathin notebooks based on dual-core 17-watt and quad-core 25-watt AMD A-Series APUs. These products will be easily identifiable by aluminum-styled VISION Technology stickers at a range of competitive price points.

Best-in-class Entertainment
As more and more people turn to their computers as the hub for their entertainment, the visual aspect of computing becomes ever more important. To enhance these capabilities, AMD created the AMD HD Media Accelerator – a unique set of technologies that enable the best video quality on a PC. Key features of the HD Media Accelerator include:

● AMD Perfect Picture HD – An image, video processing and display technology that automatically makes images and video better with color vibrancy adjustments, edge enhancement, noise reduction and dynamic contrast fixes;
● AMD Steady Video Technology – A technology that enables smooth playback of jittery video content with a single button click thanks to plug-ins for popular Web browsers and multimedia applications;
● AMD Quick Stream Technology – A new technology that prioritizes video streaming on PC systems for a smooth, virtually uninterrupted video stream;
● True HD video chat with up to four people at once;
● AMD Video Converter – A video compression engine for fast conversion and sharing of media files across multiple formats and devices;
● Full decode support for H.264, MPEG-2, VC-1, MVC, DivX and WMV.

Gaming Leadership
The 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APU builds on AMD’s legacy of gaming leadership with an increase in graphics performance of up to 56% over the previous generation and support for:

● AMD Eyefinity Technology – For the first time, this immersive technology is available from an APU without the need for a discrete graphics card;
● Performance-leading DirectX 11 graphics architecture and 1080p gaming a life-like level of detail;
● AMD Radeon dual graphics support that delivers a performance boost of up to 75 percent when adding a discrete graphics card to the APU. The AMD Radeon dual graphics option also offers support for DirectX 9 for older game titles, and uses new AMD CrossFire Technology Profiles for easier updates.

Availability and Technical Details
AMD has a record number of design wins with companies like Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba based on our 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APUs and VISION Technology from AMD, with mainstream and ultrathin notebooks as well as embedded solutions, available beginning today.

Desktops systems and component channel parts will be available later this year.

Source:http://wccftech.com/amd-announces-launch-generation-trinity-aseries-apus/

Microsoft today declined to comment when asked whether it believed it’s required to offer a ballot screen in Windows 8 to European users for selecting rival browsers in the new operating system’s desktop mode.

In late 2009, Microsoft struck a deal with European Union (EU) antitrust regulators that required the company to display a screen in Windows providing download links to other browsers, including Mozilla’s Firefox, Google’s Chrome and Opera Software’s Opera.

The settlement specifically called out future editions of Windows.

“For Windows Client PC Operating Systems after Windows 7, the Choice Screen update will first be made available at the general commercial release date of such an operating system and remain in place for distribution … for the entire duration of these Commitments,” the document stated.

According to the final agreement (download PDF), the deal has a five-year lifespan — meaning it will expire in late 2014 — and broadly defined “Windows” and “Internet Explorer” to include “successors” of the then-current Windows 7 and IE8.

Microsoft and EU regulators came to agreement on browser choice after a two-year investigation by the latter, who filed a formal “statement of objections” to Microsoft’s practice of bundling Internet Explorer (IE) in January 2009. The EU inquiry was prompted by a 2007 complaint submitted by Norwegian browser maker Opera Software.

Microsoft agreed to provide a way to disable IE and to show a ballot screen to users who had not changed the default browser.

Windows has always shipped with IE as the default browser, a practice Microsoft continued with Windows 8 Consumer Preview, the early build it launched in February.

Although Windows 8 features a new “Metro” mode for smaller-scale, touch-based apps, it also boasts a traditional “desktop” environment where existing x86/64 applications — those which now run in Windows 7, for example — operate. Current browsers, such as Firefox, Chrome and Opera will be able to run in the desktop mode, even if they’re not recast to include a Metro front end.

If implemented in Windows 8’s desktop, the ballot screen would presumably feature the same set of rival browsers as is now offered to Windows 7 customers in the European Union and several other countries.

Microsoft declined to comment on its interpretation of the ballot screen requirement regarding Windows 8 and its desktop.

The EU’s Competition Commission — the body’s antitrust agency — was not available for comment Monday.

Browser rival Opera also declined to comment; Google and Mozilla did not immediately reply to requests for their stance on the ballot screen in Windows 8.

The question of the ballot screen’s applicability to Windows 8 was first raised last week by Mozilla when its chief counsel, Harvey Anderson, blasted Microsoft for blocking access to Win32 APIs in Windows RT, the edition that will power devices with ARM-licensed processors.

At the time, Anderson argued that Windows RT — while a separate version from Windows 8, it shares considerable code with its sibling — may also be bound by Microsoft’s settlement with the EU.

“If Windows on ARM is simply another version of Windows on new hardware, it also runs afoul of the EC browser choice commitments,” Anderson wrote in a May 9 blog post.

The Microsoft-EU settlement provides an enforcement clause that allows the latter to reopen the case or levy substantial fines if it believes the former is in violation of the agreement.

Source:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227148/EU_Microsoft_browser_deal_requires_ballot_screen_in_Windows_8