News

Next Xbox: AMD Innards, May Reveal?

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:28:42 +0100

Fresh rumours emerge on the next Microsoft console-- Bloomberg reports the new Xbox carries an AMD processor, while Microsoft analyst Paul Thurrot claims the machine will be revealed on 21 May 2013. A switch to AMD (specifically an SoC combining a "Jaguar" CPU with a GPU) instead of the IBM Power PC technology means the new console will be incompatible with 360 game titles. It would also seal AMD's leadership of the console segment-- the Playstation 4 also makes use of x86-based AMD hardware, p...

If Windows RT Isn't Enough of a Prophylactic...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:33:42 +0100

He used to dominate PCs, but these days Bill Gates wants to reinvent far more humble everyday technologies-- the condom is the next target of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. "What if we could develop a condom that would provide all the benefit of our current versions, without the drawbacks?" the Foundation blog asks. "Even better, what if we could develop one that was preferred to no condom?" Through the current Grand Challenges Explorations round Bill Gates offers $10000 to whoever in...

What's Bill Gates Up To?

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:04:14 +0100

Now you can read the letter Bill Gates wrote on his progress to save the world. It's the 2013 Annual Letter from Bill Gates. Once a nerd, always a nerd: Bill talks about the need to measure (and the need for measurements) in his battle to stop polio, improve education, empower gender equality, reduce child mortality, protect the environment and eradicate poverty. This nerd is spending a lot of money (the money you made for him selling Windows) in a serious way. Read this letter to find out if h...

IBM 5 for 5: Computing Needs Senses Too

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:15:26 +0100

Vibrating touchscreens, impossibly sharp-eyed equipment, digital taste buds-- these are just three predictions from the 2012 edition of The 5 in 5, the yearly IBM list of future tech predictions for the next 5 years. The theme for this year is the senses, with 5 forecast categories covering all human senses. Will the computers of the near future lend us superhuman senses? IBM believes so! Touch: Touchscreens will provide a far more tactile experience than a sheet of glass, IBM predicts. Throug...

A Challenger to Silicon Emerges

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:17:51 +0100

The MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories may have developed a potential replacement to silicon transistors-- a transistor just 22nm in length made out of indium gallium arsenide (InGaAS). The material, a compound semiconductor made out indium, gallium and arsenic, already has use in high-power and high-frequency electronics as well as a detector material in optical fibre communications. What makes the MIT development significant is size-- at 22nm (the size of 9 strands of human DNA), the In...

Update: John McAfee in Guatemala, Pleads Asylum

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:58:34 +0100

John McAfee-- antivirus company founder, alleged fraudster, murder suspect, man on the run-- now lies in police custody due to illegal entry in Guatemala after Vice Magazine revealed his location by accident. "Now that I'm here I can speak freely. I can speak openly," McAfee tells reporters in Guatemala City before claiming he will expose corruption within Belize's government. Belize president Dean Barrow however does not mince his words, saying "I don't want to be unkind to the gentleman, but ...

Where on Earth is John McAfee?

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 16:57:49 +0100

John McAfee-- antivirus company founder, alleged fraudster, murder suspect. Man on the run. After the shooting of his neighbour on the Belizean island of Ambergis Caye, McAfee ran for it, even leaving the country for supposedly safer shores. But did the metadata on a very recent photo just reveal his current location? On 3 December 2012, after a length of radio silence, McAfee posted a blog post saying "I am currently safe... We are not in Belize, but not quite in out of the woods yet." Joinin...

Wanted: McAfee Founder

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:44:03 +0100

John McAfee is more than the founder of an antivirus maker-- now he is also a man on the run after the Belize police marked him as a "person of interest" in connection to the murder of a neighbour. The victim, Gregory Faull, was an American expatriate who lived close to McAfee on the island of Ambergris Caye, Belize. According to the police, on 11 November Faull was found dead in a pool of blood on his hallway by his housekeeper. The cause of death? A gunshot wound on the back of his head. At t...

Billion Dollar Ghost City is Tech Lab

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:47:19 +0100

Smart grid, smart cities, smart homes, smart roads…how do you research these mega-projects? You build a $1 billion city in the desert. You model the fake town after a real city (Rock Hill, South Carolina in USA, population 66,000) and build it complete with highways, houses and commercial buildings—even some old buildings mixed in with new ones just like in the real city. No one will live there, but each and every house will include appliances, plumbing, and other necessities. This built-...

A Top 11 for 2011

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100

There are no doubts-- it has been quite a full year. From natural disasters to protests and ousted dictators, there was truly something for everyone on the headlines. And as for our business, well, we're about to take a look at what went on during past 12 months, with a Top 11 for 2011... 1. Farewell, Steve Jobs: The biggest story this year was certainly the untimely demise of Steve Jobs at age 56, following a 7 year struggle with cancer. During those years, Apple brought us the iPhone and the i...

The Peanut Butter Manifesto

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:25:53 +0100

What's Wrong with Yahoo and Why It Matters to You...For most of us in the IT channel, Yahoo doesn't bring us money and its ups and downs mean little to our business. So why do we want you to read this, The Peanut Butter Manifesto? Garlinghouse is a SVP at Yahoo who risked his job to publicly dissect Yahoo's ills with a knife-like accuracy. He complains Yahoo is like peanut butter, an investment spread too thin across too wide a range of opportunities. Decide who we are, what we can do well, an...

Ten Times the Capacity from Li Ion Batteries?

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:12:53 +0100

Researchers at the Northwestern University claim they managed to increase both charging capacity and speed of lithium ion batteries by 10x-- potentially pointing to the future of mobile power. Li ion batteries are not only found in most mobile devices-- from mobile phones to laptops-- but also in electric cars and even "exoskeleton" robots. Current Li ion batteries create charge by moving lithium from one end of the battery to the other (from anode to cathode), and recharge through the sending ...

Sony's Next Gen Gaming Device: The Vita

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:53:30 +0100

Unveiled at E3, Sony launches its next gen, quad core gaming handheld, the PlayStation Vita. Part of Sony’s networked strategy to connecting all its CE devices, Vita lets gamers to play against people using PlayStation 3 consoles over the internet (the currently besieged PlayStation Network) via cellphone networks as well as wi-fi hotspots. Shipping at end of 2011, prices for wifi model are expected to be 249 euro and euro 299 for 3G. In America, the cellphone network service is exclusive t...

Reinventing Li-on Batteries With Nanowires

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:14:01 +0100

Stanford researchers use silicon nanowires to produce 10x the amount of electricity of current lithium-ion (li-on) batteries. Rechargeable li-on batteries power all sorts of devices-- laptops, iPods, video camers, cell phones, and so on. This technology could even make li-on batteries a possibility for manufacture of future electric cars. The team behind the discovery even suggests possible uses in homes or offices, storing electricity from rooftop solar panels. Current li-on batteries depend ...

ARM Claims Intel is "Doomed"

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:50:28 +0100

ARM co-founder Dr. Hermann Hauser tells the Wall Street Journal Intel's microprocessor business is doomed-- because it cannot take advantage of the mobile market. He says Intel has the wrong business model-- people in mobile architecture do not buy microprocessors, they license them. This means Intel will have to compete with every semiconductor company in the world. Hauser continues there is no case in computing history where a company dominating one wave also dominated the next one-- as Intel...

Facebook Wants All to Switch From Email to Messages

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:45:50 +0100

Facebook confirms rumours of its 'e-mail killer' with its "modern messaging system". It combines all ways people send messages-- e-mail, IM, and SMS-- into a single interface the social network calls "the social inbox". Over 350 million people use Facebook messages, sending 4 billion messages a day. It sounds fairly simple, too. One clicks on a friend's face (or types their name), types a message and presses Enter. No subject line, cc or bcc get in the way. Facebook even offers e-mail addresse...

Chipmakers Join Efforts to Reduce Chip Size

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:14:20 +0100

Intel, Toshiba and Samsung will team up to develop technologies to reduce NAND flash memory circuitry sizes to nearly 10nm by 2016. Current flash chips are 20nm in size. The 3 companies intend to form a consortium with around 10 other semiconductor companies. Toshiba and Samsung will use the technologies to make more dense NAND flash chips, and Intell will use it to develop faster microprocessors. The Nikkei daily reports Japan's ministry of economy, trade and industry will likely provide 5...

Channels in the Cloud Era

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:10:53 +0100

Forrester Research reports 12-15% of IT channel companies will wash out of the market in the next 5 years. The reason? Failure to adapt to the new era of cloud computing. A Forrester researcher blog entry shows results from a recent channel company survey. These results show: there is confusion amongst channel partners over their role in the cloud services value chain; they are not simply waiting for tech vendors to tell them what to do; but they need a lot of help to transform their business m...

IBM Hunting Down Vampires?

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:00:36 +0100

IBM seeks to cut device power consumption by 90%-- thus reducing vampire energy, power used while equipment is turned off. Development is underway on a transistor to regulate energy usage more tightly. This will prevent energy use while devices are left plugged into electrical outlets. Reducing power consumption in products with transistors (laptops, smartphones) will help reduce users' energy bills. In a Bloomberg interview, IBM says CE and IT energy use will double by 2022 and triple by 2030....

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