by Matt Hartley on October 18, 2006 at
11:26 pm · Comments off
Categorized by Misc / Related
Information After the latest Playstation 3 demos, it
appears that Sony has finally come back from the dead and they might
just be coming back stronger than ever.
This has not been a
great couple of years for Sony. We had the rootkit catastrophe late
last year and the Sony Battery disaster this year. A number of us have
been increasingly concerned that the Playstation 3 would be a
stillborn and even the PSP didn’;t start particularly well.
However things can change: It looks like Sony has hit the bottom and,
and with the exception of batteries (which may be a dead division),
may be on the way back up…. Source: TGDaily
by Matt Hartley on October 18, 2006 at
11:23 pm · Comments off
Categorized by Misc / Related
Information So where is the graphics world. Just as
importantly, it is really sad in my opinion that it is only on company
(Microsoft) that drives the trends yet to come.
Direct X 10
is on the horizon, and so is the hardware that will be driving it.
While the demand for Direct X 9 hardware is not slipping, and more
graphics cards are constantly being launched, there is much interest
in this new standard and the hardware that will support it. The
strongest points of Direct X 10 are the promises of lower overhead per
object and the new rendering component called the geometry shader.
What does all of this mean to the layman? In short, the system will
be able to render objects faster and more efficiently. This is a good
thing, as games will be able to incorporate this feature to give you
more frames per second. That is, until the game developers incorporate
more objects into a scene, of course, as we have seen in previews of
games such as the Age of Conan, where we will finally be able to cut
the limbs of an opponent - like the black knight in Monty Python and
the Holy Grail̷0;. Source: TH
by Matt Hartley on October 17, 2006 at
11:35 pm · Comments off
Categorized by Talk / Related
Information Today, we see yet another example of how
thin clients and wireless are match made in heaven.
Wyse
Technology is selling a line of thin-client computers with built-in
Wi-Fi capabilities, making them easier to deploy in public places like
airports and hotel lobbies.
The V-Class systems
announced Wednesday include embedded hardware and software for
connecting to 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networks. Previously,
adding wireless capabilities to the clients meant plugging in a Wi-Fi
PC Card or USB (Universal Serial Bus) adapter.
Thin clients are
networked computers that typically have no hard drive and rely on a
central server for their applications and storage. They’;ve
gained traction with some businesses because they’;re considered
easier to manage than full-fledged PCs, and they consume less power,
although they are also less flexible…. Source: InfoWorld
by Matt Hartley on October 17, 2006 at
11:31 pm · Comments off
Categorized by Uncategorized, Misc / Related
Information Well, OK. It’s an attempt at VoIP,
right? I mean, they could have done worse. It’s just
so230;white.
Take a look at what can happen when you
tell your engineers to start from scratch and build a VoIP phone
that’s specifically built to be a VoIP phone̷0; not a weak
imitation of a landline or cellular handset.
Distinguished as much by what it does not have as by what it
has, the Danger Phone is the essence of a pure, clean product design.
It is a VoIP handset230; and, we think you’ll love it.
Doing Only One Thing Very Well
With dozens of VoIP
handsets on the market, finding a new direction to go with our product
wasn’t easy.
Instead of making our handset look
like a “real” telephone, and covering it with gadgetry, a
fake display, and flashing lights, we focused on how people actually
use a VoIP handset. And, we stripped away the nonsense to deliver pure
magic…. Source: MacMice
by Matt Hartley on October 17, 2006 at
11:29 pm · Comments off
Categorized by Misc / Related
Information Wow, can I get fries with that CPU?
Seriously, what a creative way to mix some greasy fun with
computing!
This hardware hacker was experimenting with
liquid cooling for an old motherboard, immersing it in oil in a tin
pan. Once that worked, he decided to heat the oil up and make
french-fries in it, while playing Quake on the PC that was being
slowly deep-fried along with the chips. It worked for a while, then
the machine had to be rebooted (and it continued to work after
that!)…. Source: BoingBoing
by Matt Hartley on October 17, 2006 at
11:26 pm · Comments off
Categorized by Misc / Related
Information Guess whether we like it or not,
we217;re going mobile with our computing. And from the looks of
things, it is done deal.
The world̵7;s largest contract
laptop PC maker is branching out into ultramobile PCs (UMPCs), using a
reference design from Intel and Internet software from Yahoo.
Intel executives showed off the UMPC made by Quanta Computer at
the Fall Intel Developer Forum in Taipei on Monday. The new device is
a sign Intel and other backers of the UMPC design are gaining further
support from hardware makers globally, which will increase the variety
of devices available as well as their functions. More UMPC contenders
should also help drive down prices through market
competition.
The ultramobile PC is QuantaR17;s
first. It will be the second Taiwanese company to enter the market,
following the launch of Asustek Computer’s R2H last
month…. Source: InfoWorld
by Matt Hartley on October 13, 2006 at
11:32 pm · Comments off
Categorized by Misc / Related
Information I simply can’t get myself all that
excited about yet another Skype add-on product. Still, if it was a
little more open ended, it might be cool.
At the
recent VON show, I dropped by Polycom217;s booth to check out its
“;HD Voice̶1; wideband audio technology demo. I used many a
POTS Polycom speakerphone in my former corporate life and always have
been impressed with the products. They are uniquely styled, solidly
built and a big improvement over the old Western Electric
“squawk boxes̶1;. So when I spied the Communicator, I asked
for a short demo and then for a review unit, which Polycom quickly
sent…. Source: Tom’s Networking
