Technology and Career

NZXT CRYSO S: Cooling Pad for Laptops Higher

2009-07-10T00:33:00.000-07:00

The biggest enemy of the computer is the temperature. If the component temperature reaches a certain point, will decrease computer's performance and, of course, the more often the computer is located above a particular temperature, the more vulnerable of the resistance. For desktop PC, many product options that can reduce the problem of the product but for a laptop class, not many products can cool with maximum. But fear can be friends until the day ended with this product given the product name NZXT S. Cryo This product will be very useful to maintain endurance and performance of the laptop friends. This product is equipped with two measuring 120mm fan speed that can be adapted to cool a laptop with the size of the largest 15 inches. In addition to the second fan to cool down his laptop, this product is also based Almunium with size 3mm. This cooling can take power from the AC adapter or USB from a laptop. Price: $ 49.99

PowerPlus Eagle: Living Environment Charger is Versatile

2009-07-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

The more days, more gadgets are environmentally friendly. But although eco-friendly, more gadgets is also very useful in daily life. One of the latest gadgets environmentally friendly is PowerPlus Eagle. This product is equipped with a solar charger that can be used to charge various mobile phones or portable media player.

This product has three wings which is a solar panel that can store solar energy. This product is designed to absorb solar energy and quickly with three wings. Besides charger, PowerPlus Eagle also has a 3 LED can be used as flashlight with strength of 25,000 MCD.

This product is only 29.95 poundsterling, or approximately 500 thousand rupiah. This price is quite cheap considering that its functions will be very useful and friendly environment.

More terrible, in the sales package, friends will get a 7 connector for use on the mobile phone Nokia, Sony Ericsson (old and new models), Samsung, Siemens, Motorola and the new.

BenQ nScreen: All in One Desktop with sparing

2009-07-10T00:24:00.000-07:00

May 6 2009, BenQ has launched a new product category that is named nScreen. nScreen is an all in one desktop PC that have price with a more affordable price than its competitors in the same class. nScreen claimed to be easy to use even though surfing the internet for people such as elders or children.

For nScreen, BenQ has launched two products namely the i91 and measuring 18.5 inches i221 sized 21.5 inches. Differences in both these products have on the size of the screen and premium package sales. For i221, the sales package included Skype Handset.

Anwar Santoso from Galva Technologies as the official distributor in the Indo BenQ said that the two products will be marketed starting next month (June 2009) with prices ranging from U.S. $550.

Two of Dream Gadget For Enthusiasts Transformer

2009-07-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

For the friends of Transformer fans, there are two unique gadget that can be owned for the complete collection of friends.

The first form of gadget USB flash drive shaped Ravage or better known as the Tripredacus Agent. He can store 2GB of data and have price $ 42.99.
Second device is a mobile phone made of Motorola, EQ5 is the name given. The form that can be changed, the phone is quite powerful because it comes with Bluetooth, music player and micro USB port. Cellbots is also quite light because the weight only 100g.

Unfortunately, both devices are quite difficult to get. At the time of this writing, the USB flash drive Ravage has been sold out while we have not further information on the price from Cellbots above.

PSP Newest Shaped Small And Sweet

2009-07-09T08:42:00.000-07:00

PSP is being spent preparing newest product, PSP Go. Measuring half times preceding, PSP Go now has the view that more sweet with slider design. Because of smaller size, this device will be 43% more light from the preceding with a larger screen 3.8 inches. The PSP claims if this device can be used not only play games but also bring multimedia without limits wherever users are. PSP Go equipped with 16GB internal memory and memory card slot for adding storage capacity. On business connectivity, PSP Go equipped with Bluetooth and Wireless Internet. Unfortunately, according to the news that we have heard, game-old PSP game can no longer be played on this device but quiet course, Sony has plans to release a new game-games such as Go for PSP Gran Tourismo PSP and Metal Gear Solid latest. Later, to get the latest game-game, the user does not need to buy the physical game because all can be purchased online. According to the Sony, as quoted from the AFP, this device will be available in Japan in November with a price of U.S. $ 249. Specifications: • 3.8-inch display (resolution is undisclosed) • 43 percent lighter than the PSP-3000 • 16GB of Flash storage • Built-in Bluetooth, the handset supports tethering and BT headsets • No UMD drive • Memory Stick Micro slot • New Gran Turismo, Little Big Planet and Metal Gear Solid new (!) On the way • Full PlayStation Network support (movie and TV rentals / purchases) • Integration with PlayStation 3 (works the same as the PSP-3000 does)

LG HBM – 530 Full luxurious Crystal Ornamental

2009-07-09T08:35:00.001-07:00

Currently, using conventional headset is a bit outdated. This is the time to switch to using bluetooth headset. May even, in some years, the headset is a Bluetooth device that will always apply. More of bluetooth headset, which circulate in the market at this time and also participated in LG brisk competition this headset without a cable.

This product has a design that's much different from most competitors. If most of the Bluetooth headset is visible clearly the form and function as a headset, LG HBM-530 is seen as an ornament. How do I not, as you see in the picture, the device is decorated by the Swarovski crystals trends that sparkler. If viewed from the distance, this product seems like the earrings that decorate large ear users. If seen from the design, this product is intended for women and indeed the women for the sales target of the beautiful Bluetooth Headset. However, it also does not cover the possibility that there will be that the man who bought this product to be a gift for the beloved.

This product can be used in almost all LG phones. This device is also equipped with a hyper-cool e Clip ergonomic ear bud that will add comfort when worn. In addition to the captivating the design, technology used in this product be regarded less special because not much different with other products

In addition, the price is high enough to reach 79.99 USD, however this device is better suited as a jewelry, so be advised that only the price not too friendly.

Specifications:

- 3.5 hours of talk time maximal;
- 200g weight;
- 200 hours of standby time;
- The gadget's version 2.0;
- 33 feet of transmission range (or 10 meters long);
- 1 year warranty;

WARBEAST Guitar Rock for PS3

2009-01-07T02:21:00.000-08:00

The Guitar Hero and Rock Band titles have created a true “craze” among gamers, providing them with what many people search for their entire lives: the illusion of greatness and fame. However, there are certain issues that prevent gamers from really feeling like rock stars, one of them being the fact that the instruments they play on are not exactly very realistic. However, that's about to change, since the dreamGEAR company has introduced what they tout to be the only full-sized guitar-shaped controller on the market, the WarBeast.

The gaming accessory (created especially to work with the PS3 gaming console) is custom-designed and officially licensed by B.C. Rich Guitars, and sports several features that will certainly make wannabe rock stars drool, such as a glowing, extended strum bar for enhanced game play, custom neck with detailed inlays, detachable faceplates and neck and custom skull fret inlays.

Furthermore, the WarBeast sports responsive solo fret buttons, as well as a high quality adjustable whammy bar. Plus, in order to push the level of realism even further, the device is accompanied by a high quality custom guitar strap.

Now, we must not forget that this is, after all, a gaming accessory, so it's no wonder that it provides complete functionality with Start and Select buttons, D-pad and PS button, as well as a Rock Band/Guitar Hero slide switch, which automatically changes the settings according to the specific game being played. Other specific control options include a Rock Band tone switch, as well as a Guitar Hero 4 compatible "Star Power" button.

The PS3 WarBeast Wireless Guitar sells for around 130 US dollars, which makes it one expensive gaming accessory, but, then again, the true fans of either Rock Band or Guitar Hero will most likely love it, given the level of realism it provides.

Add Photo Lense for iPhone Camera

2009-01-07T02:16:00.000-08:00

Although in any serious photographer's book, taking photos with a mobile device (generally, a mobile phone) is a deadly sin, the truth is that a lot of people make use of these devices in order to take snapshots of something interesting even going on in front of them. However, despite the fact that camera modules inserted in mobile phones have evolved quite a lot over the recent few years and are now able to produce high-quality photos, they also present certain drawbacks, as for example the lack of interchangeable lenses.

But don't despair, there's a solution to this problem after all, especially if you happen to be an iPhone user. Thus, as GearDiary informs us, USB Fever is offering three different types of lenses that will help improve the quality (and variety) of photos you can take with your iPhone, all of which attach very easily to Apple's handheld via a magnetic ring.

Wait, you'll say, how can a magnetic ring attach to the iPhone 3G, which is made out of plastic? Well, it's a very simple system, actually, since users will first have to attach another ring to the case via adhesive tape, and then the lens itself. Moreover, this very innovative system allows users to attach these tiny lenses to just about any embedded digital camera, including that of a notebook, for example.

Now, let's take a quick look at what each of these lenses can provide. First of all, there's a wide angle lens, which provides a 0.67x zoom with Super Macro. Then, there's a Telephoto lens, which offers a 2x magnification factor, and finally a 170-degree Fish-eye lens, featuring four elements in four groups. The best thing about these lenses is their price, which is quite OK given the overall features they provide. Hence, the Wide Angle lens and the Telephoto lens sell for around 17 US dollars, while the Fish-eye lens is a little bit more expensive, being priced at around 20 US dollars.

URBAN MOVER Takes You To The Future

2009-01-07T02:13:00.000-08:00

The urban traffic is without a doubt one of the most annoying things possible. I mean, pretty much everyone hates spending countless hours in their cars on their way to/from work, and although modern cars do provide quite a lot of entertainment options, they're simply not good enough to cope with the stress caused by the seemingly endless rows of cars standing between the driver and their cozy home.

For this reason, more and more people opt for alternative means of transportation, whether we're talking about Segways or simple bicycles. And this is exactly the type of product you'll read about as follows, namely the UM70sx from UrbanMover, a moving contraption that could best be described as a motor-powered, rough-terrain skateboard.

As you can plainly see from the photo, the UM70sx has pretty much the same form factor as a skateboard, at least as far as the support surface is concerned. However, everything else is different, starting with the all-terrain, pneumatic rubber wheels and ending with the 800-watt, high torque, low profile, rare earth magnet motor, which can propel it at speeds of up to 32 Km/h (20 mph).

The UM70sx sports a wireless electronic ABS motor regenerative braking system (AMBS), controlled by the wireless intelligent digital remote, which is also used for controlling the device's speed. The UM70sx is also an eco-friendly product, since the motor is powered by 3 x 12V 12Ah sealed lead acid batteries, which take around 4-6 hours to completely recharge and provide a functioning range of around 25 kilometers.

The UrbanMover is bigger than an ordinary skate, measuring 125 x 52 x 29cm and weighing around 31 kilos. Unfortunately, it also has a weight limit, so if you weigh more than 120 kilos, it's not advisable to use it. No pricing details are available for the time being, but considering the features mentioned above, it's very likely that the UM70sx from UrbanMover won't come cheap.

Get Ready for Windows 7 Beta 1

2008-12-17T05:56:00.000-08:00

Microsoft is gearing up for the delivery of the 1st Beta for Windows 7. The company will move Windows Vista's successor from pre-Beta stage into fully-fledged Beta in early 2009. However, indications from the Redmond giant reveal that Windows 7 Beta 1 is just around the corner. An integral part of the preparations, associated with taking the next iteration of the Windows client into Beta development phase, is ensuring that a pool of testers is on standby to test drive the next milestone release bits of the operating system. In this context, Microsoft has already started sending out invitations for the Windows 7 Beta 1 testing program.

“The beta version is not available quite yet, but we need to assemble a great team of beta testers early so you are ready to go when we are,” a message delivered by the The Windows Customer Connection Team reads, according to WinSuperSite. The Redmond company has not, as of yet, provided any deadline for the launch of Windows 7 Beta 1, beyond pointing to early 2009 for the signing-off of the Beta bits.

The Windows 7 Beta 1 invites require the recipients to complete three surveys, available exclusively to those considered for the Beta program via Microsoft Connect. The software giant put a January 1st, 2009 relaxed deadline for completing the surveys, offering “Windows 7 logo’ed toys” as incentives for five testers, who will be selected out of all those that answer the questions by the end of 2008.

“While beta will not be available until early 2009, we know you are excited to get started so we have opened the microsoft.beta.win7.lobby, so you may begin renewing acquaintances with previous participants, as well as meeting new testing peers. After accepting the invitation, you will be able to sign into Microsoft Connect and click on the 'Windows 7 Beta Program' link for more information on accessing the newsgroups,” the company adds in the invitation message.

Testers will get access to Beta builds of not only the Windows 7 Client, but also of the Windows 7 Server (Windows Server 2008 R2), which will be made available for download. Microsoft plans to offer Windows 7 Beta 1 in English, German, Japanese, and Arabic, with an additional language pack for Hindi also available. The software giant stated that participation in the Beta testing program did not represent a guarantee that testers would receive a RTM copy of Windows 7.

“The Microsoft Windows beta team would like to extend an invitation to you to participate in the Microsoft Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 beta program planned for early 2009, as announced at the Professional Developers Conference Oct 2008. Accepting this invitation will allow you to access pre-release versions of the next version of Windows, for the purpose of evaluating and providing feedback. We highly value your past feedback and know we can count on you again to help us build a great new version of Windows,” Microsoft explains.

IE 8 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) Is Already

2008-12-17T05:47:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that Microsoft indicated the first quarter of 2009 as the potential deadline for the delivery of the next development milestone of Internet Explorer 8, fact is that IE7's successor is already out of Beta stage. In all fairness, however, back in mid-November 2009, Dean Hachamovitch, general manager, Internet Explorer, indicated that the next development milestone for IE8 would be made available in early 2009. Hachamovitch said nothing related to when the actual IE8 Release Candidate bits would be wrapped up.

“We will release one more public update of IE8 in the first quarter of 2009, and then follow that up with the final release. Our next public release of IE (typically called a ‘release candidate’) indicates the end of the beta period,” the IE General manager stated in November. However, a month later Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 is already available to the Redmond company's closest partners, according to TGDaily.

The End User License Agreement Terms for the development milestone indicate that IE8 RC1 is designed to integrate with Windows Vista RTM and Service Pack 1, Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Windows Server 2008. In this context, it still remains to be seen whether the Release Candidate of IE8 will be able to install on top of IE8 Beta, which ships as a part of Windows 7. IE8 RC1 Build 8.0.6001.18343 comes to the table with increased performance and reliability, but it looks like Microsoft is simply softening up all the rough edges of the browser, while not delivering any major changes compared to Beta 2. Following IE8 Beta 2, Microsoft's main focus for the next iteration of Internet Explorer is to drive compatibility with existing websites. In this IE8 RC1 it will feature compatibility enhancements, along with InPrivate tweaks, favorites, and feeds import capabilities from Firefox and Safari.

Office 2007 SP2 a Commitment to File Formats Interoperability

2008-12-17T05:05:00.000-08:00

Having brought Open XML on par with ODF by ratifying the native file format of the Office 2007 System as an ISO standard, Microsoft is now embracing both OASIS Open Document Format (ODF) version 1.1 and Open XML (Ecma 376 Edition 1). The company claims that its commitment to file format interoperability is at the heart of the move to implement ODF 1.1 along with Open XML into Office 2007 SP2, due for release next year. The software giant has already published documentation offering insight into the Office 2007 SP2 implementation of ODF 1.1, and will do the same for Open XLM in the coming weeks.

“This is an extremely valuable contribution to the pursuit of grounded, practical interoperability among applications,” Dennis Hamilton, document-system interoperability architect, said. “This step raises the bar for transparent disclosure of how standard formats are supported at a detailed level.”

According to Microsoft, the notes detailing ODF support in Office 2007 SP2 are designed to deliver a complex perspective on the decisions the company has taken in the implementation process, but also on the data that the software giant has added to the files and on the variances resulted due to specific approaches. Still, making Office 2007 SP2 play nice with ODF is just the beginning for Microsoft.

The Redmond company indicated that it would not stop with the addition of ODF and PDF support to Office 2007, and with the publishing of the implementation notes. In this regard, the software giant aims to be intimately involved in the evolution of both its Open XML and ODF, XML Paper Specification and PDF.

Microsoft issued a call for transparency and collaboration to the members of the industry, when it came down to the evolution of open standards for the sake of file format interoperability among office productivity solutions.

“By publishing notes on how we are implementing file format standards in Microsoft Office, we are providing detail that others can use as a reference point for their own applications,” Doug Mahugh, senior project manager for Office interoperability, explained. “We encourage other companies to take similar steps to help achieve greater interoperability across the industry.”

Vista SP2 Compcln.exe and Other Notable Changes in Service Pack 2

2008-12-15T02:39:00.001-08:00

According to Microsoft, Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista delivers an evolution in terms of compatibility, reliability, and performance, as compared with Service Pack 1. This albeit, the Redmond company did characterize Vista SP2 as nothing more than a standard service pack with no major changes under-the-hood or on the surface. Still, there are new components, such as Hyper-V (for Windows Server 2008) and Compcln.exe, as detailed in the Notable Changes

in Windows Server 2008 SP2 Beta and Windows Vista SP2 Beta resource.

"SP2 also includes a Service Pack Clean-up tool (Compcln.exe), which helps restore the hard disk space by permanently deleting the previous versions of the files (RTM and SP1) that are being serviced by SP2. The Pack Clean up tool can also be run offline while creating slipstream images to reduce the size of the image," Microsoft informed.

In this context, Vista SP2 offers an evolved form of the Vsp1cln.exe tool, which was integrated into SP1, but is no longer a part of the second service pack for the operating system. However, the basic functionality has been successfully preserved. Namely, compcln.exe is designed to perform the same task as Vsp1cln.exe, that is making the installation of the Service Pack permanent, by deleting all components associated with previous releases, and in this manner removing the possibility of restoring a past state.

The common standalone SP2 installer for Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1 has also been tweaked in order to be able to identify drivers and subsequently block the deployment of the service pack. Microsoft is also promising a more secure installation experience, as well as a superior level of error handling, complemented by descriptive error messages. To top it all off, the software giant indicated that the installer would accept servicing even after the release.

According to Microsoft, Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1 :

dds support for the 64-bit central processing unit (CPU) from VIA Technologies, which adds the ID and vendor strings for the new VIA 64-bit CPU

integrates the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless, which contains support for Bluetooth v2.1. Bluetooth v2.1 is the most recent specification for Bluetooth wireless technology and Windows Connect Now (WCN) Wi-Fi Configuration

improves performance for Wi-Fi connection after resuming from sleep mode

adds new capabilities to Direct X Graphic display reliability. The graphics experience has been greatly improved for users, such as gamers, running applications that require a lot of graphics processing

includes updates to the RSS feeds sidebar with improved performance and responsiveness

improves audio and video performance for streaming high definition content

includes ability to record data to Blu-Ray media

includes Windows Search 4.0

improves Windows Media Center (WMC) in Content protection for TV

Hyper-V is now integrated into Windows Server 2008

delivers up to 10% boosted efficiency via improved power management policy configurations

improves backwards compatibility for Terminal server license keys.

Computer Virus Outbreak Hits London Hospitals

2008-12-01T08:56:00.001-08:00

The networks of three London hospitals, the Royal London Hospital, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital (Barts), and the London Chest Hospital, were severely affected by a computer worm, on Tuesday. Because of the emergency procedures, the activity relying on computer systems has been affected, and non-essential operations have been halted.

All the hospitals are members of the Barts and The London NHS Trust, and they are connected to a common, larger computer network. This facilitated the propagation of the malware, suspected as being a mass-mailing worm, known as Mytob. “The Mytob worm spreads via email, planting a backdoor Trojan horse, which can be used by remote hackers to gain access and control over a victim's computer,” explained Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at security vendor Sophos.

The seriousness of the incident forced the hospitals to divert ambulances to other neighboring medical institutions, and restrict their emergency rooms to walk-in patients only. The Trust informed in a press release that patient appointments should not be affected, unless they involved transport, a service which was temporarily disrupted.

“The Trust’s well rehearsed emergency procedures have been activated to ensure that key clinical systems continue while network access is being established,” was noted in the press release. Backup systems are being used, while the IT staff are in the process of restoring the original systems based on priorities.

“Lab testing and imaging was available throughout the incident, as medical staff could and did access services by manual requesting,”said Julian Nettel, the Trust's chief executive. He has also pointed out that the Accident & Emergency departments are able to receive ambulances again, starting from today.

"I would particularly like to thank all our staff, patients and other NHS colleagues for their hard work, help, and support during this incident," added Julian Nettel. Such incidents are not a common occurrence in hospitals, and medical facilities generally have well designed emergency response plans, but Graham Cluley outlined the larger implications of such scenarios. “There will, no doubt, be concerns that the confidentiality of patients’ data may have been put at risk,” the security researcher said.

US Army Bans Removable Media Devices

2008-12-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

Unsuccessful in stopping the rapid spread of a variant of the SillyFDC worm, the Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command has resorted to unprecedented measures, and signed an order that prohibited the use of all flash memory cards, optical disks, thumb drives, and any other removable storage devices on both the army's classified and unclassified networks, effective immediately.

SillyFDC is a computer worm capable of propagating itself via removable USB devices and other storage media like CDs, DVDs etc. Once such compromised device is connected to a computer, the worm will proceed to infecting the operating system, and it will copy itself to other clean similar devices to be used in the future on the machine. The worm is also able to download other malware from the Internet onto the infected systems.

This threat poses a serious issue to the Army, where removable media is actively used for sharing sensitive data, instead of being sent over networks that could be compromised. In addition, connecting to the Internet, while on field for various missions, is not always an option. According to Wired, an e-mail from a Michigan Army National Guardsman, outlined the severity of the situation. "This has been briefed to the CoS of the ARMY. This is not just a problem for Michigan, and is affecting operations around the world. This is a very serious threat and should be treated as such," reads the e-mail.

This is just a temporary suspension, and the Army plans to introduce government-authorized devices back, based on priorities and in a controlled fashion, but personally-owned devices are likely to remain banned. In order to make sure that the military personnel and troops conform themselves to the new situation, the IT security teams will run scans on both the NIPRNET (unclassified) and SIPRNET (secret) networks, to detect malware and such devices. "Any discovery of malware will result in the opening of a security incident report, and will be referred to the appropriate security officer for action," notes an internal e-mail.

“Any storage device, which is attached to a computer, should be checked for virus and other malware before use. I would recommend that computer users disable the autorun facility of Windows, so removable devices such as USB keys and CD ROMs do not automatically launch when they are attached to a PC,” says Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. As history shows, such devices are not only responsible for propagating malware on networks, but are also a vital factor in many security breach incidents that resulted in data loss. Because of this, the use of personally-owned and uncontrolled storage devices by employees, on the internal network, should be prohibited in any organization, governmental or otherwise.

Cyber-Attack Cripples Critical US Military Networks

2008-12-01T08:53:00.000-08:00

After the U.S. Strategic Command banned the use of removable media on the army's networks last week, new details about the incidents that might have triggered this drastic decision surfaced. The networks of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have been crippled, while 75% of the computers in major military base in Afghanistan have been infected with a worm that spreads through such external devices.

According to US News and World Report, the cyber-attack at the base in Afghanistan is believed to have originated in China, and was not the first of its kind. These attacks aim at extracting secure information from the military computers, and have been successful into copying details about troop and convoy movements before. It is still not clear what and how much information was leaked out, as a result of this last incident.

According to the same source, there is still no indication whether the Chinese hackers were sponsored by the government in Beijing or if they were working independently. This seems to be a recurring question that never gets its answer, even though it is not the first time that attacks on U.S. government systems originate in China. Recent such incidents include the penetration of Pentagon computer systems, the hacking into the election campaigns' networks of both Barack Obama and John McCain, and the compromise of the White House unclassified network.

All these security breaches resulted in data being leaked out, even if it was not necessarily vital or classified in nature. An U.S. official explained that the Chinese intelligence service was known for an information gathering technique called the “grain of sand,” which involved analyzing huge chunks of what might look as low security level data, in order to discover just a small piece of vital information.

At the same time, the Los Angeles Times reports that at least one highly classified network at the U.S. Central Command has been compromised by a similar computer worm. The seriousness of the incident prompted the senior leaders in the military to brief President Bush on the security breach, and, at the same time, to raise the level of the INFOCON alert condition. INFOCON (Information Operations Conditions) is the military computer security equivalent to DEFCON. According to the yet scarce details, this attack is believed to originate in Russia.

Russia is no stranger to cyber-war, proving the effectiveness of such tactics back in 2007 when a Russian attack effectively crippled the network of the Estonian government. A wave of attacks from Russia resulted in over 300 websites in Lithuania being defaced after the Lithunian government banned the display of the old soviet red flag or other communist symbols. More recently, attacks originating in Russia have targeted the Georgian government computers during the armed conflict between the two countries. The involvement of the Russian government in the attacks has yet to be proven.

Military officials expressed concern, because, according to them, these attacks were not random. Instead, the malware detected on their networks, was particularly designed to target military computer systems. The hackers "learn a lot from these attacks, […] like how our logistics and other systems work," warned an U.S. intelligence official.

PT Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk : Career

2008-12-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

position : INVESTOR RELATION OFFICER

Requirements:

Bachelor degree or Master degree in Finance or Management from a reputable university with min. GPA 3.00 (scale 4.00)
Male / female, age between 28 – 35 years old
min. 2 – 3 years experience in similar field
Good knowledge In capital market rules
Have a strong interpersonal and communication skill
Good ability to manage or handle events
Proficiency in English both oral and written

Responsibilities:

Assisting investor relation program
Executing shareholders services
Executing CSR program

Send your CV to :

recruitment@blt.co.id

Career Level	Entry Level
	Qualification	Degree
	Yr(s) Exp	2 year(s)
	Job Category	Accounting/ Audit/Taxation - Accounting Clerk/Supervisor, Banking/ Finance/ Securities - Financial Services, Bus
	Job Location	DKI Jakarta - Jakarta
	Salary	Not Specified / Negotiable
	Job Type	Full Time, Permanent

Permata Bank : Career

2008-12-01T07:39:00.000-08:00

Job title:	Entry Level
Job function:	Sales (Non-Technical)
Job position:	Loan Advisor (DSR)
Work location:	Bogor
Level of education:	Associate Degree
Major:	Any
Work experience:	Not required
Offering salary:	Not specified
Requirements:	- Male/Female - Max. 35 yrs old - having network or database - strategic thinking and oriented to target - having own vehicles (oriented, min. SIM C) - experience in sales (oriented)
Job description:	- Direct Sales for selling product of Permata Bank: KTA Business/ Dana Usaha * Benefit: Basic Salary, Commission, Reward & Training send your application to :: Gd. Permata Bank Sudirman Tower I Sales Support lt. 18 Jl. Jend. Sudirman kav. 27 Jakarta Pusat 12920 or by email: salessupport.jakarta@gmail.com

Last update:	21 November 2008
Closing date:	05 December 2008

Gears of War 2 Receive Title Update

2008-12-01T07:33:00.000-08:00

Gears of War 2 was one of the most expected games this holiday season, largely due to the fact that it promised to give players the same great experience its predecessor did, with new things and gameplay modes that would enrich it even more.

Although it was met with a lot of anticipation, as it broke the pre-order record, the game was received with mixed reviews by fans. Players deemed a lot of changes unnecessary and said that the first game was very solid in a lot of parts, and that the new features brought them only frustration and anger.

Soon after our article about the user complaints regarding Gears of War 2, Epic launched its first patch for the game, one that promised to solve quite a lot of problems. First of all, Rod Fergusson, the senior producer of the game, said that the patch would improve the matchmaking issues of the multiplayer mode, which made players wait quite a lot of time before they could actually play it. The stats management system has also been improved, and it would record all of the players’ actions in the game.

Fergusson then added that: "In order to get the update out as quickly as possible, we focused just on immediate infrastructure issues and have left any potential gameplay issues for a future update. We want to thank everyone for their patience during this time and we will continue to monitor the situation. We’re hopeful that the matchmaking issues we’ve seen up till now are a thing of the past."

Some kind words, but which probably won’t make much of a difference, as users won’t forget the frustrating moments while they waited and waited to connect to an online multiplayer game. Let's just hope that these matchmaking issues will now be solved. If you still meet any problems, let us know in the comment section.

Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard

2008-12-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

Some might say that there will be a day when we'll no longer need keyboards like the one we're using everyday with our computers. And it might be completely true, especially after taking a good look at new input devices created to replace the old-fashioned keyboards – the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard is the perfect example demonstrating that such a future isn't at all fantasy talk.

Lasers play a serious role in this industry these days and they're also behind the working principle of the gadget we’re about to present as follows. We're dealing with a small and convenient laser projector you can easily stow away in your bag.

Once set in place and turned on, this gadget will project a laser contour of a normal QWERTY keyboard on any flat surface. And if the protrusions on this surface are less than 1mm in height, the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard can ignore them and detect correctly your moves. You'll get a good contrast in pretty much any lighting conditions, when luminosity does not exceed 600 lux and, as you type, the gadget will also emit the sound of a traditional keyboard.

This laser keyboard is quite convenient since it comes with no wires: it communicates with other devices using Bluetooth v1.1 class 2 sporting a 9m operating range. The built-in rechargeable Li-Ion battery can deliver up to 120 minutes of continuous typing; still we're not sure whether the supplied wall adapter can be used to keep it plugged in all the time, but most likely it is, otherwise having to switch keyboards makes for a real setback.

Reportedly, the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard has a 400 characters per minute detection rate and can be hooked up to both Macs and PCs and with a horde of PDAs and smartphones/pocket PCs. The manufacturers have prepared drivers only for Windows, wile Apple computers have been left aside: this means that Mac customers won't be able to customize their own keyboard shortcuts and this could also diminish sales, if commercial evaluations are to be considered.

It remains to be seen how the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard handles daily tasks over extended periods of time. And maybe some price adjustments could also be operated since you must fork out $160 if you want it now.

PlayStation 3 Users Will Come Home Soon

2008-12-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

The PlayStation 3 was a very hyped-up console when it was launched two years ago. Its hardware is the most powerful among its counterparts on the market, and Sony has fitted it with quite a few aces up its sleeve, like the Blu-ray player or wireless capabilities.

But there's always been something that prevented the PS3 from being a worthy competitor to its main rival, the Xbox 360, and that is the online service. Although the PlayStation Network is quite popular, having reached over 14 million active users and being completely free, it still can't beat the Xbox Live system.

Because of this, Sony has been developing a whole new online experience, called PlayStation Home, which will offer users a virtual community in which they can interact with other people. The service has been in closed beta stage for quite a while now, as only users who received invitations could join it. But things are about to change, as the director of Home, Jack Buser, confirmed recently that the online service would enter its open beta stage, and users would be free to access it.

He then teased users and said that the Home system would surely be worth the wait, as it would completely change the way users interacted with each other online. The new system would also offer a new platform for the partners of the Japanese company to create content for, as they would see it as a very attractive new market.

"PlayStation Home is a new innovative service unlike anything else on the market and we have taken the time to make sure that it's a great service. This is a huge undertaking for the company and we want to deliver on what we've promised – a true 3D representation of the PlayStation community. What you see in PlayStation Home is just the frosting to the cake; we've created an entirely new platform for partners to create content for, and as an insider to what's to come, it will be well worth the wait."

Gigabytes Enable Intel Moblin Platform on New MID

2008-12-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Gigabyte is expected to debut a new ultra-portable computer device that will be built on Intel's open source Moblin platform, which is a project that the Santa Clara, California-based chip maker announced sometime last year. This platform has been designed to combine Intel's highly successful Atom processor with a Linux operating system to enable an Internet-capable mobile device that is both ultra-portable and easy to use.

The M528, Gigabyte's first Moblin-based device, is expected to be launched in Taipei this week, coming to provide Internet users with an Internet-capable mobile device that boasts an 800MHz Atom processor. The M528 is built on a design from Compal, and is said to deliver 4GB of storage space, 512MB of RAM memory, a 3MP camera, and a 4.8-inch LCD touchscreen that can output images at a resolution of 800 by 400 pixels. Additional features include support for WiFi and 3GB connectivity, providing users with more connectivity options.

"The MID market is relatively new. We spent 10 months developing this product," said Ma Meng-ming, president of Gigabyte, speaking at a news conference.

Gigabyte's device is reported to become available to consumers in December for a price tag of NT$12,900 (US$386) with a 2-year 3G contract from Chunghwa. Considering its overall specifications, Gigabyte's new Internet-capable device could easily compete with Apple's iPhone 3G, which is expected to launch through Chunghwa next month.

Intel is really confident in the future of its Moblin platform, which is considered an ideal choice for computer device users in Taiwan. Also, the leading chip maker announced last month that it planned to built a Moblin development center in Taiwan, as part of an agreement with the country's Ministry of Economic Affairs. In addition, the company is set to invest in VMAX for the development of Taiwan's first major WiMAX network, which will be an alternative connectivity option for upcoming Atom-based MIDs.

Alleged Software Pirate Slaps Microsoft with Antitrust Complaint

2008-12-01T06:19:00.000-08:00

Microsoft's fight against companies allegedly selling illegal software has gone sour. Back in May 2008, the Redmond company announced a lawsuit against HW Trading BV and its principal, Samir Abdalla, as an integral part of its strategy to tackle illegal software products sales. Nevertheless, Samir Abdalla is now firing back at the software giant, upping the stakes with an antitrust complaint filed with the European Commission.

In this broad antitrust complaint filed with the antitrust regulators in the EU, Abdalla accuses Microsoft of discriminating between U.S. and European consumers, by selling European users products considerably more expensive compared to the prices tailored to American customers.

In this manner, Abdalla is pointing the finger at Microsoft, claiming that the company violates EU treaties. The complaint will be handled by the Directorate General for Competition under the helm of Neelie Kroes, an EU antitrust commissioner, which has already slapped Microsoft with multi-billion dollars worth of financial penalties for failing to abide with the European anti-monopoly laws, and then failing to comply with the regulators' decision.

Gerard van der Wal, a Houthoff attorney, representing Abdalla, revealed to Webwereld that the complaint revolved around Microsoft allegedly infringing articles 81 and 82 of the European Treaty. Van der Wal pointed out that Microsoft was not only abusing its dominant position on the market, but also worked to limit competition.

Abdalla's complaint brought to the attention of the EU antitrust Commission the fact that Microsoft charged European customers anywhere from 30% to 50% more for the software products sold across the Atlantic, compared to the U.S. market. According to Abdalla, Microsoft was attempting to block what he referred to as the legal trade in grey software, that the company was forbidding distributors to offer customers media with the software they purchase, and that the Redmond giant even refused to sell its products to certain resellers.

In the May 2008 legal action debuted against HW Trading BV and Samir Abdalla, Microsoft alleged that $3.7 million had been illegally obtained for sales involving Windows XP and Office 2003, which was purchased in Egypt and resold in the U.S., a practice referred to as dealing in grey software.

Microsoft WARP Boosts Graphics on Intel's CPUs

2008-12-01T06:10:00.000-08:00

Microsoft is reported to be working on the development of a software rasterizer that would allow x86 processors to render DirectX 10 graphics. The new Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP) will be included by the software giant in its upcoming Windows 7 operating system, while already having a beta version available in the November 2008 DirectX development toolkit. Moreover, it seems that early test results are rather promising.

According to Microsoft, WARP should prove quite useful in certain situations, including those when a user’s graphics card is broken or the graphics driver malfunctions. Furthermore, it seems that the giant is also targeting casual gamers who want prettier graphics than what their dedicated GPU (or integrated graphics hardware) might be able to offer.

Games feature simple rendering requirements, which go along with the usage of impressive visual effects that can be hardware accelerated. The best selling game titles for Windows are said to be simulations or casual games, rather than applications that require high performance graphics. On the other hand, both types of games benefit a lot from modern shader based graphics and the ability to scale on hardware, if present.

What sounds great is that DirectX 10 applications designed without the WARP in mind are expected to run well using the rasterizer. Moreover, Microsoft says that the performance of an Intel Core i7 965 processor while running Crysis raises to an average of 7.4 FPS at 800x600 with the detail level turned down. In comparison, Intel's DX10-capable integrated graphics hardware could only score 5.2 FPS. On the other hand, a GeForce 8400 GS card (which would cost only $30 these days) outpaces both solutions, while scoring 33.9 FPS.

The new Microsoft WARP solution could prove more than beneficial to Intel's future Larrabee graphics processor, which is based on x86-derived processing cores. Earlier this year, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney stated that, while Intel's integrated graphics were incapable of running modern games, a hypothetical resurgence of software rendering could counteract this.

(softpedia.com)

Sony Ericsson G 502 Preview

2008-12-01T06:01:00.000-08:00

Released back in summer, the G502 mobile phone can be considered one of the few pleasant surprises coming from Sony Ericsson this year. There's no point in denying that Xperia X1 has been the most expected Sony Ericsson device in 2008, but G502 has its advantages and targets a different market than X1. In fact, Sony Ericsson G502 is among few other mid-tier mobile phones to feature HSDPA technology. It seems that its K660 predecessor had some success on the market, which made the Swedish-Japanese joint company launch another version, even cheaper – G502. The main attractions of the device are definitely the new integrated web browser and HSDPA connectivity capabilities.

Announced in April 2008, Sony Ericsson G502 was made available on the market in June 2008. To increase its appeal, SE launched the phone in three color versions: Champagne Black, Brilliant Hazel and Celerity Red. The phone can be acquired for about USD 180$, but the price may vary depending on location and plan.

Design

Sony Ericsson G502 features a stylish candy-bar form factor, but lacks any improvement from the previous Sony Ericsson bar handsets. It's like you've seen one, you've seen them all. Without being ugly, G502 doesn't impress in terms of design, but that is not what it's meant for. G502 is a small (103 x 46 x 13.5 mm) and light (83g, including battery) mobile phone made from polished plastic, which eliminates the feeling of owning something cheap.
Even if it doesn't stand out from the crowd, I'm still impressed by the fact that SE was very careful to avoid the standard look of its devices. Moreover, users won't have any problem with the phone catching fingerprints, as the material used keeps it clean. Instead, the screen could become soiled after each phone talk, in case you're putting it to your ear, and that will be visible more than it should. Another drawback that I have noticed is the fact that its paint peels off after heavy use, especially the silver paint on the back of the phone, near the camera.
The joystick paint might also peel off if you're not careful with it. Well, that's about all the negative aspects I have noticed, so let's start checking the rest of the device.

The G502 bar handset features the proprietary Sony Ericsson port used for USB synchronization, charging or headset. It has been placed on the bottom side of the phone, together with a small eyelet. On the right side of the device, one can see the dual volume key and a dedicated camera key (thumbs up). There is nothing on top or on the left side, except for a small icon on the left side that indicates the fact that the phone features a micro M2 slot card under the back cover. It can be easily pulled out, which makes the process of replacing the memory card pretty easy. The 2 Megapixel camera on the back has been placed on a large silvery prominence, but lacks protective lenses, so it might be susceptible to damage. The loudspeaker has been hidden under the silvery proeminence that embeds the camera.
The 2 inch display has been covered by protective plastic so it won't get damaged. Above it, there's only a large in-call speaker and no secondary camera for video-calls. The keypad below has been shaped to emulate a “ripple” effect. There are six keys above the standard keypad: two contextual keys, Accept and Reject call keys, Activity Menu key and a Clear key (Power off/on). The keypad is very easy to use on texting, very responsive and nice to the touch. Still, I have found that using the D-pad joystick might be a little tricky, even annoying sometimes. I didn't like the control of the six keys mentioned above or the D-pad. Otherwise, those using the phone for heavy texting will be more than pleased with the performance of the keypad. Backlighting is stronger on the upper part of the keypad, but overall you won't have too much trouble texting in the dark.

Sony Ericsson G502 may look pretty solid, but it is a little bit unbalanced, especially because it's too light for its size. Otherwise, it makes a fine addition to Sony Ericsson's portfolio of mid-level handsets.

(softpedia.com)

Windows 7 Ultimate Cracks Available for Pre-Beta Build 6801

2008-11-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

While Windows 7 has yet to reach Beta stage, the first workarounds to illegally activate this operating system are already available in the wild. Microsoft offered Windows 7 Ultimate pre-Beta Build 6801 to participants at its PDC 2008 and WinHEC 2008 events. The third major development milestone of Windows Vista's successor was subsequently leaked in the wild, with all the major torrent repositories offering access to the testing build. However, although in pre-Beta phase, Windows 7 still requires to be activated, and with the product keys delivered by the company at this year's PDC and WinHEC a tad more private than the actual pre-Beta bits, the first cracks for the operating system have been put together to deal with the activation process.

Acompanying leaked and still valid product keys, the Windows 7 activation cracks only manage to take the operating system beyond the initial grace period limitations. Since pre-Beta Build 6801 is just a taste of the next iteration of the Windows client delivered for testing purposes, the bits are time-bombed. Crack or no crack, Windows 7 Ultimate pre-Beta build 6801 is scheduled to expire in January 2009. Microsoft has already stated that plans are in place to start offering the first fully fledged Beta of Windows 7 in early 2009.

Still, the first hacks designed to bypass the normal activation process for Windows 7 indicate that the next version of the Windows client will follow in the tracks of its precursor. Despite the consistent anti-piracy measures built into the platform, Windows Vista activation cracks were made available hot, on the heels of the actual operating system. Vista came to the table with Reduced Functionality Mode, a mitigation designed to cut access to features and functionality for Vista copies detected as non-genuine.

Although present in Windows 7 Milestone 1, Reduced Functionality Mode has been, since then, scrapped completely from both Vista, with the release of Service Pack 1, and from Windows 7 in subsequent Milestone releases. It was not until one year after Vista RTM that Microsoft managed to deal with the OEM BIOS and Grace Timer cracks for Vista, and by the looks of the early Windows 7 activation workarounds, the company will continue to be forced to flex its anti-piracy muscles.

(softpedia.com)

PSP 3000 Sales Drop Sharply in Japan

2008-11-17T04:26:00.000-08:00

The Japanese videogames market, which was supposed to be rebounding following the release of the new PSP-3000, with its improved hardware, is sharply down, with all consoles registering significant drops in sales. The Playstation Portable still managed to sell a respectable 60,000 units in one week, but this otherwise good result seems weak when we see that it means the console lost over 90,000 units over the previous week. The problems with vertical scan lines appearing on the screen of the new hardware models might be blamed for the drop, as Sony said that the problem could be fixed via a firmware update and that users would have to cope with it.

The Nintendo DS has also seen numbers drop by no less than 7,000 units, to a total of 22,865 for one week. The launch of the new Nintendo DSi, which has taken place on November 1, is expected to drive up sales of the Nintendo handheld.

The Nintendo Wii registered a smaller drop in sales, by only 1,500 units, to reach over 24,000 consoles sold in one week, again selling more than the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 combined. The Microsoft made gaming console managed to keep its figures almost unchanged, selling 7,844 units, while its Sony made rival went to a record low in Japan, moving just 3,931 devices to customers. The PlayStation 2 performed better, with 6,962 consoles sold.

The Nintendo made Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode for the Nintendo DS was the best selling game, followed by a PlayStation 2 title Devil Summoner made by Atlus. The game was offered in a standard bundle, which only included a soundtrack CD, and in a Plus edition, which also contained Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. Sales of the two versions combined were enough to get the game at number one, but the two editions were counted separately. Nintendo Wii, which debuted at number one the previous week, is now at number five in Japan.

(softpedia.com)

Nintendo DSi Still Strong in Japan

2008-11-17T04:19:00.000-08:00

In its second week in stores in Japan, the all new and improved Nintendo DSi handheld has managed to sell another 104,897 units, adding to the more than 171,000 units moved in the first weekend since launch. The older Lite model of the device also sold about 10,000 units, and the overall sales reached 113,278 for the week.

The PlayStation Portable, which has now been upgraded to the new PSP-3000 standard, with a better screen and better hardware, sold around 43,000 units. However, it seems that the Sony made handheld will not be able to challenge the Nintendo DSi for supremacy as the holiday shopping period approaches.

The Nintendo Wii is the most successful of the home consoles, with 24,726 units sold in one week, which means a 1,500-unit drop over the previous week. Both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 sold better than usual, thanks mainly to well received hardware bundles. The Sony made console has moved 18,354 units, which is less than half the number sold in the previous week, while the Microsoft made console saw almost a doubling of sales, to 12,759 units.

The best selling game in Japan was a Nintendo one. While there's no surprise there, the fact that a remake of the old SNES game Kirby Super Star, now titled Kirby Super Star Ultra, has reached the top spot shows the lack of other significant launches and the power that nostalgia has over modern gamers. Other family related titles, like Rhythm Heaven, Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode, and Personal Trainer: Walking registered good performances as far as software sales go.

(softpedia.com)

Fedora 10 Preview

2008-11-05T04:13:00.000-08:00

Jesse Keating has just announced a few minutes ago the immediate availability of Fedora 10 Preview release. "The Fedora Project is proud to announce the availability of the Fedora 10 Preview Release. The Fedora 10 Preview Release is our last pre-release offering before we let everyone taste the goods for real." - said Jesse in the official release announcement.

Dubbed Cambridge, Fedora 10 Preview offers a faster boot experience (with the help of Plymouth), better printing, improved wireless network connection sharing, better software maintenance and update (with the help of PackageKit and RPM 4.6), virtualization storage, and adds a new security tool for IDS (Intrusion Detection System) called SecTool. The development cycle of Fedora 10 will conclude with the final release somewhere at the end of November 2008. Below are some of the highlights of Fedora 10 :
• Linux kernel 2.6.27 (with improved webcam and WiFi support);
• GNOME 2.24;
• KDE 4.1;
• Eclipse 3.4;
• RPM 4.6;
• Faster boot;
• An enhanced version of the PackageKit package manager;
• An updated PulseAudio sound server;
• Improved Apple Macintosh hardware support;
• Improved HDTV support in X.Org;
• A new icon theme called Echo;
• Remote virtualization.

The Fedora 10 Release Schedule:
August 5th, 2008 - Fedora 10 Alpha release
September 30th, 2008 - Fedora 10 Beta release
November 4th, 2008 - Fedora 10 Preview release
November 25th, 2008 - Fedora 10 Final release

Fedora 10 will be available as GNOME and KDE Live CD editions for 32bit and 64bit platforms, and the usual DVD edition.

(softpedia.com)

Apple Solves Life's Dilemmas with iPhone 3G

2008-11-05T04:07:00.000-08:00

Apple is now featuring a new iPhone advertisement on its website. The ad, simply dubbed Dilemmas, emphasizes the iPhone's capabilities to run useful and fun-to-use apps. The commercial reveals Apple’s constant tendency of highlighting only one app at a time to show the iPhone's potential.

The latest iPhone ad features Urbanspoon, a simple iPhone app that has users shaking the device to get recommendations on local restaurants. According to the makers of the app, “Urbanspoon on the iPhone is part Magic 8 Ball, part slot machine.” But, as you shake your phone to finds a good restaurant near you, the results might not always appeal to you at that particular moment. Say you don't want Mexican today, but you don't really know what you want exactly either. Well, Urbanspoon lets you shake your device repeatedly until it comes back with something that really appeals to you.

Not only is the app highlighted by Apple useful and fun to use, but it's also available for free download via the iTunes App Store. Urbanspoon is only advertised for iPhone use, but, as history has shown, most iPhone apps are iPod touch-compatible as well, provided you run the necessary firmware.

Main features of Urbanspoon include the ability to use GPS to find a restaurant near you, filter by neighborhood, cuisine, or price, search and browse local restaurants, see a list of all nearby eateries, compare restaurant picks with your friends, ratings and reviews from newspapers, bloggers and fellow eaters, and more.

The app also received an update recently, adding news feed capabilities, showing what your friends are doing, but also restaurant news. New locations include Napa, Santa Cruz and Walnut Creek, while the app runs “leaner and faster” now, according to the makers. It is available in most North American cities, as well as in London, Sydney and Melbourne.

Since Apple thinks the world of Urbanspoon, maybe you should check out the App Store link below with your iPhone in hand. For the new iPhone ad, either see the YouTube video provided below, or use the second link to go to Apple's website, for more picture quality.

(softpedia.com)

Intel Core i7 goes 5 GHz

2008-11-05T03:47:00.000-08:00

The recent few days have been filled with reviews and test results on the upcoming Intel Core i7 processors. The new 45nm CPUs have been expected to arrive for quite some time now, as the chipmaker spread the word on the great capabilities of its architecture, code-named Nehalem. As the company promised, the chips are able to deliver unprecedented levels of performance.

Some photos published on inpai show an overclocking test run on Core i7. The speed of this Bloomfield processor has been boosted up to 5GHz, as displayed by the CPU-Z utility. As seen in the images, the overclocked chip is an Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition, which features a stock core speed of 3.2GHz. Previous speed boosting tests showed the CPU going easily to 4GHz, yet none tried to get it over this frequency.

The system on which the Core i7 reached 5GHz included an ASUS P6T DELUXE motherboard, 6GB of DDR3 memory and an ASUS X1650 series video card. Unfortunately, inpai does not specify much on test conditions, so we do not know what they used for cooling the chip, but it is highly unlikely to be air.

The overclocking capacity of the new chip is one of its greatest features. We've already reported a few facts on how the speed of the Core i7 processors could be boosted and to which levels. Today, we have a little surprise learning the new limit to which the chip can be pushed, a surprise driven mainly because the CPUs were reported at a certain moment to come with some limitations in the area.

The fact that the chip can do better is only good news for Intel, as the processors will probably highly appeal to enthusiasts and gamers. As the company stated a few times in the past, it included a great deal of new technologies in its Nehalem chips so as to make them reach unattained performance levels. And they are already reported to outpace most of the current CPUs on the market. We'll soon detail more on the architecture and capabilities of the new Intel Core i7 CPUs.

(softpedia.com)

Windows 7 User Interface – The Superbar (Enhanced Taskbar)

2008-11-05T03:37:00.000-08:00

One of the elements of the Windows graphical user interface that is evolving past what end users have come to traditionally associate with it is the Taskbar. The GUI evolution delivered by Windows 7 is designed to bring what Microsoft is internally referring to as the Superbar, or the enhanced Taskbar. The new Taskbar was showcased at the professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles at the end of the past month but was disabled in pre-Beta Build 6801 (or Milestone 3) which was served to participants and which subsequently leaked, now being available for download via torrent websites. However, at this point in time, there is a hack which serves to uncover the hidden Superbar even in Windows 7 pre-Beta Build 6801.

“By using the Windows 7 Taskbar, applications can provide more information to the user in more intuitive ways. Each application has a single button on the Taskbar, represented by a 32x32 icon. By default, each application’s running windows are all grouped under this single icon. In addition, the user can pin the application’s shortcut to the Taskbar to serve as an easily accessible application launcher. When the application is running, the button for this running application replaces the pinned launcher, so that the application always has a single, consistent location on the Taskbar,” Microsoft revealed.

The enhanced Windows 7 Taskbar comes complete with a range of application-related information sources for end users to access via such items as: “Destination List, Icon Overlays, Thumbnails for running windows, Thumbnail Toolbars, and Progress bars,” according to Microsoft. At the same time, some classic Taskbar items have been scrapped altogether. One illustrative example in this context is the Quick Launch area. Although the Quick Launch folder is still a part of Windows 7, the actual area on the Superbar is gone.

One new presence on the Windows 7 Superbar is what Microsoft referred to through the development process as Destinations Lists. The Redmond giant indicated that the name might change post Beta, and as it is the case, Microsoft top executives dubbed the feature Jumplists at PDC2008. Jumplists are designed as “shortcuts” enabling users to connect with frequently accessed Internet locations, files or documents faster.

“The Destination List is automatically populated based on frequency and recency of use for file-based applications. Additionally, an application can define custom destinations, enabling it to monitor its own destination usage and their semantics. Applications can also define Tasks (actions within the application that users will find convenient to access directly, for example, composing an e-mail) to appear in their menus,” Microsoft informed.

With the new Progress Bars, users will be able to monitor ongoing tasks and processes performed by their applications without having to keep the programs' window visible. In this regard, progress of functions including file copies, but also CD and DVD burning, downloads and installs will be displayed via the Taskbar buttons, through the Progress Bar.

Other additions to the Windows 7 Taskbar are “Icon Overlays used to convey long-standing status or notifications can be displayed on the bottom right-hand area of the application’s taskbar button. Icons are displayed one at a time, in the order in which they are received,” Microsoft stated.

All applications in Windows 7 will feature Thumbnails. Set up to activate when the user hovers over a certain Taskbar item, the Thumbnails will be large and interactive mini-windows delivering visual guidance and data related to the program. On top of this, “the Thumbnail Toolbar provides a single location for commonly performed key actions related to the window where the user does not need to restore the window, for example, Play/Stop controls for a media application,” Microsoft added.

(www.softpedia.com)

Creative Intros X-Fi Soundcard for Notebooks

2008-09-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - Earlier this week, we told you that, on September 17, Creative was expected to release a new X-Fi product, which was promoted by means of an "I am Heard Everywhere" campaign. Today is the 17^th and, as it turns out, the company has kept its promise by unveiling the new X-Fi Notebook ExpressCard, a new high-end portable audio solution designed for those notebook users that require a high-quality audio support.

As mentioned above, it comes in an ExpressCard form and is part of the company's extensive X-Fi lineup. The new soundcard has been designed to easily fit a notebook computer system and improve its audio quality, making gaming and music listening much more pleasant.

"The Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook and Creative Wireless Receiver were designed to dramatically improve the sound quality of all of the music, movies and games on your notebook PC and play it wirelessly anywhere in your home. This allows you to put your speaker systems where you want them without having them tied to your laptop and stuck on your desk," said Steve Erickson, vice president and general manager of audio for Creative Labs Inc.

One of the most significant features of this new Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Notebook is the fact that it can be combined with the Creative Wireless Receiver, enabling users to listen to music, without directly connecting the speakers to their portable computer systems. In addition, the new Creative soundcard for notebooks also incorporates the company's CMSS-3D technology, meant to deliver incredible 3D positional audio experience.

Furthermore, the manufacturer also announced that for an $89.99 price, the X-Fi soundcard will be offered with a free download of PowerDVD software with full DTS and Dolby Digital decoding support, and it will be available come the end of next month.

(softpedia.com)

SQL Server Extension Will Scale into Hundreds of Terabytes of Data

2008-09-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - With Microsoft SQL Server 2008 released to manufacturing at the start of August 2008, the Redmond company is focusing on the evolution of the product via a project based on DATAllegro technology. In less than two years, the software giant plans to integrate the resources that it has acquired concomitantly with DATAllegro into an extension for SQL Server. With the new solution, SQL Server will be able to scale into hundreds of Terabytes of data.

Ron Van Zanten, directing officer of Business Intelligence, Premier Bankcard, commented that “DATAllegro’s technology is a natural complement to SQL Server, so we are excited about the possibilities this acquisition will bring”. “Microsoft recently launched SQL Server 2008, which is already attracting a great deal of attention thanks to all of the new functionality for mission-critical data management and business intelligence - in fact, it’s been downloaded more than 500,000 times,” said Ted Kummert, corporate vice president of the Data and Storage Platform Division at Microsoft.

According to the Redmond giant, SQL Server customers will be able to enjoy the added enterprise-class data warehousing capabilities from DATAllegro starting with the first half of 2010. “These capabilities, combined with DATAllegro’s ability to scale to hundreds of terabytes, present an extremely powerful solution set for customers and partners, and we are committed to getting it in their hands as soon as possible,” Kummert added.

In the upcoming 12 months, Microsoft will provide customers and partners with the first Community Technology Previews of the new solution. The final product, which will be synonymous with a marriage between SQL Server and DATAllegro's technologies, will bring to the market the highest scales of data warehousing, according to Microsoft. The Redmond company made public details from its product road map for the SQL Server data platform after having completed the acquisition of DATAllegro.

(softpedia.com)

Microsoft Jumps in the Driver Seat with Pioneer

2008-09-17T06:21:00.000-07:00

Pioneer is the latest addition on Microsoft's collection of Intellectual Property partners. The two companies announced on September 16, 2008 a cross-licensing patent agreement focused on consumer technology. In the past year, the Redmond giant signed similar partnerships with Kenwood and Alpine Electronics, and Pioneer is simply the latest manufacturer of auto navigation products to jump aboard Microsoft's patent cross-licensing agreements wagon. However, the alliance also spans to encompass television products and the Redmond company's software solutions. “These types of agreements extend collaboration and innovation in the automotive field by allowing us to help our partners deliver groundbreaking in-vehicle technologies and product enhancements,” revealed Velle Kolde, senior product manager, Microsoft’s Automotive Business Unit.

Neither of the two companies wished to make the details of their agreement public, especially the financial terms, but Microsoft indicated that it is to receive compensation from Pioneer. Still, both Microsoft and Pioneer will be able to tap each other’s patent portfolios in order to develop and include new technologies into their products. Intellectual Property is one of the strongest assets of the Redmond giant, and has been labeled as such. Back in January 2008, Microsoft's patent portofolio was at the very top of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers' November 2007 issue of IEEE Spectrum, as well as in Patent Board's January 2008 Scorecard for the Information Technology.

“Industry collaboration through intellectual property licensing fosters innovation that benefits the customer, the consumer and the overall IT ecosystem. We are proud of our innovations and the quality of our comprehensive global patent portfolio. This agreement will help bring new and exciting technologies to customers who have learned to expect high-quality technology from Microsoft and Pioneer,” explained Horacio Gutierrez, vice president of intellectual property (IP) and licensing at Microsoft.

(softpedia.com)

Download IE8 Beta 2 Wave 2 for Vista SP1 and XP SP3

2008-09-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - On August 27, 2008, Microsoft made available for download the second Beta of IE 8. At that time, the browser came in four flavors, namely English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), and German. On September 16, the Redmond company went live with the second wave of IE8 Beta 2 releases, offering the browser in no less than 21 localized versions. The fresh IE8 Beta 2 releases covering 21 additional languages on top of the original four are supported only on the 32-bit versions of Windows Vista RTM and Service Pack 1, Windows XP SP2 and SP3 and Windows Server 2008.

“The IE team is pleased to announce the availability of Internet Explorer Beta 2 in 21 additional languages. The languages released today are fully localized versions of the IE8 English Beta 2. The Complete List of IE8 Beta 2 Languages: Arabic, Chinese (Hong Kong), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish," explained Vishwac Sena Kannan, International Program Manager.

Microsoft is currently gearing up for the availability of the gold build of Internet Explorer 8. The Redmond giant has not confirmed a deadline, except to say that it expects to deliver the final IE8 two years after the general availability of Internet Explorer 7 considered by the company to be January 30, 2007, the Windows Vista launch day. However, all indications point to a November release of IE8 final, including the fact that Microsoft is only offering support for the Beta 2 build of Internet Explorer 8 until the end of October.

“When installing localized versions of IE 8 Beta 2 on XP or Windows Server 2003 please remember that the base language of the operating system must match the IE8 language you are trying to install; otherwise the Setup Wizard will display an error. For Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, the base language of Windows does not need to match the Internet Explorer 8 language version in order for a successful install. When your user active language matches the Internet Explorer 8 language you installed, then IE8 will appear in the desired language. You will still be able to use IE8 in all other scenarios, but it will appear in English as a fall back version,” Kannan added.

(softpedia.com)

Psystar Grants Apple Extension to Respond to Countersuit

2008-09-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - Apple and Psystar have agreed to extend the period of time in which Apple has to respond to Psystar's Counterclaims,filed on August 28, 2008, until September 30, 2008. Apple too granted Psystar not one, but two such response extensions in the past months, since the Cupertino-based Mac maker filed its original suit against the Florida-based Mac cloner, alleging copyright infringement.

Apple stresses that Psystar's Mac clones violate its EULA, which says no other computers, except its own, are allowed to run OS X Leopard. Psystar, for its part, claims Apple's EULA itself conflicts with US monopoly laws.

World of Apple reveals that Apple hasn't actually committed to answering the Counterclaims, but rather “to answer or otherwise respond,” to Psystar's requests that the Court find Apple's EULA void, which could include “Motions to Strike or Dismiss amongst others,” the report reads.

Also revealed in the news report is that, while the case is as serious as it gets, attorneys of both sides are apparently “behaving in a professional and courteous manner towards each other.”

Psystar's attorney, Colby Springer, states that "the present litigation is more complex than the misinformed and mischaracterized allegations of copyright infringement. The litigation involves the anti-competitive nature of the Apple EULA and similar anti-competitive tactics related to the misuse of Apple's copyrights. Issues related to the fair use of various intellectual properties by Psystar also come into play."

Not surprisingly, Rudy Pedraza, Psystar's CEO, reveals that, ever since Apple filed its suit against the company, "we have seen increased interest in OpenComputer with only a slight decrease in sales.” With OpenComputer, "we are allowing more people to take advantage of a great operating system that Apple has created at a more accessible cost than the pricey MAC," Pedraza added.

Members of the Carr & Ferrell Litigation team include partner Robert Yorio, Colby Springer of the counsel and associate Christine Watson. According to various reports, the legal trio have reportedly beaten Apple in court before.
(softpedia.com)

AMD Plans on Relaunching FX Chips and Expanding Its Chip Family

2008-09-08T06:52:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - Advanced Micro Devices seems to have plans of getting its premium class FX-series processors back on the market. Voices from AMD say that the Phenom FX central processing units (CPUs) should be released in mid-2009, and that they will come on the new AM3 socket platform. The company already announced the AM3 processors as compatible with AM2 sockets, but not the other way around. The new chips are designed for the high-end market, and they are expected to reach the same performance level as the competition in order to make a stand.

The specifications of the new processors are not well known, but it seems that they are based on the Deneb FX core. The chips will feature four processing engines, shared level-three cache, dual-channel DDR2 (up to PC2-8500, 1066MHz) and DDR3 (up to PC3-10666, 1333MHz) memory controller. AMD's specifications on its first 45nm microprocessors for desktops showed plans for 2.80GHz and 3.0GHz chips, meaning that the FX CPUs are expected to come with higher clock-speeds and leveraged performance, not to mention the flexibility the AM3 socket promises.

AMD is reviving its FX-branding after six years since the initial launch. Back in 2003, the company released the Athlon 64 FX processors to address computer enthusiasts and gamers, offering unlocked multipliers and the highest clockings the company had in store. The Athlon FX processors ruled the x86 chip market until 2006, when they lost ground to Intel's products. AMD released no other FX processors during 2007 and 2008, but it should have them back on the market by the second half of next year.

The Sunnyvale company focused on mid- and entry-level products during the past two years, but still offered processors that featured unlocked multipliers with its Black Edition line-up of Athlon and Phenom chips, which had a fair price and included good overclocking features for those still loyal to AMD. Intel has similar products on the market – the Extreme Edition processors that feature high clock rates and unlocked multipliers – while prices are similar to AMD's CPUs. The upcoming Phenom FX processors are expected to offer clock-speeds higher than their future mainstream series, probably jumping over the 3.0GHz mark.

Increased frequencies are important for the Deneb FX chips as they need to catch the consumer’s eye. Performance enthusiasts should be able to purchase CPUs priced at $1000 if they are able to provide unparalleled performance levels.

Other news reports on AMD say that, besides the Deneb CPUs that address the high-end and premium class market, the company wants to expand its processor family with the codenamed Propus, Heka, Rana and Regor, which are designed for mainstream and entry-level devices. An important fact is that all the new processors will feature two or more cores, and they are all meant for the AM3 platforms, which means that they will come with great advantages over the previous chip families, including the 45nm fabrication process and micro-architectural improvements.

Propus is said to be a quad-core processor with dual-channel DDR2/DDR3 memory controller, but without L3 cache, Heka should come as a triple-core chip with shared L3 cache and DDR2/DDR3 memory support, Rana is also a triple-core CPU with DDR2/DDR3 memory controller and no L3 cache, while Regor is a dual-core chip with 1MB L2 cache and DDR2/DDR3 support.

AMD will still offer the AM2+ microprocessors for the entry-level market segment in 2009, but it should put an end to the single core chips by the end of next year. The profit margins from CPU selling were quite low for the company in the past two years, but that should change if it manages to increase the number of its triple and quad core offerings. Thus, the Sunnyvale chip manufacturer is focused on ramping up the 45nm process technology as soon as possible.

(softpedia.com)

AMD Cuts Prices for Quad-Core, Triple-Core and Dual-Core CPUs

2008-09-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - Intel is not the only chip maker that has decided to update its processor offer, since competitor AMD has also made some adjustments to its lineup of desktop processors. However, unlike its Santa-Clara-based competitor, AMD has not rolled out any new desktop chips, opting instead for lowering the prices for several of its current chips.

AMD is certainly one of the biggest manufacturers of computer chips on the market, having to compete with both Intel and NVIDIA in the processor and graphics card market segments. Unfortunately, AMD does not enjoy the same level of success with its processor business, like it does, for instance, with its graphics range of products. To put it differently, when it comes to high-end desktop chips, AMD's current production lineup can’t hold a candle to Intel's Core 2 chips. And this is precisely why Advanced Micro has to resort to these periodical price cuts in order to maintain a strong market share.

The price cut list counts several models, including both the Athlon and Phenom ranges of processors. The company's flagship model, the Phenom X4 9950 Black Edition processor, has suffered one of the most considerable price cuts, of almost $50. This is a processor that is built on a 65nm manufacturing technology, and has a core speed of 2600MHz, while the L3 Cache is set at 2048KB. Its performance levels can be compared to Intel's 45nm-based Q8200, whose availability the company has recently announced for a price point of $224, while AMD's Phenom X4 9950 BE will now be available for $186 per chip in 1,000 unit quantities.

In the triple-core segment, the Phenom X3 8750's price has been lowered from $175 to a more decent $134. This is the company's flagship model in the triple-core lineup, and features a core speed of 2400MHz with a L2 cache size of 512KB.

In the entry-level segment, several dual-core Athlon X2 processors have been included in the price cuts, the Athlon X2 5200+ now reaching an impressive $68 price point.

(softpedia.com)

IFA 2008: Becker Intros Crocodile, a Rugged GPS Navigator for Motorcycles

2008-09-08T06:43:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - For most people, the idea of riding a motorcycle can hardly be associated with the image of a GPS-enabled personal navigation device. However, bikers often need GPS devices for guidance as well, and that's the reason why the German company Becker has just announced at the IFA 2008 show from Berlin the "Crocodile," a special PND that features a very tough and rugged external casing, while at the same time being equipped with a user-interface everyone (including people riding motorcycles) will probably consider to be quite interesting and easy to use.

First of all, let's see where this device (officially known as Traffic Assist 100) gets its rather unusual name from. As you can see from the photos, this thing sports a stylized reptile-skin finish, the outer casing being manufactured from a water-resistant material and displaying an organic, tapered design.

Although this rubber-coated, water resistant PND can also be easily used in a car, it is ideally suited for motorbikes. And that's because the 4.3-inch widescreen color display with day and night view features a special graphic guidance system that makes it easier for bikers to read the display in low visibility conditions with a closed visor. Furthermore, this GPS navigator is also quite easy to operate, since a light tap on the display switches from map to full-screen, high-contrast arrow navigation.

And speaking of navigation, it's quite important to mention the fact that the PND offers users a huge array of choices from this point of view as well. First of all, drivers are offered no less than four different functioning modes (car, lorry, pedestrian or motorbike), each with its particular route options. Then, the navigation software includes loads of attractive features, as for example the Terrain View display, which opens up to the horizon and is especially helpful when driving over hilly terrain or on winding roads, or the possibility to view buildings in 3-D mode (plus more than 1,000 photorealistic 3-D images of European landmarks).

The navigation software also offers users an integrated route planner, which comes in handy for longer journeys, allowing users to schedule complete routes by entering intermediate destinations from the extensive selection of POIs (points of interest), by adding destinations already visited, or by entering addresses directly. All of the aforementioned features are possible due to the built-in Navteq navigation maps.

The Becker Crocodile comes standard with a universal suction cup mounting system, a power cable for the cigarette lighter, a TMC dipole antenna and a USB cable to connect to a PC, while a mounting system specially designed for it is available for bikes. And all of these just for the affordable price point of 300 Euros, official from the moment this device will arrive in stores, at some point in October.

NEC to Launch Xeon Server for U.S.

2008-09-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - NEC intends to gradually become more visible on the U.S. market, and has consequently introduced a high-end enterprise Xeon server this month, following a period of six to eight months during which the company has been constantly releasing products for the U.S. The new low-power Intel-based rack-mount server and a four-socket blade server were launched on Tuesday. The latest release included the energy efficient Express 5800/i120Ra-e1 server and the Express 5800/140Ba-10 blade.

According to NEC, Intel's low-voltage Xeon processors, along with a redesigned power supply, allow the 1U rack-mount i120Ra-e1 server to gain a lot in terms of power efficiency. E7500, E7501 and E7520 are included in the low-power Xeons. There will be up to two multi-core Xeons packed inside the new server, with core clock speeds of 3.2 GHz and a power consumption of 103 watts. Moreover, the new system will support 3.5-inch Serial Attached SCSI and Serial ATA disk drives with optional RAID 5 capability. The available OSes include Windows Server, as well as Red Hat, SUSE and Fedora Linux. The price tag is set at $1,800.

16 DIMM memory sockets for up to 64 GB of memory are included in the Express 5800/140Ba-10 blade. The server packs up to four Xeon E7220 dual-core or E7340 quad-core processors. The blade features NEC's H-Chassis, supports up to four 2.5-inch disk bays, and has a price starting at $6,500.

NEC's new servers offer lower power consumption in a context in which more and more blade servers fill up data centers and increase electricity usage. Also, the requirements for processor cycles, memory and storage have been leveraged due to the latest advances in the field. NEC sells most of its products in Japan, Europe and Asia Pacific. According to the company, it has also built servers for companies that sell in U.S. The introduction of a new Xeon server this month will mean a step forward towards the achievement of NEC's plans of making its brand more visible on the U.S. market.

At the moment, NEC is not included in the top five worldwide server vendors. The company shares 13 percent of the market with other vendors, which are also not included in the top five. IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sun Microsystems and Fujitsu/Fujitsu Siemens are the companies that rule the market.

(softpedia.com)

Blu-Ray Is the Final Optical Disc Format, Says Sony

2008-09-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - According to a Sony representative, the Blu-ray disc may be considered the final optical disc format that will be developed. The idea is not that there will be no more physical media for content, but the other way around: the new advances in the Blu-ray technology will allow it to keep its crown for quite a long time.

"Blu-Ray is the final format for the optical disc. We don’t have a shorter laser. In the future, if we have a physical media format, it will change physically. It won’t look like an optical disc. I don’t know what sort of technology we will have in the future but while using lasers and optical discs, this is the final format," said Taka Miyama, Sony’s product strategy manager for home video marketing in Europe, according to Electricpig web-site.

The current Blu-ray discs offer a lot of storage space for the modern movies. Up to 50GB of information can be stored on a single optical drive, meaning that studios can easily record a high-definition movie in 1920x1080 resolution along with additional content on the same medium. No doubt that both the industry and consumers' requirements will increase, along with the need for higher capacities that will allow more interactive features or even stereoscopic 3D to be stored on the optical drives. There are already some who are testing a new Super Hi-Vision video technology, which requires dramatically more storage space than before, as it enables up to 7680x4320 resolution and has an extremely high bit-rate: 180Mb/s – 600Mb/s (22.5MB/s – 75MB/s), up from 40Mb/s on Blu-ray.

Yet, Sony seems rather optimistic when it comes to Blu-ray, as there are companies like Pioneer and TDK that are already working on the development of discs capable of providing larger storage space, which means that the format will have a prolonged life for sure.

"I’ve seen prototypes for 400GB discs," said Sony’s Chief Technical Advisor for home audio and video, Eric Kingdon. "That’s approaching half a terabyte. If you went to 4K (twice the resolution of full HD), Blu-Ray is still big enough for a full movie. If it’s enough, then there’s no need to do any more development," he added.

Still, there is a catch that both Sony and Blu-ray disc association, the organization that oversees further development of the standard, need to pay attention to. While they have to make sure that the currently available Blu-ray format will still last for a great deal of time, and the consumers will be able to use the players and content they already own, the Blu-ray disc promoters also need to stay ahead of services that rent or sell high-definition videos via the Internet, which means that the quality and the standard should be constantly improved.

(softpedia.com)

Resource Hogs: Google Chrome and IE8 Beta 2 Compared to Firefox 3.0.1

2008-09-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - Google Browser (Google Chrome) and Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 are nothing short of resource hogs compared to Firefox 3.0.1. This is the conclusion presented by researchers from the Devil Mountain Software company, who threw the three browsers one against the other on the same "arena", a Dell OptiPlex 745 (Core 2 Duo @ 2.66GHz) with 2GB of RAM and running both Windows Vista SP1 and Windows XP SP3.

The conclusion on IE8 Beta 2 is not that flattering: "What we found was another example of unchecked Microsoft code "bloat," complete with "shirt-bursting, waistline-stretching" memory consumption and the kind of CPU-hogging thread growth normally reserved for massively parallel server farms," a representative from the Devil Mountain Software company stated.

But the fact of the matter is that Google Chrome, is even worse. "What we found was truly shocking: After re-executing our 10-site, multi-tab scenario across all 4 browsers, we discovered that it is Google Chrome, not Internet Explorer 8, that is the true memory consumption leader," the Devil Mountain Software company member indicated.

In a 10-site, multi-tab browsing scenario, IE8 Beta 2 consumed no less than 332MB of RAM, with Chrome Beta also eating a lot of system memory, namely 324MB. By contrast, Internet Explorer 7 only managed to climb as high as 250MB. In this context, it appears that the new technologies, features and capabilities built into Internet Explorer 8, as well as Google Chrome, require more resources than Firefox to perform the same tasks.

"Of course, both browsers look absolutely porcine when compared to the lean, mean Firefox 3.01 (151MB peak, 104MB average working set size). And lest we forget, IE 7 continues to hover somewhere between the fit & trim Firefox and the obesity that defines Chrome/IE 8 (209MB peak, 142MB average)," the Devil Mountain Software company researcher added.

But when it comes down to CPU utilization, both Firefox 3.0.1 and Google Chrome managed to shame IE8 Beta 2, in terms of their hunger. Google Browser took no less than 45% of the processor while Firefox 3.0.1 managed a high of 42%. IE 8 Beta 2 used just 22% of the CPU under XP SP3 and 33% under Vista SP1, while IE7 took only 13% and 24% respectively.

"Both Firefox and IE 7 spawn a relatively modest number of threads (25 and 43, respectively), a fact related to their reliance on a single process instance to handle all tabbed sessions. By contrast, IE 8 spawns potentially hundreds of threads (153 in our latest test round), and spreads them out across its various instances (in our case, 6 discrete copies of iexplore.exe)," the Devil Mountain Software company member indicated, adding that, by contrast, Chrome was managing just 48 execution threads at the apex of the test scenario.

But in the end, the fact that Firefox 3.0.1 is superior, in terms of resource usage, to Google Chrome and Internet Explorer 8 shouldn't come as a surprise. Both Microsoft and Google's browsers are still in Beta development stage, albeit IE8 is in Beta 2, with the gold version expected to drop in November 2008, and considerably slower than its predecessor.

"Chrome, like IE 8, is a browser designed with tomorrow’s hardware in mind. Its use of a multi-process tabbing model – which, according to Google, helps isolate failures and protect complex web applications (like GMail or Google Docs) – means that it will always use more memory than Firefox, IE 7 and similar, single-process browsers. How such model will hold up under heavy use, especially on today’s hardware, remains to be seen," reads the conclusion from the Devil Mountain Software company.

(softpedia.com)

Microsoft Getting Ready to Wrap Up Office Extension in the Cloud

2008-09-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

Master Iklan - Microsoft is getting ready to wrap up the development process of the Cloud extension of its Office System. Office Live Workspace Beta is designed as a Microsoft response to Google Docs and Spreadsheets, but not a competitor or an alternative. In fact, Office Live Workspace Beta is by all means not an equivalent of the desktop-centric Office System, but merely an online extension, proving yet again the Redmond giant's determination to a new Software plus Services business model.

According to Kirk Gregersen, director of product management for Office Live Workspace and Office Consumer and Small Business (as cited by Mary Jo Foley), the service is planned to come out of Beta by the end of 2008. Gregersen failed to indicate a specific delivery deadline for the Release to Web version of Office Live Workspace, and only pointed to the year's end for the milestone.

Office Live Workspace debuted into public Beta at the start of March 2008 and Microsoft's focus with the service was to deliver anywhere access to documents as well as sharing and collaborative capabilities which are lacking from the desktop product. Back in March 2008, Stephen Elop, president of the Microsoft Business Division, indicated that Office Live Workspace was a way for the company to offer a new S+S computing experience to office users.

In August 2008, Microsoft delivered the most recent update to Office Live Workspace beta, increasing the number of languages supported and the service's integration with Mozilla's open source browser Firefox. Gregersen revealed that with the availability of the final version of Office Live Workspace, approximately 40 languages would be supported. According to Microsoft's user behavior analysis on Office Live Workspace, the service is actually preferred for its collaborative features and not for its remote access capability. In addition, Gregersen indicated that usage patterns of Office Live Workspace Beta revealed that end users are not actually that keen on using a fully-fledged online version of the Office System.

(softpedia.com)