GTP's Tech News Feed.

[xAkirax2004]

Hey guys, I'm creating this thread so that you people don't have to browse several tech sites to get news. The content of this thread will consist of anything of New technologies (Like Dual Core CPU's) Company competition and buisness merges, the P2P issues facing America, etc. If it has anything to do with technonlogy it'll be here! If you have any controbutions such as news that I might miss, post it here. Just bold the title of the article.

I'll start it off.

Microsoft to launch Windows XP 64 bit Monday

Microsoft will officially roll out 64-bit versions of its Windows operating systems at its WinHEC conference in Seattle on Monday.

"On Monday, Microsoft will launch their x64 operating systems, both client and server," said Intel spokesperson Erica Fields, in an email intended to emphasize the support the software will have for Intel's processors. "The Windows operating systems have supported Intel's Hyper-Threading technology, execute-disable bit and, now, Intel's 64-bit and dual-core processors."

The OSes will support 64-bit processors from both Intel and AMD.

The announcements had been expected; last month, Microsoft issued a statement noting that code for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition and for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition had released to manufacturing and would be available in late April.

In addition, Microsoft had long been making available for free download, beta versions of the two OSes. Downloads of a release-candidate version of Windows XP Professional x64 Edition were halted late last month, presumably in anticipation of the official launch. However, a trial version of Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition is still available on Microsoft's Web site.

In a technical document discussing its 64-bit plans, Microsoft outlined some of the advantages of the new OSes, as compared with existing 32-bit versions. In terms of virtual-memory support, 64-bit Windows will handle 16 terabytes, as compared to 4 GB for 32-bit Windows. System cache size jumps from 1 GB to 1 TB, and paging-file size increases from 16 TB to 512 TB.

Microsoft's documentation also emphasizes the inclusion in the new 64-bit OSes of support for so-called "No Execute," or NX, technology. "NX technology is a joint venture of a hardware mechanism and a software mechanism," the Microsoft documentation noted. "It is by far the best defense with respect to buffer overruns. AMD calls this technology 'Enhanced Virus Protection,' while Intel refers to this functionality as the 'Execute Disable Bit.'"

Microsoft officials could not be reached for comment at posting time.

Source: Informationweek.com


Mac OSX Tiger accidentialy delivered early.

File into the “doh!” category: in many places around the world, Mac fans and Apple distributors received a shipment they weren’t quite expecting: OS X 10.4 Tiger arrived at the door a full eight days ahead of schedule for some lucky folks who pre-ordered. Vendors PCMall/MacMall and ClubMac gave pre-order customers a treat by unleashing the OS ahead of schedule, quickly followed up by a “recall” of the copies from PCMall. They’re telling customers the Tiger copies that shipped out early will not be supported by Apple, and that users will have to return the boxes and get new copies shipped next week — though how they would differentiate “supported” from “unsupported” versions out of all that mess sounds like a bit of a bluff to us.

Source: Engadget.com

Microsoft to release Beta invites for Student 2006

The Microsoft Student Product Team has sent out invites for their upcoming beta program for Student 2006

Microsoft Student is designed to be the best homework resource tool for middle-school students on up through entry-level college.

Microsoft Student 2006 includes:

* Dynamic World Atlas - An interactive map of the Earth
* Graphing Calculator - Solve basic math, algebra, statistics, graphing equations and more
* Chart Maker - Create stunning pie charts, bar graphs, and line charts!
* Dictionary, Thesaurus and Translation Tools - Find just the right word
* Learning Essentials - Quick access to Microsoft Office templates to help with homework assignments
* Book Summaries - Complete guides that explain themes, characters and settings of classic literature
* Web Companion - Provides relevant encyclopedia content based on web searches
* Plus the full version of Microsoft Encarta Premium 2006

Participants will be chosen based on their survey results.

Source: Neowin.net/Mircosoft Betaplace

 

[Sage]

Not to deflate your work, but isn't it easier to just subscribe to 2 or 3 sites via RSS/Atom? That's how I get my news every day (except that I'm subscribed to 41 sites – a far cry though from the 60-ish I was running a few months ago).

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

For my news I go to dslreports.com, xbitlabs.com, and betanews.com

Basically, I get all that I need(minus reviews).

 

[xAkirax2004]

Not to deflate your work, but isn't it easier to just subscribe to 2 or 3 sites via RSS/Atom? That's how I get my news every day (except that I'm subscribed to 41 sites – a far cry though from the 60-ish I was running a few months ago).

Well, yeah...That's why I need you. You can be my editor in Cheif!

 

[xAkirax2004]

Update.

Kingmax: DDR2 will contribute, at least, 20% of the DRAM-module sales by the end of this year

Kingmax Semiconductor, ranked as the world's eighth-largest third-party DRAM-module supplier by iSuppli for the last two years, is hoping to increase the proportion of DDR2 products in its unit shipments to, at least, 20% by the end of this year. Last week, the company launched its new DDR2-667 modules targeting new generation of the Intel platforms based on i945 and i955 chipsets.

In March, according to Lawrence Chang, vice president of sales and marketing at Kingmax, about 3% of the company’s DRAM-module shipments were of DDR2-533 products. “Towards the end of this quarter we are expecting to increase DDR2-533 proportion in our unit shipments to 6-8%, then to 15% at the end of third quarter and to 20% at the end of the year,” he said. Chang anticipates DDR2-667 products to take 10% of DDR2 shipments by Kingmax by the end of the second quarter this year, 15% in the third quarter and 30% by the year’s end.

Pre-announced in October of 2004 as an overclocking solution and officially launched early last week, the new DDR2-667 modules come out with DRAM-chips packaged by Kingpak, the IC packaging and testing company and also a part of Kingmax group. The chips are supplied in wafers, mainly by Japan’s Elpida and Korea’s Hynix, according to Chang, and utilize Kingmax’ own TinyBGA package (11x11.5x1.03mm).

Currently Kingmax is shipping samples of the new DDR2-667 modules in small amounts. Mass production is expected to begin in mid-May and shipments will most likely follow by the end of May or the beginning of June, Chang stated. “Kingmax group do the testing of DRAMs by itself, and the yield rate for DDR2-667 is not yet so high. Only 30% of DDR2-533 chips are able to pass through higher frequency testing routines now, but we are hoping this parameter will grow towards the timeframe for mass production,” he added.

According to the specifications, the new DDR2-667 modules run at 4-4-12 latency timings and will come out in three configurations: 256MB equipped with 256Mb (32x8) chips, 512 MB and 1GB both equipped with 512Mb (64x8) chips. Mostly the products will utilize PCBs from Vertex Precision Electronics, Chang mentioned.

[Editor’s note: Vertex is one of three main Kingmax’ PCB suppliers. Two others are Tripod Technology and Brain Power.]

This year, Kingmax is looking to reach US$300 million in DRAM-module sales and sees some opportunities to grow into regions like Europe and Brazil, Chang said. The primary markets for DDR2-667 modules are expected to be in Japan, the US, Europe (including Russia and other eastern countries), China and Taiwan, he added.

In a separate announcement last week, the company introduced its new DDR2-533 SO-DIMMs. According to Kingmax, mass production of these modules has already started. “The SO-DIMM proportion in the DDR2 unit shipments by Kingmax was about 30% in the first quarter this year. This quarter we are expecting to increase it to about 50% because of the big demand from the users upgrading their notebooks,” Chang emphasized. Some customers are already requesting Kingmax to ship DDR2-667 SO-DIMMs, and the company is now providing these modules in samples and aiming to start mass production in June, he added.

Source: Digitimes

French Court bans DRM's on DVD's

French court bans DRM for DVDs
"A French appeal court just issued a ruling preventing the inclusion of anti-copying measure on DVD. This is after a man who was not able to copy a DVD he purchase to a VHS cassette so he can watch it at his mother's place. Which is considered private copying and is a consumer right in France. He got the help of a consumer protection group to sue the Film Studio that produced the DVD. Film studios have one month to unprotect DVDs.

Source: Slashdot

Microsoft shows "Longhorn" to PC makers.

Microsoft Corp. on Monday showed off features of its next major release of the Windows operating system and unveiled an advanced version of the current software to fill the gap until the big launch. Chairman Bill Gates previewed the look of the major upgrade, code-named "Longhorn," and key features such as anti-spam and anti-fraud security, in a keynote speech to computer hardware makers at the Microsoft Windows Hardware Engineering Conference.

Windows operating systems run on about nine out of 10 PCs worldwide. Users will have a five-year wait between Windows XP, which debuted in late 2001 and Longhorn's expected launch next year. A preliminary version will be available this summer, Gates said.

Longhorn will offer new sets of icons to organize documents, technology to share files more easily and new security to block viruses and other schemes to defraud consumers.

Longhorn will also make it easier for developers to support Windows and create programs to run on it.

Meanwhile, Microsoft said it would begin shipping "Windows XP Professional x64 Edition" next month. The advanced version will tap into faster microprocessors that can crunch more information at one time, handling 64 bits of data compared with 32 bits in the previous generation.

Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has been boosting its efforts to promote Windows as the company faces its slowest projected sales growth of just over 8 percent for its current business year to June. Microsoft has posted double-digit growth since going public in 1986.

Source: Reuters

1Gbps Broadband introduced in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Broadband Network has launched a new ultra fast service. The symmetric 1Gbps service costs approximately £112 per month, but obliterates the kind of speeds we are used to in the UK. We are eagerly waiting for the rollout of an 8Mbps service and consider that to be fast.

While this kind of speed is unlikely to be available in the UK for some time, the possibilities for its use are immense. Large publishers could offer direct download services for their games, online gaming could be revolutionised and TV channels could be streamed at MPEG-2 DVD quality. It is hard to actually imagine speeds reaching 1Gbps in the UK, but we can dream.

Source: Pro G

Intel favored AMD among gaming

According to Valve software, the makers of the extremely popular game Half Life 2, have shown that the majority of the gamers surveyed in the Valve survey are using Intel processors with 52.66% and 47.33% respectively.

ATI also trails rival NVIDIA for graphics cards with around 50.74% using NVIDIA based cards and 41.04% for ATI based cards. ATI’s 9600 and 9800 series of graphics cards are the leading graphics cards on the survey.

Source: Steam