Yahoo may consider Google alliance, says source

Yahoo Inc would consider a business alliance with Google Inc as one way to rebuff a $44.6 billion takeover proposal by Microsoft, a source familiar with Yahoo's strategy said on Sunday.

Yahoo management is considering revisiting talks it held with Google several months ago on an alliance as an alternative to Microsoft's bid, that source said. At $31 a share, Yahoo believes the bid undervalues the company, two sources said.

A second source close to Yahoo said it had received a procession of preliminary contacts by media, technology, telephone and financial companies. But the source said they were unaware whether any alternative bid was in the offing.

In a memo to Yahoo employees on Friday, which was obtained by Reuters on Sunday, Yahoo leaders wrote: "We want to emphasize that absolutely no decisions have been made -- and, despite what some people have tried to suggest, there's certainly no integration process underway."

Few natural bidders exist besides Google that could engage in a bidding war, and Google would be unlikely to win approval from antitrust regulators, some Wall Street analysts said on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Sunday that Google's chief executive Eric Schmidt called Yahoo's chief executive Jerry Yang to offer his company's help in any effort to thwart Microsoft's bid.

Spokesmen for Yahoo and Google declined comment. Google was not immediately available for comment on the WSJ story.

Yahoo's efforts to find an alternative bidder could simply be a measure to pressure Microsoft to boost its bid, which valued Yahoo at $44.6 billion when first announced on Friday.

Sanford C Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay wrote in a research note that "the Microsoft bid of $31 is very astute" because it puts pressure on Yahoo management to take actions that could unlock the underlying value of Yahoo assets, which he estimates are worth upward of $39-$45 a share.

The bid gave a boost to markets in Asia when they opened on Monday. Shares in Softbank Corp soared as much as 16 per cent and Yahoo Japan was untraded due to a flood of buy orders on Monday, on hopes a potential deal between Microsoft and Yahoo would boost the Japanese firms' competitiveness. Softbank holds a 3.9 per cent stake in Yahoo Inc in terms of voting rights.

The benchmark Nikkei average ended the morning up 2.4 per cent while indexes in Shanghai, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore also gained.


Competition concerns

Separately, Google fired back on Sunday at Microsoft Corp's bid to acquire Yahoo, accusing Microsoft of seeking to extend its computer software monopoly deeper into the Internet realm.

David Drummond, a Google chief legal officer, said in a blog post that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo could undermine competition on the Web and called on policy makers to challenge the combination.

Microsoft responded to Google's arguments by saying that a merger with Yahoo would create a "compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising" to market leader Google.

"The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet," Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said in a statement.

Drummond argued that Microsoft's power stems from decades- old monopolies in Windows -- the software operating system used to control most personal computers -- and Internet Explorer, which is the dominant browser consumers used to view the Web.

Microsoft's proposed merger with Yahoo would combine the No 1 and No 2 suppliers of Web-based e-mail, instant messaging (IM) and portals, which act as starting points for hundreds of millions of users seeking information on the Web.

"Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors' email, IM, and Web-based services?" Drummond said in a blog at googleblog.blogspot.com/.

In making its case for the deal during a conference call on Friday, Microsoft executives said Google -- not Microsoft -- was the one company antitrust regulators were likely to bar from buying Yahoo, based on Google's dominance in Web search.

Microsoft executives cited industry data showing Google has a 75 per cent share of worldwide Web search revenue. Collectively, Yahoo and Microsoft attract around 20 per cent of Web searches, Internet measurement firms show.

"Today, Google is the dominant search engine and advertising company on the Web," Smith said in replying to Google on Sunday. "Google has amassed about 75 per cent of paid search revenues worldwide and its share continues to grow."

A person familiar with Google's thinking said the company believes Microsoft is using the same playbook it did in the 1990s to switch Windows users away from Web browser pioneer Netscape Communications to its own Internet Explorer.

"It is the same old story," the source said.

Toshiba's Portege G910 Gets Atrua Biometric Security Update

Toshiba and Atrua Technologies have jointly announced an updated version of the Portege G910, powered by Atrua's biometric security, the ATW310 fingerprint touch control solution. Atrua is one of the world's
most reliable providers of Intelligent Touch Controls for mobile devices, and currently, more than 80 percent of the new fingerprint phone models come with the ATW310 touch control.

"Atrua’s highly-integrated fingerprint touch control solution provides quick, easy and dependable authentication – meeting Toshiba’s demanding performance standards, while maximizing battery life and minimizing solution cost," said Hiroyuki Goto, Technical Director, Toshiba Information Systems (UK) Ltd - Mobile Communications Division. "The sensor’s small area and narrow shape were also important factors that suited the G910’s sleek, sophisticated design."

Smartphones are the ideal mix between the efficiency of a portable computer and the miniaturization of a mobile phone. They are business devices, used to store valuable, corporate data that needs to be shielded from the prying eyes of unauthorized people. Given their small size, the smartphones can easily get lost or even stolen, so data security is a critical aspect.

Using Atrua’s mobile-ready fingerprint solution, Toshiba’s G910 Windows Mobile 6 Professional device allows instant, secure access to the entire handheld device at a fingertip's touch. Documents such as Microsoft Outlook PowerPoint, Word, and Excel Mobile files can be stored and used in a secure environment.

"Atrua is delighted to continue our close cooperation with Toshiba in their 4th mobile phone model enabled with an Atrua fingerprint touch control," said Carl Temme, Atrua’s vice president of marketing. "Toshiba is one of Japan’s top mobile phone makers and their decision to choose Atrua has helped solidify Atrua’s position as the leading provider of fingerprint sensors in mobile phones."

Atrua's ATW310 fingerprint touch control solution offers application-oriented advantages such as lower power consumption, smaller sensor area, superior accuracy, and the lowest solution cost, which made it the ideal biometric security solution on the market.

Mushkin's GeForce 8800 GT OE Graphics Card Spotted In the Wild

Memory manufacturer Mushkin has announced its first graphics card design based on he G92 core, the GeForce 8800 GT HP Overclocked Edition. The new graphics card is an overclocked version of GeForce 8800GT
that comes with some new changes, including a new and optimized cooling system.

Mushkin has rigged its new creation with a dual-slot cooler with a pretty interesting fan on top of it. The cooler is somewhat similar to the boxed fan shipped with the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650, built according to the analogous principle. The memory chips are covered by the fan, but they don't feature the classical heatspreaders, although the graphics card wears the "overclocked" label.

Mushkin's tweaked version of 8800 GT operates at a stock core speed of 675 MHz, 112 stream processors with shader clocks of up to 1690 MHz. The 512MB GDDR3 memory has been overclocked to 1900MHz, 100 MHz higher than the reference model, which is not quite spectacular.

Graphics card overview

Nvidia's reference card comes with a stock core speed of 650MHz and 900MHz for the memory clock, close enough to the "overclocked version". The performance gain is set to a minimum (if ever), but let's admit that the cooler looks pretty interesting, and the green color will surely appeal to PC modders and system integrators.

The memory manufacturer's graphics card is situated below the offerings from other 8800GT-based video cards manufacturers. The graphics cards market is already saturated by graphics titans such as Asustek, MSI and Gigabyte, and many other manufacturers have been forced to quit. Crucial had its attempt at conquering the market some time ago, but its graphics products failed to even hit the market.

Mushkin's GeForce 8800 GT version might not be spectacular, but if the manufacturer will use its own memory chips on the graphics card, the results may exceed users' expectations. The card will come with a T-Shirt and an USB flash drive with the necessary drivers. It will be available later this month at an estimated price of $376.

Nvidia's GeForce 9800 GX2: Delayed for Overheating Issues

Nvidia's upcoming Geforce 9800 GX2 behemoth seems to have some issues that will prevent it from showing up on February the 19th. Nvidia is rumored to have delayed the dual-GPU graphics card to an undisclosed
date in March because of some problems with heat dissipation and SLI scalin, rather than the advent of the Chinese New Year, as previously reported.


The giant graphics card from Nvidia is rumored to be affected by the same issues that prevented AMD's Radeon HD 2870 X2 card from reaching the shelves on time. Advanced Micro Devices' dual-GPU card had some issues with the ventilation system, that would push hot air from the first GPU over the second graphics processor. The reference card's cooling was re-designed before it entered mass-availability.

The Geforce 9800 GX2 seems to have the same issues with heat, and will get delayed until March. The board is heating up much more than it was estimated. The thermal envelope goes way beyond the 250W initial specifications, and system integrators are not quite pleased with its performance. However, the retail market does not seem to have a problem with the excessive heat, as long as the graphics card won't lose in terms of performance.

The second issue that keeps the card away from the retailers' shelves is the fact that the company has not reached the optimal performance when scaling two GeForce 9800 GX2 graphics cards. Three-Way SLI links will not be available for the GeForce 9800 GX2, but instead, users could enjoy Quad SLI with two of these graphics cards joined on the same motherboard. The actual overall performance for two GeForce 9800 X2 cards can be compared with that of two GeForce 7950 GX2 units, which is not quite enough.

The GeForce 9800 GX2 is definitely worth its waiting, given its initial benchmarking scores that hit he web. We have seen the card running in a quad-SLI link back during the Consumer Electronics Show this year, and it was overkill.

The Fastest GeForce 8800 GT Graphics Card

When launched almost four months ago in October, this G92 was to revolution graphic cards market. Back then, Nvidia brought to light a less expensive GPU that was a rival to the well known 8800 GTX series which ruled at that time. For an average user, this graphics card was like a blessing, for many could not purchase the higher cost GTX, while 8800 GT brought the
performance of GTX at a more affordable price. As manufacturers rushed to get it on the market, many improvements were made to GT's performance, and one of them comes with Zotac's GeForce 8800 GT 512MB AMP! Edition.



The Zotac card brings quite a clock speed increase, but keeps other manufacturing features as they were. The card is shipped with all the necessary accessories, but with no other software than the required driver. The card, besides having Zotac's dinosaur all over it, still keeps the original single slot cooling solution, although the dimensions of the fan have been changed from 60nm to 70nm and some more heatpipes have been added. The acoustic level of the fan is kept low, so the card is not louder than a standard GeFroce 8800 GT.



The card also features, just like any other GeForce 8800 GT, two dual link DVI ports which support HDCP at resolutions as high as 2560x1600. Also, an HDTV-out DIN connector is present on this graphics card. Zotac offers a two-year warranty that covers parts and labor. And to be sure that the card gets to you intact, the card is kept in place in the box with a piece of foam.



But that's enough manufacturing specifications, so let's move to the performance ones. There are significant speed increases on Zotac's 8800 GT. The core, shader and memory clocks have been pumped from 600/1500/1800MHz to 700/1674/2000MHz. This way, these quite impressive speed enhancements make Zotac GeForce 8800 GT AMP! Edition the fastest 8800 GT based GPU. It reaches around 32 fps on Crysis on DirectX 9.0 and around 28 on DirectX 10, as shown in some tests conducted by Tim Smalley from Bit-Tech. On Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare it does even better, reaching almost 60 fps on DirectX 9.0.

The clocks of this GPU allow speed enhancements, especially the memory clock, so you can get even more from it if you want. But there seems to be a little problem with the cooling solution, which may need an extra help to keep the temperature lower, for sometimes it may be raised even when idle. So, if you have a case that demands a single slot card, then Zotac GeForce 8800 GT 512MB AMP! Edition is the best choice, as long as you can provide enough air for the cooling process.

Maxdata's 300XS Mini PC: the Apple Mac Mini Competitor

Not too long ago, I have told you about the award-winning miniature computer from Stealth. Although impressive, it is not even a partial match to the Maxdata 300XS ultra-small form-factor
miniature PC.

The 300 XS PC lets the user attach an optional VESA mount that will allow you camouflage it discretely in the back of almost any TFT display monitor on the market. Four screws is all that it takes for the 300XS to be fastened to the back of the display. The small computer connects to the display via a 30-centimeter DVI cable.

The Maxdata 300XS Mini PC is built on the latest laptop technology. Powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 CPU (1.66 core clock speed with 2MB of L2 cache), the system can run the same applications that can be executed on a modern, fully-fledged notebook. The system comes with 1GB of 667MHz DDR2 RAM, but it can be extended to 4GB at most.

Other features include a notebook form-factor (2.5-inch) 120GB hard disk, slot-loading DVD-writer, headphone jack that doubles up as an S/PDIF for surround sound, and 802.11b/g wireless networking. The small-form factor comes with Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics with 128 MB of memory, which should be enough to smoothly run Windows Vista with the Aero interface enabled.

The device takes up only 20 watts when working at full system load, which is the lowest score for a desktop computer. The ultra-small form-factor desktop system runs cool and silently in the back of the display.

The mini-computer is extremely user-friendly. Its casing can be easily opened after having removed just three screws. Once inside, you can replace almost everything to fit your needs and taste. The spare parts can be purchased from any laptop hardware dealer.

A Mac Mini with almost the same technical specifications (except for a faster 1.83GHz CPU) costs about $1050. Although a little bit more expensive ($1147) the mini-PC allows the user run Windows Vista out of the box, without any disruption or time delay.

Gartner Analysts: Laptops Will Become Obsolete Until 2012

Laptop PCs are nowadays extremely popular with computer users, especially because they offer the necessary mobility and a performance ratio that can easily compete with the desktop counterparts. Things are about
to change, however, in the following next years, and laptop PCs will become what the cassette walkman is now for the portable MP3 player.

According to Gartner market research analysts, the next five years will bring tremendous changes in the mobile industry and half of the people who travel will simply leave their notebooks home and swap them with other handheld devices. This will affect both the IT industry and the related fields, as well as the IT consumers. Gartner also claims that executives and IT professionals need to take action this year and exploit the trends before competition gets aware of them.

"As users begin to make their own decisions about what technologies to use, they shift industry dynamics. Apple has had a resurgence of its leadership in the innovative delivery of PC technologies. As users grow frustrated with PCs, the Apple model [if not its prices] begins to become extremely attractive again. And although this interest continues, users are now gaining enough functionality in mobile and wireless devices that it may be possible to leave the laptop at home in favour of the ubiquitous handheld device. Even in the home and business, individual technologies are growing in prominence," claimed Daryl C. Plummer, managing vice-president at Gartner.

Apple seems to be technologically ready to make the switch. Its current notebook, the MacBook Air is extremely miniaturized, while preserving the same computing power a regular design would offer. Software integration offers both ease of use and flexibility, but at the same time, it encourages frequent innovation in hardware and software.

However, the competition between Microsoft and Apple gives Intel more maneuver space and the chip manufacturer will take advantage of it in order to set new industry standards. Based on its mobile processors such as Silverthorne, consumer electronics vendors will develop a new classes of internet-centric pocket devices with extremely affordable price tags (sub $400). Web-based applications and WiMax connectivity will allow users to store and manage information directly on the web.

Creative Labs Open-Sources the X-Fi Soundblaster Specifications

Creative Labs has recently provided open source driver developers with documentation and sample code for the Sound Blaster X-Fi sound card released back in August 2005. The main reason for divulging the
technical specifications is the fact that the company has not managed yet to fully develop open-source drivers.

Prior to the event, Creative refused to release the sound blaster's technical sheet and attempted to develop a proprietary Linux driver in-house. The attempt was a fiasco even since it released a rudimentary beta driver back in September 2007. It used to work with X86-64 kernels only, compiled with older versions of the GCC.

The company refused to provide the open-source community with documentation for the X-Fi cards until now, given the fact that the Sound Blaster X-Fi sound cards are completely different in design than Creative's earlier Audigy family of PC audio hardware. The times are changing, though, as in early February, on the release of Open Sound System (OSS) 4.0 build 1013, 4Front Technologies outlined a limited support for Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi cards.

The beta version of the above-mentioned driver is able to play an audio stream, yet it encounters tremendous errors while recording sound, from both analog and digital sources. The released source code comes with some files that are used by OSS (Open Sound System) drivers, and they are comprised of hardware control code programmed by Creative itself.

OSS has lost much of its glitter over the last years, and now about all the Linux distributions are using the drivers developed by ALSA Project. Moreover, these drivers are part of the last kernel versions. Creative is also partly involved with the ALSA project, but according to Alsa developer James Courtier-Dutton, the Creative Labs has not sent yet any data sheets regarding the technical specifications for the Sound Blaster X-Fi cards.

Intel: MacBook Air Processor Clone Gets Detailed

Intel has managed to shrink yet another processor for the ultra-thin notebook market, just as it did with Apple's MacBook Air chip. Given the fact that Apple did not require an exclusive processor from Intel,
the whole industry is dreaming about miniature, low-voltage processors to power their future ethereal notebooks.

Lenovo and Fujitsu will be the first wave of computer manufacturers to take advantage of Intel's low-voltage Core 2 Duo SL7100 LV chip in their upcoming offerings. The new processor is a perfect match for Apple's chip: it was shrunk until it got 60 percent smaller than the common low-voltage parts from Intel. According to Connie Brown, an Intel spokeswoman, the chip is manufactured using the same 65-nanometer process node.

There is one difference, though. The Core 2 Duo SL7100 LV has been shrunk to match Apple's chip, yet it takes up less power and operates at lower frequencies. The SL7100 LV will feature a clock speed of 1.2GHz and will feature 4MB of L2 cache. The Intel Specifications Sheet shows that the processor takes up 12 watts of power, while MacBook Air's CPU would eat up 20 watts when operating at full load (1.6GHz or 1.8GHz). The processor has been built from the ground up, and not on MacBook Air's CPU.

"These [SL7100 LV processors] are similar but not identical to the Apple processor," Brown said. "The MacBook Air processor was specially developed to meet Apple's needs and is also available to other PC makers," she continued.

The processor will surely be a success, given the fact that Lenovo and Fujitsu are merely drooling to grab it quicker. Lenovo has great plans for it and will include the Core 2 Duo SL7100 LV in a brand-new mobile computer I have written about in previous articles, the ThinkPad X300. According to the specifications published on the Best Buy website, it will feature 2GB of RAM, a 64GB solid-state drive, and a 13.3-inch screen.

Fujitsu will take its own shot at ultra-thin mobile computing and will introduce the LifeBook P8010 ultra-portable laptop, which will feature a 12.1-inch screen, a DVD-RW optical drive, as well as wireless and wired networking.

Toshiba's Offer, Too Good to Be True: Money-Back Guarantee For Tecra A9 Notebooks

Toshiba's Tecra A9 notebook series has arrived for quite some time on the market. The successful and powerful notebooks are amazing in their computing power and overall speed. Toshiba is now completing the
picture with money-back guarantees, should the notebook show technical issues.

"Toshiba is offering users the chance to claim back the purchase price of their notebooks if the machines develop a technical fault recognized under its standard manufacturer warranty within one year of the purchase date," says Reon Coetzee, marketing manager for Toshiba South Africa and Africa.

As you would have expected, there is a catch. In order to be eligible for the offer, you have to purchase a new laptop between February, 1st and April 30th 2008. Moreover, you have to be a South African resident and have purchased the laptop in South Africa only.

The promotion applies to Tecra A9-132, Tecra A9-12P, Tecra A9-12T and Tecra A9-14F models, a family that comes with a standard three-year warranty.

"In order to participate in the program, users must register their products within seven days of purchase via the ‘standard warranty’ link on www.toshiba-promise.co.za," Coetzee says. "It is very important that users activate their registrations once they have finished registering and ensure they receive a confirmation e-mail," he continued.

The notebook buyers are to claim any refunds before April 2009, after they have followed the steps presented on the Toshiba Promise website. "The Tecra A9 series is designed to the highest quality standards," says Andre Roussouw, Regional General Manager for Africa region at Toshiba. Incorporating premium technologies such as Intel’s Core2 Duo-based Centrino platform, up to 2GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, a double-layer DVD Super-Multi drive and a 15.4" WXGA TFT display, the Tecra A9 represents the smart choice for business users in South Africa," he concluded.

Optimus Maximus OLED Keyboard Sold Online for Fabulous Price

The Optimus Maximus OLED-enabled computer keyboard has quite a history. The glittering keyboard is more than a useful and common peripheral, it is a collector's item and it's extremely difficult
to grab an unit unless you queue for it.

The project has been announced back in 2005. The Art Lebedev Studios estimated that the final pricing per unit was to reach that of a higher-end cellphone device. However, numerous delays and technical issues raised its price until it reached $1564.72 for a fully-fledged OLED-enabled keyboard.

Of course, there are a few people to sacrifice this amount of money for a keyboard (after all), so the Art Lebedev Studios decided to release cheaper versions of the keyboard with less features. For instance, a one-OLED key keyboard would sell for as much as $462.30. However, this version is limited and is available only via pre-orders.

Despite its bulky price tag, the keyboard has become more and more popular with PC enthusiasts, and the supply could (and still can't) match the demand in the strange device. Since it is not available for sale anymore, until the next batch kicks in, the keyboard has been subject to overpricing.

If you decide that you really have to get one of these rare units, you can always try bidding on Ebay for it. However, be advised that you'll have to pay much more than the promised higher-end cellphone. For instance, a sample of Optimus Maximus keyboard sold for a bid of $2750. The price is almost double than the official selling tag, and could easily cover for a higher-end PC system.

The auction transformed into a money battle, and bidders ended up spending much more than the keyboard is worth. The auctioned keyboard was fully OLED-enabled and came with two replacement keys. Next time, you can try posting a bid, just for fun, in order to see how much will you spend for the shiny keyboard.

The Radeon HD 3870 X2 Meets Liquid Nitrogen Cooling

Needless to say that the ATI Radeon HD 3870 is the most powerful graphics card on the market, since Nvidia's GeForce 9800 X2 seems to have got caught in traffic. The two RV670 graphics cores linked
together do a great job – they have the same computing power as the Cray-1 machine. However, they can do even better when overclocked, although there's the risk of setting your ultra-expensive graphics card on fire.

Yes, it's true, the cooling system is not quite a state-of-the art device. However, improved cooling could allow overclockers push some real power into their displays without any reason to worry about the card's integrity. Water-cooling has paid off when paired with the Radeon HD 3870 X2, but there are more efficient (and unconventional) cooling methods.

One of the overclocking enthusiasts has demonstrated yet another Radeon HD 3870 X2 unit with some exotic cooling system. What can be more interesting than cooling your video card below the freezing point, down to the edge where the electrons refuse to move?

When water-cooling is just not enough, go hunting for some liquid nitrogen. The overclocker designed three mounting brackets to hold the specially crafted pots for liquid nitrogen, as shown in the movie below. These pots are placed on the graphics card's two processing cores, which results in extremely low temperatures (around -70 degrees Celsius). The overclocker managed to squeeze frequencies from the stock value 825/900MHz to 1066/1062MHz.

The achievements are extremely impressive, given the fact that the two cores have to run at exactly the same frequencies. The third pot was used to cool a Core 2 Extreme QX9770 processor running at (surprise) 5350MHz. The whole system scored 26,073 points in the 3DMark06 benchmarking software. Other enthusiasts managed to score much more using more GPU and CPU power, an extremely well optimized system and two Radeon HD 3870 linked in CrossFire.

The Radeon HD 3870 X2 Meets Liquid Nitrogen Cooling

Needless to say that the ATI Radeon HD 3870 is the most powerful graphics card on the market, since Nvidia's GeForce 9800 X2 seems to have got caught in traffic. The two RV670 graphics cores linked
together do a great job – they have the same computing power as the Cray-1 machine. However, they can do even better when overclocked, although there's the risk of setting your ultra-expensive graphics card on fire.

Yes, it's true, the cooling system is not quite a state-of-the art device. However, improved cooling could allow overclockers push some real power into their displays without any reason to worry about the card's integrity. Water-cooling has paid off when paired with the Radeon HD 3870 X2, but there are more efficient (and unconventional) cooling methods.

One of the overclocking enthusiasts has demonstrated yet another Radeon HD 3870 X2 unit with some exotic cooling system. What can be more interesting than cooling your video card below the freezing point, down to the edge where the electrons refuse to move?

When water-cooling is just not enough, go hunting for some liquid nitrogen. The overclocker designed three mounting brackets to hold the specially crafted pots for liquid nitrogen, as shown in the movie below. These pots are placed on the graphics card's two processing cores, which results in extremely low temperatures (around -70 degrees Celsius). The overclocker managed to squeeze frequencies from the stock value 825/900MHz to 1066/1062MHz.

The achievements are extremely impressive, given the fact that the two cores have to run at exactly the same frequencies. The third pot was used to cool a Core 2 Extreme QX9770 processor running at (surprise) 5350MHz. The whole system scored 26,073 points in the 3DMark06 benchmarking software. Other enthusiasts managed to score much more using more GPU and CPU power, an extremely well optimized system and two Radeon HD 3870 linked in CrossFire.

Asustek Gears Up for Launching Its U2E Notebook PC Next Week

Taiwanese notebook PC vendor Asustek Computer has already slated its upcoming 1.25 kilogram, battery-friendly U2E notebook for the next week's launch in Taipei. The new laptop will sport sexy
leather wrapped exteriors, adorned by tasteful metal accents.

The U2E notebook is a member of the Stylebook family that was introduced back at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Stylebook is one of the most important product lines as far as ultra-portability and business orientation is concerned. The notebooks will be covered in both white and black leather-clad versions.

The laptop is as impressive under the bonnet as its leather exterior. The system is powered by Intel's latest Penryn-based Core 2 Duo processors, with an ATI HD 2400 256MB dedicated graphics chip to complete the picture. The system also sports 1 GB of Intel Turbo memory and a 11-inch LED-backlit LCD display working at a maximum resolution of 1400x900 pixels. The whole laptop is optimized for power efficiency, as LED backlights use about 10-15 percent less power than the CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lamp) devices, that are implemented in most of the mainstream notebook PCs.

The system stores its data on a 32GB solid-state drive that also increases the battery life, although its capacity is extremely reduced for the nowadays' multimedia requirements. The ultra-portable notebook also features fingerprint biometric security, an 802.11a/b/g/n wireless card, and Bluetooth connectivity for synchronizing the laptop with mobile devices.

The laptop also comes with Asustek's Smart Logon Face Recognition Technology, that allows the notebook's legit owner to log on by simply placing their face in front of the built-in web camera.

Asus refused to disclose the estimate retail price for the business U2E ultra-mobile notebook until the next week's launch. Although the company refused to say which markets will be first hit by its new product, it is expected that the laptop will be first available in Asia and Europe.

AMD Teams Up With ST Microelectronics for Cellphone CPU

Nvidia has rolled out the APX 2500 mobile CPU with integrated graphics, the company's first application processor for handheld devices. Few hours later, another CPU for cellphones emerged from the
ST Microelectronics laboratories. The CPU not only has similar features with Nvidia's chip, but it also integrates an AMD graphics engine.

The Nomadik STn8820 cellphone processor, as the new chip is called, was announced during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Interesting enough, the new processor is using the very same core as the Nvidia APX 2500 System-on-a-Chip, except for the fact that it comes with AMD's licensed technology for integrated graphics.

The Stn8820 is running on an ARM11 core with a 32 KB instruction cache, 32 KB L1 and 256 KB L2 cache. According to ST Microelectronics engineers, the chip can be clocked at a maximum core speed of 528 MHz. The graphics engine is still undocumented, but it is for sure that it is based on AMD technologies. Moreover, the chip is the result of a licensing agreement that was inked by ST Microelectronics and AMD one year ago. The licensing agreement covers both 2D and 3D as well as vector graphics core engines and some other software that works in conjunction with the OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenVG 1.0 specifications sets.

The new chip from ST Microelectronics is also capable of encoding and decoding video files at resolutions of 720 pixels (30 frames per second). However, the APX 2500 and the Stn8820 are different in the supported formats. For instance, Nvidia's chip can handle H.264, MPEG-4, VC-1 and WMV9, while ST Microelectronics' Stn8820 processor is capable of handling H264, VC1, MPEG-2 and Divx formats.

Nvidia is stronger when it comes to imaging sensors support. While its chip can take up to 12 megapixels resolutions, the Stn8820 with an AMD engine can only support 8 megapixels. AMD has developed a Pinball game in order to demonstrate the chip's power and advanced per pixel shader effects.

Microsoft Offers Official Hacks for Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 Free Rides

While Microsoft Chief Executive Officer, Steve Ballmer, denied the possibility of a free and open source Windows operating system, for both the client and the server side, the fact of the matter is that the company does support Windows Vista, Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008 free rides. Essentially, all three versions of the Windows operating system support installation without entering product keys. And even deployment process of Windows XP SP3 was changed to replicate that of Windows Vista. In this context, Microsoft introduced, as far as Vista and Windows Server 2008 is concerned, an evaluation period referred to as either Initial Grace or Activation Grace.

During the evaluation period users are able to run either Vista, with or without SP1, and Windows Server 2008 and test drive the platforms without purchasing the product,
activating it or entering a product key. When it comes down to Vista and Vista SP1 the Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate editions of the operating system can be evaluated for a total of 30 days. After the initial month, users have to enter a product key, or prolong the operating system's Initial Grace period. In Vista (+SP1) this can be done via the "slmgr" command.

All that users have to do is open a command prompt window with elevated privileges and type "slmgr" without the inverted comas, in order to get a full list of options available with this command. The Windows Software Licensing Management Tool offers the possibility of entering product keys, activating the operating system, but also to reset the licensing status of the machine. This is possible via the "slmgr -rearm" command. This can be entered for a total of three times, prolonging the evaluation period of Vista up to 120 days.

And Microsoft has revealed that the same is possible with Windows Server 2008. "Evaluating Windows Server 2008 software does not require product activation. Any edition of Windows Server 2008 may be installed without activation, and it may be evaluated for 60 days. Additionally, the 60-day evaluation period may be reset (re-armed) three times. This action extends the original 60-day evaluation period by up to 180 days for a total possible evaluation time of 240 days. Although you can reset the 60-day evaluation period, you cannot extend it beyond 60 days at any time. When you reset the current 60-day evaluation period, you lose whatever time is left on the previous 60-day evaluation period. Therefore, to maximize the total evaluation time, wait until close to the end of the current 60-day evaluation period before you reset the evaluation period," Microsoft stated.

Just like Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 features the Windows Software Licensing Management Tool. Installed without a product key, Windows Server 2008 offers a default activation grace period of 60 days. In an elevated command prompt window enter "slmgr.vbs -dli" in order to display the number of days the server platform still has until the end of the 60-day evaluation period. In order to prolong the activation period, all you have to do is enter "slmgr.vbs –rearm" and hit Enter. After you restart Windows Server 2008, you will find that the re-arm command has prolonged the activation grace period by another 60 days. In this manner, you will be able to use Windows Server 2008 for a total of 240 days.

Microsoft also revealed that there is a way to automate the extension of Windows Server 2008's evaluation period:

"You may want to set up a process that automatically resets the evaluation period every 60 days. One way to automate this process is by using the Task Scheduler. You can configure the Task Scheduler to run the Slmgr.vbs script and to restart the server at a particular time. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Task Scheduler.
2. Copy the following sample task to the server, and then save it as an .xml file. For example, you can save the file as Extend.xml.
CODE



2007-09-17T14:26:04.433
Microsoft Corporation



P59D
false
2007-10-05T02:23:24
2008-09-17T14:23:24.777
true


domainalias
Password
HighestAvailable


PT10M
PT1H
true
false
IgnoreNew
true
true
true
false
false
true
true
false
false
true
P3D
PT0S
7

PT1M
3


C:WindowsSystem32slmgr.vbs
-rearm

C:WindowsSystem32shutdown.exe
/r

3. In the sample task, change the value of the following "UserID" tag to contain your domain and your alias:
domainalias
4. In the Task Scheduler, click Import Task on the Action menu.
5. Click the sample task .xml file. For example, click Extend.xml.
6. Click Import.
7. Click the Triggers tab.
8. Click the One Time trigger, and then click Edit.
9. Change the start date of the task to a date just before the end of your current evaluation period.
10. Click OK, and then exit the Task Scheduler.

TubeTV! More Free Content for Your iPhone, iPod, Apple TV

As an iPod (video) or iPhone owner, you've surely thought about YouTube a lot. More than that, I'll bet you've even thought of how great it would be to be able to download your favorite videos and watch them at your leisure later on. Well, you can, using TubeTV. And you haven't even heard the best part yet.

It's FREE and it enables Apple TV, video iPod, or iPhone owners
to get more viewing content onto their devices, in Mac-compatible format. According to sources on the Internet, there are paid alternatives as well, but you can get tons of content onto your device, using the free version too.

Don't run off just yet thinking that you've already got what you need with your Apple TV and iPhone. It's true that Apple has already added YouTube support to the two devices, but TubeTV is even better. TubeTV is a freeware program for both Mac OS X Tiger and Leopard that enables you to search, save and convert not only YouTube videos, bot other flash videos to a device-compatible format.

Using its built-in search bar and web browser, you can conveniently locate your favorite videos, while a single button or menu option will grab the currently displayed URL or movie from your default web browser (Safari, Camino, Firefox, or OmniWeb). QuickTime and Perian make high quality video conversions possible, using the H.264 codec and, if desired, TubeTV can add exported movies directly to iTunes and set appropriate comment tags enabling you to create a smart playlist, according to Chimoosoft.

iTunes preferences
There's also the option of double clicking on a converted video file to open it in iTunes, or you drag and drop a saved video file on to QuickTime Player to view it locally.

So, bottom is that while the YouTube options on the Apple TV, iPhone, and iPod Touch don't have access to the entire YouTube library, downloading TubeTV will enable you to view content offered by other websites too, right on your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV. Click HERE to download.

Lite-On Monitor Production Lines Caught Fire, $7.72 Million Damage Estimations

Hardware manufacturer Lite-On Technology has just confirmed that 14 of its LCD display production lines were partly destroyed in a recent fire. The incident seems to have been caused by an electrical
short circuit in the Lite-On facilities based in Dongguan, Southern China.

The fire started on February 3, and the company rushed to issue a Chinese-language press release reading that other LCD TV and monitor production lines were to be distributed in a manner that will allow them to cover the LCD monitor production lines. The press release also noted that the existing stock allows the company to deliver LCD display monitors for the next two months.

According to LCD market watchers, the monthly capacity of the Dongguan production base is about one million units but the fire will reduce the numbers by 700,000-750,000 units. The company's revenue might also decline this month down to $70-127 million (calculated at $100-170 per monitor).

"This could have a major impact on the landscape of the desktop monitor industry in the first and second quarters of 2008, but most probably in regards to share shift rather than in overall supply and demand," said DisplaySearch analyst Chris Connery.

Lite-On initially stated that the company was still assessing damages, but recent reports show that the preliminary damage is of about $7.72 million in the plant, $42.4 million in inventory and $20.9 million in equipment. The inventory damage itself would represent about 10% of Lite-On's quarterly shipments, and the fire is likely to affect the whole industry. Lite-On's customers will have to switch their orders to a new OEM supplier, which will take one or two months.

According to Baker's estimations, Lite-On supplied 22 percent of HP's monitors in the third quarter of last year, 20 percent for Dell and 19 percent for Lenovo. The Taiwanese company said that the damages will be fully covered by the insurance, but the whole impact on the LCD business needs further assessment.

Windows Live Hotmail Cracked

Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail has been cracked. Like other Internet powerhouses such as Yahoo and Google, Microsoft too is offering a free web-based email service. Windows Live Hotmail, referred to as Windows Live Mail during the development stage, is designed as the successor of the Microsoft MSN Hotmail service. First introduced in November 2005, Windows Live Hotmail, rebranded under the Hotmail label in early 2007, was finalized in October 2007. Currently,
Microsoft is hard at work on the development of Windows Live Wave 3 of products and services, aiming to introduce the next generation of Windows Live Hotmail by the end of 2008.

Well, one thing where no efforts should be spared is in the CAPTCHAS of the Windows Live Mail registration system. Security outfit Websense has warned of the detection of an automated program capable of bypassing the security measures set in place by the Redmond company, to differentiate between people and bots.

"Websense Security Labs ThreatSeeker technology has discovered that Windows Live Mail accounts have been targeted in recent spammer tactics. In these recent attacks, spammers have managed to create bots that are capable of signing up and creating random Live Mail accounts that could be used for a wide range of subsequent attacks," Websense revealed.

According to the security company, the fact that Microsoft's Windows Live Hotmail is free, in combination with the fact that it is unlikely to be blacklisted, as well as the very large user base, make it an ideal web-based email service for sending out spam. Because in the end, the illegitimate accounts created by bots are in fact being used to send out unsolicited emails.

"First, the bot is observed to request the Live Mail registration page and it begins filling in the necessary form fields (as any ordinary user would be required to) with random data. When it comes to the CAPTCHA verification test, the bot sends the CAPTCHA image to its CAPTCHA breaking service for the text in the image. Next, we observe the bot receiving a response from the server with the text in the CAPTCHA image," Websense added.

MWC 2008: HTC X7510 Advantage - Based on Future Version of Windows Mobile OS

HTC has recently announced, at the 2008 GSMA Mobile World Congress, that it decided to enhance the successful X7500 Advantage model, by bringing in a new updated version, called Advantage X7510. The newly arrived device introduces new software, increased storage and an improved keyboard. Just like its predecessor HTC Advantage X7510 will remain an ideal companion for the business traveler who needs a powerful and portable device that includes constant connectivity.

Developed from the ground, the HTC Advantage integrates a broad set of features
into a compact and innovative design. Based on a future version of Windows Mobile, the updated HTC Advantage includes a customized HTC Home today screen that provides one-touch access to emails, text messages, missed calls, calendar appointments and contacts, as well as current weather conditions and forecasts for hundreds of cities around the world.

The HTC Advantage features HTC's TouchFLO software, which enhances finger touch scrolling and browsing of Web pages, documents, messages and contact lists. The Advantage will also include Opera Mobile 9 and Google Maps for mobile.



In addition to the many software enhancements, the HTC Advantage also adds a variety of new and improved hardware features, including 16GB of storage, a new improved keyboard with haptic feedback and an updated version of VueFLO, using a G-sensor that recognizes the screen orientation of the device for optimal customer usage.

With its innovative built-in video output capability, the HTC Advantage empowers its users with freedom to make presentations anywhere. Users can run presentations directly via the projector and TV output. Its 5-inch VGA color touch-screen and innovative, magnetic QWERTY keyboard are ideal not just for editing Microsoft Office documents, but also for enjoying leisure time. Users can watch videos, browse the web, use instant Outlook push e-mail, synchronize their contacts, tasks and calendar, and navigate anywhere with inbuilt GPS and TomTom NAVIGATOR 6.

Offering a complete package of connectivity, the HTC Advantage offers a wide variety of Wireless connectivity options, such as Tri-band HSPDA, Wi-Fi and stereo Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity.

The updated HTC Advantage will be available in March, in select countries across Europe.

China Cracks Down on Internet and Games

All the news coming from the Western world could make somebody completely oblivious about what’s going on in the Far East, where communism hasn’t burst its bubble yet. Censoring video sites, sweeping Internet cafes and hunting down web sites and computer markets for possible dangerously violent games just warm the Chinese people to their government.

In all fairness, their intentions are good. The authorities
are only trying to do what is best for the young, as the "Operation for Tomorrow" only tries to cut down on the pupils playing truant because of the games or because of the Internet. Nevertheless, phrases like "[the plan will] use the law to attack, investigate and prosecute ... to cleanse the environment in which young people are raised and prevent and reduce juvenile crime and illegal activity" seem a bit harsh and especially the prosecuting part won’t find too many fans.

The Internet cafes have long been targets for the government, especially because they do not enforce the law that wouldn’t allow anyone under 18 to cross their doorstep. Charges being thrown at them number encouraging juvenile crime as a way to earn money to play online games, according to the Associated Press. Unlicensed Internet cafes will be shut down on sight.

Xinhua News Agency reported that the plan "especially targets school dropouts, runaways, children of inmates, and children left behind by parents who have migrated for work." Good old discrimination, welcome back!

Some web sites are targeted because they offer unregistered playing platforms or services for gamers that can be downloaded, according to the Chinese agency. They will be added to the list of supervised sites, that so far includes those containing anti-government speech and uncensored news reports with a special mention that pornography sites are downright shut down. By supervised I meant banned, in case that wasn’t clear.

Google Earth’s Hit 350 Mil

Google Earth, despite the rumors late last year that it would be discontinued pretty soon and merged with Google Maps, is still going strong at it. It has reached the 350 million downloads mark and is still looking strong and with a big future ahead. Needless to say, it is one of everybody’s favorite past time tools on the Internet.

It has served the communities in more ways than one, it helped during
the California fires by providing accurate imagery of the land, it was used in critical humanitarian efforts from the mountains of Pakistan to the deserts of Sudan, it played a key role in the discovery of plane wrecks and it was all the difference between despair and peace when all of that happened.

The team in charge of it thought the 350 mil mark is a good reason to present a short history of the product, so they wrote a post on the Google Long Lat blog. It’s not too long, it all started with the creation of Keyhole back in 2001, by Chikai Ohazama, nowadays’ Google Earth Product Manager, a company that focused on creating a dynamic, three-dimensional, interactive map of the U.S. with satellite and aerial imagery. Next, up came Google acquiring the company and here we are today, with a successful product on our hands and hundreds of millions of fans worldwide.

I guess it is a time for boasting, so here is what Chikai said about it: "Google Earth is available in 13 languages and has been downloaded over 350 million times by people from around the world. People tell us that the reason they use Google Earth is because it covers the areas they care about with high resolution detail – whether it's Timbuktu, Cabo San Lucas, or Whitiangia, New Zealand. No other online mapping provider in the world offers this global reach with sub-meter resolution imagery."

"In fact, we cover more than a third of the world's land surface and half of the world's population with this sort of 'high definition' imagery. [..] Google has been able to provide this unique global imagery by partnering with hundreds of aerial and satellite imagery providers around the world. From the small town of Castillia, Colombia to National Geographic photographers like Michael Fay, we are constantly working with new content owners to include their imagery in Google Earth. It turns out that our global imagery database is helpful for reasons even beyond our expectations," Chikai Ohazama said.

I guess the rumors last year were totally unfounded and, by the looks of it, Google Earth is here to stay.

No, You Can't Build Your Own Slipstreamed Installation of Windows Vista SP1

With Microsoft having released Windows Vista Service Pack 1 to manufacturing, on February 4, 2008, and started to make the service pack available for download to technical customers, from the participants in the SP1 Beta testing process, to Volume License users and to MSDN and TechNet subscribers,
questions began emerging related to the possibility of integrating SP1 into an existing image of Vista. In this context, Microsoft has answered a firm NO to slipstreaming Windows Vista SP1 into an existing Vista install image.

"When you do the SP1 installation, even if it's from Windows Update (when available), you're going to see your machine shutdown and restart on it's own several times. That's to be expected. See, there's this important part of the OS known as the 'servicing layer' in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. This is the part of the OS that allows for easy update installation with minimal disruptions, allows for an update to be applied to an offline captured image that's within a .wim file, among other things," explained Kevin Remde, Microsoft IT Pro Evangelist.

Essentially, what the users will have to do is install the service pack and then recapture the image. In the eventuality that the original Vista installation is not activated, Vista SP1 will add an extra re-arm period to the result, to compensate for any testing time that could be lost. The actual details of how to create a new Vista SP1 image are available via the WAIK documentation.

"If you're using the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit), you will definitely want to get the new version that has support for both the original Vista as well as the new servicing layer that's in both Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. Of course, the easiest way to do this all would be to get a copy pre-slipstreamed SP1 version of Windows Vista from Microsoft when it becomes available, and start with that as your new installation base. If you're not doing any other custom image management, that's definitely the easiest solution. Just add it to your own Microsoft Deployment workbench or use it to build your new images from there," Remde added.

Intel Demonstrates Real-Time Switching Technology Between Wi-Fi and WiMax

Intel demonstrated a new wireless technology that could be the cornerstone for dynamical network switching between a Wi-Fi and a WiMax network at no connectivity loss. The new technology has been introduced
yesterday, during the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, and is the result of a research partnership between Intel, mobile manufacturer Nokia, and Nokia Siemens Networks.

The research aims at developing a mobile technology that would allow the upcoming mobile Internet devices to roam between the available networks as the user is moving through different parts of the city. The technology should be able to tune the device in to the next available network before terminating the previous connection. Listening to Internet radio or watching online video has never been simpler and disruption-free.

This technology is vital for the mainstream adoption of the mobile Internet, that currently lacks stability and decent data transfer rates. The upcoming Internet-enabled devices will be able to access multimedia streams as well as other services that are available online. According to market analyst company Gartner, the mobile Internet devices will slowly replace the current notebooks and ultra-mobile PCs by 2012.

Intel used a notebook computer enabled with the new switching technology. The computer was able to flawlessly connect to the WiMax network, while preserving the connectivity offered by the Wi-Fi one. While Intel and Nokia developed the mobile client, the Nokia-Siemens joint venture worked on the network itself. "The demo gives a first glimpse to a possible future solution," Intel research scientist Christian Maciocco said on the company's blog.

The system is based on a technology that recognizes when transition is required and connects to both networks at once. After the connection is successfully established, the device just drops one. The transition can be inflicted by either low signal or because a less-expensive network has been found within range.

Mobile Internet devices are becoming more and more popular with Internet users, and the latest statistics show that they will increase to 89 million units in 2012 from the current 3.4 million value. Intel will release its low-power processor codenamed Silverthorne, later this year and will lay the grounds to powerful, energy-efficient mobile Internet devices.

Google Takes First Step Towards Advertising Holy Grail

A while ago, if somebody had even suggested that the future of the Internet was offline, most would have laughed at the thought, while the remainder of the audience wouldn’t have understood the concept and, because of it, remained quiet. Google is actually heading towards this in full gear, after understanding that a symbiosis of both online and offline work is the key to going forward.

It’s been dabbling in offline media for quite a while
now, and if its first printed attempts at advertising weren’t all that successful, the Mountain View turned to other media such as the TV (Dish TV, one of the US’ two satellite pay-TV providers) to tend to its wounds, only to try again after a while. And so it did, it advertised its Maps service via flyers and posters, and now it is considering introducing printed barcodes in newspaper that would target only the people interested in a certain advertisement.

Google has decided to give agencies a chance to further their ads exposure and, thus, is sending to the United Kingdom engineers to improve agency relations. The staff of the two parties will collaborate and, if possible, work on several tools to make planning and buying in the online space more efficient. In Mark Howe’s words, the drive has started because "Agencies aren’t using online as much as they can because their systems aren’t up to it. We want to use engineering in Europe to build tools for agencies."

If these offline techniques turn to be effective, that would spur some unbelievable interest with media buyers in quantifiable data for offline and online campaigns alike. Gowe, Google UK’s country sales director for agencies, delivered the punch line of the deal, according to Brand Republic: "If we can build tools to link information from Donovan Data Systems and plug into other systems to measure the effectiveness of online, then that is the Holy Grail. It won’t happen this year, but that is the Holy Grail." Amen!