Archive for Featured
Corsair Releases “World’s Fastest” 128GB Flashdrive
August 13th, 2009 • Featured, Hardware
Tags: 128GB, flashdrive, performance, thumbdrive, usb
Corsair, longtime manufacturer of computer memory, has announced today what they claim to be the world’s fastest 128GB USB flashdrive to date – the Flash Voyager GT.
Corsair claims that their Flash Voyager GT can read at speeds of up to 32MB/sec and can write at 28MB/sec – apparently limited only by the 480MB/s throughput of USB2.0. The secret to the performance of the Voyager is its unique architecture, which uses a dual-controller to achieve above and beyond what more expensive, and smaller capacity SLC NAND flash memory can achieve using the cheaper, but considerably slower MLC NAND memory.
Despite a smart manufacturing technique, you pay what you get for. $399 is what it’ll take to get your paws on one of these impressive flashdrives.
I’ve got a feeling a high performance and high capacity drive like this could be ideal for users who want to boot a persistent OS off their flashdrive (such as with Ubuntu) and carry it around with them wherever they go.
It comes with a 10-year warranty, and is available from distributors worldwide.
Popularity: 4% [?]
MySpace To Lay Off Two Thirds of Workforce [UPDATE]
June 23rd, 2009 • 2 comments Featured, Internet
Tags: jobs, lay, myspace, networking, off, social
Following an announcement to initially remove 30% of its staff from its payroll, News Corp has announced that it plans to lay off two thirds of MySpace’s international work force.
The major reduction will see Myspace go from 450 to 150 international employees, although MySpace China and MySpace Japan won’t be affected as they are locally owned and part of joint venture respectively. News Corp also plans to shut down at least four of its international offices, and every single office is up for immediate shutdown. Offices that exist in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden and Spain are all under scrutiny for possible shutdown.
Around half of all MySpace’s traffic comes from outside the United States, so there’s no telling what this move will have on MySpace’s popularity, which is already half that of its biggest competitor: Facebook.
Once restructuring is complete, Berlin, London and Sydney will exist as the sole regional hubs for MySpace activities on the international front.
[Original Post: MySpace To Send 30% Of Staff Packing]
Popularity: 6% [?]
Each Firefox Tab To Get A Separate Process
June 22nd, 2009 • 3 comments Featured, Software
Tags: firefox, mozilla, multiple, process, tab
Mozilla are currently working on implementing separate processes for each open tab in Firefox to enhance reliability and security.
Separate processes for individual tabs is nothing new in the browsing industry since the introduction of Google’s Chrome late last year. This has since been copied by Microsoft in Internet Explorer 8, which was released not too long ago. Mozilla is now playing catch-up and is in the process of bringing this feature across to Firefox – but there’s a catch. They’re going to implement separate processes for both Linux and Mac as well, which has been Google’s main excuse for the seemingly slow port of Chrome to operating systems other than Windows.
The main advantage of separate process is that if something causes a tab to crash, only that tab will close, leaving the rest of the other tabs and browsers open and operating as if nothing happened. So you won’t lose all 72 open tabs if something goes wrong in one of them. Separate processes also ensure performance improvements, allowing a user to run and (if need be) close a tab which is displaying a resource-hungry or badly coded website, which means only that website being rendered by that tab will be slowed down instead of the entire browser.
“Electrolysis”, as it’s been called by Mozilla devs, is currently in active development, to the point where they have a video of a working example, and is expected to be available to the public for active use before the end of July.
[via DownloadSquad]
Popularity: 10% [?]
MSN Revamp On The Way
June 19th, 2009 • Featured, Internet
Tags: bing, microsoft, msn, portal, revamp
Microsoft is also working on a complete interface overhaul for its MSN portal, amidst serious hype about Bing.
The current MSN design, which is around 10 years old now, is looking to get a complete visual makeover by Microsoft. The new design is being crafted with personalization and social media (especially video) in mind. Microsoft is attempting to re-vitalize their portal, which 37% of internet browsers depend on for information (according to Microsoft).
Microsoft has been working on making MSN seem more ‘fresh’ since 2006, where they hired the retired John Nicol (who worked for MSNBC). Since then, the MSN portal has seen an overhaul in their video content that led to the broadcast of the Beijing Olympics, as well as the introduction of Microsoft’s own take on Youtube, the ‘doomed’ Soapbox. I say doomed because Soapbox, non-surprisingly, was unable to compete effectively with other online video directories and is busy being cut back, maybe even to a point of ultimate shutdown.
Microsoft is also taking a very interesting approach to personalizing MSN. When most people think about personalization of a website, they think about choosing where what gets displayed, whether they want a search box or not and various other annoyances that tend to waste time instead of boost productivity. Microsoft is attempting to address this with each individual user’s information and demographics. This information will be fed through Microsoft’s algorithms and information relative to the user will be displayed in their portal.
This method of a computer deciding where to place content is being used in more ways than one. Instead of the content needing to be updated manually to suit different user’s needs, the algorithms will dynamically update the portal depending on which stories are being clicked by various users minutes before. I’m sure Silverlight will make a prominent appearnace as well.
Variations of the portals are currently being tested in France and Brazil.
[via CNET]
Popularity: 11% [?]
MySpace To Send 30% Of Staff Packing
June 16th, 2009 • Featured, Internet
Tags: economy, facebook, jobs, myspace, networking, news_corp, social
News Corp has announced that their social networking website, MySpace, will lose 30% of its staff in a bid to cut costs in its bid to remain popular with alternatives such as Facebook.
MySpace used to be the number one social networking website in the world, but has lost its spot to Facebook, who recently reached the 200 million member milestone. Although very different in nature, Twitter is also proving to be surrounded by more buzz than MySpace these days. Facing the tough competition, the decision was made to fire 30% of the staff (approx. 400 individuals), leaving 1000 employees behind.
According to the new MySpace chief executive, Owen Van Natta, the move was made to reinstate a culture that resembles one of a fresh new start-up.
“Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered by our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company,”
said Van Natta to Reuters.
Nobody inclined to comment when employees will be told whether they’ll be allowed to keep their jobs or not.
This comes at a time when Facebook has nearly more than three times the number of unique visitors per month when compared to MySpace, and news that Google wishes to renegotiate an advertising deal once the current contract expires next year.
There is serious doubt whether MySpace can turn their network around, which has become synonymous with badly designed profile pages as well as a platform of promotion for new musical artists. Here’s hoping for the best.
The announcement resulted in News Corp’s shares dropping by 4.2% to $9.41
UPDATE 1:
MySpace has announced their plans to lay off two thirds of their international workforce.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Microsoft to Release Beta Version of Free Anti-Virus “Soon”
June 11th, 2009 • Featured, Software
Tags: anti-virus, freeware, microsoft, onecare
It was first reported in November of last year that Microsoft is busy working on a free anti-virus solution for users. The software was slated for a June/July release, and according to a new report a beta is on the way.
The new anti-virus software is being released to compete with premium versions of security software, such as your everyday AVG, Avast, and so forth. What makes the Microsoft product appealing is that it’s being designed to offer the same features as desktop security, but only this time for free.
It’ll be able to tackle viruses, rootkits, trojans and even spyware, but won’t be a replacement for security suites that cost top dollar.
Microsoft’s anti-virus is currently being tested internally by employees over at the Microsoft HQ, and that a beta will be available “soon” according to a Microsoft spokesman who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday. The schedule for release is the 30th of June, the same date that Microsoft plans to dump it’s commercial security failure, OneCare.
Many people might be thinking that Microsoft should be able to put out a decent product, considering their building it for an operating system they designed. For now we’ll just have to wait and see, and hope another antitrust dispute doesn’t surface.
[Reuters]
Popularity: 24% [?]
Windows 7 Hits October 22
June 4th, 2009 • Featured, Software
Tags: 7, microsoft, operating, system, windows
Originally planned for a 2010 release, Microsoft has revealed that its latest operating system, Windows 7 is launching late this year.
Microsoft announced on Tuesday that Vista’s successor will hit most of the world on October 22 2009, just in time for the holiday shopping season. Windows 7’s launch is very important to Microsoft’s market share and to the PC industry in general, the large majority of PCs run Windows. Combined with the arguable failure of Vista (or instead a few prominent tech bloggers and journalists voicing their dislike), there’s no better reason for Microsoft to regain some trust from the IT community
Windows 7 is also an important step for Microsoft in facing new competition, especially concerning the netbook front, where Linux is expected to show major growth, with the lightweight Windows 7 Starter.
The early announcement doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as leaked ISOs on torrent websites as well as the Windows 7 Release-Candidate have been very successful for Microsoft, with many people voicing approval at the change in direction. Users who purchase Windows Vista around the October 22 date will be able to upgrade to Windows 7 free of charge, but no serious details have been released yet regarding this upgrade.
PC manufacturers will be able to get their hands on Windows 7 in July to place on OEM systems.
Popularity: 30% [?]
Microsoft Removes “3 Simultaneous Apps” Limit From Windows 7 Starter
May 30th, 2009 • 2 comments Featured, Software
Tags: 7, microsoft, starter, windows
Microsoft developers have announced in a blog post today that Microsoft is removing the 3 application limit from the Starter version of Windows 7.
Very few users will be familiar with the Starter or Basic versions of Windows that have been available on PCs since Microsoft released Windows XP. These versions have mostly been sold in developing countries, to help keep PC costs down. Unfortunately these low-end versions are extremely limiting (and many would argue purposefully) to such a point that many people have strong incentive to shell out extra cash and upgrade to the Home edition. The Starter edition is however more lightweight than other versions of Windows, and keep costs low for netbooks.
Thankfully, Microsoft has decided to remove the most crippling factor from its next operating system, Windows 7. Users will no longer be limited to having a maximum of 3 applications open at any given time.
We are also going to enable Windows 7 Starter customers the ability to run as many applications simultaneously as they would like, instead of being constricted to the 3 application limit that the previous Starter editions included.
Windows 7 Starter will be available first the first time in developed countries such as the US – but to avoid confusion, won’t be sold at retail. Only OEM versions will be available on ready-built PCs, avoiding consumer confusion at retail.
Bare in mind however, Windows 7 has many more limiting factors, so don’t be fooled into thinking its a cheap operating system. You get what you pay for.
[via The Windows Blog]
Popularity: 40% [?]
Intel Hit with $1.45 Billion Fine
May 15th, 2009 • Featured, Industry
Tags: amd, cpu, eu, illegal, intel, market, rebate, share
Intel has been handed down a record 1.06 Billion Euro ($1.45 billion) fine for antitrust violations in Europe regarding Intel’s long-time rival – AMD.
After over 8 years of investigation, European regulators have finally found Intel guilty of using illegal methods to prevent AMD from getting free access to the microchip market. These violations include special “payments” (read bribes) to computer manufacturers to exclude or delay the implementation of products using AMD chips. Intel was also found guilty of paying illegal rebates to encourage retailers to only stock products that contained Intel chips.
“Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years”
said Neelie Kroes, a European Union Competition Commissioner, in a news conference after the ruling.
As a result, Intel was called to immediately stop its illegal practices and pay the $1.45 billion fine within 3 months. This is the largest fine ever imposed by the EU, more than the 896 million euro fine in 2007 on Saint-Gobain for their price-fixing.
The ruling finally sees AMD’s pleas heard, who have been complaining that Intel has been practicing these methods for quite a few years now – ultimately shutting the door on AMD.
“The ruling is hugely important,”
says Nathan Brookwood, an anylst at Insight 64,
“MD has been out there for the last five or six years screaming that Intel has been keeping them from getting free access to markets.”
Despite optimism being expressed by AMD, experts believe that Intel will simply shrug off the fine and keep on dominating the market, as they have done since their introduction of the Core series of processors a few years ago. They (and myself included) believe that this will aid AMD’s market share by a small margin, but won’t cause Intel any serious harm.
Intel’s attempts at contesting the case have so far been unsuccessful.
[via Reuters]
Popularity: 40% [?]
41% Of All PC Software Is Pirated
May 12th, 2009 • 2 comments Featured, Software
Tags: applications, download, p2p, piracy, pirate, Software
A fresh report, released today by the BSA, details how 41% of all installed PC software worldwide was pirated in 2008, 3% more than in 2007.
The study, which included 110 countries, interestingly found that the piracy rate in over half (51.8%) of the countries actually dropped when compared to a year before. In fact – only 14.5% of the countries displayed an increase in the piracy rate. So where does the 3% jump occur? Simple – Computer shipments to High-piracy countries, specifically both China and India, grew faster than other countries involved in the study. This meant the reduction in piracy elsewhere was easily overpowered.
The study also found that losses jumped over $50 billion for the first time in history. I’m assuming that this is based on the assumption that every illegal copy would’ve been bought, which isn’t entirely realistic. 20 million illegal downloads doesn’t mean 20 million sales, as many users just simply wouldn’t have bought the software whether a cracked copy was available or not. Either way, it’s still an incredibly large loss in revenue each year.
Ironically, the US makes up the largest amount of revenue lost ($9.1 Billion), despite having the lowest piracy rate in the world (20%), thanks to having the largest PC software demand in the world. The study also found that despite the piracy rate hovering around 20%, losses have grown larger and larger with each year.
The full report by the BSA, and conducted by the IDC is available here.
[via DownloadSquad]
Popularity: 100% [?]
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