Archive for June, 2009
Sony aims at iPhone market
Posted by The Right Guy in Console, PSP on June 30th, 2009
Next PSP will have a phone
Sony wants to convert its PlayStation Portable into a mobile phone and take on Apple’s iPhone.
The dark satanic rumor mill says that the electronics giant is looking into making a combination gadget that would meld its PSP gaming system with the cell phones made by Sony Ericsson. According to the Nikkei business daily Sony is pulling together a team as early as July to begin development of the new gadget.
It is the second time that such a rumour has become the “word on the streets”. In 2007, Sony filed a patent that appeared to show a PSP-like device with phone capabilities, and British Telecom said it was working with the company to bring voice and video chat to the PSP.
It will not be the next thing that Sony releases. The PSP Go, will be the next thing to grace shop shelves. It was unveiled at the E3 gaming conference, is smaller than its predecessors and has a slide-up screen.
It will go on sale in North America on October 1 for $249.
Next gen Atom coming after October
Posted by The Right Guy in Hardware, Intel on June 10th, 2009
Atom N450
According to a Digitimes report, Intel is planning to launch a new Atom CPU no earlier than October.
Dubbed Atom N450, the new processor will replace the N270 used in most netbooks today. Unlike the N270, the N450 has some built-in northbridge functions, and the entire platform will consist of only two chips, unlike the current platform which has three. The new 45nm CPU will be coupled with the Tiger Point chipset, designated NM10.
Obviously the new two-chip design will be less power hungry, and due to its compact size it will allow manufacturers to come up with thinner, lighter netbooks, and possible even some new form factors. However, we still don’t know the clocks and don’t have any performance details.
Digitimes claims Intel will issue a last order notice for the N270 in Q1 2010, and it will cease production sometime in 1H 2010. It is still a unclear what will happen to Silverthorne and Poulsbo, or should we say Z-series Atoms and the US15W chipset.
More here.
Firefox 3.5 previews
Posted by The Right Guy in Internet on June 10th, 2009
Better and faster
The Mozilla Foundation’s Firefox 3.5 preview version is now available for download and we have had a few hours playing with it.
Firstly it is a bit faster than earlier versions, although all the browsers on the market these days, such as Opera, Chrome and Safari are faster than the earlier generation. But the new browser has a few things which are more interesting including the use of open-source video standards, geo-location capabilities, and a few nice graphics tricks.
With 3.5 it is possible to run a video player based on the open-source video formats Ogg Vorbis and Theora. What is cool is that by using HTML5 links and other interactive elements can easily be placed inside videos. What is interesting is that it can do things that Flash can’t, and if it is supported by websites it could send Adobe packing.
Ogg Theora is supported by Daily Motion so it is not too far from being a possibility. Have a look at the demo video here
AMD plans to take on Intel’s Atom
Posted by The Right Guy in AMD, Hardware on June 8th, 2009
Well, sort of
AMD CEO Dirk Meyer says the company is working on a new low-power mobile platform which could take on Intel’s Atom. Samples should ship sometime in 2010.
However, Meyer, who believes netbooks will fade away as a separate product category, says the new chips will be used for notebooks, not netbooks. The important thing to point out is that AMD expects the new platform to end up cheaper than the Atom, and in this ultra-cheap market segment, even a slight price difference could mean a lot. Another thing AMD has going for it is its prowess in IGP design.
Meyer also said AMD is developing a new platform for thin and light notebooks, which will be positioned between Congo and Yukon. He also believes ARM-based netbooks will have a tough time penetrating the netbook market, as they lack proper software support, i.e. Microsoft won’t port Windows for such devices.
Also, AMD will soon launch a new mainstream mobile platform, codenamed Tigris.
More here.