AMD Ships 500 millionth x86 CPU
Ok this is pretty cool and bears some coverage. AMD has shipped it 500 Millionth x86 CPU. That is a pretty big number if you ask me. It comes in combination with AMD's 40th year in business. To celebrate AMD is giving away four HP Pavilion Dv2Z notebooks.
The contest is part of AMD's recent plunge into social networking and will be a twitter based contest. The way this works is that you have to follow @AMD_Unprocessed on twitter. Every other Monday starting on the 27th of July @AMD_Unprocessed will tweet an AMD related question. You should answer Via Direct Message these correct answers will be put into a drawing for one of the four Dv2s. This cycle will repeat for the next two months.
Not too terribly hard to enter, or course you never know what question they will ask, but I am sure that whatever it is can be found quickly by checking out AMD's website unless I am completely missing the mark.
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49 Port USB 2.0 Hub hits the market
So what do you get the Geek who has everything? Normally I would say a date with a real girl but barring that I would say that a 49 port USB hub would about cover it.
Yes, you read right. There actually is a USB hub with a full 49 ports on it. The device is being made by Cambrionix and is selling under the inspired name of "49 Port Professional USB Hub." And can be picked up for around $650 US dollars.
It is actually being marketed as a development and testing hub (which makes sense really) and appears to be a useful tool for mass testing of USB flash drives.
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Fujifilm shows off compact 3D Camera
There is nothing like a new cool gadget and Fujifilm has one. This is a 3D Digital camera for the masses. The new camera is a small compact device that is capable of capturing 3D Images that are viewable without the need to special glasses.
The concept behind the capture is surprisingly simple; through the use of two lenses (similar to the old stereoscopic viewers) the camera is able to combine different fields of view (depth) into an image or movie that is fully 3 dimensional.
Fujifilm will also offer a special printing process for these images. The new FinePix REAL 3D W1 should hit the stores in Japan early next month followed by a general release late next month.
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Mushkin prepares an Ultimate HD 4850
It was not that long ago that Mushkin announced its UltimateFX line of add-in video cards. The announcement showed that Mushkin was ready to enter the world of graphics (just like OSZ did) and they had some nVidian offerings in the works.
Today we hear that Mushkin is now working on an UltimateFX version of the Radeon HD4850. The new Radeon HD 4850 will feature a completely custom build. The cooling system looks a lot like the one found on the Sapphire HD4670 offering though. Specs are; 800 stream processors, 256-Bit memory interface, 625MHz/1986MHz CPU/Memory stock clock and 700/2020 for the OCd version. There will be three ports for output (DVI, D-Sub and HDMI).
All this will come in a handy wooden box. There is no indication on when you can get these nor how much they will cost you once ready.
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Intel reduces prices on SSDs
Intel has just announced their release of a 34nm NAND flash cell in an SSD. But while this is pretty cool news all on its own; the real news is that this will reduce the price of the existing 50nm versions.
According to Intel the move will help reduce the prices of the 50nm MLC SSDs by up to 60%... but that is 60% off of the original prices not current market prices.
The new pricing for the X-25-M 80GB will be $225; this is indeed 60% of the original $595. The problem is that you can get the X25-M 80GB for $324 from NewEgg this makes the new reduced price about 30% off the current market. The 160GB flavor of the X25-M will be $440, you can get the X25-M 160GB for $629 right now.
More Core i5 Details leaked
So with all the news about the P55, and the next generation of the X58 (complete with a few USB 3.0 ports) it is nice to get some news on the pending release of the Core i5 and the 1156 Version of the Core i7.
According to some new information we have some specifications and even pricing for the new CPUs.
If the details put together by HKEPC is correct the entry level Core i5 750 will be a little under $200. I will run at 2.66 Ghz, feature 8MB L3 cache, and will have four Cores but will lack HyperThreading.
Asus P6X58 pictured with USB 3.0
Despite the bad news that SATA 6G might not hit the retail shelves until after September we do have some good news. It looks like we might see some new USB 3.0 boards hitting the market soon.
A picture of what is supposed to be an Asus P6X58 is floating around the Internet showing off tow of these high-speed ports. The chip behind them is the NEC µPD720200.
The new ports are blue instead of black (I wonder how that will work on the boards that have been making USB ports Yellow).
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Kingston pushes out first ever 256GB Flash Drive
Recently Kingston made news by being the first to have a 128GB Flash drive out and on the market. Kingston was not satisfied with this capacity and so decided to do a one up and release a 256GB version.
The new drive will sell under the label of DataTraveler 300. The new drive will run under the USB 2.0 standard. It will feature the same Password Traveler software as the DT200 that allows you to create a hidden, password protected area for your private documents.
Pricing is a little high at $935 (more than some 256GB SSDs. This price will make the DT 300 a toy for only a very small number of people.
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Apple might sue over laptop hunters
Last week we told you that Microsoft received a call from Apple asking to remove the "laptop Hunters" ads. At the time we were told that MS thought it was a joke and laughed it off.
The story said that Apple claimed that since they had reduced the price of the Mac Books by $100 then the ad was no longer accurate. Now this in itself is funny as there is very little about Apple ads that are accurate. It would be interesting to see someone ask for the ads claiming that Macs do not crash, and have no security problems to be removed. But that is for another story.
What is interesting is that some lawyers (perhaps looking for s bit of the spotlight) say that Apple might have a case. Now I am not sure what part of the world they are from but the ads clearly say what they are comparing. So if the MS ad says you can get a better 17-inch laptop for X dollars less than a Mac or for under a certain dollar ammount; and someone finds one then the ad is accurate.
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Amazon deletes books from users Kindles
Amazon can take back your content without your consent. That is the message that is perfectly clear with the recent removal of George Orwell books from their new Kindle platform.
According to numerous reports around the internet the Book Animal Farm and 1984 were deleted from users' accounts and books after the publisher decided they no longer wanted to offer them through the Kindle service.
Now in the world of print this would mean that the book could no longer be purchased from the store. If you bought one before they pulled it would still be yours.
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