Devs Get Early Taste of Windows 7 Beta Via File-Sharing Leak

Windows 7's official beta release will come early next year, but its unofficial release looks like it's already happened via a leak. A Windows 7 beta is listed on BitTorrent tracking sites like The Pirate Bay. Users who might be tempted to check out the beta should keep in mind, though, that there may be some malicious software packages out there masquerading as the OS beta.

Το 2010 ο διάδοχος του Atom

O νέος επεξεργαστής Intel Atom θα χτιστεί με την αρχιτεκτονική των 32nm και θα φέρει την κωδική ονομασία Medfield.

Ο Intel Medfield λοιπόν, σε αντίθεση με τον 45 νανομετρων προκάτοχο του, θα ενσωματώνει τον επεξεργαστή και το chipset περιέχοντας έτσι την μνήμη και τους Multimedia controllers σε ένα μόνο chip εξοικονομώντας ακόμα περισσότερο χώρο. Επιπλέον, o Intel Medfield θα διατεθεί σε dual core έκδοση.

Πριν από τον Medfield βέβαια, θα κυκλοφορήσει ο Pineview, μέσα στο 2009, ο οποίος είναι στα 45nm και χρησιμοποιεί κάποιες από τις καινοτομίες του Core i7.

Οι δυνατότητες πάντως του Medfield φαίνεται να μετατρέπουν τις ιδιότητες των minibooks και να εισάγουν αναπαραγωγή multimedia περιεχομένου σε High Definition αφήνοντας πίσω την εποχή που οι μικροί φορητοί φτιάχναν «όνομα» κυρίως εξαιτίας του μεγέθους και της τιμής τους και όχι φυσικά των δυνατοτήτων τους.

Minibook από την Intel μέσα στο Γενάρη

Η Intel θα αποκαλύψει λεπτομέρειες για το touchscreen Classmate netbook, κατά τη διάρκεια του Consumer Electronic Show τον Ιανουάριο.

Η Intel διαφημίζει το νέο Classmate σαν μία «netvertible» συσκευή, εξαιτίας της ιδιότητας περιστροφής της 8,9 ιντσών, 1024 x 600, οθόνη αφής.

To Classmate θα τρέχει Windows XP ενώ η Intel έχει ήδη ξεκινήσει τις επαφές με εταιρείες λογισμικού προκειμένου να εξασφαλίσει συμβατά, με την οθόνη αφής, προγράμματα.

Ο επεξεργαστής του θα είναι ο 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 και θα διαθέτει 1GB RAM και 60 GB σκληρό δίσκο. Τέλος, θα προσφέρει 2 USB θύρες, 1 SD slot, video output, επιταχυνσιόμετρο και βίντεο output.

Makeover for Apple's Mighty Mouse?

Is it time for Apple's Mighty Mouse to get a tune-up?

That's the question many people on the Internet are asking as MacBlogz has published images of what it expects Apple to do with the multibutton mouse. Extrapolating from Apple's patents on multitouch, MacBlogz's prototype features a sleek profile and aluminum body.

The report notes that a 2007 patent application "arbitrary shaped grippable member" that would utilize positioning and multitouch detection to interpret a user's movement. Basically, it appears the button would be replaced by a multitouch trackpad. "In essence, it would act as one seamless area from which a user could scroll and pan by dragging a finger over the device's surface," the report says.

The prototype's aluminum body is drawn from a parallel with the iMac and MacBook, which have shed their white, plastic shell for aluminum. The change in materials would also eliminate the build-up of gunk on the edges, the blog suggests.

As far as shape goes, the prototype's lower profile would be "more versatile for complex gestures," while will maintaining enough height to accommodate its batteries.

The mouse may be still be in the dream stage, but it's one Apple users would embrace.

Nvidia bids to dislodge Intel as rivalry gets ugly

Intel and Nvidia are entering into a new, nasty phase of competition. What's at stake? Only the future of the personal computer.

Though the Santa Clara, Calif. neighbors (only a couple of miles from each other) have never really been on speaking terms, the rivalry is intensifying with the emergence of the Netbook--small, lightweight laptops priced below $500.

The competitive backdrop is still the same--Intel's longstanding (and very successful) vision of a CPU-centric universe versus Nvidia's creed that graphics processing matters more and more in a multimedia-intensive world.

The challenge for Nvidia is that as laptops downsize into Netbooks, a graphics vacuum has been created. And Nvidia abhors a graphics vacuum.

Inside almost every Acer, Asus, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell Netbook beats an Intel silicon core. Both CPU and GPU--the latter in the form of the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950.

Nvidia wants in. Nvidia maintains that Intel-only Netbooks choke on high-quality multimedia content and, as a result, consumers will demand better graphics hardware as the Netbook increases in size to 10-inch diagonal screen sizes and beyond. (The Netbook began as a tiny 8- or 9-inch form factor, but has been moving to 10-inch and even a 12-inch screen in the case of Dell's Inspiron Mini 12 Netbook.)

This is where it gets complicated. Intel has fairly strict parameters for the Netbook. It would rather not see Atom-based systems with 12-inch screens or extra silicon (read: horsepower) that kicks thermals (read: power consumption) into laptop territory. Need I explain why? (Cannibalization.) Netbooks should not aspire to be notebooks because the Atom processor is not nearly as capable as a Core 2 Duo, according to Intel.


And here's where it gets nasty: chipsets. Apple serves as a perfect example of why it may get rough and tumble and what's at stake. In the newest MacBooks, Nvidia not only seized graphics turf from Intel but took the chipset socket too. Intel was relegated to supplying only the processor. That's analogous to Nvidia snagging a piece of prime Manhattan real estate right from under Intel's nose. While Intel holds onto Times Square, Nvidia walks off with Rockefeller Center.

To put it charitably, Intel doesn't like to lose socket space. But that is exactly what Nvidia is aiming for with Netbooks.

Will Nvidia be able to convince Netbook makers like Acer and Asus to make the switch in the face of Intel's persuasive bundling offers? These vendors may not be as open-minded as Apple, which has always prided itself on a feisty independence (i.e., no one takes center stage but Apple and no Intel stickers).

Nvidia's GeForce 9400M may appear initially (June Computex timeframe?) in Netbooks from smaller vendors. Larger suppliers may wait to see if turbocharged graphics are the Netbook wave of the future--or not.