Fujifilm Corporation, Japan, one of the world's largest photographic solutions company, today announced the launch of "FinePix REAL 3D System", which it said is its groundbreaking new imaging technology.
Fuji said this is the world's first 3D (three dimensional) digital imaging system that lets users enjoy 3D images with naked eye without the need for wearing special 3D glasses. The revolutionary 3D system consists of FinePix REAL 3D W1, the 3D camera; FinePix REAL 3D V1, an 8 inch viewer on which spectacular 3D images can be displayed; and 3D Print, Fujifilm's high precision production technology that enables users to print 3D images. 
Kenichi Tanaka, managing director, Fujifilm India, said, "Fujifilm believes in bringing the latest of its technological innovations to the discerning buyers in India. In accordance with our strategy to become one of the top digital camera brands in India and acquire 15 per cent market share in three years, we shall continue to introduce digital camera models that are world's first in some aspect."
"Fujifilm invented the digital camera and we continue to lead technological innovations in the imaging industry. We wish to assure buyers that when they buy a Fujifilm digital camera, they are getting the best value for money," said A. Rajkumar, country general manager (DSC), Fujifilm India.
To achieve a 3D image, it is necessary to flawlessly layer together two images. So two Fujinon lenses, renowned for their high resolution and exquisite rendering, are installed in the camera. A 3x optical zoom, deemed difficult to achieve in 3D photography because of the precision required to align two lenses, has also been achieved, said a press release.
The engine of the camera synchronizes data passed to it by the two lenses and two CCD sensors, to determine shooting conditions such as focus, brightness and tonality to instantaneously blend this information into a single symmetrical image. (full Story)
Oct 3, 2009
world's first 3D camera from Fujifilm
Aug 25, 2009
Download the Yahoo! Messenger 10 Beta for Windows
Yahoo! has finally decided to launch the Yahoo! Messenger 10 IM client in beta for Windows. As claimed, this new release will add more to the features of the world's most favorite IM client for PC users.
The most noticeable new improvements have been made to the webcam feature which now allows the user to make high-quality video calls. Features include the ability to swap video windows, position the video windows side-by-side, mute the call or place it on hold.
Other new features include:
- New "Y! Updates" view of your contact list.
- All-new Yahoo! Insider.
- Choose your language easily.
- New ways to sort your contacts.
- New icons in the IM window.
Can't wait to try out the new Yahoo! Messenger 10 beta already? Download it for Windows.
Nokia Enters netBook Market with Booklet 3G mini-laptop
Nokia on Monday announced that it plans to move into the PC market with the introduction of its first netbook, the Nokia Booklet 3G.
The Windows-based device will be powered by an Intel Atom processor, and Nokia promises up to 12 hours of battery life. It features a 10-inch glass HD ready display, weighs about 2.75 pounds and is about 2 centimeters thick. The Booklet 3G will include 3G/HSPA and Wi-Fi connectivity options, an HDMI port for HD video out, a front facing camera for video calling, integrated Bluetooth, and an SD card reader.
Nokia will incorporate other Ovi offerings into the Booklet 3G, including music through the Nokia Music Store, and the ability to sync your Nokia smartphone with your netbook via the Ovi Suite. Additional details about pricing and availability with be unveiled at Nokia World on September 2, the company said.
"A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility," Kai Oistamo, Nokia's executive vice president for devices, said in a statment. "We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us. We will make the personal computer more social, more helpful and more personal."
Earlier this month, Microsoft and Nokia on Wednesday announced an alliance that will bring Microsoft mobile software to Nokia devices at some point next year. (story Link)
Sony Launches Slim PS3 @ 299$
The rumors, as they usually are, were true: Sony formally announced a $299 slim PlayStation 3 on Tuesday. But while the slim PS3 will carry a larger hard drive than the current model, it will be priced identically to the current PlayStation, which contains a hard drive with less capacity.
The new charcoal black PlayStation 3 (CECH-2000A) will include a 120-Gbyte hard drive and will be priced at $299. It will be released worldwide on Sept. 1, save for Japan, which will receive it two days later. In Europe, it will be priced at 299 euros, and in Japan at 29,280 yen.
The new PlayStation 3 was revealed via ads from Kmart and Sears earlier Tuesday.
While the new slim PS3 will maintain the same curved look as its predecessor, the new version contains a reworked internal design that has cut the PS3's thickness and weight by two thirds. It will measure 290 mm by 65 mm by 290 mm and weigh 3.2 kilograms, Sony said. The unit's power consumption has been cut by the same amount, to 250 watts, which should help cut fan noise, Sony said.
Sony also plans to introduce a new PS3 logo, also changing the formal name of the device from the PLAYSTATION 3 to "PlayStation 3".
On Sept. 1, the PlayStation 3 system software will be upgraded to version 3.0, adding a new "What's New" screen that provide shortcuts to new content. A "Bravia Sync" feature will also allow the game console's media playback features to be controlled by Sony Bravia TVs. Finally, Sony removed the "install other OS" feature from the options menu, essentially making the PS3 a closed system. A stand will also be sold for $24, allowing users to align the PS3 on its vertical axis, Sony said. (story Link)
Apple Tablet to be available this September
Apple has always managed to keep a lot of things secret around its campus but what really isn't a secret anymore is the fact that Apple will be launching a Tablet soon.
Even though Apple has previously denied that it would ever be planning to enter the Netbook market, it still doesn't keep us away from thinking that Apple is probably working on something more catchy and innovative, that would eventually turn out to be a Tablet media device.
The un-named analyst has also suggested that the Tablet device will be shipped in November, for a price of around $700-$800 and will focus on experiences such as Movies, E-book reading and Gaming. (with Thanks)
Sony, Best Buy Debut Custom 'Altus' Electronics
Sony and Best Buy announced Tuesday that they will partner on a new line of audio products, dubbed Altus. The Altus line will include wireless music systems, as well as speakers and home theater products, the companies said. Most of the products are currently available for pre-order on sonystyle.com and will be in Best Buy stores in September. They will include two iPod docking systems.
The $700 ALT-SA31iR will include an iPod/iPhone docking station and two high-output wireless speakers. It will also feature an AM/FM tuner, and an S-AIR remote control with LCD display. That display will show album, artist and track information.
Its smaller counterpart, the AIR-SW10Ti, will include a compact docking station with two built-in speakers and a wireless subwoofer. It has a maximum output of 60 watts RMS and includes an infrared remote control and FM tuner. It will also be able to transmit wireless audio with other Altus and S-AIR products. It will retail for $400. Both products are available for pre-order and will be in Best Buy stores in September.
On the wireless PC front, Sony is introducing two multi-room packages. The ALT-SA32PC includes an S-AIR transmitter that connects to your computer via USB and two high-output wireless speakers. The USB connection will stream audio from your PC to the speakers wirelessly. It will retail for $500. The ALT-A33PC also has the USB S-AIR transmitter for wireless audio, but includes a universal receiver that will connect to other audio products via RCA outputs so users can stream to other music systems. It will retail for $200.
Altus will also feature the $350 ALT-SA34R Socket Speaker package, which includes wireless speakers that plug into any power outlet and are controllable via LCD remote. (full Story)
iRiver to launch an android based iPod Touch rival?
There are some reports circulating on the web that iRiver is developing a portable media player which will challenge the most awesome digital media player ever produced, the iPod touch. Named as K2, the gadget is expected to be launched in 2010.
According to a report on an Australian news website, K2 will run on the Android platform. The gadget will have a 3.5 inch touch screen, a built-in browser, wifi, bluetooth, accelerometer and a possible digital TV tuner. K2 is still in its initial phase therefore it is not yet clear that whether the touch screen would fully compat with the human touch or a stylus would be used. The memory capacity of the PMP has also not been revealed.
The gadget is still a rumor and it is not yet confirmed whether it gets the approval by the company or not. If green-signaled the gadget would bring some sort of competition with Apple which would eventually result in further improvement in the newer version of Apple's iPod Touch. The Austrailian site also reported that iRiver is also working on an ebook reader and an internet tablet. (story With Thanks)
Hands On with the Thin Dell Inspiron 11z
What does the "z" in the Dell Inspiron 11z stand for? Z-height, and Dell's intent to create the absolute thinnest laptop available for that screen size.
And, as the name suggests, the 11z has an 11.6-inch widescreen and is the first Inspiron laptop to bear the "z" moniker (the "z" parade started with the Dell Studio 14z). Note that it doesn't have the "Mini" brand: Dell is not calling this a netbook, even though 11-inch netbooks like the Asus eeePC 1101HA and the Acer Aspire One A0751h are already shipping. The 11z's biggest differentiator is that it runs a 1.2-GHz, Intel Ultra Low Voltage Celeron processor instead of the more commonly found Atom. Everything else, however, smells like a netbook.
Like all Dell Inspiron models, the 11z can be customized with up to 7 colors; the one we played with was draped in Alpine White. The 11z is slightly wider than the Inspiron Mini 10v and almost as thin. It weighs about 3 pounds with a 3-cell battery (a 6-cell will be offered at a later date), which is slightly heavier than the 1101HA and the A0751h, whose frames include 6-cell batteries at about the same weight.
The best part about an 11.6-inch widescreen is that you don't have to suffer the 1,024-by-600 resolutions found in 10-inch netbooks like the Toshiba mini NB205 and the Mini 10v; the 11z, like the A0751h and the 1101HA, has a 1,366-by-768 resolution. Its keyboard, unfortunately, is not full sized like that of the A0751h. At 92 percent of full size, it delivers a typing experience touch typists can adjust to, though, similar to the 92-percent ones found in the 10v and the 1101HA. The large touchpad is like that of the 10v, in which the mouse buttons are concealed within it.
Feature-wise, it has what the 1101HA and the A0751h lack: an HDMI-Out port. This handy port allows you to stream all those downloaded videos to an HDTV (or larger display) that supports the format. It also comes standard with a 250-Gbyte spinning hard drive, which is impressive when most netbooks standardize on 160 GB. Otherwise, the three USB ports, Ethernet, and a media card reader are consistent with those of a netbook. (full Story)
Aug 9, 2009
NFS Undercover : Cheatcode
Enter the options menu, choose the "Secret Codes" selection, then enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function. Note: The codes will only work once per profile. The bonus cars are only available in Quick Race mode.
$10,000
Enter $EDSOC (contains the letter "O") or %%$3/" as a code.
$15,000
Enter S1D3K1CK as a code.
Die-Cast Audi R8 car
Enter "9:G3IF or "9;&4)% as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Audi R8 car.
Die-Cast BMW M3 E92 car
Enter )B7@B= as a code to unlock the Die-Cast BMW M3 E92 car.
Die-Cast Chevrolet Camaro Concept car
Enter citwoxq53f, !K?MMF0, or "*@--%0 as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Chevrolet Camaro Concept car.
Die-Cast Dodge Charger
(1969) car
Enter qlcukc4bqm as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Dodge Charger (1969) car.
Die-Cast Dodge Viper SRT10 car
Enter !C6;C>E or ""6<"?$ as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Dodge Viper SRT10 car.
Die-Cast Ford Mustang GT car
Enter i3kxodepfc as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Ford Mustang GT car.
Die-Cast Lexus IS F car
Enter 0;5M2; (contains the number "0") or 0;6,2; (contains the number "0") as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Lexus IS F car.
Die-Cast Lexus IS F (alternate color) car
Enter !7I3JMI or !8(4*-( as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Lexus IS F (alternate color) car.
Die-Cast Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution car
Enter 2Die-Cast Nissan 240SX (S13) car
Enter ?P:COL (contains the letter "O") or @/;#/+ as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Nissan 240SX (S13) car.
Die-Cast Nissan GT-R (R35) Police Version car
Enter yp}jwa or "90=*6@ as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Nissan GT-R (R35) Police Version car.
Die-Cast Pontiac GTO (1965) car
Enter d5dviyrlgn as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Pontiac GTO (1965) car.
Die-Cast Porsche 911 Turbo car
Enter >8P:I; as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Porsche 911 Turbo car.
Die-Cast Volkswagen R32 car
Enter !2ODBJ: (contains the letter "O") or !3/$"): as a code to unlock the Die-Cast Volkswagen R32 car.
NeedforSpeed.com Lotus Elise car
Enter -KJ3=E or .+)3>$ as a code to unlock the NeedforSpeed.com Lotus Elise car.
Shelby Terlingua car
Enter NeedForSpeedShelbyTerlingua as a code to unlock the Shelby Terlingua car.
Evading the police
While being chased by the cops, go to the lower right-hand corner of the map, by the stadium. Then, cross the bridge nearby. The cops will not cross that bridge. -From: eric stutz
Achievements
Accomplish the indicated achievement to get the corresponding number of Gamerscore points:
Community Member (15 points): Create or use an existing account to sign into EA Nation.
Active Community Member (20 points): Participated in any Community Day. Visit NeedforSpeed.com for more info.
Freeze! Hold it right there! (25 points): Take a Photo and upload it to NeedforSpeed.com.
Learner's Permit (5 points): Acquire your first car in Career Mode.
Apprentice Mechanic (5 points): Customize a car in Career mode.
Meet Zack (10 points): Face off against Zack in 'Rush Hour'.
Meet Carmen (10 points): Face off against Carmen in 'The Game'.
Meet Hector (10 points): Face off against Hector in 'Versus'.
Meet Nickel (10 points): Face off against Nickel in 'Road Rage'.
Meet Rose (10 points): Face off against Rose in 'Rollercoaster'.
Zack Trap (25 points): Complete the Zack sequence in 'The Trap' mission.
Bowling with Hector (25 points): Complete the Hector sequence in the mission 'Kingpin'.
To Protect and Serve (25 points): Complete the Carmen sequence in the mission 'Rematch'.
Nickel and Dimes (25 points): Complete the Nickel sequence in mission 'Payback'.
2 Birds, 1 Stone (25 points): Complete the mission 'Double Trouble'.
Gold Coast to Ocean (15 points): Dominate the Gold Coast to Ocean event.
East Fasulo Bridge (15 points): Dominate the East Fasulo Bridge event.
Pine Creek & Douglas (15 points): Dominate the Pine Creek & Douglas event.
South Canyon Hwy (15 points): Dominate the South Canyon Hwy event.
East I-5 (15 points): Dominate the East I-5 event.
Bay Drive & Harbor (15 points): Dominate the Bay Drive & Harbor event.
Tri-City Run (15 points): Dominate the Tri-City Run event.
North River Expressway (15 points): Dominate the North River Expressway event.
Lose the Eye in the Sky (25 points): Escape from a helicopter in a successfully completed pursuit. (Must be Career level 8 or greater).
Path of Destruction (10 points): Disable 10 Police Cars in a Pursuit and successfully evade in Career.
Get out of the way! (5 points): Avoid 5 Road Blocks in a Pursuit and successfully evade in Career.
Aficionado (10 points): Purchase or win any 5 cars for your garage.
Keys to the City (5 points): Unlock Port Crescent in Career.
Branching out (10 points): Unlock Sunset Hills in Career.
Window Shopper (20 points): Discovered all 3 Pro Shops in Career.
Nothing Stock (20 points): Discovered all 3 Tuning Shops in Career.
Retired (40 points): Finish the Career Story.
Hired Goons (20 points): Takeout all the 'Goons' in Career.
5 Finger Discount (20 points): Complete all Hot Car Missions.
Chase or be Chased (20 points): Win all the Highway Battles in Career.
Own the Road (25 points): Dominate 25 events in Career.
Completionist (100 points): Complete all events in Career.
Unstoppable Force (10 points): Avoid 50 Road Blocks in Career.
Wasting Tax Dollars (20 points): Get $100,000 Cost to State in a single pursuit and evade.
Spiked Punch (10 points): Avoid a spike strip in a Pursuit and successfully evade in Career.
Love thy Tires (15 points): Avoid 12 Spike Strips total in Career pursuits.
Lose the Fuzz (10 points): Successfully complete 5 Pursuits.
Most Wanted (100 points): Successfully complete 50 Pursuits.
Scrapheap (25 points): Disable 100 Police vehicles.
Crossing the Line (10 points): Win a Ranked Multiplayer Cops and Robbers event.
First! (10 points): Won a Multiplayer Ranked Game.
First of Many (15 points): Win a Ranked Multiplayer event against 7 human players.
Among the Best (25 points): Won 25 Ranked Multiplayer events.
Notorious (50 points): Finish 119 Multiplayer Races in any position.
Cat and Mouse Virus (5 points): Infected with the Cops and Robbers virus by another player in a Cops and Robbers event.
Jul 21, 2009
Xbox Handheld Coming
Shortly before the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, rumors surfaced that Microsoft was on the verge of announcing the ZuneX.
The ZuneX was purported to be a gaming handheld that integrated with Xbox Live Arcade and "ZuneX originals" and featured mobile-phone capabilities. That's a marked contrast from the current generation, which offers only a half-dozen games despite promises of titles that would be transferable from the Xbox 360.
The Xbox 360 may soon have a small, sleeker sibling.
With that rumor quickly marginalized as a phony by many industry watchers, Microsoft has now once again signaled that its portable gaming ambitions may extend beyond the struggling Zune. In an interview with gaming site Kikizo, Microsoft executive Shane Kim said that the Xbox brand is destined for the mobile platform.
"For us, it's a matter of focusing on 'when,' " said Kim, who transitioned from his role as head of Microsoft Game Studios to a strategic development position within the Interactive Entertainment and Devices division last year.
As for what's been holding up that "when," Kim said that the division has been focused on fleshing out the core Xbox 360 and Xbox Live experiences.
"If we chased after a mobile or handheld opportunity, we would not have the resources and ability to do things like instant-on 1080p HD, Facebook, Twitter, Project Natal," he said. "And so we've chosen to focus on the living room experience from a hardware standpoint, if you will, but we're building a service in Live that will...will extend to other platforms." [Emphasis in original.]
One other question facing the company is what form a mobile gaming device would take. "How do we enter into that market," pondered Kim. "Do we do our own device, do we create our own phone--that's a question for the company itself--do we continue to go down the Windows Mobile path, which is the path that we're on today, etcetera, etcetera."
Kim concluded by reemphasizing Microsoft's desire to be a player on all relevant platforms, whether that be consoles, desktops, or mobile devices.
This article was originally posted on GameSpot.com.
Jul 17, 2009
Sony E-Series Video Walkman
Sony announces that a new line of Walkman music players will be available in Europe. If you love to have your very own OLED Walkman but you do not have the money to buy one, these entry-level video MP3 players might do the trick.
The Sony Walkman E-Series Video MP3 Players feature great looks and easy listening features that are packed with innovation that only Sony can provide. The E-Series appear in slim and light body (measuring just 9.3 mm thin) in choice of black or red, with high-resolution QVGA 2-inch color LCD screen, and clear stereo and bass technologies that assures you with superb sound quality.
These MP3 players also support video file format conversion, allowing you to convert other video formats if you have a decoder software. Its long battery life provides you with non-stop listening pleasure for up to 30 hours and up to 6 hours of video-viewing pleasure.
The Walkman E-series features the Clear Audio technology by Sony for high-quality and detailed sound. It reduces leakage between left and right channels while delivering powerful, controlled bass without distortion. This video MP3 player also has a 5-band equalizer that fine tunes your listening enjoyment, as well as a Dynamic Normalizer that balances volume levels between songs for that comfortable listening experience. Sony also throws in a high-quality FM audio tuner that can be recorded at a touch of a button and enjoy your favorite songs wherever and whenever. (story Link with Thanks)
HT-AS720ST Home Theater System from Samsung
Having a good home theater system at home can really enhance the movie watching experience by providing a theater-like sound quality into a home TV set up. It would be like going into an actual theater, only more comfortable since you are at home. And coupled with a good HDTV, nothing would ever come close to having the best home viewing experience around in terms of audio quality. 
A home theater system such as the Samsung HT-AS720ST aims to provide such an experience for people looking for a more than just an ordinary home movie experience. The Samsung HT-AS720ST offers pass-through support for full HD 1080p TV and Blu Ray Disc players. This will ensure that audio quality from your HDTV devices won't suffer in sound quality when using this home theater system. Although considered as an entry level set-up, the Samsung HT-AS720ST really provides quality sound performance by offering deep bass and treble sound quality from its subwoofer and speaker set.
LG Launches New Sprint Phone
LG has unveiled the LX290, a low-end slider with a 1.3-megapixel camera, a GPS radio with optional voice-enabled turn-by-turn directional capability, and Sprint Mobile E-mail for Web and work e-mail access.
It also includes a music player and a (sadly, non-standard) 2.5mm headphone jack. It supports Sprint's NFL Mobile Live audio and video broadcasts, and lets you send a voice message to up to 25 friends at once without making a call.
The LX290 measures 4.1 by1.9 by 0.6 inches and weighs 3.6 ounces. It features a 2.2-inch QVGA LCD with 240-by-320-pixel resolution. LG claims the handset offers up to 6 hours of continuous talk time on a single charge. The LX290 is now available from Sprint as of July 12th (Sunday) for $29.99 with a two-year contract and after a $50 mail-in. (story Link)
Jul 16, 2009
Bill Gates: Natal coming to Windows in the future
In an interview with CNet today, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates hinted Natal’s integration with Windows in the future. Project Natal is Microsoft’s project to integrate motion sensing capabilities into Xbox 360, similar to what has been done with the Wii but without the use of any controller. He stated that the Windows team have latched onto the idea of Natal and is working in collaboration with the Xbox team to research on how the concept can be used in the office environment.
I’d say a cool example of [what's going on in Microsoft research labs], that you’ll see is kind of stunning, in a little over a year, is this (depth-sensing) camera thing… Not just for games, but for media consumption as a whole… If they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication, you put the camera in now it’s a cool thing
The Microsoft chairman did not go into specifics, but hinted at possible examples of the concept’s utilization:
Well, I think the value is as great for if you’re in the home, as you want to manage your movies, music, home system type stuff, it’s very cool there. And I think there’s incredible value as we use that in the office connected to a Windows PC. So Microsoft research and the product groups have a lot going on there, because you can use the cost reduction that will take place over the years to say, “Why shouldn’t that be in most office environments?”
The fact that Microsoft is latching on to a potential opportunity to change the conventional way of interacting with computers is exciting. While Apple has been using multi-touch gestures as a productivity feature for Mac laptops for a while now, Microsoft is responding with numerous multi-touch display features that are integrated into Windows 7. Gates wording of the Windows team picking up on the idea suggests that Natal may play a role in next generation Windows. (story Link)
Jul 10, 2009
Nokia: 3720 classic introduced
Espoo, Finland - Nokia today introduced the new Nokia 3720 classic, an IP-54 certified mobile phone designed to resist water, dust and shock. Following the footsteps of Nokia's highly popular 'rugged' devices of the past, the Nokia 3720 classic is encased in durable materials and is entirely sealed to protect the inner electronics. The Nokia 3720 is expected to retail for approximately EUR 125 before subsidies or taxes and is expected to begin shipping this summer. 
"Whether using it at the beach or in a dusty construction site, the Nokia 3720 classic has been specifically engineered to withstand the splashes, bumps and drops that come with the terrain," said Markku Suomi, vice president, Connect devices. "While the Nokia 3720 classic is tough on the outside, it is equally functional on the inside - a perfect choice for people who want a long-lasting and reliable mobile phone for any environment."
The Nokia 3720 classic features a sealed, leak-proof design and durable materials in a range of colours. The battery cover, which protects both the battery and the internal circuitry of the device, is locked with a screw, making for worry-free usage in wet, dusty or muddy environments.
As to be expected, the Nokia 3720 classic also offers exceptional battery performance as well as an LED flashlight, to complement its rugged design. Additional add-ons include Nokia Maps, which comes pre-loaded on the 1 GB microSD memory card, and the large and bright 2.2" display is perfect for following the route even in unfamiliar terrain.
About Nokia
Nokia is a pioneer in mobile telecommunications and the world's leading maker of mobile devices. Today, we are connecting people in new and different ways - fusing advanced mobile technology with personalized services to enable people to stay close to what matters to them. We also provide comprehensive digital map information through NAVTEQ; and equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.
Handle without care: Nokia introduces the Nokia 3720 classic,
its most rugged mobile handset to date.
Jul 7, 2009
Intel May Release Core i7 975
Several distributors and retailers are showing that Intel's upcoming Core i7 975 will ship at the beginning of April, not the end of May.
Is the Intel Core i7 975 coming sooner than we think? That's what many distributors and retailers are reporting, and actually have the upcoming processor listed for next month. As an example, this website shows an April 6 street date, and this website shows an estimated date of April 7. Granted, these dates aren't official, and are estimates only. However, it's a huge jump considering that the Core i7 975 wasn't expected to ship until the end of May. 
The release of the 45nm Core i7 975 (Extreme) is a rather highly-anticipated one, as the quad-core Bloomfield processor will serve as the new flagship chip for Intel, boasting a core speed of 3.33 GHz, support for LGA 1366 sockets, uses 1 MB of L2 cache and 8 MB of L3 shared cache memory, and has a TDP of 130W. Recently the processor was leaked, overclocked, and benchmarked, pushed up to an "extreme" clock core speed of 5,239 MHz, breaking the then-current record of Futuremark's 2DMark05 benchmark application. As it stands now, the benchmarked rig featuring the Core i7 975 sits in the #2 position, recently conquered by a rig sporting Intel's Core i7 965.
As of this writing, the Intel Core i7 975 will cost end-users a whopping $999 USD; the Core i7 950, clocking in at 3.06 GHz, will be available as well for a cheaper-but-still-hefty $562 USD. Other processors included in the original May lineup consist of the Core 2 Duo E7600 ($84), the Pentium Dual-Core E6300 ($84), and the Celeron Dual-Core E1600 ($53).
Intel also plans to ship six Core 2 Quad processors next month. (link)
Jun 24, 2009
Max Payne 3 for PC, PS3, 360
For fans of Max Payne, it has been a long wait since 2003 when the last game in the franchise was released to critical acclaim. Talk of a sequel came in 2004, when Take-Two hinted that a follow-up would eventually arrive. Fast-forward to 2008, and Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick once again mentioned the franchise, teasing that another installment may be in the works but again providing no firm details.
Today, Take-Two and its Rockstar Games subsidiary have announced that Max Payne 3 is indeed in development and is penned for a winter 2009 release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The game is being developed by Rockstar Vancouver, the same outfit behind the controversial sandbox action adventure Bully. Finnish outfit Remedy, which developed the first two Max Payne titles, is currently developing Alan Wake, which will be published by Microsoft.
Rockstar Vancouver will apparently not be straying far from Remedy's original formula, however, as Max Payne 3 again sees the titular retired NYPD veteran battling internal demons as well as those that plague the city's streets.
(click to Large Size)
"We're starting a new chapter of Max's life with this game," commented Rockstar cofounder Sam Houser in a statement. "This is Max as we've never seen him before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever. We experience the downward spiral of his life after the events of Max Payne 2 and witness his last chance for salvation."
Rockstar did not delve into specific gameplay details, and did not mention the series' genre-defining "bullet time" slow-motion technique. The publisher merely noted that "the latest installment delivers more of the classic elements and hyperintense action that fans have come to love." (story Link)
Jun 23, 2009
Nvidia and Dell team up to ship Tesla-powered Personal Supercomputers
Nvidia announced today that Dell has begun shipping workstations with their Nvidia Tesla C1060 supercomputer card. Dell Precision R5400, T7500 and T5500 all offer Tesla GPU compute cards, which, according to Greg Weir, Senior Manager at Dell, “put the power of supercomputing on the desktop”.
Dell’s R5400 is a rack-mountable workstation computer designed for cluster operations. The T5500 and T7500 are tower-model workstations which sell for around $1800 base, plus the add-ons, which now include the C1060 which has an MSRP base price of around $1599.
The Tesla C1060 GPU provides raw computing power which is roughly equal to a small- to mid-range traditional CPU supercomputer cluster, though in a traditional dual-slot graphics card-sized configuration. The workloads it can operate on are not always the same as full-blown supercomputers, which can handle anything. Therefore, the C1060 does have real limitations (as do all graphics-based compute engines).
While the Tesla C1060 looks like a graphics card in appearance card, and even appears to software that way, it has no graphics port outputs. The Tesla is designed exclusively to be a compute engine which operates inside your PC.
Nvidia introduced double-precision (64-bit) floating point compute abilities with Tesla. The card itself is similar to high-end graphics cards offered by Nvidia, capable of nearly a Teraflop of dedicated single-precision compute performance (933 GFlops), with something around 80 Gigaflops in double-precision, though it is fully IEEE-754 compliant. It consumes up to 188 watts, has a memory bandwidth of 102 GB/s on a 512-bit interface 800 MHz clock, with a 1.3 GHz core clock with 240 stream processors. Each card comes with 4 GB of GDDR3 memory. Even though the Tesla C1060 card itself consumes up to 188 watts each, the reality is its compute abilities far exceed a traditional CPU-based supercomputer cluster, and for a fraction of the power and, according to Nvidia, for 1/100th the price.
The card’s dedicated compute is typically targeted at the oil and gas industries, computational finance, fluid dynamics, medical research and weather modeling — jobs which are traditionally sifting through volumes of data, computing with common operations like add, sub, multiply and divide.
It operates with Nvidia’s CUDA programming language, which exposes the compute abilities of the card through a C-like software interface.
See Nvidia’s press release, and information page about the Tesla C1060 released earlier this year in January. Nvidia also has a Tesla Personal Supercomputer Store, which shows several dedicated clusters which contain a series of Tesla cards inside, and are sold as true personal supercomputers. TigerDirect also published a YouTube video on Nvidia’s Tesla cards.
Rick’s Opinion
Nvidia’s second-generation Tesla C1060 was introduced nearly a year ago. That card is not up to today’s levels of performance and even greater performance can be obtained today through Nvidia or ATI’s highest-end graphics cards.
In fact, the Tesla is an expensive parallel compute engine, and one not required for massively parallel compute abilities thanks to the advancements in CUDA and BrookGPU libraries for Nvidia and ATI graphics cards.
Buying two or more high-end Nvidia’s GTX 2xx or ATI Radeon HD 4xxx series cards might be a wiser decision, as these cards yield well over 1 Teraflop of performance today on less power, while also providing usable graphics abilities for the workstation. And with Nvidia’s SLI and ATI’s CrossFire, the cards can be joined together for a single-instance compute appearance with even greater resources and power. (story Link)
Jun 22, 2009
NVIDIA Tesla Personal Supercomputer – Now Available 4 You
Get your own SuperComputer. Experience cluster level computing performance-up to 250 times faster than standard PCs and workstations- right on your desk. The NVIDIA® Tesla™ Personal Supercomputer is powered by up to 960 parallel processing cores and 16 GB of dedicated compute memory to solve large datasets. Based on the revolutionary NVIDIA® CUDA™ parallel computing architecture, the Tesla Personal Supercomputer puts nearly 4 teraflops of computing muscle at your fingertips.
Connoi Model : NTPSC-5400
* 4 x Tesla C1060 Computing Processor (With 4GB each Onboard Memory)
* Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.40GHz, 8MB L2 Cache, 1066MHZ FSB
* Intel® 5400 Express Chipset
* 16GB FBDIMM Quad Channel RAM
* 500GB SATA Hard Disk Drive with 32MB Buffer Cache
* NVIDIA QUADRO FX570 Card
* 4 PCI Express* 1.0 x16 (electrical x16)
* 10 Hi-Speed USB 2.0, 6 back ports / 4 ports via 2 internal headers
* Up to 2 IEEE 1394a ports (1 back port, 1 via internal header)
* 6-port SATA (3.0 Gb/s) and 2-port eSATA
* Intel® Matrix Storage Technology (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, with Intel® Rapid
* Recover Technology)
* Intel® PRO 10/100/1000 Network Connection
* Logitech Keyboard & Mouse
* ATX Chassis with 1000Watts Cooler Master Power supply
* DVD Writer
Price INR 4,79,500+ Connoiseur.com
Connoi Model : NTSP-780i
* 2 x Tesla C1060 Computing Processor (With 4GB each Onboard Memory)
* Core 2 Duo Processor E8400 3.00GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333MHZ FSB
* NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI Chipset
* 8.0GB DDR2 Dual Channel RAM
* 500GB SATA Hard Disk Drive with 32MB Buffer Cache
* NVIDIA QUADRO FX570 Card
* 1 x UltraDMA133
* 7.1 Channel, Azalia (HDA)
* 2 x 10/100/1000Mbit LAN
* 1 x PS2 Keyboard
* 1 x PS2 Mouse
* 1 x Serial Ports
* 10 x USB2.0 ports (6 external + 4 internal headers)
* 2 x IEEE1394a (1 external + 1 internal header)
* Logitech Keyboard & Mouse
* ATX Chassis with 850Watts Cooler Master Power supply
* DVD Writer Price INR 2,58,500+
Review: Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T Notebook
Acer’s engineering approach has fairly assisted to innovate, highly advanced notebooks, which have tremendously attracted the notebook users, towards the Acer Brand. It is really true in the case of, Acer Aspire Timeline 4810T Notebook – a smart combo of creativity and truly the breaking news to the notebook zealots.
This latest model notebook operates on two types of systems, either on Intel® Centrino® 2 or Intel® CoreIM2 Duo SU9400 ultra low voltage processor. It is also operating on Intel® CoreIM2 Solo SU3500 highly low energy consumption processor.
Out of many features, motherboard flexibility gives users far more alternatives to select either they intend to use it for web surfing or business scheduling. This new model has a fitted-in dual-channel DDR3 SDRAM slot for memory enhancement that can assist up to 4GB 1066MHz memory. The memory capacity can be upgraded to 8GB, you may have rarely thought for before. (story Link)
