Archive for November, 2009
Intel 2010 Desktop Roadmap
Nov 30th
Charts purporting to illustrate Intel’s plans for its desktop processor range through 2010 have emerged, bringing with them talk of a frugal version of the Core i5 together with budget Core i3 CPUs. The chart also discuss the previously-leaked Core i9 processor, though that’s not expected to arrive until the second quarter of 2010 despite having already been caught in the wild.
Intel Desktop Roadmap
The budget range of Core i3 chips will offer four threads and still include HyperThreading support, and be based on the Clarkdale core technology; however they’ll lack Intel’s Turbo Boost functionality. As for the frugal Core i5 chips – which will use the “S” suffix – they’ll cut the TDP from 95W to 82W, which will hopefully mean less cooling is required, the system is quieter, and overall power consumption is reduced.
Google wave invites!!!
Nov 30th
Hi friends,
I have 8 google wave invites. Anyone who is interested please leave your email in the comments below and I will send you the invites. Remember it is first come first serve.
Regards,
- Harris
What exactly is a Netbook?
Nov 29th
The term netbook is a slight misnomer: a netbook isn’t a glorified device for browsing the web, but a lightweight laptop that has a lower specification in terms of its processor, operating system, hard disk and memory.
This has twin benefits. The first is that most netbooks usually cost under $400 including VAT, making them an attractive purchase as a second computer.
The second is that they weigh much less than a conventional laptop: typically between 1kg and 1.5kg compared to between 2kg and 3kg for most modern, fully featured laptops.
The term netbook is popular for good reason, however. These mini laptops are excellent at browsing the web, with a compact screen offering just enough width to house websites – namely 1,024 pixels. The compromise is that the screen is usually 600 pixels tall, as opposed to 768 or higher for a traditional laptop.
This size of screen is perfect for emails as well. If you’re hoping to view and edit spreadsheets, on the other hand, you’ll be disappointed: 1,024 x 600 pixels means you’ll be scrolling around the screen to an irritating extent.
This isn’t the only factor that rules out netbooks from being your main computer. You’re most likely to find Intel’s Atom processor inside a netbook (VIA’s Nano processor has made a recent appearance and has a similar, low amount of power) and it isn’t designed for speed.
Instead, with a relatively low clock speed of around 1.6GHz and typically just 1GB of memory for company, they will feel slower than a modern laptop. PC Pro’s benchmarks have shown a laptop with a dual-core Intel processor will typically be twice or even three times as fast as an Atom-powered netbook.
This limited specification is one of the reasons you’ll also find Windows XP powering most netbooks, as opposed to Windows Vista (you may also find Linux laptops).
There are two final characteristics of netbooks you should note before buying. One is the limited amount of ports: expect to find a D-SUB output for connecting to an external display, a headphone jack and either two or three USB ports. Usually no RJ-45 ethernet port. That’s all you will get!
More crucially still, netbooks very rarely include an optical drive (such as a DVD writer). As such, if you want to install software you’ll either have to download it, use a USB thumbdrive or install it over a network.
iPhone worm dev gets job!
Nov 29th
The creator of the ‘Rick Astley’ worm has got a job as an iPhone application developer, according to his Twitter page.
Ashley Towns, a 21-year-old Australian, was responsible for the first iPhone virus in ‘Ikee’, which spread into jail-broken phones with an image of Rick Astley and the message ‘Ikee is never going to give you up’.
As it wasn’t ‘malicious’ in the fact it didn’t try to steal data, many believed it was just a prank, although it was estimated that 17,000 to 25,000 iPhone could be at risk from infection.
However, a newer worm has been released which does try to steal data, which is believed to be based on the same source code as Ikee.
Sophos senior security consultant Graham Cluley was bewildered at the news that Towns was hired by a Sydney-based firm called Mogeneration.
Cluley said that although he believed anybody was entitled to get a job and do something with their lives, it left a “nasty taste” that Towns had never expressed any guilt or regret for his actions.
“To my mind, it appears that he has committed an illegal act,” said Cluley. “The source code was used for more damaging worms which have come in the week since.”
“I do wonder, will he have got this job if he didn’t release the worm? There are other young developers out there who are more careful with their code and have a better sense of computer ethics.”
Cluley said that there has been a history of virus writers in the past who have got jobs as a result of their viruses and notoriety, and it could happen again.
He added: “There’s always a danger that somebody making the headlines can be ‘looked up to’ as being something special, where as I think we should have an attitude of ‘you plonker’.”
HP to acquire 3com
Nov 29th
HP is to acquire networking company 3com in a bid to take on Cisco’s market dominance.
HP is set to pay out $2.7 billion (£1.6 billion) for the company, which provides networking switches, routers and security solutions.
“Companies are looking for ways to break free from the business limitations imposed by a networking paradigm that has been dominated by a single vendor,” said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager for Enterprise Servers and Networking at HP, in a statement.
“By acquiring 3Com, we are accelerating the execution of our Converged Infrastructure strategy and bringing disruptive change to the networking industry.”
Some analysts see this move as a direct effort to take on the recently announced Cisco/EMC/VMware joint venture.
Adam Jura, senior analyst for Ovum, said in a statement: “Unsurprisingly, Ovum believes this steps up the level of competition between HP and Cisco. While it may not be as confrontational as, say, SAP versus Oracle (Retek in particular), the implications could potentially be far reaching.”
“HP had already started to encroach upon Cisco’s market with its Procurve product line, however the acquisition of 3Com provides a serious boost to its data centre credentials,” he added.
Jura thinks the main thing to watch out for with this acquisition will be Cisco’s response, which could potentially involve a buy of its own.
“Cisco is currently holding around $4.7 billion in cash and equivalents on its balance sheet although this figure has dropped in recent quarters,” continued Jura.
“It does afford the company the opportunity to make an acquisition however Ovum does not expect anything immediately. The logical choice would be EMC and as such market rumours continue to abound. Regardless, Ovum expects the competition between HP and the network-dominant Cisco to continue to intensify particularly as network-centric technology solutions such as cloud computing continue to emerge.”
HP has confirmed the acquisition of 3com is set to be completed in the first half of 2010.
