It’s been rumored, and it’s true. One of the halcyon brands of the PC video card industry is about to be retired. AMD, which acquired ATI in 2006, and which has maintained the brand for its graphics operations, has decided to kill it.
The reasons appear to be varied, but does include internal research by AMD. While the details of the research were not revealed, the following bullet points were:
1) AMD brand preference triples when the person surveyed is aware of the ATI-AMD merger.
2) The AMD brand is viewed as stronger than ATI when compared to graphics competitors.
3) The Radeon and Fire Pro brands themselves are very high as is.
The company noted that the results were “permission” to consolidate under the AMD brand.
Reportedly, existing products will not be renamed. The first products to carry the “AMD Radeon” label will be introduced later this year.
Research or no, its still sad to see ATI go, though admittedly, we used mostly NVIDIA GPUs in our systems. That said, NVIDIA’s missteps with some of its GPUs have given ATI, er, forgive us, AMD, some headway in the graphics business.
To be honest, AMD has a better chance in graphics than currently in processors, where Intel has again taken a significant “lead” in the minds of performance oriented consumers.
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It’s been rumored, and it’s true. One of the halcyon brands of the PC video card industry is about to be retired. AMD, which acquired ATI in 2006, and which has maintained the brand for its graphics operations, has decided to kill it.
The reasons appear to be varied, but does include internal research by AMD. While the details of the research were not revealed, the following bullet points were:
1) AMD brand preference triples when the person surveyed is aware of the ATI-AMD merger.
2) The AMD brand is viewed as stronger than ATI when compared to graphics competitors.
3) The Radeon and Fire Pro brands themselves are very high as is.
The company noted that the results were “permission” to consolidate under the AMD brand.
Reportedly, existing products will not be renamed. The first products to carry the “AMD Radeon” label will be introduced later this year.
Research or no, its still sad to see ATI go, though admittedly, we used mostly NVIDIA GPUs in our systems. That said, NVIDIA’s missteps with some of its GPUs have given ATI, er, forgive us, AMD, some headway in the graphics business.
To be honest, AMD has a better chance in graphics than currently in processors, where Intel has again taken a significant “lead” in the minds of performance oriented consumers.
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Valve’s Steam gaming “platform” has only recently come to the Mac. Thus, the monthly Valve Steam hardware survey has some interesting tidbits about the state of PC vs. Mac in the Steam world.
It seems that while the majority of Windows PCs have either 2 or 3GB of RAM, most Macs (53 percent, to be exact) have 4GB of RAM. There’s a clue to why that is in the statistics on the most popular OS: it’s still 32-bit Windows XP at 33.8 percent (though that has dropped 3.79 percent). In third is 32-bit Windows Vista at 14.55 percent. Thus, nearly 50 percent of those surveyed are using an OS that does not allow addressing 4GB of RAM.
Still, that will change as gamers upgrade and go with Windows 7 on new PCs. It’s interesting, however, that PC gamers seem to be limping along with older systems. It does point to the fact that many Windows users choose to upgrade their graphics cards rather than a system swap-out.
On the other hand, 55.41 percent of Windows users have dual-core systems, while over 90 percent of Macs have a dual-core CPU. Macs also win at internet connectivity, as well, with 65 percent reporting download speeds of over 2 Mbps compared to under half of PCs.
However, PCs always rule in terms of GPUs. Besides the fact that there is no support for multi-GPU technologies such as the Crossfire and SLI technologies from ATI and NVIDIA, PC gamers can swap out their video cards any time they like it, keeping their systems “alive.” That said, the Mac has been getting better of late, though there’s another place PCs rule: number of games games released on the OS.
http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/06/steam-powered-macs-outpace-pc-rivals.html
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Asus introduced two Asus Eee Pad versions. The first is the EP121 Eee Pad, which has a 12″ screen, Intel Core 2 Duo CULV CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium, and a claimed 10-hours of continuous use for battery life. When it comes to market, the device will have an optional “innovative hybrid keyboard/docking station,” whatever that means.
Running Windows 7, the device will likely address some of the missing features of the iPad, such as printing and easily interfacing with USB devices.
Meanwhile, the Asus EP101TC Eee Pad will have a 10″ screen and run Windows Embedded Compact 7, which unfortunately is just an updated version of Windows CE. There’s not much more known about the EP101TC.
The two Eee Pads will be priced competitively, in terms of its obvious huge rival, the iPad, ranging in price from $399 to $499. However, they are not expected to release until Q1 2011.
Asus also showed off the Eee Tablet. It’s not a tablet PC, as the name might confuse some into thinking it is, bur more of a notetaker and e-book reader. The Eee Tablet is expected to be available in September in the $199 to $299 range.
MSI, meanwhile, introduced its MSI WindPad 100. That device is a 10″ tablet with an Intel Atom Z530 CPU, running Windows 7 Home Premium. MSI has also implemented a Wind Touch UI layer. Also showing was the WindPad 110 tablet, which was running Android on NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 processor.
MSI plans to bring the WindPad 100 to market for $499 later this year. However, the Atom CPU seems to hamstring the device, as reports indicate it’s pretty sluggish. There’s time to polish it, but its unclear how much better the performance can be on that Atom CPU.
It’s unclear when, or even if, the WindPad 110 will see the light of day, but if the company brings it out it will likely sell for around $399.
Are any of these iPad killers? Nah, but they are rivals, and as Android has shown in the smartphone market, competition is healthy and will push everyone to develop better devices.
http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/05/oems-show-off-ipad-rivals-at-computex.html
Continue reading about OEMs show off iPad rivals at Computex
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As expected, Apple updated its MacBook Pro line on Tuesday. Among other things, the revised laptops will get Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs, new graphics, and yes, a claim of still longer battery life.
The new models come in the same sizes as the previous-generation MacBook Pros: 13-, 15-, and 17-inch. It’s inside where the big changes take place.
13-inch:
The earlier 13-inch MacBook Pro came in two models.
- Low-end: 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB RAM, a 160GB had drive, an SD card slot, and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics.
- High-end: the same integrated graphics, a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 4GB RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and the same SD card slot.
The new 13-inch MacBook Pro has faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors, more memory, a newer GPU, and larger hard drives.
- Low-end: a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 250GB hard drive, along with the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M, priced at $1,199.
- High-end: the same GPU, and a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, priced at $1,499.
Apple claims 10 hours of battery life for the new 13-inch model (your mileage may vary).
15-inch:
The earlier 15-inch model had three different configurations.
- Low-end: 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, a 250GB hard drive, an SD slot, and Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics
- Midrange: 2.66 GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, an SD slot, and an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + a 9600M GT discrete GPU with 256MB memory.
- High-end: midrange with a 2.8GHz processor and a 500GB hard drive instead.
For the new 15-inch model, we see Apple move to the more powerful Intel CPUs. The 15-inch MacBook Pro has the Intel Core i5 or Core i7 CPU. All of the new models include integrated Intel HD graphics as well as a discrete NVIDIA GPU.
- Low-end: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and 320GB hard drive at $1,799.
- Midrange: 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and 500GB hard drive at $1,999.
- High-end: 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and 500GB hard drive at $2,199.
Apple claims 8-9 hours of battery life for the new 15-inch model.
17-inch:
One configuration. Prior to Tuesday’s revamp, it came with a 2.8 GHz CPU, 4GB memory, a 500GB hard drive, NVIDIA’s GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512 MB.
The new 17-inch MacBook Pro features a 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and integrated Intel HD graphics, and a 500GB hard drive for $2,299.
Apple claims 8-9 hours of battery life for the new 17-inch model.http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/04/apple-refreshes-its-macbook-pro-line.html
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Since last September, we’ve wondered when and if Microsoft would reveal more information about their Courier booklet PC, which was first outed in September of 2009. The concept then seemed cool. And then came iPad.
To be honest, the concept of the Courier as described last year seemed like an electronic journal. That’s what it seems to be heading toward, too, as sources tell enGadget. Unlike original reports, however, it now seems that the Courier, assuming it sees the light of day, will run a version of Windows CE and use an NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor.
It wouldn’t be the only booklet / tablet PC running a smartphone OS out there in the market, either. Apple’s iPad will run a version of iPhone OS.
As previously theorized, the UI will be pen-based. It will center around drawing, writing, and journaling. Think of it as a really cool electronic day planner, which could make it a hit in certain market segments.
enGadget’s sources say the Courier will debut in Q3 or Q4 2010. That would seem to point to an extremely busy 2010 for Microsoft in mobile. After all, not only do they have Windows Phone 7 Series coming out, they have Project Pink (which are reportedly just updated Sidekicks) as well.http://technologyexpert.blogspot.com/2010/03/details-of-microsofts-courier-booklet.html
Continue reading about Details of Microsoft’s “Courier” Booklet PC Emerge
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