Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Just when we were getting excited about the Core 2 Duo chips that have become standard in everything from the 24-inch iMac to new Dell laptops, we've now got quad-core fever. Yes, Intel already has the shown them off before, but Tom's Hardware has a very thorough investigation into the nature of these four-headed beasts -- what Tom's is dubbing the Core 2 Quadro. (Of course if this really is the name, Intel may have to chat with NVIDIA first, as it already uses the name Quadro in a set of graphics cards.) So how'd it turn out? Not surprisingly, video editing and rendering are everyday tasks that took advantage of all four cores: "Test results with the software packages Main Concept with H.264 encoding and the WMV-HD conversion make this very clear. We noticed performance jumps of up to 80% when compared to the Core 2 Duo at the same clock speed (2.66 GHz). A Core 2 Quadro at 2.66 GHz and higher is the answer for HD video (editing and rendering) at full HD resolution (1920x1080)." However, Tom's also noted also that the Core 2 Quadro requires 167 W of power in idle mode, which is the same amount that a Core 2 Extreme demands at full capacity, and attributes this to an "incomplete implementation of Intel's SpeedStep technology at this stage." That said, maybe once Intel reaches 32 cores (as it's said previously would be possible), the new chip name will be Core 2^5 Insanely Awesome.

[Thanks, Mack S.]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment

Ok, so television advertisers are slowly resigning themselves to the reality that digital video recorders aren't going away and that more and more viewers are simply fast-forwarding through commercials, so what do they do? Well, they could try and force the DVR makers to eliminate fast-forwarding (which would be a waste of time), they could do like KFC and embed secret messages that you can only see when you watch the ad in slo-mo, they could toy with the idea of pop-up ads like TiVo did, or they could license a freshly patented invention from Colin Davies. His "System for providing visible messages during pvr trick mode playback" lets advertisers get their message across even when you're skipping over their ads, by having marketers embed a series of images in the full frames that get displayed when fast-forwarding. There wouldn't be any sound, and the image wouldn't be quite as dynamic, but they'd still be able to get their point across. How about just making entertaining ads that people might actually want to watch?

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Oh, come now, like you thought the world's largest book retailer (online) -- which just started peddling digital video under the Unbox brand -- wasn't going to go head to head with Sony's Reader on an e-book device and service? Say hello to the Amazon Kindle, their take on a book reader device that comes equipped with a 6-inch 800 x 600 display (which we can only assume is e-ink), 256MB internal storage, smallish two-thumb keyboard cursor bar, scroll wheel, standard mini USB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, SD slot, and get this: EV-DO data! (Don't believe us? The spec sheet is after the break. Why do you think it was in the FCC?) The user manual also outlines the Kindle Store on Amazon (though doesn't spec out too many details), but we're a little less concerned with how we're getting these supposed e-books right now, and a little more curious about the price and launch. C'mon Amazon, we've got the dirt, now how's about you fill in the details?

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Storage

Classic Mac users might be familiar with the phrase: "did you zap the PRAM?" The commonly used fix-all seemed to smooth over a wide variety of troubles, but Samsung's new Phase-Change Random Access Memory has nothing to do with the Parameter RAM of yore. Instead, the new type of memory breathes fresh life into the world of non-volatile storage, with 30x the speed and 10x the lifetime of conventional NAND or NOR flash chips. Samsung just unveiled their first 512MB PRAM prototype PRAM chip, and plan to begin selling the memory in 2008. The chips cite spiffy tech specs like "vertical diodes" and "three-dimensional transistor structure" to keep size down, and the memory doesn't require old data to be erased before being written over. Supposedly the tech should be cheaper and smaller than NAND in the long-run -- which is considerable given the fact that Samsung also introduced a 32GB NAND chip today made with a 40nm process.

[Via textually.org]

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Top Linux seller begins public testing of new Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, which incorporates Xen technology.

In the latest Security Bites, CNET's Robert Vamosi discusses a newly exploited Word 2000 flaw and expected Microsoft patches.