Information coming from a “reliable” source has informed DonanimHaber that AMD is expected to release its new Radeon HD 7900 series on January 9, 2010. This is a day ahead of the typical Tuesday release, along with one day before the official start of CES 2012. It is expected to have two cards released, the HD 7970 and HD 7950, that are based on AMD’s new 28 nm “Tahiti” platform. Early specifications for “Tahiti” (based on bits and pieces of information from various sources) are listed below. These specifications match closely to what was originally reported in September for the HD 7970 and HD 7950.
4.50 billion transistors, die-area of 380 mm², built on TSMC 28 nm process
In addition, it is reported the new HD 7900 series will introduce Eyefinity 3D. This will add support for 3D-optimized (120 Hz) displays, and allow users to create large stereoscopic 3D display heads using multiple 3D displays. All of this looks to be coming with a hefty price though, as early European pricing for the HD 7970 is in the range of 539-549 Euro (or $699.03 to $712.00)
Hitachi has officially confirmed two new models of 4TB hard drives in the form of the the Deskstar 5K4000 Internal Hard Drive Kit and the Touro Desk External Hard Drive.
The 4TB Deskstar 5K4000 is a 3.5-inch hard drive with a 32MB cache buffer and Hitachi’s CoolSpin power-management technology. Combined with Hitachi’s other power-management tools, CoolSpin offers up to a 28-percent idle power savings over the company’s Deskstar 7K3000 7200 RPM drives and an idle acoustic level of 2.5 bels. The 5K4000 also uses Hitachi’s Advanced Format technology, which increases the sector size on the hard disk drive from 512 bytes to 4096 bytes for increased capacities and improved error correction capabilities.
The new 4TB Hitachi Deskstar 5K4000 Hard Drive Retail Kit is currently shipping in limited quantities to online and retail stores with a suggested retail price of $399.99. Hitachi will be shipping the Deskstar 5K4000 (bare drives and bulk pack) to OEMs, distributors and channel partners worldwide in Q1 2012.
The external solution, the Hitachi Touro Desk External Drive is a USB 3.0 storage solution with a Deskstar 5K4000 HDD under the hood and is both Mac and PC compatible. It comes bundled with 3GB of cloud storage for free from HitachiBackup.com and will be available in January for approximately $420.
Google has stepped in and put a stop to Google Shoot View, a game that uses Google Street View as the setting for a first person shooter. Google Shoot View allowed players to play an FPS using familiar neighborhoods as the backdrop for the game and uses innocent bystanders as stationary targets. BusinessInsider reports that Dutch digital ad agency Pool Worldwide received a warning from Google that its game violated the Google Maps Terms of Service. As a result, Pool pulled the game.
“We received an email that apparently it was infringing on their terms of use, so we put the rest of the site down,” Creative director Erwin Kleinjan said, adding that for the three days that the game existed, it had peaked at about 3,000 visitors per minute and crashed the company’s web server.
Google has not yet commented publicly on its decision to pull Pool’s permission to use the Google Street View API, however, it’s not exactly hard to see why Google would want to distance itself from such a project, especially in light of recent events at Virginia Tech, Belgium’s city of Liege, and, earlier this year, the Norwegian island of Utøya.
The trailer has since been pulled but, there is now gameplay on YouTube, courtesy of user Shurkill. Check it out:
App stores hold thousands upon thousands of applications, so it’s not surprising that it’s sometimes hard to find what you want, or even discover new applications in the sea of software. A new app store is aiming to make app discovery much easier, though. The only difference is that this is a real brick-and-mortar app store.
Openspace is a new start up that wants to make the whole app shopping experience an easier and less confusing activity. Speaking in an interview to AllThingsD, founder Robert Reich said his company aims to fill a gap that Apple and the major carriers leave open and cure customers’ “app-rehension.”
“If your iPhone has a problem, you take it to Apple. If your Android tablet has a problem, you take it to Verizon, AT&T or Best Buy,” said Reich. “But if you have a question about which camera app would be great for taking pictures this weekend on the slopes, where can you turn?”
The first store is located in Boulder, Colorado, and is open six days a week. The staff are called ‘App Gurus’ and are there to help you will all of your app-related questions. The only trouble is that according to AllThingsD, Openspace isn’t sure how it’s going to make money from the store. Down the line, it hopes to partner with developers to take a percentage of revenue from applications promoted in the store, but it’s not clear how the store is going to remain profitable until then.
If you don’t live in Boulder (or don’t feel like venturing to the store) but still want Openspace’s app recommendations, you can visit the company’s website instead.
Bill Gates has ruled out the possibility of him returning to the company he founded. Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in January of 2000, but remained at the company as chairman of the board and chief software architect. He announced plans to transition to part-time work in 2006, and had his last full day at the company in June of 2008. Though he remains non-executive chairman at Microsoft and continues to work there on a part-time basis, Bill is now working full-time on his philanthropic efforts at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
This week, Gates ruled out a return to Microsoft following rumors that he could be considering doing just that. Earlier this week, Fortune reported that Bill, tempted by the success of other CEOs that have done the same, could be considering a return to Microsoft after watching the company he founded “muddle along for half a decade.” However, Gates has said in an Australian interview this week that his part-time status at Microsoft is not going to change and that his foundation is what he plans to do “the rest of [his] life”.
“I’m part-time involved with Microsoft, including even being in touch this week to give some of my advice but that’s not going to change – the foundation requires all of my energy and we feel we’re having a great impact,” he told Fairfax media, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Gates later reiterated, “So, part-time Microsoft, but full-time Foundation for… For all my future.”
Fortune sparked rumors with its report that Bill was looking at the likes of Steve Jobs and Howard Schultzman (of Starbucks) and was inspired by their returning to the companies they had founded to make things better. Do you think Microsoft would benefit if Bill Gates were to return?
Industry sources told Digitimes that Apple’s future MacBooks will feature display resolutions of up to 2880 x 1800 pixels on the high-end. Mainstream and entry-level models will keep the 1680 x 1050 and 1280 x 800 resolutions. The sources indicated that the new notebooks will arrive in the second quarter of the year.
Asus and Acer will push the resolution of their ultrabooks, Digitimes said. High-end ultrabooks will be 1920×1080 pixel screens, up from 1366×768 in the current generation.
Apple is also expected to introduce a retina display for its upcoming iPad 3. Industry rumors currently suggest that the iPad 3 will debut with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixel screen.
On Wednesday INSIDE Secure said that it entered an agreement with Intel that will see its near-field communication (NFC) products and technologies integrated into future Intel products. What those products are is unknown at this point, and neither company was forthcoming with additional details after the announcement was made.
“The agreement marks a significant milestone for INSIDE Secure and the future of the NFC industry, helping move this emerging technology towards full-scale market adoption,” INSIDE Secure said in a press release. “The agreement gives Intel access to INSIDE’s software, firmware and core hardware technology for development of future Intel products. In addition, INSIDE will provide Intel’s Mobile Wireless Group with access to scalable NFC solutions based on INSIDE’s MicroRead, SecuRead and Open NFC products.”
Previous reports have indicated that NFC technology will be present in future ultrabooks, granting consumers the ability to make quick online payments with the swipe of their smartphone. NFC technology is also rumored to appear in Intel-based smartphone chips in 2012, so the deal struck with INSIDE Secure really isn’t all that surprising.
“The MicroRead NFC controller offers a broad range of NFC options and provides the capacity to support multiple secure element types, including SIM, SE or SD card, to support multiple business models,” the company reports. “SecuRead integrates INSIDE’s award-winning MicroRead NFC controller with a high-performance secure element and a GlobalPlatform-compliant Java Card operating system. Both products are integrated with INSIDE’s Open NFC protocol stack to provide best-of-breed solutions.”
INSIDE Secure chief operating officer Charles Walton told the AFP that the company has seen a booming interest in NFC this year alone. Its already shipped 10 million NFC chipsets in the third quarter and will likely stay on an accelerated track. “We’ve spent years perfecting this technology,” he said. “We’ve given Intel a real advantage in getting to market fast.”
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