Who can knock the monstrous NVidia off the king of the video market throne? I would say S3, but their newest card, the Chrome 430 GT, is made to be low powered and run cool (not a Geforce 9800 killer).
The card is made to compete with the current Radeon HD 3450 and the NV 8400 GS, and features sweet DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 2.1 support. In tests (3DMark 06) it creams both competing card by at least 20%. It does this with a low power 65nm fabrication technology from Fujitsu (and slow DDR2 memory).
It is refreshing (can you feel it?) to hear of a competitor to the big two, that can actually outperform them. S3 can do it, and it will only cost you $US59 for the privilege (to tell your friends you can’t run SLI or Crossfire).
For more info, click Fareast Gizmos.
AMD bought ATI and that seems to be going (not) well for them. Doesn’t it make sense that NVidia would make the same move for that other company that makes processors (it isn’t Intel)? It could be so with rumours growing momentum.
It makes good business for NVidia to make the same move their competitors are making. Companies like 3DFX missed the bandwagon when they didn’t implement the right technologies at the right time (onboard 2D render). With the world going CPUGPU, it makes sense that NVidia would be looking to do the same thing.
Imagine an UMPC with a low power VIA processor and with incredible graphics processing of a NVidia chip. If they could keep the price down, they could make some invincible portable and micro hybrid technologies.
For more info, spy over at Engadget.
Samsung have announced the worlds smallest 8 megapixel CMOS camera module. It is little at 28mm (height) × 15.3mm (width) × 8.5mm (thickness), making it great for small phones with higher megapixel shooting (and the fast burn of memory storage).
It isn’t just a megapixel upgrade either. It features anti-shake, a 1-cm macro, and face tracking technology.
Before you get to excited, I would like to take you away from your hires image fantasies and remind you that the camera is only as good as its lens. It isn’t a liquid lens, like so many scientists have promised us (works similar to the human eye), and it still won’t feature optical zoom.
Expect to see these in your more expensive camera phones by the end of this year, and in most camera phones next year. It won’t kill the digital camera market (like it did the PDA market), but it will make those emergency shots (like when you see a yeti) look that little bit sweeter.
For more info, click over to Engadget.
Shuttle are renowned for their small desktop PC’s. They aren’t known for being extremely cheap (or well made), but it is time for the tides to change with the official release of the KPC series of budget PC’s.
For a starting price of $US299, you get the K 4500 (there is supposed to be a Celeron version for $US199, but who cares about that?). Its insides include an Intel Core 2 Duo E2140, 1GB of RAM, 160GB HDD (limited time offer), Gigabit Ethernet, integrated graphics (Intel GMA 950) and “INTEGRATED 5.1 CHANNEL AUDIO W/DIGITAL PORTS”. With those specs, it will run the included Foresight Linux a treat (it’s a OS).
Yes, it is one of the new generation budget Linux machines, and you do seem to lose a lot of options in the process. The machine has no DVD drive or a space to put one. It only has 1 HDD bay. It only has 1 spare PCI slot, giving you no options for a better graphics option. To top it off, it isn’t really that small a PC, being around the same size as a fully featured Shuttle PC.
It won’t be a very good media PC. It will make an awful NAS box. It will make a pointless LAN gaming PC. On the other hand it will be a fantastic web surfing (or hosting) machine. Your mother will think its cute as she send her 3 emails a year (that all end with send to 10 other people for abundance). If they add a PCI-E slot, I will be on it faster then fat people at a free buffet.
For more info, click over to the lovely Engadget.
Mitsubishi have done something unusual. They have created a car that isn’t a hybrid, but is a full electronic car. It runs off power and will get you 160KM’s off an overnight charge. It even has a decent top speed at around the 130KPH mark.
The i-MiEV (i Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle) is designed for the city drivers who are to lazy to ride a bike, and prefer the comfort of their car over sitting in over crowded public transport. The greatest feature of the car is the fact it will be available globally from 2010. That means we might even see it here in Australia (though Mitsubishi has only said Japan, Europe and US at the moment).
People are sceptical about how useful a car, that can drive 160 KM’s off an over night charge, can be. I believe in countries like my glorious one (it is pretty glorious you kn0w) we have a lot of density around the cities that refuse to use the shocking public transport system. They drive around in there very fuel efficient cars, but could become even more efficient if it was all electrical (and you were charging it by renewable energy). If it is as expensive as the Toyota Prius, it would have to be a miss for my shallow pockets.
For more info, click over to EcoGeek.