Hardware Reviews and Tech News

Intel Haswell to account for less than 20% PC market

Posted by Will Smith

Tuesday, 23 April 2013 06:12

Not the news that Intel wants to hear ... I can see why. Smartphones, phablets and tablets have taken a HUGE chunk out of the PC market.

"Although Intel is set to release its next-generation Haswell-based processors in June, existing Ivy Bridge-based processors are still expected to account for 80% of desktop CPU shipments at the end of 2013, leaving the new-generation CPUs only at around 19%, according to sources from PC players citing figures from Intel's internal forecasts. Sandy Bridge processors will be phased out by then.

The forecast also shows that Intel's Core i5 and Core i7 series processors are mainly selling to Canada, the US, the UK, Germany, Poland, Russia, China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Australia, together accounting for 70% of company's total sales."

Source: Digitimes

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Nokia wins ban over HTC One

Posted by Will Smith

Tuesday, 23 April 2013 05:52

Gutted ... and possibly very damaging, as HTC are already struggling in this fiercely fought smartphone market.

"Nokia has won a court injunction banning HTC from using microphone components in its flagship HTC One smartphones.It will create more headaches for the Taiwan-based firm, which has struggled with component shortages. Nokia said it had taken apart the HTC One and found the high-amplitude audio-capture technology was the same as its own.

HTC said it would be looking for alternatives "immediately". The ruling made by the Amsterdam District Court is effective until March 2014 and will prevent STMicro, which sells the parts, from offering them to HTC for sale. The court found the parts had been invented by Nokia and manufactured exclusively for the Finnish company's phones.

Nokia said: "HTC has no licence or authorisation from Nokia to use these microphones or the Nokia technologies from which they have been developed."

Source: BBC

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A new definition of thin - WD ships 5mm Blue UltraSlim drive

Posted by Will Smith
Tuesday, 23 April 2013 05:49
Tweet Press Release: WD® SHIPPING WORLD'S FIRST 5 MM 2.5-INCH HARD DRIVE First in a Family of High-performance and Slim Drives for Ultra-portable Devices Feature Innovative Mechanical Designs and Solid State Hybrid Drive Technology IRVINE, Calif. – April 23, 2013 – WD®, a Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) company and world leader in storage and connected-life products, today announced it is shipping the world's first ultra-slim 2.5-inch, 5 mm hard drives and solid state hybrid drives (SSHD), which are designed for integration into the slimmest devices and space-constrained computing environments. With 500 GB of storage capacity and models with high performance-enabling solid state hybrid drive technology, this slim product line helps to address the tradeoffs system designers often make between capacity, physical size and performance. Add a comment
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Apple blocks Google Motorola's sensor patent challenge

Posted by Will Smith

Tuesday, 23 April 2013 05:44

Ahh ... so this what corporate businesses do. Acquire a company and its assests, notably their patents and then sue whoever you think is using your technology (or similar).

"Google has failed in its latest attempt to convince a US trade agency that Apple has infringed its intellectual property. The case centred on a claim the iPhone maker should have licensed a feature that lets its handsets ignore touches when held close to users' heads.

Google had acquired the contested patent as part of its $12.5bn (£8.2bn) takeover of Motorola Mobility. Apple could have faced an import ban on its mobiles had it lost.

Although Apple is based in the US, it outsources production of its mobiles to factories in China and Brazil making them vulnerable to such a challenge."

Source: BBC

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AMD reveals G-Series X embedded chips

Posted by Will Smith
Tuesday, 23 April 2013 04:40
Tweet Press Release: AMD Targets High-Growth, Embedded Markets with New AMD Embedded G-Series System-on-Chip. High performance, energy-efficient quad-core x86 design fuels Surround Computing era SAN JOSE, Calif., April 23, 2013 - DESIGN West - AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced at DESIGN West the new AMD Embedded G-Series System-on-Chip (SOC) platform, a single-chip solution based on the AMD next-generation "Jaguar" CPU architecture and AMD Radeon™ 8000 Series graphics. The new AMD Embedded G-Series SOC platform further signifies a strategic push to focus on high-growth markets outside the PC industry, with an emphasis on embedded systems. Add a comment
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Enthusiast builds huge six-legged robot built in UK

Posted by Will Smith

Tuesday, 23 April 2013 03:29

Very interesting ... I wonder how much it REALLY costs?

"A giant-mantis robot with hydraulic legs has been unveiled by a designer who spent four years creating it. Matt Denton, from Hampshire, estimates his "very expensive toy" has cost him hundreds of thousands of pounds. He says a mining company and a marine research organisation are now interested in his design and he hopes it might be used at science fairs.

During its development the machine had one outing, at a music festival, where Mr Denton says it was well received. "It's an entertainment vehicle," he said. "But I hope it will inspire people."

The project was only initially intended to take 12 months, Mr Denton, who usually specialises in small-scale animatronics for the film industry, said."

Source: BBC

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OCZ Vertex 3.20 240GB SSD w/20nm Flash

Posted by Winston

Monday, 22 April 2013 05:38

We've just pubished a review on the OCZ Vertex 3.20 240GB SSD w/20nm Flash. It's OCZ's newest SSD, the Sandforce based Vertex 3.20 240GB SSD. It features all the Sandforce performance we know and love, but with new and modern 20nm MLC flash. Let's take a closer look ...