2008 August 04 | NewsLickr

Archive for August 4th, 2008

Beijing gets its ducks in a row for heavenly roast

Aug 4, 2008 World News

BEIJING (Reuters) - Time to sing along to the award-winning company anthem, “100-Year Flame.”

Tags: world

More details leak on AMD’s Fusion platform, Fusion now officially the Palm OS II of CPUs

Aug 4, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

In yet more news about the perpetually forthcoming Fusion CPU / GPU combos from AMD, new details have been leaked regarding the chips’ sizes, configurations, and other bits of insufferably tedious details that only Professor Frink could truly love. According to this latest report, the “first” Fusion processor will be called “Shrike,” sport a dual-core Phenom CPU, an ATI RV800 GPU, and a footprint of just 40nm. Another chip, codenamed “Falcon,” will debut in 2010 at a 32nm size, based around a platform known as “Bulldozer,” and will be launched to combat Intel’s 32nm offering. Of course, we’ve been hearing about these chips since 2006, so we’re not exactly on the edge of our seats hearing new details of what essentially amounts to vaporware.

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Tags: computers, gadgets, Technology

User Friendly Blog by Ted Landau - iPhone 2.0.1 update: Two quick notes

Aug 4, 2008 Technology

Ted Landau installed the iPhone Software Update 2.0.1 on and iPhone and iPod touch shortly after it was available on Monday and has been putting it through its paces ever since. Check out his experience with updating a jailbroken device, and dealing with device backups

Tags: apple, computers, mac, Technology

iEnvision expands line of iPhone image viewing apps

Aug 4, 2008 Technology

iEnvision has added five new “mini-versions” of its image-viewing app for the iPhone. Each version focuses on a particular art topic, such as Japanese manga and comics, or works of art. Art Envi, Comic Envi, Kids Books Envi, News Envi, and Space Envi are available now at the AppStore. Unlike the full version — which includes all of the topics and …

Tags: apple, mac, Technology

Details Of AMD And ATI’s Fusion Baby Combo Chip Leak [Fusion]

Aug 4, 2008 Blogs, Technology

A few new details about AMD’s mysterious Fusion CPU/GPU combo chip have leaked to the Web and they seem to confirm what some rumors have been saying, namely that AMD would be making the chip with help from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest chip plants. ATI, whom AMD bought two years ago, had been a long time customer of TSMC so the deal makes sense. The technical details point to the first processor under the Fusion name will launch Q1 of next year, and will be a dual-core Phenom CPU running along side an ATI RV800 as GPU at 40nm, a “half-node” size that will probably transition to 32nm within a year. It’s an exciting idea, we just hope AMD can pull it off. [TG Daily]

Tags: gadgets, Technology

Details Of AMD And ATI’s Fusion Baby Leak [Fusion]

Aug 4, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Tags: gadgets, Technology

Podcast - Mac Geek Gab #162: Cool Stuff Found, Hidden Accounts, MobileMe, iDisk and More

Aug 4, 2008 Technology

<a href="http://www.macobserver.com/podcast/2008/08/04.1.shtml"><img src="http://www.macobserver.com/podcast/2008/06/macgeekgablogo.jpg" class="teas_thumb" alt="Mac Geek Gab" width="128" height="128" border="0"/></a>The show today starts with John and Dave talking through Cool Stuff Found: that’s Stuff from them AND from you, and there’s some great tidbits in here. Then the conversation turns to revisiting hidden login issues from last week, as well as some MobileMe and iDisk sync explanations. Chock…

Tags: apple, computers, mac, Technology

BC Hydro credits Mac businesses and schools

Aug 4, 2008 Technology

BC Hydro is offering British Columbian Mac-based businesses a chance to save money on their utility bills, in recognition of the power-saving software DssW Power Manager, as part of its provincial Product Incentive Program. The offer applies only to the above software, which the Canadian province recognizes to be superior to the default power sched…

Tags: apple, mac, Technology

Sonos ZonePlayer ZP120 and ZP90 leak out

Aug 4, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Filed under: Home Entertainment

There’s no official word on the wires, but we don’t think Stuff.tv has a particularly good reason to fake press shots of new Sonos gear, so we’ll give ‘em the benefit of the doubt until we hear otherwise — the cheeky Brits say Sonos is set to unveil two new ZonePlayers, the ZP120 and ZP90, both of which feature MIMO antennas for extended range. Just as in the current lineup, the £249 ZP90 is a receiver only, while the £349 ZP120 features a built-in amp in a package 43 percent smaller than the ZP100. Should be available soon, separately or in the £699 BU150 bundle.

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Tags: computers, gadgets, Technology

Times: iPhone could be in ’same league’ as DS, PSP

Aug 4, 2008 Blogs, Games

Filed under: Portable, Wireless, Business

The gaming community doesn’t typically put a lot of stock in what media outlets such as Time have to say about our collective hobby. But these publications do tend to have their fingers on the pulse of the mainstream, providing perspective on and to that other, oh, baziliion or so consumers who aren’t “enthusiasts.” So, when they tell their audience that Apple’s iPhone could be big for gaming, it’s definitely worth taking notice.

In its article, “Can the iPhone Rule Gaming?,” Time makes some compelling points. One quarter of all currently available iPhone app store titles are games, and, further to that, seven out of the top 10 paid app downloads are games. Also, as the article points out, a third of the iPhone userbase is in the game industry’s hottest demographic, aged 26 and under. The article spotlights the ease of downloading games to the device directly as a key advantage over DS and PSP. These factors, combined with titles such as Spore: Origins, could, in Time’s words, “Bring the iPhone into the same league as the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.”

Still, there are questions raised, particularly regarding software quality. The piece’s author, Anita Hamilton, states, “Key to the iPhone’s success as a gaming platform is a deep portfolio of titles that take advantage of the device’s coolest attributes, such as its tilt sensor,” adding that, “It remains to be seen … whether iPhone games actually evolve beyond the amusing, lightweight titles available now.”

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Tags: Games, Technology

Fujitsu’s Lifebook U2010 headed to the US as the U820

Aug 4, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Filed under: Laptops

If you’ve been squirming around like you’ve got ants in your pants wondering if Fujitsu’s tiny Lifebook U2010 was going to make its way Stateside — feel free to relax. Word on the street — and from the FCC — is that the diminutive and convertible laptop will come to our fair shores as the U820. The device actually gets a bump in the screen department, featuring a 1280 x 800 display as opposed to the previous specs we had detailing a 1024 x 600 touchscreen. Hit the read link to learn pretty much everything you could ever hope to know about the laptop… and then some.

[Thanks, Will O.]

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Tags: computers, gadgets, Technology

iPhone 3G Hardware Unlock Uses Your Existing SIM Card…Kinda [IPhone]

Aug 4, 2008 Blogs, Technology

Yeah, USB Fever just started taking pre-orders for this super thin iPhone hardware unlock tool that attaches to your SIM card, but be forewarned — it requires that you cut the corner off your SIM in order to work. And if something goes wrong, I doubt it’s covered by any warranty. If you’re up for the challenge, it will supposedly start shipping on August 20 for $35. [USB Fever via iPhone Atlas via IntoMobile]

Tags: gadgets, Technology

Coder links Yahoo search, Google App Engine

Aug 4, 2008 World News

A coder releases a library that lets programmers who want to use Yahoo’s BOSS search services into a site running on Google App Engine. Back when I was a kid

Tags: international, national, world

‘Bikini Samurai Squad’ slashes its way Stateside on Xbox 360

Aug 4, 2008 Blogs, Games

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Who’s going to notice a game with a title like “Onechanbara” on store shelves? But add a subtitle like “Bikini Samurai Squad” - not forgetting imagery of said swimsuit sporting swordswomen - and you have a chance. D3Publisher is taking a chance on the cult Xbox 360 import, which stars two sisters on a mission to battle zombie hordes … while wearing next to nothing. A quick parsing of the game’s page on D3’s site returned the following words: “expose,” “thrusting,” “deep,” “inside,” and “desperate.” Oh, and lest we forget the ability to check out the “super sexy” twins in the “exclusive dress-up mode.” The game has yet to be rated by the ESRB, but surely it’s E10+ fare, no? D3 hasn’t set a release date for the game yet, but it’s likely to debut early next year along with Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers for Wii.

[Via Shacknews]

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