Gigahertz Makes a Comeback as Intel Rolls Out 45 nm CPUs
Within the next 45 days, Intel's first 45 nm processors for both servers and desktops will be available in quantity, the company announced this morning. Along with them comes the return of what many enthusiasts and system builders consider an old friend: clock speed.
Vastly smaller transistors made possible by Intel's truly legitimate breakthrough high-k-plus-metal-gate manufacturing process - previously known as HK+MG, but referred to today by Intel as simply Hi-K - are paying off considerably. At the time the development was first announced, Intel told BetaNews that one of the payoffs of smaller transistors will be reduced heat and power leakage, which would translate into greater clock speeds. This at a time when Intel's chief competitor, AMD, had been telling customers that "gigahertz is dead;" and just after Intel itself had published white papers pronouncing "the gigahertz myth."
NBC Direct Beta Now Open: It's No Hulu
Only slightly behind schedule, NBC Direct opened in beta over the weekend. The service promises time-sensitive, ad-supported versions of NBC's biggest hits for free, although the phrase "For a Limited Time" is taken quite literally.
NBC Direct was announced at about the same time as Hulu launched its beta, and did not promise anything radically different from that service. In fact, it promised much less.
Microsoft Hiring To Take On YouTube, Flickr
With social media becoming increasingly popular on the Web, Microsoft is looking to ensure that it does not fall behind its rivals. A job posting appeared on the company's Web site Friday -- and has since apparently disappeared -- looking for a program manager for a photo and video sharing website. The service would be part of the Live family and work across several services including Spaces, SkyDrive, Messenger, and Hotmail.
"This feature team is building a next-generation photo and video sharing service that will compete with Flickr, Smugmug and other photo web solutions today," the job posting read. "This is a 'v1' opportunity." Microsoft had attempted to compete in the space before with Soapbox, however it never seemed to take off and only received cursory attention from the Redmond company.
AOL Acquires Social Search Site Yedda
AOL said Monday that it had acquired Israeli social search site Yedda, a company that focuses on linking questions to the best possible users to get answers and start discussions on topics. The technology will be integrated through AOL's properties, and in select programming areas on AOL.com. Following the acquisition, Yedda will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of AOL. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"Incorporating Yedda's unique technology into AOL enables us to bring together our traditional search resources and an entire community of people to help users quickly find answers to questions," AOL COO Ron Grant said. The Yedda buy is the second for AOL in a week, after buying contextual ad firm Quigo for approximately $340 million to strengthen its ad division. After turning its ISP service free, AOL has turned to ads and the Internet as a way to make up for lost revenues.
Google Sued By School Over Database Tech
Northeastern University sued Google last week, claiming the search giant misappropriated patented technology regarding database architecture.
The school's patent covers technology that allows a database query to be split up and handled by multiple computers. This results in queries being handled much faster than they would otherwise by a single machine.
EA Open-Sources SimCity With $100 Laptop
The One Laptop Per Child initiative which strives to give children of developing nations equal and affordable access to modern educational tools, has received the gift of SimCity from Electronic Arts. The 18-year old franchise was donated to the OLPC project by EA as a time-honored piece of "edutainment" software.
"The game should prove to be an incredibly effective way of making the laptop relevant, engaging, and fun, particularly for first time players," said Steve Seabolt, the vice president of global brand development of The Sims franchise.
Windows Server 2008 Versions Announced, with Few Changes
The breakdown for the various editions of Windows Server 2008 was revealed this morning by Microsoft, and the big news there is the almost total lack of change: Retail server software editions for the next Windows Server will fall right in line with the current Windows Server 2003 R2 editions, including the number of client access licenses (CALs) provided in the basic package.
The Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions will continue to retail for $999, $3,999, and $2,999 respectively, just as their 2003 R2 counterparts do today. Licensing terms will also apparently remain identical, with 5 CALs minimum for the Standard edition and 25 CALs for Enterprise. The Datacenter edition will apparently retain its hybrid licensing model, which is divided into a "server license" (per-processor) and "client license" component, since that edition was designed for installation on multi-processor clusters.
Microsoft Planning to Acquire Musiwave
Microsoft said Monday that it had entered into an agreement that will lead to the acquisition of mobile music provider Musiwave.
The company says that the buy builds upon its commitment to deliver a vision of 'Connected Entertainment' to consumers. It adds a mobile component to music services that are already offered through its Zune music device, Windows Mobile, and on the desktop.
Microsoft Releasing Several Vista Patches This Week
Microsoft isn't waiting for Vista Service Pack 1 to push some important operating system updates to users.
Several updates will make their way to users this week through Windows Update, Windows Vista team member Nick White wrote to the official Vista blog on Monday. If users decide to pass on the updates, they will be included in SP1.
More Muni-Wi-Fi Project Slowdowns in Boston, Cleveland
As major US cities and American carriers still struggle for what's looking more and more like the same piece of the Wi-Fi pie for revenue, two more municipal projects appear to be slowing down. The Boston Globe reported Wednesday that the non-profit organization set up to manage that city's project now says it's unlikely to be completed at any time in 2008.
This just days after interest from carriers in Cleveland's project is reportedly waning after that city's mayor decided to reject any bids from companies that would require the city to be their anchor tenant - to sign on to a long-term project, usually with plenty of funding up-front. The term comes from the world of real estate, where site management firms make commitments to build shopping malls once they've secured anchor tenants to guarantee customers. A dispute over anchor tenancy provisions is believed to have killed a deal between Earthlink and the city of Chicago last August.
Microsoft Loses Nigeria Contract -- Again
Microsoft has been overruled as the OS supplier for Intel's Classmate PCs in Nigeria, InfoWorld reported Friday.
As earlier reported by BetaNews, Microsoft had apparently wrestled away the contract to supply the operating system for shipments of the Classmate PC to the central African nation. However, the government is having none of it.
Online-only Photoshop Express Beta Coming Soon
An open beta of Adobe's Web-based Photoshop Express is slated to be available before the end of 2007, the company said today.
First publicly mentioned in the beginning of this year, and then officially unveiled two months ago, Adobe's Photoshop Express is a streamlined, Web-based photo editing suite likely to be used in conjunction with other online brands. At the recent 6sight Digital Imaging conference, John Loiacono, senior vice president for Adobe Creative Solutions, mentioned collaborations with Shutterfly and Photobucket as a couple of the common ways consumers will use the product. Photobucket already has a Web-based Adobe video editing tool available called Remix.
YouTube Increases Upload Limits, Provides Batch Uploader
YouTube announced yesterday that it had increased the size limit for videos to 1 GB, and also introduced new software that allows users to simultaneously upload multiple videos.
Users may still opt to upload their videos to the site through the browser form if they do not wish to put a piece of YouTube software on their hard drives, or in the case of Mac users, if the software isn't supported at all.
iPhone Goes On Sale in Germany, UK
Apple's iPhone went on sale in Europe on Friday, with at least 10,000 of the devices sold already in Germany. Sales are said to be brisk in the UK as well.
Sales of the phone in Germany, where T-Mobile is the partner, began at midnight local time (6pm ET Thursday) at some locations. UK would-be buyers could not get their hands on the iPhone until just after 6pm local time (1pm ET).
Xbox Is #2 in Japan -- For a Week
In a potentially historic milestone, the Xbox 360 has outsold the PlayStation 3 for the first time in its history in Japan, according to statistics from Media Create. Sales of Microsoft console shot up some 500 percent on the back of the Bandai release Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation, which debuted at #2 on the Japanese video game charts this week.
The console sold 17,673 units during the week, up from 3,718 in the week previous. This was just enough to place it in the #2 spot ahead of the PS3, which sold 17,434 consoles. This was down week to week from 18,785 units two weeks ago. Nintendo's Wii is still outselling both by far, with 37,617 consoles sold. "Kiss your loved ones, hug your friends, because if this keeps up we've reached the end of days," Alexander Sliwinski wrote for Joystiq in reporting the news.
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