Jennifer Garner Poppy Montgomery Evangeline Lilly Lisa Marie Keira Knightley
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Intel's Sandy Bridge issue could affect Apple the most
A design flaw within the chipset supporting its new line of Sandy Bridge processors may delay the launch of next-generation computers, and Apple could find itself affected the most.
Intel's latest chip is the first from the company to include integrated graphics silicon on the chip, while also using the company's advanced 32-nanometer manufacturing. This is said to allow PC manufacturers to offer systems that have much better graphics capabilities and much greater power efficiency than its predecessors.
It is expected that the problem will cost Intel at least $300 million, although another $700 million has been set aside for any necessary repairs and replacement costs. One positive is that the issue was caught early in Sandy Bridge's release, meaning that only a fraction of the estimated eight million "Cougar Point" (the code name) chipsets in manufacturers hands have actually made it to consumers.
Sandy Bridge will officially launch on February 20. Intel could not say as of Tuesday whether the flaw would delay this launch, although corrected chips that have only just started to be produced would not be ready before the end of the month. It would likely not be until April before the chipmaker ramps up to the volume demands of its customers.
Cougar Point chipsets allow for the connection of up to six Serial ATA devices, such as DVD drives, HDDs, and the like. Under extreme conditions, Intel found that devices on ports 0 and 1 would degrade in performance. No degradation was experienced on ports 2 through 5.
A possible workaround would be to ship devices based on the faulty chipset using only the unaffected ports, however that would obviously defeat the purpose of the new chipsets.
Based on the history of Intel and Apple's partnership, it's likely that Sandy Bridge would make it into the next-generation iMac and MacBook Pro computers. With the delays due to the issue likely in the range of up to three months, the new time frame for shipment would fall near to the time where Apple is expected to update its notebook line.
If there are no plans to update the line before April or so, the delay may not be noticeable to the consumer. However no manufacturer would be able to ship computers based on the Sandy Bridge architecture before the end of this month, and likely in limited quantities if so.
Intel would not comment on Apple's plans, and as with most issues the Cupertino company was not responding to requests for comment as it deals with speculation on future products.
Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2010
Aaliyah Katherine Heigl Lorri Bagley Leslie Bega Maria Sharapova
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Anonymous and Tunisia: A New Cyber Warfare?
Tunisia's 'Jasmine Revolution' ignited on December 17th, when a street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in front of a local police station. The demonstration struck a chord within millions of Tunisians -- many of whom, like Bouazizi, had fallen on hard times, due to the country's stagnant labor market, skyrocketing food prices and high-level political corruption. Within days, protesters had flooded the streets of Sidi Bouzid, an economically downtrodden region of the country. Within weeks, they had forced President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country, after 23 years of autocratic rule.As the upheaval unfolded, it soon became clear that the Jasmine Revolution was not a typical uprising. Tunisians spread their revolutionary fervor to the digital sphere, where Ben Ali's regime had previously enjoyed unchallenged sovereignty. As scores of protesters clashed with police and demanded economic and social reform, an equally impassioned, if comparatively less tangible war was being waged online -- one involving not tear gas and demonstrators, but malware and rogue hackers.
Continue reading Anonymous and Tunisia: A New Cyber Warfare?
Anonymous and Tunisia: A New Cyber Warfare? originally appeared on Switched on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Melissa Howard Samantha Mumba Busy Philipps Thora Birch Jennifer Garner
The Switch to Hand-Bottled Water
One of the more costly (and unhealthy) routines I once had was grabbing sodas out of the refrigerator, taking them into my office, and gulping them down. Not only was it costing my health, but it was also an expensive routine. Even if you buy in bulk, a can of soda is still going to [...]
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