Wednesday January 09, 2008

- CES 2008: Samsung Unveiled its 128GB SSD - Lionel - 20:16:46

Couple of months after unveiling its 2.5" 64GB SSD, Samsung doubled the storage space, and announced a 128GB SSD model.
This drive is based on MCL chips instead of SLC. So, the increased storage space has a cost on performance, as it drops now to 100MB/s in reading and 70MB/s in writing mode, respectively (instead of 120MB/s for the 64GB model). However, it remains faster than any plate-based 2.5" HD currently available on the market.
The price is of course not targeting mass market, and one will have to find around US$2000 to install such SSD in his notebook.



[translation by Linathael]

- Penryn vs. Merom - Lionel - 20:15:20

Anandtech just released an interesting article where they compared two notebooks strictly identical except by their CPU, one is powered by a Core 2 Duo Merom 2.6GHz, while the other one features a Core 2 Duo Penryn 2.6GHz.
Most likely the best news, the Penryn-based model gains 16% battery lifetime. If CPU-driven performance only increases marginally by 1 to 9%, applications encoded to benefit from SSE4 instruction set can be speed up by up to 31 to 40%.
Anandtech also tested the Dynamic Acceleration function available in Penryn CPU. As a reminder, it allows core to be overclocked by 200MHz for mono threaded applications. However, if the 2.6GHz Penryn is indeed overclocked to 2.8GHz, it is only for a short time frame, as this feature is inactivated as soon as the core temperature reaches defined limits. So, such function might be useful for users with their notebook directly powered or for notebook having an advanced cooling system allowing the Dynamic Acceleration to be active for a longer time period even though it will affect battery lifetime.
For additional details: Anandtech article

[translation by Linathael]

- Sony to Offer a Computer-dedicated BD player for less than US$200 - Lionel - 20:14:24

While the HD-DVD alliance is trying to recover from the recent announcement made by the Warner studio, Sony just announced a 5.25" BD player, aiming to open the door of the mass market for such optical drive, with an aggressive target price: lower than US$200.



If the BDU-X10S does not burn BD media, it can read BD, BD-R, DVD and CD. such announcement will most likely speed up competitors to release BD Combo drive (able to play all media, and burn DVD and CD). Soon, apple will have no excuse for not offering such optical drive for its hardware offer.



[translation by Linathael]

- Apple and Hollywood Majors Close to an Agreement? - Lionel - 20:13:41

Source : http://www.businessweek.com

According to well informed people quoted by some newspapers, Apple, via its CEO Steve Jobs, and Hollywood movie studios are negotiating an agreement to increase and strengthen the offer for online movie sale or rental.
To reach such agreement, Apple seems to have accepted some compromise, especially regarding the price of movie sold via iTunes Store: The betting is that Jobs, who previously balked at paying the studios more than $14 for each movie sold through iTunes, has agreed to pay closer to the $17 wholesale price Hollywood gets from "physical" DVD sales by Wal Mart and other retailers.
So its seems that to boost sales of the Apple TV, Cupertino might have accepted some of the studio's requests, potentially bringing some hollywood majors back to the negotiation table after they removed their catalog from the iTS.
It seems that such partnership will be based on a more equal benefit than in the past. Apple seems to try its best to save the Apple TV, and one should maybe not be surprised to see the new version to be announced by Steve Jobs when he will take the stage on Jan. 15 at the annual MWSF conference. Support for 1080p HD movies and enhanced audio rendering capabilities will definitely boost Apple TV sales.

[translation by Linathael]

- Apple Ready to Settle down the EU iTunes case with the EC - Lionel - 20:11:19

Source : http://news.yahoo.com

Apple should announce its decision to align the price of its UK iTunes Store to the other iTune Stores available in Europe. As a reminder, while in Euro-based countries, Apple charges 0.99€/track, in UK its is almost 10% more.
This is a victory for the British consumer association "Which?" that reported the case to the EC in 2005.
If the level of VAt applied in european countries varies a lot, the current problem for Apple was most likely linked to the regional laws regulating music right owners and non-physical distribution.

[translation by Linathael]

- About New Graphic Cards Available with the New Mac Pro - Lionel - 14:17:04

Most of our readers did not follow the recent released in the GPU world. So we decided to bring some information about the 3 new graphic cards available with the new Mac Pro:
- The Radeon HD 2600 XT is a mid-range model from AMD/ATI. Its main feature is to support native hardware -based HD movie decoding. The Radeon HD 2600 XT is faster than its sister found in iMac, and should please most users, except those willing to play 3D games on large display.
- The Geforce 8800 GT was a bit of a revolution as it is a powerful graphic card available for a mid-range price. As overall performance is driven by the quality of the drivers, no one can define today how faster the GeForce is compared to the Radeon, according to the P world, it is well ahead. The Geforce 8800 GT is now available as a standalone product from the Apple Store.
- The Quadro FX 5600 is an alien in the GPU world. One can not really compare it with any other ones. First its price of course. If its performance is amazing for 3D applications, Apple will have to work hard with NVidia to optimize the drivers and ensure users will benefit from such investment on a Mac.


[translation by Linathael]

- High Definition DVD Format War to End Soon? - Lionel - 14:15:40

Source : CDR Info

In an interview, Dans une interview, Warner executives explained why they took the decision to drop HD-DVD and to back exclusively Blu-ray

"The window of opportunity for high-definition DVD could be missed if format confusion continues to linger. We believe that exclusively distributing in Blu-ray will further the potential for mass market success and ultimately benefit retailers, producers, and most importantly, consumers,"

It seems that some movie majors are afraid of missing the high-definition DVD revolution, and decided to bet on one Alliance to minimize investments.

Last but not least, the last rumor about this subject indicates that Paramount could drop its exclusive support for HD-DVD to join the Blu-ray association. This would most likely bring the format war closer to an end. Indeed, only Universal Studios and DreamWorks Animation among hte Hollywood majors will remain part of hte HD-DVD Alliance.

[translation by Linathael]