Tuesday October 21, 2008

- Additional Information on the GeForce 9400M - Lionel - 15:31:10

NVidia invited us to a press conference to further describe of its new technologies and solutions for notebooks and desktop. Of course the new GeForce 9400M was the key product, especially since apple decided to use it instead of corresponding products from Intel.
Hereafter is a summary of what we learned, and keep in mind that during most the conference, Apple partnership was mentioned during all the conference, and that Apple hardware were used for demo while PC models, such as Sony ones, were often used as reference for low performance level…

Let’s start wit the famous chips/chipset GeForce 9400M:



It replaces both Northbridge and Southbridge components usually found in motherboard, in a much reduced space. As indicated by NVidia, the GeForce 9400M is not really a chipset in its design, but rather a GPU to which components from chipset have been added:



On this image, the red squared box is the GPU part including the 16 core unit, while the components on the sides provide the support and the management for:
- DDR2 and DDR3 memory controller
- 12 USB 2.0 ports
- Ethernet Gigabit
- 6 SATA II ports...

The GeForce 9400M does not include a Firewire controller. When asked, Rene Hass mentioned that during the design of this chips, this function was not part of the feature list. The GeForce 9400M drains around 12W, figures similar to those obtained from Intel’s solutions.

Later on, the high performance level of the GeForce 9400M was demoed “in action” and compared to Intel IGP-based hardware thanks to game, but also with Photoshop CS4.

When discussing about the Hybrid SLI technology already present in the MacBook Pro by associating the GeForce 9400M and the GeForce 9600M, not much details were unveiled, as NVidia components being already inside, most of the management has to be provided by the OS, in other words by Apple. However, from what we could collect, Snow Leopard will indeed change the way users could benefit from the dual GPU components, and one could in the future use the 9400m to manage the video display, while the GF 9600M will be used by OpenCL to speed up some dedicated process.

Despite rumors of NVidia dropping chipset development (maybe as it was intended to be in the past), the company indicated to be continuing in the direction of the GF 9400M project, to better compete with Intel, as it is a rather juicy business, especially considering that the market of notebooks will soon overtake the one hold by desktop hardware.

[translation by Linathael]

- SanDisk Teams Up with Toshiba to Avoid Being Swallowed by Samsung - Eric - 10:31:27

In a press release, SanDisk announced to have entered into a partnership with Toshiba Corporation to sell approximately 30 % of the current manufacturing capacity of the parties’ joint ventures to Toshiba. SanDisk expects to increase its cash level while achieving greater supply flexibility.

SanDisk and Toshiba will continue to be equal partners for the approximately 70 percent capacity of the Fabs that remain in the joint ventures. SanDisk will have the option to purchase a part of the transferred capacity from Toshiba on a foundry basis and will continue to invest up to 50% in future Fab 4 expansions and technology transitions in Fabs 3 and 4. The parties will continue their existing joint technology development in advanced NAND and 3D read/write memory. SanDisk expects the transaction to be completed in the first quarter of 2009.

With such agreement, Toshiba might secure a large production of NAND flash which could be used for branding its own SSDs, or for its own usage in other handhelds devices such as computers or mobile phones. It might also be a good news for consumers as it will prevent Samsung to become an even bigger player on this NAND memory market. However, Samsung might then decide to find another prey to strengthen its position and be prepared for the coming competition for SSDs dedicated to mass market.

- Panasonic to Offer Notebook-dedicated Fuel Cells in 2012 - Lionel - 10:21:03

Source : CDR Info

Panasonic announced to have successfully reduced the size of its fuel cell prototypes unveiled in 2006, with a model as small as 270 cc (cubic centimeters)



Weighting 500 g when filled up with ethanol, such fuel cell would offer power for 20 hours, and refilling it will not require connection to a power plug, and could be completed in couple of minutes.

They also offer an external charger, weighting 350 g and featuring 2 USB port in order to charge any device harboring such universal connector:



Despite an unexpected revolution in current battery technologies, fuel cells should become the new standard in 5 to 10 years, especially considering the low cost of ethanol to refill them.

[translation by Linathael]

- First Big "Defect" for the New MacBook - Lionel - 10:20:05

Source : Engadget

A users made a weird discovery when unpacking its brand new MacBook:



There was an obvious error on the keyboard, a second M key replacing the B key.

Long time Mac users will remember that a similar defect was although spotted in the past, with swapped key or blanked ones:



Of course, this defect does not have any consequences, and the MacBook will be exchanged without any problem. As Apple does not offer single key for correcting such problem, the entire top part has to be exchanged.
According to our sources, the number of defects reported on the new MacBook models is particularly low.

[translation by Linathael]

- Mini Displayport: The Missing Adaptor - Lionel - 10:18:06

By choosing Displayport as the new default video port for its notebook and Cinema display models, Apple decided to stick with the standard format which will replace DVI for a long time. However, for some reasons including gaining space in the new MacBook models, Apple developed a, so far proprietary, specific connector: the mini Displayport. As a consequence, Apple offers 3 different adaptors in option: mini Displayport -> DVI, mini Displayport -> double DVI and mini Displayport ->VGA.

But the main adaptor is still missing, a mini Displayport -> Displayport (standard format). In other words without such adaptor you simply can not use any other Displayport-enable LCD display than the new 24" Apple Cinema display. So, no chance to use the 30" Dell or Samsung displays, and all future models which should be released for Christmas time. Let's hope that Apple will quickly correct this mistake, or ask the VESA consortium to certify the mini Displayport as a new standard in order to get any other manufacturers to offer the missing adaptor. Otherwise, users and analysts will quickly conclude that, as in the past, Apple decided to create a proprietary port based on a standard format in order to lock Mac users to a limited number of display models all featuring an Apple logo...

[translation by Linathael]

- Online Petition to Get Firewire Back on MacBook - Lionel - 10:16:00

An online petition has been launched to push Apple to add Firewire back on next revision of MacBook.

We all love your products, Apple Inc.! But your recently refreshed line of consumer notebooks lacks the possibility to plug in digital audio and video equipment as well as fast mass storage devices. Therefore, we pledge to purchase a new MacBook or MacBook Air if you, the inventor of FireWire technology, would be so kind to bring back FireWire ports to those products.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

If you think like some long time Mac users that the lack of Firewire is a mistake and a real problem for those having Firewire external drive for years, then you can sign the petition at the following address: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/MB1394/petition-sign.html?

[translation by Linathael]

- Gigabit with WiFi - Lionel - 07:51:52

Source : Ars technica

If you find that the standard 802.11n is still too slow, especially for the Time Machine backups, a new network protocol suggested by the company Quantenna Communications should interest you.
According to their notes, this technology makes it possible to push the rate of data transmission to 1 Gbit/s (600 Mbits/s of effective data). To arrive at this result, they multiplied the number of antennas and channels.
This technology is derived from the 802.11n and remains completely compatible with it. Alas,in order to become a standard, it will remain confined to the makers that want to use it, whereas the number of antennas needed (at least 4) will complicate its integration into portables or USB keys.

[translation by crispin]

- Apple updates Aperture to 2.1.2 - moose - 01:03:35

Apple has just released update 2.1.2 to its pro photo app, Aperture. The update doesn't seem to do much:

This update improves the printing quality of books ordered through the Aperture printing service.  

But, if it's making the Aperture books any better than the iPhoto books, then it will be welcome: it always stroke me as weird that both pro and consumer software offer the same print products...

The update weighs about 50MB and is available through OSX's Software Update.