News for Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Supertalent unveiled its new SSD models:

Thos new SSD are available in two distinct series: either based on SLC chips with capacity up to 128 GB or based on MLC chips with a storage space up to 256 GB. As the company is confident in the superiority of its new products, they also released a PDF file compiling comparison between those new models and the well-known reference, the Intel X25-M. You can download it here.

And as one could have expected it, their new SSD are shinning, however it will have to be fully validated by independent tests, so if Supertalent wants to compare its SSDs on Mac, we would be more than happy to test some samples. Last but not least, prices are aligned for MLC chips-based models to be slightly lowered than those of corresponding models from OCZ. Is it the beginning a true competition that will bring prices down to make SSD finally a mass market product, and not a device restricted to elite? We can only expect it.

As one could have expected it, one can already find the iPhone OS 3.0 on the P2P networks. Following attractive announcements yesterday, some iPhone owners have tried to dowload this new beta version and tried to isntall it on their iPhones. Bad draw. One can not activate the iPhone and then use it, if you do not have a developer account! And as Apple indicates it clearly, it is impossible to restore the iPhone OS 2.x...

So, if you planned to try the current iPhone OS 3.0 for non-developer usage, simply do not even try. If you already tried to perform this operation, you then have 2 options: purchase a 99 USD developer account, and put your iPhone in a drawer till the official iPhone OS 3.0 is officially released next September...

If one would need a proof that Psystar intends to keep selling Hackintosh, hereafer is a good one. They released new models featuring a more shinny design.

This computer is powered by a Core 2 Duo, which can be upgraded to Core 2 Quad, and the default graphical card is a GeForce 8400GS, with the high-end GeForce 9500GT in option. The basic model is available at 600 USD. With the recently released Mac mini, this entry level hackintosh is not as interesting as before, even though it has more muscle, the Mac mini has the size factor, its quiet working status and is a true Mac.

While we did not offer a live coverage of the iPhone OS 3.0 special event, some of us followed it. Frankly, only the last minutes were enjoyable, and we had to spend one boring hour before getting some interesting and promising announcements. We can define the new features found in iPhone OS 3.0 in 3 categories:

-Features for iPhone users:

      Copy/Paste function
      Shake to Shuffle
      Search function
      Voice notes
       ...

- Features for iPhone competitors

      Support for Bluetooth headphones
      Support for MMS

- Features for Pro users and developers

Apple made several changes in its iPhone OS, to bring more functions to users, and less attack angles for competitors. The most important is that with this new version of this OS, current iPhone owners will be able to get access to all those functions for free, while most mobile phone owners often have to purchase a new model to get new associated features. Apple demonstrates here that while the iPhone might be a bit more expensive than some competitors' models, it is cheaper on the long-term as its OS will evolve and bring new functions over time at no cost for the owners.

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Even if the Atom is the holy bread for Intel during this crisis period, it is also a head ache because its success eclipses that of the more powerful and more expensive processors and comes to nibble their market share. So to avoid this kind of thing, Intel already set up commercial constraints. Thus it is impossible to exceed a certain sizes of screen or exceed a given storage capacity.

The foundry would now like to add a new constraint; to fix the maximum price of the finished machines. It aims for $300, which is largely the lower part of the currently offered products and that have screens of 10". Of course, in this crisis period, the partners of Intel will resist. It should be said that they sell Atom based machines at higher and higher prices, sometimes at more than $700 tariff, a price point where one finds PCs containing the Core 2 Duo. However, If Intel makes 200€ on a configuration Core 2 Duo, they do not recover hardly anything on the $70 Atom.

This is perhaps why they invoice Xeon Nehalem at such a high price where they do not have any competition!