Apple's iOS Subscription Policies Investigated

Apple announced its iOS App Store subscription service on the 15th of February. Almost immediately, there has been some violent criticisms from developers regarding the terms of the new service.

Under the terms, Apple will take a 30 percent share of the revenue. In addition, a "most favored nation" clause states that subscription rates offered to iOS app users will have to match rates offered through external channels.

This basically means that developers who want to tap on Apples dominance over the tablet market and iTunes global reach will have to pay a high price and are forbidden from passing this extra cost over to the consumers.

The Justice Department recently sued a Michigan health-insurance company, alleging that the company used similar clauses to block competitors. Apple is currently under preliminary investigations by the US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission, the EU (European Union) is also "closely monitoring the situation".

The day after Apple announced the details of its in-app subscriptions, Google revealed a competing service called "One Pass" that will take just 10 percent of revenue. If this years Honeycomb lineup proves to be a hit, Apple might just live to regret offending its developers when they decide to offer their wares on Android instead.

Source: AppleInsider

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1008HA

Taipei, Taiwan, April 30, 2009 – ASUS has taken one of nature’s most beautiful designs and combined it with the best of today’s innovations to provide users with the most stylishly functional Eee PC™ yet. Equipped with a 10-inch display, ergonomically designed keyboard, intelligent energy management system and an intuitive multi-touch touch-pad, the Eee PC™ Seashell aims to provide users with the best mobile computing experience, wherever their journeys take them.

Elegantly Beautiful Seashell-inspired Design
With a design inspired by a seashell, the Eee PC™ Seashell is enveloped in an opalescent glossy exterior that also serves as a protective shell providing scratch resistance for day-to-day durability. Like the light sprinkling of fine sand on the exterior of a seashell, the lid is graced with tiny reflective specks which glisten in the light, adding the crowning touches to an already exquisite design. Likened to prying open an oyster to reveal its treasure within, the subtly curved lid reveals a 10-inch LED-backlit WSVGA glare-type display and an ergonomically designed keyboard makes typing on-the-move a breeze.

Designed for Mobility and Long Computing Hours
Boasting a profile measuring just 1-inch in depth and weighing 1.1kg, the svelte and lightweight Eee PC™ Seashell’s compact dimensions make it the perfect runabout Internet device anywhere. It also packs 6-hour of battery life with a single charge, making it a truly perfect all-day entertainment companion.

SpecificationsDisplay10-inch LED-backlit WSVGA Screen (1024x600 pixels) with Color-Shine (Glare-type) Operating SystemGenuine Windows® XP™ Home
GNU LinuxProcessorIntel® Atom™ N280Default Memory1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM Hybrid Storage160GB 2.5” SATA II 5400RPM HDD + 10GB Eee StorageWireless Data NetworkWLAN 802.11b/g/n @2.4GHz, Bluetooth2.1 + EDRBattery Slimmer and eco-friendly Li-polymer Battery,approx. 6 hrsMulti-mediaCamera1.3-megapixelAudio CodecHi-Definition Audio CODECSpeakersStereo SpeakersBuilt-in MicDigital Array MicInterface1 x Mini VGA Connector, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x LAN RJ-45, 2 x Audio Jack (Head Phone / Mic-in), Card Reader: MMC/ SD(SDHC)PhysicalDimensions262mm (W) x 178mm (D) x 18~25.7mm (H)Weight1.1kgColorsWhite, Black, Blue, Pink, Sapphire Blue, Ruby Red

Source: ASUS

Apple iPhone 5 rumored to have a 4-inch display

According to various news sources, Apple was said to be unveiling a lower priced iPhone Nano and that the rumored iPhone 5 may sport a 4-inch capacitive touchscreen display and powered by Cortex-A9-based A5 dual-core processor.

In fact, rumor of the larger screen size has existed for a few months now, with the first version being a 3.7-inch as compared to the iPhone 4s 3.5-inch display. The rumored news source came from the same parts manufacturer who recently claims that the iPhone 5 is likely to be a 4-inch screen instead.

With various phone manufacturers putting dual-core processor on their devices, Apple is going with the next-generation Cortex A5 dual-core processor. From iTunes code, Apple will incorporate Qualcomm chip in the iPhone 5 . It is likely to be Qualcomms new dual-mode 3G chip which supports CDMA/GSM dual-mode 3G network, or that the dual mode means 3G/4G network support.

Source: imobile.com.cn

Apple to release a 15-inch ultra-thin notebook soon

Apple may have made the headlines when it first introduced its ultrathin Macbook Air notebook for sale all over the world, but it seems that the Cupertino giant is all set to repeat that feat once again some time in the near future. Apparently, word has it that Apple is currently working onwhat is reportedly another ultrathin Mac notebook thatwill sport a 15-inch display, andthe company is already well into the "late testing stages" in the developement of such an notebook.

Details about the aforementioned ultra-thin 15-inch Mac notebook are scarce, but a report published by MacRumors has suggested that Apple may be planning to integrate the Macbook Airs design elements into the Macbook Pro lineup. This suggestion makes sense, considering how Apple has traditionally limitted the sale of laptops sporting displays equal to or larger than 15-inches to that of its professional notebook lineup. In addition, MacRumours is also claiming that the ultrathin 15-inch Mac notebook is most likely to lose the optical drive, while its storage capabilities are said to be provided by the mSATA SSDs which are currently used in the companys Macbook Air notebooks. Lastly, the new ultra-thin 15-inch Mac notebook has been speculated to be made available for sale "in time for Christmas" this year.

Source: MacRumors

ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro Cooler

Swiss CPU cooler manufacturer ARCTIC COOLING launches the Freezer 64 Pro newwith PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) fan control. This new CPU cooler is compatibleto AM2 socket of AMD, which supports e.g. the dual core processors such asAthlon™ 64 FX-62 and Athlon™ 64 X2 5000+.

The Freezer 64 Pro with PWM fan control has beside a long lasting fluiddynamic bearing also 6 active heatpipes. Thanks to smart design and the highernumber of heatpipes this new model reach higher levels of cooling performanceand surpasses the stock cooler by far. Further the fan is suspended onto avibration dampened frame, allowing for a virtually silent fan. The copper madeheatpipes secure a swift heat absorption, which can be transferred optimallythrough the cooling fins. In addition high performance thermal compound had beenpreapplied to the copper base, so that the cooler is instantly ready for easyinstallation.

This cooler is both RoHS and WEEE conform. As all ARCTIC COOLING productsthis cooler assures a long lifetime and has a 6 year warranty. This model willbe available at official ARCTIC COOLING distributors by October 2006. The MSRPis USD 34.

AMD's next-gen GPU family codenamed Sea Islands

While Southern Islands is only just beginning to roll out, a recently ex-AMD ASIC designers Linkedin profile reveals the possible codename for AMDs next-gen GPU family - Sea Islands.

During his tenure as MTS Design Engineer at AMD, Alexander Shternshain worked on Evergreen and Northern Islands - branded HD 5000 and HD 6000 families, Fusion APUs - Ontario (C/E Series), Llano (A-Series) as well as Krishna, whose fate is unknown. The final two GPU families mentioned are Southern Islands - which we already have come to know as Radeon HD 7000 family - and the future family, Sea Islands.

Unlike the rather vague codenames of Northern Islands and Southern Islands, Sea Islands directly refers to the chain of islands on the USAs Atlantic coast. We can thus expect the individual chips from the family codenamed along the lines of the prominent islands in the region.

Sea Islands, if that is indeed the final codename, is still a long way away - possibly late 2012/early 2013 at the earliest - while the rumour mill is still digesting Southern Islands. We can expect AMD to build on the GCN architecture with Sea Islands as TSMCs 28nm process matures.

Source: Linkedin

ASRock UEFI BIOS Gets Web-Update Feature

AMI UEFI and its setup program SDK has thrown open a wave of innovation from motherboard vendors, trying to cram in every feature they can think of, into the system BIOS setup program. Some of the wackier ones are web-browsers and media-players, but perhaps a more sensible new one is a web-based BIOS update utility within the setup program, courtesy ASRock.

ASRocks newest UEFI BIOS setup program can update itself by downloading the latest BIOS ROM image from the web, if you can point it to a working Internet connection. Basic network/IP configuration, including PPPoE authentication can be made within the setup program. Once configured, the utility, called Internet Flash, looks up the latest version of the BIOS for your motherboard on the web, downloads it, and updates itself.

The new BIOS update method from ASRock beats every other solution in terms of ease of use. You no longer need to find the right BIOS ROM image from the Internet and copy it onto a USB flash drive, or need an OS installation (to use Windows-based utilities that perform web-update of system BIOS), or even use ancient command-line based update methods, in which one wrong command-line argument can brick your motherboard.

ASRocks new Internet Flash feature will come standard with upcoming products. Some currently-launched motherboards could get the feature with a BIOS update. Only this one time, youd have to update the "old" way (using a USB flash drive).

Source: Expreview

Atari game sells for $33,000

A few weeks back, Harv Bennet noticed a photo of an Atari blog of one of the rarest games for the console, Air Raid. Air Raid, the only game released by developer Men-A-Vision, had a very limited distribution, and thus often sells at auction for thousands of dollars. The photo Bennet saw was of the only known copy of the game to have both the cartridge and box intact. The game had sold for $30,000 dollars, and Bennet recalled that hed once owned a copy of the game.

This might as well have been made of solid gold

Bennet dug around in his attic, and then found his old copy; this one with box and cartridge, as well as instruction manual intact. This made his copy the only truly complete packaging of the game known in existence, and so, he put it up for auction. The price reached $17,000 dollars, but in the final moments of bidding, it skyrocketed. When bidding was over, Harv Bennet was $33,433 richer.

Bennet has stated that hell be using the cash to help fix up his daughters house. One cant help but wonder what games will be worth a similar fortune in the future.

Asus set to revamp its router line-up

With the mostly disappointing AMD news today, we figured wed post some more positive news, well, that is if you care at all about routers. Asus is getting ready to revamp its entire router product range and it seems like the company got really fond of its "Black Diamond" series design as were looking at no less than five new models based on the same overall design. The best news of it all is that Asus is finally ready to launch the RT-N66U dual band router, but the design has changed quite a bit since it was first shown way back at CES in January.

Asus first router in the Black Diamond series was the RT-N56U, although it has very recently been joined by the RT-N53 which is Asus second dual band router, although its a much more basic model with only 2x2 MIMO, no simultaneous dual band and no USB connectivity, although its about half the price of the RT-N56U and it keeps the Gigabit switch.

Starting at the bottom of the new models we have the RT-N10 LX which is a basic 802.11n single antenna 150Mbps router with a standard 10/100Mbps switch and a mere 4MB of flash and 16MB of RAM. Moving up a step we have the RT-N12 LX which gains 2x2 MIMO support which offers 300Mbps connectivity speeds, but is otherwise near identical in terms of functionality to the RT-N10 LX. Both of these models sit flat and have fixed external antennas unlike the other Black Diamond series routers.

Next up we have the RT-N15U and this model has a pair of PCB antennas and support for 300Mbps MIMO connectivity. It also has a Gigabit switch, a Gigabit WAN port and a single USB port (although some specs weve seen is suggesting it might have two) that supports storage devices and printers. It also sports a built in FTP server and supports UPnP AV. The RT-N15U will likely replace the current RT-N16 over time.

Finally the top of the line model is the highly anticipated RT-N66U which initially was thought to be an Asus R.O.G. branded router, but now thats expected to be the rumoured RT-N76U. The RT-N66U is a simultaneous dual band router with Gigabit speed for the WAN and LAN ports, three detachable antennas that are used for both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands and Wi-Fi speeds of up to 450Mbps on both bands. It also sports two USB 2.0 ports which can be used with storage devices and printers. The router sports a new UI which we sadly dont have a high enough resolution picture of to post, but the general layout and design is similar to that of Asus UEFI. Theres of course support for FTP server, UPnP AV and various other features. The RT-N66U should be based on a 600MHz SoC paired up with 32MB of Flash and 1GB of DDR2 memory if initial specs prove to be correct.

In addition to the new routers, Asus is also launching the USB-N53, a dual band USB dongle with 2x2 MIMO antennas for speeds of up to 300Mbps and its been designed to go with the Black Diamond series of routers. Asus has started to make some pretty impressive network kit and our only reservation about Asus Wi-Fi products is the comparatively high price of some of its products, such as the RT-N56U which is still one of the more expensive consumer routers out there. Sadly we dont know what the new models will cost, but were expecting that the RT-N66U will be even pricier than the RT-N56U.

Update: Do note that the specs of the RT-N66U were based on what was said back in January when the unit was demoed at CES, its likely that itll come with 256MB of RAM, but we dont know the actual specifications, so well just have to wait and see when it launches.

ATi Push For Stream Computing

Today ATI (TSX:ATY)(NASDAQ:ATYT) announced that it is pioneering a newtechnology known as Stream Computing, that has the potential to dramaticallyimpact almost every sector of the market. Along with leading companies andacademic institutions worldwide, ATI is working to build a stream computingecosystem, one that delivers the performance, applications, software and toolsnecessary to turn ATI's vision into reality.

Stream computing allows ATI graphics processors (GPUs) to work in concert withtoday's high-performance, low-latency computer processors (CPUs) to solvecomplex computational problems. Using stream computing, in simulations todayprocessing of risk assessment models similar to those used by financialinstitutions' were completed 16 times faster than traditional methods(1), oiland gas companies are seeing seismic model processing increased by more than 20times(1), and Stanford University is seeing disease research accelerated by asmuch as 40 times, giving them the ability to process three years worth ofresearch data in just one month(2).

Stream computing makes use of ATI's sophisticated graphics processors (GPUs)that have until now, been used solely to calculate and render millions of pixelsonto computer monitors, hundreds of times each second. Stream computingharnesses that tremendous processing power for a wide range of scientific,business and consumer computing applications, providing organizations theability to process incredible amounts of information in significantly less time.

"ATI processors are some of the most technologically advanced computingarchitectures on the planet," said Dave Orton, president and CEO, ATITechnologies Inc. "They were designed with more than just graphics in mind, andtoday we're seeing the initial fruits of those labors with the introduction ofour stream computing initiatives. Fortune 1000 companies, leading softwaredevelopers, and academic institutions are demonstrating today that streamcomputing is they key to tremendous performance in a number of applications.Today's announcement is part of our vision of becoming a processing powerhousein the months and years to come - we're beginning to build the stream computingplatform today."

"Stream computing is a great representation of the vision of AMD's Torrenzaplatform strategy - bringing the unique capabilities of two heterogeneousprocessing solutions together to solve complex problem sets and change thegame," said Marty Seyer, senior vice president, Commercial Segment, AMD."Combining AMD64 with stream computing from ATI to address specific applicationworkloads will open up new innovation possibilities in markets such ashigh-performance computing environments. Torrenza-based technologies have thepotential to enable information to flow seamlessly between them in order tosolve problems in the most cost-effective and timely manner. We see thepotential over time for these two processing elements to become even moretightly coupled."

"The raw computational power of these DirectX-based processors is incredible andharnessing those capabilities for general purpose applications makes a lot ofsense," said Dean Lester, general manager of the Graphics Platforms Unit,Microsoft Corp. "Stream computing has the potential to positively impact howorganizations analyze data by improving the accuracy and efficiency with whichcritical business decisions are made, as well as enhancing the overall consumerexperience by enabling compelling, high-fidelity environments to gamers today.Microsoft is working closely with ATI towards a future where all of ourcustomers can experience the benefits that stream computing has to offer."

"The combined power of ATI processors and Havok FX enables physical realism onlydreamed of by today's game designers," said Jeff Yates, vice president, productmanagement, Havok. "Realistic physics is the future of videogames and togetherwe're making it possible. Just as real-time lighting and shadows are standard intoday's games, there will come a time when no game is without this level ofimmersive, true-to-life physics."

ATI's high-end processor today makes use of 48 compute cores that results in anorder of magnitude processing speed-up. In certain applications(3), ATIprocessors perform up to 40 times faster than competing processors. Theaccelerated processing associated with stream computing has implications for anumber of fields now and in the future, as the ecosystem around stream computingmatures:

Scientific research - Today ATI's stream computing efforts are helping to savelives by driving life sciences to produce results faster in areas such asdisease research, giving organizations the option to do more granular studies inthe same amount of time as in the past(4). ATI announced today that StanfordUniversity will make available a new distributed computing application thattakes advantage of ATI processors for disease research. In the future, climateresearch may also benefit from stream computing as analysis of large data setsfor storm and hurricane forecasting can be done faster or in more detail,potentially resulting in the issuing of warnings longer in advance of severeweather, and ultimately a better understanding of the world's climate.

Homeland security - Communications analysis and facial recognition can bedrastically improved using stream computing, with implications for airportsecurity, as well as photograph and video analysis.

Financial forecasting - Major institutions have been using server farms to dorisk assessment using Monte Carlo simulations, and for derivatives pricing usingmodels like Black-Scholes. Simulations conducted by PeakStream, Inc. using ATIhardware shows that stream computing can provide these companies with moredetailed answers in significantly less time, letting them make the businessdecisions they need to faster, and giving them a leg up on their competition.

Oil and gas - Companies are using stream computing to analyze more data inshorter periods of time to more quickly and reliably discover where resourceslie, speeding discoveries of crude oil deposits. ATI graphic processors inconcert with PeakStream's software platform are allowing oil and gas companiesto achieve significantly faster seismic data modeling.

Database searching - For search companies with incredibly large databases toorganize and sort through, stream computing may offer a compelling business caseproviding increased processing power in less space.

Consumer applications - Software used by millions of people around the world,such as operating systems, office applications, and graphics applications, canbenefit from stream computing. Any graphics-laden software that requires heavyprocessing can be accelerated.

Videogames - An area where ATI processors are already heavily used for graphicspurposes, working with Havok, premier provider of software and services tointeractive digital media creators, stream computing is resulting in life-likemodeling of hair, cloth, smoke, liquid, and the physics behind them, givinggamers the most immersive experience possible.

Other areas that stream computing has the potential to impact in the futureinclude enterprise software, product design and manufacturing, and digital mediaencoding among others.

With this new opportunity, ATI is also announcing a specific focus on enterprisestream computing in an effort to drive commercial adoption of stream computingwith the help of its partners. For more information on ATI's stream computinginitiatives, please see related company announcements made today on the topicsof enterprise stream computing, and Stanford University's Folding@home program.

Company of Heroes 2 en vidéo

THQ et Relic continuent sur leur lancée dans la campagne de communication de Company of Heroes 2.

Aujourd'hui, c'est une vidéo dédiée au multijoueur du jeu que l'on découvre. Les séquences de bataille ne manquent pas et l'on assiste à des combats dantesques au cours desquels Allemands et Russes s'écharpent sans pitié. C'est l'occasion de zoomer sur plusieurs unités, aussi bien d'infanterie que blindées, ainsi que sur leur rôle dans les échauffourées.

Company of Heroes 2 devrait sortir en mars 2013, exclusivement sur PC.



· Forum Company of Heroes 2

2012-12-21-515

Adult industry seeks profit in 3D printing

I have been a proponent of 3D printing since its first mention in tech blogs and have said on more than one occasion that the popularization of 3D printing will bring about a fundamental change in our society, but when I said that I definitely wasnt thinking in the same direction as Tom Nardoneof MakerLove.

The engineer turned sex toy salesman is just about making any old type of sex toys either. For him his 3D printed sex toys is a combination art and science along with technology and pleasure.

As anyone who has been involved with technology for a long time will tell you, sex has been a major influence in the popularization of technology most notably with the popularity of VCRs (and online porn), so it should come as no surprise that someone would see what a 3D printer can do and immediately start thing about things like sex toys.

However Nardonewill be the first to tell you that it is still early days with things like 3D printed sex toys, mostly due to the materials currently used in the process of printing something out as well as the difficulty in getting a smooth finished product.

There are technical hurdles, too. Right, now most 3D printers print objects at resolutions far too rough to be used comfortably in intimate areas. “There’s a bit of a texture to them,” MakerLove’s Nardone confesses.

Also, sex toys printed from material known as polyvinyl alcohol are water-soluble, which automatically rules them out for use with any water-basedlubricant. While the solution to that is simply to print othermaterials that still doesn’t solve the whole texture issue.

Nardone, however, is largely unconcerned. “The resolution will improve with time. 3D printing is just like any other technology,” he said.

Some of the more popular and affordable 3D printers are the MakerBot line of 3D printers. In its second revision, the MakerBot Replicator 2 boasts not only a default layer height of 100 microns, but also ease of use. The Replicator 2 is driven by a desktop application called MakerWare, and third party extensions such as CAD files may also be used as an input. Affordable as it may be, the Replicator 2 runs for a cool $2,199.00.

via VentureBeat