2012-12-21-111

[Rumour] Geforce GTS 455 might be GF104 based

Initially, GF104 was expected to be a 256 SP product, or half of GF100,fitting in the Geforce GTS series. However, GF104 had 50% more shadersthan originally expected - 384. Considering the Geforce GTX 465 contains352 shaders, this was bound to cause an overlap with the GF100 basedGTX 400 series. Hence, the first GF104 based products would be calledGTX 460 rather than GTS 460, as the performance will be close to GF100based cards. Of course, GTX 460 is a crippled part, and the full 384 SPGF104 is expected to perform close to the Geforce GTX 470. Nvidia is setto follow GTX 460 with GTS 400 series cards in the <$200 mainstreamsegment. They were expected to be based on GF106. However, rumours arecirculating which suggest that the top GTS 400 part, the GTS 455, couldbe based on GF104 rather than GF106.

The specifications of GF104 are rather vague, though shader count in the 192 to 256 range has been suggested, along with a 192-bit memory interface. A crippled yield-harvesting GF104 - maybe disabled to about 288 SP, and low clock speeds is once again likely to cause an overlap between the two series. Of course, the nature of GTS 455 will ultimately depend on the yield of GF104. If GF100's yield problems spill over GF104, we may see more heavily crippled GF104 parts.

Further GTS series products - GTS 450 and GTS 445 are expected to be based on GF106. GF106 cards are expected to release between August and September, followed by GF108 based GT 400 series cards.

As for GF104, following the Geforce GTX 460 768 MB and 1 GB, a fully functional 384 SP version may be released, possibly as a refresh to GTX 465 or GTX 470. If clocked high enough, it may even outperform the GTX 470 and take over a GTX 475 branding. Of course, while Nvidia is finally filling up its Geforce 400 generation, AMD is preparing their next-generation Southern Islands GPUs. It is going to be an interesting H2 2010 for the GPU industry.

Reference: Fudzilla

2012-12-21-402

Acer founder recommends Microsoft stick to software

Acer founder, Stan Shih, has publicly expressed that Microsoft should stick with its core business—software. He “recommends” that Microsoft should withdraw from the hardware market because it will have a negative impact on the OEMs that are partnering with Microsoft.

“I think Microsofts getting involved in the hardware business is designed to promote its Win8 OS. But I sincerely recommend they withdraw from the hardware market when they get what they want,” Shih said.

Contrary to Shih’s belief that Microsoft’s entrance into the hardware market will hurt OEMs, Bill Gates believes that OEMs and Microsoft can share an eco-system. Gates wants the Surface to eliminate boundaries between PCs and tablets.

The PC market has slowed down in recent years due to increasing consumer interests in tablets. Shih believes, however, that laptop PCs can remain competitive in the personal computing sector—specifically for students.

“For students, laptops with keyboards will still be the best choice,” he said, pointing out that many current tablets lack a physical keyboard.

Source: wantchinatimes.com

tfg salutes the madcap genius of rick trembles and “motion picture purgatory”

I’ve been remiss in not mentioning the work of Montreal cartoonist Rick Trembles and his incredible “Motion Picture Purgatory” on this blog before, but with a second collection of Trembles’ strips recently published by FAB Press, now seems as good a time as any to rectify that situation.

In short, Trembles hit some years ago on a genius idea so obvious it’s amazing no one ever thought of it before — reviewing movies in comic-strip form. It’s a natural, really, since both comics and film and, you know, words and pictures, it’s just that one features movement and the other doesn’t. So utilizing the comics medium to critique film is about as natural a combination as I can imagine.

I can’t really think of any other cartoonist whose work closely mirrors that of Trembles, but I think the intricately detailed “Quimby the Mouse” stuff by Chris Ware probably comes closest stylistically, and while in some strips in the late 90s/early 2000s the Ware influence is pretty pronounced, as time has gone on Trembles has really developed his own unique artistic style to go with his own voice, which he’s always had. I could go on and one about how Trembles structures a page and works the film’s themes and plotlines into the layout of his visual reviews, but, assuming it won’t get me into any sort of copyright trouble, I’ll just reprint one here and let you see for yourself —

Trembles covers a wide variety of films in his reviews, which are published weekly in the Montreal Mirror free paper and available for viewing on his website www.snubdom.com, but 70s grindhouse fare, particularly of the horror variety, is nearest and dearest to his heart. He’s not a one-trick pony, though, and everything from documentaries to comedies to golden age Hollywood classics to Ray Harryhausen (for whom Trembles’ admiration is obvious) to animation to recent Hollywood blockbusters and everything in between has come in for the Trembles treatment. In the recently-publishes Volume 2 of his collected works, for example, he covers films as varied as “The Deadly Spawn,” “The Gods of Times Square,” “Fight for Your Life,” “Cloverfield,” “The Manson Family,” “Pontypool,” “Things,” and “Visitor Q,” to title-drop just a few!

Anyway, his stuff’s a blast, and his unique brand of genius — a term I don’t throw about freely — is seriously unlike anything else you’ve ever seen. Not only is he one of the more creative and inventive cartoonists around, he’s also one of the best film critics working today, period.

Both volumes of his collected work are available directly from FAB Press (who also have an exlusive hardback edition of the second book unavailable elsewhere) or at any major online book retailer like Amazon, and are seriously worth the price. End of free, but very well-deserved, plug.

2012-12-21-303

7-inch Android tablet with IPS panel display spotted in China

The Apple iPad incorporatedIn-Plane Switching (IPS) technology for its screen, which may explain whyimages looked sharp and vivid on the tablet. It has taken many months before IPS panels become affordable for manufacturers to adopt them.

And it seems like a Chinese company is coming up with a 7-inch tablet device running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and equipped with IPS screen. A picture of the prototype is out on the web (shown above). The tablet will also come with A9 AMlogic CPU which has the performance to stream either Flash or HTML5 video with no buffering. HDMI out, SD card reader, 3G sim and USB.

Pricing will be approximately1900 yuan (US$290) andavailablefrom 10 April.

Source: Gizchina

2012-12-21-343

AACS Copy Protection Standard For DVDs

A group of high-profile technology companies and movie studios have joinedforces to create a new copy protection standard for DVDs that could allowhigh-definition movies to be copied and used inside home networks. DubbedAdvanced Access Content System, or AACS, the technology would replace theanticopying technology that now protects ordinary DVDs, but it would be focusedon next-generation, high-definition discs. The group behind the technologyincludes IBM, Intel, Warner Bros., Disney, Microsoft, Sony and Panasonic, aswell as Toshiba.

Unlike today's technology, which allows movies to be played only inauthorized DVD players, AACS would potentially allow people to store copies of amovie on home computers and watch it on other devices connected to a network--oreven transfer it to a portable movie player. Like CSS, the new AACS technologywould be added to a disc as it is created and would require specific hardware orsoftware to have the "key" to unlock the content on the disc. Technologyspecifications and licenses ready later this year and will provide licenses toall content, technology or consumers electronics companies.

2012-12-21-154

[Rumour] Nvidia Geforce GTX 470 has 215W TDP

Just 3 days short of Nvidia's official release of the Geforce GTX 400series, Fudzilla are reporting that the the GTX 470's TDP has beendropped to 215W.

The GTX 470 has rumoured to be a 225W TDP product for quite some time -which is right on the barrier of the GTX 470's 6+6pin configuration,which is officially rated for exactly 225W.

Other details remain unchanged. Final specifications are available in our previous article.

Reference: Fudzilla