The Tubes are atwitter with discussion of the news from PDC this week, not least of which was the announcement of Microsoft's new Windows Azure cloud computing platform. Details about the offering remain scant at this point -- the SDKs and developer programs are "by invitation only" -- but what I've heard so far sounds promising. I'm particularly interested in Live Services, which finally lifts the lid off the inner workings of Live Mesh (of which I am a devoted user). But while I'm fairly rah-rah about the potential of cloud computing platforms in theory, I remain skeptical about their efficacy for enterprise software development in practice. By comparison, Microsoft is nothing if not gung-ho. Where Amazon and Google have tread carefully, unveiling their cloud services first as pilot programs with limited applications, Microsoft seems determined to deliver its version of the cloud to its entire ISV community on a plate. While the geek in me is itching to play around with this stuff, my instinct says "caution." Let's dispense with the "Microsoft is evil" argument for the moment: Who wants to get in bed with Microsoft for something like this? Windows developers, that's who. You Microsoft ISV partners out there all recognize that a certain amount of vendor lock-in goes with the territory. It might be nice not to have to keep that revenue stream going from your accounts into Microsoft's, but for you the benefits outweigh the costs -- and the risks. And if you think about it, who makes for a better cloud-computing partner than Microsoft? They're already expanding their datacenters, up there in Redmond, to support the new hosted platforms. That's exactly the kind of thing you want from a cloud vendor. Microsoft reaches into its deep pockets so you don't have to have deep pockets of your own. So what if your applications will be tied to Microsoft's services and APIs? For Windows developers that's true already. I believe, however, that the kind of lock-in you get with a cloud-computing service is different than the lock-in you get with the Windows developer ecosystem as it exists today. For the sake of argument, let's suppose that you have developed a traditional Windows application for your business. One day, Microsoft releases a new version of a key framework, and the updated API breaks some of your code. You now have several options. One is to rewrite your code, introducing a certain amount of cost and risk. Another option is to do nothing, and continue to run your software with the older version of the framework. That will doubtless work for a while, but eventually the older framework might not work with a new version of Windows, or even a new Service Pack. These sorts of compatibility issues are a fact of life with all forms of software. The important thing is that they are always manageable. Even if you have to find an aging MS-DOS computer to run your legacy code, that is still an option -- for a while, at least. But where are you going to find an old version of the Microsoft's cloud computing platform to run your legacy Windows Azure code? With the cloud computing model, when you buy a ticket, you're in for the ride. When Microsoft says it's time to update your code to suit the latest version of its platform, you'd better do it. Think that kind of thing won't happen? I believe it's more than likely, particularly as the market for cloud-computing services heats up. Let's suppose that tomorrow some clever graduate student comes up with a way to scale cloud services more cheaply and effectively than any other method before. Do you think Microsoft will ignore this method if it thinks it needs it to stay competitive? Even if all of its customers will have to adjust their code to work with the new method, do you think Microsoft will be deterred? Cloud computing environments create a whole new kind of developer partner. In traditional ISV relationships, the customer pays the fees for the necessary tools and then the sky is the limit. With cloud computing, the customer's capabilities are directly influenced by the vendor's bottom line. If the vendor decides it can no longer afford to provide certain services -- or service levels, or security, or guarantees of privacy -- then henceforth that will be the new deal. My nightmare scenario is that we'll end up with application hosting services offered up on the same terms as credit cards. Every few months, a slim brochure will arrive in the mail explaining the new terms and what we'll need to do to remain in the program. Even if it never comes to that, the fact that the vendor has its hand on the on/off switch is what makes the cloud computing model seem so troubling. The day that the vendor -- be it Microsoft or anyone else -- decides that your applications are no longer going to run on its platform is the day that they stop running, period. If you raised an eyebrow at the revelation that Google has reserved the option to terminate applications running on Android phones remotely, this fact of life of cloud computing should give you even more pause. OK, so I can't keep you from harping on Microsoft forever. I'm sure some of you are already itching to say, "It's Microsoft, what do you expect?" But my question is this: Given these realities, just what cloud computing vendor would you trust to host your apps? Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/153063/cloud_computing_azure.html?tk=rss_news
Epicor Software's anticipated Epicor 9 ERP (enterprise resource planning) suite will be generally available before the end of this year, the Irvine, California, company announced Monday at the start of its annual customer conference in Las Vegas. Epicor 9 was designed to pull together the best features from various Epicor product lines into a "next-generation superset" based on a SOA (service oriented architecture) and including functions such as CRM (customer relationship management), SRM (supplier relationship management), BPM (business process management), GRC (governance, risk, compliance) and EPM (enterprise performance management). Existing customers will be able to adopt the newer applications at their own speed, with no forced migrations to the new platform, said Epicor, which focuses on the midmarket and divisions of large enterprises. It's a similar story to that told by Oracle with its Fusion Applications strategy, which will bring together features from product lines like J.D. Edwards, Siebel and E-Business Suite. It also echoes Microsoft's Project Green, an effort to bring that vendor's Dynamics ERP applications closer together. Epicor 9 is closely aligned with Microsoft technologies such as Office 2007 and SharePoint. Users can access the software through various means, from standard application forms to Office applications and mobile devices. Epicor's "Everywhere Framework" captures user-interface attributes as XML metadata, allowing the applications to maintain the same look and feel across multiple client types. The initial release of Epicor 9 is expected to support 20 languages and countries. The software is available in both on-premises and SaaS (software as a service) forms. Overall, the release represents a major moment for Epicor, which claims to have more than 20,000 customers in more than 140 countries. The company had about US$430 million in revenue during its fiscal 2007. Epicor plans to continue supporting older products, but Epicor 9 "will be the one path forward for new customers in manufacturing, distribution, retail/hospitality, and services," AMR Research analyst Bruce Richardson wrote in a recent blog post. "Getting to one brand obviously offers the potential for greater efficiencies in sales, marketing, consulting and services, and product development." While midsize vendors like Epicor can get overlooked due to the high profiles of Oracle and SAP, if the 9 launch is done well, Epicor will "have a much higher profile by the end of the year," according to Richardson. In the meantime, the company could see some changes in the ownership department. Board members are weighing a hostile takeover bid by Elliott Associates LP, a hedge fund. Also, in a separate interview Monday, Richardson said it's possible that Epicor could be bought by another vendor -- such as acquisition-happy Oracle -- despite the link to Microsoft's technology. That's because Oracle's leadership knows it is easier to buy customers than go out and secure new ones, according to Richardson. Sales cycles, already expensive and time-consuming, "aren't getting any shorter, and won't as long as there's [economic] uncertainty," he said. There is also plenty of ERP business left in the midmarket, he added: "A lot of people are still sitting there with AS/400s and green screens saying, 'We need to put in a better system.'" Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/152486/.html?tk=rss_news
Sony has developed next-generation prototype speakers that hang from a ceiling or come with an entire home audio system built-into the base, utilizing the same technology in its distinctive Sountina . The two working prototypes were unveiled Wednesday at a Sony event in Tokyo held for electronics retailers and its dealers. Like the Sountina, they emit sound from long, glass tubes, said Nobukazu Suzuki, an acoustic system engineer in Sony's audio business group and developer of the speakers. Also like the recently-launched Sountina, the glass tube in the prototypes is energized by small drive devices that couple with the tube and vibrate vertically. Waves travel up through the tube and are dispersed in a 360 degree spread horizontally from the tube. What all this means is that sound spreads out from the tube in a uniform manner and can be heard equally well from any position around it. The hanging speaker, dubbed "Hibiki," looks like a stylish light and is envisaged as something that could be positioned over a table or in a room where it could hang without looking like a speaker, said Suzuki. The second prototype, named "Kanade," is an upright speaker not dissimilar to the Sountina only smaller and not as imposing. Just under the speaker a digital audio player is integrated into the device so the unit can function as an all-in-one audio system with nothing but a power cable required. Technology development of both devices is complete, so the biggest hurdle standing between them and the store shelf is a marketing decision. That's something that Sony hasn't yet taken so there's no word on when or if they might ever become products. Sony's NSA-PF1 Sountina, which was unveiled in May, went on sale in Japan in June at the premium price of ¥1 million (US$9,295)। It's also becoming available in major markets around the world. Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150934/.html?tk=rss_news
Intel Corp. is expected to release its six-core Xeon 7400 chip Monday, just as VMware Inc.'s big annual show begins in Las Vegas. And the timing is no coincidence. Intel's chip is aimed at users seeking a consolidation and virtualization server platform, analysts say. Moving multiple virtual machines (VMs) to a six-core chip will improve management of virtual as well as physical systems. Consolidating physical servers to a single, presumably energy efficient system, may help users tight on data center space. Intel isn't alone in picking VMware's conference to release its chip. Over the next week, vendors will be making numerous hardware announcements all designed with virtualization in mind. As virtualization use expands in data centers, so does the need for server hardware with added processing capability, memory and networking connections. Vendors will announce over the next week products tuned for virtualization, integration with virtualization platforms, and new services to support deployment. Dell Inc., for instance, today announced new PowerEdge blade servers, including the M905 four socket, dual- or quad-core Advance Micro Devices Inc., chips, it says can support 66 virtual machines. The system can support Citrix XenServer, VMware and Microsoft's Hyper-V. The company announced new storage and services as well. In describing Intel's six-core chip, code-named Dunnington, at the Intel Developers Forum last month, Pat Gelsinger, Intel executive vice president, cited a number of workloads for it, including database, ERP, Java-based and virtualization. AMD is also working on a six-core chip, code-named Istanbul, which is due out in the second half of next year. Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight 64 in Saratoga, Calif., said the six-core system is a niche product intended for large applications such as such as transaction-oriented workloads and databases that already use multithreaded environments and virtualization. The six-core Xeon was built on a single piece of silicon, unlike Intel's quad-core chips which are built from two dual-core chips. As a result of the improvements in Dunnington, Brookwood said it handles caching much better, improving performance. He called it "the best multiple core chip that Intel has introduced to date." With six cores, Brookwood said users can consolidate more VMs in one physical server, and being able to do so improves the management of the VMs. The risk is that if that physical server should fail for any reason, it can affect lots of people, Brookwood said. The increased number of cores not only lend themselves to managing more workloads, but six core systems will also take up less space in a data center and use less power, said Rich Partridge, an analyst at Ideas International Ltd in Rye Brook, N.Y. For some users, "having a consolidated server that is more efficiently managed is very attractive," he said. Partridge also said Intel is seeking to appeal to users who have typically turned to Unix and RISC-based systems to operate large workloads। But he also said the target audience for this server isn't users who want to run one workload across six cores, but those who want to manage multiple apps across a hypervisor. Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150906/intel_six_core_xeon.html?tk=rss_news
Two years after entering the digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera market, Sony has capped off its Alpha range of cameras with a high-end model that features a full-frame sensor and 24.6-megapixel resolution. Sony is aiming the camera at serious photographers and it carries a price to match: around US$3,000 for the body alone. Behind the lens of the Alpha 900 sits the full-frame image sensor that Sony first unveiled earlier this year. A full-frame sensor is the same size as a 35mm film frame and is about double the size of the sensors used in most other digital cameras with interchangeable lenses. The sensor was developed by Sony and is a proprietary unit that integrates 6,000 analog-to-digital convertors. Sony said the inclusion of the convertors in the sensor means analog signals are converted to digital at an earlier stage so noise is reduced. It's also faster than feeding the entire frame into a single convertor, the company said. The sensor works hand-in-hand with two of the company's Bionz image processing chips to capture and deliver images. The processing speed of the system means continuous shooting at full resolution is possible at up to 5 frames per second. To match the new sensor full-frame lenses are required for full resolution. Optics specifically designed for use with earlier Alpha digital cameras with the smaller sensors can be used on the Alpha 900 but the resolution of the images will be lower. Other features include an in-camera anti-shake system and the ability to evaluate different camera settings without taking multiple shots. By pressing the depth-of-field button the camera grabs a preview image. Using the 3-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) it's possible to try different white balance settings and adjust the dynamic range and exposure compensation before taking an actual shot. The camera has a built-in HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) connector so it can be connected to a TV for photo viewing and records to MemoryStick or Compact Flash cards. It measures 156 millimeters by 117mm by 82mm and weighs 850 grams. The Alpha 900 will be available later this year। In Europe it will launch in October and in the U.S. in November. Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150884/.html?tk=rss_news
Nikon on Tuesday announced that it is shipping the Coolpix S60, a point-and-shoot digital camera with 10 megapixel sensor. It costs US$349.95. The Coolpix S60 features a 3.5-inch touchscreen LCD and optical image stabilization.The Coolpix S60 features a 3.5-inch touch screen LCD interface and 5x Zoom-Nikkor lens. The camera also features Optical VR Image Stabilization technology. It has a scene auto selector mode, portrait one-touch zoom function, customizable "Home" screen with three options, and allows you to scroll through your photos using your fingertip on the screen. Other features include auto image rotation depending on how the camera is oriented, a draw function and paint function (both work either with a fingertip or via the included stylus), HDMI connectivity, and various color options--red, black, white, burgundy, pink and bronze। Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150846/.html?tk=rss_news
Epson on Tuesday revealed their expanded line of new all-in-one printers with the NX100, NX200 and NX300. The three new models join the already-introduced NX400 and will be available at prices ranging from US$69.99 to $89.99. The NX300 is available now, with the NX100 and NX200 to follow in October. The NX300 can fax, print, copy and scan.The Stylus NX series all-in-one devices are aimed at entry-level users at home who need to print, scan, copy and fax but don't want to lay out a lot of money, according to Epson. The NX300 features fax capabilities and a 30-page Auto Document Feeder (ADF). It includes ABBYY FineReader Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software and can remember 100 pages of faxes. The NX100 prints black at 26 pages per minute (PPM) and the NX200 prints black or color documents at up to 32 PPM. The NX200 also has a PictBridge interface to connect directly to compatible digital cameras through USB, rather than requiring a card slot or Mac interface first. All the new NX models use Epson Durabrite Ultra inks, which are smudge and water resistant. They use four individual ink tanks, and Epson is offering the ink cartridges in "moderate," "standard" and "high capacity" versions, depending on how much printing you plan to do. The printers also support borderless printing, and can support two-sided printing. Other features include built-in red eye reduction for photos, photo restoration capabilities and Energy Star compliance. System requirements call for Mac OS X 10।3.9, 10.4 or 10.5. Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150839/.html?tk=rss_news
Hewlett-Packard (HP) will release a laptop next month that can run for to 24 hours using a high-capacity battery -- but only if it's running Microsoft's Windows XP operating system. The long-lasting notebook will be a special configuration of the 6930p, part of HP's EliteBook line that the company targets at businesses. The allure of a battery that can last a day is incontestable, as anyone who has spent time in an airport searching for a power outlet knows. The secret to the 6930p's long battery life is new technology -- and some old technology too. To get the best battery performance, the 6930p will have to run Windows XP rather than Windows Vista, Microsoft's latest operating system. Vista has been criticized as being a power hog, although some of its flashy, power-draining features such as the translucent Aero windows can be turned off. Although Microsoft has been heavily pushing Vista, HP has said it will offer downgrades from Vista to Windows XP on business laptops through next year. The 6930p will also need a 12-cell Ultra-Capacity Battery, which sells for US$189. The battery lasts about 10 hours longer than the regular-capacity one. The new laptop model will also have HP's Illumi-Lite LED (light-emitting diode) display, which the company says adds four more hours to a battery's life than a traditional LCD (liquid crystal display) screen. Further power savings will come from the use of an Intel SSD (solid-state drive), which uses power-saving NAND flash memory rather than a rotating magnetic disk to store information. Use of an Intel SSD enables the battery to last around 7 percent longer, HP said. HP is one of Intel's partners and will soon being incorporating Intel X25-M and X18M Mainstream SATA SSDs in its products. HP lists the current available version of the 6930p as starting at $1,199 on its Web site, although the company has not listed how much the 24-hour battery life configuration will cost। Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150824/hp_laptop_battery.html?tk=rss_news
Tranquil PC, of the U.K., is taking preorders for a home server based on the dual-core version of Intel's Atom processor that will be available on Sept. 30, but said supply of the system is "very limited." Tranquil's £299 (US$530) T7-HSG server is based on the as-yet unreleased Atom 330, a dual-core chip that was announced at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco last month, as part of a new motherboard designed for low-cost desktops. At that time, Intel didn't reveal details of the chip. But Tranquil said the Atom 330 has two 1.6GHz processor cores. Instead of two cores on a single piece of silicon -- like Intel's other dual-core processors -- the chip appears to package two 1.6GHz Atom processors in a single chip, according to a picture posted on Tranquil's corporate blog. This suggests a rushed design. Dual-core processors are far more complicated than simply putting two chips together. These designs are optimized so cores can share the processor's limited memory access most efficiently, and generally include sophisticated power-management systems to reduce power consumption when both cores aren't required. Intel doesn't comment on unreleased products. It wasn't immediately clear how Intel has addressed these issues with the Atom 330, but the chip's design may explain why a mobile version of the dual-core Atom hasn't been announced. Like other Atom systems, the T7-HSG has some hardware constraints relative to systems based on other processors, a strategy adopted by Intel to help segment the PC market and prevent sales of computers based on more expensive Intel chips from being cannibalized. For example, the dual-core Atom motherboard has a single memory card slot that can hold up to 2G bytes of DDR2 memory. Most computers can handle twice that amount with two memory slots. The limited availability of the T7-HSG matches the ongoing shortage of the Atom processor. Demand for Atom has repeatedly surpassed Intel's forecasts and the company has struggled to match the fast-rising popularity of the chip. The production constraint lies in the back-end testing stage of the manufacturing process, where Intel says there is not enough capacity available to meet demand for the low-cost Atom chip. The problem is compounded by the lower selling price of Atom relative to Intel's other products, which generate more revenue for the company and therefore have priority in the testing process। Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150821/intel_atom_dual.html?tk=rss_news
As Microsoft watchers may recall, Microsoft’s gag order on “Fiji” (Windows Media Center TV Pack) was slated to officially end this week, concurrent with the CEDIA Expo show. Announcements regarding the first PCs preloaded with Fiji are expected from: Fluid DigitalS1DigitalLifewareCannon PCMicrosoft released Fiji to manufacturing in July. In August, Microsoft confirmed rumors that it would make Fiji available only preloaded on brand-new Visat Media Center PCs, enraging many testers and Vista Ultimate users who had assumed they’d be able to add TV Pack to their existing Vista machines. Many Media Center customers and testers also were none too happy that the expected DirecTV support didn’t make it into the final Fiji release. Meanwhile, speaking of Microsoft Media Center, there is some interesting food for thought on the WindowsConnected blog regarding how Microsoft might go about creating a universal media experience across all of its platforms. Stated as a plea to J Allard, Microsoft’s recently crowned Chief Experience Officer, the post by WindowsConnected’s Matt Freestone lays out a proposal for a way Microsoft could “end Sony’s reign of terror in the living room.” From Freestone’s post: Continue At Source Reference : http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1566
Intel is shipping solid-state drives that are designed for use in desktop and laptop computers, the company said Monday। The X-18M and X-25M solid-state drives fit into 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch drive bays, respectively. Both models use multi-level cell flash memory chips and come with storage capacity of 80GB and cost $595, in 1,000-unit quantities. A 160GB version of these drives will be available to hardware makers in sample quantities later this year, Intel said. The 80GB drives can write data at speeds up to 70MB per second and have a read latency of 85 microseconds, Intel said. Solid-state drives are more costly than hard disks that store data on magnetic platters, but they offer several advantages. They have no moving parts, which makes them more reliable and consume less power. That also makes them silent, a feature that can be key in certain applications, such as home entertainment systems. Besides higher cost, there are other tradeoffs with solid-state drives. Flash memory cells wear out over time, and this problem is more serious with multi-level cell flash chips. To get around this problem, drive makers use wear-levelling technology that relies on an algorithm that spreads write cycles evenly across all of the chip’s memory cells. This prevents some cells from wearing out before others and extends the life of solid-state drives. Single-level cell flash chips last longer than multi-level cell chips and can write data faster, but they are significantly more expensive. Solid-state drives based on single-level cell flash chips are generally designed for high-end applications, such as servers. Intel plans to soon release a solid-state drive, the X-25E, based on this type of flash memory. Designed for storage arrays and servers, these drives will be available in about 90 days, the company said। Reference : http://www.macworld.com/article/135439/2008/09/intel_ssd.html?lsrc=rss_main
Intel announced four new quad-core Xeon models on Monday that use a halogen-free packaging technology that is easier on the environment. The Quad-Core Xeon L5430, X5470, X5492, and X5270 processors run at clock speeds ranging from 2.66GHz to 3.5GHz and are priced from US$562 to $1,493 each, in 1,000-unit quantities. The 5400-series chips are available immediately and the X5270 will be released in the coming months. Intel did not say where halogen was specifically used in its chips, but it is often used as a flame retardant, including in the resin used in packaging for some chips. Halogen releases dioxins, a family of toxic chemical compounds, into the atmosphere when these chips or other components are disposed of and the resins are burned. Intel is working to use halogen-free packaging for all of its chips, and has previously said it expects to achieve that goal this year. The first halogen-free chips from Intel were the Atom line, released earlier this year. With the announcement of the latest four Xeons, Intel said the same packaging materials will now be used in all of its Xeon server chips. The use of halogen-free packaging marks the latest step in Intel's efforts to curb the environmental impact of its chips। Last year, the company began using lead-free solder with its Penryn family of chips that are produced using a 45-nanometer process. Lead, which is highly toxic, has been the subject of environmental legislation to reduce its use in several markets. Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150772/intel_quad_xeon.html?tk=rss_news
Adobe will officially announce Creative Suite 4 on September 23, 2008. The company will also host a webcast introducing the products to the public. Creative Suite is a collection of Adobe applications that the company sells to help professionals be more efficient. For instance, Adobe currently sells Production Premium, Web Premium, and a Master Collection, all targeted to different market segments. Creative Suite 3 included InDesign, Acrobat, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Illustrator, Photoshop and Premiere Pro. The Adobe webcast introducing the suite will take place on September 23, 2008 at 9:00 am ET. You can register for the webcast online। Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150661/.html?tk=rss_news
Intel announced four new quad-core Xeon models on Monday that use a halogen-free packaging technology that is easier on the environment. The Quad-Core Xeon L5430, X5470, X5492, and X5270 processors run at clock speeds ranging from 2.66GHz to 3.5GHz and are priced from US$562 to $1,493 each, in 1,000-unit quantities. The 5400-series chips are available immediately and the X5270 will be released in the coming months. Intel did not say where halogen was specifically used in its chips, but it is often used as a flame retardant, including in the resin used in packaging for some chips. Halogen releases dioxins, a family of toxic chemical compounds, into the atmosphere when these chips or other components are disposed of and the resins are burned. Intel is working to use halogen-free packaging for all of its chips, and has previously said it expects to achieve that goal this year. The first halogen-free chips from Intel were the Atom line, released earlier this year. With the announcement of the latest four Xeons, Intel said the same packaging materials will now be used in all of its Xeon server chips. The use of halogen-free packaging marks the latest step in Intel's efforts to curb the environmental impact of its chips। Last year, the company began using lead-free solder with its Penryn family of chips that are produced using a 45-nanometer process. Lead, which is highly toxic, has been the subject of environmental legislation to reduce its use in several markets. Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150772/.html?tk=rss_news
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 8, 2008 – Intel Corporation continues to expand its 45-nanometer (nm) manufacturing chip portfolio with the launch of its first four halogen-free Intel® Xeon® processors, signaling another step in Intel's march toward minimizing the environmental footprint of its products. The chips reach new heights in performance and energy efficiency. Much of the energy efficiency these new processors provide comes from Intel's advanced 45nm manufacturing capability and its reinvented transistors that use a Hafnium-based high-k metal gate formula. In addition, all previously launched versions of the Intel Xeon 5200 and 5400 series will now be halogen-free. The processors are drop-in compatible with existing Intel dual processor platforms that have been in the market since 2006. The Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor 5400 Series consists of the new X5492, X5470 and L5430 processors, the fastest of which boasts a clock speed of 3.4GHz. The low voltage version uses only 50 watts of power or just 12.5 watts per core. The Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor X5270 runs as low as 80 watts with frequencies as high as 3.5 GHz. Organizations using workstation, high-performance, blade and mainstream servers will benefit most from this increased versatility. Recent benchmark results on these processors show that Intel continues to deliver higher performance within the same power envelope with each Xeon® processor advancement. On the SPECint*_rate2006, which measures Integer throughput performance, a SuperMicro SuperServer 6025B-TR+ server running the X5470 processor sets a world record1 with a score of 150. A Fujitsu-Siemens PRIMERGY RX200 S4 server using the X5470 processor running SPECjbb*2005 benchmark extends Intel's lead on Oracle JRockit® JVM with a score of 316,728 BOPS. "Intel continues to expand our R&D efforts in eco-innovation while delivering unmatched versatility and performance," said Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of Intel's Server Platforms Group. "Customers using these new Xeon processors will not only benefit from greater performance and energy efficiency within existing platforms, but they will be the very first to use Intel's halogen-free technology." A number of systems vendors are supporting these new processors including Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, Gigabyte, HP, IBM, Microstar, NEC, Quanta, Rackable Systems Inc., Sun Microsystems, Supermicro, Tyan and Verari Systems. The new 5400 series processors are available now, while the X5270 will be available this fall. Pricing and Availability (1ku quantities) Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor L5430 2.66GHz 1333MHz 50W $562 Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor X5470 3.33GHz 1333MHz 120W $1386 Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor X5492 3.4GHz 1600MHz 150W** $1493 Dual-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor X5270 3.5GHz 1333MHz 80W $1172 Further information is available at www.intel.com/xeonReference : http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20080907comp.htm?cid=rss-90004-c1-212431
The One Laptop Per Child ( OLPC) association plans to launch the upcoming second generation of its low-cost XO laptop in the first quarter of 2010, according to an official from the group. The XO-2, an update to the original XO laptop that's designed for low-cost computing for kids in developing nations, will carry two 16-inch by 9-inch touchscreens and eschew a keyboard. It opens like a book and can either be held vertically for reading, or horizontal for laptop computing. When used horizontally, the bottom touchscreen displays a keyboard for typing. The new design is based on the fact e-books are a necessity for schools and should make reading easier. "The e-book reader is the most popular function of the laptop," said Matt Keller, director of Europe, Middle East and Africa at OLPC, in an interview Wednesday. The XO-2 was announced in May, but with scant details beyond a general 2010 time frame for its roll out. The new device will improve upon the XO, which has captured the world's imagination as a way to lower the cost of putting computers in the hands of kids throughout the world, thereby narrowing the gap between modern and developing nations in terms of computing expertise. The XO currently costs around US$203 or $204 to make, said Keller, while the XO-2 will likely cost around $80. OLPC's Web site says the goal of the project is to reach a price of $75 per laptop for educational buyers. The key technology behind the new laptop is the touch screen, which is being developed by Mary Lou Jepsen at Pixel Qi। The company says it already has several screen manufacturers interested in building its screens.
Steinberg on Wednesday unveiled a new upgrade to its digital audio workstation (DAW), Cubase. The update brings Cubase to version 4.5, adding several new features, including compatibility with Sequel 2. The new version of Cubase features full support for the upcoming Steinberg MR816 CSX/X Advanced Integration DSP Studios and the CC121 Advanced Integration Controller. This gives users an integrated DAW to be able to work with hardware and software. Cubase 4.5 also introduces VST Sound that the company describes as an "improved universal media management format." Steinberg is including the VST Sound Collection Vol. 1, offering 1.6GB of new sounds and instruments. Among the 45 new instruments for HALion One is the S90ES Grand by Yamaha. Cubase 4.5 also includes drums, basses, guitars and other instruments by Sonic Reality, as well as 250 loops by Big Fish Audio. Pricing for the full version and the upgrade policy were not available at the time this story was posted. Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150620/.html?tk=rss_news
Adobe plans to offer its customers the first overview of Creative Suite 4।0 later this month and could be ready to deliver the software to market as early as this fall, according to those close to the company.The Mountain View, Calif-based software maker released public betas of CS4-bound applications Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Soundbooth in late May, but has kept secret its plans for some of the suite's more prominent components, namely Photoshop and Flash.That's about to change. The company this week began notifying its customers that it intends to host a webcast covering its next-generation software bundle at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, September 23rd. "Are you ready for something brilliant?," the company wrote on the digital registration form for the presentation. "Be one of the first to see Adobe Creative Suite 4.0 in a special web broadcast."Word of the event comes amid an increasing number of reports from Adobe's partners who say the company is aiming for a near 18-month refresh cycle of its bread and butter software suite, with a release as early as October. This comes despite earlier claims of an October release that were hotly contested by company representatives.Creative Suite 3.0, which delivered universal binaries of all major component applications for the Mac, was announced in March of 2007. Adobe offered several different editions or bundles of the suite when it began shipping between the months of April and June that year.People familiar with the ongoing development of Creative Suite 4.0 say a good chunk of Adobe's resources for the project were devoted to bringing two applications acquired from Macromedia -- Dreamweaver and Fireworks -- up to spec with its existing flagship offerings. However, the company is expected to tout a handful of significant enhancements to both Photoshop and Flash.For example, the company is expected to announce that Photoshop CS4 (codenamed Stonehenge) will be capable of pulling in 3D objects as wireframes. Although UV mapping won't be supported, the feature will reportedly allow sales teams to perform quick color changes and color corrections. The new version of Photoshop will also feature a Flash services panel, natural canvas rotation, content aware image resizing and deliver 64-bit support for Windows users।Separately, Adobe is planning a slew of enhancements in Flash CS4 (codenamed Diesel) that have resonated well with early testers, leading some to bill upgrade as "the best thing" to happen to Flash in quite some time. Among these will be a completely new "and proper" timeline dubbed Motion Editor, as well as a new object-based motion tween model.Other enhancements bound for Flash CS4 reportedly include an "Inverse kinematics" tool for building complex animations and 3D rotation support. Reference : http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/09/02/adobe_set_to_take_the_wraps_off_creative_suite_4_0.html
Nikon's latest digital SLR delivers a range of improvements over its predecessor, the D80, the most intriguing of which is video capture।Nikon has been busy this summer. First came the D700--a full-frame, professional/enthusiast digital single-lens reflex camera that neatly fills the gap between the company's D300 and D3 models. Now, with the D90, Nikon has unleashed another digital SLR refresh--this time, to its midrange SLR. The Nikon D90, which replaces Nikon's current D80, provides similar functionality to the D300 but at a lower price ($1000 for the body only, or $1300 with the 18-105mm Vibration Reduction kit lens, as compared with the D300's $1800 body-only price). The resolution is the same (12.3 megapixels); and so too are the sensor cleaning system, the picture control system, and the sensor size (DX format). What's new: Nikon has improved its Expeed Image Processor to provide better noise reduction on ISO levels of up to 6400. The scene recognition system adds face detection and an improved metering system. And Live View mode gets its own dedicated button and lets you focus on a specific point in the frame. The camera also offers HDMI output (unusual in an SLR): a continuous shooting speed of 4.5 frames per second, and an 11-point autofocus system that is better than the D80's. What makes me eager to take this model for a spin, though, is the D90's video recording capability--a huge boon, and a move that enables the last desirable point-and-shoot-only feature to migrate to the SLR realm. Nikon achieves its video capture, called D-Movie, by recording motion JPEG .AVI movies at 24 frames per second. The camera has three movie-mode resolutions--1280 by 720 (for 720p high-definition videos that have a 16:9 aspect ratio and can run for up to 5 minutes); 640 by 480; and 320 by 216 (the last two modes carry a 20-minute time limit). Another nifty feature is support for geo-tagging via an optional GP-1 GPS unit (due in November; pricing to be announced). The prospect of using a digital SLR to capture video clips is especially enticing in view ofthe range of lenses at your disposable। I'm already salivating at some of the creative possibilities that the D90 opens up, though I worry about the challenge of holding the camera steady for the duration of a video several minutes--or more--long. Reference : http://www.pcworld.com/article/150340/Nikon_D90.html?tk=rss_news
Standardization efforts for the next version of JavaScript have taken a sharp turn this month, with some key changes in the Web scripting technology’s direction. JavaScript creator Brendan Eich, CTO of Mozilla, has helped forge a consensus on how to proceed with the direction for JavaScript’s improvements. “JavaScript was sitting still. It was stagnant,” he says.
The fundamental reason to update JavaScript—whose standard hasn’t changed since 1999—is to handle the heavy demands being placed on it. Although the language certainly has caught on for Web application development, it was not envisioned for the workloads now demanded of it by developers, Eich says. “They’re using it at a scale that it wasn’t designed for.”
The biggest change in JavaScript 2’s direction is that the ECMAScript 4 project has been dropped. That change resolves a long-simmering debate as to whether ECMAScript 3.1 or ECMAScript 4 should be the basis of JavaScript 2. (ECMAScript is the formal name for the standard, vendor-neutral version of JavaScript.)
This decision at the ECMA International standards group overseeing the JavaScript standard unites the EMCA International Technical Committee 39, including Eich, with Google and Microsoft around the “Harmony” road map. (The committee and Eich favored a major revision to the ECMAScript standard, while Microsoft and Google opposed such grand plans, Eich says. “Microsoft [in particular] started working on a much smaller improvement to the last version of the standard,” an effort that is now the core of the ECMAScript 3.1 plan, he says.)
First up: a rationalized ECMAScript 3.1
The “Harmony” road map starts with an effort to finalize ECMAScript 3.1, essentially a rationalization of the current version, and produce two interoperable implementations by spring 2009. “I think you could characterize 3.1 as a maintenance release,” says John Neumann, chair of the technical committee. The ECMAScript 3.1 effort will formalize bug fixes but also standardize across all implementations some of the improvements made in the field, Neumann says. That’s key, so applications written for one browser will work in another.
After the ECMAScript 3.1 effort, work will then proceed on a more significant ECMAScript successor dubbed Harmony.
The result is that the standards effort “wasn’t to be the big, scary fourth edition that Microsoft and others objected to,” Eich says. But the decision also means no more stalling on JavaScript 2, as well as agreement to continue to refine ECMAScript 3 after the 3.1 effort is done. Furthermore, developers likely will have to wait until 2010 for the Harmony standard, Eich says.
In essence, the JavaScript 2 effort will no longer depend on ECMAScript 4 being finalized, and instead will proceed from an improved ECMAScript 3.
Next in line, a less ambitious “Harmony” version
The new strategy means that some ideas planned for ECMAScript 4 have been dropped, after being deemed unworkable for the Web. Several ECMAScript 4 ideas “have been deemed unsound for the Web and are off the table for good: packages, namespaces and early binding,” Eich wrote in his blog. But other ECMAScript 4 ideas remain in the mix, though with some changes to make them palatable to the entire technical committee, such as the notion of classes based on ECMAScript 3 concepts combined with proposed ECMAScript 3.1 extensions, he says.
Harmony could feature classes as a stronger way of making objects and generators to enable powerful programming patterns. Generators already have been featured in JavaScript 1.7, ahead of the official specification.
But beyond agreeing that there will be a Harmony effort, the technical committee has yet to figure out what will actually go into the Harmony standard.
Addressing JavaScript security holes
Plans for both ECMAScript 3.1 and Harmony call for providing tools to help developers more easily implement security. That plan will require the technical committee to codify security practices; the committee plans to meet this week to discuss security. “I think a secure ECMAScript will be based on some future revision of ECMAScript,” beyond version 3.1, Neumann says.
Currently, JavaScript is at risk for cross-site scripting attacks in which any application can request executable inclusion in an existing application on a Web page, Neumann says। “The intent is to solve that problem.” Reference : http://www.macworld.com/article/135227/2008/08/javascript2.html?lsrc=rss_main
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