Developages - Development and Technology Blog

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Late last year, we were still wondering whether LTE even had the backing to keep up with WiMAX. Fast forward to CTIA 2008, and my, how the tables have turned. Vodafone, which already teamed up with Verizon in order to initiate an LTE trial in 2008, urged the rest of the wireless sector to put its support squarely behind Long Term Evolution. Vodafone Group’s CEO, Arun Sarin, suggested that we could all see mobile internet speeds more similar to those enjoyed on the PC today if the industry “rallied around one broadband standard,” specifically noting that “we need to look at LTE as an all-encompassing standard.” The push comes hot on the heels of Sprint’s unfortunate delay of its XOHM WiMAX network, but it should be noted that infrastructure vendors in attendance tended to feel that the two would coexist at least in the short term. Sheesh, let’s just forget this whole LTE / WiMAX spat and place our bets on TD-SCDMA.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Networking

CeBIT and Powerline seem to have a thing for one another, and sure enough, this year we’re seeing yet another firm storm onto the scene in an attempt to advance the flagging technology. London-based En-Twyn set up shop in Germany to showcase its En-Compass, which doesn’t require any special wall cutouts and differs from most other Powerline systems by packing its electronics on the backside. In other words, you won’t have any unsightly adapters protruding from the front. Beyond that, everything else works as expected — Ethernet signals travel over your existing home wiring setup — but unfortunately, the product is still stuck in prototype stage at the moment.

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops

You know that potent 2.6GHz Phenom 9900 CPU that quite a few folks are waiting for? Apparently, exactly one of said chips has escaped the labs (with AMD’s blessing, of course) and made its way into the sponsored (and recently completed) Project: Phenom gaming rig. Of course, the design here is way, way over the top, and while folks allergic to chrome and not so fond of blatant overkill may be scrunching their noses up right about now, there’s no denying that it’s packin’ a nice set of internals. Hit up the read link for a gazillion and one images along with a number of construction videos — just slip on your shades beforehand, cool?

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops

TG Daily’s reporting that Dell’s on the verge of releasing a new OptiPlex called the 740 Enhanced with options for triple and quad-core Phenom processors. It won’t be any big deal for the majority AMD-spurned end users, but if you’re an AMD-loving systems buyer your ears probably just perked up a bit.

[Thanks, Schnucki, Tom]

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Desktops

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/hardware/AMD_delaying_quad_core_Phenom_9700_and_9900_once_again’; The sun just refuses to shine on AMD — according to several Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers, AMD is saying that the quad-core Phenom 9700 and 9900 are going to be delayed yet again, this time to the end of ̭. Apparently there’s a buffer-related glitch in the original design, so AMD is actually “canceling″ the two chips and “reintroducing″ the revised versions in ̭ as the 9750 and 9950 to “improve consumer confidence.” That’s certainly an interesting tactic for a chip that’s never seen the light of day — but we′d say that the best thing AMD could do to improve consumer confidence is stop talking and start shipping, no?

[Thanks, Mack S.]

[Via X-bit Labs]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Desktops

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/hardware/AMD_delaying_quad_core_Phenom_9700_and_9900_once_again′; The sun just refuses to shine on AMD — according to several Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers, AMD is saying that the quad-core Phenom 9700 and 9900 are going to be delayed yet again, this time to the end of ̭. Apparently there’s a buffer-related glitch in the original design, so AMD is actually “canceling” the two chips and “reintroducing” the revised versions in ̭ as the 9750 and 9950 to “improve consumer confidence.” That’s certainly an interesting tactic for a chip that’s never seen the light of day — but we′d say that the best thing AMD could do to improve consumer confidence is stop talking and start shipping, no?

Update: We just got off the phone with AMD, who told us that they’re actually ahead of schedule on the “B3″ Phenom silicon, which fixes that buffer error without requiring a new BIOS, and that they expect to ship higher frequency quad-core Phenoms in ̬ as planned. They would not, however, give us model numbers or clock speeds, and wouldn’t commit to a date in ̬ — so don’t be surprised if these hit as the 9750 and 9950 on the last day of ̬ after all.

[Thanks, Mack S.]

[Via X-bit Labs]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Fujitsu Limited, which is known for many fine products from laptops to degaussers, is allegedly poised to spin off one business it is not so well known for, its semiconductor division. Both NHK and the Asahi Shimbun are reporting that the Japanese firm will cut loose the organization “in a few months and form a new company by consolidating its chip production bases in Japan.” According to Japan Today, while accounting for 10% of the multinational conglomerate’s sales, the division continues to see heavy losses due to steep development costs, and may eventually have to merge with one of its rivals in order to survive.

Update: It’s official. Fujitsu says it will form a new subsidiary in March. The consolidation efforts will be complete in September to a tune of &yen10 billion (about $93 million).

 

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Original post by Evan Blass

Filed under: Handhelds

Sign language pocket tools aren’t all that uncommon, but Krown’s latest just exemplifies utility. This relatively low-fi device can reportedly display “short video clips showing how to sign any of 4,500 stored words in US sign language.” Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of details beyond that right now, but the firm is aiming to launch it in approximately three to four months at around $180.

 

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming

The online Playstation Store for the PSP just quietly went live on our side of the world with two downloadable PSP titles, 16 PSone titles, and a handful of themes, wallpapers, and videos. Wipeout Pure and Syphon Filter: Combat Ops are the first two $10 PSP games out of the gate, and highlights of the PSone list include Twisted Metal 2, Crash Bandicoot, and Tekken 2, all for $6. The store requires the download of a Windows-only loader app to transfer files to your PSP — and now, after waiting all this time for Ṕ-free downloads, we’re kinda wondering why we can’t sync up over WiFi. Eh, don’t let our grumpy whining bother you — go get your game on and let us know how things are working for you in comments.

[Via Gamebrink]

 

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Original post by Nilay Patel