AMD vs Intel Dual Core Challenge On Dec 6th

AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced today that it will host a live dual-core duel eventin Singapore on December 6. This latest challenge to Intel was issued yesterdayin an advertisement in Digital Life of The Straits Times. This challenge is afollow-on to the original challenge issued to Intel on August 23. AMD's proposeddual-core duel would be a live, public performance evaluation between serverplatforms based on the highest-performing Dual-Core AMD Opteron™ 800 Series or200 Series processors and the corresponding Intel x86 server processors that arecommercially available in volume.

"We are making it easy for our competitor to respond to the challenge originallyissued in August, by hosting an event in close proximity to their offices inSingapore. All they need to do is show up and bring platforms based on theirlatest dual-core processors," said Bryan Low, Vice President of Sales andMarketing, South Asia, AMD. "We are giving our competitor a fair and openopportunity to challenge our clear market leadership in a public setting. Ahead-to-head match using industry-standard benchmarks will arm customers withthe information necessary to determine which company can best meet theircomputing needs."

Should Intel accept AMD's challenge, the duel would take place on December 6 at1.30pm at The Ritz Carlton Hotel with testing conducted by a neutral,third-party testing lab. Testing would be done using industry-standard serverbenchmarks most relevant to customers today such as SPECjbb® and otherindependent benchmarks from SPEC.org. Measurement on energy consumption wouldalso be conducted.

For more information on AMD's challenge to Intel, please visitwww.amd.com/duel

ASRock does more affordable 8-DIMM X79 motherboard

Were not quite sure were following ASRocks X79 motherboard line-up as the company has introduced the X79 Extreme6/GB, a model inferior to the X79 Extreme7, yet somehow packing more features and a bundle. The bundle is ASRock Game Blaster, the same card that comes with the X79 Extreme9.

The X79 Extreme6/GB is a peculiar board and were not quite sure what ASRock was thinking about when the company designed the board. So ok, it "only" has three x16 PCI Express slots compared to five for the X79 Extreme7, but at least all of the ones on the X79 Extreme6/GB are usable. There are also a single x1 PCI Express slot and two PCI slots, although strictly speaking, only one of the PCI slots can be used if you have a pair of graphics cards with dual slot coolers fitted to them.

Moving on were missing a couple of extra SATA 6Gbps ports, but the X79 Extreme6/GB still manages four SATA 3Gbps and five SATA 6Gbps ports, more than enough for most users. The VRM heatsink is smaller, but the phase count is the same and the X79 Extreme6/GB still sports tantalum capacitors. It also has two extra DIMM slots over the X79 Extreme7, but you only get two front USB 3.0 ports rather than four, again a non-issue for most people.

Looking at the rear I/O we have two PS/2 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, an eSATA port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, 7.1-channel audio with optical and coaxial S/PDIF out and a clear CMOS button. The difference here is very minor as the only missing feature is the secondary Gigabit Ethernet port compared to the X79 Extreme7. However, because the X79 Extreme6/GB come bundled with the Game Blaster, you get a second Gigabit Ethernet port through it, if you chose to install it.

It might sound stupid to suggest that you shouldnt, but due to the slightly moronic slot layout of the X79 Extreme6/GB, if youre using all three x16 PCI Express slots, then its very likely that you wont be able to use the Game Blaster card, as it requires a x1 PCI Express slot. That said, not that many people are running three way SLI or CrossFireX, so this is most likely not going to affect that many buyers of this board, but its still a peculiar omission in the design by ASRock. Beyond the additional Gigabit Ethernet controller, the Game Blaster also features a Creative Sound Core3D audio chip which adds duplicate set of 7.1-channel audio with optical and coaxial S/PDIF out, which once more makes us wonder about what ASRock was thinking about when they designed this board.

We dont know when the X79 Extreme6/GB will be available, nor how much itll cost, but in theory it should end up being similarly priced to the X79 Extreme7 due to the closeness in features and the additional cost of the bundled card.

Source: ASRock

Assassin's Creed III in trouble over plagiarism claims

The author of a science-fiction novel has sued Ubisoft over the alleged plagiarism of his ideas for the popular Assassins Creed game series.

John L. Beiswenger wrote the novel Link and self-published it through Infinity Publishing in 2003, years before the first Assassins Creed game was launched. Beiswenger claims that much of the games ideas and setting is stolen from his book.The story involves a Bio-synchronizer, which can allow people to explore their ancestors memories in a similar fashion to that employed in Assassins Creed. His book also involves assassins, though these do not appear to play as big a role as in the game.Beiswenger even goes so far as to accuse Ubisoft of copying thematic elements such as biblical references, but this might be stretching his case a little far, as biblical allusions are made in a wide variety of books, games and movies, and no on can claim copyright over them.However, the machine that allows people to experience the life of their ancestors could be a deciding factor in whether Ubisoft is found innocent or guilty of plagiarism, as this is a pivotal element of the game and appears to be equally important in Beiswengers novel.If Beiswenger believes he has such a good case its not clear why he waited so long to launch his lawsuit, considering the first game was released in 2007. It may be that he was not aware of the story elements of Assassins Creed, was researching how strong his case might be, or was simply waiting for the most opportunistic time to bring Ubisoft to court.The author wants damages of no less than $1.05 million, but the figure could rise to as much as $5.25 million. He also wants the third installment of the game, due out on 30 October, to be blocked, which could cause a nightmare situation for Ubisoft and might result in negotiating some kind of licensing deal if the judge finds the game studio guilty of copyright infringement.Source: CVG

Apple demands retailers to cease selling Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Apple recently sent out various emails demanding retailers to cease the act of “importing, offering to sell, or selling within the United States,” the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Apparently, Apple assumes that it’s justifiable to go after retailers that affiliate themselves with Samsung.

The following email was sent to one such retailer:

Re: Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., et al.
United States District Court, Northern District of California, Case No. C-12-00630 (LHK)

We represent Apple Inc. in the above-referenced action.

We enclose a copy of the June 29 preliminary injunction order entered by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in this case together with a copy of Apple’s U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604 (the “604 patent”). With the posting of the requisite bond, the order is now in effect.

The order provides as follows:

For the foregoing reasons, Apple’s motion for a preliminary injunction is GRANTED. Accordingly, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; Samsung Electronics America, Inc.; and Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC; its officers, directors, partners, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, subsidiaries, and those acting in concert with any of them, are enjoined from making, using, offering to sell, or selling within the United States, or importing into the United States Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus and any products that is no more than colorably different the specified product and infringes U.S. Patent No. 8,086,604

(emphasis added).

As the italicized language provides, the order applies not only to the named Samsung entities, but also to anyone “acting in concert” with them. Apple thus believes that the order extends to you because you may be selling, offering to sell, or importing Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus.

Please comply with the order by ceasing immediately to engage in any of the specified acts (e.g., importing, offering to sell, or selling within the United States) in connection with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and any product that is no more than colorably different from it and infringes the ‘604 patent. At a minimum, Apple believes compliance with the Courter’s order requires immediately removing for sale the Galaxy Nexus from all physical and online venues under your direction or control.

It appears that Apple is hell bent on closing down all avenues of Galaxy Nexus distribution in the United States. Samsung may have the pocket to support the legal battles against Apple, but the small time retailers may not.

Retailers that have strong ties with Apple such as Wal-Mart and Best Buy may consider compliance, but there are still others that may not follow through with Apple’s request.

ASUS Presents New External Slim DVD and Bluray Drives, and Powerful Gaming Laptop

Taipei, Taiwan, February 11, 2009 – Powered by USB 2.0 connection, the new ASUS SBC-06D1S-U and the ASUS SDR-08D1-U slim-type external optical disc drives are designed to provide optimized reading and writing capabilities.

ASUS SBC-06D1S-U—Fastest Speeds and Innovative Video Enhancement
The ASUS SBC-06D1S-U external slim-type optical disc drive performs at six times the standard Blu-ray reading speed. It features True Theater High Definition (TTHD) technology that delivers HD quality for DVD playback on PC-based home theater systems.

With disc encryption,it can protect an entire disc or even individual files with a pre-determined password. Additionally, users can choose to hide files to prevent data from being tampered with.

The intuitive drag and burn interface that accompanies the new drive takes the hassle out of data backup and media storage. Extremely easy to pick up and use, the interface reduces what would traditionally be a six-step process down to just three easy steps.

ASUS SDR-08D1-U—Extreme Mobility and Environmental Awareness
The ASUS SDR-08D1-Ufeatures an ergonomic top-loading design andutilizes the E-Green engine, which automatically shuts down drive activity when the drive is idle for two minutes or more. Users can even track power savings via the included E-Green application.

The ASUS SDR-08D1-U also comes with the E-Media software routine, which boosts reading and copying performance. E-Media automatically detects the user’s needs based on the in-drive media, optimizing performance for each given task. Users thus benefit from significantly reduced spinning noise as well as faster copy speeds.

Source: ASUS