Asus Releases Desktop-Sized Supercomputer

October 27th, 2009, 16:32 Posted By: wraggster

Asustek has unveiled its first supercomputer, the desktop computer-sized ESC 1000, which uses Nvidia graphics processors to attain speeds up to 1.1 teraflops. Asus's ESC 1000 comes with a 3.33GHz Intel LGA1366 Xeon W3580 microprocessor designed for servers, along with 960 graphics processing cores from Nvidia inside three Tesla c1060 Computing Processors and one Quadro FX5800

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/0...-Supercomputer

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Geocities goes offline

October 26th, 2009, 16:30 Posted By: wraggster

Yahoo has announced that its Geocities service, which provided a platform for many of the earliest websites, will no longer be accessible.
According to the BBC, Geocities was acquired by Yahoo in 1999 for £2.17 billion and at its peak had millions of registered users. It originally allowed users to host their web pages in themed ‘cities’, for example ‘Wall Street’ hosted finance websites, while ‘SIliconValley’ hosted technology sites.
However, after the acquisition the themed nature of the site was abandoned and a number of premium fee-based services introduced.
The closure of the site was announced after Yahoo initiated a policy of shutting down its less profitable services.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/32581...s-goes-offline

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Steamworks to power PC version of Modern Warfare 2

October 26th, 2009, 16:24 Posted By: wraggster

Activision has announced that the PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will ship with Valve's Steamworks technology.

Steamworks will provide auto-updating, anti-cheat technology, Achievements and the recently introduced Steam Cloud.

"Steamworks will make it possible for us to have a closer connection to our fans, and enable us to support our community much more than ever before," offered Infinity Ward's Rob Bowling

"Steam is the hands down leader in offering a community focused experience on PC and the inclusion of Steamworks has allowed us to deliver the most feature-rich PC version to ever come from Infinity Ward, which at the end of the day will mean the most to our fans."

The PC version of Modern Warfare has been heavily criticised by the PC gaming community, with a petition of over 158,000 opposed to propriety matchmaking service IWNet instead of dedicated servers

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...dern-warfare-2

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ARM Launches Cortex-A5 Processor, To Take On Atom

October 25th, 2009, 08:53 Posted By: wraggster

ARM launched its new Cortex-A5 processor (codenamed Sparrow) this week, and while it's not targeted at the top end of the mobile market, it is a significant launch nonetheless. The Cortex-A5, which will likely battle future iterations of Intel's Atom for market share, is an important step forward for ARM for several reasons. First, it's significantly more efficient to build than the company's older ARM1176JZ(F)-S, while simultaneously outperforming the ARM926EJ-S. The Cortex-A5, however, is more than just a faster ARM processor. Architecturally, it's identical to the more advanced Cortex-A9, and it supports the same features as that part as well. This flexibility is designed to give product developers and manufacturers access to a fully backwards-compatible processor with better thermal and performance characteristics than the previous generation

http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/10/2...o-Take-On-Atom

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Modern Warfare 2 PC minimum specs

October 23rd, 2009, 21:29 Posted By: Shrygue

Computer and Video Games have received details of the minimum requirements for the PC version of Modern Warfare 2, info is shown below:

• OS: Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 - Windows 95/98/ME/2000 are unsupported
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.2 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor or better supported
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics: ATI Radeon 1600XT or better or 256 MB NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT or better
• DirectX: Microsoft DirectX(R) 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 12GB of free hard drive space
• Sound: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
• Internet: Broadband connection required for Multiplayer Connectivity. Internet Connection required for activation

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Windows 7 student upgrade installer not working for many

October 23rd, 2009, 21:19 Posted By: wraggster

The Windows 7 launch seems to have gone off mostly roses and sunbeams, but we're hearing today that quite a few people have had issues installing the downloadable $29 student upgrade edition on 32-bit Vista -- apparently the file doesn't unpack to an ISO, but instead to an executable and two bundles that don't function properly, and eventually the process errors out with a 64-bit app trying to launch on 32-bit systems. It's possible to create an ISO using some hackery, but the install process seems to be 50/50 after that -- we've heard of both success and further crashes. For it's part, Microsoft says it's looking into things, so hopefully a newly repackaged download will be forthcoming -- every party has its ups and downs, right?

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/23/w...king-for-many/

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Ubuntu "Karmic Koala" RC Hits the Streets With Windows 7

October 23rd, 2009, 21:17 Posted By: wraggster

Computerworld is reporting Canonical has made available the Release Candidate of its latest Linux-based operating system, Ubuntu 9.10, on the same day Microsoft launched the long-awaited Windows 7. 'The upcoming Canonical release, which is code-named Karmic Koala, is the latest version of the popular flavor of the Linux OS. The development release on Thursday pushed the OS one step closer to final release, which is due on Oct. 29, according to the company's release schedule Web page. An image of the OS is available for download on Ubuntu's Web site. Test versions of Karmic Koala RC available for download include the server, desktop and netbook versions

http://linux.slashdot.org/story/09/1...With-Windows-7

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Apple attacks Windows 7

October 23rd, 2009, 21:15 Posted By: wraggster

New series of ads accuse Microsoft of ‘broken promises’
Apple has released the latest instalments to its Mac vs PC advertising campaign, this time targeting those consumers who might be considering an upgrade to Windows 7.
One of the ads, which can be seen below, is entitled ‘Broken Promises’ and implies that each successive release of Windows has been an attempt to rectify problems with the previous version.
In a slightly shrewder move, another ad targets consumers who are thinking of upgrading to Windows 7.
Unlike users of Windows 7 Professional, home users do not have access to XP mode, which allows XP compatible files and software to be run through Windows 7. The ad states that, if they’re going to have to manually backup all their data and transfer it, XP users might as well buy a Mac.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/32577...acks-Windows-7

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GameStop reveals minimum specs for Modern Warfare 2 PC

October 22nd, 2009, 21:58 Posted By: wraggster

When you're not busy signing internet petitions about Modern Warfare 2, you're likely fretting over your system's innards and whether or not they have the ability to run Infinity Ward's upcoming shooter. Does it have enough gigglebits? Are the processing cores processy enough? When was the last time you fed the CPU's brain squirrel? It's okay -- we're doing the same thing! Thankfully, GameStop has stepped in to reveal the back of the game's packaging, along with the minimum system requirements for the game:
OS: Windows Vista/XP
Processor: AMD 64 3200+ or Intel Pentium 4 3.0Ghz or better
Memory: 16 GB free hard drive space / 512 MB RAM (XP) / 1 GB RAM (Vista)
Video Card: Shader 3.0 or better 256 MB nVidia Geforce 6600GT / ATI Radeon 1600XT or better
We've contacted Activision for the recommended specs and to confirm that these are indeed the finalized requirements for the game. In the meantime, you can head past the break for the full image (it's a "phenomenon"!).

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/22/ga...-warfare-2-pc/

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USB 3.0 held back by lack of Intel chipset support?

October 22nd, 2009, 21:51 Posted By: wraggster

Ruh roh. A senior tech manager at a "top tier PC maker" has come out with some entirely unofficial and equally ominous thoughts on what he (or she) sees as the tough road to proliferation for SuperSpeed USB. Pointing out that the new interconnect "won't get real traction until it gets integrated in the chip sets," the source opines that Intel won't be offering motherboard integration before 2011 -- an assertion Intel has declined to comment on. AMD and NVIDIA have been vocal critics of what they see as purposeful delays by the Pentium maker, and if this latest scuttlebutt is accurate, their wild finger-pointing will have been at least somewhat vindicated. Although Intel did release the 3.0 controller spec eventually, this wouldn't be the first (or probably last) time when it has been seen to drag its feet where doing so is in its interest (eh hem, Light Peak). For our money, plenty of people who've been waiting for the new standard to show up in machines before pulling the trigger on an upgrade will be disappointed by such news, especially as 3.0 devices are just beginning to ship.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/u...ipset-support/

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Bing and Google add Twitter search

October 22nd, 2009, 16:56 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft’s Bing-powered tweet-search out months ahead of Google’s alternative
Microsoft’s new search engine Bing now allows users to search through the enormous catalogue of recent micro-comments published across Twitter.
Google has announced that it will implement such a feature of its own within the next few months.
Both Bing and Google’s Twitter search will spider through the raft of tweets made by Twitter users, presenting the searcher with both text and relevant links.
However, the service will only scan through Tweets made within the last seven days.
It is currently unclear whether Google’s own service will index Tweets across a larger window of time, though any advantage over Bing is of course company preference.

Both Bing and Google are locked in a battle for the biggest share of search engine web traffic.
However Bing has recently lost momentum, according to Experian data, and has seen traffic fall 5 per cent month on month, with its total market share trimmed down to 16.38 per cent. Google’s stands at 71.08 per cent, ahead on previous months.
The jury is out on what impact of Bing’s momentarily exclusive Twitter search will have on its traffic share.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/32569...Twitter-search

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Grand opening for first Microsoft store

October 22nd, 2009, 16:55 Posted By: wraggster

Xboxes, Zune HDs, Laptops, desktops and operating systems all under the same roof
Microsoft has opened its very first dedicated retail store in Arizona; the first in what is expected to be a string of retail outlets focused specifically on Microsoft products.
The next Microsoft Store to open its doors will be based in California, and will have a grand opening on October 29, a single week after the Arizona store first lifted its shutters.
As expected, a full range of Microsoft goods will be available in the stores, from the new Windows 7 OS to Laptops, desktops, Zune HDs and Xbox 360s.
“Our customers have told us they want choice, better value and great service when shopping for technology, and that is what we will deliver through our Microsoft stores,” said David Porter, corporate vice president of Microsoft Retail.
“We want to showcase what’s possible with the full Microsoft brand.”

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/32568...icrosoft-store

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Windows 7 boasts Sky Player

October 22nd, 2009, 16:52 Posted By: wraggster

BSkyB’s online TV streaming service integrated in Microsoft’s new OS
Microsoft has won a major deal with broadcaster BSkyB that will allow UK Windows 7 owners to access Sky TV.
The Sky Player will be integrated into the Windows 7’s new Media Center, and will feature as many as 24 TV channels from the satellite broadcaster, as well as access a selection of on-demand programmes.
The service is only free to existing Sky customers who subscribe to Sky’s Multiroom package, or who are using the firm’s Unlimited broadband service. Those who qualify will get unlimited access to the channels and on-demand programmes.
However, new users can start using Sky on their Windows 7 PC by paying monthly subscription charges. Much like the Sky TV service, these packages begin low – at around £15 per month – though climb to £50 per month for full access.
The deal is part of Sky’s accelerated push into other home devices. Sky Player will be available on Xbox 360 before the end of October.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/32567...sts-Sky-Player

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Worldwide launch parties for Windows 7

October 22nd, 2009, 16:51 Posted By: wraggster

Microsoft’s newest OS rolls out across the globe
Microsoft’s successor to the Vista operating system has launched at retail across the globe.
Windows 7 has of course been available to business users for some months, while certain schools have had access to them.
But Microsoft aimed to trumpet the consumer launch of Windows, with a showy series simultaneous launch events.
And it was Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who delivered a bullish speech at the Windows 7 launch party in New York.
"With Windows 7, there's never been a better time to be a PC," he said. "Together with our partners, we're introducing more choice, flexibility, and value in the market than ever before."

At the launch event in Tokyo, Windows division president Steven Sinofsky declared that “a project with the global customer reach of Windows can only be done as a team”, referring to the user feedback Microsoft says it has answered in building a successor to the widely-disliked Vista OS.
"We are grateful for the valuable contributions from customers, partners,” added Sinofsky, “and developers around the world that helped make Windows 7 such a collaborative project."
Meanwhile down under, Microsoft Australia MD Tracey Fellows kicked off the nation’s own Windows 7 launch said that key to Windows 7’s strength was its simplicity.

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/32562...-for-Windows-7

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Civilization comes to Facebook

October 22nd, 2009, 16:50 Posted By: wraggster

Sid Meier has announced that a new version of strategy classic Civilization will be released on Facebook, to be known as Civilization Network.

In a post on fansite Civilization Fanatics Network, original series creator and Firaxis Games co-founder Sid Meier announced the game for the face time and indicated that he would soon be soliciting for beta testers.

"Ever since we finished Civilization Revolution last year, I've been looking at ways of expanding the Civ gameplay experience to include solo, competitive and cooperative play to take advantage of the uniqueness of social networks," said Meier.

The new title will be available on Facebook at an unspecified point next year, will feature a fully persistent environment and will require no fee to pay.

"You can coordinate your strategy to win great battles, share your technology to jump ahead of your rivals, lobby your family and friends to form your own government and win vital elections, manage and grow your cities to maximize production and happiness, spy on your enemies, and work with your friends to create the great Wonders of the World," said Meier.

Although many publishers and developers have expressed interest in Facebook as a games platform, with EA thought to have paid USD 250 million for developer Playfish, established franchises such as Civilization are still relatively rare on the social network site.

Further details of Civilization Network are expected to be made available at the official fan page at www.facebook.com/civnetwork.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...es-to-facebook

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Windows 7 On Multicore — How Much Faster?

October 21st, 2009, 18:47 Posted By: wraggster

InfoWorld's Andrew Binstock tests whether Windows 7's threading advances fulfill the promise of improved performance and energy reduction. He runs Windows XP Professional, Vista Ultimate, and Windows 7 Ultimate against Viewperf and Cinebench benchmarks using a Dell Precision T3500 workstation, the price-performance winner of an earlier roundup of Nehalem-based workstations. 'What might be surprising is that Windows 7's multithreading changes did not deliver more of a performance punch,' Binstock writes of the benchmarks, adding that the principal changes to Windows 7 multithreading consist of increased processor affinity, 'a wholly new mechanism that gets rid of the global locking concept and pushes the management of lock access down to the locked resources,' permitting Windows 7 to scale up to 256 processors without performance penalty, but delivering little performance gains for systems with only a few processors. 'Windows 7 performs several tricks to keep threads running on the same execution pipelines so that the underlying Nehalem processor can turn off transistors on lesser-used or inactive pipelines,' Binstock writes. 'The primary benefit of this feature is reduced energy consumption,' with Windows 7 requiring 17 percent less power to run than Windows XP or Vista.

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/10...ow-Much-Faster

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A Look At How Far PCGaming Has Come

October 21st, 2009, 18:44 Posted By: wraggster

Bit-tech is running a feature examining the progress PC games have made over the past couple decades. The article highlights aspects of modern games we often take for granted or nitpick, and compares them to earlier games in which such features were implemented poorly or not at all. Quoting:
"Doom's legacy is still being felt today in fact and it's a fair bet that you can take any shooter off a shelf, from America’s Army to Zeno Clash, examine it, and list a dozen things that those games owe to Doom. Things like the wobble of the guns and the on-screen feedback that tells you which direction you are being shot from — these were things that id Software invented. On the other hand, from a story perspective, Doom was absolutely rubbish. You start in a room, no idea what’s going on and you are surrounded by demons. You have to read the manual and supporting media to get a grip on it all — something modern games would get heavily slated for doing. Yet the idea that plot was optional caught on and the same flaw was replicated in other games of the era, such as Quake and (to a lesser extent) Duke Nukem 3D. There were years and years where the lessons of early story-driven games were forgotten and all anyone really cared about was having as many sprites or polygons as possible."

http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/1...aming-Has-Come

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Infinity Ward responds to Modern Warfare 2 PC backlash

October 21st, 2009, 16:28 Posted By: wraggster

Developer Infinity Ward has been attempting to calm fan anger over the announcement that the PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will not feature dedicated servers, although so far to little effect - with the online petition against the decision currently at over 110,000 signatures.

The lack of dedicated servers is due to a new propriety matchmaking service called IWNet, which was announced by Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling in a podcast over the weekend. The response was immediately negative, leading to Bowling posting a new more detailed overview of IWNet on his blog.

Bowling insisted that Modern Warfare 2 is "the biggest investment Infinity Ward has ever made into the PC version of our games. It’s also the most feature-rich PC version we’ve ever made." Although the franchise began as a PC exclusive, in recent years the focus has moved more onto the home console versions of the games.

"IWNet takes the benefits of dedicated servers and allows them to be utilised and accessed by every player, out of the box, while removing the barrier to entry for players unaware of how to maintain a server on their own," says Bowling.

In describing IWNet's other features Bowling insists that it will still offer many of the benefits of being able to choose games from a specific list of servers, while making the process more accessible for new users.

Fans though have suggested that the new service is merely an attempt to gain greater control over the use of fan modifications and to facilitate the use and sale of downloadable content.

The response has been so negative that even PC Gamer editor Tim Edwards has weighed in against Infinity Ward's decision, claiming that peer-to-peer networks such as IWNet are less reliable, inherently biased towards the hosting player, less customisable and less effective at creating and policing a community.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-2-pc-backlash

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Aion tops US PC chart for September

October 21st, 2009, 16:27 Posted By: wraggster

NCsoft's new flagship MMO Aion has entered the US PC chart at number one for the month of September, with its Collector's Edition SKU taking fifth place, according to the latest data from NPD.

The game, which received a good reception from critics, knocked EA's The Sims 3 off the top of the list into second, ahead of fellow debutant and MMO, Champions Online which was third.

World of Warcraft unsurprisingly took four entries in the top 20 list - the original game at number ten, the Battle Chest collection at eight, with the Wrath of the Lich King and Burning Crusade expansions at four and 15 respectively.

Other notable placements included Spore at nine and Batman: Arkham Asylum as a new entry at 16.

In total Blizzard Entertainment accounted for five entries on the list, followed by Electronic Arts with four.

The full top ten is as follows:

1. Aion (NCsoft)
2. The Sims 3 (Electronic Arts)
3. Champions Online (Atari)
4. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Blizzard)
5. Aion Collector's Edition (NCsoft)
6. Mumbo Jumbo Assortment (Mumbo Jumbo)
7. The Sims 2: Double Deluxe (Electronic Arts)
8. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest (Blizzard)
9. Reel Deal Slots: Treasures of the Far East (Phantom EFX)
10. World of Warcraft (Blizzard)

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-for-september

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Borderlands (DVD-ROM)

October 20th, 2009, 23:48 Posted By: wraggster

Newly released today:



features
Experience incredible layers of gameplay depth with excitement of first-person action and vehicular combat
Features life-like character animations, impressive real-time physics, and customizable vehicles
Players can freely join or leave the game at anytime
Game creates thousands of unique, randomly generated missions, weapons and situations
Allows multiple players to share same game experience simultaneously online

description
A sci-fi / action RPG from acclaimed developer Gearbox, Borderlands combines the best in first-person action with player customization and vehicular combat for incredible layers of gameplay depth.

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...j-70-3enj.html

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