News Bits: ATI and AMD Merger Approved, Thin-Film Batteries, Apple Admits MacBook Shutdown Issue

ATI & AMD Merger approved by regulators

September 7<SUP>th</SUP> - AMD and ATI have received the final go-ahead they needed to merge from government regulators in the U.S., Canada, and Germany. No antitrust-related issues were found.

ATI is headquartered in Canada, AMD has facilities in Germany and is headquartered in the US, explaining why they needed approval from all three countries. The merger won't change significantly in the short term; the ATI brand will continue to live on under AMD. ATI will still work on Intel chipsets, but will probably shift more toward in-house chipsets for AMD, something which AMD has lacked for some time. Both AMD and ATI are working on Yokohama, a laptop platform to compete with Intel's Centrino. It couples an ATI chipset with an AMD Turion 64 X2 processor and third-party WiFi chipset. The first laptops with the new platform are expected to be shipping by the end of the year. The next big event for AMD and ATI is a vote on the merger by ATI shareholders on October 13 - approval is expected.

Read More

Solid-core 'Thin-film' batteries safer than today's lithium-ion tech

With all the recent problems centering around lithium-ion battery technology, other options are being looked at. One such competitor to Li-ion is the thin-film battery, still in a prototype stage.

Unlike current Li-ion batteries, thin-film batteries have a solid-state core, and are less prone to overheating and catching fire. They can be recharged thousands of times before needing replacement, and loose virtually no power over time. Lately, the technology has received a financial boost. Based in Golden, Colorado, Infinite Power Solutions is soon to announce that it has received a $34.7 million dollar investment from a group of private equity firms. The investment should allow mass-production of the batteries to begin next year. Infinite Power Solutions has solved all of the technical problems with the batteries according to the company's president, Raymond R. Johnson. Prototype units can be fully charged and discharged over 10,000 times. When the plant opens in Golden in 2007, it should be able to churn out millions of units per year. Thin-film batteries could eventually replace li-ion batteries in common devices today (laptops, cell phones), but it may not happen for several years, at least until the current technology has run its course. And if/when the switchover does happen, it won't be easy, as every piece of circuitry must be fully re-engineered to use the new technology.

Read More

FreeDOS v1.0 now available for download

After years of development, FreeDOS v1.0 is now available for download from the project's website. It can be installed on a PC and used to run DOS programs. The project dates back 12 years ago when Microsoft released the last official standalone version of MS-DOS.

The project team says that FreeDos is "a stable and viable MS-DOS replacement." Improvements in the v1.0 package include long file name support for certain applications along with a free CD-ROM driver, FAT32 file system support within the kernel and many other applications, and improved stability. FreeDOS has been shipped on computers for years that do not have a commercial operating system. Such systems appeal to people who want to run Linux, or those who don't want to pay for another copy of Windows if they already have one.

Read More

Apple admits MacBook shutdown issue

DailyTech reports that Apple has finally posted an official notice on its website with regards to the MacBook spontaneous shutdown issue. The issue involves the MacBook shutting down without any warning signs or malfunction. Apple is asking users to call Apple Care for customer service if they are experiencing the shutdown issue. The official notice can be found here. One possible explanation for the problem was that a cable inside the MacBook is too short, and when on, the cable would expand due to heat created by the processor. The heat would melt or cut through the cable's insulation and short the wires within. When the machine is shut off, the cable contracts when it cools, and the problem is gone. Apple has not said anything about what might be the cause.

Read More

Can your PC handle HD?

So your computer can handle Windows Vista, but is it ready to play HD Video? Perhaps it is time to rethink simply upgrading your current computer, and getting a new one altogether. According to Cyberlink, you need the following specifications or higher in order to get HD video playback from HD DVD and Blu-ray media:

• CPU: Intel Pentium D 840EE or higher, Core Duo T2500 or higher, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ or higher, Turion 64 X2 TL-60 or higher
• RAM: 1GB
• OS: Windows XP SP2
• Graphics: HDMI and HDCP support; Nvidia 7600GT or higher, ATI X1600 or higher
• HD player: third-party software required
• Display: HDMI and HDCP support required

The above specifications are about what most hardware manufacturers are recommending. A high-performance system will be required for taking advantages of features that will be arriving in the next few months. Diagnose your PC here. I ran the program on my own PC:

No fair!

Read More

 

Time to get a new laptop as well Chaz?

Me too

 

It very well may be, going to see how long I can hold out. It's been less than a year since I picked this up, can't help but say I am amazed just how far behind it is now in tech.

 

Sweet! my new laptop im getting is meeting those specs. yay

 

That's some high requirements. The cpu requirement is misleading though. The 8XX Pentium EE is listed, so I thought my Pentium D 940 would be ok... it's not. Like Chaz's, the Pentium 750 just doesn't kick anymore...

 

Hmm...

I ran that CyberLink utility for kicks, but it says my 7800 Go isn't enough to run either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD

EDIT: Heh, I followed a link in the utility - the next step from a 7600GT is a 7800GTX (512MB)?!?!?! Ah well, I wasn't planning on watching any HD-DVDs or Blu-Ray discs on my notebook anyway.

 

lol at the minimum being an x1600..they have to realize that the majority of the public won't be able to run this for at least a year...i mean my w3j is the minimum..and still need core 2duo for the anti-piracy garbage

 

oh well, soon enough it will be hacked and able to run on anything.


And how much extra circuitry is needed for a battery? At it's core it just supplies a voltage difference between 2 points. Can't they have the circuitry to charge and all in the battery unit?

 

No one gloating over the Mac "We don't have BSD" shutdown problem , Can I be the 1st ?

Are those really the minimum specs for HD ? Just so that a hacker will find a way to bypass the protection and release HD movies that anyone with a high res diplay would be able to watch ( like it ought to be ) ? I'm keeping my DVD collection thank you very much .

 

The requirements are so high because the CPU power required to decode the video in H264 format is great.

On HD-DVD and Blu-ray, video can be stored in MPEG2, VC1, or H264. MPEG2 is the video compression standard used in SVCD, DVD, digital cable networks, over-the-air ATSC HDTV, and digital satellite TV*. VC1 and H264 provide better video quality at the same bitrates.

VC1 is backed by many companies and provides quality comparable to H264. It's used by Microsoft in their latest video formats (WMV-HD). VC1 is less complex than H264, meaning that it requires less CPU power than H264.

As for quality comparisons, I haven't found anything conclusive.between the two. With current HD-DVDs, some believe VC1 is currently better.

A Pentium M 760 (2.00GHz) with an Intel GMA900 and an unoptimized H264 codec will use close to all available CPU and occasionally drop frames on a 720p movie. With the optimized CoreAVC codec, it has no trouble. I hear that it should be able to play 1080p H264 movies as well, but I haven't tried any 1080p content as of now.

(CoreAVC is one of the faster H264 codecs.)

 

WOW, free DOS. I might check it out on my current laptop if I get a new one. I must say that I think DOS IS the most reliable OS ever made.

AMD and ATI sure are going to make a huge company. I wonder if Intel will buy nVidia....it sure does look like a good relationship.