Just under three months ago a preliminary USB 3.0 FAQ was published, and today both USB 3.0 final details and a date has been confirmed.
USB 3.0 is set to arrive during late 2009 or early 2010. It will be able to transfer at incredibly fast speeds of 5Gbps per second, so that's about an average sized movie every second.
To quote: USB Implementers Forum President Jeff Ravencraft let loose with some information about USB3.0, which is expected to appear late 2009/early 2010.
It'll apparently be able to transfer at blisteringly fast speeds of 5Gbps per second (roughly 600MB per second), or for media junkies that's about an average sized movie or eight average sized music albums EVERY SECOND.
In comparison USB 2.0 takes ten times as long, and we pity the fool who's trying to shift this sort of data using USB 1.1 on a knackered old la... More »
One lucky Gran Turismo fan recently had a chance to actually talk to Gran Turismo series creator Kazunori Yamauchi about all things Gran Turismo. Of course, one of the things that came up was Gran Turismo 5's release date.
When told about fans expecting the game to be released in 2010, Yamauchi laughed it off and said that the game will be released sooner than expected. As vague as ever, but it does raise hopes of a possible 2009 release.
Yamauchi also gave out a few more details about the game, including the current status of damage implementation. Apparently, some companies like Porsche (apparently, their contracts with other game makers have ended so Polyphony Digital is negotiating with them) have already given Polyphony Digital the go signal to total their cars, but other manufacturers (Yamauchi mentioned Ferrari) are being stubborn about it, even for minor side mirror damage stuff.
Yamauchi also confirmed that the "rubber band effect"... More »
Just when you thought it was safe to convert to Windows Vista, Microsoft changes its mind, again. This soap opera is getting to be a little old.
In early October, Microsoft admitted that it didn't discontinue XP in June after all, and would continue selling via system builders through January 2009. This is accomplished via "downgrade" rights: Dell, for example, will sell you a system with Windows XP Professional installed, but it also includes the latest version of Vista.
Meanwhile, you can still buy boxed XP at Amazon, among other places. The June deadline in itself was an extension, and there's some suggestion that, for corporate customers at least, Microsoft may extend the extension of the extension.
Looking a little further down the line, Microsoft may make Vista irrelevant with the release of Windows 7, which could come as early as 2010. Does anyone seriously expect MIS departments to invest in conversion costs and new hardware, a Vista requ... More »
On Friday, Microsoft gave computer makers a six-month extension for offering Windows XP on newly-shipped PCs. While this doesn’t impact enterprise IT — because volume licensing agreements will allow IT to keep installing Windows XP for many years to come — the move is another symbolic nail in Vista’s coffin.
The public reputation of Windows Vista is in shambles, as Microsoft itself tacitly acknowledged in its Mojave ad campaign.
IT departments are largely ignoring Vista. In June (18 months after Vista’s launch), Forrester Research reported that just 8.8% of enterprise PCs worldwide were running Vista. Meanwhile, Microsoft appears to have put Windows 7 on an accelerated schedule that could see it released in 2010. That will provide IT departments with all the justification they need to simply skip Vista and wait to eventually standardize on Windows 7 as the next OS for business.
Just bought a PlayStation 3 console when I read the rumors of a PlayStation 4 coming out soon and all the mind blowing possibilities of the theoretically new console.
I could barely afford the PS3 much less worry about what its going to cost for a PS4. But, based on what Paul Holman (Sony Vice President of Technology) told TechEBlog in 2006, the PS4 will not be out until at least 2010.
Then there’s the rumor that the future PS4 will use the same existing cell processor that the current PS3 uses, according to a Japanese tech news site PC Watch. I’m not sure about that because if this rumor does prove to be true, I’d be sorely disappointed.
For the most part, why invest in all these upgra... More »
Following word in July that EA's Command & Conquer-based squad shooter, Tiberium was getting shifted back to 2010, comes word that the game has been officially killed and some staff let go, the publisher confirmed with Kotaku today.
Kotaku obtained a copy of the internal memo sent to staff earlier today outlining the reasons why the game was axed. In the memo Mike Verdu, of EA LA, says that the game would not be able to get up to snuff given the amount of time and resources left in the production cycle.
The memo goes on to state that several people on the team had to be released.
" We will make every effort to place affected individuals on projects within the studio – and where that isn't possible, to connect them with opportunities in other teams at EA."
More interesting is the fact that Verdu calls for this decision to serve as a warning for future projects.
"The quality bar has been raised. Now we need to step... More »
Spare a thought for AMD and NVIDIA. They have been happily smacking each other upside the head for a decade. But at least they have been doing so safe in the knowledge that their GPUs are distinct from – and inherently superior in graphics processing terms – to CPUs.
At least, that used to be the case. Intel has now unveiled Larrabee, a co-processor based on an entirely new approach to graphics processing. If Intel has done its sums correctly, not only will the very definition of the GPU be unceremoniously defenestrated, but also AMD and NVIDIA's graphics chips could even be pummelled to the very brink of existence.
If that sounds like hubris, try this for size. Larrabee could also tear up the rulebook for CPUs, too. That's right, a single new architecture might just take over as ultimate all-round processor, eventually cannibalising sales of Intel's own conventional CPUs.
What exactly is this deathly destroyer, this harbinger of doom made ma... More »
This generation of consoles has barely got going, with the price war not really having even begun, and no sign of a winner yet being called (although the Wii is clearly the frontrunner). But, the next generation of consoles could be on their way sooner than we all think. The only question remains: who will actually be involved?
Actually I lied, the other question is when will the next-gen consoles actually arrive on the scene. We’ve spoken about this before, with 2010 being the earliest date mentioned in terms of when a new console could emerge from one of the big three, More likely given the state of the industry (healthy console sales but all three platforms still viable) is 2011 or 2012.
Nintendo is guaranteed to be in there. The Wii and DS have made the company so much money that it is likely to want to throw money at a new development in an effort to repeat the phenomenal success of this generation’s offerings.