GN has been following the Xbox 360's various hardware alterations for quite a while now, and it's been a pretty interesting story so far. From the original, RRoD prone Xenon mobo to the Zephyr and Falcon successors as well as the upcoming Jasper design, there's been no shortage of news in the field. Today, as a matter of fact, we've got a look at another Xbox 360 chipset, the extremely rare "Opus" as discovered by member Electric Tunder on the Xbox-Underground forums.
Designed specifically to help Microsoft recoup losses on RRoD'd hardware that's been returned for repairs, the Opus chipset is a Falcon-generation mobo that'll snap into original Xenon Xbox 360s. Because it is installed in refurbished Xbox 360 launch chasses, the Opus lacks HDMI-out. It does, however, feature the Falcon-era HANA video chip that supports digital output, which means a really skilled modder could potentially retrofit such a connection.
The Opus also looks to be sporting the 65-nm ... More »
The first manned, hydrogen-powered plane has been successfully tested in the skies above Spain, its makers say.
The small, propeller-driven craft, developed by aviation giant Boeing, made three short flights at an airfield south of Madrid, the company said.
It was powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which produce only heat and water as exhaust products.
The tests could pave the way for a new generation of greener aircraft, the company said.
Boeing's chief technology officer John Tracy said the flights were "a historical technological success" and "full of promises for a greener future".
Small future
Three test flights of the two-seater aircraft took place in February and March at an airfield at Ocana, south of Madrid. The plane was modified to include a hybrid battery and fuel cell system developed by UK firm Intelligent Energy.
The fuel cells, which create electricity by combining oxygen and ... More »
Microsoft didn’t want you to know about Falcon, and it certainly doesn’t want you to know about its successor Jasper. But that’s another secret we have to unveil.
Jasper is the code name for the next motherboard for the Xbox 360. It will becoming next August, in time for next year’s holiday season. Jasper is going to have a 65-nanometer graphics chip from ATI Technologies, as well as smaller memory chips. That isn’t much information, but it’s enough to tell us about their cost-reduction plan. If you ask me, it’s a bit of a slow pace.
I don’t know why it will take Microsoft essentially three years to cost reduce the size of the graphics chip through a manufacturing shrink. It doesn’t seem like they’re in a hurry to launch a redesigned Xbox 360 graphics chip, considering that Intel introduced its first 65-nm chips a long time ago. ATI uses TSMC to make its chips out of Taiwan, and TSMC hasn’t been the fastest at moving to 65-nm manufacturi... More »
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