Category: Gadgets

Alienware’s 4GHz Pentium

I love overclockers – I don’t know if it’s the nerves of steel needed to run components so far beyond their factory specifications that they need to be refrigerated, or the glowing water cooling pipes they use, or it might even be the UV lamps and dodgy stickers. And this is coming from someone who underclocks his graphics card – OpenOffice doesn’t really need much acceleration.

Overclocking basically involves running a processor at speeds beyond factory specification, and is generally performed by home enthusiasts who then have to solve the puzzle of extracting all that extra heat out of their PC case in colourful and complex ways. Some manufacturers have noticed this fashion and have taken to selling systems that have already been overclocked, and the professional build and cooling systems make them more reliable and less messy.

So, for those of you who want power at any expense, Alienware have released a pre-overclocked gaming system, featuring a Pentium 4 that runs at a (probably literally) red hot 4Ghz.

The Area-51 ALX is based around a Extreme Edition Pentium 4, with 1 gig of Corsair RAM, and a 6800 Ultra for a graphics card. Keeping this lot cool requires gold plated, pure copper coolers, and a specially formulated liquid solution to conduct heat away from components. Oh, and two pumps and a few fans. A custom power control board monitors liquid temperature and features an emergency alarm and automatic shut-down features, just in case things get too frantic during those FPS death matches.

At a wallet-alarming US$5,458 (€4,525) for a typical set up, it’s for devoted, power hungry gamers only – but I certainly can’t think of a better way to Half-Life 2’s launch.

Alienware ALX Series

Windows Media 10

Windows Media 10 is always going to invite comparisons with iTunes, but there are many features built into WM10 that Apple’s music client won’t have for a while, if ever. This latest release of is part of Microsoft’s latest strategy to get into the living rooms (and pockets) of media-savvy households by providing useful tools and an easy to use interface for accessing music, video and more.

The first thing I noticed after Windows Media 10 installed, was that it’s much faster and responsive than the iTunes client. iTunes has a habit of pausing and sitting there unresponsively after some tasks. WM10 will then scan your hard drive for all compatible media types, from MP3s to recorded TV shows. High Definition video is supported, with tools and advice for optimising the experience.

The Media Library view is, for me, the most useful and shows off WM10’s Media Centre capabilities best. Recorded programmes can be sorted by series or actor, for example, and even includes a separate category for programmes that have not been watched yet.

One of the most interesting features of the player is the way that it integrates with online stores, including MSN Music. The execution is simple – the player just acts as a web browser – but works beautifully and demonstrates that Microsoft really only needs a web-based store and not a software client like iTunes. Support is included for a broad range of stores and media types – users can even buy and view content direct from CinemaNow without leaving the player.

As promised, synchronisation with more than 70 hardware players has been extended and simplified and will automatically update your portable media centre with new music or video when attached.

Definitely the best media player out there – and it’s difficult to see Real or iTunes catching up on functionality or ease of use any time soon.

Windows Media 10

Secure DVD Players for BAFTA Judges

The British Academy of Film and Television will be supplying judges with secure DVD players from Cinea for this year’s award season. The move is intended to answer studio’s concerns that “screener disks” sent to judges for consideration sometimes end up being pirated and ending up on the internet. Cinea’s secure players have already been used for the Oscar awards, following the MPAA’s campaign to halt the distribution of screener disks.

The specially encrypted disks will only play in Cinea’s S-VIEW sv300 DVD players, though the players themselves can play ordinary DVDs too. Disks are sent to the authorised viewer and are initialised and marked with the player identity when inserted into the sv300. By initialising the disks in this way, studios will know which player the disk came from if it ever goes astray.

“We are very pleased to be working with Cinea to give our members the opportunity to receive secure screeners. The British Academy takes the threat of piracy very seriously, and we welcome any solution that can reduce the risk of unauthorized copying.” said David Parfitt, Chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee.

Variety is reporting that it will cost studios US$25,000 (€20,650) per film, plus a license fee to Cinea, to secure the screener disks with the S-VIEW system. Cinea will pay for the players and encoding themselves, and is in discussion with studios for further uses of the S-VIEW technology to secure the post-production process for film makers. It can be used for the secure distribution of dailies and other works in progress, ensuring that digital copies don’t end up being leaked onto the internet. Something that was almost impossible with 35 or 70mm film.

Each sv300 player is individually addressable, allowing distributors to decide exactly who views their content, from large groups of thousands to a single individual.

Cinea

BAFTA

iMac G5 – World’s Thinnest Desktop Computer

Yes, that's the whole computer.Apple have unveiled their new G5 iMac, with a radical break in the series’ all-in-one design. The iMac now comes in a 20” and 17” TFT format – and the whole computer is built into the screen, making it just 2” thick.

“Just like the iPod redefined portable digital music players, the new iMac G5 redefines what users expect from a consumer desktop,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the entire system, including a gorgeous 17- or 20-inch display, just two inches thin, a lot of people will be wondering ‘where did the computer go?'”

17” models come with 80 GB of disk, 1.8 Ghz processors and a SuperDrive or 1.6 Ghz chips and a combo CD-R/DVD drive. The 20” model has a 160 GB disk, a 1.8 Ghz processor and SuperDrive. The rest of the specifications are the same: 256MB of RAM, Firewire, GeForce FX5200 graphics cards and ethernet.

If you need more power, then you can specify up to 2 gig of memory and a 250 GB hard drive when ordering.

iMac

Intel’s New Transistor Technology

Intel have announced that they’ve produced a fully functioning memory chip using 35 nanometer transistors. The breakthrough, etching components that are 30% smaller than current processes, should be delivering production chips in 2005 – ensuing that Moore’s Law will hold true for a while yet. This will elicit relief from Intel whose main business is based around the capabilities of copper and silicon devices.

Intel developed special techniques to get round the heat dissipation and power consumption problems encountered with such dense components – such as shutting off areas of the chip that aren’t in use.

In 1965, Intel founder Gordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors in integrated circuits would double every two years in his paper “Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits”– and so far he’s been right. The law is expected to hold true until the end of the decade, by which time silicon and copper chip technology are expected to reach their physical limits. Capacitance and the laws of physics start to interfere with devices at this stage, and it expected that the next big advances will be made using optical and other technologies.

“Intel continues to meet the increasing challenges of scaling by innovating with new materials, processes and device structures,” said Sunlin Chou, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group. “Intel’s 65nm process technology has industry-leading density, performance and power reduction features that will enable future chips with increased capabilities and performance. Intel’s 65nm technology is on track for delivery in 2005 to extend the benefits of Moore’s Law.”

Intel on the news

Moore’s Law

HP Unveils HP-iPod, More Gadgets

HP will will be unveiling its new line of consumer electronics today at an event in Miami. By expanding its product range into devices like the iPod, the company is seeking to build a cooler image. But can they sell people TVs?

Dell and Gateway have had success with their own range of electronics – between them they offer LCD televisions, portable music players, DVD players and PVRs, so it looks like there is a market out there for them. If Sony can go from selling TVs to selling computers, then perhaps HP can do it the other way round.

HP issued a note to the press yesterday that they will be introducing digital photography, music and entertainment experiences – aside from the branded iPod, they are expected to introduce a 42” plasma HD TV and 26” and 30” LCD TVs, along with a storage device intended to be a entertainment hub.

HP Newsroom

Dualdisc – Yet Another Disc Format

The big four record labels have decided that the way to sell more is to launch a new format – and here it comes, DualDisc. EMI, Song BMG, Universal Music and Warner Music have been quietly scheming away to produce the new format, which, as its name suggests, is a CD – DVD hybrid.

Playable on just about any drive that can play either CDs or DVDs, the DVD partition of the disk can contain extras like videos, interviews and photo galleries. How does it work? It’s really not that sophisticated – it’s just a double-sided disc with a CD substrate on one side and a DVD substrate on the other. As the format has been approved by the DVD forum, it will be allowed to carry the DVD logo.

DVD-Audio and SACD have not been very successful, and this is an attempt to recapture a lost market.

CDs are about 1.2mm thick – the new format can be about 1.5mm thick, which may cause it to jam in some players, though it is still within the upper limit for the CD standard.

The key advantage for audiophiles is that music quality is preserved. Extras on CDs tend to eat into the amount of space available for storing music, so bit rates can suffer on longer discs. Better still, listeners can enjoy DVD-A quality encoding on the DVD side at home whilst using the CD side in their cars and personal stereos. Perhaps it’s not so evil after all.

The first titles will include albums from Five for Fighting, Audioslave and Dave Brubeck. Sorry, who are these things aimed at again?

“We are delighted to be offering the first in a series of DualDisc titles,” stated Doug Morris, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group. “By combining music, video, interactivity and portability in a single disc, DualDisc will add an exciting new dimension to the consumer’s musical experience.”

“Dual Disc opens a new, exciting creative dimension for artists to express themselves and connect with fans. It’s an entertainment-packed product and is a big step in our effort to give fans music whenever, however and wherever they want it,” said David Munns, Chairman and CEO EMI Music North America.

DVD Plus International, a German company, is claiming ownership of a patent relating to a dual-format DVD, called, predictably, DVD Plus. Since Dualdisc is set for an October launch, they had better sort that one out pretty sharpish.

DualDisc – coming soon

MPAA Takes Action Against Chip Manufacturers

The Motion Picture Association of America has sued two chip manufacturing companies for selling integrated circuits to manufacturers that produce non-approved DVD players.

The MPAA isn’t happy that the makers of some DVD players deviate from the the agreed standards and produce appliances that do not feature the full range of DRM features. Consequently, the MPAA is suing Sigma Designs and MediaTek for distributing Content Scramble System chips to such companies, and thus breaking their original license agreement to distribute the chips only to other CSS-licensed outfits.

CSS and related DVD technologies are controlled by a technology group called the DVD Copy Control Association, and any manufacturer must agree to their contract terms before they can work with the format.

Dan Robbins, MPAA Chief Technology Counsel said: “Responsible corporate citizens honour the contracts they sign. There is no leniency for irresponsible companies that seek to circumvent the system and operate outside of the law.”

This latest action from the MPAA shows that they are keen to use a variety of techniques to protect their business – this doesn’t revolve around copyright law like previous instances, this is about contracts.

DVD Copy Control Association

Apple Recalls 28,000 Notebook Batteries

Apple don’t have much luck with batteries, do they? First, the iPod batteries were too weedy to play tunes for a day, now the G4 Powerbook batteries are so beefy they overheat with a risk of fire with four cases of overheating reported worldwide.

Although no fires or injuries have yet to be reported, Apple have recalled 28,000 batteries from the popular 15” laptop range, as some of the units manufactured in the last week of December 2003 may short circuit and overheat. I wonder who was on the production line that week? Too many Christmas parties? The laptops themselves would have been sold between January and August 2004.

Apple have implemented a battery exchange programme in co-operating with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and international safety authorities.

Users are urged to contact Apple with the serial number of their laptop to see if they might be at risk. Apple will then ship a new battery to the customer free within five days, and provide a label to return the faulty unit.

The A1045 batteries were manufactured by LG Chem Ltd, and have series numbers beginning with HQ404 to HQ408. No other batteries are part of the recall.

Apple’s battery exchange

AMD Using Strained Silicon in Processors

AMD are now using strained silicon in their processors to improve performance. The technology has been incorporated into the company’s new 90nm chips and will soon find its way into the company’s 130nm products later this year.

Strained silicon is made when the metal’s atoms are pulled apart to increase the space between them. I suppose the scientists’ naming department had the day off when that was invented. The increase in atomic space means that the electrons carrying the signals through the silicon can move faster.

IBM and Intel already use a form of strained silicon in their chips, but AMD say that their technique is different. There have been recent developments in silicon straining, and the most recent development in this field is uniaxial strained silicon, where it has only been stretched in one direction. Perhaps AMD are using this technique.

AMD