General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Researchers Announce Huge Quantum Computing Breakthrough

Posted: 26 Apr 2012 04:59 PM PDT

As far as quantum computing breakthroughs go, this latest one by a team of researchers from the U.S., Australia and South Africa is truly special. According to the researchers, a tiny crystal comprising only 300 atoms developed by them has paved the way for a "huge leap" in computing. A leap so vast, these researchers claim, that it would take a supercomputer larger than the known universe to do the kind of calculations possible with their "quantum simulator," a special type of quantum computer. Hit the jump for more.

"Computing technology has taken a huge leap forward using a crystal with just 300 atoms suspended in space," Dr Biercuk, from the University of Sydney's School of Physics and ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, is quoted as having said in a university news release.

"The projected performance of this new experimental quantum simulator eclipses the current maximum capacity of any known computer by an astonishing 10 to the power of 80. That is 1 followed by 80 zeros, in other words 80 orders of magnitude, a truly mind-boggling scale."

In a video (below) uploaded to YouTube by the University of Sydney, the Aussie researcher described the system as being a one-atom thick "pancake" of 300 beryllium atoms; however, the technical systems accompanying this trapped-ion quantum simulator take up an entire room. Bieruck and his teammates have detailed their system in a letter published in the journal Nature.

"In our case, we are studying the interactions of spins in the field of quantum magnetism - a key problem that underlies new discoveries in materials science for energy, biology, and medicine."

"For instance, we hope to study the spin interactions predicted by models for high-temperature superconductivity - a physical phenomenon that has yet to be explained, but has the potential to revolutionise power distribution and high-speed transport."

There's one problem, though: it's not easy to check the accuracy of calculations performed by this tiny beast using conventional computers. Bieruck sees overcoming this problem as the next big challenge for him and his team. In the meantime, you can enjoy your Ivy Bridge-powered rigs and ultrabooks.

AMD Catalyst 12.4 Driver Hits The Web With WHQL Certification And Added OS Support

Posted: 26 Apr 2012 11:14 AM PDT

Another day, another new graphics driver. But rather than being yet another beta release, the AMD Catalyst 12.4 driver is fully WHQL certified and brings a bevy of useful new features to the virtual table, including Radeon HD 7000 series support for Windows XP, openSuse 12.1 and the just-released Ubuntu 12.04.

The new driver squashes third-screen tearing issues in 3x1 and 1x3 Eyefinity setups and provides bug fixes for a handful of games, including Skyrim, Stalker: Call of Pripyat, Rage and 2007's Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (WTF?). In addition, AMD reports that texture filtering and super sampling anti-aliasing: level of detail image quality has been improved for the Radeon HD 7000 lineup. Along the same lines, morphological anti-aliasing receives a major boost for Radeon HD 5000, 6000 and 7000 series cards, with AMD claiming that "MLAA now operates up to 80% faster than previous versions."

If any of that sounds up your alley, you can snag the AMD Catalyst 12.4 driver over on AMD's website right now.

Are We In For An SSD Price War?

Posted: 26 Apr 2012 10:34 AM PDT

Eight out of ten geeks agree*: once you've taken an SSD's blazing fast speeds for a whirl, it's hard to go back to standard HDDs. (The last two geeks horde ripped HD video files like they're going out of style.) The problem is, the comparatively sky-high price point of SSDs have kept most folks away from their oh-so-sweet performance. New reports indicate that may change in the coming months, however, as the big movers and shakers in the SSD industry lower prices to try and squeeze out the little guys.

Falling NAND chip pricing is the reason that Kingston, Intel, OCZ and Crucial will be able to engage in the "price war" to eliminate smaller companies from the SSD market, DigiTimes reports. The publication's sources say that the big guys are worried that "inferior products" from bit players may slow down the mass adoption of SSDs through retail channels, so the big guys plan on squashing the competition with a swat of the low-price sledgehammer.

Now, you want to take everything you hear from DigiTimes with a grain of salt, but keep in mind that Intel recently released the budget-priced 330 SSD line with a base model that retails for under $100. The big companies also hope to spur the mass adoption to SATA 3.0 by offering those SSDs at competitive prices to SATA 2.0 SSDs, the publication says.

*Yes, those numbers are completely fictitious.

Ubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" Released

Posted: 26 Apr 2012 10:11 AM PDT

If you're a Ubuntu Linux user, there's a new entry on your to-do list for today: downloading Ubuntu 12.04 (aka "Precise Pangolin"), the just-dropped long-term support release for the operating system. That means it gets five full years of bug fixes and updates, and it brings a host of improvements and fresh features to the OS -- including upgrades to its divisive Unity interface.

This is the first time Unity has reared its head in a LTS Ubuntu release, and it brings Canonical's new menu-shattering HUD interface to the party. (We've covered the Canonical HUD previously; hit the link for more details.) Initial reports say that Unity speeds along like a champ in Ubuntu 12.04, but we haven't had a chance to try it out for ourselves yet.

In addition to the usual app updates, Precise Pangolin packs in improved power management, a new login screen and a Video Lens that searches for cinema both online and locally. Canonical went after the enterprise market hard with this release: Ubuntu 12.04 includes support for VMware, Citrix, Microsoft RDP 7.1 and over 20 different laptops and desktops available on the market. OMG! UBUNTU! made a video of the top ten new features available in the O.S., which you can watch above.

Here's the download page for Ubuntu 12.04.

Replay Games Raises Half a Million Dollars for Leisure Suit Larry Remake

Posted: 26 Apr 2012 08:09 AM PDT

Leisure Suit Larry is returning to the Land of the Lounze Lizards, and it's all because of the generosity of thousands of nostalgic old school adventure gamers who pledged the necessary half a million dollars to make it happen. With six days to spare, Al Lowe, creator of the original Larry games and not the last two abominations that sullied the franchise, is promising more content if pledges top $750,000.

Fans of the original games will be happy to know that Al Lowe is in full control of the remake, which promises to add improved graphics, a revamped interface, and updated humor. Adventure Mob is providing the code base, and Replay Games, which is made up of a bunch of Sierra veterans, is overseeing the project and will handle publishing chores.

It remains to be seen whether Leisure Suit Larry will capture gamers the way he did back in adventure gaming's heyday. Al Lowe and Co. will give it an honest shot, and if nothing else, the remade game has allowed old school gamers who pirated the original copies to atone for their sins by backing the Kickstarter project.

Leisure Suit Larry's Kickstarter Page

Samsung Announces Slim and Sexy Optical Drive for Ultrabooks and Tablets

Posted: 26 Apr 2012 06:56 AM PDT

Having to lug around bulky accessories and peripherals with your Ultrabook or tablet PC kind of negates the whole idea behind thin and light form factors. At the same time, some people find an external optical disc drive (ODD) to be an essential companion, and if you're one of those people, you may want to slap Samsung with a high-five for announcing its new SE-218BB external DVD writer.

Samsung claims the SE-218BB is the world's thinnest ODD, making it a perfect compliment for light and portable devices. It's 18 percent slimmer than conventional DVD writers, measures just 14mm high, and is 8 percent lighter than Samsung's regular DVD writers. And with a brushed aluminum aesthetic, it looks good to boot.

Here's another bonus: It uses a single USB port to power the drive and provide AV connectivity. Most (not all) external DVD writers require two USB ports to function properly, and since these are in short supply on many Ultrabooks, this could end up being a major selling point.

As for speeds:

  • 24X CD-ROM
  • 24X CD-RW
  • 8X DVD±R recording
  • 5X DVD-RAM recording
  • 6X DVD+R Dual Layer recording
  • 6X DVD-R Dual Layer recording
  • 8X DVD±RW recording
  • 6x DVD-RW recording

You can purchase the SE-218BB now for $60 MSRP.

Image Credit: Samsung

Notebook Makers Grow Impatient with High Cost to Manufacture Ultrabooks

Posted: 26 Apr 2012 06:40 AM PDT

When is an Ultrabook not really an Ultrabook? Whenever Intel says so, that's when. For consumers, the answer might not be so cut and dry, and as notebook makers look to deliver thin and light notebooks at lower price points, you'll have to ask yourself how much you really care about buying a notebook with an official Ultrabook designation versus buying one that's nearly identical but lacks Intel's full blessing.

Here's the deal. According to news and rumor site DigiTimes, notebook manufacturers aren't really happy with the high manufacturing costs associated with second-generation Ultrabooks. Next-gen models are expected to cost about a grand, and that's a tough sell. The solution? Launch "ultra-like" notebooks.

DigiTimes didn't go into specifics, but we imagine lower priced Ultrabook knockoffs will show up to the thin and light party with mechanical hard drives instead of solid state drives, lower quality displays, slightly thicker frames, and a variety of less expensive processor options, including those from AMD.

Samsung Announces Exynos 4 Quad Processor with "Console Like" Graphics

Posted: 26 Apr 2012 05:58 AM PDT

Samsung today officially introduced what it claims is the world's first quad-core application processor built on the High-k Metal Gate (HKMG) low-power process technology. It's called the Exynos 4 Quad, a 32nm 1.4GHz quad-core processor based on the ARM Cortex A9 architecture. With twice as many cores as its predecessor, the 45nm Exynos 4 Dual, Samsung claims the Exynos 4 Quad doubles the processing potential with a 20 percent lower power footprint.

"The quad-core processor offers phenomenal multitasking abilities surpassing any single or dual application processor. Since all the cores must share a single battery, the power management and efficiency in the limited battery capacity are indispensable for mobile computing devices," said Taehoon Kim, vice president of System LSI marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics. "Given the diverse functionalities consumers are demanding from their mobile devices today, the Exynos 4 Quad meets those high-performance needs while keeping power consumption very low."

One of the neat things about the Exynos 4 Quad is that it's pin-to-pin compatible with the 32nm based Exynos 4 Dual, which makes it easier for mobile device makers to adopt the new part. From a performance standpoint, Samsung says the Exynos 4 Quad is tops when it comes to heavy-load applications like 3D games, video editing, and calculation-intensive simulation.

"With Exynos 4 Quad, you experience console-like gaming wherever you go," Samsung claims.

The Exynos 4 Quad will provide the performance foundation for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy smartphone, which will be officially introduced in May, and is currently being sampled to other device makers.

Image Credit: Samsung
Posted by Shri Krishna

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