General Gaming Article |
- Buffalo's 802.11ac Router And Media Bridge Hit Shelves, First 1.3Gbps Wi-Fi Devices Available
- Does The GTX 670 Support 4-Way SLI Or Not?
- Windows 8 Tablets Slated for November, HP is Raring to Go
- Forget 22nm Chips, Intel's Already Looking Ahead to 5nm
- Facebook Co-Founder Renounces Citizenship, Will Avoid Massive IPO Tax Bill
- Yahoo CEO Exits Stage Left; Company Shares Trend Upwards
| Buffalo's 802.11ac Router And Media Bridge Hit Shelves, First 1.3Gbps Wi-Fi Devices Available Posted: 14 May 2012 10:45 AM PDT
With theoretical maximum speeds of up to 1.3Gbps, 802.11ac signals could achieve speeds three times faster than the 802.11n routers found in homes across the world today. That's on the 5GHz spectrum; the Buffalo router also packs in a standard 3x3 802.11n radio to operate on the 2.4GHz spectrum at up to 450Mbps. Range remains about the same as with 802.11n routers, however. Older 802.11g/b/n devices will work just fine with the new Buffalo 802.11ac offerings, albeit on the 2.4GHz spectrum. One big problem with being on the bleeding edge of Wi-Fi standards; there aren't any consumer devices that can receive the router's 802.11ac signal aside from Buffalo's 802.11ac media bridge -- and connecting devices to the bridge while maintaining those (theoretical) 1.3Gbps transfer speeds requires Ethernet connections. In other words, consider the 802.11ac router an investment in the future unless you want wires running through your home today. Both the router and the bridge are available now at Fry's and Newegg for $180 a pop. |
| Does The GTX 670 Support 4-Way SLI Or Not? Posted: 14 May 2012 10:16 AM PDT
In a word: no. The GTX 670 tops out at 3-way SLI, and it even says as much on Nvidia's website. The good news is that quad support is coming: when PC Perspective began questioning Nvidia about the lack of 4-way SLI, the company responded with "Change in plans.....we will be offering 4-Way SLI support for GTX 670 in a future driver." Great news! And as for those pics that showed four GTX670 DirectCU II TOPs, a concerned enthusiast named Trevor Foster reached out to Asus for clarification on Facebook. Asus responded quickly: "You are correct 3-Way is the max supported for this mostly we wanted to show it for size relation. If this looks misleading I apologize." (Thanks to Trevor for pointing me towards the clarification.) So there you have it: the GTX 670 does not support 4-way SLI setups, but it will some day in the future. |
| Windows 8 Tablets Slated for November, HP is Raring to Go Posted: 14 May 2012 06:54 AM PDT
An un-named source "familiar with the device makers' plans" told CNet that the first wave of such tablets will show up in stores in November. The source described the schedule as being "tight" and that Windows 8 mobile devices won't be limited to strictly tablets, but over half of the "more than a dozen" models will be hybrid devices that function as both a notebook and a tablet. Each Windows 8 device, whether it be a full-blown tablet or a convertible, will run Intel's Clover Trail Atom platform, which will be the chip maker's first dual-core Atom design built on a 32nm manufacturing process. A single-core version of Clover Trail will be used in smartphones. Hewlett-Packard is one of the companies champing at the bit to give Windows 8-based tablets a whirl, according to Fudzilla, which says HP has no intentions of returning to WebOS. Image Credit: Redmond Pie |
| Forget 22nm Chips, Intel's Already Looking Ahead to 5nm Posted: 14 May 2012 06:28 AM PDT
Slides of Intel's R&D pipeline were posted to XBitLabs and show that 14nm is being developed from now through around 2014. Starting in 2015, Intel will look to 10nm, 7nm, and even 5nm, which are currently being researched. "Our research and development is quite deep, I talk about ten years," Intel CEO Paul Otellini told XbitLabs. No kidding. Intel is currently upgrading fabs in Oregon, Arizona, and Israel for 22nm, and the chip maker plans to invest in its Oregon, Arizona, and Ireland plants for 14nm and beyond. |
| Facebook Co-Founder Renounces Citizenship, Will Avoid Massive IPO Tax Bill Posted: 14 May 2012 06:12 AM PDT
According to a BBC News report, Saverin has been living in Singapore since 2009, and that's where he'll become an official citizen. As his spokesman succinctly put it, Saverin "found it more practical to become a resident of Singapore since he plans to live there for an indefinite period of time." The allure of not having to pay $600 million in taxes undoubtedly played a role in that decision as well, as it's been long known that Mark Zuckerberg and Co. planned to take Facebook public. When Facebook does file an IPO, it will attempt to raise $10.6 billion, which would be the most ever for a technology firm. It would also value the site at almost $100 billion. Saverin currently holds a 4 percent stake in Facebook, according to BBC News. |
| Yahoo CEO Exits Stage Left; Company Shares Trend Upwards Posted: 14 May 2012 05:55 AM PDT
An analyst with Evercore Partners said in a note that "Investors are likely to take comfort in fresh leadership, particularly at the board level," pointing out that eight of the 11 board seats were filled in the past year alone. Along with Thompson's departure, Yahoo board chairman Roy Bostock is stepping down, and indeed investors reacted positively to the news, pushing Yahoo's stock price up 1.6 percent in pre-market trading, Reuters reports. Investment firm Third Point, which has a 5.8 percent stake in Yahoo, was the driving force in all this, recently demanding that Yahoo look into Thompson's hiring and make public the review process. With the resignation of Thompson and Levinsohn, Third Point has agreed to end its pending proxy contest and withdraw its previous board nominations, as well as vote its 70,545,400 shares in support of Yahoo's nominees. "The board is pleased to announce these changes and the settlement with Third Point, and is confident that they will serve the best interests of our shareholders and further accelerate the substantial advances [Yahoo] has made operationally and organizationally since last August. The board believes in the strength of the company's business and assets, and in the opportunities before us, and I am honored to work closely with my fellow directors and Ross to continue to drive Yahoo forward," said Fred Amoroso, Yahoo's board chairman. Yahoo, which closed at $15.19 per share on Friday, was up to $15.52 in pre-market trading on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.51 billion. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons |
Faster Wi-Fi ain't just coming, folks -- it's already here. Just a few weeks back, we reported that Netgear was racing to be the first manufacturer with a speedy new 802.11ac router available on the consumer market, 
After the GTX 670 launched to pretty much universal applause last Friday, a mini-controversy began brewing almost immediately: did it support 4-way SLI or not? The card uses the same GPU as the quad-enabled GTX 680, the PCB sports two SLI connectors, reviews from prominent online enthusiast sources listed the card as supporting quad-SLI, and heck, Asus photos for the GTX670 DirectCU II TOP even show it in a quad setup. Lots of other reviewers said 4-way SLI wasn't available, however. What gives? Does the GTX 670 support 4-card setups or what?
Tired of the current crop of tablets mostly sporting Android and iOS? If that's the case, mark your calendars for November, because according to reports, that's when Intel-based slates running Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system are set to land in retail. Anticipation is running high for next-generation tablets equipped with Microsoft's touch-friendly OS, which could prove game changing in the mobile space.
Intel's 22nm processors, better known as Ivy Bridge, are fresh out of the fab and have given the Santa Clara's Core architecture a kick in the pants. But is the successor to Sandy Bridge and Sandy Bridge-E already old news? Not exactly, though a peek at Intel's Research & Development roadmap reveals that a 14nm manufacturing process is already in development, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Uncle Sam was all set to collect around $600 million from Brazilian Eduardo Saverin, the other co-founder of Facebook who will make another fortune off of the world's most popular social playground when it makes its initial public offering (IPO) on Friday. But rather than fork over all that money, Saverin decided to renounce his U.S. citizenship, a process he began back in September 2011.
Scott Thompson, the Yahoo Chief Executive Officer who was being investigated by board members on allegations that he overtly padded his resume, has left the building and will not return. In his place is Ross Levinsohn, who Yahoo named interim CEO as it seeks a permanent replacement, or at least one that will last longer than Thompson did, which is barely more than four months.| You are subscribed to email updates from Maximum PC - All Articles To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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