Hardware

Up until this Christmas, the likelihood of Dad getting an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player was on par with his hopes of sliding a brand new Ferrari around Germany's Nuburgring. That's because extravagant cost has kept high definition movie players outside ... the average family home. That is, until this Christmas. For the first time in the history of the technology, Blu-ray and HD-DVD players are actually affordable gifts. When Sony introduced its first Blu-ray player, the BD-P1000, most homeowners -- even the hardcore techies -- scoffed at the $1,000 price tag. Although Toshiba's HD-DVD players were ... (view more)

Last Saturday, one of my friends called me up at 8:00 AM and asked,. "I have 12 PC's that have been donated to me for use in my non-profit. They have all sorts of software that I need to get rid of before installing an OS on them. Can you help me?" ... After pondering his request, I said, "Sure! I have just the tool for that job!" Before I could say "Bob's your uncle!" I had 12 PCs, with keyboards, mice, monitors, and speaker sets on my living room floor! What a mess! As my "friend" drove away, laughing gleefully, I resolved to charge him a very high fee the next time he asked for help. Since it ... (view more)

An Indian computer has been ranked the fourth-fastest in the world. It's the first time India has even cracked the top 100 in speed rankings. Computers from Sweden and Germany are among five new entries in the top ten, which was previously dominated ... by US-built machines. The list was announced at the SuperComputing 07 conference in Reno, Nevada. It's the 30th edition of the list, which comes out every six months and is compiled by experts from universities in Tennessee and Germany and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center in California. (Source: Top500.org ) The Indian ... (view more)

Meet the all-in-one personal computer! A long since forgotten piece of hardware from the 1980's that combines a monitor and processing unit all in one piece. All-in-one personal computers have been around for decades, with the original 1984 ... Macintosh being among the most popular of the models. These all-in-one computers have been efficiently replaced by the more common monitor and tower configuration, because all-in-one computers have always been difficult to repair and upgrade. The failure of one component could dismantle the entire unit. (Source: usatoday.com ) Gateway Inc. has decided to ... (view more)

If you're already confused about the high definition movie market, what with its HD-DVD and Blu-ray formats, then it's going to get a little more muddled for you. That's because China, quickly evolving into a technology titan, has developed CH-DVD, ... based on Toshiba's HD-DVD platform. Last week, the Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center, or OMNERC, announced the development of CH-DVD, which stands for China High Definition DVD (no surprise there). Crafted in the laboratories of Tsinghua University in Beijing, CH-DVD beckons the HD-DVD magic by employing the blue-violet lasers ... (view more)

Still confused about whether to leap into the next-gen high definition movie market? For those boasting big bucks, LG has a solution with its slightly reduced (but still quite expensive) dual Blu-ray and HD-DVD player. Although appearing to take ... sides by using the moniker "Super Blu Player," LG's device is equally proficient with the Toshiba and Microsoft-supported HD-DVD format. At $1,000, it's also about 16% cheaper than the last Blu-ray and HD-DVD player introduced by the company. (Source: digitalhome.ca ) So, what's the point? For those of us who have watched a movie in HD, the technology ... (view more)

Oh Amazon, you're such a blabbermouth. The popular online retailer recently revealed just how much consumers can expect to pay for hardware running Microsoft Corporation's upcoming Windows Home Server (WHS) software. The slip of the mouth took place ... last Monday, even though servers using Microsoft's product aren't expected to hit stores until the 15th of September. According to these whispers, prices for start at a measly $599 USD. Amazon wasn't alone in the revelation, however. Other online retailers let loose details and prices, including PCMall and onSale.com. So, what's in the bounty? The ... (view more)

Just when Sony fans and PlayStation 3 owners began rubbing their hands with delight over the seemingly imminent destruction of HD-DVD by Blu-ray, along comes a mean-looking green ogre to even things up. In a surprise move, both Paramount and ... Dreamworks, those responsible for the "Shrek" series of films, have stated that future movies released to the public will appear exclusively on the HD-DVD format. Flicks distributed under MTV Films, Paramount Vantage, and even Nickelodeon Pictures, subsidiaries of Paramount, will also go to the Toshiba-supported technology. It all comes within ... (view more)

Researchers in Edmonton, Alberta have launched a simple computer program that claims to have "solved" the game of checkers. Apparently "Chinook", the checker-playing computer program, cannot lose in a game that has been played by young and old for ... hundreds of years. Tests have shown the very best a player can do while playing against the computer is a draw. While Chinook is unlikely to start a technological revolution, the steps that were taken to overcome such an improbable obstacle is most interesting. In the past, game-playing programs had used a common sense approach in making all ... (view more)

Wal-Mart has created an empire by becoming the one-stop superstore for budget-conscious consumers. However, the retail giant has taken this mantra one step further by releasing a PC that sells for a mere $298. The Everex IMPACT GC3502 comes with ... Windows Vista Home Basic and OpenOffice.org 2.2. The system includes a 1.5GHz VIA C7 CPU, 1GB of DDR-2 SDRAM, an 80GB hard drive, a DVD burner, and integrated graphics. While the device does come with a keyboard, mouse, and speakers, the monitor is sold separately. (Source: arstechnica.com ) Interestingly, the $298 computer will not contain any " ... (view more)