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New Acer replaces touchpad with touchscreen – Acer has announced
the Aspire Ethos laptops, which incorporate a secondary touchscreen that doubles
as a touchpad to help navigate multimedia content. The extra touchscreen, placed
below the keyboard where a touchpad would normally sit, can display icons that make
it easier for users to navigate through movies or music. The screen will also allow
users to do things like adjust the volume or sort through images. The media console
is now combined with the touchpad, providing a set of commands all managed by a
single key and a completely new approach to entertainment control, The improvements
help maintain a clean surface and elegant design. The Ethos laptops run on Intel's
latest Core i5 and Core i7 processors and include an AMD ATI Mobility Radeon HD
5000 series graphics card, allowing playback of full high-definition DVDs. The laptops
can also be bought with Blu-ray Disc drives. The Ethos 8943G comes with an 18.4-inch
screen, while the 5943G comes with a 15.6-inch screen. The laptops will provide
up to 1.28TB of storage through two 640GB hard drives. Wireless options include
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
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Opera Mini approved for Apple's iPhone – Apple has approved
an iPhone version of Opera Mini and the free browser is now available for download
from the App Store. In February Opera announced that it was completing work on a
version of its browser for the iPhone and that it planned to submit it to Apple
for approval and distribution. This was generally viewed as risky because Apple
were not binding in the past, whether the browser that would not be allowed on technology
for mobile Safari on the iPhone OS platform. However, Opera Mini had several things
going for it: for example, is not a separate application on the client side, but
the functionality of this side of the Opera's own servers to the most content and
delivery of manipulation tasks, including the interpretation and execution of JavaScript
code management that would be the App Store against the policy. A free download,
Opera Mini works on all iPhone OS devices running version 2.2.1 of the operating
system or higher.
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Microsoft unleashes long-awaited SQL 2008 update – Microsoft
has released to manufacturing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, the new version of its
relational database management system software, the company announced Wednesday.
The software, a major update of the SQL Server 2008 code base, has been in development
for almost two years. Thus far, the developer version of the software has been downloaded
more than 300,000 times, according to the company. The R2 version updates the SQL
Server 2008 in a number of ways. One notable feature is the scale. A single SQL
Server 2008 instance can now be run on up to 256 logical processors. Previously,
a SQL Server instance could only scale up to 64 logical processors. It will also
run on as much as two terabytes of working memory. This will pave the way for more
large scale, enterprise deployments. The software also has been updated to work
better in Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualized environments. For instance, the virtualized
instance of the software can be migrated from one server to another while continuing
to run. The software's administration software has been updated as well. A new feature,
called Utility Control Point, enables database administrators to manage the policies
of entire farms of SQL Servers from a single console. "Through one control point,
you can administrator your entire infrastructure through a standardized set of policies
and tools.
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AMD releases first 6-core desktop PC chips – AMD is trying
to beat Intel on price with its latest six-core desktop Phenom II X6 processors,
which were announced today. AMD is shipping two X6 processors that are substantially
less pricey than Intel's latest six-core Core i7-980XM desktop processor, which
was announced last month. The Phenom II X6 1090T processor runs at 3.2GHz and is
priced at $295 (£190), while the 1055T, which runs at 2.8GHz, is priced at $199
(£130). Intel's Core i7-980XM desktop processor is priced at $999 (£650), according
to a price list on Intel's website. The X6 chips are targeted at gamers and buyers
looking for high-performance desktops. The chips are the fastest yet in AMD's desktop
processor lineup. Intel's Core i7-980XM chip will be faster on some threaded applications,
but buyers may get more bang for the buck with AMD's six-core offerings. Buyers
will be able to configure high-end gaming desktops at prices equaling the cost of
Intel's chip alone. "[Intel's] six-core part is going to be faster, but it's about
the value equation,". Enthusiasts tend to judge systems by performance, but price
could be a differentiating factor for those with less to spend. AMD's chips hold
an advantage in performance-per-dollar, but those looking for performance will be
loyal to Intel's processors. But the enthusiast market is small, and Intel may not
make drastic price changes or architectural changes in light of the pricing competition
waged by AMD.
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