Tech News

 

Updated: 19/11/2006

Free Upgrade

One for owners of Norton Internet security 2006. You can upgrade to 2007 for free!! Even though Symantec aren't advertising it that well. More here. Well done to Pcpro Magazine for pointing this out.


Microsoft now offers a very cheap anti-virus solution with Windows live Onecare. Check it out here. Some nice features on the site and cheap subscription offers. ( Apparently you get get it cheaper through amazon.)


Intel Unveils Next Mobile Platform

Intel's new technology, code-named Robson, promises system boots that take half the time of notebooks on the market today and application launches that are five times as fast with its NAND flash memory. More here.


Microsoft officially announces The Origami Project

Microsoft has officially launched the Origami Project this morning at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany.

As leaked yesterday, the device is a new category of mobile computing devices that features small, lightweight, carry-everywhere hardware designs. more here.


Microsoft touts Windows Vista for enterprises

Microsoft has used the latest Community Technology Preview (CTP) test version of its forthcoming Windows Vista to highlight new features for enterprises. 

The software giant has mainly focused on the consumer features in Windows Vista, but Brad Goldberg, general manager for Windows client product management, said in a conference call with journalists that Vista also provides new features for enterprise users.

"The perception was created that Windows Vista is a consumer release. While there is a lot of cool stuff for consumers, Windows Vista is as much if not more a business focused release that will provide tremendous value for business customers." More here.


Consoles:

New console versions on the way: XBOX 360, PS3 and Nintendo Revolution (I doubt it).

Expect them to be making a large dent in your wallets over the coning months.

XBOX 360 expected before Christmas 2005.


Gaming price war looms following Xbox cut

With the leaked announcement that Microsoft's Xbox would soon be retailing for under 100 quid, news reaches us that Sony is set to cut the price of the PS2 within the next fortnight.

The Xbox discount is still unofficial as yet. 'At £129.99/€199.99, Xbox offers tremendous value - we have a large and growing portfolio of quality games, the award-winning Xbox Live service, online gaming capability built in to the console, and the most powerful hardware available,' Chris Lewis, Director of Microsoft's UK Home and Entertainment Division, told us.

Lewis continued: 'We're very comfortable with our price point and will continue to offer value by bringing outstanding gaming experiences to gamers in Europe.' Nonetheless, the cut is expected to be formally announced at the X03 event later this month in France - and if the widely expected price cut does come, the machine will prove astonishing value for money, meaning Sony will almost certainlty have to respond.

The PS2 is currently the most expensive - and far away the most successful - console on the market today, but in the run up to Christmas the lure of the more powerful Xbox at barely more than half the price of the PS2 could prove too much to resist.

One prominent industry insider is already convinced that the PS2 price cut is definitely going to happen, with the price of the console dropping to £129.99; the timing of the cut designed to steal the X03 announcement's glory.

Various bundles are also rumoured to be in the works, with the Xbox bundled with two games and Sony's PS2 selling complete with the EyeToy peripheral.

Nintendo's David Gosen, meanwhile, has said that the GameCube will 'remain competitive'. Price cuts for the 'Cube? Most retailers are already flogging it for £129.00 with a copy of Zelda - how much more value-packed can you get? Well, specualtion is rife that the standalone console will retail for as little as £79.99 before the end of the year.

The likely bundles are as follows:

* PS2 with EyeToy and new Groove disc - £169.99
* PS2 standalone - £129.99

* Xbox with Xbox Live! and free game - £149.99
* Xbox with two free games - £129.99
* Xbox standalone - £99.99

* GameCube with new title - £129.99
* GameCube standalone - £79.99


Blaster Boy speaks out.

In his first interview, Blaster.B suspect Jeffrey Lee Parson has claimed that he is not the loner as portrayed in the media.

Talking to US TV programme NBC Today Parson complained that many of the people who have been interviewed about him are not his friends.

He added that he had a wide network of associates who were supporting him since his arrest.

"I'm not a loner. I have a very supportive close group of friends. I'm not reckless, I don't do drugs, smoke or drink," said Parson.

"This is the first time I have ever had a run-in with the law. It's hurtful to see the accounts of me. I'm not depressed, embarrassed about my weight, or a misfit."

Parson was unable to talk about the extent of his involvement in the Blaster.B worm, one of four variants, which spread around the internet last month using a Microsoft operating system hole for which a patch had long been available.

He also claimed that he gave four interviews to investigators before being charged or offered a lawyer. Since being charged he is co-operating because he has been told that it will help his case.

"Even now I still don't fully understand the charges against me," said Parson. "I don't even have a copy of the complaint, and don't have a lawyer that has explained the specific charges to me."

He claimed that the government is seeking to make an example of him.


Old news:

Xbox was Microsoft's future-generation Video Game System that delivered the most powerful games experiences ever. You can now pick one up FREE in gamespot when you buy two second hand games (Dec 2006). Amazing cosidering the hardware installed. Stick linux on it and you have a very cheap pc.

Features

  • A front-loading DVD tray
  • A multisignal audio-video connector that allows for easy hookup to televisions and home theatre systems
  • An Ethernet port for rich, fast-action online gaming via a broadband connection
  • An NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU), delivering more than three times the graphics performance of other consoles
  • An Intel 733MHz processor, the most powerful CPU of any console
  • An internal hard drive, for massive storage of game information — a first in the console gaming industry.
     

Check out the Xbox site Here.

Convert you Xbox to Linux P.C. Here.