Monday, March 17, 2008

Third-gen Zune to hit in 2009, make it to Europe


Seeing how long it took the Zune to make it over the northern border and into Canada, it shouldn't be any surprise that it's going to take even longer to get to Europe -- not until late next year, according to the director of Microsoft France. The wait should be worth it, though: that's when the third generation of Zunes will be released, as well as a Europe-friendly version of the Zune Marketplace. There are also some sketchy rumors that Windows Mobile 7 devices will be able to take advantage of Zune content and services, but it doesn't look like Microsoft has anything to say about that yet -- but if that goes down you know a Zune phone is right around the corner.

Diamond-studded iPod shuffle to be auctioned in London


Yeah, there's a lot of good, civically-minded things you could do with your cash... but wouldn't it be more fun to blow it on a 1GB iPod? If you're dying to prove how little £20,000 (or around $40,000) means to you, here's your chance. A jeweler named Thomas Heyerdahl has created an 18 karat, diamond studded, white and pink gold iPod shuffle, meant to be auctioned at a charity in London. We've seen an almost identical version which appeared to be selling just for the heck of it -- at least this one seems to be going to good cause.

Source

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Intel launches super small Atom processors

Intel Corp. is launching a branding campaign for a forthcoming family of ultra-small chips, hoping to drive demand for two emerging categories of computing devices. The company will use the name Atom in marketing a new microprocessor line that has two variants. One chip, previously known by the code name Silverthorne, is designed to be the calculating engine for pocket-sized gadgets that Intel calls MIDs, for mobile Internet devices. The other chip to carry the Atom brand, code-named Diamondville, is designed for low-end laptop and desktop computers expected to cost around $250.Intel, of Santa Clara, Calif., also plans to introduce the brand Centrino Atom for a “platform” of technologies for mobile Internet devices, including a Silverthorne chip and a companion Intel chip that includes graphics functions.

The phrase extends the Centrino brand that Intel introduced in 2003 for technology used in laptop computers. The chip measures less than 25mm square and is packed with 47 million transistors. “This is our smallest processor built with the world’s smallest transistors,” said Intel Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Sean Maloney. “This small wonder is a fundamental new shift in design, small yet powerful enough to enable a big Internet experience on these new devices. We believe it will unleash new innovation across the industry.”

Source: Intel, WSJ