Arctic Debuts Freezer 13 Pro CPU Cooler

Arctic Cooling has unveiled the Freezer 13 Pro CPU cooler, promising improved performance over its predecessor, the Freezer 13 released in October 2010.

Measuring 134 x 96 x 159mm and weighing 902g, the massive cooler has four U-shaped 8mm copper heat-pipes, fourty-seven 0.5mm-thick aluminum fins, a copper base, and is cooled by two fluid dynamic bearing fans - a PWM 120mm and 50mm model that operates at 300 ~ 1250RPM and 700 ~ 2700RPM respectively.

It is compatible with all Intel LGA 775/ 1155/ 1156/ 1366 and AMD S754/ S939/ AM2(+)/ AM3 processors and comes with pre-applied MX-4 thermal grease. The Freezer 13 Pro, covered by a 6-year warranty, is available through authorized resellers and e-tailers at a MSRP of US$54.90/ €39.90 (without VAT).

News via [Legit Reviews]

Apple developed touchscreen phone prototype in 1983

Apple developed a prototype for a touchscreen phone as far back as 1983, but decided not to go through with it, a decision that ultimately led to the iPhones release many years later in 2007.

The prototype was developed by Hartmut Esslinger, founder of Frogdesign, which helped design numerous Apple products, including the IIc computer, the first Apple product to feature the snow white colour that became iconic of the companys design principles.The phone looks like a traditional landline, with a built-in tablet screen that is operated by a stylus, a feature that Steve Jobs dropped from the original iPhone design. It looks pretty dated and the screen is particularly dull and unimpressive, but the fact that the technology could have been released so long ago opens a lot of what if questions.The phone industry could have been a very different place if Apple released this product in the 1980s, but it was probably a wise decision to hold off, as the market was likely not ready for it. It would have almost definitely have been expensive, which is no surprise for Apple, but likely a lot more so than the iPhone, given the general lack of availability of such technology at the time.With such a potential high price tag, and the lack of consumer loyalty built by the success of the iPod, this device could have been a major flop, which could have made Apple think twice about developing the iPhone.Source and Image Credit: Ubergizmo

Asus and MSI displays mini-ITX H61 boards at CeBIT

We should soon be seeing some much more affordable mini-ITX boards for Intels second generation of Core i processors and both Asus and MSI has shown off new models based on the new H61 budget chipset for the platform. The two boards are quite different in terms of what they offer though and were pretty sure that these are only two of the first boards of many to come.

Asus has gone for a full-on HTPC design for its P8H61-I with a x16 PCI Express slot, four SATA 3Gbps ports and two headers for an additional four USB 2.0 ports. Around the back the board has a PS/2 port, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a D-sub, DVI and HDMI port and three audio jacks for 5.1-channel audio. Bear in mind that this is a budget board and it wont compete with the H67 boards in terms of features.

MSI on the other hand decided to go really basic with its H61I-E35 and only included a x1 PCI Express slot, although you still get four SATA 3Gbps ports and two headers for four USB 2.0 ports. Around the back the MSI board appears to have a PS/2 port, six USB 2.0 ports, a D-sub and HDMI port and three audio jacks for 5.1-channel audio. This board should be very affordable and a great match with the upcoming Sandy Bridge Pentium and Celeron processors expected later this year.

Source: Impress PC Watch, Computer Base

Android 2.3 Gingerbread coming to Samsung Galaxy S

Samsung has performed well in the Android smartphone market in 2010, with the introduction of their Galaxy S (model: GT-I9000) which has since sold more than 10 million units. According to reports, the Samsung Galaxy S will soon have an upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

A Samsung Germany official has expressed that the Galaxy S I9000 will receive the update in March, though no specific date or details were given. If the news is believed to be true, this surely benefits the Galaxy S owners and the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update will no doubt provide better features, performance and experience.

Source: xda.cn

AMD To Sample 90nm CPUs In Q2 2004

AMD is scheduled to deliver chip samples using a90nm manufacturing process on 8-inch wafers in the second quarter of next year.The chip samples will be cranked out from AMD’s Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany. Thefab, which uses a 0.13-micron process, will migrate to 90nm in the second halfof 2004. AMD hoped to ramp up 90nm chip production in the second quarter of nextyear, but has delayed that schedule by two to three months. San Diego, the 90nmsuccessor of the current Athlon 64 FX for high performance desktops andWinchester, the 90nm successor of Athlon 64 for mainstream desktops will arrivein H2 2004. For servers, 90nm Athens, Troy and Venus will arrive at the sametime. AMD does not have plans to outsource processors to any wafer foundry inthe immediate future. Instead, AMD is building a new 12-inch wafer fab, calledFab 36, adjacent to Fab 30. The new fab is projected to start cranking out13,000 wafers per month on a 65nm process in 2006.

2012-12-21-93

[Rumour] ATI Southern Islands / HD 6000 a minor improvement

Fudzilla reports that ATI's upcoming next generation products, codenamedSouthern Islands, are set to be a minor improvement over the current HD5000 generation. The S. Islands cores will be just a tweak on the HD5000 cores. However, Fudzilla do not make any mention of the uncoreelements. The cores or shaders of S. Islands has been rumoured to besimilar to Evergreen for a long time, but those rumours also suggestuncore elements (such as ROP) based on N. Islands. N. Islands wasoriginally meant to be the late 2010 generation, but has been delayeddue to the cancellation of TSMC's 32nm process, and major delays to28nm. Thus, S. Islands is merely a transition between Evergreen and N.Islands. N. Islands is now set to release in 2011 at 28nm.

The release for the first S. Islands part is around 3 months away, and we will consider the "minor improvement" a rumour for now. If it were true, it could be disappointing. On the other hand, one could argue that ATI doesn't really need a major revamp right now. Even with GF104, ATI still continues to enjoy a performance/watt/die-size advantage with the HD 5000 series. Perhaps a refresh of HD 5000 will be enough to beat any Nvidia product in the near future. ATI, however, have a habit of surprising us.

The last time a new generation was released on the same process was back in 2008. The HD 3000 to HD 4000 both used the same TSMC 55nm product, with no major improvements expected. Rumours suggested a 30% increase in die size (which was true) from RV670 to RV770, and this led to many to assume a 50% increase in number of shaders from 320 to 480. Less than 3 weeks before release, ATI shocked everyone, including Nvidia, by introducing a whopping 250% increase in shader count to 800, over a meagre 30% increase in die size on the same process.

This suggests that it is truly too early to speculate on performance, and S. Islands could yet have a trick or two up its sleeve.

Reference: Fudzilla

2012-12-21-15

"Patent trolls" cost many $29 billion last year

A recent study done by scholars at Boston University revealed that “patent trolls” cost individuals, organizations, and companies billions of dollars per year.

According to the study, $29 billion were put aside in 2011 by companies, among others, to obtain rights to patented ideas. Adding on to the immense cost mentioned above, there are “indirect” costs such as delays products, and loss of market share during the legal battles.

“This [$29 billion] figure does not include indirect costs to the defendants businesses such as diversion of resources, delays in new products, and loss of market share,” people involved in the study wrote.

Industry bodies that buy patents with the main goal of licensing them are one of the main culprits in the causing the huge expense. Also known as “non-practicing entities,” (NPEs) these firms don’t make the products related to the patents they own, and since they own many patents related to the work of other companies, individuals, and academic institutions they are also an obstacle for people who seek to make their innovative ideas a reality.

The BBC reported that 2,150 companies had to stage 5,842 legal battles against NPEs last year. Over half of the companies that had to put out the money to defend their patent rights last year were companies that earned less than $100 million per year. The direct costs of legal fees and indirect costs such as delayed products lead to less investment in research and development.

The authors of the study added that NPEs are causing society more harm than good because they cause stagnation in innovation by putting too much emphasis on protecting their “intellectual properties”.

Source: bbc.co.uk