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It's self-evident how AMD has kept us busy over the last few months, showing us new generation GPUs aiming at all possible price points. From the performance-oriented HD 5850/5870, to the mainstream HD 5770 and the extreme dual-GPU powered HD 5970. The budget models had to wait a bit longer.

Today AMD is introducing another new member to the Radeon HD 5000 family -- the eighth installment in the series. The ATI Radeon HD 5570 will sit between the aforementioned Radeon HD 5450 and 5670 in terms of pricing and performance, which means it should deliver a similar level of performance to that of the Radeon HD 4670 at the same starting price of ~$79.


The Radeon HD 5570 is a more powerful GPU than the HD 5450, capable of playing games comfortably at 720p, while retaining some of the HTPC-friendly properties that made the latter an attractive buy.

Read the complete review.

Netflix will reportedly add 1080p streaming and 5.1 surround sound to its portfolio later this year -- though the initial audience may be slim. The service currently offers 720p streaming when paired with an HD-friendly system, such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Roku, which typically requires a connection speed of about 5Mb/s or better. Streaming media in 1080p may require an even faster connection, but Netflix hasn't commented.

It's worth noting that only one in 12 Netflix users subscribe to the Blu-ray service, and a mere 6% of the service's library is currently available in HD -- a selection Netflix has called "underwhelming." It's unknown how much content will be available in 1080p at launch, but the presently limited array of HD videos is bound to increase as the world adopts HDTVs and Blu-ray. An exact release date is also unclear.

Google reportedly plans to add a Twitter-like service to Gmail later this week. Twitter, in case this is your first day on the Web, is a microblogging service that allows users to post messages of up to 140 characters, which are displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to subscribers. Facebook also offers a status update system.

While Gmail users can already set their status, each update overwrites the previous message. Google plans to extend this feature, allowing Gmail users to view a stream of status updates from people they choose to connect with. It will also be tightly integrated with YouTube and Picasa, Google's video and image-sharing services.

Yahoo introduced a similar "status-casting" feature last year, which allows users read their contacts' 140-character updates via Yahoo Mail or Messenger, as well as Flickr, Twitter and others. It's unclear whether Google will link Gmail status updates to rival social-networking services, but it seems like it would be beneficial.

Intel revealed its Itanium 9300 series today, which more than doubles the performance of its predecessor. Codenamed Tukwila, the new four-core design packs two billion transistors and boasts an 800% increase in system interconnect bandwidth, as much as a 500% gain in memory bandwidth, and up to 700% more memory capacity.

The Itanium 9300 and Intel's upcoming "Nehalem EX" Xeon processor share several platform ingredients, including the Intel QuickPath Interconnection, Scalable Memory Interconnect, 7500 Scalable Memory Buffer, and 7500 chipset. Intel says its 9300-series CPUs feature advanced machine-check architecture manages errors through the hardware, firmware and OS, allowing recovery from otherwise fatal errors.


The Itanium 9300 also employs second-gen Intel Virtualization Technology, an enhanced form of Demand-Based Switching for power savings, Turbo Boost, Hyper-Threading, and are binary-compatible with existing software. Pricing on the 9300 line ranges from $946 to $3,838 and chips are being sold in quantities of 1,000. OEM systems should ship within 90 days.

Sources close to AMD said the company's six-core Thuban processors have some form of dynamic speed boost technology called "C-state performance boost." Intel has incorporated a similar feature into certain Core i5 and i7 processors called Turbo Boost, which allows an operating system to adjust the clock frequencies of a CPU's cores based on performance requirements and the chip's TDP specifications.

Details are scarce, but X-bit Labs reports that "when single-thread performance is needed most, Thuban processors will automatically disable idle cores and overclock the remaining engines to the maximum possible level that is determined by general thermal design power." However, C-state performance boost is said to be hardware-based and will work with any operating system.

Nothing is official, but such a technology would be handy in a six-core desktop processor that supposedly has a TDP on par with quad-core Phenom II CPUs. Thuban is expected to land in May as the Phenom II X6 1035T, 1055T, and 1075T -- all of which are 45nm-based and should work with existing Socket AM2+ and AM3 motherboards.

Sharp and Samsung have called truce after nearly three years of bickering over LCD panel and module patents. The electronic-makers have inked a cross-licensing agreement that ends all ongoing patent infringement suits, and gives each firm access to patents owned by the other. Bound by a confidentiality pact, neither company will disclose details of the terms, but the conditions are in favor of Sharp, according to a company representative.

Sharp began the dispute back in August 2007 by filing a suit in a Texas court, alleging LCD modules manufactured and used by Samsung in its LCD TVs, computer displays and cell phones, infringed on five of its US patents. A few months later, Sharp extended the suit to South Korea, and Samsung responded with charges in Japan and the US. The battle eventually made its way to Europe and before the US International Trade Commission.

The new agreement reportedly terminates all previous rulings made by the ITC, including a US import ban on Samsung's infringing products.

Chinese authorities today announced a major bust against computer hackers in hopes of placating recent criticism that they are not doing enough to help enhance global online security. According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, local police forces have shut down what they called the country's biggest hacker training website and arrested three people linked to the site's operation.

The organization openly recruited for new members online and assisted users in creating and distributing Trojan horses and other programs to carry out attacks. Known as Black Hawk Safety Net, the site had reportedly brought in about $1 million in income since launching in 2005 through a network of more than 12,000 paying subscribers -- another 170,000 had signed into the organizations' free membership.

The reports come less than a month after Google said it was no longer willing to censor search results on its Chinese service, and threatened to pull out of the country, citing a cyber attack targeting the emails of human rights activists within the company (and almost 30 others) along with intellectual property. Curiously, the raid is said to have taken place in late November of 2009 but it is only being reported now.

IBM is set to launch its long anticipated Power 7 processor today, in hopes of keeping a competitive edge against main competitors in the Unix server business Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard.

The new Power 7 CPU can have up to eight cores capable of running four threads each, virtually turning a single processor into a 32-core chip. This compares favorably against any current generation Intel or AMD server-level product. The Power 7 processor is manufactured on a 45nm process, will come in four, six and 8-core varieties, and use three levels of cache, a 32kb per core L1 cache, 256kB per core L2, and a 32MB L3 cache shared by all cores. The Wall Street Journal estimates that sales for Unix servers dedicated to cancer research, financial institution analytics and electrical grid management amount to about $14 billion per year.


In addition to the new IBM Power 700 servers being launched today, the Power 7 processor will be at the heart of the Blue Waters petascale supercomputer project that is expected to be completed in 2011 using no less than 25,000 eight-core Power 7 CPUs running at 4.0 GHz, that's about 200,000 logical cores.

Just last week we were discussing Net Apps' data about OS usage and browser preferences, where Windows 7 was hitting a 10% worldwide market share by the end of January. That's an estimate for the general population, but how about PC enthusiasts and gamers?


For that, we rather look at Steam's hardware survey. According to their January figures, Windows 7 64-bit surpassed Vista 32-bit as the second most popular OS among users running the Steam client with a 19.50% share. Windows XP 32-bit remains on top by far with 42% use, while the 32-bit version of Windows 7 is fourth with 9%, a clear indication that the move to 64-bit will take place in this OS generation.


It's also interesting to observe CPU adoption trends, where 2-core processors are the most ubiquitous consisting of 56% of all computers connected to Steam. Quad-core CPU usage keeps growing and currently stands at 24% versus 19% back in September, while single core models have dropped in about the same proportion from September's 23% to last month's 18%. Intel processors are used in 69% of machines versus 30.9% for AMD. The green camp also loses in the GPU department where Nvidia dominates with 65% of all installed graphics cards. The well regarded GeForce 8800 remains as the most popular GPU despite its age (we reviewed it back in 2006). More details on these and other interesting stats are available here.

Twitpics in Space @ PCWorld
Common Misconceptions about Web Designers @ Six Revision
Toyota readies global Prius recall @ Reuters
Moon Base Alpha: If Not U.S., Then Who? @ FoxNews
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During the weekend rumors surfaced about Microsoft showing a revamped Windows Mobile OS platform next week at the Mobile World Congress. Generally considered a laggard in the smartphone space, Microsoft is expected to finally move forward with its mobile OS roadmap this year after a lukewarm reception to the 6.5 update released last October.

Among the most relevant tidbits of yet unconfirmed information is that Windows Mobile 7 will share a lot of interface elements with the Zune HD. Code-named Metro, the new UI should be very clean and feel "alive", it will be based on Silverlight, support multi-touch and other gesture-related features. The phone software is expected to integrate with the Zune platform seamlessly, have Xbox tag integration and other social networking features built in the OS. Multi-tasking support is said to be absent, instead background processes will pause and remain 'on hold'. The browsing experience is being defined as faster than the iPhone 3GS at this point, which seems to be the target at large.

Microsoft should continue relying on partners to deliver the hardware as usual, while holding a tighter control over the manufacturing process and end user experience. Next week's demo is rumored to be about the OS interface only, with devices not expected to show up in the market until the second half of the year.

Microsoft to patch 17-year-old computer bug The February update for Windows will close the loophole that dates from the time of the DOS operating system. First appearing in Windows NT 3.1, the vulnerability has been carried over into almost every version of Windows that has appeared since. BBC

Mozilla yanks infected add-ons, warns users Mozilla on Friday pulled two programs from its Firefox browser add-on site for containing malware. Sothink Web Video Downloader 4.0 and all versions of Master Filer were found to contain Trojan horse code aimed at Windows users. CNET

Sandy Bridge to get 2X times faster graphics Intel has informed some of its top account clients that its next generation CPU with integrated graphics will get much faster graphics. Intel quotes a twofold performance increase with the Sandy Bridge generation and probably it compares it with its existing architecture. Fudzilla

iTablet launches from UK company Like the iPad but with USB ports, Flash, multi-tasking, choice of OS, HDMI... Pocket-lint

HDMI 1.4's 3D spec publicly released 3D's happening whether you like it or not -- but the good news is that there won't be any format war to go with the adoption of the new tech. Engadget

Steam is offering up another fine weekend sale with 50% off Far Cry and Far Cry 2: Fortune's Edition. They can be purchased individually for $4.99 and $9.99 or as a package for $14.99.

Released in 2004, Far Cry is among the most popular FPS titles for the PC and was developed by Crytek, who later brought us Crysis. Players are put into the boots of Jack Carver, an ex-US Special Forces operative, who is contracted by a reporter investigating a series of islands where a mad scientist is performing illegal genetic research. After his boat is blown up by mercenaries occupying the islands, Jack is shipwrecked and forced to fight for his life.


Far Cry 2 was picked up by Ubisoft and Crytek played no part in the development. Reviewers didn't rate it quite as high as the original, but it still fared well with a Metacritic score of 85%. Set in a civil war-torn fictional African nation, the game features an open-ended storyline and players control a mercenary attempting to assassinate a notorious arms dealer called "The Jackal." "Fortunes Edition" refers to downloadable content (included) that brings three new weapons, two vehicles, and four additional multiplayer maps.

Socket T hasn't caught much press lately with all the buzz around Intel's LGA 1156 and 1366-based processors, but the elderly platform dates back to the late days of the Pentium 4. Despite its age, LGA 775 still claimed 77% of sales last year, and will seize about 50% this year according the Intel's projections -- more than the company's two new desktop platforms combined.

LGA 1156, the socket used by Intel's Lynnfield and Clarksfield processors, will account for some 18% of Intel's shipments and its market share is expected to grow to 44% by the fourth quarter of 2010. Meanwhile, LGA 1366 debuted over a year ago with the first batch of Bloomfield chips, but reportedly stands as the company's least popular socket. The Atom's socket will represent roughly 5% of shipped units in the present quarter, but will climb to 7% by the end of the year.

Microsoft's Marc Whitten announced in a blog post today that the company would discontinue Xbox LIVE for original Xbox consoles and games, including both titles for the first-generation Xbox and Xbox Originals. The switch to Xbox 360-only service will take place on April 15, so you still have a couple months to squeeze in some Halo 2 multiplayer action.

In justifying the move, Whitten explained that the decision wasn't "made lightly," but is necessary to facilitate the evolution of Xbox LIVE. "To reach our aspiration, we need to make changes to the service that are incompatible with our original Xbox v1 games." Affected members will receive messages via LIVE and email over the next few weeks for "more details and opportunities."

In his closing, Whitten said he believes forthcoming changes to Xbox LIVE and Microsoft's Project Natal will make 2010 a landmark year in gaming and home entertainment.