Apple Explains the Thunderbolt to Gigabit Adapter

If you’re looking to find out which computers support the Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter, where you can connect it, the requirements for using it, etc., Apple released a handy FAQ that answers all these questions, and more. If you’re curious to know which Macs support this adapter, you should be happy to learn that all Thunderbolt-equipped systems are a go, so long as you have OS X Lion v10.7.4 or later installed. Macs released prior to June, 2012 that also boast a Thunderbolt connector will require Thunderbolt Software Update 1.2.1 to use this adapter. You can connect this adapter to external devices, as well as directly to the port on your Mac. And, if you’re "daisy chaining" multiple devices, Apple says...

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Windows Phone 8 Could Bring the Change Microsoft Needs

Microsoft might have finally got it right on the smartphone OS market with the upcoming Windows Phone 8 platform. Of course, with no actual hardware to look at, it’s hard to say whether the platform will indeed prove successful or not, but the range of changes the company announced yesterday make us believe that it might. Admittedly, Windows Phone is not selling well at the moment, at least not when compared to sales of Android or iPhone. But current devices are mostly to blame for this, something that will change with Windows Phone 8. All the necessary ingredients to start gaining ground on the mobile market are there: support for better hardware, an improved, appealing look, great new applications, and support from leading...

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Windows Phone 8 Upgrades Will Arrive Over-The-Air

One of the major changes that Microsoft announced for Windows Phone 8 is related to the manner in which updates will arrive on devices. Until now, new software was being delivered to users through Microsoft’s Zune desktop software, or via the Windows Phone Companion for Mac, but that will change. Starting with Windows Phone 8, platform refreshes will be rolled out over-the-air, thus simplifying the entire process. Additionally, the Redmond-based software giant committed to delivering more updates to users, more frequently. The ultimate goal is to have the “fresher operating system” out there, Microsoft announced. All handsets will be supported for at least 18 months following their release on the market. For enthusiasts,...

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Microsoft’s Surface Tablet Crashes on Stage

The new tablet concept introduced by Microsoft earlier this week doesn’t seem to be so responsive and snappy, especially when the operating system crashes. Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Live Division President, Mr. Steven Sinofsky managed to crash the system just 13 minutes after the presentation began. The Microsoft representative was apparently trying to launch an instance of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser, but the unit refused to pay any attention to his fingers. After a few failed attempts to restart the tablet, Mr. Steven Sinofsky ran back and grabbed another device that finally took pity on Microsoft’s image and decided to allow Steven to open the browser. We are wondering what version of the tablet was the one that crashed, but we don’t think we’ll be able...

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A Closer Look at Windows Phone 8’s New Features

Windows Phone 8, the next-gen mobile platform from Microsoft, was finally made official. Those of you who kept an eye on our latest news on the matter are fully aware of that. It is also known that the platform was unveiled with a nice range of improvements over the previous versions, and that the most important of them involves support for better hardware configurations. While Windows Phone Tango brought along support for entry-level devices, Windows Phone 8, codenamed Apollo, will arrive with support for high-end smartphones. Built on the same core technology that powers Windows 8, the platform will be loaded on multi-core handsets, so that hardware makers would have a wider range of options when designing Windows Phones....

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HP Drops Calxeda and Announces Centerton-Based Micro Servers

Intel’s Centerton is a micro server-targeted Atom processor that is supposed to arrive sometime next year and to bring 64-bit support along with ECC and virtualization. HP was planning to get into the micro server business using ARM processors from its small partner called Calxeda. Now, it seems that HP did a 180 degrees turn and is now announcing  micro servers based on Intel’s Centerton. Note: Back when DELL showed their ARM test servers, it seemed to me that they were practically taunting Intel with their “Copper” ARM server project that they announced earlier this year. I even got a chance to ask DELL about its intentions with Marvell Armada XP and how come Intel’s main partner was going for ARM. After all, DELL...

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Galaxy S III Is Too Hot, It Even Melts Down

Samsung’s Galaxy S III is a hot device. It is the most expected Android smartphone of the year, and millions of enthusiasts already jumped the gun on it. However, it appears that the device might be too hot for its own good, and we don’t mean that figuratively. One Galaxy S III unit reportedly malfunctioned while in an in-car holster, which resulted in the device being damaged, most probably permanently. The user who witnessed this says that some of the phone’s internals melted, and that they caused burns over the lower part of the device. It was a global HSPA+ flavor of Galaxy S III, which reportedly sparked into flames, and went down with a bang. While the phone’s screen continued working, the user claims that...

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The New Windows Phone 8 Start Screen Detailed on Video

One of the enhancements that the new Windows Phone 8 platform will arrive on devices with is a new Start screen, aimed at increasing the personalization options that users can benefit from. According to Microsoft, the new Start screen in Windows Phone 8 has been tailored to support each user’s specific needs. The handset won’t be a simple phone, but it will be a reflection of user’s personality, the Redmond-based software giant claims. In the video above, you can have a look at the main changes brought to Windows Phone’s start screen, such as resizable live tiles, and more, all meant to reduce the time users spend on the phone. “Live Tiles are the heart and soul of a Windows Phone. With the new start experience, your Windows Phone is even more personal than ever before,”...

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Intel Avoton in 22nm Arriving Next Year

Intel just refuses to let the Atom architecture die its rightfully deserved death. After pulling an ugly prank with the “performance is irrelevant netbook” concept three years ago, Intel is now pushing Atom strong in the server market. Intel’s General Manager for the Cloud Infrastructure Group, Mr. Jason Waxman, presented his vision on what the micro server evolution will look like during the next year. While end-users finally understood what a hoax Atom was and are now stirring away from netbooks, Intel wants to use its “Jedi-Knight powers” to hypnotize the corporate market into buying its low-performance processor. In our humble opinion, they have a strong chance on achieving their goal in the short term, as the corporate...

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Nokia Will Allow Scalado Imaging Technology in BlackBerry 10

Last week, Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia announced plans to purchase the imaging specialist Scalado, which has been its partner for the past several years. The move is meant to enable the vendor to deliver better camera capabilities to its Lumia users, Nokia announced. Apparently, the handset vendor is also committed to allowing Scalado partners to continue using the imaging technology from this company even after the acquisition. Nokia’s Kevin Shields, SVP of Program and Product Management, confirmed that last night at the Windows Phone 8 launch event in San Francisco, The Verge reports. “We're doing it in such a way that Scalado can...fully deliver on commitments they've made to all of their partners, that includes RIM,” he said. Research In Motion will use...

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Nvidia’s Kepler GTX680 Overclocked at 2 GHz on EVGA’s Classified GTX 680

Professional overclockers seem to have found the secret of Kepler overclocking and Vince “k|ngp|n” Lucido managed to clock the architecture at an amazing 2002 MHz. The score reported on the ORB page is 213 points higher than what MSI’s Radeon HD 7970 Lightning achieved in the hands of the Polish overclocking team. With a score of P16472 in 3D Mark 11 with Performance setting set, Nvidia’s Kepler managed to achieve the highest score for a single-GPU card in FutureMark’s new 3D benchmark. The card responsible for the feat is EVGA’s GTX 680 Classified with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory onboard. The memory speed was an effective 7406 MHz, while the system’s CPU, an Intel Core i7-3960X six-core processor, was overclocked to an amazing...

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First ARM vs. Intel Benchmarks: Cortex A9 Trounces Xeon E3

Although HP stabbed Calxeda in the back today, the small start-up has something interesting to show the industry. The company is presenting the first benchmark results of its ECX-1000 processor architecture. The test compares a Calxeda ECX-1000 SoC that has four Cortex A9 processor cores inside to an Intel E3 Xeon based on the Sandy Bridge architecture. The model of choice was a quad-core E3-1240 Xeon processor that runs at a fact 3.3 GHz frequency and consumes a maximum of 80 watts. Considering that the comparison is done with a SoC, we must add the power consumption of the chipset when calculating Xeon’s power consumption. The results show that Calxeda’s processor is 20% slower than Intel’s Xeon, but this is offset...

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