Gates: Vista Has Been "Incredibly Well Received"

by Brandon Hill

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates lays praise on Windows Vista

Yesterday, DailyTech reported that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was cautious about "overly aggressive" forecasts for Windows Vista. Ballmer went on to say that Vista’s slow retail start can be attributed to piracy which has become increasingly popular in emerging markets.

It appears that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Ballmer haven't had much communication on the matter recently. Reuters asked Gates about any trepidation Microsoft might have about the outlook for Vista to which he responded "I don't know what you mean. Vista's had an incredible reception."

Gates deflected the questioning and instead decided to focus on what he sees as positive progress for Microsoft's newest consumer operating system. "The reviews have been fantastic. This is a big, big advance in the Windows platform. It's the world's most used piece of software... Overall, the reliability feedback has been well better than we expected," said Gates.

"People who sell PCs have seen a very nice lift in their sales. People have come in and wanted to buy Vista," Gates continued.

Gates is right about the lift in PC sales. According to NPD, PC unit shipments were up 67% the week Vista launched in comparison to the same period in 2006. That is a key measure for Microsoft as 80% of its OS revenue comes from PC OEMs. Vista's retail performance, however, was down 60% in comparison to Windows XP's opening week in 2001.

(c) www.dalilytech.com

Intel Pulls 45nm Xeon Launch Into 2007

by Kristopher Kubicki

Intel promises 45nm server processors this year

Earlier today, Intel revealed to DailyTech more details regarding 45nm server products, including launch windows and compatibility.
Kirk Skaugen, general manager of Intel's Server Platform Group, opened his statements with "We were originally in the Q1'08 timeframe. Today I'm happy to announce to report for the first time that our server 45nm Xeon products based on the Penryn core will be available into production for the second half of 2007."
Intel's latest desktop guidance claims 45nm desktop SKUs will also launch in late 2007, with volume shipments occurring in 2008.  As it stands right now, only the mobile 45nm SKUs are expected to launch in 2008.
Skaugen also confirmed that Penryn-based Xeon processors will utilize the same server platform as Xeon 5000, 5100 and 5300.  Nehalem, Intel's next-generation micro architecture on the 45nm node slated for 2008, will require new platform technology and is not compatible with the Penryn platform. 
45nm quad-core Harpertown and dual-core Wolfdale were originally slated to spearhead the next-generation Xeon launch in Q1 2008.  The existing Bensley platform, Intel 5000P chipset, will still provide the heavy lifting for volume dual-socket on 45nm Xeon.  A new platform, Cranberry Lake, will replace Bensley-VS for value dual-socket Intel platforms, and will support Harpertown and Wolfdale. 
Intel hinted earlier this year it might pull some of its launches in after the Penryn tape-out proved slightly more successful than anticipated.

(c) www.dailytech.com

Asus launches XG Station, the world’s first external graphics card for laptops

by Doug Berger

Today at CES Unveiled, we had a chance to look at Asus’ new XG Station - an external graphics card station for your laptop. The unit includes USB 2.0 ports, and a Dolby headphone jack, and supports both HDCP and HDMI for all of your high-def enjoyment. You get that? You can plug your regular laptop into the XG Station, plug the XG Station into an HD monitor, then watch your screen in awe. According to Asus, “Lab experiments on a notebook based on Intel 945GM graphics connected to the XG station with an ASUS EN7900GS graphics card showed an astounding 9 times increase in acceleration.”

The XG Station not only adds extra graphics, but it’s easy on the eyes with its LED information display - showing volume, clock speed, GPU temperature, Dolby status, Frames Per Second (FPS) and more.

(c) www.gadgetell.com

Dell's Black Ice Finds Home in New Quad-Core XPS Desktop?

An anonymous tipster sent us this flyer of Dell's mysterious Black Ice technology. Apparently it's a two-stage thermoelectric liquid cooling solution that will be a part of Dell's forthcoming XPS 710 H2C, which our tipster says will come with an Inel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 CPU and two GeForce 8800 GTX cards (in SLI configuration). We'll keep our eyes peeled for the full scoop as the show progresses. – Louis Ramirez

(c) www.gizmodo.com

Duracell FM transmitter, extended battery combo for iPod Video

by Christopher Grant

Already available for the iPod nano, Battery-Biz is rolling out their Duracell PowerFM line to the iPod Video, complete with FM transmitter, extended battery, and bonus protective silicon case. The extended battery more than doubles the iPod's run-time while powering the FM transmitter, with unlimited channel selection. It also replicates the iPod's dock connector, so you can still use all those other accessories without unplugging your 'Pod. No date yet (they're saying end of Q1, early Q2) but expect a retail price of $79.99.

(c) www.engadget.com

Asus S6 Pink Leather Limited Edition

CES Unveiled – I am posting this article because none of the guys wanted to write about a pink laptop… We published about this cute notebook last year during the CES Unveiled: This time, Asus released the matching mouse ? Even if I do not believe that technology in pink is the real way to attract female customers, I do appreciate the creative effort of designing computers in other colors and texture than black or gray. By the way, it won an IF award and a G-Mark award – Eliane.

(c) www.uberzigmo.com

Toshiba unveils world's first HD DVD writer

Always expect firsts from Toshiba America, the maker of computers/storage/projectors and so much more. The company announced the world's first HD DVD burner for desktop computers. (Wondering what HD DVDs are? Catch up on a story I wrote last year)

We knew this was coming. High-def DVD players has been available for since April 2006 (mostly thanks to Toshiba's computer and consumer electronics divisions). Toshiba says more than 1.5 million HD DVD movies have been sold. But who can resist using the same discs for storage purposes? Since high-definition video needs oodles of gigabytes, the discs can hold 30 GBs of digital files (that's approximately up to five full-length standard DVD films, up to 7,500 MP3 songs or up to 30,000 high-quality images, according to Toshiba).

The SD-H903A internal drive will be sold to computer companies and manufacturers beginning in February. The good news for consumers, we may start seeing PCs with HD DVD burners in the spring or summer.

Other specs:
It only writes HD DVD content in real time (that's 1x speed)
Also compatible with all older DVD and CD formats.

(c) blogs.ocregister.com