[Tutorial]Recovering ASUS 1015PEM eeePC System with Embedded Windows 7

Years, yeah you could say it's been years since my last post. I admit it myself. :( I don't know where I'm going or doing. But I just get more busy these time on Senior High School class. So that's why I didn't post anything here that long. Anyway, I'm going to share a little but very useful tutorial for you who are using Asus eeePC.

Step by Step Recovering Asus 1015 PEM eeePC System with embedded windows 7 Starter

Today I got another work with an ASUS eeepc 1015 PEM Clam shell design from my school teacher. The eeePC got virus in the system and can't be recovered anymore, so I suggest him to re-install the fresh Windows. But when I asked him about the the recovery disc/windows 7 Starter disc, he said that there are no any disc in the package when he bought it. He just show me with some applications installer that stored in the D: drive, but that's not even driver or the image of windows 7 starter disc.

Silly me, I asked him to re-check it again at home. But nothing, and then I asked him to call to the seller. and the seller said it's there, inside the netbook..
Huh?!
I get myself to searching for what is inside this netbook package on Google. Some said there are CD, some not.. =="

Then I get myself to Google about video review on unboxing the eeePC ASUS 1015PEM and found out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gXAyhDcoIw.

From that video I found out How to boot into the embedded Operating System installer (by pressing F9 when starting the netbook), actually I'd read about it somewhere before but I forgot. :hammers.

Let's get back to the business:
1.Start your eeePC
2.press F9,
3.Fail! I got myself into windows 7 boot manager.

I tried each Function key on the boot (F) n got F2 to enter the BIOS. By pressing F2 on boot, the Bios logo screen will show up and there are some options came up either, like the F9 the recovery option. Bingo!

So the right steps should be:
1. Start your eeePC
2. press F2, wait few seconds until the BIOS logo shown,
3. then press F9, the screen should be showing "Windows is loading files . . ."
Now it's going load the recovery system/windows 7 starter,
5. choose English n hit the arrow
6. press Recovery
The system will start the process to install fresh windows 7 to you ASUS 1015PEM eeePC, so just follow the next steps shown. It's just like the usual windows 7 installation.

The screenshot will be updated later :)

CAUTION!
It will delete all data in partition C:, but the D: partition itself is safe in my experience. But to be sure, I backuped all files in D: to another media just in case. :D

Hope this simple tutorial helps answer your question ^.^ :
How to re-install windows 7 on Asus 1015PEM
Step-by-Step installing windows 7 Starter OEM on ASUS 1015PEM
How to install fresh windows to ASUS 1015PEM

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How to add an Internal 3G HSDPA to ASUS Eee PC

I going to make some articles today, even it's rather short articles.

Do you planning to buy ASUS Eee PC?? So you are, Lucky. There is a blog that are making his ASUS Eee PC that has an Internal 3G HSDPA Modem.
The blog owner are providing many HardMod tutorial to your PC or notebooks.

Read the step by step tutorial to add the 3G HSDPA Modem to your ASUS Eee PC : http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-to-add-internal-3g-hsdpa-to-asus.html

Remember Hard Modding your Hardware equals to Losing your Hardware Warranty.

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XIRKA - Wireless Chipset from Indonesia

Hello all,

it's today it's tonight, it's the last day in 2008. ^^

When browsing in the internet I found that Indonesia also produces wireless chipset which named XIRKA.They produce Wireless Chipset, like bluetooth, WiFi, etc. I don't find to much information in the websites.

Maybe they just produce the chipsets to be integrated in your wireless products..

Check The Website at : www.XIRKAChipset.com.

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Proud to Corsair Memory

My Personal Computer did malfunction since about 1 and half month ago. I did changed the Hardware one by one, and found my memory and motherboards damaged because of thunderclap. The malfunction can be described as the PC sometime want to boot normally, but after a few minutes about 10-15 it gets hang and doesn't boot for days. There is no beep when booting after the malfunction.

I purchased that PC at year 2004. My motherboard does have warranty but only for 1 year. But my Memory 2xDDR1 Corsair Value Select 512MB do have lifetime warranty, so I just gave it to the store where I purchased it about 3 weeks ago. And Today I got 2x NEW DDR1 Corsair Value Select 512MB

I'm so happy, although I feel a little different between the new memory and the old one. Maybe Bus Speed, the new one do have 400MHz bus speed.
However, the amount of IC/CHIPs, the old ones do have 16 IC/CHIP (Double Sided) and the new ones do have 8 IC/CHIP (Single Sided).If old Corsair IC/CHIP printed only "Value Select" logo on it, then the IC/CHIP in the new CORSAIR print "Corsair" logo on it.
The old Memory:
My new memory:



That's mean the construction of this memory is newer. ^^

THANKS A LOT CORSAIR MEMORY ^^

I Proud to Corsair Memory Aftersales Service.

This is no to promoting, but I just want to share my experience. ^^

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Make your PlayStation 3 into Linux PC!!

"Did you ever imagine to make your game console into a LINUX as a PC ??
I didn't, although there is a way to make something like that.. WOW.. Isn't that amazing?"

The Cell processor inside Sony's PlayStation 3 is a powerhouse that lets the gaming console render highly detailed graphics at blistering speed. That same chip gives the PS3 all the processing muscle it needs to become a fully functional computer. When we first heard this was possible, we were sure the procedure had to be illegal, or that it would at least void the warranty. But as it turns out, this is that rarest of finds in consumer electronics: a perfectly legal, manufacturer-supported hack that adds significant functionality. With a little bit of effort and expense, we turned a PS3 into a Linux computer—without losing any of the machine's native gaming goodness. And we'd like one of our readers to win it.

As Usual.. Follow these Steps ^^

Step 1: Back Up











Sony hardly walks people through the conversion process—you've got to know where to look in the PS3's menus, and many of the steps can be a bit tricky. But the first procedure is a no-brainer—back up your data. That's a good idea before doing major tinkering with any PC, and it's especially smart with this project, which requires the installation of a second operating system and either reformatting or replacing the PS3's hard drive. The PlayStation's own OS won't disappear in the process (it's stored on flash memory), but saved games will be wiped clean, so it's critical to back them up. A backup command that works with any USB-connected external drive is built into the PS3 OS (it's under "System Settings"), but it will only back up saved game data. Other media files (music, video, etc.) need to be backed up manually.

Step 2: Upgrade Your Drive





PlayStation 3 ships with either a 40 or 80 GB drive. That's plenty of storage for games and could suffice for basic computing. But upgrading the hard drive on the PS3 is remarkably easy, so we saw it as a good excuse to bump up the storage capacity to a more PC-friendly level. The PS3 uses 2.5-in. laptop drives, and highcapacity replacements can be purchased from online retailers such as Newegg or Directron for $60 to $150. We went for Toshiba's capacious 250 GB—ample space for large movie, music and photo collections.

The drive is located behind a small removable panel on the side of the PS3 and can be replaced without too much muss and fuss. It is secured in a removable cage, which is held in place by one screw. The upgrade is similar to a drive replacement in a PC—old drive pops out, new drive pops in. When the console is turned on, the PS3 formats the new drive.

Step 3: Install Your New OS

This is where things get somewhat complicated. PS3 can't run Microsoft Windows or Apple's OS X but it can run Linux operating systems. There are many Linux varieties, but our favorite is Ubuntu. And it turns out that the open-source community has created a program called kboot that helps load Ubuntu onto the PS3.

To download an installation kit including both kboot and the Ubuntu OS, click right here. The file is an ISO, which can be burned to a CD or DVD to create a bootable disc with a program such as ImgBurn.

The first step in loading the new operating system is to create a drive partition. Select "System Settings," then "Format Utility" from the menu of the PS3. Choose "Custom" and allot 10 GB to the "Other OS." Choose "Quick Format," then restart.

Once the partition is made, the OS can be loaded from the Ubuntu disc using the "Install Other OS" function under "Settings" in the PS3 menu. This installs kboot, which allows the PS3 to install Ubuntu.

Switching between the PlayStation operating system and Ubuntu is not as straightforward as dual booting a standard PC. In fact, after installing the kboot file, you need to delve back into the PS3's System Menu to designate "Other OS" under "Default System" before the PS3 even installs the full Ubuntu OS. When you restart the PS3, plug a mouse and keyboard into the USB ports. (PlayStation controllers are good for gaming, but terrible for computing.) The console will boot using your Ubuntu disc and install the new system. (Expect it to take about an hour.)

With Ubuntu installed, you can use your PS3 to run programs such as OpenOffice for spreadsheets and word processing, Firefox for Web surfing and VLC for movie playback. In short, your console will be able to do anything a normal PC can do.

There is, however, a trick to getting back to the native PlayStation OS. To make the switch, reboot the console, and at the boot prompt, type "boot-os-game," then press Enter. This brings the PS3 back to game land.

(Photograph by Jeffrey Westbrook/Studio D)
Tutorial By Anthony Verducci

Taken from Popular Mechanics

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$1 yet Handy Camera Stabilizer

"Dear my Readers, sorry for the time that passed without post here. I have many problem with internet n doesn'y have many times. I will start to be like usual starting today.
Sorry for waiting to long. ^^"

This time I have a tips for those who unlike to take tripod n want to make a handy tool that helps your camera stabilize. Right.. $1 Handy Camera Stabilizer...

You can learn to make it at : http://www.metacafe.com/.

One of the weakness is you can't leave your camera just like there is a tripod.

Hope u like it !

Source : http://hddstudio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4491

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Cheapest 1 TB External HDD ever!

"I just found a cheapest 1 TB(TerraByte or 1000 Gigabytes)
external HDD. For just $259.99"

My Book™ Essential Edition™

Product Features

Easy to set up, easy to use - Installation is a snap because you don't really install this drive, you just plug it in and it's ready to use.
USB 2.0 interface - A simple connection that offers convenience and compatibility among multiple computers.
Fits right in - Takes no more space than a paperback book. Collect two or more and they nest neatly together like volumes on a shelf.
Smart and energy efficient - Turns itself on and off with your computer.
PC and Mac compatible - Works with both Windows® 2000/XP/Vista and Mac® OS X 10.4.8 or later

Ideal for

Instant storage Easy to use USB 2.0 Saving and organizing your digital photo collection

For it is Very Worth to buy

Source :http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=353&language=en#jump33

M

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ASUS XG Station Empowers Upgradeable Graphics Power for Notebook Computers

"I'm coming with new hardware, ASUS XG Station. This things can upgrade
your Notebook Graphic Performance. So if yyou feel you notebook have lack at
graphic this is the solution"
Enjoy up to 10-times faster graphics power
boost with cinematic audio performance

Taipei, Taiwan, January 6, 2007 –ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (ASUS), the leading provider of high-performance graphics solutions, today launched the XG Station as the industry’s first public demonstration of the world’s first external graphics card station for notebook computers. Equipped with Express Card interface, USB 2.0 and Dolby headphones, the XG station seamlessly integrates notebook computing with PC graphics power.
Taken from http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=5369

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The Most Advance Keyboard ever Created

"Why I called it The Most Advanced? Because it can be fully customized
with our personal wants!! Check it out"

Optimus Tactus is the name, not Optimus Prime... Maybe you never hear this name. But it's just made a keyboard. The key can be programmed as we want, it's for anything.

Optimus Tactus does not have physical keys, which means there are no restrictions on their shape and size.

Typing Mode
Video Mode

Taken From http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus-tactus/

Give a review when you bought it.

Hope u like it.

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New Hard Drive Head will Increase HDD Capacity to 4TB

" New Head for Hard Drive(HDD), new Head is being developed. And will be
released at 2011. It's a long time:D. This Head can write datas with smaller
size than the HDD Head now."

Hitachi develops new hard drive head technology that will increase storage capacity to 4TB by 2011

Hitachi recently announced that it has achieved a breakthrough in hard drive read-head design.

This breakthrough has produced read-heads in the 30-50 nanometer range, approximately 2,000 times smaller than the width of an average human hair. This new technology is called current perpendicular-to-the-plane giant magnetoresistive heads.

Giant magnetoresistance principles won scientists Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg the 2007 Nobel Prize for Physics.

These new heads will allow Hitachi to expand storage capacity in standard 3.5-inch desktop hard drives to 4TB and extend 2.5-inch laptop hard drives to 1TB of capacity. Hitachi says that it plans to integrate these new heads into hard drives starting in 2009 and that the technology will reach maturity in 2011.

The first products to reach market in 2009 will use recording heads of 50nm and products with recording heads of 30nm will hit market in 2011. Hitachi representatives believe the new heads will allow for storage densities of up to 500GB per square inch. The current highest capacity drives from Hitachi can only pack in 200GB per square inch.

Another benefit of the significantly smaller heads is that the hard drives will product less noise. Test products using 50nm heads produced 40dB of sound while the 30nm heads produced 30dB. Large capacity hard drives that produce less noise will be a welcome addition to digital video recorders.

Taken from DailyTech.

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ZPower Pushes Silver-Zinc Batteries as Alternative to Lithium-Ion

" Longer Battery Life course make more comfortable and more mobile. Now ZPower making battery just like we want a longer life battery."

ZPower promises 30 percent greater power density than lithium-ion cells

When it comes to mobile devices, battery life is paramount. Whether it’s a mobile phone, laptop or MP3 player; long battery life is an oft-requested feature by consumers.

Most of today's battery-powered devices make use of lithium-ion batteries which come with their own set of problems. As witnessed by the massive recalls last year of Sony-manufactured batteries, lithium-ion batteries can sometimes present a safety hazard.

ZPower's prototype silver-zinc notebook battery pack (Source: DailyTech, Brandon Hill)

Auto giant Toyota even shunned lithium-ion batteries for its next generation Prius. The company again cited safety concerns with the decision to stick with nickel-metal hydride batteries. Having a notebook catch fire due to faulty batteries is one thing, but having a $23,000 Prius rolling down the street on fire presents its own set of safety and legal challenges.

ZPower is looking to supplant lithium-ion technology with a battery chemistry that is safer and has improved energy output. The company had its new batteries on display this week at the Intel Developer Forum.

The ZPower batteries have an energy density that is 30 percent higher than that of lithium-ion batteries. According to ZPower president and CEO Ross Dueber, the batteries can even be safely overcharged to allow for additional runtime.

ZPower batteries are composed of a composite polymer zinc anode, layered separator and a nano-particle silver cathode. Since the cells used in ZPower's batteries are water-based, they are as safe to use as traditional alkaline batteries.

The zinc and silver used in the batteries are also 95 percent recyclable. ZPower will have a program in place in which customers can recycle their used batteries and get reimbursed for the value of the silver and zinc recovered. Customers will receive a check or receive credit towards the purchase of new cells according to Dueber.

All is not well, however, with ZPower's batteries. Pre-production batteries are only good for about 100 cycles compared to around 300 cycles for lithium-ion batteries. ZPower hopes to increase this figure to 200 cycles by mid-2008 and to 300+ cycles by 2010.

Due to the difference in voltage and battery chemistry of silver-zinc batteries, they are not at their most efficient when used in existing lithium-ion based devices. In other words, ZPower's batteries would be best suited for newly designed notebooks, mobile phones, etc. which can better cope with silver-zinc battery characteristics.

There is also no pricing information available for ZPower’s batteries in relation to traditional lithium-ion counterparts. And then there’s the issue of market adoption of silver-zinc batteries. As of now, ZPower only has one major OEM onboard to use its battery technology in notebooks, but Dueber declined to name the company.

Taken From DailyTech

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USB 3.0 to Bring 10x Speed Increase in 2008

" USB 3.0 is beign developed. It's 10x faster. Hope it coming soon. "

Intel discusses its plans for USB 3.0 technology

During Patrick Gelsinger's keynote at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) today, Intel made a small announcement regarding a group of companies who are now working together to create a "superspeed personal USB interconnect” with 10 times the speed of the current generation technology of USB 2.0. The USB 3.0 Promoter Group -- which consists of Intel, Hewlett-Packard, NEC Corporation, NXP Semiconductors, Microsoft and Texas Instruments -- looks to make several other major changes.

Along with the 10x speed difference between USB 3.0 and the current generation, the USB 3.0 Promoter Group is taking power consumption and better protocol efficiency into consideration while designing 3.0. USB 3.0 will be able to use the same architecture of wired USB, though no other specific details are yet available.

To help drive home the importance of USB technology, Gelsinger pointed out the usual USB devices everyday users have in their homes and offices: keyboards, mice, speakers, cameras, etc. He also introduced a number of novelty items that are powered by USB including refrigerators and mittens.

"USB 3.0 is the next logical step for the PC's most popular wired connectivity," said Jeff Ravencraft, Intel technology strategist and USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) president. "The digital era requires high-speed performance and reliable connectivity to move the enormous amounts of digital content now present in everyday life. USB 3.0 will meet this challenge while maintaining the ease-of-use experience that users have come to love and expect from any USB technology."

Specific USB 3.0 specifications should be available sometime in the first half of 2008.

Taken from DailyTech

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Researchers Develop Nanowires for Storing Computer Data

" New Storage is just developed, it can store datas for 100,000 years, and also reading 1000 times faster. But what market they targetting? I think it's for Office and not for home, price is still unavaiable. Hope it will be for home user too. "

Nanowires store data for 100,000 years and read 1000 times faster than current data storage methods

With all the fuss about solid-state drives ever since CES 2007 -- centering on faster boot times and reducing random access times in accessing data stored on a solid-state memory module -- it is still only a matter of time until the next big discovery makes SSD technology obsolete.

A researcher at the University of Pennsylvania named Ritesh Agarwal and his colleagues have developed nanowires capable of storing computer data for 100,000 years and retrieving data 1000 times faster than current storage systems.

The nanowire technology also consumes less energy and requires less space than current memory technologies. “This new form of memory has the potential to revolutionize the way we share information, transfer data and even download entertainment," said Agarwal.

The technology is based on a self-assembling nanowire of germanium antimony telluride, which is a phase-changing material that switches between amorphous and crystalline structures -- the key to read/write memory. Agarwal also claims in tests the data writing, erasing and retrieval process lasted a mere 50 nanoseconds and consumes only 0.7 mW of electricity per bit.

The technology is said to be scalable to the terabit-level. At this time, there is no way to know when or if this technology will ever see mass production and ultimately replace current forms of flash and magnetic storage in computers.

Taken from DailyTech

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$100 Laptop Is Getting Pricier

"What can we say? Huh?
But OLPC price is keeping more expensive. Even this PC is for world three, we also must know that the parts or component are not from world three. So we also can't angry to the maker or anything that:D, we should respect them because they fight for all obstacle on their way to make OLPC."

Although its aim was to bring the price down, the organization behind the so-called "$100 laptop" is moving further away from its goal. The One Laptop Per Child Foundation said the device, now known as the XO Laptop, will now cost about $188. This is up $12 from the price tag the group gave in May of this year. Behind the price increase are rising costs of certain components and currency fluctuations, says OLPC, however they are committed to keeping it from rising any further.

Reports say the OLPC has commitments for about three million devices, but the group will not confirm where the devices are going until production begins in October. While the device currently uses AMD chips to power it, Intel recently dropped its efforts to deride the project and said it was working with the group to put its chips in the second version of the XO Laptop, though no release date for that has been set.
Taken from BetaNews.

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HD VMD Set To Take On Blu-ray, HD DVD

Blu-ray and HD DVD may soon have more to worry about than each other, as a new much cheaper competitor emerges

At the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA), a trade show held in Denver Colorado, a new potential competitor to Blu-Ray and HD DVD was demonstrated.

Instead of picking a side in the heated Blu-ray and HD DVD debate, New Medium Enterprises decided to go their own way, developing a new format called HD VMD.

HD VMD stands for High Definition Versatile Multilayer Discs -- and here's the attractive part: it is far cheaper than either Blu-Ray or HD DVD, both for discs and for players.

The key to HD VMD's low price is that it utilizes red laser technology, which is still vastly cheaper than the blue-violet lasers used in HD DVD and Blu-Ray players.

HD VMD also stacks up roughly in the middle in terms of image quality, between Blu-ray and HD DVD. The new format can be compared to Blu-Ray and HD DVD as follows:



Additionally, the format supports up to 7.1-channel Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS audio output, though it will not offer the high-bit-rate Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio surround-sound codec.

One feature that has not yet been discussed is whether the new device will support any sort of interactive code, such as HD DVD XML or Blu-ray's Java. Blu-ray was harshly criticized when releases failed to measure up to HD DVD in terms of interactivity. If HD VMD does not support a language to provide advanced user interaction, its future releases may face similar critique.

While the HD VMD format is getting a late start in the competition, the format war remains undecided with the vast majority of consumers not having adopted either format, and still using DVDs.

Current sales figures show discs Blu-Ray format disc sales total 1.6 million from January 1 through July 1, while HD DVD sales amounted to only 795,000, and only 3.7 million hi-definition discs have been sold in total. While both Blu-Ray and HD DVD camps try to use different portions of the sales numbers to indicate their dominance, the important thing to notice, is that these figures mean that only 1 in 100 Americans, approximately, have purchased any hi-definition content this year.

With Blu-Ray and HD DVD's shallow market penetration, the new format has more of a fighting chance.

HD VMD is debuting with a selection of 20 videos next month, including "We Were Soldiers" and "Apocalypto". The list has been criticized as not having many hot titles -- please refer to NDM's homepage for a full list. However, there are currently only 329 titles released on Blu-Ray (as of August 21st), and HD DVD has only 279 titles (as of September 4th), and these formats did not start with significant catalogs either.

While the consumer market is very unpredictable, one thing that always drives sales is a low price. If HD VMD is able to build its catalog with significant movie releases, and is able to offer a price point as low as planned, it may be very competitive with HD DVD and Blu-Ray. Soon, Blu-Ray and HD DVD may have far more to worry about than each other.

Taken from DailyTech

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Sony Debuts Dancing MP3 Player

Sony has unveiled a palm-sized digital audio player that combines the typical features of an MP3 player with robotic technologies to allow it to spin, flash lights and move forward and backward to the music.

Called the Rolly, a combination of the words "rolling" and "friendly," Sony says it is meant to make listening and sharing music a more entertaining way. It includes 1GB of internal memory, measures 6.5 centimeters (2.5 inches) in diameter and weighs about 300 grams (10 ounces).

The player includes onboard robotics software which analyzes the music and then causes its lights to switch on and off, or move its speaker covers to move the player back and forth. The user can also set the player to sit motionless if they so desire.

About 4 hours of battery life are available if the user allows the Rolly to move to the music. Five hours of battery life are available if the device is motionless, Sony says.

No buttons are found on the player save the on/off switch. Instead, the user twists one ring to move between tracks, and the other to adjust the volume. The Rolly can play MP3, Sony's ATRAC, or AAC files.

In an innovative feature for MP3 players, the Rolly also includes Bluetooth capabilities, allowing it to receive and react to streamed music. Sony says the feature works with any device capable of Bluetooth streaming.

How the player moves is up to the user. While from the factory a pre-set "dance" is available, customers with a PC can use the included Motion Editor software to create new moves for the Rolly. In addition, an online community will allow users to share their moves with others.

Initially, the player will only be available in Japan starting September 29 at a price of 40,000 yen ($353 USD). Sony hopes to roll the device out elsewhere beginning next year, although no specific launch details have been released.
Taken from BetaNews

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Jobs Apologizes, Apple to Give iPhone Customers $100 Credit

Responding to a large amount of negative feedback from existing iPhone customers who felt slighted by Apple's decision to lower the price by a third to $399, CEO Steve Jobs apologized Thursday and said the company will offer a $100 credit for purchases from Apple's retail store or online store.

In an open letter to customers, Jobs said it was the right decision to lower the price because "now it will be affordable by even more customers" in time for the holiday season, adding that in the world of technology there will also be an upcoming price cut or product update. However, he acknowledged that Apple should have done a better job taking care of early adopters. "Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these," Jobs wrote. Details of the credit are still being worked out and will be announced on Apple's Web site next week.

Taken from BetaNews

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Sony Develops Environmentally Friendly Battery

Sony said Friday that it had developed a bio-conscious battery that is encased in vegetable-based plastic and runs on sugars. The sugars are poured into the battery, and are then broken down by enzymes in order to create electricity. It outputs about 50 milliwatts, and has enough power to run a music player and a set of speakers. The battery measures 1.5 inches on each side.

Sugar is a naturally occurring energy source, the company says. "It is therefore regenerative, and can be found in most areas of the earth, underlining the potential for sugar-based batteries as an ecologically-friendly energy device of the future." Sony hopes to eventually produce them for commercial use, although no date was given.

Taken from http://Betanews.com

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AGEIA Announces Mobile Physics Processor

New AGEIA PhysX 100M physics processor for notebooks

AGEIA Technologies this week announced it is taking PhysX technology to the mobile sector with new PhysX 100M. The new AGEIA PhysX 100M is a physics processor designed for high-end gaming notebooks. AGEIA claims the PhysX 100M delivers unmatched “power, efficiency and design flexibility.”

"AGEIA is fully committed to delivering the most intensely realistic gaming and entertainment experience to PC gamers," said Manju Hegde, CEO of AGEIA Technologies. "We are enabling enthusiasts to enjoy games their way: whenever and wherever they want. AGEIA PhysX Mobile Technology further expands our position in the gaming market and we look forward to seeing new laptops bring gamers the freedom to enjoy incredible physics action on the go."

AGEIA claims the PhysX 100M processor is available now, but does not mention any design wins. However, notebooks featuring the AGEIA PhysX 100M are expected very soon. AGEIA is also showcasing the PhysX 100M at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.

Games featuring AGEIA PhysX technology are still quite scarce, with the biggest title supporting PhysX technology being the Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter series while Unreal Tournament 3 is the next big title, but still in development.

AMD and NVIDIA have both previewed CrossFire and SLI physics technologies powered by Havok FX, but neither company have delivered a hardware physics processing solution.

High-performance gaming notebooks are the latest trend in mobile computing. Technologies previously found only on desktops have made its way into notebooks. NVIDIA last year debuted SLI technology for notebooks while AMD released its ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2000 series consecutively with its desktop ATI Radeon HD 2000 models. NVIDIA also delivers its latest GeForce 8 series technology to the mobile sector. Overclocking has also found its way into notebooks, with unlocked Core 2 Extreme X7800 and X7900 processors and MSI’s Turbo button.

Notebook manufacturers are also releasing bigger and faster gaming notebooks with display sizes up to 20-inches. HP’s Pavilion HDX notebook packs ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics with a 20.1-inch display and two hard drives. ASUS also has two Santa Rosa based gaming notebooks in its lineup, as well as a new do-it-yourself gaming notebook. Dell also has its upcoming Dell XPS M1730 with a 17-inch display, Core 2 Extreme X7800 processor and GeForce 8 series graphics while Eurocom manages to pack quad-core, SLI technology, RAID 5 and Blu-ray in a single 17.1-inch notebook.

Taken from http://www.dailytech.com

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Tilera Launches 64-Core Embedded Processor

MIT Spin-out creates 64-core processor based on "mesh" architecture

Tilera Corporation, 2004 MIT startup founded on proof-of-concept mesh-based computing today launched the TILE64 processor. TILE64 is the first in a family of Tile Processor chips based on am architecture that can scale to hundreds and even thousands of cores.

TILE64 Processor Block Diagram (Source: Tilera)

However, don't get too excited while dreaming of 64-core gaming. Tilera claims the TILE64 has potential uses in video processing and network applications, but the processor is designed more as 64 systems on a single chip, rather than a 64-core general purpose GPU.

"This is the first significant new development in chip architecture in a decade," said Tilera President and CEO, Devesh Garg. "We developed this new architecture because existing multicore technologies simply cannot scale beyond a handful of cores. Moreover, customers have repeatedly indicated that the current multicore software tools are very primitive because they are based on single-processor-core models. We're introducing a revolutionary hardware and software platform that has solved the fundamental challenges associated with multicore scalability."

Tilera's new architecture eliminates the on-chip bus interconnect by placing a communications switch on each processor core and arranging them in a grid fashion on the chip, which the company calls iMesh -- intelligent Mesh.

Instead of a dedicated socket interface, the TILE64 daughterboard plugs into standard PCIe. A host operating system -- Linux or Windows -- recognizes the daughterboard as a new device instead of an extra 64 CPUs.

Each of the tiles is a full-featured, general-purpose processor that includes L1 and L2 caches, as well as a distributed L3 cache. Each core is also capable of running its own operating system, such as Linux. The cores can then interact with the iMesh network, which provides extremely low-latency, high bandwidth communications between the cores, memory and the I/O.

Intel's Teraflops Research Chip carries a striking resemblence to TILE64. Indeed, Tilera and Intel even carry the same terminology to describe the tiles and their functionality. In theory, both chips behave almost identically with regard to mesh computing -- one tile or several tiles can be confgured to act in parallel.

In order to minimize total system power, cost and footprint, the TILE64 processor integrates four DDR2 memory controllers and a complete array of high speed I/O interfaces; including two 10 Gbps XAUI, two 10 Gbps PCIe, two 1 Gbps Ethernet RGMII and a programmable flexible I/O interface to support interfaces such as compact flash and disk drives.

Each core consumes approximately 170 to 300 milliwatts. While each core does not reside on a separate power plane individual cores can be set into deep sleep states. However even with this aggressive sleep state management, the process is still fabricated entirely on TSMC's aging (and relatively inefficient) 90nm node; the company has not announced plans to shrink this process technology.

Intel's Teraflops Research Chip boasts nearly two teraFLOPs of processing power on a single 80-core processor, TILE64 musters about a tenth of that. However, aside from the fact that Tilera's CPU is available today, the focus for TILE64 is high performance-per-watt, as evidenced by its sub-20 watt peak-load envelope.

The processor is ideally suited for high performance embedded system markets, such as switches, security appliances and high-definition video applications. Tilera claims the chip will be available today in 600MHz to 900MHz variants, though corporate documentation (PDF) suggests 1GHz models exist but are not commercially available. Production pricing for the TILE64-family starts at $435 in bulk quantities.

Tilera's roadmap also includes plans for a 36-core and a 120-core device.

Taken from http://www.dailytech.com

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