OEMs

Rumor: Compaq launching UMPC

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Ever since the arrival of cheap ultraportables like the Asus Eee PC, the UMPC market has been reinvigorated with a flood of new designs. Thus far, however, it's been mostly Chinese and Taiwanese OEMs like Everex and Acer who have been vying for the attention of low-end buyers. If recent rumors are true, however, even the big guys could be prepping entries for the now-hot device category. Over the weekend, photos of an alleged "HP Compaq 2133 UMPC" made the rounds on the usual tech blogs. According to Engadget, the device would weigh in at 2.5 pounds and sport an 8.9-inch, 1,366 x 766 "scratch-resistant" display, WiFi, an ExpressCard/54 slot, optional SSD and an integrated webcam. No word yet on what OS it will run, when it will launch or how much it will cost, though given the looks of the photos, we'd say an official announcement is probably imminent.

For more on the rumored UMPC:
- see this Engadget post

Windows XP cutoff date inches closer

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

If you've been paying attention to Microsoft support deadlines lately, you'll know that an effective moratorium on Windows XP sales will go into effect on June 30th of this year. After that date, OEMs will be barred from selling copies of Windows XP, except under specific circumstances. For example, OEMs may still sell Windows XP Professional licenses for orders of 25 or more PCs but only if those PCs come with a Windows Vista Business or Ultimate license as well. Essentially, the customer will be allowed to "downgrade" by using the Vista license for the XP installation. As for enterprise volume licenses, those will also include "downgrade rights," so while Microsoft will stop selling XP licenses, a Vista Business or Ultimate volume license can still be used to activate XP installs, provided you supply your own XP installation materials.

Technically, Microsoft is not cutting off support for Windows XP until April 14, 2009 (and will extend support until 2014 for some editions). Still, the coming OEM sales "cutoff" certainly won't make life easy for IT departments, the vast majority of which still run Windows XP. While those who purchase PCs and licenses in bulk won't have much of a problem, small businesses who are used to buying single PCs and licenses might be forced into adopting Vista. Does your business have a plan in place for dealing with the looming deadlines? Let us know in the comments.

For more on the cutoff:
- see this InformationWeek article

Mutitouch coming to Windows 7

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:59:53 -0500

At the moment, we know tantalizingly little about Windows 7--the successor to Windows Vista--aside from the fact that we could see it within the next three years. Maybe that's why everyone is so excited about a little tidbit recently leaked by Windows 7 test engineer Hilton Locke. In a blog post, Locke hints that multitouch capabilities will be coming to Windows with the next version of the OS. "I will say that if you are impressed by the "touch features" in the iPhone, you'll be blown away by what's coming in Windows 7," Locke wrote, adding "Now if only we could convince more OEMs that Windows Touch Technology is going to drive their sales." Multitouch and Windows aren't such strange bedfellows if you think about it: Dell's Latitude XT will soon get multitouch capabilities in Vista and Microsoft's Surface project uses a Windows PC to drive a huge multitouch display. Still, the idea of multitouch functionality built-into a consumer level operating system is pretty exciting. Don't you agree, Apple?

For more on multitouch in Windows:
- check out Locke's blog post

Intel to sell Home Server, sans Windows

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:59:53 -0500

If you've been following Windows Home Server hardware closely, you've likely noticed by now that the Home Server models from Velocity Micro and Fujitsu Siemens look suspiciously similar. That's because they're both based on a Home Server reference design that Intel developed and made available to other OEMs. As it turns out, Intel has decided to get in on the Home Server action as well and will offer this same hardware to consumers, under the name Intel Entry Storage System. There will be two models: the SS2400-E is an EMC-powered fully functioning NAS with included software while the SS2400-EHW is a hardware-only product. Both machines should be able to serve as more than adequate Windows Home Servers, should you decide to supply your own copy of the OS. According to Intel, these black boxes will ship in December, starting at $500.

For more on the Intel Entry Storage System:
- see this press release

HP MediaSmart Server ships

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:59:54 -0500

Remember HP's Windows Home Server-sporting MediaSmart servers? Good news, home server fans: they're finally shipping. As we mentioned back in August, there's a $599 model with 500GB of media storage and a 1TB model at $749. Go ahead and hit up Amazon.com, Best Buy, CompUSA or Circuit City starting today for your home server fix.

In other WHS news, a number of OEMs have announced that they'll too join the home server fray. Iomega will launch a Windows Home Server box in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2008; it will feature a 1.8Ghz AMD Sempron, a 500GB drive and three empty SATA II bays, for up to 3TB of total storage. Meanwhile, in Europe, Fujitsu Siemens, MAXDATA and Medion will all launch WHS boxes before the end of the year.

For more on Windows Home Server:
- see this Gizmodo article

iPhone clones: Let the games begin

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 06:59:53 -0400

Sure, we've seen a number of convincing iPhone clones from shady OEMs in China but 2008 could see a deluge of iPhone-like devices from more familiar names, like Microsoft, Nokia and Asustek. Taiwanese OEM rag Digitimes reports that a number of manufacturers, including BenQ, Compal and Arima Communications are "aggressively developing iPhone-like products" that would launch in 2008. Supposedly, these new handsets would run on some variant of Windows Mobile (Windows Mobile eyeFone Edition?) and could boast some beefy specs like 3G and GPS. Additionally, Digitimes thinks that Nokia will launch its own Symbian-based iPhone ~~rip-off~~ killer early next year, which is said to look a lot like the suspiciously familiar prototype that the company showed off in August.

Meanwhile, in a little place called Redmond, Microsoft has been filing patents for...well, something that looks a lot like the iPhone. Microsoft's patent filing for "Extensible filtered lists for mobile device user interface" (seen above) looks to be a screen-by-screen copy of the iPhone. Is this the future version of Windows Mobile that all of those aforementioned OEMs plan to use? Is it the ZunePhone? Or is Microsoft simply attempting to patent the iPhone interface so that it can sue Apple? Only time will tell. One thing's for sure though: in the immortal words of Yoda, "Begun, this clone war has."

For more on the attack of the clones:
- see this Digitimes article
- this Engadget article on Nokia's device
- and this Gizmodo piece on Microsoft's recent patent filing

AMD expands 45 watt lineup

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Hot on the heels of its "Black Edition" Athlon chips, AMD has decided to expand its 45 watt offerings, releasing six new chips that span the Athlon X2, Athlon and Sempron lines. There's the 2.3Ghz Athlon X2 BE-2400, which retails for $104 when purchased in batches of 1000, the 2.4Ghz Athlon LE-1620 for $53, the 2.2Ghz Athlon LE-1600 for $47, the 2.2Ghz Sempron LE-1250 for $53, the 2.1Ghz Sempron LE-1200 for $48 and the lowly 1.9Ghz Sempron LE-1100 for $37. AMD has yet to reveal which OEMs will be using these chips, though its probably safe to assume that they'll be showing up in energy-conscious desktops and media centers.

For more on the new 45 watt chips:
- see this ExtremeTech article

Windows Home Server to sell for $200

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:59:54 -0400

It's been a while since we've heard anything about Microsoft's Windows Home Server platform and while we know that various OEMs are planning to unleash WHS boxes just before Christmastime, we still don't know how much the OS itself is going to cost when purchased sans hardware. Now, thanks to prices posted by various online retailers, a suggest retail price is coming into focus: $200. That might be a little steep for what's essentially a supplementary OS but it's still less than the $500-700 asking price for a full WHS system. And considering that many geeks will have the parts necessary for building a suitable Windows Home Server lying around anyway, it's probably a safe bet that many enthusiasts will choose to go the DIY route.

For more on WHS's OEM pricing:
- see this Ars Technica article

Intel launches quad-core Tigertons

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Just what kind of name is "Tigerton" anyway? Makes me think of a "ton" of "tigers". While I'm not quite sure whether or not Intel intended to plant that surreal image in my head, I am sure that this new line of quad-core Xeons will be blazing fast. The top-of-the-line X7350 clocks in at 2.93Ghz with 8MB of shared on-chip cache and a thermal design power rating (TDP) of 130 watts. There are also the 2.4Ghz E7340, the 2.13Ghz E7320, and the 1.6Ghz E7310, all of which have an 80 watt TDP and the 1.86Ghz L7345, which has a lower TDP of 50 watts. There's also a pair of dual-core Tigertons to round out the pack: the 2.93Ghz E7220 and the 2.4Ghz E7210, both of which sport 8MB of shared on-chip cache and an 80 watt TDP rating. The new Tigertons retail for $856 to $2,301 per chip in 1,000-unit quantities and should be available to enterprises and OEMs as we speak.

For more on the new chips:
- see this InfoWorld article

Samsung, Toshiba break storage records

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

Storage records were made only to be broken and breaking records is exactly what drive manufacturers were put on this earth to do. This week, Toshiba announced that they've upped the laptop storage ante, breaking Fujitsu's previous 300GB record by cramming a whopping 320GB into a 2.5-inch drive enclosure. Toshiba's MK3252GSX also spins at a respectable 5,400rpm with an 8MB buffer and connects using a 3Gbps SATA interface. The drive should start popping up as a configurable option from OEMs in November.

Not one to be outdone, Samsung set their own record this week, with a 1.8-inch drive that clocks in at 160GB. Breaking the previous record of 120GB (also held by Samsung) the tiny drive is suitable for ultraportable laptops, camcorders, consumer electronics and--you guessed it: iPods.

For more on Toshiba's 320GB drive:
- see this press release

For more on Samsung's 160GB drive:
- see this Gizmodo article