Posted 10/30/08 at 08:33:43 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Psystar, a leading Mac clone manufacturer, has stolen a march on Apple by launching the very first OS X-compatible PCs outfitted with Blu-ray drives and GeForce 9800GT graphics cards. Psystar president Rudy Pedraza lampooned Apple, in a press release, for having still not embraced Blu-ray despite the fact that it has already won the HD format war.

He heavily extolled Blu-ray, which he believes is a huge asset for media editing professionals and enterprises - a demographic that Psystar can now serve.

Psystar is certainly trying its best to get under the skin of Apple whose patience must be wearing thin. Around a fortnight ago, Apple and Psystar agreed to an “Alternative Dispute Resolution”. Prior to that, in July, Apple had slapped a lawsuit against Psystar. The latter soon returned the favor by filing a lawsuit of its own against Apple.

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Software, apple, Blu-ray, OS X, legal, law, OS, hardware, build a rig, leopard, psystar, 9800GT, mac clone, open computer

Posted 10/30/08 at 04:02:44 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Israeli system-on-chip (SoC) manufacturer LucidLogix Technologies has received $18 million in Series C venture funds from Rho Ventures, the company announced in a press release on Wednesday.

Lucid has now raised $32 million in all. It intends to use the funds to propagate its multi-GPU HYDRA technology, which is an alternative to Nvidia SLI and ATI Crossfire multi-GPU solutions.

“Our recent announcements and engagements with major partners have demonstrated that we can deliver and commercialize our technology,” said an optimistic Offir Remez Hydra, Lucid’s founder and VP of business development. Hydra scores over SLI and Crossfire due its unique ability to extract 100% linear performance from each of the GPUs – it supports up to four GPUs from the same manufacturer.

Lucid can pat its back for having secured fresh funding when most venture capitalists  have pulled in their horns as the global economy wades through a turbulent storm.

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amd, graphics card, ati, nvidia, gpu, hardware, multi-gpu, build a pc, build a rig, soc, hydra

Posted 08/09/08 at 04:52:36 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Asustek’s Eee PC mini-desktop has arrived on U.S shores. Its launch follows closely on the heels of Dell’s Studio Hybrid's arrival, which came out less than two weeks ago. The Eee PC box comes with Windows XP pre-installed, a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom, 1GB memory, 80 gigs of hard drive capacity, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Ethernet, built-in card reader, four USB 2.0 ports, a microphone-in and DVI-out.

Available in jet black or immaculate white, the box has an asking price of $399 and is available at major online and offline stores. The white box bears more than a passing resemblance to the Wii.

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hardware, Intel Atom, studio hybrid, mini-desktop, build a rig, asustek eee pc, Cheap Computer, box pc

Posted 08/01/08 at 05:30:46 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Silicon Valley has played host to innumerable tech startups that promised to be the next Intel or Google only to vanish away without a trace, or an apology for their erroneous claims. Now Tomshardware’s Wolfang Gruener, who claims to have successfully portended Google’s spectacular rise, has placed his bet on Ncomputing to be the next Google.

It isn’t exactly the most perilous punt ever, as Ncomputing is in one of the hottest tech niches of our times, i.e. highly affordable, no-frills computing. No, Ncomputing isn’t building the cheapest netbook or low-cost PC. It is doing things differently by pioneering a viable cloud computing solution for plebeians. Its $70 computing device is like a set-top-box that can be connected to a monitor, keyboard and mouse, and can share the resources of a full-fledged Windows or Linux PC - using an Ethernet connection - to allow a user to surf the internet, watch media and use other essential applications.

The thought provoking details that will rile up a storm inside any geek worth his bytes are "after the jump".

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intel, Google, hardware, build a rig, cloud computing, computers, ncomputing, x-series, l-series

Posted 07/28/08 at 02:55:19 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Details about Dell’s Studio Hybrid mini PC are in dearth as the company is keeping everything under wraps and all information is coming through leaks and sketchy sources. Now Engadget is reporting that an internal customer service page carries precious little details about the diminutive PC. The Studio Hybrid mini PC is codenamed Nausicaa as a tribute to a Greek mythological character. The internal page has revealed that the Studio Hybrid will ship with a wireless mouse and keyboard. The report further hints – quoting anonymous sources - that the mini PC will come with an in-built Blu-ray drive and user-changeable color panels; and possibly hit store shelves in the next fortnight.

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pc, hardware, build a rig, dell studio hybrid

Posted 07/25/08 at 06:17:33 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Intel’s dual-core Atom will see the light of the day in Q4 and is slated to be released on September 21, 2008, according to Fudzilla. It will be the first dual-core processor in the power efficient Atom family that has emerged as a popular powerplant for netbooks. The dual-core Atom 330 will set you back by $43, which is quite reasonable as the Atom 230 single-core processor is priced $29. The Atom 330 with its 1.6 GHz clock speed, 533 FSB and 1 MB L2 cache will be ideal for budget rigs. Once the Atom 330 release is out of the way, all eyes will be on the launch of 1.87 GHz Atom processors.

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intel, hardware, dual-core, build a rig, atom 330, atom 230

Posted 07/25/08 at 02:35:23 PM by Pulkit Chandna

OS X has remained an Apple fiefdom and any attempts at liberating the OS have been frowned upon by the company. Earlier this month, Apple initiated legal proceedings against Psystar that sells a Mac-clone. However, the law suit seems to have had very little deterrent value as yet another manufacturer has announced plans to launch its own Mac-clone, though, with a difference – not an endorsement.

Open Tech Inc. has announced the Open Tech Home and the Open Tech XT open PCs that will easily allow users to run OS X. The similarity between Psystar’s outright Mac-clone and Open Tech’s upcoming PCs ends here as the latter’s offerings won’t come with OS X pre-installed, instead, users will have to install it on their own using a meticulously crafted set of instructions. Open Tech believes that this move will shield it from any legal action. But Apple's legal department might hold a different opinion.

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apple, OS X, hardware, build a rig, psystar, open tech, mac-clone

Posted 07/21/08 at 07:19:39 PM by Paul Lilly

Either Charlie Demerjian is drinking some seriously spiked Kool-Aid, or The Inquirer reporter really is privy to what could turn out to be the hottest story this summer. According to the latest rumor (and this one's unconfirmed), two high profile Nvidia add-in board (AIB) partners are jumping ship. And by high profile, Demerjian's talking about XFX and Evga, two of only three Nvidia partners (BFG being the other) to offer a generous lifetime warranty on their videocards.

As if the rumor wasn't already unfathomable, it gets even more shocking. According to the story, which, again, hasn't been confirmed by any other source, not only have XFX and Evga already defected (The Inq claims "paperwork has been signed"), but they're not heading for the hills of ATI. Huh? That's right; the rumor says XFX and Evga aren't following Gainward's lead (yet another defection rumor), so if it turns out to be true, then where could they going?

Find out where XFX and Evga are rumored to be headed after the jump.

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evga, nvidia, gpu, xfx, hardware, videocards, rumor, build a rig, grahics, defect, partners