Posted 12/15/08 at 12:00:00 PM by The Maximum PC Staff and Paul Lily

Years from now, when future geeks muse over the history of PC tech, what will they remember about 2008? That’s the question we sought to answer when we compiled this comprehensive technology retrospective of the last year. Make no mistake, identifying and sorting the year’s most significant tech events was no easy task. We locked ourselves in a room where we mentally relived the last 12 months, pondering hundreds of items of note and debating the importance of each to find its appropriate rank on our list. Behold the result: our countdown of the 250 items representing the most noteworthy events and product releases that shaped the PC computing landscape in 2008.

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gaming, Software, news, technology, hardware, features, 2008, top 250, people

Posted 12/12/08 at 11:21:05 AM by Paul Lilly

The promise of in-game physics has yet to be fully realized, but the technology doesn't appear to be going anywhere. Leading the charge is Nvidia, who has a vested interest with its acquired PhysX technology. But in an interview with Bit-Tech, Godfrey Cheng, Director of Technical Marketing in AMD's Graphics Product Group, downplayed the proprietary standard.

"There is no plan for closed and proprietary standards like PhysX," said Cheng. "As we have emphasized with our support for OpenCL and DX11, closed and proprietary standards will die."

The comment came in response to questions about EA's and 2K's decision to license Nvidia's PhysX technology across all of their worldwide studios. And while Cheng said he can't comment on competitor's business models, he did say that AMD views "Havok technologies and products to be the leaders in physics simulation," pointing out that game developers share that same view. If true, it would be reasonable to assume EA and 2K have gone against their development studios' wishes by adopting PhysX.

"People need to scrutinize various announcements on what is beling 'licensed,'" Cheng pointed out. "Is it to replace the whole physics simulation / tool stack within a game or within the whole studio? Is it for a specific physics simulation product or just a couple of titles? Remember PhysX also has game physics libraries in addition to its new GPU based products."

Cheng went on to say that Havok physics on Radeon videocards is still forthcoming, possibly by early 2009, but noted that this is just the beginning of in-game physics.

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amd, physx, technology, proprietary

Posted 12/12/08 at 10:27:30 AM by Paul Lilly

Research in transparent electronic devices isn't anything new, but for the first time (that we're aware of), a group of scientists have created what they say is an "almost completely clear" computer chip. Credit goes to the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) team responsible for creating the see-through transparent resistive random access memory (TRRAM) based on maturing RRAM technology. RRAM technology is currently being developed by companies like Fujitsu, Samsung, Micron, and Spansion as a non-volatile memory technology that will attempt to replace flash, TGDaily says.

The KAIST team said its TRRAM device is based on an ITO (indium tim oxide)/ZnO/ITO capacitor structure with a transmittance of 81 percent in the visible region of the chip. Creating the chip consisted of essentially sandwiching the RRAM's metal oxide materials between equally transparent electrodes and substrates, which gives the chip its transparency. According to the researchers, the chip is capable of retaining data for 10 years.

There hasn't been a ton of interest in clear electronics up to this point, but the KAIST team is hopeful their discovery might change that. Eventually, the technology could enable the development of clear computer monitors and TVs that are embedded inside glass.

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technology, Memory, hardware, see-through, transparent

Posted 11/04/08 at 03:59:04 PM by Pulkit Chandna

It is common knowledge that a plethora of copyrighted video content is easily available across the social web. Content owners, however irate, have not been able to clamp down on rampant piracy across the social web despite the full cooperation of social networking websites.

But MySpace and MTV Networks have adopted a more out-of-the-box approach and have tacitly embraced piracy: they now intend to benefit from pirated content.

MTV and MySpace will test a new technology this month that will automatically replace pirated content – uploaded by users – with ad-backed content that is perfectly legal. The innovative technology, which has been developed by Palo Alto-based startup Auditude, is based on the company’s patented video identification tool.

MTV’s conciliatory approach is a straw in the wind as more content providers will be tempted to follow its lead.

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Internet, technology, myspace, tools, mtv networks, auditude, content identification

Posted 11/04/08 at 02:30:11 PM by Paul Lilly

While the presidential election might only come around every four years, the monotonous coverage has become all too predictable. Tuning in to your favorite news station will inevitably net pundits from both the Republican and Democratic parties giving a play-by-play analysis of how the voting has gone aided by a blue and red color coded map of the United States. Rinse and repeat in four years.

But this year the process looks to get a bit more interesting from a technological standpoint. Instead of remote interviews showing the candidates on a split screen or a floating window, CNN will look to up its geek cred with the use of holograms. 

"Everyone is doing something virtual this election year," says CNN senior VP David Bohrman, the guy who pushed the technology. "Virtual elements in a real set look so much better than a real person in a virtual set."

To make it happen, CNN will use 44 cameras and 20 computers in each remote location to capture 360-degree imaging data of the person being interviewed. The images will then be processed and beamed by computers and cameras located in New York. The end result, if all goes to plan, is that those being interviewed, whether a spokesperson from the Obama or McCain camp, will appear as though he or she is in CNN's television studio.

Will holographic interviews make you more likely to tune into CNN? Hit the jump and post your thoughts.

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technology, Hologram, cnn, politics, election

Posted 10/20/08 at 10:20:37 AM by Paul Lilly

Next to the "atomic pen", having your name written on a grain of rice is laughably large. That's because the text size to beat - which, by the way, isn't beatable - measures just 2 x 2 nanometers, or about the equivalent of 40,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

"It's not possible to write any smaller than this," said Masayuki Abe, a researcher involved in the project.

Abe is part of a research team at Osaka University who recently demonstrated the atomic pen inscribing nano-sized text. The pen was built based on a previous discovery in which silicon atoms at the tip of an atomic force microscope probe will interchange with the tin atoms in the surface of a semiconductor sample when in close proximity. Using this method, the researchers arranged individual silicon atoms one at a time to write the letters "Si," a task which took the team about an hour and a half.

But there's more at stake here than invisible vandalism. Researchers say the atomic pen could lead to advances in atomic scale technology, eventually making it possible to build a PC small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

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technology, nano, atoms, atomic pen

Posted 10/03/08 at 11:27:33 AM by Paul Lilly

In the world of CPUs, die shrinks are usually precursors to a better all around chip, whether that means it runs cooler, overclocks higher, or races faster. Intel, AMD, and IBM are constantly at work trying to hit that next milestone, but what about consumer gadgets?

Shrunken dies are particularly important for portable electronics and handheld gadgets, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's largest contract chip makers, says its on the ball. The company announced plans to start using 28nm technology in its fabrication plants by 2010.

"Product differentiation, faster time-to-market and investment optimization are the three most important values TSMC delivers to our customers," said Jason Chen, TSMC's VP. "In support of these values, we are developing this comprehensive 28nm technology family so that it offers choices, depending on the customer applications and performance requirements."

According to TSMC, its upcoming 28nm chips will run 50 percent faster while consuming anywhere from 30 to 50 percent less power than current generation 40nm parts. The main target for these new chips will be the cellular industry, but both Nvidia and Texas Instruments also have a close relationship with TSMC. If TSMC's claims hold true, that could be good news for Nvidia and the future of its graphics cards.

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technology, consumer electronics, tsmc, 28nm

Posted 10/01/08 at 05:52:40 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Talk of the financial upheaval is currently ubiquitous. One gets to hear either ominous forecasts or tentative assurances.  Now, Intel’s Chairman Craig Barrett has provided a bit of the latter. He told Reuters that Intel will keep investing in products and technologies despite the risk of the financial crisis affecting key emerging markets.

“We've always had the attitude that you have to make that investment in good times and bad,” Barrett said. He compared Intel to a blind greyhound that “just continues to race down the track.” Barrett feels that one has to invest out of recession. According to him, Intel has always had a contingency plan in place. The company is also not averse to making strategic acquisitions in the coming future.

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intel, technology, investment, financial meltdown