Monthly Archive:: August 2012

RIM CEO: RIM seriously looked at Android

Wireless 12 Comments
RIM CEO Thorsten Heins: "We took the conscious decision not to go Android. If you look at other suppliers' ability to differentiate, there's very little wiggle room. We looked at it seriously - but if you understand what the promise of BlackBerry is to its user base it's all about getting stuff done. Games, media, we have to be good at it but we have to support those guys who are ahead of the game. Very little time to consume and enjoy content - if you stay true to that purpose you have to build on that basis. And if we want to serve that segment we can't do it on a me-too approach." As a geek, I applaud the decision not to go with Android, since it's already way too dominant as it is. If I were to have a specific interest in RIM's survival, though, I'm not sure I would be applauding.
Read More

Graphics improvements give Mountain Lion that speedy feeling

macOS 19 Comments
"Has Mountain Lion been feeling faster for you compared to Lion on the same machine? It's probably not just you: Mountain Lion appears to include improved graphics drivers and low-level graphics subsystem improvements. According to our testing, these improvements result in an approximate performance increase of up to 10 percent. Those improvements can make your current hardware feel faster despite the fact that your CPU can't magically crunch numbers any faster. The changes also lay the foundation for Apple to update OS X's OpenGL support in a more timely manner, which could potentially lead to better graphics performance in the future."
Read More

Valve: L4D2 runs faster on Linux than on Windows

  Submitted by aargh Games 98 Comments
From Valve's Linux blog: "That the Linux version runs faster than the Windows version (270.6) seems a little counter-intuitive, given the greater amount of time we have spent on the Windows version. However, it does speak to the underlying efficiency of the kernel and OpenGL." If it wasn't obvious before, it should be now: Valve has started its marketing campaign for Linux. With the Windows platform in the process of closing itself off, Valve has to look to greener pastures. This is all to motive third parties to get their stuff ready for a possible Linux-powered 'Steambox' - not a console, but a set of generic PC specifications. Remember: the Xbox is the only machine tied to DirectX - OpenGL runs everywhere else, including Windows (the PS3 is an oddball, and has a sort-of Sony-specific FrankenOpenGL). OpenGL simply makes more sense for developers, and now Valve is working very closely with Nvidia, AMD, and Intel to optimise their Linux drivers. Do the math, people.
Read More

Apple CPU lead Jim Keller heads back to AMD as chief architect

Hardware 21 Comments
"After leading the design of Apple's mobile processors, which have powered the iPhone and iPad over the last few years, chip architect Jim Keller is returning to AMD to head up its microprocessor core design team, the chipmaker announced today. Keller is an industry veteran who brought plenty of experience to Apple's mobile processors. He was previously vice president at P.A. Semiconductor, which Apple acquired in 2008 for $278 million, and he went on to serve as a director of Apple's platform architecture group."
Read More

Commodore 64 turns 30: what do today’s kids make of it?

  Submitted by MOS6510 Hardware 36 Comments
"It is 30 years since the Commodore 64 went on sale to the public. The machine was hugely successful for its time, helping to encourage personal computing, popularise video games and pioneer homemade computer-created music. BBC News invited Commodore enthusiast Mat Allen to show schoolchildren his carefully preserved computer, at a primary school and secondary school in London."
Read More

A Software Guy’s Look at Electric Bicycles

OS News 31 Comments
I had the chance to attend the bike industry’s annual DealerCamp in my hometown of Park City, Utah last week. It’s an event where dealers and manufacturers can meet up, and everyone can try the latest bicycle technology on the roads and trails. While there, I took a particular interest in electric bicycles, which were represented by several vendors. Electric bicycle tech has made some major strides in the past few years, but still has a long way to go, in particular on the software side.
Read More

Windows 8 goes RTM

Windows 58 Comments
Microsoft has just announced that Windows 8 has gone gold - or, in Redmond parlance, RTM. "Today, I am excited to announce that Windows 8 has been released to manufacturing (RTM)! This means we've completed the product development and testing of the product and have started handing off the final code to our OEM partners. They can now begin preparing new Windows 8 PCs and devices they'll introduce starting with General Availability." Anybody got a spare MSDN account?
Read More