Peace Through Technology

Long time rivals AMD, Apple and Intel working together to build you the best laptop money can buy? That’s the rumor that is floating around by way of tech review site Engadget. If you’d asked me about this possibility three years ago, I’d have told you to lay off reading The Inquirer for awhile, but today the idea is not so far-fetched.

It started with the Apple-Intel alliance, where Apple became so fed up with heat and production issues of the latest IBM-based PowerPC processor that it finally followed the prophecy of former Apple CEO John “...turning down x86 was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made…” Scully and joined forces with Intel.

Next came the acquisition of ATI by AMD, filling the chipset gap in AMD’s product line and driving Intel CPU-based notebook makers into a quandary. Not to mention the decision point that Apple is now at: Continue to sell ATI, now AMD graphics paired with Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs (presuming they will get along) or switch to Nvidia graphics. Uh, in case you’re thinking the Intel graphics will work here, forget it. Intel makes integrated graphics solutions, not dedicated graphics processors, and lest you forget, Apple fans are all about great graphics processing. And switching from Intel CPUs to AMD-based designs as some suggest will happen is likely to be a challenge for Apple, requiring a new board design to support the hypertransport bus. But imagine it, if you will: The fastest Intel processors paired with the best graphics from AMD wrapped up in the Apple coolest designs! Sounds so good it almost makes me weep!

Via Engadget

The Sony Faithful

As the countdown to launch continues, lines are forming outside of stores such as Best Buy. Despite delays and compatibility issues, there is still strong demand for Sony's PS3 game console due to launch in the U.S. tomorrow. It's a good thing, too, for Sony, since it has so much invested in this, from the new Cell fab venture with Toshiba and IBM, to its proprietary Blue Ray DVD format. PS3's limited supply won't help either. It means that Sony will miss a lot of holiday sales that could be picked up instead by the Nintendo Wii, which is coming up fast from behind and is due to launch on Sunday. Will Sony's faithful who can't get a PS3 of their own convert? We'll find out very soon.


More blogs about best buy ps3.

PS3: Rarer than Diamonds

PS3 is out, but you’re not getting one.

People stood in line before 7AM at a store in Japan for a chance to buy the Sony PS3 space heater (good grief, they’d have to be giving away $1000 bills to get me to do this). Sony could only build 100,000 of these for the Japan launch, so stores had a very limited supply. The riot squad was standing by with megaphones, just in case things got ugly.

The launch in the U.S. is likely to inspire violence, too, with only 400,000 of these things to go around for the whole country (compare that to the Nintendo Wii supply, which we're told is 4 million units available worldwide, starting November 19). Think back to the Tickle-Me-Elmo riots of recent years or the Cabbage Patch Doll Wars of the past. And sorry, Europe, like the Holiday Barbie of a decade ago, your PS3 will be replaced by an IOU letter from Santa this year.

Let’s hope for Sony’s sake that the limited supply inspires people to pay the high price tag for this much ballyhooed, much delayed, newfangled console with its futuristic Cell processor. Sony needs some cash now, or you won’t be seeing many more of these things next year.

Via AP and AP again.

Vista Appears on the Horizon

Now that Microsoft has announced the release date for the consumer version of Vista as January 30, 2007, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, Virginia, the OS does exist, you're just not going to get it for Christmas. Of course this means that there won't be a huge push for PC purchases this holiday season, at least not bigger than a typical year, but leave it to the games consoles to pick up the slack in your credit card charges with anticipated sales of the Nintendo Wii, which some reviewers are calling a kids gaming platform, and the Sony PS3, which I'm told is very hot--literally due to the new IBM Cell CPU. Should be nice to warm your toes with on those cold winter evenings. Ho ho ho!