News - SlashGear

Posts Tagged ‘news’

giffgaff UK MVNO announced: is “mutual giving” a business model?

By Chris Davies on Wednesday, Sep 23rd 2009 No Comments

giffgaff honeypot MVNOs in the US haven’t had the greatest of success, with Virgin Mobile USA the most recent big-name to be gobbled up by a “proper” carrier. However one UK company has obviously decided that the scene there is crying out for a new carrier option, and hence giffgaff has been born. Based on O2’s network, giffgaff is still playing coy with their pricing but is suggesting that users will be able to earn back up to 100-percent of their pre-pay top-ups via good deeds to other users and the MVNO themselves.

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Intel Atom Processor Developer Program kicks off: netbook-centric SDK

By Chris Davies on Wednesday, Sep 23rd 2009 No Comments

Intel have kicked off their latest attempt to get developers coding especially for netbooks, in the shape of the Atom Processor Developer Program. Aimed at optimizing software to take advantage of the generally smaller screen size of netbooks – and likely their lower-powered hardware, too – Intel are pushing Microsoft’s Silverlight as a broadly-deployable underlying platform.

intel atom developer program

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$199.99 Wii confirmed from September 27th

By Chris Davies on Wednesday, Sep 23rd 2009 No Comments

Rumors of Nintendo dropping the Wii's price have circulated for months now, and it seems someone in Japan has finally seen sense. According to a leaked email to Best Buy staff, as of September 27th the Nintendo Wii will be dropped from $249.99 to $199.99.

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Microsoft acquire ICS parallel computing specialist

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Sep 22nd 2009 No Comments

microsoft logo Microsoft have confirmed that they have acquired Interactive Supercomputing (ISC), a desktop parallel computing specialist. The company plan to integrate ISC’s technology into its desktop and cluster high-performance computer solutions; meanwhile they will support existing users of ISC’s Star-P parallel computer modelling software, though no further versions of the app will be developed or released.

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HTC’s design firm talk brand identity: more Android chin incoming

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Sep 22nd 2009 No Comments

Lovers of the European HTC Hero’s chin who were left disappointed with the Sprint model’s stylings will be pleased to hear that the distinctive design may make a reappearance. That’s the word from Claude Zellweger, partner at the One & Co US design firm HTC acquired back in December 2008, who has been talking to Forbes about HTC’s design future. That future will seemingly lean heavily toward a design and brand identity, which gives users a “sense of coming home again” when they upgrade to another HTC device.

HTC Hero SlashGear 18 540x341

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AMD Thuban hexacore CPU promised for 2010

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Sep 22nd 2009 No Comments

AMD have revealed that they're working on a hexacore - or six-core - processor for release in 2010. The chip, codenamed Thuban, will be manufactured using 45nm processes and have an integrated DDR3 controller; more interestingly, however, it will be backward compatible with existing AM2+ and AM3 motherboards.

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Zune HD shortage lures out price-gouge merchants

By Chris Davies on Monday, Sep 21st 2009 No Comments

Never let it be said we stand in the way of private enterprise – heaven only knows how many times I’ve had to sell handkerchiefs to sailors just to put bread on the table – but taking advantage of Zune HD 32GB shortages to double the price seems more than a little unfair. Amazon are currently listing the larger Zune HD – which we reviewed last week – as not shipping for 1-3 weeks; however, one Marketplace seller has used the opportunity to list the 32GB PMP for a whopping $599.99.

zune hd 32gb price gouging 540x236

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Intel anti-competition tactics revealed in exec emails

By Chris Davies on Monday, Sep 21st 2009 No Comments

intel amd logo Thanks to Intel’s appeal, it looks as though the anti-competition case in which the chipmaker is accused of illegally attempting to block AMD business won’t be settled any time soon. To better illustrate just why they fined Intel a record $1.45bn, the European Commission have released a 500 page report [pdf link] complete with emails where big-name PC manufacturers discuss threats of withdrawn rebates should they adopt some of AMD’s chips.

Excepts after the cut

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Viliv X70 arrives at Newegg; more expensive than rivals

By Chris Davies on Monday, Sep 21st 2009 No Comments

If there's one thing capitalism has taught us, it's that competition is usually good for prices. Newegg have just joined Dynamism in offering the Viliv X70 UMPC, the 7-inch Korean touchscreen tablet, which you'd expect to mean prices were pushed down. Unfortunately Newegg don't seem to have got that memo; their prices are actually a little more expensive than the existing offers.

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AmazonBasics threatens to undercut with own-brand cables & media

By Chris Davies on Monday, Sep 21st 2009 No Comments

After pretty much changing the face of online shopping, Amazon have given themselves a new challenge in the shape of AmazonBasics. A range of “essential accessories”, including A/V and computer cabling and blank media, AmazonBasics all come in the company’s “frustration-free packaging”.

amazonbasics