AMD's three new low-power chips pose potent challenge to Intel
Is AMD (finally) getting its groove back?
AMD is showing off its latest round of APUs – accelerated processing units that combine compute and graphics cores on the same slice o' silicon – that it hopes will be reinforcements in its battle for the consumer market against its main competitor, Intel, especially at the low-power end of the market.
"We're working to position …
Ethernet daddy: online education poised to transform the world
MOOCs to be as transformative as 'BOOCs'
During an interview at the Ethernet Innovation Summit in Mountain View, California, Ethernet inventor Robert Metcalfe was asked what surprises were on the horizon due to the ever more pervasive advance of the internet.
"The most exciting surprise, I think, is going to be MOOCs," said Metcalfe on Wednesday, referring to online …
US Congress excoriates Apple's tax-avoidance shenanigans
Cook to defend 'an American success story' – and billions in unpaid taxes – on Tuesday
A US Senate investigation has found that Apple avoided billions of dollars in taxes through a complex scheme of subsidiaries scattered around the globe, some with no employees and run by top execs back in its Cupertino headquarters.
"Apple wasn't satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven," said Senator …
The iWatch is coming! The iWatch is coming!
Reports: Apple's wrister to have 1.5-inch OLED, test units being built
The Apple iWatch rumor mill has rumbled to life yet again, with one report that Apple is sampling 1.5-inch OLED displays for the li'l fellow, and a second that long-time iKit assembler Foxconn has received orders for a test batch of the "wearable computing" device.
On Monday, MacRumors spotted an article in the Japanese Apple- …
Yahoo! to 'share something special' in New York on Monday
Is hastily called event related to Tumblr rumblings?
Yahoo! will hold a "product-related news event" this upcoming Monday with CEO Marissa Mayer in attendance to "share something special."
Did you get your invitation yet?
That's the word first tweeted by CNBC on Friday afternoon. Yahoo! later confirmed that it was holding a 5pm press event in New York City – "by invitation only …
US military welcomes Apple iOS 6 kit onto its networks
The battle with BlackBerry, Samsung marches into the cloud
The US Department of Defense has welcomed Apple's iDevices into its secure networks, and has announced that that it is "taking bold steps to provide sound information and proper analysis as it fortifies its cloud computing, acquisition and data processes."
On Friday, the DoD set the stage for a three-way smackdown among Apple, …
Climate scientists agree: Humans cause global warming
Of those who have an opinion, over 97% say we're to blame
A major study of nearly 12,000 peer-reviewed papers in the climate-science literature has – again – proven that among climate scientists, an overwhelming percentage agree with the consensus view that human activity causes global warming.
The study was led by John Cook, a post-doctoral fellow in the Global Change Institute at the …
Nine-year-old Opportunity Mars rover sets NASA distance record
All-time champ, however, remains 40-year-old Russki
The never-say-die little rover that could, Opportunity, has set a new distance record for extraterrestrial NASA vehicles.
Distance records for lunar and Martian rovers
Opportunity has bested larger and faster rovers
(click to enlarge)
On Thursday, Opportunity's handlers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, …
Dell uncloaks novel workstation trio, plops one into cloud
Versatile rack mount, entry-level minitower, itsy-bitsy cutie
Dell has filled out its workstation line with three new machines: a versatile, virtualizable 2U rack-mountable big boy, an entry-level minitower, and the minitower's little brother – which, if a workstation could ever be called "cute", would be a leading candidate for that designation.
Speaking at a pre-briefing earlier this …
Apple adds Galaxy S 4 to Samsung patent suit
Might as well kick Korean mobe-maker where it'll hurt most
Apple has ratcheted-up its patent-infringment attack on Samsung, asking the US District Court of California to add Sammy's new smartphone flagship, the Galaxy S 4, to the list of products that Apple alleges violate its patents.
That handset was launched with hella hoopla this March (and reviewed by The Reg this Monday), and is …
IT'S OFFICIAL: Hipster era is OVER – sorry, beanie boiz...
Scientific study reveals unvarnished truth about ironic PBR drinkers
An automated telephone survey organization based in Raleigh, North Carolina, apparently having nothing better to do or merely seeking publicity – in this case, successfully – put its finger on the pulse of public sentiment and discovered, as they headlined their results, "Americans So Over Hipsters."
Public Policy Polling …
United Nations: 'Overpopulated Earth? Time to EAT BUGS'
Or feed them to cattle, pigs, chickens, and fish, then eat them
World population is slated to top nine billion by 2050, and seeing as how arable land is being rapidly swallowed by towns and cities, oceans are increasingly overfished, and climate change is disrupting traditional farming, a new United Nations study proposes a twist on Marie Antoinette's dietary advice: let them eat bugs.
" …
Notebook sales to surge, says notebook seller
'Intel and Microsoft will save us'
Global notebook sales may be in the crapper, but according to the chairman of the company manufacturing notebooks for Acer, Dell, Toshiba, HP, and others, the bluebird of sales-revenue happiness will sing again in the second half of this year.
On Thursday, Compal Electronics chairman Ray Chen told an investors conference that …
Degenerate dwarfs tear neighbors limb from limb
Hubble finds twin aging mini-suns 'polluted' with planetary debris
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a pair of white dwarf stars who have been "polluted" by planet-building elements that they have shredded and consumed.
White dwarfs – also known as degenerate dwarf stars – are the aging remnants of middle-sized stars that have cooled and collapsed upon themselves. Due to that …
Apple wins documents fight with Google in Samsung case
Judge sees 'irony' in Google's claim that searching for docs is 'burdensome'
A US judge has ordered Google to provide Apple with information on how it is searching for documents sought by Cupertino in its seemingly eternal patent-infringement fight with Samsung, rejecting Google's argument that, as a third-party to the case, it isn't bound by the same rules as the two warring parties.
"Third-party status …
40,000 Chinese workers say low-cost iPhone coming soon
Massive hiring push by iPhone builder fuels speculation
The manufacturer of the still-popular iPhone 4S has said that it plans to add 40,000 workers, boosting rumors that Apple plans to release an entry-level iPhone soon.
Taiwan-based Pegatron, which has manufacturing plants in Taiwan, mainland China, Mexico, and the Czech Republic, told Reuters that it plans to increase its Chinese …
YouTube Trends Map pokes tacky underbelly of American psyche
'What do women want?' Not what men do, apparently
YouTube has unveiled a new way to place your finger on the pulse of American culture – even though the beat it detects may accompany a tune you might not want to hear.
"Are teens in the South watching the same videos as middle-aged folks in New England?" writes YouTube Trends Manager Kevin Allocca in a Tuesday post on the …
Deep inside Intel's new ARM killer: Silvermont
Chipzilla's Atom grows up, speeds up, powers down
Intel has released details about its new Silvermont Atom processor microarchitecture, and — on paper, at least – it appears that Chipzilla has a mobile market winner on its hands.
Yes, yes, we know: you've heard it all before, from Menlow to Moorestown to Medfield. Intel has made promise after promise that its next Atom-based …
10-day stubble: Men's 'socio-sexual attributes' at their best
Clean shaven? Nope. Full beard? Uh-uh. Crockett had it down
Science can plumb the mysteries of the universe, cure disease, and reveal the origins of man – but can it provide insight into the age-old mystery that troubles every man, namely: What Do Women Want?
Yes it can, dear Reg reader, yes it can.
According to research conducted at the Evolution & Ecology Research Centre of Sydney's …
Greenhouse gasses may boost chances of exoplanetary life
Mucking things up down here, boosting habitability up there
Those pesky greenhouse gasses that are threatening to wreak havoc here on Earth may make other planets scattered throughout the universe more conducive to life, according to a paper published in the journal Science.
"It's really all about the greenhouse gases," the paper's author Sara Seager told Space.com. "The greenhouse gases …
Tiny fly-inspired RoboBee takes flight at Harvard
Twelve-year robotic research project bears fruit ... flies
A quartet of Harvard University reseachers have designed, manufactured, and flown a tiny, fly-inspired aerial robot that could be the forerunner of swarms of drosophilistic drones.
To put their achievement in boffinary terms, as did the authors in the abstract of their paper, published in the latest issue of the jounal Science …
Move over Radeon, GeForce – Intel has a new graphics brand: Iris
'Select' Haswell chips to have 'amazing' integrated oomph
Intel is getting increasingly serious about integrated-graphics performance, and to prove it they've done what any self-respecting marketeer would demand: they've rebranded their top-performing parts.
Meet "Intel Iris Graphics", slated to appear in the top-performing parts of Chipzilla's soon-to-be-released "Haswell" chippery. …
AMD reveals potent parallel processing breakthrough
Upcoming Kaveri processor will drink from shared-memory Holy Grail
AMD has released details on its implementation of The Next Big Thing in processor evolution, and in the process has unleashed the TNBT of acronyms: the AMD APU (CPU+GPU) HSA hUMA.
Before your eyes glaze over and you click away from this page, know that if this scheme is widely adopted, it could be of great benefit to both …
Branson's SpaceShipTwo succeeds in first rocket-powered flight
55,000 feet? Check. Break sound barrier? Check. Safe landing? Check
Finally. Sir Richard Branson's long-delayed commercial spaceliner, the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo, has successfully completed its first rocket-powered test flight.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo on successful April 29, 2013 test flight
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo during its first rocket-powered test flight (click to …
Combover King Donald Trump: 'I miss Steve Jobs'
Tim Cook wouldn't last long on All-Star Celebrity Apprentice
Never being a man to shy away from whatever current controversy might get his name into headlines*, the indefatigable Republican presidential candidate, Obama-baiting birther, and TV "personality" Donald Trump has weighed in on whether Apple should offer an iPhone with a larger display.
I have a lot of @apple stock--- and I …
Apple's next OS X said to be targeted at 'power users'
Tabbed Finder windows, multiple display improvements, more
Apple's next version of OS X may provide welcome relief to users dismayed by the company's seemingly inexorable evolution from computer manufacturer to consumer-electronics company, if unnamed sources speaking to 9to5Mac are to believed.
According to those sources, OS X 10.9 – oddly codenamed "Cabernet"* in the closely guarded …
AMD posts mediocre numbers, cites 'difficult market environment'
Updated Not so bad, not so good, restructuring 'largely completed'
AMD released its financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2013, which bracketed the Wall Street moneymen's predictions with revenues a tad higher than forecast and the all-important earnings per share (EPS) a tad lower.*
For the quarter, AMD's EPS number came in at negative $0.19 on revenues of $1.09bn, the …
Internet Explorer makes modest gains against Google Chrome
According to the stat counters at StatCounter, that is
The browser world war, which appeared to have already been handily won by Google Chrome, is heating up again – well, "warming up" might be more accurate – with Microsoft's Internet Explorer having reversed some of its long, relatively steady decline.
A mere two years ago, Internet Explorer was the undisputed king of the browser …
ExxonMobil's oil spill rids neighborhood of 'venomous snakes'
There's a silver spin lining to every disaster
On March 29, ExxonMobil's Pegasus pipeline – built in the late 1940s – ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas, sending at least a million liters of Canadian crude oil and water into a residential neighborhood. That's the bad news.
The good news? According to an ExxonMobil update, that crude cockup is channeling Saint Patrick, ridding …
Four Apple execs among US top five best-paid in 2012
And no, Tim Cook wasn't one of them – he earned a mere 3.2 'Ballmers'
Four the top five highest-paid executives in the S&P 500 last fiscal year were Apple senior managers – and CEO Tim Cook was not among them.
According to a Bloomberg report on Monday, Apple's board of directors are apparently quite eager to keep their top team members happy – and, more importantly, to keep them from straying off …
Dubai splurges on 700hp, 217mph Lamborghini police cruiser
Pix There's nothing quite like obscene amounts of oil revenues
The Dubai police force can expect a flood of applications to its cadet academy now that it has added a 217mph Lamborghini Aventador to its cruiser fleet.
How much did it set back Dubai's Finest to get their hands on this stylish bit of four-wheeled extravagance? It depends upon whom you believe: Sky News puts the price at £250, …
Netbooks projected to become EXTINCT by 2015
Farewell, underpowered li'l fellows, we hardly knew ye
Proving yet again that fame and fortune are fleeting – even for computer hardware – the analysts at IHS are projecting that the netbook, the New Hotness just a few short years ago, will disappear completely by 2015.
"Once a white-hot PC product that sold in the tens of millions of units annually," IHS writes in an email release …
BlackBerry slams Z10 returns report as 'false and misleading'
Seeks investigations by US and Canadian securities agencies
BlackBerry president and CEO Thorsten Heins has fired back at an article in The Wall Street Journal which cites a report that returns of the Z10 are outnumbering sales – and that report was just the latest bad news for the beleaguered smartphone manufacturer.
"Return rate statistics show that we are at or below our forecasts and …
Judge scolds Apple, Motorola for using court as 'business strategy'
Fed up with 'obstreperous and cantankerous conduct'
The judge responsible for the painfully complex patent litigation between Apple and Motorola Mobility has had it up to here with the legal machinations of the two companies, and has denied a request to step in and whittle the case down to a manageable size.
"Most parties that come before the Court are trying to resolve their …
Intel demos inexpensive 100Gb/sec silicon photonics chip
Breakthrough will speed system-to-system data center links
Intel has demoed what it says it "believes" is the world's only silicon photonics module that uses a hybrid silicon laser – a breakthrough that should allow such advances as vastly improved system-to-system interconnects in the data center.
The demo of the 100Gb/sec module was presented via a video during Intel CTO Justin …
Google: 'Austin is our next Fiber city.' AT&T: 'Us, too – maybe'
Big Phone horns in on Googly gigabit internet announcement
Google has officially announced what had already become an open secret: that Austin, Texas, will be its next "Google Fiber" city, where the online ad peddler will offer gigabit internet connections to homes and institutions. Soon after Google's announcement, AT&T chimed in with a copycat communiqué – albeit one with caveats. …
News Corp prez threatens to pull Fox TV off the air
Updated Miffed at court's refusal to block Aereo streaming service
In response to a New York appeals court ruling that upheld the right of media mogul Barry Diller's fledgling Aereo streaming service to continue to provide its subscribers with broadcast television content, News Corp.'s president and COO Chase Carey says he might turn Fox television into a subscription-only cable service.
"If we …
Climate change set to bumpify transatlantic flights, say researchers
Flights across the pond won't be pleasant mid-century
Rising sea levels, droughts, torrential downpours, "superstorms" – climate change has been blamed for a flood [Ahem...—Ed.] of calamities, but new research shows that an even worse global warming–induced fate might soon befall us all: an inflight glass of wine spilling onto our lap when our airliner encounters increased …
USPTO backs down on iPad mini trademark objections
'The examining attorney apologizes for any inconvenience caused'
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has withdrawn its primary objections to Apple's trademark filing for the term "iPad mini" – but Cupertino is not completely off the hook quite yet.
"Upon further review of the application, the examining attorney has determined that the following refusals issued in the initial Office …
Apple handed victory in Samsung text-selection patent case
Full ITC panel to decide in August if Sammy's kit should be banned
The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has handed Apple a preliminary victory in one of its many disputes with Samsung, ruling that the Korean electronics giant did, indeed, infringe upon a patent relating to text selection.
The patent in question, RE41,922, is entitled "Method and apparatus for providing translucent …
Android's US market share continues to slip
Don't look now, Andy, but the iPhone is gaining on you
Apple may be taking its lumps these days – what with a falling share price, pesky activist investors, troubles in China, and the like – but there's one important area in which Cupertino is steadily gaining ground: US smartphone sales.
For the past 100 months, the stat-happy analysts at comScore have been tracking mobile-device …
60-inch Apple iTV to be controlled by iRing remote?
You'll be able to buy it this year, fanbois, if analyst is correct
You may have had it up to here with reports that Apple is juuust about to release a full-on big-screen television – such rumors have been clogging the interturbes since at least 2009 – but the most recent one has a wrinkle that you, dear Reg reader, might find of interest: you'll wear its remote on your finger.
So wrote analyst …
Steve Jobs' 'spaceship' threatened by massive cost overruns
Comment Will shareholders balk at $5bn price tag? Stay tuned...
It appears that the late Steve Jobs' dream of new "spaceship" Apple headquarters is going to cost far more than the $3bn originally planned – that is, if it gets built at all.
That price tag has ballooned to $5bn, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing "five people close to the project who were not authorized to speak on the …
Obama seeks $100m to unlock your BRAIN's secrets
Forward-thinking investment or government boondoggle? We report, you decide
The Obama administration has announced a major new effort to study what the president referred to as "the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears."
BRAIN Initiative infographic
Details of the White House's 'Grand Challenge'
(click to enlarge – substantially)
The private-public partnership, …
China to Apple: 'Apology accepted – but watch your step'
Mission accomplished, attack dogs called off
Proving that state-controlled media can turn on a dime when they see it to their advantage, the Chinese tabloid Global Times, a subsidiary of the Communist Party of China's People's Daily, has praised Apple CEO Tim Cook's open letter, issued Monday, in which he offered his "sincere apologies" for Apple's customer-service …
Tim Cook eats necessary crow, apologizes to China
Comment State media: Apple 'greedy' and 'incomparably arrogant'
Apple CEO Tim Cook has released an open apology to his company's Chinese customers after coming under increasing pressure from that government's propaganda machine's attacks on Cupertino's customer-service practices.
In a letter published on Apple's Chinese website (Google Translate) – and which some of The Reg's Chinese- …
Apple denied trademark protection for 'iPad mini'
Kindly – if dim – reviewer offers advice on application revision
The US Patent and Trademark Office has denied Apple's request to trademark the term "iPad mini" – but there's good reason to assume that Cupertino will overturn the decision on appeal.
The central reason for the denial is rather straightforward: that "mini" is merely identifies the original iPad's little brother as being, well, …
Jobs' first boss Nolan Bushnell: 'Steve was difficult but valuable'
'To most potential employers, he'd just seem like a jerk in bad clothing.'
Steve Jobs' first boss, Atari cofounder Nolan Bushnell, has written a book in which he offers advice on how to find, hire, and retain visionary talent – even though such creative types can be as difficult to deal with as Apple's cofounder.
"The truth is that very few companies would hire Steve, even today," Bushnell writes. "Why …
Giant solar-powered aircraft to begin cross-country flight
Flyweight jumbo to soar from Silicon Valley to New York City at 70km/h, tops
The photovoltaics-powered Solar Impulse HB-SIA aircraft has arrived at the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley's Moffett Field to prepare for a flight across the US.
After it has been offloaded in pieces from its Boeing 747-100 transporter, the Swiss-made HB-SIA will be reassembled in a Moffett Field hanger, then embark …
Google Street View releases devastated Fukushima town tour
Pix A trifecta of troubles: earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear cockup
Google has released Street View images of the unfortunate town of Namie-machi, Japan, which was devastated by the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and the tsunami it caused, then rendered uninhabitable by the Fukushima Daichi nuclear cockup.
"Two years have passed since the disaster," the town's mayor Tamotsu Baba writes on the …
