NVIDIA, addressing a meeting of financial analysts, has announced plans for a new CPU platform. Currently known only as "The World's Most Affordable Vista Premium PC," the platform would incorporate an integrated graphics processor from NVIDIA alongside one of VIA's upcoming Isaiah CPUs, in a design that would cost below $45. The chip is deliberately intended to compete with Intel, for whom NVIDIA has previously supplied hardware; the latter company claims that its platform is capable of 36 gigaflops, whereas a similarly-priced Intel 945/ICH4 combination is limited to 6.4.
Also unlike the Intel hardware, the NVIDIA platform supports DirectX 10 rendering and Blu-ray decoding. It is further said to be powerful enough, as its name implies, to run Windows Vista Home Premium, where many low-cost platforms are limited to either Home Basic or Windows XP. No release dates have been revealed.

The move is seen as a deliberate snub of Intel, whose integrated graphics chipsets were recently called "a joke" by NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang.

One of Windows Vista's design features was deliberately implemented "to annoy users," a Microsoft executive admitted yesterday at the RSA 2008 conference in San Francisco. David Cross, a product unit manager, explained to an audience that Vista's User Account Control scheme was built to discourage people from running as an administrator on their computers, which in case of attack can grant hackers deeper access than they might otherwise be allowed. "We needed to change the ecosystem, and we needed a heavy hammer to do it," said Cross.
The problem, many Vista owners have complained, is that it is common for users to run as administrators regardless, and UAC can harass people regularly and unnecessarily. Cross dismisses these concerns, noting that "most users" have no UAC warnings on an average day, although only 66 percent of sessions are said to be alert-free. Cross also rejects the notion that that users are shutting off UAC, citing Microsoft statistics that 88 percent of Vista users keep it active.

"Are there some annoyances with UAC? Yes, but advanced users know how to get around them," says Cross.

Massive released a new trailer for its upcoming expansion and console port World in Conflict: Soviet Assault (PC, PS3, Xbox 360). World in Conflict: Soviet Assault will feature a brand new campaign, new units (chronoplane), as well as the option to call the reinforcements or new units to the battlefiled by using the context menu or voice communication via the headset, same as in Tom Clancy's EndWar.

Soviet Assault will be released on the PC as an expansion to the original World in Conflict, while Swordfish Entertainment is combining the original and the expansion into a standalone console release for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.  World in Conflict: Soviet Assault is expected to ship this fall on all platforms.

XFX is spicing up its NVIDIA graphics card line-up with the introduction of two "Black labeled" GeForce 9 series cards.

Available in limited numbers the G92 products include XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 1.0GB DDR3 Black Edition (PV-T98U-ZHB9) overclocked to 700MHz/1700MHz/2.1GHz core/shader/memory clocks and XFX GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB DDR3 Black Edition (PV-T98F-YDB4) with factory clock speeds of 760MHz/1900MHz/2.28GHz for the core, shaders and memory clock speeds.

Both cards will come bundled with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed game. Prices are not yet available, they still need to hit the stores.

GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB DDR3 Black Edition

GeForce 9800 GX2 1.0GB DDR3 Black Edition

If you like watching Blu-ray Discs on your PlayStation 3, then things are about to get better. Sony has announced a firmware update that

Data compiled from more than 206,000 complaints received last year by the U.S. Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) shows that men lost US$1.67 to every $1 lost by women in online fraud.

The organization says that buying patterns and human nature play into the findings.

"Historically men were more apt to purchase large ticket item like electronics... that could explain a lot of it," said John Kane, the IC3 research manager who wrote the report.

But with women now spending more online, the difference is also due to the fact that certain types of schemes seem to suck men in. "Men tend to fall victim... to business investment schemes and some other schemes that have a higher dollar loss," Kane said.

Investment fraud complaints, where the average loss is more than $3,500, were overwhelmingly submitted by men, Kane said. Compare that to something like auction fraud, where both men and women are frequently victimized. The average loss there is just over $480.

A new NVIDIA ForceWare driver appeared on the web which is being served on-line by one of NVIDIA's partners. This driver set is commonly distributed and it is receiving pretty good feedback.

The drivers are dated dated (03/29/2008) and to be considered beta.

Download:

GeForce 174.85 Beta driver Vista 64-bit
GeForce 174.85 Beta driver Vista 32-bit

80 PLUS Certification is the gold standard for power supply energy efficiency. The 80 PLUS specification requires computer and server PSUs to be at least 80 percent efficient at 20 percent, 50 percent and 100 percent rated load, ultimately improving computer stability and saving money on electricity bills. In addition, there are also performance benefits, such as reduced heat output which increases system reliability and minimizes the need for loud, high rpm cooling fans.

It looks like the PS3 is finally getting some hot mod love from console modding's reigning wizard, Ben Heck. We don't really have all the details since he hasn't announced the project yet, but the display looks like it's the one he used for the Xbox 360 Elite laptop, for a true 720p picture. He's obviously been leveling up his already formidable powers though, 'cause this is one of his most polished projects yet.

Toshiba, Japan has announced a total of 10 models from the "ZH500," "ZV500," "RH500" and "CV500" series as new "REGZA" LCD TV products. The Toshiba ZH500 series will be available in 52- and 46-inch models, while the ZV500 series will offer 42- and 37-inch models. All these models support so-called full HD resolution. They can record various programs including 1seg programs on HDDs connected via USB or Ethernet cable.

They also support the new "Dubbing 10" regulations for the copying of terrestrial digital broadcast programs. Only Toshiba ZH500 is equipped with a 300-Gbyte HDD. The ZH500 models employ bass reflex speakers as well. The ZH500 models are equipped with a VA type LCD panel, while the ZV500 models are equipped with an IPS type LCD panel. With brightness sensors incorporated, all these Toshiba Regza models feature new "automatic" mode that automatically adjusts screen image in accordance with external environments. All new models allow Internet browsing and viewing of "Hikari TV" and "acTVila Video Full" services. The Toshiba ZH500 and ZV500 will be launched in mid May 2008 or later, while the RH500 and CV500 will be released in mid April 2008 or later.

Great news for home theater fans and PS3 owners. Sony's gaming console doubles as the market's best Blu-ray Disc solutionPlayStation 3 to become an even better Blu-ray Disc player with upcoming firmware update. Further cementing its reputation for being the most capable and versatile Blu-ray Disc player on the market, an upcoming PlayStation 3 firmware update will introduce DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio support to the console.

AMD has just started shipping its latest processor offering, comprised of triple-core Phenom processors, also known as Tolimans. At the moment, the chip manufacturer is only shipping the chips to OEM vendors and system integrators, but they are not available through AMD's retail channels yet. The chips are 65-nanometer processors that will power AM2+ motherboards supporting HyperTransport 3. They will be included in the Phenom X3 product family, comprised of quad-core chips that come with one of the cores disabled.

The chips are alleged to come with 2MB of L3 cache, but the chip manufacturer declined to offer further details about the processors' technical specifications. However, top-tier PC vendors including Dell and Hewlett-Packard have already announced tri-core Phenom-powered computing systems.

For instance, Dell has listed the technical specifications of its OptiPlex 740 business desktop systems, that will come with a tri-core CPU featuring 1.5 MB of L2 cache and 2MB of shared L3 cache. Dell's tri-core update to the OptiPlex 740 family will start shipping during the second quarter of the year. Hewlett-Packard is currently working on a desktop system powered by the Phenom 8600B tri-core processor that is alleged to reach core frequencies of 2.3 GHz. The 8600B chip will also feature 1.5 MB of L2 cache and 2MB of shared L3 cache.

UK-based PC vendor Mesh Computer has already unveiled its tri-core CPU-powered desktop systems. Both the Matrix XXX Plus and the Matrix XXX Pro computer models are built around the same AMD's Phenom 8600 tri-core processor.

Advanced Micro devices is touting its new tri-core offering as being a better choice than dual-core chips, as the third core will bring additional horsepower in performing mundane, yet CPU cycles-consuming tasks, such as antivirus scanning. However, there are a few problems that need AMD's attention. First of all, the tri-cores will be built on the already buggy B2 silicon stepping, that will require a BIOS patch in order to work normally. This means that the chip will lose 15 percent of its computing power to ensure its stability. Previous rumors claim that the three-core processors will be available to OEM vendors only, so it's going to be a long time until you see boxed versions of the Phenom 8400 running at 2.3GHz and the 8600 running at 2.3 GHz.

Microsoft announced the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare LIVE Fire Weekend 2008, a 72-hour play and win sweepstakes full of games and prizes that begins on Friday, April 18 at 12:01 a.m. EDT through Sunday, April 20 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Hourly prizes will be awarded throughout the weekend, including Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare shirts, Infinity Ward autographed posters and Xbox LIVE point cards.

One Grand Prize winner also will receive an Infinity Ward autographed Xbox 360 Elite console and a Limited Edition Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare faceplate, among other items. Players can register now through April 17, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. In addition, on Friday, April 18 from 6-9 p.m. EDT, gamers can play with more than a dozen developers from Infinity Ward and then on Saturday night from 9-11 p.m. EDT Jens 'Lil Evil' Pulver will join the online action.

Inno3D GeForce 8800 GT iChill edition

Since the green hornets from NVIDIA, gives its partners free choice with respect to factory-based pre-overclocking of the G92 '8800 GT 512 SKU the Inno3D GeForce 8800 GT iChill edition Guru3D tests today ships with a significant higher frequency. The card comes with an overclock from reference 600MHz to 700MHz and uses 512MB of GDDR3 memory clocked at 1,000MHz (2000 MHz effectively).

Next to that, better cooling, better design and a free game bundled, not a bad one either .. all that at a competitive price ? You betcha ..

Read our full review here:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/inno3d-geforce-8800-gt-ichill-edition-review/

I don't know if you guys noticed it but apparently NVIDIA has renamed it's drivers. At first I figured this was an Aprils fools joke, but that does not seem to be the case as more drivers seem to get renamed at NVIDIA's website.

Back on the year 1998 the drivers where called Detonator drivers, 2003 up-to April 2008 ForceWare ... and for now the new name will be "GeForce drivers".

I think this has to do with a more simple naming of the drivers, GeForce drivers. You can't confuse that. Not the entire NVIDIA website has been updated, yet you'll notice that the newer pages will show 'GeForce Release 174 drivers'.

Example:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_174.74.html

There will be two versions. One with GDDR2 memory at 900MHz and one with GDDR3 at 1600MHz. Both have 128-bit memory interfaces. A review posted at Chinese site zol.com.cn and reveals performance which is just slightly better than GeForce 8600GT, which isn't all that surprising since the product specs are really similar.

Just like the rest of the series 9 products, this product isn't all about performance, but PCIe 2.0, lower power consumption and an updated PureVideo HD.

The product name

See it? No there, the one that looks like a flat screen TV hanging on the wall. Right, that's Sony's new E4000 TV series. Sony has gone all arty with its Bravia E4000 range - offering a 'picture frame' style edging in Midnight Sky, Aluminium, Pearly White and Dark Walnut to match your room decor.

Sony's pushing its new Picture Frame Mode and four "blend in frame colours" hard as its looks to differentiate the 32- and 40-inch Full HD LCDs (and a wee 26 inch of unspecified, sub-1080p resolution) from the competition. As such, the TVs will display one of six, pre-installed images like Van Gogh's Wheatfield with Cypresses. Really though, why bother pre-loading content when it'll display any image you stuff into a connected USB drive. Oh right, copyright law. Anyway, the top-o-the-line 40-inch model features x.v.Color on a 10-bit panel, Bravia Engine 2 processing, 3x HDMI inputs and even SCART for you European old-schoolers. No price or release date just yet.