Foxconn Unveils Two New 1.8GHz Atom Boards

Foxconn has quietly slipped a pair of new mini-ITX Atom motherboards into its lineup, but unlike most Atom boards already in the wild, these new parts come equipped with 1.8Ghz chips instead of the slower 1.6Ghz Atom parts.

The D52S sports a dual-core D525 Atom processor nestled into Intel's NM10 chipset. Despite the tight confines, users can install up to 4GB of DDR2-800/667 memory (2 DIMM slots) and also have access to Intel's integrated GMA 3150 graphics, a single PCI slot, two SATA II slots, 5.1 channel audio, Gigabit LAN, and a bunch of ports (four USB 2.0, VGA, Parallel, Serial, audio jacks, etc).

The D42S sports a similar feature-set, but trades the dual-core D525 part for a single-core D425 processor, which is also clocked at 1.8GHz.

Both boards are listed as "coming soon" with the D52S expected to sell for around $95 and the D42S for around $80.

Giada touts Ion-based ultra-mini PC

Giada Technology is showcasing its Ion-based, ultra-mini PC at Nvidia’s GPU Conference in San Jose, California.

The N20 - which is capable of smoothly processing rich media content (1080p) - boasts embedded Adobe Flash, H.264 and a Blu-ray hardware decoder based on Nvidia’s GT218 graphics with 512MB dedicated graphics memory.

The compact, $450 system also features an Intel dual-core Atom processor (D510), 2GB Memory (expandable up to 4), 320GB HD, 11n/g WiFi, eSATA, media card reader, HDMI/VGA dual display and Windows 7 Home Premium. 

Additional specs include:

• Remote control - powers the unit on or off independently of the OS.
• Gigabit Ethernet.
• Digital Optical SPDIF-out 5.1 Audio.
• USB 2.0/E-SATA combo port.
• Front and back I/O.
• 23.24mm thick.
• 160 x 175 x 23mm.
• Available colors - white or black.

Cyber protestors nuke MPAA and RIAA websites

According to Mashable's Samuel Axon, 4chan users (particularly Anonymous) have been responsible for several memorable attacks against various sites in the past, including Gawker, YouTube and Twitter.

A seething mass of angry cyber protestors recently deployed Low Orbit Ion Cannons (LOIC) against the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and Aiplex Software.

The digital offensive was reportedly led by 4chan users, who successfully downed sites belonging to the above-mentioned organizations.

"As word spread of the attacks, sympathizers who had never even been on 4chan joined the attacks, simply by loading up their LOICs and following some very simple instructions," TorrentFreak's Enigmax confirmed. 
"The ultimate in decentralized protests [went] ahead and there [wasn't] a lawyer or police force in the world who can do anything about it. Is this the protest of the future? Well, if nothing else, it certainly can’t be stopped."

"[But] this time around, they used Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which overwhelm websites with a flurry of requests that would be harmless if they were coming in reasonable numbers or from just one source.

"[Clearly], Internet piracy, particularly that conducted over the BitTorrent protocol on sites like The Pirate Bay, has been an issue of concern for the MPAA, the RIAA and other organizations for years now.

"[And] while they've won small victories along the way, they obviously haven't quelled the rebellion just yet."

Intel Wants to Charge $50 To Enable HyperThreading and To Unlock Your Cache

Intel has been offering an 'Upgrade Service' that enables upgrades of your PC platform capabilities after the initial hardware shipment by paying extra and downloading an unlock code from the internet. You basically enter a code into your machine and it unlocks features on the CPU that were blocked before. In 2010 Intel began rolling out a small pilot program offering performance upgrades on Intel Pentium G6951 Processor for starters. The guys over at Engadget found out that Best Buy is part of the program with the Gateway SX2841-09e that happens to be running the Intel Pentium G6951 Processor. For $50 you can unlock or enable HyperThreading support and unlock the full 1MB L3 cache on the processor. It sounds like it the features have always been on the processor, but they were locked out by a software block before. What do you guys think about this business model? You are basically paying extra to unlock features the processor already has. You can check out the process here on Intel's upgrade site.

I've Lost Count Of The Excuses Apple Can Use To Reject This App

GPU acceleration boosts Chrome browser speeds by 60x

IGN gives indie game developers a free place to work

 

In one of the most generous moves ever seen for independent game makers, online publishing company IGN has introduced a new initiative that will give developers free 24/7 access to their offices and facilities.

It's called IGN's Indie Open House program. Developers

will get full unfettered access to IGN headquarters, including conference rooms and kitchens. In addition, they can even get time to meet with IGN editors and executives.

GameSpy, which is owned by IGN, is also going to offer free technical consultation services, and GameSpy's open development platforms will be completely accessible to the developers.

Other perks include a spot at IGN's "Demo Days" events and even a special spot at GameSpy's 2011 booth at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco.

If that all wasn't enough, the developers will even be eligible to receive advertising and promotions for their products among IGN's network of sites.

In an interview about this with IFC.com, IGN president Roy Bahat said, "We don't take any ownership rights in your game. There's absolutely no obligation. You're not committed to deliver anything. We respect that the creative process is unpredictable. And so, the fact that this program comes with no strings attached, is also we think a pretty special thing."

So why do it in the first place? What's in it for IGN?

"We actually care about the whole gaming ecosystem. I mean, we've got an editor who's solely focused on social games. And we've got folks who already have relationships with the indie community and cover indie titles. We believe that if we're going to be serving the audience of gamers, we got to serve the full audience of gamers," said Bahat.

Indeed, indie games have a stronger position in the market than ever before. Gamers are increasingly no longer buying one $60 game and playing it for a month. They're buying 20 $3 games and playing each of them for a week. That's a much better value proposition.

Having more content to write about gives IGN a larger lifeblood. Plus, they'll instantly get on the good side of all these developers. That's valuable enough right there.

Who knows what kind of financial burden this will be for IGN? The end result, though, is a win-win situation for gamers. And for that, IGN should be commended.