Intel’s Nehalem-EX - 8 cores & 16 threads…mmmmm
May 27, 2009
Intel’s latest, the Nehalem-EX. It’s an evolution of the architecture that some of you may be spinning in your Core i7 machines, but boosted to support up to 16 threads and 24MB of cache. 2.3 billion transistors make the magic happen here, and Intel is pledging a nine-times improvement in memory bandwidth over the Xeon 7400. Chips are set to start hitting sockets sometime later this year, and while nobody’s talking prices, staying hip in the enterprise server CPU crowd doesn’t come cheap.
Google algorithm spots would-be quitters
May 19, 2009
Google, concerned by the recent departures of several top executives, has developed an algorithm to try to identify which employees are likely to quit, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Journal said the internet search and advertising giant had turned to mathematical formulas because it was “concerned a brain drain could hurt its long-term ability to compete.”
The newspaper said Google examined data from employee reviews and promotion and pay histories to try to identify which of its 20,000 employees were most likely to leave the Mountain View, California-based company.
Laszlo Bock, who runs human resources for Google, told the Journal the algorithm helps the company “get inside people’s heads even before they know they might leave.”
The newspaper said Google officials were reluctant to share details of the formula, which is still being tested, but it had already identified employees “who felt underused, a key complaint among those who contemplate leaving.”
Edward Lawler, director of the Centre for Effective Organisations at the University of Southern California, told the Journal Google was “clearly ahead of the curve” in taking a more quantitative approach to personnel decisions.
The Journal quoted current and former Google employees as saying the company is losing talent because some employees feel they can’t make the same impact as the company matures.
Recent departures from Google include Tim Armstrong, a senior vice president, who left in March to head AOL, display-advertising chief David Rosenblatt, and Asia-Pacific and Latin America president Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.
Others who have left recently for start-ups such as Facebook and Twitter include lead designer Doug Bowman, engineering director Steve Horowitz and search-quality chief Santosh Jayaram, the Journal said.
The Duke’s not dead…
May 19, 2009
Texas studio issues statement confirming elimination of game’s team, but asserting its existence continues despite having had to shoulder massive development costs solo.
So far, the month of May has been the most tumultuous for 3D Realms since the studio’s inception in 1987. On May 6, reports that the Texan studio–which had been working on Duke Nukem Forever since 1997–had shut down were apparently confirmed by webmaster Joe Siegler. Two days later, the shop issued a group “Goodbye” accompanied by a photo of nearly three dozen staffers.
Then, on Friday, May 14, would-be Duke Nukem Forever publisher Take-Two Interactive (Grand Theft Auto, BioShock) sued 3D Realms’ parent company, Apogee Software Ltd. According to the Bloomberg news service, Take-Two accused 3D Realms of failing to deliver on its contractual obligation to produce the game after being paid $12 million in 2000. It sought an immediate temporary restraining order preventing the release of any Duke Nukem Forever assets by Take-Two.
Today, 3D Realms hit back at Take-Two in the form of a statement sent out by CEO George Broussard to several media outlets, including GameSpot. In it, the company defiantly declares that it is not going out of business.
“Despite rumors and statements to the contrary, 3D Realms (3DR) has not closed and is not closing,” reads the statement. “3DR retains ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise. Due to lack of funding, however, we are saddened to confirm that we let the Duke Nukem Forever (DNF) development team go on May 6, while we regroup as a company. While 3DR is a much smaller studio now, we will continue to operate as a company and continue to license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise.”
The statement then lays out 3DR’s version of the tangled series of events which led to this month’s dramatic developments. It claims that Take-Two has not given 3DR a single cent in signing bonuses or advances for DNF, but instead paid the $12 million mentioned in the suit to defunct publisher GT Interactive. (The publisher was absorbed by Atari parent Infogrames in 1999.) 3DR contends that, in 2008, it was paid a $2.5 million advance by Take-Two for “an unannounced game,” and the only money it ever received for DNF was a $400,000 advance from GT Interactive.
To date, 3D Realms claims it has sunk over $20 million of its own money into Duke Nukem Forever, and that at of the end of 2008, it realized it required outside help to continue. “Late last year, 3DR began negotiations with Take-Two to provide funding to complete the DNF game,” read its statement. “In the meantime, 3DR was hitting mutually-agreed milestones, despite not having a new agreement finalized. Take-Two was well aware that 3DR needed the funding to continue the DNF game development.”
By 3D Realms’ account, “Suddenly, after months of negotiations, Take-Two materially changed the parameters of the proposed funding agreement. 3DR informed Take-Two that it could not financially afford the changes Take-Two was suggesting and would be forced to release the team if an agreement was not reached.”
“Take-Two made a last-minute proposal to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise and the 3DR development team. Take-Two’s proposal was unacceptable to 3DR for many reasons, including no upfront money, no guaranteed minimum payment, and no guarantee to complete the DNF game. From 3DR’s perspective, we viewed Take-Two as trying to acquire the Duke Nukem franchise in a ‘fire sale.’ Those negotiations fell through on May 4, a deal never materialized, and the DNF team was sadly released a few days later.”
Though it would not address the specifics of Take-Two’s suit, 3D Realms statement did say the legal action is “without merit” and “a bully tactic to obtain ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise.” It revealed a New York judge has denied Take-Two’s request for the restraining order, and promised to fight on.
“We will vigorously defend ourselves against this publisher,” read the statement’s final line.
For the moment, 3D Realms appears to have the last word. “We have no further comment on the matter at this time,” was all a Take-Two rep would say on the looming legal battle.
Intel slapped with $1.45 Billion fine
May 13, 2009
The verdict is in and it’s huge. As expected, the EU is fining Intel a record €1.06 billion or $1.45 billion (Billion!) dollars due to violations of antitrust rules in Europe. The record fine surpasses that of the €497 million fine originally levied against Microsoft. The EU ruled that Intel illegally used hidden rebates to squeeze rivals out of the marketplace for CPUs. In a statement issued by European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, the EC said,
Intel has harmed millions of European consumers by deliberately acting to keep competitors out of the market for computer chips for many years.
Intel was ordered to cease the illegal practices immediately and has three months from the notification of the decision to pay up. Of course, Intel will appeal and this will drag the litigation on for years as did Microsoft. Regardless, we’ll bet that AMD, who raised the complaint against Intel back in 2000, will be celebrating come dawn in Sunnyvale.
Update: Intel has issued a formal response to the ruling saying that the commission “is wrong and ignores the reality of a highly competitive microprocessor marketplace,” and that its practices have caused, “absolutely zero harm to consumers.” Oh, and it will <gasp> appeal the decision. Hurrah for corporate lawyers!
[Via Canada.com]
Panasonic’s waterproof LUMIX DMC-TS1 unboxing
May 7, 2009
Looking for a digi cam that can stand up to your adventure vacations (you know, like, the beach) while also capturing HD-quality video? Panasonic’s LUMIX DMC-TS1 may be your salvation, and we’re happy to have one in the house for a bit of testing. It’s only just arrived and we’re still getting a feel for it, but so far we’re impressed with the build quality of this semi-rugged 12 megapixel compact shooter, which is taking some solid pictures and videos through its 4.6x stabilized zoom.
DJ Hero announced at last, along with Band Hero for the family and Guitar Hero 5 for the face melters
May 7, 2009
Activision just confirmed a whole lot of heroes: the long-teased DJ Hero being the most notable among them. Many trivial humans had conjectured what a “Hero”-style DJ controller would look like, and at last we have our first look (above, and there’s another shot after the break). Sure, we have no idea how we’re supposed to play it — where’s the whammy bar, for instance? — but we’re sure once we tape a couple of our mom’s Perry Como records to the sides we’ll start to get the picture. Music genres include “hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance,” and the game will allow turntablists to create “original mixes” of songs. Additionally, Activision is also prepping a family-friendly Band Hero game, and a Guitar Hero 5 followup to its flagship title, with all three new Hero games hitting sometime this fall.
Rogers nabs HTC Dream and HTC Magic for Canada’s first look at Android
May 7, 2009
Rogers is launching both the HTC Dream and the HTC Magic in June of this year, snapping a “cold spell” of Android-lessness up north. The phones will Rogers exclusives in Canada, and it’s one of the first spots we’ve heard of — other than the fairly inevitable T-Mobile USA — to be getting the elusive HTC Magic outside of Vodafone. Otherwise details are scarce, but Rogers promises more information soon, and has an online countdown for “the revolution” on June 2nd. How polite.
