computer hardware and software

AMD's move to ultra thin 32-nanometer microprocessors may not sound too provocative , but it is if you like powerful laptops with long battery life. Before I dive into telling why you should care, first some background. On 6 TH June 2011   AMD announced its first shipments   of 32nm A-series quad-core chips, codenamed Llano, for laptops and desktops. After playing second fiddle to Intel for decades, AMD has now caught up to Intel on the 32nm manufacturing process front, giving it a more competitive foothold. The new chips may also help AMD bounce back in one particularly important segment: notebook processors. Laptops Love Llano The   32nm chip production technology   is the next evolution in chip manufacturing, an upgrade over the 45nm process AMD has been using most recently. By reducing the size of the features on the chip, companies can ramp up performance and energy efficiency, while creating smaller chips. Fusion chips, already found in   $200 laptops an...

Apple's decision to sell the Mac OS X Lion upgrade through its own Mac App Store won't hurt the company's bottom line but will certainly impact traditional retailers, a market analyst said Friday. "The Best Buys, the Staples, the PC Connections, they all still have a decent Mac software business," said Stephen Baker of retail research firm NPD Group. "This will have an impact on all those guys. [The release of an OS upgrade] is always a good opportunity for them to connect to customers, get them into the store and thinking about upgrading their devices." And with Apple pushing Lion only through its download Mac App Store, those retailers will be out of luck this time around. Likely forever, said Baker "The software business is in the throes of significant changes, and [Apple's move] is a part of that," said Baker. "The whole business is clearly changing how operating system developers deliver upgrades." On 6 th June 2011, Apple ...

It looks increasingly like Android will be the major challenger to both Apple's iPhone and iPad. In the tablet market, Apple's iOS has a commanding lead, while Android is the only other OS that registers a market share in double digits. In the smartphone arena, there are other significant competitors, such as BlackBerry and Windows. However, BlackBerry market share is dropping, according to comScore's latest survey -- in fact, Apple surpassed RIM in comScore's April report -- while Microsoft has yet to make much of a dent. Tablet market share The   iPad   held a commanding 83.9% of the   worldwide tablet market   last year, with Android tablets far behind at 14.2%, according to Gartner. Other stats show a similar healthy lead. For example, a recent Modelmetrics Web survey   found 83% of respondents planning to roll out iPads in the enterprise and 34% with plans for Android tablets. However, Gartner expects the market-share difference to narrow considerably ov...

Earlier this week at its   Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple finally offered up   a look at iOS 5 , the planned update to the company's mobile OS. Although it won’t be out until this fall - Apple isn't yet saying exactly when -iOS 5 promises to deliver much-needed changes to the OS, which is used on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Apple told WWDC attendees that the new OS will have some 200 new features, though only 10 of them were showcased during Monday's two-hour keynote, which also focused on iCloud and OS X 10.7 "Lion." Here are the five iOS 5-based changes I'm looking forward to most. New notifications Let's start with the crowd-pleaser: Apple has finally revamped the way iOS handles message notifications. This was long overdue. Until now, whenever a notification arrived, it popped up on the screen, forcing you to either view the message or close the notification window. The new method doesn't force you to stop whatever you're d...

For many of us computer users, a PC’s CPU – or central processing unit – is an unseen device that we know little about. We’re bamboozled by numbers and frequencies ('gigahertz' or GHz) that do little to assist in our understanding of why one computer's performance may be better than another. However, it helps to have some working knowledge about your next computer’s CPU, so you can make an informed buying decision and get a computer that’s fast enough for your needs. At present, the most popular CPUs for new   notebooks   and   desktop PCs   are the   Intel Core i3 , Intel Core i5   and   Intel Core i7 . These CPUs are available in various performance grades and they have plenty of features that ensure a fast computing experience.        Intel Core i7-980X Guide to CPUs At a glance it’s hard to know which CPU to choose (unless you know some nitty gritty details), but you can follow this general guide. The Intel Core i3 CPU is fea...