Chinese government designs quad-core processor

When you have a population of more than a billion, economy of scale takes on an entirely new meaning. The Chinese government were involved in chip design as far back as 2001, when it came out with Godson-1 processors that were manufactured by Singapore Technologies Microelectronics under the Loongson brand name.

Its latest iteration, the Godson-3, follows the multi-core trend with a quad-core model expected to be ready by 2009, while an eight-core variant is in the works. With pricing expected to be significantly lower than Intel and even AMD processors, why hasn't it hit mainstream yet?

A major stumbling block is that the Godson chips do not support x86 instructions natively and, instead, simulates the x86 environment. According to reports, this means a performance decrease of over 20 percent is expected compared with an Intel or AMD equivalent. So if you are in the market for a low-cost PC and don't mind the performance hit, hop on down to China in 2009 and snag yourself a Loongson PC.

Via The Inquirer

Google upgrades Gmail for IE 6 users

There's a lot of action in the browser market these days: Google just launched its Chrome browser, Firefox 3.1 is due in months, Apple hopes Safari will spread across the world of Windows, and Microsoft is touting its second beta of Internet Explorer 8.

But a huge swath of Internet users still are getting by with IE 6, which is no doubt is why Google just released a new version of Gmail for the vintage 2001-era browser.

The update means IE 6 users will get access to colored labels for messages, Gmail Labs features, integration with AOL Instant Messenger, and invisible mode for IM, Google engineer Jon Perlow said on Google's Gmail blog on Friday. The upgrade catches IE 6 users up to features available to users of Firefox 3, IE 7, and Safari 3.

Google said it worked with Microsoft's IE engineers on some of other issues, including memory-related performance issue when running JavaScript programs in the browser, and Google pared back some user interface features that had been causing trouble for IE 6 users.

Via Webware

Adobe sets date for CS4 launch

Adobe on Tuesday said it will launch an update to its flagship Creative Suite software bundle on September 23.
The company has offered few details of the planned CS4 release. The current iteration of the suite, CS3, is offered in several configurations that include various combinations of the company's core applications, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Acrobat and InDesign.

Just ahead of the CS3 launch last March, Adobe made available a public beta test version of Photoshop CS3. For CS4, the company in May posted "preview versions" of its Dreamweaver Web design software, Fireworks image editing application, and Soundbooth audio-editing tools.
Read more »

Google Chrome extensions: Not yet, but later

One of Firefox's initial claims to fame is the fact that the browser can be extended with a multitude of plug-ins, and even though Microsoft caught up with Internet Explorer, Firefox still has an extension edge over Google's new Chrome Web browser.

For now.

"We don't have that in the beta today, but we definitely plan an extension API," or application programming interface, Sundar Pichai, a Google vice president of product management, said at the Chrome launch event here Tuesday. "It is one of the things we will get to next."

Firefox extensions cover a wide swath of abilities, from synchronizing bookmarks to debugging Web site performance to showing detailed exposure data for online photographs. The extensibility has attracted scads of programmers, too, which is strategically important for most computing efforts.

Google, no doubt, envies the Firefox extension assets. But it's hard to imagine the company mustering much enthusiasm for one of the most popular Firefox extensions, AdBlock Plus, which suppresses many advertisements.
Read more »

The future is now: MultiTouch reveals touch-interactive LCDs

MultiTouch announced on Tuesday that the Philip K. Dick future seen in Minority Report is here. Actually, that's not true at all, but the style of computer interaction in that movie was the first thing I thought of when watching the demo of the MultiTouch Cell.

This is a large LCD touch-screen display which, according to MultiTouch, is the world's first modular multitouch LCD screen. The screen is available in 32-inch and 46-inch versions in 1080p, and an "HD-ready" (1,366 x 768) version at 32 inches. Two or more screens (according MultiTouch, the amount is only limited by imagination and budget) can be combined to form a larger display and be used as a wall, floor, or table display.

The screens (cells) can be positioned in landscape or portrait modes and are compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. The screens can be used by multiple users simultaneously, with each person using both hands.
Read more »

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