April 17th, 2008
Sixth straight quarterly loss for AMD
AMD reports a sixth straight quarterly loss.
AMD reported a loss of $358 million on revenues of $1.5 billion for Q1 08. This is better than the $1.7 billion loss that AMD reported during Q4 07.
AMD has reported losses for six straight quarters, since Q3 06. Over the six quarters AMD has lost a staggering $4.3 billion.
A statement by Robert J. Rivet, AMD’s chief financial officer, says everything I expected it to say … a “challenging” economic environment and low revenues from older product lines:
“A seasonally weak first quarter was amplified by a challenging economic environment for consumers and lower than expected revenues of previous generation products, resulting in lower than expected revenues in all business segments. However, we are encouraged by the market acceptance of our quad-core AMD Opteron server processors as well as our new chipset and graphics offerings.”
However, AMD still believes it can turn things around by the end of the year:
“We remain committed to achieve operating profitability in the second half of the year, driven by our portfolio of new products and platforms and aggressive restructuring programs.”
I sure hope so.
Press release here.
April 17th, 2008
Poll of the Day - Should Apple decouple the OS from their hardware?
Alex Eckelberry, president of Sunbelt Software, thinks that it’s time for Apple decouple the OS from the hardware if it is to really eat into Microsoft’s market share.
However, I will make the observation that Apple has no chance of making real gains on Windows without decoupling their OS from their hardware. Why Apple won’t do this is beyond me. Who cares about higher revenue from selling hardware? It’s the profit that matters — I’d rather sell something with a 99% gross margin (like Windows), than sell hardware at a gross margin of 35%. And I’d rather take over the world than be satisfied with single-digit, albeit growing, market share. (Fill me in if you know more — I’m certainly not an expert on Apple’s internal thinking, although I may need to become one.)
Loading …Thoughts?
April 17th, 2008
Is it Microsoft or Ubuntu that scared Red Hat away from the desktop?
I’m still digesting Red Hat’s announcement that the company won’t be focusing on the desktop market. But who is Red Hat really scared of - Microsoft or Ubuntu?
Here’s the meat of the announcement:
It’s worth pointing out what’s missing in the list above: we have no plans to create a traditional desktop product for the consumer market in the foreseeable future.
An explanation: as a public, for-profit company, Red Hat must create products and technologies with an eye on the bottom line, and with desktops this is much harder to do than with servers. The desktop market suffers from having one dominant vendor, and some people still perceive that today’s Linux desktops simply don’t provide a practical alternative. Of course, a growing number of technically savvy users and companies have discovered that today’s Linux desktop is indeed a practical alternative. Nevertheless, building a sustainable business around the Linux desktop is tough, and history is littered with example efforts that have either failed outright, are stalled or are run as charities. But there’s good news too. Technical developments that have become available over the past year or two are accelerating the spread of the Linux Desktop.
The desktop market certainly does have a dominant vendor (Microsoft), but there’s also a very dominant Linux distro. Ubuntu. If there’s a dominant desktop distro, Ubuntu is it. Has this had a bearing on Red Hat’s decision to leave the desktop? I can’t but feel that it has. In a field where I firmly believe that there were too many distros competing for attention, now there’s one less. That said, I did quite like Red Hat (although my favorite distro is Ubuntu).
Does Red Hat’s exit now leave the desktop Linux field open to Ubuntu?
Loading …Thoughts?
April 17th, 2008
AMD/ATi release Catalyst 8.4, adds support for new cards under Linux
For those of you running AMD/ATi graphics cards, you might be interested in knowing that Catalyst 8.4 driver suite has been released.
For Windows users this is pretty much the usual fayre of bug fixes and performance improvements (release notes here). Here are some of the highlights:
- Company of Heroes: Setting the in-game options to maximum levels no longer results in the game exiting to the desktop after the game has completed loading. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32600
- Crysis: Setting the Catalyst™ Control Center->Advanced View->3D->Standard Settings to Optimal Quality and having certain in game option settings no longer results in the game failing to render properly. Further details can be found in topic number 737-33395
- Doom 3: Setting the in game options to Ultra Quality and the screen size to
1600×1200 no longer results in the image next to the text failing to be rendered. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32603 - Hellgate: London: Flickering is no longer noticed when quitting and then launching the game when the in-game setting are set to their maximum levels. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32604
There more good news for Linux users. Catalyst 8.4 introduces support for the Radeon HD 3800 series (but not the Radeon HD 3870 X2 … yet), Radeon HD 3600 series, and the Radeon HD 3400 series. Also, these drivers add support for Ubuntu 8.04.
April 17th, 2008
Sapphire Technology offers full support Phenom X4 CPUs
If you’re planning on getting your hands on one of the new an AMD Phenom processors, you’d do well to make sure that you base your system on a Sapphire motherboard.
In a press release today, Hong Kong-based Sapphire Technology has announced that AMD’s latest Phenom processors, in particular the 125W X4 9850 “Black Edition” (multiplier unlocked allowing broad overclocking opportunities) and the 9750, are fully supported by all its latest AM2+ motherboards. This support also extends to the microATX Hybrid Crossfire 780G.
Of particular note is that SAPPHIRE has full support for these new CPU’s on its 780G product, PI-AM2RS780G. This is NOT the case for the majority of competing 780G designs as they have used a far less capable configuration for the power sections and will only be able to support the earlier 95W CPU’s. (9500, 9550, 9600, 9650)
For existing owners of PI-AM2RS780G and PC-AM2RD790 boards, you will need a BIOS update in order to be fully leverage the newer CPUs. This update is available for download from the Sapphire website.
April 16th, 2008
Digging into Psystar
[UPDATE 04/17/08 9:51am - Today there’s a new announcement on the Psystar website and I link to in and include it here for completeness:“We’re in the process of moving to a new location which is now listed on our contact page. The first new address posted (10481) was in error and our correct address is 10475 NW 28th Street. PSYSTAR was, prior to this past week, not ready to handle the enormous production capacity demanded by the online community. Due to the incredible response we have now expanded to a larger commercial unit to handle the supplies and assembly of Open Computers. THANK YOU for all of your orders.
“Midday yesterday our store was not receiving any orders. This was due to the fact that our merchant gateway, Powerpay, dropped the ball on us and refused to process any more transactions from our company. We have reverted to Paypal until we can find a high-volume merchant. Apparently Powerpay was not ready to handle the community’s demand for Open Computing.”
There’s no word on what Psystar plan to do about the fact that the author of the EFI V8 enulator has now chaged the license terms of use for the software prohibiting its use commercially.
Several people have also emailed me to ask what I think of the idea. Well, I think I was clear in a previous post where I said that since these systems come with no support, they are at best a science experiment. I’m never a fan of knock-offs and until Apple take the stance of officially supporting third-party hardware, the consumer is going to be caught up in the middle.
As to the validity of the company and whether you will see a system if you order, no comment.]
[UPDATE 04/16/08 12:30pm - Psystar pulls store offline, citing ecommerce failure. Oh, and the company has changed address again …
Seems like the owners aren’t sure where the company is located.
Oh, and the author of the EFI V8 emulator has now changed the license on the tool to prohibit commercial usage (thanks to Jens T for the heads-up).]
Charles Arthur writing on the Guardian Technology blog has done some digging into Psystar, the company offering Mac OS X without the Mac, and come up with some interesting information.
First, relating to the company’s website:
The Psystar site talks a lot. OK. The site was registered in 2000, according to whois, but what’s odd is that searches on Google and on Live.com don’t turn up anything about the company before this week. Zip. Zero. Nada.
Then a few phone calls:
I called the Miami Chamber of Commerces and its Better Business Bureau. They’ve never heard of it.
So far, nothing interesting my opinion and just points to Psystar being a small start up. That’s exactly what I expected. However, as Arthur notes, the website was registered in 2000 and changed hosts in 2005. Internet Archive Wayback Machine doesn’t reveal much.
Then a phone call:
I called the company. The automated system asked if I want Sales? Support? Human Resources? Let’s have a laugh and call HR. No reply. (This was 11.45am their time.) Did I want to leave a message? Press the pound key when done. I did. “Error.”
And another:
Call again - let’s try Support this time. A man answers, doesn’t give his name, and refers pretty much all questions to press@psystar.com. While he’s on, why isn’t there any reference to Psystar online before this week? “We’re a small IT company, doing solutions anywhere from small office networks to enterprise-level networks.” The company’s latest product, he said, was a storage area network.
OK, this is odd. I would have expected that given the amount of publicity that Psystar has had over Read the rest of this entry »
April 15th, 2008
Third-party VoIP app for the iPhone - How will Apple respond to this?
So, the first VoIP client for the iPhone is out. A free VoIP client at that. What will Steve Jobs make of this?
To make fring work on your iPhone you do need a jailbroken device (and no, it won’t work on the iPod touch because you don’t have a microphone and speaker [UPDATE 04/16/01: Unless you add a touchmod mic …]), but this could be a pretty compelling reason for unlocking the iPhone to third-party applications, especially given that AT&T offer unlimited data on all iPhone plans.
I’m going to guess that this is the kind of thing that carriers such as AT&T aren’t going to be thrilled about. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it is exactly the reason why carriers don’t like the idea of jailbroken iPhones. After all, this sort of application cuts them out of the loop with regards to monthly minutes. Fewer voice calls means fewer charges. Unlimited data and a limited number of minutes on the plan (for all plans except the $119.99 plan) means that users who jailbreak their iPhones will be able to push an awful lot of data over the network and not have to pay a cent for it. iPhone users have already shown that they have a voracious appetite for data, and a free VoIP application is only going to make things worse for the carriers.
If I were the owner of a jailbroken iPhone I’d now be on the lookout for a volley of updates from to try to make life harder of the jailbreakers. I don’t expect Apple to be successful in closing the door on those wanting to set the iPhone free, but I’m sure it’s possible to make the process a little trickier, and therefore put people off jailbreaking in the first place.
Thoughts?
April 15th, 2008
Seagate files suit against STEC for SSD patent infringement
Hard drive giant Seagate Technology has filed a lawsuit against rival STEC Inc, claiming patent infringement. The Solid State Drive (SSD) turf war has begun.
Seagate claims that STEC SSD products violate four patents held by the company.
This isn’t about money, it’s about marking territory:
“It’s not a big financial issue yet because the market is just taking off,” said William D. Watkins, chief executive of Seagate, which is based in Scotts Valley, Calif. “But that’s why we want to set things straight now.”
Mr. Watkins said the goal of the suit was to promote the kind of cross-licensing and partnerships that have always been part of the hard-drive market.
As Watkins says, this isn’t about money. Companies have spent a substantial amount of money on SSD R&D and Seagate is not looking for acknowledgement and cross-licensing opportunities to reduce future R&D costs. This not only makes sense for the bottom line, but also in for the consumer because cross-licensing means broad compatibility.
April 15th, 2008
Windows XP SP3 release dates
The folks at Neowin claim to have managed to get their hands on the internal schedule for the release of XP SP3.
Here’s the roadmap that the release according to Neowin:
- April 14: Support becomes available for XP SP3
- April 21: OEMs, volume license, Connect, MSDN and TechNet subscribers get SP3
- April 29: SP3 available via Microsoft Update, Windows Update and Download Center
- June 10: SP3 available via Automatic Update
Is this correct? Only time will tell … I’ve heard dates all across the board so I’m not betting the farm on anything.
Thoughts?
April 15th, 2008
Psystar: Apple’s terms violate U.S. monopoly laws
Psystar, a Miami-based OEM which is now offering OS X on generic PC hardware, claims that Apple’s restrictive licensing terms violates U.S. monopoly laws. Whoa, bold claim there. Better have some deep pockets if the company wants to take the fight to court.
In an interview with InformationWeek, a Psystar employee identifying himself only as Robert openly attacks Apple’s Mac OS X EULA.
But Psystar said Monday that the company believes Apple’s terms violate U.S. monopoly laws. “What if Microsoft said you could only install Windows on Dell computers?” said a Psystar employee.
The employee, who would only identify himself as Robert, said Apple grossly overcharges for the hardware on which its operating systems, including Leopard, come preinstalled. “They’re charging an 80% markup on hardware,” Robert said in a brief phone interview.
He also said Psystar believes Apple’s prohibition against third-party installations might not hold up in court: “What if Honda said that, after you buy their car, you could only drive it on the roads they said you could?”
There seems to be three issues here. One whether Apple is a monopoly. In the words of Homer Simpson, that’s for the courts to decide. The second issue here is whether Apple overcharges customers for products. Well, as long as people are willing to pay what Apple is asking, that’s not much of an issue. Finally, are EULAs legal or enforceable? The EULA part is interesting because the validity of the EULA has never been Read the rest of this entry »
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Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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