vivin - Slashdot User

Submission + - Triumph of the Wii: How Fun Won Out (wired.com)

Submitted by

vivin

on Monday June 11, 2007 @07:24PM

vivin writes: "Wired is running an article on how the Wii has triumphed over the PS3 and Xbox 360. When Nintendo President Satoru Iwata's said that what consumers really wanted out of video games was simpler, more accessible entertainment (in 2003), Time Magazine called it "Thumb candy for dummies". But four years later, the results are out for all to see.

The article says: "In the United States, Nintendo's $250 Wii sold 360,000 units in April, while Sony's $600, graphically intense, Blu-ray-powered PlayStation 3 props up the bottom of the sales chart like a doorstop, with 82,000 units sold."

The main point of the article is that Nintendo managed to triumph because it made its platform a) more fun and b) targeted the casual gamers. The Wii's success is evident from the fact that game developers have been scrambling to release titles for the console. Against all expectations and derisions, the Wii won out."

Submission + - Intel and nVidia partnership? (tgdaily.com)

Submitted by

vivin

on Tuesday June 05, 2007 @01:05PM

vivin writes: "TGDaily reported three days ago that Intel may be announcing a close relationship with nVidia in connection with the Larrabee project. Larrabee is expected to roll out in 2009 and debut as a floating point accelerator product with a performance of more than 1 TFlops as well as a high-end graphics card with dual-graphics capabilities. The article says "Industry sources told TG Daily that Intel is preparing a "big" announcement involving technologies that will be key to develop Larrabee. And at least some of those technologies may actually be coming from Nvidia, we hear: Our sources described Larrabee as a "joint effort" between the two companies, which may expand over time. A scenario in which Intel may work with Nvidia to develop Intel-tailored discrete graphics solutions is speculation but is considered to be a likely relationship between the two companies down the road."

Right now, neither company is issuing statements regarding the possibliity of a "closer relationship". nVidia spokesperson Ken Brown said "We enjoy a good working relationship with Intel and have agreements and ongoing engineering activities as a result. This said, we cannot comment further about items that are covered by confidentiality agreements between Intel and Nvidia.", while Intel responded by saying that the company "does not comment on rumors and speculation."

This may not seem so far-fetched, if you consider AMD's merger with ATI. It would make sense for Intel and nVidia to pursue a much closer relationship with each other to take on AMD and ATI."

Submission + - Intel opens up FSB to the world

Submitted by

vivin

on Monday April 23, 2007 @12:08PM

vivin writes: "The Inquirer has reported that Intel has opened up it's FSB. Intel did this during IDF 07. What this means is that you can plug in non-Intel things into the Intel CPU socket. The article says 'This shows that Intel is willing to take AMD seriously as a competitive threat, and is prepared to act upon it. In addition to this breaking one of the most sacred taboos at Intel, it also hints that engineering now has the upper hand over beuraucracy.'"

Submission + - Don't Let Congress Hurt Satellite Radio!

Submitted by

vivin

on Tuesday September 12, 2006 @12:04AM

vivin writes: "I recently received an email from XM radio, with whom I have a subscription. Their service has been pretty good, and I have been able to enjoy commercial-free music (well, although not now, as I am in Iraq) for about a year. The gist of the email is that powerful special interests are pressuring Congress (and suing XM) to pass legislation that will prevent XM radio subscribers from using XM's new radios that will allow them to record music to listen later (similar to TiVo's service). In their words, "The big record labels want more". I think they have a point. If I'm already paying them for subscription, and that money is already being used to pay royalties to the labels and artists, then I should be allowed to download the music I have already paid for. Here is the full text of the email:

"Powerful special interests are pressuring Congress to prevent XM subscribers like you from having access to more music choices and new technologies. If they get their way, it will be much tougher for satellite radio to keep bringing you the unique and innovative artists you find on XM. We are asking you to help us by calling 800-303-3263 to tell your Representative you support XM Radio and oppose legislation that would hurt satellite radio.

Let me explain: With 69 commercial-free digital music channels, XM provides an outlet for recording artists of virtually every musical style and genre.

XM has been a good friend to the music industry and, more importantly, to artists and songwriters. XM helps listeners discover new artists and rediscover forgotten favorites, stimulating CD and concert ticket sales.

We make sure artists and songwriters are fairly compensated for their music: XM pays a portion of your subscription fees to them and their record labels for the music you hear. Satellite radio has already paid tens of millions of dollars in royalties — and over the coming years it could pay hundreds of millions more. By contrast, conventional AM and FM radio stations pay nothing to recording artists or their record labels.

The Section 115 Reform Act legislation before the House Judiciary Committee would stop us from offering radios that allow you to record XM channels for your later listening — in the same way that TiVo allows you to record TV for later viewing.

If the special interests and their allies in Congress get their way, you'll get fewer music choices and less new technology for years to come.

I hope you will call 800-303-3263 between the hours of 9 am & 6 pm to ask your Representative to oppose H.R. 5553.

Please visit us at www.xmradio.com/grassroots if you want to learn more about this issue.

Thank you for being a part of the XM Nation. With your support, XM Satellite Radio will continue to bring you the highest quality music, talk, sports, news and innovation.

Best Wishes,

Hugh Panero
CEO of XM Satellite Radio""

Submission + - More Indian languages on Wikipedia

Submitted by

vivin

on Friday September 01, 2006 @08:49AM

vivin writes: "The Times of India reports that there are more Indian languges on Wikipedia. During a visit to India, Jimmy 'Jimbo' Wales noted that volunteer contributions to the Kannada and Bengali Wikipedias had been growing at 22 percent, and 35 percent a month, respectively. He said that although they are growing from a small base, these growth rates are pretty high. Compared to a year ago, when there was almost nothing, languages like Bengali and Kannada are in the 3,000-5,000 range. He also notes that there is a lot of work to do — there are 23 official languages in India. Japanese is the only non-European language currently among the "big 10" of Wikipedia. "The focus of my effort is to see how to get the initial communities going," he said, explaining that he planned to test-hire his fifth employee in India to encourage content to be built up.

Surprisingly, Malayalam, the official language of the Indian state of Kerala, where recently the government opted to choose Linux over Microsoft Windows, and where one would expect there would be a significant interest in an "open" encyclopedia like Wikipedia, has only 694 articles as of July 2006."

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