devices

Upon first glance at this photo on Engadget, we thought it was the result of some horrible accident. Or maybe a Photoshop prank. Either way, it's worth the price of admission.

The U.K.'s Daily Mail reports that this new device from Toshiba "enables the wearer to experience a full 360-degree view on a 40-centimeter dome-shaped screen." It does not explain, however, how to keep your skull from imploding inside this frightening thing.

(Photo: Associated Newspapers)

Nvidia stock perked up Wednesday on rumors Intel might buy the graphics chip maker to counter rival Advanced Micro Devices' acquisition of ATI Technologies, but Merrill Lynch analyst Joe Osha doubts the idea.

"We think it's wrong to assume that Nvidia must be a potential target for Intel just because AMD is buying ATI Technologies. What AMD wanted out of its deal was a workable platform strategy. Intel has that already," Osha said in a report published Thursday.

Indeed, Intel already has a strong business selling chipsets, the chips that support central processors, that have built-in graphics. … Read more

Dell has ordered between 1 million and 1.2 million desktop computers with Advanced Micro Devices processors and about 800,000 notebooks, Bank of America financial analyst Sumit Dhanda said in a report Thursday.

The new machines are likely to arrive late in the third quarter or early in the fourth, Dhanda said, citing sources in the manufacturing supply chain in Taiwan. That would mean Dell is awarding AMD 15 percent to 16 percent of its desktop business and 18 percent to 19 percent of its notebook business, he said.

Dell currently has announced plans only for a four-processor server … Read more

When Advanced Micro Devices releases its next-generation "Rev F" Opteron processors, expected Aug. 15, it will debut a new model numbering scheme.

Currently, there are three classes of Opterons: the 100 series for single-processor computers, the 200 series for dual-processor models, and the 800 series for machines with four or more. But new model numbers will be larger by an order of magnitude, according to Scott Tease, worldwide product manager for IBM's BladeCenter servers, who spoke after IBM announced a full family of Opteron servers on Tuesday.

That means that when the Rev F models arrive, the … Read more

Toni Sacconaghi, the Sanford C. Bernstein analyst who has for years been unimpressed with Sun Microsystems' attempts to improve its business, awarded the company a more optimistic business rating.

Sacconaghi raised his rating for Sun from "under-perform" to "market perform" in a report Tuesday. Granted, part of the reason was that Sun's stock has slipped well below $4 per share--it closed at $3.82 on Monday--but Sacconaghi also said the upgrade was because of his belief that "positive change is afoot at Sun."

The stock price slip now indicates the market has absorbed … Read more

CRESCENT CITY, Calif.--I've been on my road trip for more than 24 hours now, and I've already found something to amuse myself while I drive.

Now granted, this probably wouldn't amuse anyone else, but it does give me something to chuckle at as the miles roll by.

And that is to program a destination into the Magellan Roadmate 3000T GPS car navigator I'm reviewing, head in the direction it suggests and then make unexpected detours.

As anyone who has used one of these devices--or something similar to it--knows, the GPS doesn't quite know how … Read more

Sun Microsystems has released mainstream servers using its UltraSparc T1 "Niagara" processor, but the company plans blade server models this summer specific for the telecommunications market, said David Yen, executive vice president of the scalable systems group in charge of Sparc machines.

Sun began selling a new line of blade servers using the Advanced Telecom Computer Architecture (ATCA) standard earlier this month; the current Netra CP3010 and CP 3020 models use Sun's UltraSparc IIIi or Advanced Micro Devices' Opteron processors, respectively.

"In the summer timeframe, we will release the UltraSparc T1 Niagara blades," Yen said … Read more

Persistent rumors in recent months that Scott McNealy may step down as Sun Microsystems' chief executive returned in force Thursday, as reports of the possibility appeared in the Wall Street Journal and San Francisco Chronicle.

The stories came as computing industry sources reported in recent months that major changes could be in the works at Sun, in particular with the return of Chief Financial Officer Mike Lehman. Lehman has said that he'll reveal and begin a new Sun strategy in July and that he's "taking a fresh look at everything." Some expect deep layoffs.

One former … Read more

BOSTON--Advanced Micro Devices will start moving to its "Rev F" series of processors this quarter, beginning with desktop chips, said Margaret Lewis, the chipmaker's director of commercial solutions. In the third quarter, the Rev F move will extend to the company's Opteron line of server chips, she said in an interview at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo here.

Opteron and Athlon chips have made significant inroads against Intel, but the AMD rival has led in one department: virtualization support called VT. The equivalent, AMD-V, is built into the Rev F models, which also are known by … Read more