AMD first to reach 5GHz with FX-9590 processor

 

The first commercially-available processor to reach clock speeds of 5GHz is now a reality courtesy of AMD. The FX-9590, the latest addition to the chipmaker’s FX lineup, features eight Piledriver processing cores and is completely unlocked as per its Black Edition branding to aid in overclocking, should 5GHz still not be enough for you.
The Fx-9590 carries a base clock of 4.7GHz but is able to hit the 5GHz mark using Turbo Core technology which means it’s about 17.5 percent faster than the FX-8350, AMD’s current top chip. It’ll arrive using the AM3+ package, we’re told, because there aren’t many boards that officially support a ship with such high power consumption.
The chip will initially be available only through system integrators which means the average enthusiast won’t be able to get their hands on it right away. The reason for this likely has to do with cooling requirements as some end users won’t have the necessary cooling capability to keep the chip from overheating.
Reaching the 5GHz mark is good news for AMD as it’s another feather in the proverbial cap as the chipmaker was also the first to reach the 1GHz barrier way back in May 2000. They were also the first to build a 64-bit processor for the PC, the first to launch native dual- and quad-core processors, first to market with an APU and the first to produce a quad-core x86 SoC. In reality, however, the FX-9590 will do little to help AMD position themselves against rival Intel.
The FX-9590 is expected to be released later this summer. Pricing remains unknown at this hour, however.

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Cable providers pay to prevent streaming TV; Time Warner responds: Duh

Time Warner Cable, like others in the pay-TV industry, has been essentially paying off content partners to prevent web-based streaming, Bloomberg reports. Incentives to lock-out content providers from streaming their properties online include monetary bonuses and threats to drop programming. Deals brokered between TWC and its partners are largely private, but some of their details were leaked to Bloomberg by anonymous inside sources.

"Exclusivities and windows are extremely common in the entertainment industry," said NY-based TWC spokeswoman Maureen Huff in response to Bloomberg's report. "It’s absurd to suggest that, in today’s highly competitive video marketplace, obtaining some level of exclusivity is anticompetitive."

Admittedly, deals peppered with stipulations of exclusivity aren't exactly a new thing. With more than 300 deals under its belt though, TWC makes no bones about its feelings toward would-be online disruptors.

Huff added, "In fact, the amount and scope of exclusivity and windowing in Time Warner Cable’s arrangements with programmers pales by comparison to that found between other players in the entertainment ecosystem."

In a nutshell: we do it, but others do it more.

Other companies, like Charter and AT&T, are also guilty of similar practices. AT&T is purportedly paying less to content providers who simultaneously provide online streaming while Charter claims to use such incentives and penalties to protect its cable-based "ecosystem".

If you're thinking deals like these are to blame for the poor state of TV streaming though, AllThingsD reports that may not necessarily be the case. Citing TWC as an example, its executive sources claim the company doesn't have those types of arrangements with the biggest players in the industry, names which include the likes of Viacom, Discovery and NBC. Hugely successful media companies have tons of bargaining power and often aren't so short-sighted to lock themselves into a no-streaming deal.

Rather, TV streaming outfits like Apple TV, Google TV and possibly even Intel have difficulty striking bargains because purchasing content to stream online is identical to the process used by cable companies: they must spend large sums of money on inflexible channel bundles -- a practice which the industry uses to subsidize its least popular properties with its most desirable ones. Even worse, since tech companies generally don't have much clout with big media, they often times wind up paying more than companies like Comcast and TWC for the same content.

{Source: TechSpot]

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Mexico acknowledges US intel agents, won't discuss

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government is acknowledging that U.S. intelligence agents operate in Mexican territory to help combat drug cartels, but refused to discuss a report they have been posted to a base in northern Mexico and have helped in interrogations, wiretaps and running informant networks.

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The participation of U.S. agents and the designation of a new U.S. ambassador, Anthony Wayne, whose last posting was Afghanistan, has raised concerns that America may view Mexico as an Afghan-style battleground.

Mexico has already acknowledged it allows U.S. drones to conduct non-piloted surveillance flights over Mexican territory, though it says it "controls" the flights; a Mexican official is present in the drones' control room.

"In recent months, Washington's growing military, political, intelligence and police interference has been documented in many ways, as has the Mexican government's acceptance of it," the newspaper La Jornada wrote in an editorial Monday.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that CIA agents and former U.S. military personnel are working at a Mexican military base, and that officials have weighed the possibility of sending private military contractors. The use of such contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan was marred by scandals.

The office of Mexico's federal security spokesman, Alejandro Poire, said in a statement late Sunday that U.S. agents do participate in analysis and exchange of information, but don't carry weapons or participate in operations like raids, or arrests.

But the statement that the government won't discuss specifics of the agents' role "for national security reasons."

The statement said the U.S. cooperation "is carried out with unrestricted respect for Mexican law."

The Associated Press has been able to identify several hundred U.S. agents working in Mexico.

According to that tally, the Drug Enforcement Administration has more than 60 agents in Mexico. There are 40 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, 20 Marshal Service deputies, 18 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents, and dozens more working for the FBI, Citizen and Immigration Service, Customs and Border Protection, Secret Service, Coast Guard and Transportation Safety Agency.

The U.S. has committed to giving Mexico $1.5 billion in anti-drug aid since 2008 under the Merida Initiative.

According to official figures, at least 35,000 people have been killed in drug violence in Mexico since late 2006, when President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on organized crime. Other sources, including local media, say the number is closer to 40,000. The federal government has not released an update of its numbers since December.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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New markets boost Intel revenue

  Strong demand for tablets is helping sales of Intel chips The world's largest chipmaker Intel has posted record quarterly revenues and higher profits due in part to strong emerging market demand for computing.

Revenue for the second quarter was $13bn (£8bn), up more than 20% on a year earlier, while profits rose slightly to $3bn.

The firm said it expected sales in the second half of the year to rise at a similar rate to the first.

It said demand in emerging markets was helping to drive overall sales.

"We achieved a significant new milestone in the second quarter, surpassing $13bn for the first time," said Intel's chief executive Paul Ottelini.

"Strong corporate demand for our most advanced technology, the surge of mobile devices and internet traffic fuelling data centre growth, and the rapid rise of computing in emerging markets drove record results."

However, consumer demand in more developed economies remained weak, he added.

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Tracking Apple's other Intel transition

(Credit: Apple)

With today's Mac and display updates in the can, Apple is just one machine away from having Thunderbolt across the line. That's the new speedy port that brings high-speed input/output to storage devices, displays, and other data hungry peripherals, topping what's available through USB 3.0 or Firewire 800 in theoretical transfer speed (see CNET's FAQ).

So far the number of gadgets that can make use of the nascent technology are few. In fact, it took months after Thunderbolt's introduction in Apple's MacBook Pro line earlier this year for the first purchasable Thunderbolt cable to show up. But the fact that Apple has made it that far in less than five months is no small feat. By comparison, it took the company a full year to move from USB 1.1 to USB 2.0 in its computers and LCD displays, starting in 2003 and heading on into 2004.

One stark difference in the two races for a faster port (besides the fact that Apple now sells more Macs in a quarter than it did during that entire year of the USB 2.0 transition), is that Apple's had a hand in developing Thunderbolt, and is the first manufacturer out of the gate to include it in its computers. While the technology started as an Intel Labs Project, Apple notes that the companies shared a "close technical collaboration" in bringing it to market.

By comparison, USB 2.0 made its first appearance on computers from Gateway and competed with Firewire, a standard that was developed with the help of Apple and that up until 2005 was a critical part of the company's iPod strategy.

Interestingly enough, today's timeline closely follows the one Apple made in the move from the PowerPC architecture to Intel's x86 processors back in 2005. That change, which began in January of 2006, was completed in August the same year and also represented a powerful deal with Intel that's going strong today. Apple ended up completing that transition faster than originally announced, but made no such promises with Thunderbolt. In fact, that Thunderbolt showed up first in Apple's MacBook Pro line suggested that Apple might have been keeping it as a high-end feature.

So that leaves the question about when the Mac Pro is getting its big update to complete the shift. It's been nearly a year since Apple released the last version of that machine, where it bumped up the processing power to 12 cores and beefed up the graphics card. The exterior design has remained relatively unchanged since before the company made its move to Intel processors. Add in the fact that the Mac Mini and the iMac now both have Thunderbolt ports, and it's a safe bet the technology will show up there too.

Of course, one thing that could throw off a nice and tidy Thunderbolt transition comparison is if Apple decides to bring the high-speed transfer technology to iPods, iPhones, and iPads. Those devices still depend on USB 2.0 to physically connect, but are not considered Macs.

Back in April, Apple was granted a patent for a new 30-pin dock connector that could take on "more new high-speed communication standards"--including DisplayPort, which is covered in the Thunderbolt specifications--pointing to the company considering a speed upgrade. Then again, iOS 5--which is being released as a free update later this year--cuts the cord altogether. It offers iTunes syncing over Wi-Fi, and will even let customers start using all the features of their gadget right out of the box, all without plugging into anything. Apple is unlikely to get rid of that port, not only because it's how you charge the device but also because of the massive peripherals business that's been built up around it. Perhaps then, whatever is unveiled at Apple's unannounced (yet entirely expected) music event in the coming months will include technology that will make use of Thunderbolt, and put all these new ports to work.

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