http://www.ascent.co.nz The latest news and announcements from Ascent (c) 2009 Ascent Technology Limited en-us Media/ui/logo.gif http://www.ascent.co.nz VIA is looking to follow up on its public plans to launch a dual-core netbook-oriented Nano processor with a quad-core variant by the end of next year. Interestingly, rumours also state that the chip will ship with a new chipset, VN11, which introduces DirectX 11 support to the platform for the first time. http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2010/09/06/via-plans-quad-core-chip/1 Microsoft last Friday said it was looking into a long-known vulnerability in Internet Explorer (IE) that could be used to access users' data and Web-based accounts. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9183759/Microsoft_investigates_years_old_IE_bug Microsoft announced that the code base for Windows Phone 7 1.0 has been finalized. The software has been "released to manufacturing," meaning that this version is the one handset makers will deploy on the first devices to feature the radically redesigned mobile OS. http://www.pcworld.com/article/204888/microsoft_windows_phone_7_code_ready_for_fall_release.html Ontario will be the single-core version of Fusion CPUs based on Bobcat and Bulldozer. Power consumption will be sliced in half, to just 9W, and will target the netbook and "device" market, something Intel has a firm grip on. http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/9/7/amd-bobcats-18w-9w/ Nvidia has overhauled its mobile offerings with the introduction of the DirectX 11-capable GeForce 400M series of GPUs. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/fermi-gf100-470m-mobile-dx11,news-34191.html First early die-shots from an eight-core "Orochi" processor that's based on Bulldozer technology and built on the 32nm process has been released. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/orochi-bulldozer-bobcat-llano-fusion,news-34189.html Toshiba has recalled 41,000 laptops sold between August 2009 and August 2010 because the units in question represent a burn hazard to users. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/Satellite-Overheat-Burn-Fire-Hazard,news-34192.html The performance gap between SSDs and memory cards just became smaller: SDHC cards based around the UHS-I high-performance standard have started hitting the market. based around the UHS-I high-performance standard have started hitting the market. http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2010/09/03/uhs-i-sd-cards-announced/1 The browser battle returned to what passes for normalcy in August as Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE), which had a two-month run of usage share gains, lost ground to the usual suspect: Google's Chrome. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9183202/Microsoft_s_IE_loses_momentum_drops_market_share A botched update to the ESET NOD32 Virus Signature Database Update 5418 is causing mayhem on thousands of Windows XP SP3 machines and Windows Servers alike. http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/9/2/eset-nod32-antivirus-pains/ Sources in the motherboard industry have leaked some interesting info to Digitimes concerning Nvidia's development of a Sandy Bridge-compatible chipset. http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/9/2/nvidia-engineers-sandy-bridge-alternative/ Dell said it would not increase its most recent proposal to acquire virtualised storage vendor 3Par, paving the path for rival Hewlett-Packard to acquire the company. http://reseller.co.nz/reseller.nsf/news/dell-loses-3par-bidding-war-to-hp For years YouTube has been focused on letting users share home movies with the world. However, the video-sharing site may soon have to share the video section of Google's portfolio as rumor has it the search giant is trying to get a pay-per-view movie service off the ground. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/YouTube-iTV-Pay-per-view-Videos-google-tv,news-7889.html The ATI brand has been around the computing space for as long as many of us can remember. Four years ago, AMD acquired ATI but left the name to live on due to its strong brand in the graphics space. Now those days are over, as the graphics division at the chipmaker is at its strongest. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/radeon-firepro-fusion-ontario-llano,news-34152.html A little-known group of security researchers will kick off a month of bug disclosures starting this week that target unpatched vulnerabilities in software from Abode, Microsoft, Mozilla, Apple and others. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9182999/Researchers_slate_month_of_bugs_launch_for_Wednesday Intel will acquire Infineon Technologies' wireless division for $1.4 billion, the company said. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9182598/Update_Intel_to_acquire_Infineon_s_wireless_division The New Zealand Transport Agency has voiced concern over a low-cost technique for laying fibre-optic cable that the Government may need to rely on if it is to ensure its $1.35 billion ultra-fast broadband scheme can achieve its objectives within budget. http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/transport-agency-takes-dig-at-micro-trenching Google has launched a search engine dedicated to delivering real-time search results from social networking sites and other live feeds. http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/8/27/google-launches-real-time-search-site/ YouTube UK has launched a new movie service populated with the good, the bad and the ugly of bargain bin video goodness. http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/8/27/youtube-uk-opens-cinema-service/ A screenshot was recently posted showing a 3DMark Vantage score and a GPU-Z screenshot for a Radeon HD 6800 card. As you would expect, the latest version of GPU-Z (0.4.5) hasn't detected all the GPU's details, but it has come up with some goodies. http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/8/27/rumour-radeon-hd-6800-benchmarked/