Seven Samurai chipmakers set to take on Intel

You know, it’s been nearly forty years since Intel introduced the first microprocessor, and even at this late date the company comprises a whopping eighty percent of the global market for CPUs. But not so fast! Like an electronics industry remake of The Magnificent Seven (which is, of course, an American remake of The Seven Samurai) NEC and Renesas have teamed up with a stalwart band of companies, including Hitachi, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Panasonic, and Canon, to develop a new CPU that is compatible with Waseda University professor Hironori Kasahara’s “innovative energy-saving software.” The goal is to create a commercial processor that runs on solar cells, moderates power use according to the amount of data being processed (a current prototype runs on 30% the power of a standard CPU), remains on even when mains power is cut, and, of course, upsets the apple cart over at Intel. Once a standard is adopted and the chip is used in a wide range of electronics, firms will be able to realize massive savings on software development. The new format is expected to to be in place by the end of 2012. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Seven Samurai chipmakers set to take on Intel originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DISH Network told to fork over another $200 million to TiVo

If it feels like the DISH vs. TiVo patent infringement case has been going on for ages, that’s because it has—at least in relation to the Internet’s attention span. DISH has already been hit with over $200 million in judgments relating to its infringement of TiVo’s DVR-related patents, and a judge today twisted the knife in DISH’s back, awarding TiVo an additional $200 million.

The judge in the case found that DISH was in contempt of court for refusing to abide by a permanent injunction barring it from shipping DVRs with the patent-infringing functionality. That injunction was in force from April 2008 to July 1, 2009. TiVo sought $1 billion in damages, but the judge lopped it to one-fifth of that, calling the DVR maker’s figure “unreasonable.”

DISH Network told to fork over another $200 million to TiVo

If it feels like the DISH vs. TiVo patent infringement case has been going on for ages, that’s because it has—at least in relation to the Internet’s attention span. DISH has already been hit with over $200 million in judgments relating to its infringement of TiVo’s DVR-related patents, and a judge today twisted the knife in DISH’s back, awarding TiVo an additional $200 million.

The judge in the case found that DISH was in contempt of court for refusing to abide by a permanent injunction barring it from shipping DVRs with the patent-infringing functionality. That injunction was in force from April 2008 to July 1, 2009. TiVo sought $1 billion in damages, but the judge lopped it to one-fifth of that, calling the DVR maker’s figure “unreasonable.”

The Engadget Show comes alive… September 13th

We’ll have a lot more news next week, so stay tuned!

Music — Hexadecimal Genome — Bit Shifter

Filed under: Announcements

The Engadget Show comes alive… September 13th originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget Podcast 162 – 09.04.2009

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Dr. Zilog – My Girls

Hear the podcast

00:01:40 – Toshiba’s JournE touch multimedia tablet (updated with hands-on video!)
00:12:15 – Toshiba BDX2000 Blu-ray player coming November for $250, gives HD-DVD the final cold shoulder
00:19:16 – Sony VAIO X slimster hands-on
00:26:03 - Video: Xperia Pureness (codename Kiki) announced
00:38:05 – HTC Hero heading to Sprint October 11th for $179.99, no chin in sight (update: exclusive to Sprint)
00:43:44 – Video: Nokia’s N900, N97 mini, X3, X6 and Booklet 3G hands-on roundup
00:52:50 – LG BL40 Chocolate Touch hands-on
00:59:06 – AT&T rolling out MMS to iPhone on September 25, tethering ‘in the future’
01:02:42 – Apple holding ‘rock and roll’ themed event, September 9th
01:06:55 – Eyes-on Panasonic’s Full HD 3D plasma and Blu-ray combo
01:10:05 – Sharp PC-Z1 NetWalker hands-on: Ubuntu like you’ve never seen it before

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Download the podcast

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Contact the podcast

1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.

Twitter: @joshuatopolsky @futurepaul @reckless @engadget

Filed under: Podcasts

Engadget Podcast 162 – 09.04.2009 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New study finds close to one quarter of Xbox 360s fail within two years

Sure, it’s not exactly news to hear that the Xbox 360 is the most unreliable console of the big three, but just how unreliable is it? Now there’s a point of contention. The good news for Microsoft, of sorts, is that a new study from SquareTrade found that just 23.7% of Xbox 360 consoles failed within the first two years of ownership, which is actually a fair bit better than some of the previous numbers that topped 50%. The study also found that 10% of PlayStation 3 users reported a system failure, compared to a mere 2.7% of Wii owners. The Wii actually fared the worst when it came to power and remote control issues, however, while the most common problems with the Xbox 360 and PS3 were disc read errors and output issues. For its part, while Microsoft hasn’t responded to this particular study, it has previously pointed to its “best warranty in the industry” to reassure its users and, of course, to its more recently-produced consoles, which are less likely to buckle under the pressure of a marathon Call of Duty session.

[Via InformationWeek]

Filed under: Gaming

New study finds close to one quarter of Xbox 360s fail within two years originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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