Microsoft Opens Office 14 Kimono, Slightly

Microsoft has yet to say much about the next version of Office, but the company is starting to let a few details fly, and more information about the release schedule and features should be available soon.

While Microsoft is still keeping a lid on the full scope of Office 14, Chris Capossela, senior VP of the company's information worker group, laid out the suite in broad strokes in an interview Monday. The executive noted that with this release, Microsoft would be lending particular focus to collaboration, new developer scenarios, and evolving Office's role in Microsoft's "software plus services" strategy via new Web applications and improved mobile access.

Microsoft has begun testing Office 14 with select customers, and Capossela is already running a test version of Office 14 on his work computer. "The vast majority of the team is working hard on Office 14," he said.

However, it's still unclear when Microsoft will release Office 14. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said last week that it wouldn't be released until 2010, meaning that it will likely come after the release of Windows 7.

Office Web Applications, lightweight browser-based versions of the full client versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote that will include the ability to edit, view, and collaborate on documents, will be a key new element of Office 14. Microsoft demonstrated Office Web Applications at its Professional Developers Conference last October but left out many of the details.

According to Capossela, one important feature of Office Web Applications will be that files created in Office or Office Web Applications will maintain full fidelity as they are passed back and forth between the Web and client versions of Office. "Unlike Google and Zoho, we won't crush stuff the Word user created in the first place," Capossela said.

Office Web Applications will also support REST APIs, meaning that developers will be able to pull data created, for example, in Excel's Web app version, into their own Web applications. "We have a big focus on developers," Capossela said, pointing beyond Office Web Applications to the whole Office 14 suite. "Part of that focus is around new APIs, part of that is around interoperability documentation, so people can make their solutions work with Office more easily than they did in the past."

Silverlight, Microsoft's rich Web application plug-in, will play a significant role to help power the Office Web Applications' user interfaces, but only if the customer has downloaded the Silverlight browser plug-in. Otherwise, customers will be able to use a non-Silverlight version of Office Web Applications.

Baca Selengkapnya......

Radeon HD 4750 RV740 review

It's not exactly a secret that for companies like ATI and NVIDIA it is hard to keep the rumor mill under control. It was early January this year already that certain details surfaced on this lovely wise web hinting about the fact that ATI was working on 40nm products. Weeks later another rumor surfaced, some 40nm products should be arriving in the April/May timeframe and among the new products would be a chipset that carries product codename (ASIC name) RV740, slated as the first 40nm release. And that's interesting all by itself.

Now .. the technology industry works in mysterious ways and a pre-production model, slash prototype RV740 board to Guru3D.com arrived at our office a couple of days ago.

Not being tied to an NDA, without further ado, lets meet and greet with that RV740 graphics chipset. RV740 is positioned somewhere in the upper segment of budget level products. We are sure this product is going to be cheaper than 99 USD / 89 EUR. And considering where the product is targeted in the market, ATI is pulling a rabbit out the hat with a head the size of an elephant.

Why? What can you expect? Well, from what we see... performance is really close to the performance level of a Radeon HD 4850. So meanwhile others are re-labeling and reinserting their products at a new price point, ATI is moving forward with more interesting steps. Smaller die-size, more shader processors (compared to RV730), oh and that life-size rabbit I just mentioned... it's GDDR5 memory.

We are going to bring you guys a nice little sneak preview of what ATI is working on. Let me clearly state, nothing in this review is finalized or can be seen as a concluding fact, the specifications (clock frequencies) and configurations might change for all we know. We are testing an early engineering sample here. It will however be a pretty good assessment of what ATI is going to release somewhere in April.

You guys ready? Let's meet the RV740, and though we don't know it's real name just yet, allow us to call this product the Radeon HD 4750 for the ease of understanding, product placement and well... the sake of the most logical name for this product, mmhh okay? Next page please.

Baca Selengkapnya......

MSI Enhances Shader Clock Inside GPU

MSI unveils its latest MSI graphics card carry fine-tuned vBIOS settings, have best Shader clock setting of the NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series GPU. After this special treatment, graphics card can have much better benchmark result or real application performance boost immediately.

The ratio of Stream Processor clock (aka Shader Clock) over GPU core clock is raised, thereby boosting the performance of graphics card without generating too much heat.

"As we standing at the crossroad of increasing cost of energy resource and profound anticipation of better performance that never ends," said Vincent Lai, Director of MSI's Global Marketing Group. "How to utilize chips from existing wafering process and create higher execution output per watt by simply fine-tune practicable settings via engineering strength is one of the most important duties of high tech industry."In order to enjoy benefits of this unique tweaking skill, vBIOS on the graphic card must be re-flashed on the PC platform today. Users will violate the warranty agreement and could highly possible damage their graphic card product if they were not familiar how to re-flash vBIOS. MSI, as a technology leading and innovative product designer of computer products, presets the Shader Clock enhanced version of NVIDIA GeForce 8 Series graphic card product for better performance. Consumers can enjoy much better 3D experience right after opening box, no more hassle to re-flash vBIOS or tweaking anything.

For the hard-core gamer, MSI also launches a special version, the NX8600GT Twin Turbo, has two separate vBIOS on-board which carry two dedicated GPU/Shader/Memory clock settings. Users only have to press a hardware button on the bracket, and then the new (higher) clock setting can be applied without re-flashing the vBIOS chip. Also, these two vBIOS chips give extreme enthusiast a Die-Hard workability (another vBIOS chip as spare) if they want to tweak the vBIOS to find out the ultimate performance parameters between Shader clock and GPU core clock.

Target to reach Singapore End-Sept.

Baca Selengkapnya......

Bill Gates Announces New Windows Home Server Hardware and Software Partners at WinHEC 2007

Code2Fame Challenge to showcase software and hardware add-ins for Windows Home Server.

LOS ANGELES — May 15, 2007 — In his keynote address at the Microsoft® Windows® Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) 2007, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates today demonstrated Windows Home Server and announced new hardware partners for the upcoming product, which include Gateway Inc., LaCie and Medion International. The company also announced that it will release a version of the software for system builders, named eight independent software vendors that will provide applications for Windows Home Server, and revealed its plans to kick off the Code2Fame Challenge for developers to create Windows Home Server hardware and software add-in solutions.

Delivered on hardware from leading partners and slated for release later this year, Windows Home Server helps families with more than one PC easily centralize, share and protect their digital pictures, music, documents and videos.

“Digital devices and digital media are now an essential part of so many aspects of our lives, and their importance continues to grow,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “With Windows Home Server, we’re launching a new category of consumer products that will make it much easier for people to connect to their digital content and share experiences with friends and family no matter where they are.”

New OEM Partners Broaden Customer Choices

Later this year, HP plans to deliver the HP MediaSmart Server, powered by Windows Home Server software. Announced today, original equipment manufacturers Gateway, LaCie and Medion will also deliver hardware products powered by Windows Home Server, extending the range of easy-to-use solutions that will be available to consumers. Gateway is a technology pioneer, offering award-winning PCs, servers and related products. LaCie is a leader in external storage solutions for consumers. Medion will demonstrate its product, code-named Medion Home Server, at WinHEC this week. The product will have storage options of 500 GB up to 2 terabytes and will offer Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA)-compliant universal plug and play media streaming based on PacketVideo Connect software. It is scheduled to ship by the end of 2007.

Windows Home Server for System Builders

Microsoft also announced that Windows Home Server will be available to the system builder channel, further broadening the scope of the home server product category. Using this version of the software, system builders worldwide will have the resources and flexibility to provide customized, targeted Windows Home Server products to meet the needs of a wide array of customer segments.

Windows Home Server Software Solutions for the Digital Home

As a software platform and an “always on” device in the home, Windows Home Server offers independent software vendors tremendous opportunities to build innovative products for the digital home, such as protection against viruses and malware, media sharing capabilities, home security, and home automation. Microsoft today announced several software vendors supporting Windows Home Server with their applications:

•

Diskeeper Corp.’s Diskeeper 2007 software will support Windows Home Server to enhance system speed and reliability.

•

Embedded Automation Inc.’s mControl software will integrate with Windows Home Server to help consumers manage home lighting systems, security cameras, climate control, and audio and visual components.

•

F-Secure Corp. software will interoperate with Windows Home Server to help protect consumers against computer viruses and other threats from the Internet and mobile networks.

•

Iron Mountain will integrate its data protection services with Windows Home Server.

•

Lagotek Corp.’s Home Intelligence Platform for home automation will support Windows Home Server.

•

PacketVideo Corp.’s PacketVideo Connect will enable DLNA 1.0-certified, DLNA 1.5-compliant and universal plug-and-play media streaming from Windows Home Server to a variety of entertainment devices in the home.

•

Riptopia CD loading service for Windows Home Server will convert and load a customer’s entire CD collection for storage and protection on Windows Home Server.

•

SageTV media server software for Windows Home Server provides a complete, “always on” digital entertainment experience for the enjoyment of personal media and online content on any TV or PC screen, at home or away, with SageTV Placeshifter software.

In addition, HP has developed software to run on Windows Home Server within the HP MediaSmart Server, including an enhanced Windows Home Server console, Web photo sharing and media sharing.

Code2Fame Challenge to Highlight the Future of Windows Home Server Solutions

The Windows Home Server Code2Fame Challenge was announced today and will offer recognition and cash prizes for developers of Windows Home Server hardware and software add-ins. Using the Windows Server and Windows Home Server software development kits, contestants will create software applications and hardware elements that are designed to enhance the customer experience with Windows Home Server. Code2Fame Challenge winners will be announced later this year, with cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000 and $1,000 awarded to the first-, second- and third-place winners respectively in the hardware and software categories. Additional information and official rules will be available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowshomeserver/challenge.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.

Resource : Microsoft

Baca Selengkapnya......

SPARKLE Announced GeForce GTX 285 1GB/2GB Graphics Cards For High-end PC Gamers

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today announced the SPARKLE GeForce GTX 285 1GB/2GB Graphics Card for high-end gamers, delivering 30% faster performance than competing single GPU graphic card solutions.

Specification

Model Number: SXX2851024D3-VP, SXX2851024D3-VM, SXX2852048D3-VP, SXX2852048D3-VM

Graphics Processing Unit: GeForce GTX 285

Core Clock: 648 MHz

Memory Type: 1GB / 2GB GDDR3

Memory Interface: 512-bit

Stream Processors: 240

Shader Clock: 1476 MHz

Bus Type: PCI-Express 2.0

RAMDAC: 400 MHz

Outputs: Dual DVI-I

HDMI: Yes (Via adapter)

Extreme DX10 HD Gaming Experience

The SPARKLE GeForce GTX 285 1GB/2GB are the world’s most powerful single GPU graphics cards solution, delivering 30% faster performance than competing single GPU solutions. With the power of GeForce GTX 285 GPUs, they bring ultimate DX10 HD gaming experience to high-end gamers. The SPARKLE GeForce GTX 285 1GB/2GB graphics cards place gamers in the center of the action and experience true DirectX 10 gaming cinema in extreme HD (2560x1600) resolutions all enabled by GeForce 200 Series’ second generation unified architecture, NVIDIA SLI technology, and incredible performance in the latest games including Far Cry 2, Mirrors Edge, and Call of Duty 5: World at War. With up to 50% more performance than prior generation GPUs, GeForce GTX 285 GPUs tear through complex DirectX 10 environments and cinematic effects at blazing frame rates in extreme HD resolutions.

2GB Extreme Large-Capacity GDDR3 Memory

Today‘s game, such as GTA IV, Crysis, Alone in the Dark 5, Stalker: clear sky, they normally use a large number of bump texture, transparent texture to describe faces of characters and render realistic gaming scenes, so these games put higher demands on the capacities of video memory. The current situation demands at least 512 MB video memory to run these games. Compared with ordinary GeForce GTX 285 graphics cards on market with 1GB video memory, SPARKLE GeForce GTX 285 2GB Graphics Card comes with incredible large 2GB GDDR3 video memory, making them to be first batch of GTX 285 graphics cards in the world with 2GB video memory.

NVIDIA 3D Stereo Support

The SPARKLE GeForce GTX 285 1GB/2GB Graphics Cards support GeForce Stereoscopic 3D Technology from NVIDIA, which is market complete hardware and software kit for gamers built by NVIDIA for the 3D stereoscopic gaming market. It will immerse gamers in the world of 3D content like never before. Monsters, bullets, and landscapes jump out of gamers' flat monitors and into their imagination, making them part of the game. With NVIDIA GeForce Stereoscopic 3D driver technology, gaming will never be the same. Now with support for Microsoft Windows Vista and the SPARKLE GeForce GTX 285 1GB/2GB Graphics Cards, gamers can play the hottest games and feel like they’re part of the action rather than watching it happen!

NVIDIA SLI® Multi-Monitor support

Switch seamlessly between multi-display desktop mode and full screen 3D gaming with SLI. And enjoy full multi-GPU support for dual-display capable 3D games such as World in conflict, Supreme Commander Forged Alliance, and Flight Simulator X.

3-Way SLI Support

The SPARKLE GeForce GTX 285 1GB/2GB Graphics Card supports NVIDIA 3-way SLI technology, which provides even higher frame rates and permits higher quality settings for the ultimate experience in PC gaming when connected to a high-end, high-resolution monitor.

2nd Generation PureVideo HD

High-definition video decoder and post-processor deliver unprecedented picture clarity, smooth video and accurate color for movies and video.

Cooling System

Exquisitely made cooling fans, which have high performance thermal compound ensures optimal thermal dissipation even after years of use.

Full Microsoft ® DirectX ®10 support

World’s first DirectX 10 GPU with full Shader Model 4.0 support delivers unparalleled levels of graphics realism and film-quality effects.

NVIDIA™ PhysX

GeForce GPU support for NVIDIA PhysX technology, enabling a totally new class of physical gaming interaction for a more dynamic and realistic experience with GeForce.

NVIDIA™CUDA Technology

CUDA technology unlocks the power of the GPU's processor cores to accelerate the most demanding system tasks such as video transcoding delivering up to 7x performance over traditional CPUs.

Baca Selengkapnya......