Foxconn Quitting The Branded Motherboard Market?

DigiTimes, citing the usual anonymous industry sources, says that Foxconn is rumored to be leaving the branded motherboard market. According to the report, Foxconn has said the company has heard nothing regarding the speculation.

The sources commented that Foxconn recently told its sales department to stop taking orders for some motherboard models, and to stop gathering order volume forecasts for all new models, implying that the company is clearing out its inventory. The sources also added that Foxconn is making the adjustments with a very low profile and will not make an announcement since that could impact its inventory clearing.

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AMD Appoints Former HP Exec to Head EMEA Region

AMD today announced the appointment of Alberto Bozzo as corporate vice president and general manager of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Reporting to Emilio Ghilardi, AMD chief sales officer, Bozzo will have responsibility for all sales and marketing operations within EMEA. Bozzo starts his new role in January 2009. Bozzo, 44, brings more than 20 years of experience with HP, where he was most recently the vice president of HP’s multi-billion dollar go-to-market consumer business unit in EMEA.

Intel Signs Agreement with the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs

Intel Corporation today announced agreements with government and industry in Taiwan intended to extend Taiwan's position as a leading center for developing and deploying the world's next generation of connected devices and related technologies. Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini announced that Intel has signed an agreement with the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to jointly establish an enabling centre for Moblin, open source software and applications optimized for Intel® Atom™ processor-based devices.

How To Mod Your Garage

Here is a garage mod, complete with a collection of Lamborghinis, that is to die for. Thanks to Marcus P. for making us all feel inadequate with a single link.

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Intel Increased Market Share in Q3

The numbers are in and it looks as though, when it comes to global processor revenue, Intel is up slightly at 80.4% while AMD is down with 12.1%. Hit the link for a bigger break down of year to year and quarter to quarter performance.

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15 Hot New Technologies That Will Change Everything

PC World has listed the 15 new technologies they think will “change everything.” The list contains stuff like 32 core CPUs from Intel and AMD to a desktop OS by Google.

The Next Big thing? The memristor, a microscopic component that can "remember" electrical states even when turned off. It's expected to be far cheaper and faster than flash storage. A theoretical concept since 1971, it has now been built in labs and is already starting to revolutionize everything we know about computing, possibly making flash memory, RAM, and even hard drives obsolete within a decade.

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[H]ardware Round-Up II

Cooling

Arctic Cooling Accelero Twin Turbo VGA Cooler @ Overclockers Club

Vantec Aeroflow FX 92 VAF-9225 Heatpipe HSF @ Frosty Tech

ETC.

Dell Studio Hybrid Small Form Factor Desktop @ HotHardware

Memory

Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3 PC3-10600 2GB Kit @ CPU3D

Video

KFA2 Galaxy GTX 260+ 896MB @ PC Perspective

Xbox 360 First To Get Netflix HD Streaming

Engadget HD is reporting that Xbox 360 owners will be the first people to get Netflix HD streaming content. The only drawback is that you have to wait for the fall dashboard update on the 19th of next month.

It's something you can't get on the Roku. Nor on LG's BD300. Nor on Samsung's P2500 / P2550 Blu-ray players. Nor through Netflix's own "Watch Instantly" portal. It's high-def Netflix streaming, and it's coming first to Microsoft's Xbox 360.

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Toshiba to Launch 43nm SLC NAND Flash Memory

Toshiba Corp. and Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., its subsidiary in the Americas, today announced the launch of a new line-up of 43nm Single-Level Cell (SLC) NAND flash memory products available in densities ranging from 512Mbits(1) to 64Gbits(2) and in a total of 16 versions. The new range includes three products, 16Gb, 32Gb and 64Gb, which integrate 43nm monolithic 16Gb chips, the highest density SLC NAND chips available(3). The new devices will come to market from the first quarter of 2009.

Project WePC Wants You

Got a great idea for a PC? Intel and ASUS, the people behind WePC, want to know. It can be anything from a minor idea all the way up to a complete dream computer. Hit the link for all the info.

It can be anything from a small improvement to a huge innovation - let us hear about it. See some examples of ideas below that others have submitted, then click the button to share your ideas.

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky DX10.1 Patch

For those of you that might have missed it, there is a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky patch out bringing things up to version 1.5.06. There is a patch for the retail version as well as the downloadable version, both weigh in at under 55MB each. Along with a handful of fixes there are a number of improvements made such as:

• Added DX10.1 support
• Added MSAA for alpha-tested objects ("alpha-to-coverage" for DX10.0, custom "alpha-to-coverage" for DX10.1 for better performance, native DX10.1 implementation for better quality).
• Added new quality level for sun-shadows (ultra) for better picture quality.
• Added new min/max shadowmap technique (which takes advantage of DX10.1 when available) allows to speed up high quality sunshafts rendering for top video boards and high resolutions.
• Added high quality sunshafts acceleration for DX9 renderer

Gaming News

$100 Xbox 360 60GB Live Starter Pack @ Shacknews

Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts Demo on XBL @ Major Nelson

Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2 Demo @ FileShack

The Sega Genesis Turns 20 @ Kotaku

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Patch #4 Released @ VE3D