Intel SSD Roadmap Sneak Peek

According to the folks at VR-Zone, Intel has plans to launch bigger and faster SSDs in the fourth quarter of this year. From the looks of things, Intel will double the size of the current X25-E and launch 80GB/160GB/320GB versions of the X25-M and the X18-M.

Intel is planning to double the capacity of their current SSD line-up by moving from 50nm to 34nm process technology in Q4 2009. There will be three capacities for X18-M and X25-M MLC SSD; 80GB, 160GB and 320GB and two capacities for the top end X25-E SLC SSD; 64GB and 128GB. Performance is expected to be better as well with an updated controller.

For those of you that haven’t had the opportunity to watch our performance evaluation and tear down (literally) of the 80GB Intel X25-M SSD, you really should check it out.

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Conficker Spreads as Waledec Delivers Mal-entine

Don’t be duped by this fake Valentine's Day message, you and I both know that no one sent us a Valentine. Hey wait a minute, that probably means most of us should be safe. Still, it probably wouldn’t hurt to spread the word to our less than savvy friends, relatives and people that might actually get a Valentine from someone.

The e-mail contains a link to a page with images of about a dozen hearts on it and asks "Guess which one is for you?" Once an image is clicked on the visitor is prompted to download an executable file which can install malicious code, according to a an advisory issued on Thursday by the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team. The worm spreads by spamming e-mail addresses on the infected machine.

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[H]ardware Round-Up II

Cooling

OCZ Apex 120GB SSD OCZSSD2-1APX120G @ BmR

Memory

G.Skill F3-12800CL8T-6GBHK Tri-Channel DDR3 @ Bit-Tech

Motherboards

ASRock N7AD-SLI Motherboard @ Legit Reviews

Power Supply

Antec, Cooler Master and Thermaltake PSUs Compared @ circuitREMIX

InWin Commander 850W PSU @ TechwareLabs

Video

Sapphire ATOMIC HD 4870x2 (H2O) @ CPU3D

Charter to Launch Nation's Fastest Broadband Service

Charter Communications says it is ready to launch its new 60Mbps service which will be the fastest broadband service in the U.S.. No price was given but it is expected to be competitive with Verizon’s 50Mbps package.

Broadband bragging rights could go to Charter Communications, which is ready to launch a 60 Mbps service. It would apparently be the fastest available to U.S. consumers. No details yet on price or when, or where, the service will appear from the cableco. 60 Mbps would top telco Verizon, which sells 50 Mbps service through its FiOS fiber-optic service.

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Apple Pulls MacBook Graphics Update

The update Apple posted the other day for GeForce powered Macs has been pulled. Apparently for some people the problem with their MacBooks got worse after the update. It seems like, at least for now, you are better off living with a stuttering mouse pointer and bad HD playback until they get this worked out.

AppleInsider spotted the disappearance of the update on Wednesday, after Apple had released it on Monday. The Web page that hosted the update has been removed from Apple's site, but a copy was available in Google's cache; missing the pertinent file, of course.

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Latest Worldwide Console Sales Revealed

The latest worldwide console sales figures are out today and it looks like the Wii and the 360 are kicking ass and taking names in the U.S., while the worldwide numbers are a bit more even.

Worldwide Sales: Nintendo Wii - 44.96 million. Xbox 360 - 27.2 million (plus 1.3 million shipped)*. PlayStation 3 - 21.3 million. U.S. Sales: Nintendo Wii - 17.60 million. Xbox 360 - 13.89 million. PlayStation 3 - 6.94 million.

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Gaming News

Battlefield 2 Assault Mod 0.75 @ FileShack

Gold Farming Website Sells For $10 Million @ Kotaku

Killzone 2 Introduction Movie @ Joystiq

Nintendo, Sony Hit By Weak Economy @ Shacknews

Take-Two Taking On Second Hand Sales @ VE3D

ATI Catalyst 9.1 Display Driver

All you Radeon owners should head on over to the AMD/ATi website and grab the new Catalyst 9.1 drivers. Windows Vista 32-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows XP 32-bit and Windows XP 64-bit flavors are available so grab them if you need them. Thanks to Clyde and Jeff C. for the heads up!

Cops Use Google Earth To Bust Pot Farm

Cops using Google Earth were able to locate a big pot farm hidden in a corn field and bust the people growing it. You see, Google is useful for more than just searches, seeing sword fights and running over Bambi with the Google Street View car.

Swiss police said Thursday they stumbled across a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the search engine company's satellite mapping software. Police said the find was part of a bigger investigation that led to the arrest of 16 people and seizure of 1.2 tons of marijuana as well as cash and valuables worth $780,000.

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Nintendo "Baffles" Market, Cuts Forecast by 33%

Apparently people are having panic attacks because Nintendo has cut its profit forecast by 33%. Understandably the move is a bit odd but can any company continue record sales for as long as Nintendo has?

Mr Kamide, who had been the only major analyst with a “sell” recommendation on Nintendo, said that, given how much the company speaks to retailers around the world, the downgrade could imply that “they know something big has gone wrong, and that people are not buying the machines”.

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Ex-Fannie Mae Worker Charged with Planting Virus

I thought it was common practice to remove an employee’s passwords and privileges when you fire them. You know, the ol’ wait until the end of the day before you fire someone routine. Apparently these guys have never heard of that.

A fired Fannie Mae contract employee allegedly placed a virus in the mortgage giant’s software that could have shut the company down for at least a week and caused millions of dollars in damage, prosecutors say. Rajendrasinh Makwana, an Indian citizen, was indicted Tuesday on computer intrusion charges. The former Gaithersburg resident is out on $100,000 bail, court documents said.

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[H]ardware Round-Up

Cases & Modding

Scythe Fenris Wolf Chassis @ Bit-Tech

Cooling

NZXT Lexa Blackline ATX Case @ TechReviews

Thermaltake BigTyp 14 Pro CPU Cooler @ ThinkComputers

ETC.

Cyber E-Sport Orbita Mouse @ Pro-Clockers

Video

EVGA GeForce GTX 285 SSC Edition @ Hardware Logic