ATI's HD 4670 Graphics Card Reviews

Check out more from the list of reviews below:
PC Games Hardware
TechPowerUp
Anandtech
Tweak Town
Hardware Zone
Firing Squad
ExtremeTech

Windows XP Service Pack 3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers

Brief Description
This installation package is intended for IT professionals and developers downloading and installing on multiple computers on a network. If you're updating just one computer, please visit Windows Update.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) includes all previously released updates for the operating system. This update also includes a small number of new functionalities, which do not significantly change customers’ experience with the operating system.

For more details click here

Windows XP Service Pack 3 RC1

Microsoft has extended its support for Windows XP and with it comes the latest Service Pack 3 candidate release.

Service Pack 3 contain patches and updates previously released in the total of 1000. Add-ons have also been included namely: Background Intelligent Transfer Service (Bits) 2.5, Windows Installer 3.1, Management-Console (MMC) 3.0 and Core XML Services 6.0. Features like integration of Network Access Protection (NAP) are also included in it.

The final version of RC3 is scheduled for release in the first two quarters of 2008.

You can download the Service Pack 3 candidate release Torrent Download Here

Microsoft's Zune: The iPod Clone You Hate to Love

By James Coates
Chicago Tribune

While I remain disgruntled over how PlaysForSure was transformed into Plays for Suckers, I like my new Zune. For a lot of us with Windows computers and a love of music and movies already acquired as MP3 and Windows Media Audio files, the Zune is absolutely first rate.

Today's tune is Zune, and it's being written none too soon. It was nearly two weeks ago when Microsoft's new music, movie and photo player named "Zune" fulfilled widespread predictions that it was going to debut with a thud.
Let me say first that my take on this milestone event in Windows history comes amid a bit of heat.

I guess I've been persona non grata at the Zune side of Microsoft for the past few weeks after I questioned the ethics of the company's effort to immolate the iPod by creating in Zune a virtual carbon copy of both Apple's world-beater music player and the exclusive online store where iPod owners shop for new music.

Image Is the Thing
The Zunies refused to talk to me about their ethics then and I haven't heard from them since. Nevertheless, I like the US$249 Zune as a good-looking piece of well-crafted technology. It adds great new mobility for owners of pictures, movies and non-copyright-protected music already acquired. Furthermore, it works great when hooking up and synchronizing with Windows XP while simultaneously charging the battery through the USB cable.

The 2.5-inch-by-2-inch screen is dramatically larger than the video iPod's display, and the rubberized metallic case is just plain slick. Other than that, it looks like an iPod, except that it's 1 inch longer.

Let me turn, however, to some reasons why Zune's early sales appear anemic and its short-term prospects aren't much to write home about. It's got a lot to do with image.

While aping Apple may be a good business, there is an unpleasant whiff about how the Zune underscores Microsoft's reputation as a ruthlessly competitive behemoth focused on bucks and still more bucks.

Start with how Microsoft spent more than a year suckering potential Zune competitors in the Windows world into a program called "PlaysForSure" that was designed to make all mobile music players work instantly with Windows computers.

This seemed great because things were getting chaotic with competing Windows music player makers and music sellers offering different machines and different schemes for downloading music for a fee.
Read more...

BlackBerry Takes On Redberry in China

By Arik Hesseldahl
Business Week Online

RIM has been negotiating for the right to do business in China for several years and according to published reports is poised to announce a deal with China Mobile, a Hong-Kong based carrier with 284 million subscribers, compared with China Unicom's 121 million.

Hot on the heels of the settlement of a rancorous patent dispute, Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) may have a new fight on its hands. Canada's RIM this year plans to launch its iconic BlackBerry wireless e-mail device in China, where it will go toe-to-toe with China Unicom, the state-run telecommunications company.

RIM, which in February agreed to pay a US$612.5 million settlement with U.S. holding company NTP, has confirmed it's on track to introduce the BlackBerry in China by the middle of the year. Not to be outdone, China Unicom has launched its own BlackBerry-like wireless e-mail service.

Here's where it gets weird. China Unicom's service is not only patterned after the BlackBerry, but its name is inspired by the BlackBerry as well. "China Unicom's Redberry brand not only continues the already familiar 'BlackBerry' image and name, it also fully reflects the symbolic meaning of China Unicom's new red corporate logo," the Chinese company says in a statement.

Many Rivals
Having competitors with seemingly similar offerings is nothing new to RIM. With some four million BlackBerry devices in use around the world, RIM competes with Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) , Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) , Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) on the device front. Meanwhile its software rivals include privately held Good Technologies, and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) , among others.

RIM has been negotiating for the right to do business in China for several years and according to published reports is poised to announce a deal with China Mobile, a Hong-Kong based carrier with 284 million subscribers, compared with China Unicom's 121 million.

The technology behind the Redberry service comes from a Beijing-based outfit called Facio Software, which sells a software product it calls Uni Pushmail. The company didn't immediately respond to requests for comment, but its chief executive is Tony Chan, a Microsoft alum whose career includes stints at Rhapsody Software, which was acquired by Brocade in 2003, and Vitalsigns, which was later acquired by Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) .

So could RIM pick a trademark fight with China Unicom? RIM isn't commenting on the matter, but a source familiar with the company's thinking says RIM doesn't consider the Redberry service much of a threat.
Read more...

Intel Rolls Out New vPro Technology

By Jay Lyman
TechNewsWorld

Intel this week touted the availability of its vPro technology, a package of hardware and software which the chip giant said can cut energy use and costs for enterprise IT shops while giving them more advanced remote management and security control. Hardware vendors including Cisco, HP and Microsoft have announced plans to incorporate vPro into upcoming products.

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) this week announced the availability of its new hardware and software technology known as vPro, which the chip giant said can cut energy use and costs for enterprise IT shops while giving them more advanced remote management and security control.

Claiming vPro can deliver business IT organizations cost savings of as much as 40 percent, Intel said the technology would draw on the advantages of its Core 2 Duo processors to harden security and bolster manageability when incorporated into products from Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) , Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) , Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) , Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) and other vendors that plan to use the technology.

"Very simply, vPro is a change of course in the way businesses and IT managers view and use PCs," said Intel Business Client Group Vice President and General Manager Robert Crooke, who referred to the security, resource allocation, asset management and uptime advantages of the firm's new offering. Read more...

Windows Weathers Attack of the Bots

By Jennifer LeClaire
TechNewsWorld

Hackers launched an attack against Windows PCs over the weekend. The attack came disguised as one-at-a-time bot pinpricks, instead of the massive worm some had feared. The bot uses an exploit published last week that leverages a vulnerability disclosed on August 8, Microsoft's last Patch Tuesday. Microsoft patched the vulnerability in Windows Server service in its security bulletin MS06-040.

Security analysts warned Windows users about it -- and now it's happening.

Hackers launched an attack against Windows PCs over the weekend. The attack came disguised as one-at-a-time bot pinpricks, instead of the massive worm some had feared.

Also known as zombies, a bot is a type of malware that allows an attacker to gain control over an affected computer. There are potentially tens of thousands of computers infected with bots without their owners' knowledge.

This latest bot uses an exploit published last week that leverages a vulnerability disclosed on August 8, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) last Patch Tuesday. Microsoft patched the vulnerability in Windows Server service in its security bulletin MS06-040. Read more...

Sony, Yahoo Offer DRM-Free Downloadable Song

By Jay Lyman
TechNewsWorld

The Yahoo Music release -- a personalized song by Jessica Simpson -- is in MP3 format, which means it can be stored, transferred, burned and played on nearly all digital music players, including iPods. The key question, however, is whether consumers will be willing to pay a premium price for all this flexibility.

Sony BMG and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) are teaming up to provide online music downloads in the popular, flexible MP3 format without the usual digital rights management (DRM) controls, but for about twice the price of a typical title download.

The Yahoo Music release is limited to a single song from Jessica Simpson that is personalized with hundreds of names for different listeners, and was reportedly provided DRM-free for that reason. Still, the release represents a first with a major music label delivering a popular artist's work in MP3, the file-trading format that continues to draw the wrath of recording companies.


"I really think this is another crack in the wall of DRM denial that the major recording labels have been putting up," Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Staff Attorney Fred von Lohmann told TechNewsWorld. Read more...

Firefox Anti-Phishing Features Score Points

By Alexandra DeFelice
LinuxInsider

Mozilla's new Firefox 2.0 beta release is now available for download. The latest version of the popular alternative to the Internet Explorer browser includes anti-phishing features to protect users from being tricked by fake Web sites.

Mozilla's beta version of Firefox 2.0 is drawing applause from reviewers for its new anti-phishing features, which are likely to become increasingly important in consumers' constant battle against data theft.

The built-in phishing protection in the latest version, which debuted Wednesday, warns users when they encounter suspected Web forgeries and offers to return to their home pages. Phishing Protection is turned on by default and works by checking sites that users browse against a local list of known phishing sites, according to Mozilla. Read more...

Google changing lives in the Philippines

I recently found out a website that tells about a lot of people in the Philippines which lives was changed because of google. Want to know more details about it, "Read more...".