Categoria: HardwareSoftware

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HardwareSoftware

Storia dei processori Intel

Intel 4004

Il primo microprocessore venduto da Intel fu il 4004 a 4 bit nel 1971. Fu progettato per lavorare insieme ad altri tre microchip – la ROM 4001, la RAM 4002 e lo Shift Register 4003. Il 4004 svolgeva calcoli, mentre gli altri erano cruciali per far funzionare il processore.

intel 4004

Il 4004 venne usato principalmente in calcolatori e dispositivi simili, e non era pensato per finire all’interno di computer. La sua frequenza massima era di 740 KHz. Al 4004 seguì un processore simile, il 4040, una variante migliorata con un set di istruzioni esteso e prestazioni maggiori.

8008 e 8080

Il 4004 permise a Intel di farsi un nome nel settore dei microprocessori. Per capitalizzare la situazione, Intel introdusse una nuova linea di processori a 8 bit. L’8008 arrivò nel 1972,

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HardwareSoftware

Comcast plans streaming TV service for its own Internet customers


Stream service becomes Xfinity Instant TV

A new report from Reuters shows that Comcast is gearing up to relaunch its IPTV streaming service under a new name that will be available to all Comcast internet subscribers across the US.

The company originally launched a streaming TV service in a few select cities in July 2015 under the name Stream that allowed Xfinity customers to pay $ 15 a month on top of their Internet bill to watch shows from a dozen networks on tablets, laptops and smartphones. The relaunched TV streaming service will be called Xfinity Instant TV and will start at the same monthly price for major channels including ABC, NBC, ESPN and others, but could go up to $ 40 per month based on additional channel packages.

The initial rollout will be somewhat limited to a collection of cities within five states, including Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Hampshire. In addition, Comcast plans to make the rollout only available to households already paying for its own Internet service. Some reports have argued that this requirement is grounds for violating basic net neutrality principles, as the service would be getting preferred treatment compared to other Internet traffic. Back in 2015 under the Stream name, a Comcast representative commented that the service is delivered over the company’s “managed network,” which essentially means that it will not count towards a Comcast subscriber’s monthly Internet data caps.

Comcast has rebutted this claim by stating that its streaming TV service is not an Internet service, but is “functionally equivalent” to a streaming TV service. The requirement of having an existing Xfinity home broadband connection underscores any arguments of a violation of net neutrality, as the service is passed from a broadband modem and is delivered to phones, tablets and PCs. Although the service would not count against a customer’s data caps, it would still favor the company’s own streaming service over anything else.

Recently, the incoming FCC administration has dropped inquiries related to services that allow customers to stream music and video without counting toward a data plan limit, also known as “zero-rating.” Some notable names involved in this scheme include AT&T’s Sponsored Data and Data Perks programs, Verizon’s FreeBee Data 360 program, and Comcast’s Stream TV service. Net neutrality advocates have stated that such programs harm competition by “unfairly marginalizing” other competing services. Though in the case of Comcast, it is only allowing current subscribers access to IPTV streaming service at home and only with service originating from a connected broadband modem.

Comcast’s Xfinity Instant TV service has not yet been announced, though it is likely going to be rolled out into more markets across the US by the end of 2017. Under the company’s zero-rating policy using home broadband modems, it is not difficult to envision a broader Internet landscape in the US characterized by a theoretical lack of net neutrality that still bends in favor of one terrestrial ISP option over another.

Autore: Fudzilla.com – Home

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HardwareSoftware

Intel presenta le prime memorie Optane in formato M.2: serviranno da cache

Intel presenta le prime memorie Optane in formato M.2: serviranno da cache

Intel continua a investire sulla tecnologia Optane, figlia della tecnologia 3D Xpoint – partorita insieme con Micron -. Le prime memorie Intel Optane M.2 saranno moduli cache da 16 e 32 GB. Ecco a che cosa servono.

Intel e Micron hanno collaborato sullo sviluppo delle memorie 3D Xpoint. Mentre Intel, per la loro commercializzazione, ha scelto il nome Optane; Micron si è orientata su QuantX: I primi SSD basati sulla tecnologia QuantX (3D Xpoint) di Micron da giugno.

Da parte sua, appena qualche giorno fa, Intel ha presentato la sua prima unità SSD basata su Optane (Primo SSD Intel Optane con memoria 3D Xpoint: DC P4800X) e oggi ha tolto il velo dalla sua prima memoria Optane in formato M.2.

Intel presenta le prime memorie Optane in formato M.2: serviranno da cache

Difficile chiamarla però, almeno per il momento, “unità SSD”: la memoria M.2 appena presentata da Intel è infatti una memoria cache, disponibile nei tagli da 16 e 32 GB, dotata di interfaccia PCIe 3.0 x2 e con supporto per il protocollo NVMe.
I consumi energetici si aggirano intorno ai 3,5W in fase di utilizzo e 1,2W negli altri casi (quindi in idle), una specifica tecnica che per ora ne esclude l’impiego dei notebook (un SSD in stand-by non consuma più di 50 mW).Il “fiore all’occhiello” della nuova memoria Optane è la latenza contenutissima sia in lettura che in scrittura: in questo caso si attesta a 6 microsecondi in lettura e 16 microsecondi in scrittura.
Le informazioni in lettura e scrittura sequenziale vengono trasferite fino a 1.200 MB/s e 280 MB/s mentre in lettura e scrittura random 4K si possono raggiungere, rispettivamente, 300.000 IOPS e 700.000 IOPS.
I tecnici di Intel sostengono che ciascuna memoria può scrivere 100 GB al giorno, quotidianamente, per cinque anni, senza presentare il benché minimo problema.
L’utilizzo di una memoria come quella proposta da Intel nel ruolo di cache non è una novità ed è pensato per sveltire le prestazioni del sistema nell’impiego delle applicazioni e nello svolgimento delle attività di ogni giorno.
Basti pensare che gli hard disk ibridi (SSHD) includono un SSD di piccole dimensioni che viene sfruttato per velocizzare il caricamento dei file più frequentemente utilizzati: sono il sistema operativo e il disco stesso a decidere quali elementi conservare nella cache.

Il concetto, nel caso delle unità M.2 di Intel, è sostanzialmente identico: le memorie cache Optane possono essere affiancate a supporti di memorizzazione SATA, siano essi hard disk tradizionali o SSD e soltanto sulle schede madri della serie Intel 200.

La società di Santa Clara assicura che il balzo in avanti in termini di performance sarà davvero notevole.
La commercializzazione delle unità cache Optane M.2 inizierà il prossimo 24 aprile. I prezzi? 44 dollari per la versione da 16 GB e 77 dollari per quella da 32 GB.

Autore: IlSoftware.it

Categorie
HardwareSoftware

Apple rilascia macOS 10.12.4, watchOS 3.2 e tvOS 10.2

L’aggiornamento a macOS 10.12.4 è come al solito gratuito per chi dispone di macOS Sierra, e può essere effettuato attraverso la schermata Aggiornamenti su Mac App Store. Fra le novità abbiamo Night Shift, opzione che modifica gradualmente la temperatura dei colori del display al venire della notte. Un colore più caldo infatti affatica meno la vista e concilia maggiormente il sonno, una novità che avevamo visto ad esempio su iOS con uno dei più recenti aggiornamenti.

mac os sierra

Night Shift può essere attivato nel menu Display all’interno delle Impostazioni di macOS. Fra le novità maggiormente degne di nota citiamo le nuove API PDFKit, i risultati del cricket su Siri e maggiori opzioni per iCloud Analytics.

Nel corso della serata di lunedì Apple ha rilasciato anche watchOS 3.2. L’aggiornamento può essere effettuato via iPhone attraverso l’app Watch all’interno della sezione Software Update nelle Impostazioni. L’orologio deve essere posizionato nei pressi dello smartphone e collegato ad una presa di corrente con almeno il 50% della carica residua. Fra le novità troviamo SiriKit, per espandere i comandi vocali dell’orologio alle app di terze parti come WhatsApp o Uber. C’è anche la Modalità Teatro, che inibisce ogni suono e disabilita il raise-to-wake.

Fra i rilasci di ieri anche tvOS 10.2, che introduce lo scrolling accelerato nelle app, il supporto per il Device Enrollment Program e VideoToolbox, un framework che aiuta gli sviluppatori ad introdurre funzionalità di encoding e decoding accelerate via hardware. L’aggiornamento può essere installato solo su Apple TV di quarta generazione, attraverso le Impostazioni generali.

Apple ha infine rilasciato iOS 10.3 con il nuovo Apple File System. Ne abbiamo già parlato a questo indirizzo.

Autore: Le news di Hardware Upgrade

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HardwareSoftware

Razer Updates The Razer Blade Pro With THX Certification

Late last year, Razer acquired the majority of THX, and while it may have seemed like something outside their normal realm, today Razer is announcing an updated Razer Blade Pro, with THX Certification. For those unfamiliar, THX has been certifying audio and video equipment for decades, with an initial focus on the cinema, and then branching out in to consumer electronics. With their new parent company, it makes a lot of sense to branch into computer certification.

First, let’s go over what’s new on the Razer Blade Pro. Just this month, Brandon finished his review on the Razer Blade Pro which launched late last year. The updated model launching today has some decent upgrades over the original model. First off, the CPU has been upgraded to Kaby Lake, but rather than doing a straight swap from the Core i7-6700HQ to the Core i7-7700HQ, Razer has gone with the Core i7-7820HK processor, which is 2.9-3.9 GHz, but it is also an unlocked processor, and Razer is supporting CPU overclocking in the Synapse software. One of the issues Brandon pointed out in the review was that Razer was billing the Razer Blade Pro as the ultimate laptop, but they went with the same quad-core processor as far less expensive laptops, so this is a great change. There’s only one quad-core mobile part over this, and it’s not unlocked, and being unlocked is going to improve the appeal to this market. In addition, Razer has bumped the RAM frequency to DDR4 2667 MHz, up from 2133 MHz DDR4 previously. It’s a small change, but a welcome one.

The other specifications have not changed. It still features a NVIDIA GTX 1080 8 GB graphics card, driving a 17.3-inch UHD 3840×2160 IGZO G-SYNC display, with 100% Adobe RGB color gamut, and 512 GB to 2 TB SSD support in RAID 0 with two SSDs. We’ve said this before, but honestly one good SSD would be better for most users, but it seems like the gaming market is migrating towards RAID 0 again. The form factor, light weight for a laptop of this performance, and other items remain.

Razer Blade Pro
Model 2017 2016
CPU Intel Core i7-7820HK
4C/8T
2.9-3.9 GHz
8MB Cache
45W TDP		 Intel Core i7-6700HQ
4C/8T
2.6-3.5 GHz
6MB Cache
45W TDP
GPU NVIDIA GTX 1080 8GB
2560 CUDA Cores
1556 – 1733 (Boost) MHz
Memory 32 GB 2667MHz DDR4 32 GB 2133MHz DDR4
Display 17.3″ 3840×2160 60 Hz w/G-SYNC
Storage 512GB (2 x 256GB) M.2 PCIe SSD
1TB (2 x 512GB) M.2 PCIe SSD
2TB (2 x 1TB) M.2 PCIe SSD
I/O 3 x USB 3.0 Ports
1 x Thunderbolt 3
1 x HDMI 2.0
SD Card Slot
1 x Headset Jack
1 x Killer E2400 Ethernet (10/100/1000Mbps)
Dimensions 22.5mm x 424mm x 281mm (HxWxD)
0.88″ x 16.7″ x 11″ (HxWxD)
Weight 3.54 kg / 7.8 lbs
Battery 99 Wh, 250W AC Adapter
Wireless Killer Wireless-AC 1535
2×2:2 with Bluetooth 4.1
Price $ 3999.99 and up $ 3699.99 512GB
$ 3999.99 1TB (Model tested)
$ 4499.99 2TB

The big new feature is THX Certification, and the Razer Blade Pro is the first laptop to be qualified for THX Mobile Certification. I spoke with Razer and THX about what this entails, and it appears to be good news for end users. THX tests several models from the pre-production phase onwards, with feedback from the first test looping back into the hardware configuration until the later generation units meet the testing guidelines. What those guidelines are, are unfortunately still a mystery, since THX and Razer have not gotten back to us yet on their targets, but if they do we will let you know. THX did say that they test panel performance on brightness and contrast, and are including a color profile to give a white point of D65, Rec. 709 color gamut, and low error levels, although low wasn’t defined at our meeting. The color gamut support here is important, since previous to this, the Razer Blade Pro only displayed in the Adobe RGB color space, which is much wider than sRGB. This leads to blown out colors, unless the app itself is color managed, which is a rare thing in Windows. This new color profile from THX should alleviate one of the biggest issues with the Razer Blade Pro in day to day use.

The second part of THX Mobile Certification is for audio, and while you may be expecting this to apply to the speakers, it’s actually certification for the headphone jack. This might seem a bit odd, but with the noise level of a thin and powerful system, certifying the headphone jack is arguably the better call, and honestly there’s little chance for small laptop speakers to meet much of a certification anyway. On the headphone jack, THX certification means that there has to be a flat frequency response, even with different impedance loads from different headphones, along with low distortion and high power, and a low noise floor to ensure there is no background hiss. Assuming the Razer Blade Pro didn’t already meet these targets, this should mean an improved experience from the headphone jack, although as with the display certification, we were not provided exact certification standards.

There are certainly going to be people who feel this kind of certification isn’t necessary, but there definitely is some extra confidence when you purchase something as expensive as a Razer Blade Pro, and you are ensured that the display and audio meet a certain threshold of performance. The addition of a Rec. 709 color gamut profile from THX for the Razer Blade Pro is a big win for end users as well, since there was no way before to cap the color gamut for apps with no color management.

With the new overclockable CPU, faster memory, and THX Certification, Razer has also bumped the starting price to $ 3999.99, and availability will start in April on Razerzone.com.

Source: Razer

Autore: AnandTech