ZDNet Blogs

nVidia Optimus laptop tech switches between discrete GPU, Intel integrated graphics

Sean Portnoy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:06:34 PST

Remember Hybrid SLI? For those you don't, it was nVidia's solution for an ever-vexing problem for laptop makers: How can you deliver the power of a discrete graphics card without sacrificing battery life? The Hybrid SLI solution was to have an nVidia video card work in tandem with an nVidia motherboard (and its onboard graphics) to provide a performance boost for graphics-heavy tasks like gaming and switch to integrated graphics for other applications. Now the graphics powerhouse hopes to do Hybrid SLI one better with its new Optimus technology. The approach is similar�combine a discrete card with integrated graphics�but with a few important tweaks. The most notable one is that unlike other similar solutions, the switching between the two...

First impressions of Google Buzz: Smart, useful, long road ahead

Dion Hinchcliffe — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:00:18 PST

Earlier this afternoon Google Buzz went live after a comprehensive launch event streamed live over YouTube. Buzz is a brand-new social tool that helps users to share updates, links, photos, videos, and more with the online world at large. Aimed at consumers and eventually enterprises, Buzz is Google's most serious Social Web play yet. Find out why with my detailed breakdown and analysis.

Google Buzz goes mobile, except for BlackBerry and webOS

Matthew Miller — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:52:57 PST

I am not very interested in any service that can't be taken with me on my mobile phone so after seeing Sam's coverage of Google Buzz I immediately started searching for how I could use it on my smartphones. There are actually a couple of ways to interact with Buzz on your smartphones and the easiest way (for iPhone and Android owners currently) is to simply point your mobile browser to buzz.google.com. You can read about the mobile web app features on the Google Buzz for mobile site and see a table at the bottom that shows iPhone and Android have the best support with limited support (Buzz layer on Google Maps for mobile) on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile....

Real, Viacom to spin off Rhapsody

Sam Diaz — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:51:46 PST

Real Networks and Viacom announce that Rhapsody, a subscription music service that has struggled to compete, will be spun-off into its own company.

Peer trust plummets: Is marketing to blame?

Jennifer Leggio — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:57:11 PST

Social networking used to be innocent, peer to peer conversation and now it's turned into a marketing playground.

In 'Transit': Ford seeks foothold in commercial electric segment

Heather Clancy — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:29:15 PST

While Toyota faces flap over hybrid recall, Ford charges forward with new electric vehicle for commercial fleet usage.

Microsoft on Google Buzz: Been there, done that

Mary Jo Foley — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:41:53 PST

Google Buzz, which sounds like the slightly less confusing successor to Google's "future of e-mail" Wave product, is coming in both consumer and enterprise flavors, according to Google. Are the Softies quaking in their boots? Not exactly.

The latest head-to-head comparison between Windows virtualization solutions for the Mac

David Morgenstern — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:34:06 PST

In its latest Head-to-Head: Parallels Desktop for Mac vs. VMware Fusion article, MacTech said it performed more than 3500 tests on both single- and multiprocessor desktop and mobile Mac models. The study looked at the two main virtualization solutions on the market, as well as both 32-bit and 64-bit performance of Windows XP and Windows 7 in the virtual machines.

ATI's newest GPU - The Radeon HD 5570

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:33:45 PST

It seems like a week doesn't go by without ATI releasing a new GPU. Today we get a GPU that slots in between the HD 5450 and HD 5670 - introducing the Radeon HD 5570.

Microsoft's weakest cloud link: The Windows Azure Console?

Mary Jo Foley — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:11:36 PST

It's just one early user's opinion, but it sounds like Microsoft needs to beef up the integrated console component of Windows Azure to keep its cloud-computing customers happy.