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Laptop gamers usually have a pretty serious case of desktop envy when it comes to their graphics cards, especially since even midprice desktops can sport water-cooled SLI dual-card setups these days.

It's actually gotten a bit better lately, as laptop gamers have had access to Nvidia's GeForce 8800 technology--putting them in the same general ballpark as the desktop cards. But when desktop PCs got the latest GeForce 9800 cards a few months ago, we were again feeling a little left out.

Today at Computex, the computer trade show in Taiwan, Nvidia unveiled a new lineup of laptop GPUs, … Read more

It's been a big week for small systems.

On May 29, VIA formally announced (here) its "Nano" family of low-power x86 processors. These chips will be especially valuable in small laptops, UMPCs, and so-called mobile Internet devices (MIDs).

Then on June 2, NVIDIA announced (here) its Tegra 600 family, which is also being marketed for MIDs. But Tegra is a very different animal. It's based on an ARM11 processor core, which can run Windows Mobile or Linux but not Windows XP or Vista.

VIA's Nano processors are based on a new microarchitecture that is a … Read more

Introducing the latest appliance for today's digital household: the wireless speakerphone.

No longer associated only with office conferences, the speakerphone is finding its way into kitchens and family rooms as well. Granted, there are many other variations built into answer machines or the handsets themselves, but they're often afterthought functions that don't emphasize quality. So GE's newest land-line system that uses DECT technology has added a cordless speakerphone that features "True Digital Sound" for "enhanced voice reception."

We're still not sure who would need something like this, unless you're a … Read more

Ah, the elusive video phone. We've been hearing about that miraculous invention since we were kids, seeing prototypes displayed at Disneyland's house of the future. But despite an occasional product on the market, visual telephony has yet to take off for the masses.

So the closest thing we may be able to get is something like the new "GE PhotoPhone," first seen at CES in January. Although it doesn't stream video, the device does at least display digital images of whomever is ringing based on a visual form of caller ID. And when no one … Read more

General Electric is pledging to lower its water use 20 percent by 2012 and is boosting its revenue target for environmentally oriented products.

CEO Jeffrey Immelt said Wednesday at a customer presentation in Beijing that Ecomagination--GE's initiative to make goods that conserve energy and natural resources--brought in $14 billion in revenue last year, a 15 percent increase over the previous year.

GE, a tech, media, and finanical services conglomerate with more than 300,000 employees, had originally targeted $20 billion in revenue from Ecomagination by 2010, but on Wednesday raised the forecast to $25 billion by that time.

It … Read more

It's looking like the end of an era--or a century--for GE, which is drawing interest overseas in its 101-year-old appliance unit.

LG's CEO Yong Nam is considering a deal. "We are looking into it very carefully. I cannot share with you more than that," Nam commented cryptically at a news conference today.

Meantime, there's word that China-based Haier Group, which made an unsuccessful bid for Maytag in 2005, is also eyeing the unit, which might fetch between $4 billion to $8 billion, according to reports.

As it continues to work on a turnaround, Dell on Monday announced that it has named a former General Electric executive to serve as its new chief financial officer.

Brian Gladden, who had nearly 20 years of finance and management experience at GE, will join the computer maker Tuesday as a senior vice president, assuming the role of chief financial officer on June 13. Gladden is coming from Sabic Innovative Plastics, a GE Plastics spin-off where he has been serving as chief executive. Sabic is a unit of Saudi Basic Industries.

Prior to joining Sabic, Gladden held such posts as … Read more

AMD-ATI and Nvidia are preparing for the next graphics chip showdown. And there is already a good deal of information (and rumor) on the two chips due in June.

The names of the two upcoming product families have been widely reported: The ATI line is branded as the Radeon HD 4800, while the Nvidia is dubbed the GeForce GTX 200.

Advanced Micro Devices is expected to launch the HD 4850 (price estimates of graphics boards range between $189 and $219) and then follow with the 4870 (estimates range between $199 and $279). In the fourth quarter, AMD plans to add … Read more

The first dual G4 PowerPC systems from Apple were all heat sinks and fans. In this tradition, a rarefied Intel Skulltrail-based powerhouse from Thirdwave uses two top-line quad-core QX9775 processors and a bevy of Nvidia GPUs--and plenty of fans.

The system (photo) in fact looks more like a stand-alone power supply box than a computer. Of course heat dissipation is paramount in enthusiast screamers.

The original Apple dual G4 systems (circa 2001) were a testimony to heat dissipation--and Rube Goldberg. So much heat that the system could quite literally raise the temperature in a small room. (Note: I can testify … Read more