firmware

Apple has released a couple of updates today pertaining to Boot Camp as well as MacBook and MacBook Pro systems. The update for Boot Camp addresses some critical bugs, and adds support for the Radeon 5870 GPU, Apple USB Ethernet adapter, and the MacBook Air external superdrive.

Apple recommends that all Boot Camp 3.1 users apply the update to address the bug fixes (currently undocumented).

There are two versions of the update, one for 32-bit Windows operating systems, and the other for 64-bit operating systems. Apple's software update utility in Windows should detect the proper version for your … Read more

Apple has released an update for the firmware on Mid 2010 Mac Pro models. The update addresses issues that prevented the firmware password prompt from being displayed when a firmware password was enabled and corrects a problem where the Boot Picker would not be presented when connected to a network that did not use DHCP.

The update is a 1.96MB download and requires OS X 10.6.4 to install. It should be available via Software Update for your system, but if not then you can download it from the following Web page:

Mac Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5… Read more

When Apple released the iOS 4.0 update, a number of iPod Touch owners found their battery life was significantly shorter. When we originally covered this issue, the solutions at the time were to turn off the Wi-Fi features, or use Airplane mode (which also turns off Wi-Fi), along with other similar suggestions that prevent network use.

Overall the problem was definitely caused by the use of Wi-Fi, but many assumed the error was in the device itself. While Apple's software update in no doubt was what started the problem, the root of the issue appears it might be … Read more

Barnes & Noble announced today that it will be rolling out a major firmware update for its Nook e-Book readers in late November, calling it the biggest update yet since the Nook was launched a year ago. The company says that version 1.5 of the firmware "will dramatically increase" the page-turn speeds of the Nook 3G and Nook Wi-Fi and deliver additional feature and performance enhancements.

While Barnes & Noble didn't give much in the way of details, it did say that search on the device would be improved, and new features such as customizable library … Read more

Apple has released a couple of firmware updates for the system management controller (SMC) in the 2007-2008 MacBook and MacBook Pro systems. These are the systems that were available before the aluminum "unibody" systems were released.

The update addresses problems that prevented the systems from charging with the newer power adaptors with the "L-shaped" magsafe connector.

The downloads are about 880KB in size, and should be available through Software Update for relevant systems, but can also be downloaded from the following Web pages.

MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.4

MacBook SMC Firmware Update 1.4… Read more

Charging issues experienced by owners of older MacBook and MacBook Pro models when using the new L-shaped MagSafe power adapters have been solved via a firmware update from Apple. … Read more

How fast will PCs boot up in the future? I asked industry experts to explain what's involved and what could lead to PCs that boot up in seconds.

One of the key components in getting a PC to start quickly is the BIOS, or basic input/output system. The BIOS, which is present in every Windows PC and Apple computer, is the first piece of code run when the computer starts up, also referred to as firmware. The BIOS serves to initialize and identify system devices such as the hard-disk drive, DVD/CD drive, networking components, USB ports, the video card, keyboard, and mouse.

I chatted with Surendra Arora, vice president of business development at BIOS supplier Phoenix Technologies, and Stephen Jones, the company's chief technical officer, as well as Mark Doran, a senior principal engineer at Intel's Software and Services Group.

And I exchanged e-mail with Fadi Zuhayri, senior manager at the Intel Software & Services Group. Zuhayri said that UEFI, the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, provides the foundation for reaching instant-on one day. But a number of factors, including the operating system, need to come together to achieve fast boot times in under 10 seconds. "So we are getting at near-parity to instant on. The technology foundation is there to make it happen," Zuhayri said. (Note that UEFI is already being used in Windows PCs from a number of PC makers.)

Q: What is UEFI and why is this replacing the traditional BIOS and why is it instrumental in achieving faster boot times? Surendra Arora (Phoenix): The reality is UEFI was started for various reasons. I'm not sure boot speed was one of the reasons that UEFI was started. The real reason was to move away from assembly code. That was what the bring-up process used to be. Hard-coded or machine-level coding. Now C [language] is being used. You can do it at an abstracted layer that's built on APIs [application programming interfaces]. This [UEFI] allows you to standardize things, use multi-threading. We've parallelized initialization so you can boot extremely fast.

Q: So how fast can boot times be now? For example, my Dell Adamo [laptop] that has a solid-state drive can boot to the Windows log-in in roughly 20 seconds. Arora: The OS and the components that you use lead to the complete experience. What we at Phoenix can do is hand off what we do to the OS extremely fast. It used to be 10 to 15 seconds and now… Read more

It has been a long time coming, but a firmware update is now available that enables PlayStation 3 owners to play Blu-ray 3D films.

The update was released yesterday, a day before it was expected. Upon downloading firmware version 3.50, people can watch the relatively small number of Blu-ray 3D films on their PlayStation 3 consoles attached to their 3D TVs.

However, Blu-ray 3D playback is just one component in the upgrade. In addition, Sony has added a feature that allows game developers to integrate Facebook into their titles. According to Sony, supported games will let people "access … Read more

About a month after releasing the beta version, Synology announced today the release of the third major revision of its robust Linux-based firmware for DiskSation NAS servers. The firmware is called DiskStation Manager 3.0 and will work on all of Synology's NAS servers made in 2007 or later.

The new version of the operating system boasts many new features, including the ability to multitask within its Web-based user interface. You can now open the user management function in one window and the surveillance system in another; these windows are kept within the Web interface and you can move … Read more