arm

Just bought a shiny new Surface tablet? Have some time to kill? Are you feeling rather war hungry? Then look no further. Armed is a futuristic turn-based war game available for Windows Phone and Windows 8.

To win each battle, players must build armies to take over enemy structures and defend their own. At the start of each battle, users are given funds to build factories or defensive turrets to fight off ground and air units. Each building is upgradeable; investing in a factory, for example, lets you get upgrades for your armies and even build more advanced units later … Read more

Apple has become a formidable chip designer with its A series chips. And that's probably not good news for Intel, says a chip expert.

I asked Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst an Insight 64, about the shifting dynamics of the relationship that began in 2006, when Apple dropped the PowerPC for its Mac line.

Brookwood said, in effect, that if you reduce the relationship to the fact that Apple must continue to pay an "Intel tax" for chip designs it doesn't control, the future is not very cheery.

Q: What is the significance of Apple's A6 … Read more

Apple crushes its previous first weekend for iPad sales, proving that people will still buy the latest shiny Apple toy. Having two different iPad models probably helped as well. One thing we do know is that stores didn't sell out. If you're holding out for that Retina Display, and you believe the rumor mills, they're already working on it for you.

The future of the iMac is going to look a lot different after reports that Apple is looking to eventually stop using Intel processors in favor of its own mobile processors. Those next-gen iMacs are going … Read more

Imagination, a key supplier of Apple chip technology, will buy MIPS, one of the oldest names in the silicon business.

U.K.-based Imagination Technologies, a major supplier of graphics chips, will buy the operating business of MIPS Technologies, a vendor of power-efficient chips used in routers, set-top boxes, and game machines.

With the deal, valued at $60 million, Imagination will get 82 "key" patents that are "directly relevant to the MIPS architecture" and comprehensive license rights to all of the remaining 498 MIPS' patents, for a total of 580 patents.

Imagination, known primarily as a … Read more

After using the new Samsung Chromebook for the better part of a workday, I have to say I'm impressed -- as long as you consider the constraints of its $249 price tag.

Google announced the Samsung Chromebook today along with new ambitions to spread its browser-based, cloud-focused Chrome OS laptop much more widely. Google envisions it as good for an extra machine that lies around the house or as a laptop for students.

I find it a reasonable device for those categories, especially for people like myself who already have their head in the Google cloud with Google Docs, … Read more

Google introduced a new 11.6-inch $249 Chromebook today that lowers the entry price and raises the expectations for its Chrome OS products.

Chromebooks are cloud-computing laptops use Google's Chrome OS, which is built on Linux under the covers but which actually runs applications in the Chrome browser. When Google released two second-generation Chrome OS products, the $550 Samsung Series 5 550 Chromebook and the $330 Series 3 Chromebox in May, it aimed for increased processing horsepower.

If the Chromebook Series 5 550 drew inspiration from a MacBook Pro, the new Chromebook did so from a MacBook Air. It'… Read more

Calxeda, the startup that's building data centers with chips normally found in cell phones, has raised an additional $55 million, signaling that its low-power server technology may be gaining traction.

The company, which was founded four years ago by former Intel and Marvell engineer Barry Evans, is an early proponent of using ARM architecture in servers rather than traditional x86 designs popularized by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.

"This significant infusion of capital will accelerate the exciting trajectory we've been on for the past four years," Evans said in a statement. "Businesses require a more … Read more

It's been a bad week for Intel.

The earnings warning today capped a week that began ominously when Apple sent out invites for an event -- widely expected to be the unveiling of the iPhone 5 -- that could bury Intel's biggest annual conference.

Call it bad luck, but the three-day Intel Developer Forum will peak on September 12, the same day of the big Apple event (which, by the way, CNET will be live-blogging).

And it's probably not a stretch to say that Apple's announcement will generate a mountain of news before, during, and after … Read more

Google doesn't just want to just "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," as its mission statement says. It also wants to figure out how to use technology to improve the world under the auspices of its think tank, Google Ideas.

Google Ideas, which launched 18 months ago, is working with the Council on Foreign Relations and the Tribeca Film Festival to sponsor a conference, "Illicit Networks: Forces in Opposition" in Los Angeles this week. The aim is to bring together government officials, tech leaders, researchers and victims to explore … Read more