IT'S MONDAY, AUGUST 30TH, 2010, I'M JEFF BAKALAR, AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
CPU AND GRAPHICS MANUFACTURER AMD IS DROPPING ITS ATI BRAND, WHICH IT ACQUIRED WHEN IT PURCHASED THE COMPANY. THE ATI NAME WAS BEST KNOWN FOR THEIR RADEON GRAPHICS CHIPS. AMD, HOWEVER, HAS LONG TERM PLANS TO INTEGRATE THEIR CPUS WITH GRAPHICS PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY AND FELT THAT RIGHT NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO DROP THE ATI BRAND. STRANGE AS IT SOUNDS, THAT MEANS YOU'LL BE SEEING AMD PROCESSORS INSIDE I-MACS.
APPLE IS SET TO ANNOUNCE SOME NEW PRODUCTS THIS WEDNESDAY, AND AS ALWAYS WITH APPLE EVENTS, RUMORS ARE ABOUND. ASIDE FROM AN I-OS POWERED APPLE TV, THE MOST PROMINENT RUMOR SEEMS TO BE A RADICALLY REDESIGNED AND SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER IPOD NANO. EARLY PICTURES OF CASES SEEM TO SHOW A MORE SQUARE-ISH IPOD, WITHOUT THE ICONIC CLICK-WHEEL AND JUST A FEW CENTIMETERS WIDE.
USA TODAY, THE NATION'S SECOND LARGEST NEWSPAPER, HAS ANNOUNCED THAT IT IS DRAMATICALLY RESTRUCTURING TO FOCUS ON EMERGING PLATFORMS LIKE THE I-PAD AND I-PHONE. THE INTERNET, SAYS USA TODAY, HAS ROBBED THE NEWSPAPER OF MANY ITS READERS AND AD REVENUES, BUT THE COMPANY HOPES THAT ITS NEW FOCUS ON MOBILE AND EMERGING PLATFORMS WILL GIVE IT THE EDGE IT ONCE HAD WHEN IT INTRODUCED COLOR PHOTOS TO NEWSPAPERS.
A REPORT FROM THE FINANCIAL TIMES SAYS THAT YOUTUBE IS NEGOTIATING WITH HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS TO STREAM MOVIES ON THE SITE FOR AROUND $5 EACH. GOOGLE, YOUTUBE'S PARENT OWNER, HAS FLIRTED WITH ON-DEMAND RENTALS BEFORE, BUT IS LOOKING TO MAKE A BIG PUSH FOR IT NOW AS COMPANIES LIKE NETFLIX HAVE RECENTLY SIGNED MAJOR DEALS TO SECURE CONTENT FROM FILM STUDIOS.
THOSE ARE YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. I'M JEFF BAKALAR FOR CNET.COM, AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.
