It’s been a while since we’ve heard some positive news from the AMD camp, who’ve had a tough time recently. Back in 2005, the company was slowly eating away at Intel’s market share with their high performance processors. But sadly, this advancement woke up a slumbering giant. Intel responded swiftly and without an inkling mercy. Their launched a brand new Core 2 Duo, which rapidly fought back the AMD advancement and Intel hasn’t halted since. In addition AMD had an even more difficult time figuring out how to cut prices to create a comparatively better value than their large competitor.

Fortunately, the engineers over at AMD weren’t just sitting around; they were hard at work drafting plans for a counteroffensive. The weapon, you ask? “Barcelona”: the first ever native x86 quad-core microprocessor. “Designed from inception for the most demanding datacenters,” ready to battle Intel over every server socket with incredible energy efficiency and cost. Expect to start seeing these processors in server-oriented desktops, codenamed “phenom,” by December 2007.

That is AMD’s plan, anyway. If you’re eager to learn more about the new chips and their prices, processing speeds, and plenty more head on over to Tech-Talkers.com.

Media Temple (mt) customers are in for a treat. The recently launched GRID server is getting a second major upgrade, v1.2. All customers using the new Grid-Server (gs) will soon receive an update which will consist of many stability enhancements, “micro-updates”, user request implementations, bug fixes, and plenty of new features.

GMR v1.2 System Upgrade:

• Over 800+ Core count cluster – faster than ever
• MySQL GridContainers – currently private beta only
• Email Upgrades – performance, spam, virus scan, & security
• FTP Update – faster connection and transfer rates
• Storage Performance – around 400% faster data access
• Network Speed Increase, DNS cluster, and much more!

We left our previous host, 1and1, we joined Media Temple in September 2006. Since then we have been quite satisfied with their service and the peformance of their servers. (great customer service too!) Anyways, Media Temple will be rolling out the new GMR v1.2 update on 03/02/07 (friday), a week from today, and no action is required on your end.

Links: Media Temple | GMR v1.2 Info

Bill Gates started off the Microsoft CES keynote with his thoughts on the rapid advancement that the technology market has undergone in recent years, and quickly tied it all into the release of Windows Vista and the importance of the new operating system. Other than Vista’s features, the keynote included information about their new Windows Home Server, Live Anywhere, Xbox IPTV, and a big deal with Ford Motors.

Vista’s ShadowCopy:
A neat feature, showcased by Justin Hutchinson, is called ShadowCopy, which in essence provides Vista with another safety net from human error. In short, it allows users who accidentally saved an incorrect version of a document or overwrote the wrong file to “restore previous versions of [the] document with just a couple of clicks” The feature is a lot like the current System Restore, but works on an individual file level. “It’s better than going back in time,” joked Justin (referring to OSX’s Time Machine).

Vista’s GroupShot:
Continuing with Vista, Hutchinson described how the Ultimate version of Vista will include downloadable extras for those of us willing to shell out the extra money for this particular version. One of the more impressive downloadable programs is Groupshot, which allows users to select parts of different pictures and combine them into one for a better overall image. The aim of this program is to fix awkward facial expressions of an individual in a series of group shots, where the face of a person in one image can be transplanted over onto his or her face in another image.

DreamScene Backgrounds:
Another Ultimate Extra is found in the form of DreamScene, which allows users to use full motion video as a desktop background. This feature will probably only be recommendable for those who have enough graphics horsepower to spare after having turned on Aero Glass, not to mention the patience to deal with a distracting video playing in the background.

Virtual Earth 3D:
After a brief Vista discussion, the topic changed to the Virtual Earth 3D technology that’s part of the Windows Live network. Using an Xbox 360 controller, Hutchinson was able to fly a camera around in a fully three dimensional recreation of Sin City. The concept felt a lot like Google Earth with SketchUp, but it’s always nice to see competition.

Windows Home Server:
The next item of interest was the mention of a project that Microsoft has worked on with HP, called Windows Home Server. As the name implies, this will be network attached device that will be available to multiple PCs, Xbox consoles, the Zune music players and any other compatible devices. They can be used for backups or additional storage. Expect to see the HP Media Smart Server in stores later on in the second half of this year.

“Live” Anywhere:
With Windows Vista, Microsoft will be introducing the concept of Live Anywhere, which basically amounts to being able to play a game, like Uno, on your Vista machine with someone else playing on their Xbox 360, and vice versa. In the future the service will support more “hardcore games.”

Xbox 360 Gets TV:
The entertainment experience doesn’t stop with Live Anywhere. Microsoft also plans to provide its customers with a wide variety of TV content, which it will soon be offering in four different ways.

• 1) HD-DVD – the new addon for the Xbox 360 will provide HD video. More units will be shipped out since they are in “incredibly high” demand.
• 2) Media Center PC – recorded and live TV content can be accessed on the Xbox 360 by networking it with one of these PCs.
• 3) Xbox Live Video – the recently launched service allows users to download HD and SD movies onto the console. The service already has a thousand hours of content. And it’s really simple, because the Xbox is already on the internet and, it’s connected to a big [screen].
• 4) IPTV – with just a simple internet connection and a Xbox 360, you soon can receive standard TV channels (live) over the internet. Microsoft is planning on turning the 360 into a Top Set Box soon after gaining support from third-party telephony companies such as AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, C-Com and SwissCom.

The new IPTV service will be able to handle both standard and high definition streaming for a variety of different channels. The software includes picture-in-picture support, recording, and other TiVo-type features. The service will NOT be free, but will be much cheaper than paying regular cable and extra equipment. (great for college students)

Ford Motors:
The final major announcement to come forth from the CES keynote was that Microsoft has partnered up with the Ford Motor Company to offer a “fully integrated, voice activated, in-car communications and entertainment system for mobile phones and digital music players.” This Ford exclusive, called “Synch”, will support Bluetooth, phone book syncing, three way calling, and text-to-speech reading for text messages. Not only will it be compatible with the Zune and the iPod, but as a bonus there will also be a USB port for Flash Thumb Drives.

Watch: Bill Gates’s Keynote (requires Windows Media Player)
Links: Microsoft at CES 2007
Related: CES: Verizon – Mobile TV

A few months ago we published an article entitled How To: “Stream Your iTunes Library To PSP“. The article, which demonstrated how to share music from your windows machine to your PlayStation Portable (PSP), became an extreme hit. Today we are here to demonstrate a new alternative, which is in fact more powerful and functions smoothly on both Windows and Macintosh machines. After reading through this tutorial, you will be able to easily stream as much DRM-Free music as you want from any networked computer to your Playstation Portable (PSP) via WiFi.

The software we are using today, MyTunesRSS, has been developed by our friends at Codewave Software. This new MyTunesRSS software is completely free and offers even more features than the software used in our previous tutorial. To use this application you will need the items mentioned below. (MyTunesRSS is currently on v2.1)

To get started you’ll need the following:

• PSP with Firmware 2.60/2.70 or Above
• Networked XP Pro/Home or Mac OS X
• Java Runtime 1.5 or Above Installed
• WiFi (802.11b-compatible) Network Router
• Apple iTunes v6.0.4 or Above Installed
• DRM-Free Songs In The iTunes Library

The 3-Setup Procedure:

Windows:
1) Download MyTunesRSSwin.zip to your desktop. Unzip (extract) all contents into a new folder. Open it folder, but do not modify its contents.
2) Press on the on the MyTunesRSS Icon and wait until it starts up.
3) Under General -> iTunes browse to the location of your “iTunes Music Library.xml”. (Usually located in My Documents -> My Music -> iTunes.)

Macintosh:
1) Download MyTunesRSSmac.zip. Extract all contents into a new folder.
2) Open the folder, press on MyTunesRSS, and wait for it to start up.
3) Under General -> iTunes browse to the location of your “iTunes Music Library.xml”. (This is normally located in Music -> iTunes)

Final Setup Steps (mac and win):
1) Choose a port number such as “1234″ and enter any password.
2) Under Options -> Automation, check Auto Update Database (10 mins).
3) Open any standard browser (IE/Safari/Firefox) and enter either http://localhost:[port number] (ex: http://localhost:1234) or the URL displayed on the General Tab. A MyTunesRSS page should appear shortly.

Note: If you successfully accomplished the above (without any errors), you may proceed to the next step. If you do run into errors make sure you meet the requirements and are using the correct software for your OS. If the MyTunesRSS page didn’t appear, open the port you choose previously and give MyTunesRSS permission to access the web in your firewall settings.

PSP Setup Procedure:
1) PSP should already be setup on your LAN and should be able to access the web, if so start up your PSP and go to Network -> Internet Browser.
2) Enter “http://[IP Address]:[Port Number]” into your PSP Browser. “IP Address” represents the IP of the machine running the MyTunesRSS server and the “Port Number” is the number you selected during setup. URL can also be found under “General” in MyTunesRSS. (ex: http://192.168.1.101:1234)
3) Once the MyTunesRSS page appears, enter your password and login.
4) Browse around and select the RSS icon on any playlist/album/artist and say “Yes” to “Add This Channel” to your PSP’s RSS Channel.
5) Close your PSP browser and go to Network -> RSS Channel. Select an item you had added to your library and enjoy the music!

Note: If the previous procedure didn’t work, make sure you followed all the instructions properly and that your firewall settings are properly configured. Also note that this will not work for music purchased on the iTunes Music Store and will only work on any DRM-free music. This tutorial only demonstrated how to access your music on your LAN, if you wish to access it from “hotspots” or elsewhere you will need to do a little port forwarding in your router.

Downloads: MyTunesRSS (by CodeWave) | Support Forum
Links: Stream iTunes Library To PSP, Pt. 1 | Digg This Article