Embedded Microprocessor

EEMBC, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium, is a non-profit organization formed in 1997 with the aim of developing meaningful performance benchmarks for the hardware and software used in embedded systems. The goal of its members is to make EEMBC benchmarks an industry standard for evaluating the capabilities of embedded microprocessors, compilers, and the associated embedded system implementations according to objective, clearly defined, application-based criteria.

EEMBC benchmarks aim to reflect real-world applications and the demands that embedded systems encounter in these environments. The consortium licenses "algorithms" and "applications" organized into benchmark suites targeting telecommunications, networking, digital entertainment, Java, automotive/industrial, consumer, and office equipment products, and an additional suite that allows users to observe the energy consumed by the processor when performing these algorithms and applications. EEMBC also has a series of multicore-specific benchmarks that span multiple application areas.

Only EEMBC members are entitled to publish their benchmark test results, and they must submit these to the EEMBC Technology Center (ETC) for official certification before making the scores public. The ETC also offers full benchmark testing and analysis services.

The president of EEMBC is Markus Levy, who is also president of the Multicore Association. The director of software engineering is Shay Gal-On.
Benchmarks

Automotive

* AutoBench 1.1, performance of microprocessors and microcontrollers in automotive, industrial, and general-purpose applications

Consumer

* ConsumerBench 1.1, performance of processors in digital still cameras, printers, and other embedded systems that handle digital imaging tasks

Digital Entertainment

* DENBench 1.0, performance of processor subsystems in multimedia tasks such as image, video, and audio file compression and decompression

Java

* GrinderBench 1.0, performance of Java ME applications in products such as mobile phones and PDAs

Multicore

* MultiBench 1.0 extends the EEMBC scope to analyze multicore architectures, memory bottlenecks, OS scheduling support, synchronization efficiency, and other related system functions. It measures the impact of parallelization and scalability across both data processing and computationally-intensive tasks.

Networking

* NetworkingBench 1.1, performance of processors in low-end routers
* NetworkingBench 2.0, performance of processors tasked with moving packets in networking applications

Office Automation

* OABench 1.1, performance of processors in printers, plotters, and other office automation systems that handle text and image processing tasks

Telecom

* TeleBench 1.1, performance of processors in modem, xDSL, and related fixed-telecom applications

Power/Energy

* EnergyBench, ties performance with energy consumption for specific benchmarks, specified for silicon devices which can be certified under current procedures

CoreMark

CoreMark is a free benchmark that targets the CPU core. It was developed by Shay Gal-On and released as an industry standard by EEMBC in 2009. CoreMark’s primary goals are simplicity and providing a method for testing only a processor’s core features. Each iteration of CoreMark performs the following algorithms: list processing (find and sort), matrix manipulation (common matrix operations), state machine (determine if an input stream contains valid numbers), and CRC.
References

Shay Gal-On, Markus Levy, "Measuring Multicore Performance," Computer, vol. 41, no. 11, pp. 99-102, Nov. 2008, doi:10.1109/MC.2008.464

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Ram

Implementation
Personal computers

The first PC motherboards with support for RDRAM debuted in 1999. They supported PC-800 RDRAM, which operated at 400 MHz and delivered 1600 MB/s of bandwidth over a 16-bit bus using a 184-pin RIMM form factor. Data is transferred on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal, a technique known as double data rate. For marketing reasons the physical clock rate was multiplied by two (because of the DDR operation); therefore, the 400 MHz Rambus standard was named PC-800. This was significantly faster than the previous standard, PC-133 SDRAM, which operated at 133 MHz and delivered 1066 MB/s of bandwidth over a 64-bit bus using a 168-pin DIMM form factor.
RDRAM memory with integrated heatsink.

Moreover, if a mainboard has a dual- or quad-channel memory subsystem, all of the memory channels must be upgraded simultaneously. Sixteen-bit modules provide one channel of memory, while 32-bit modules provide two channels. Therefore, a dual channel mainboard accepting 16-bit modules must have RIMMs added or removed in pairs. A dual channel mainboard accepting 32-bit modules can have single RIMMs added or removed as well.
Stick/module specification

* PC600: 16-bit, single channel RIMM, specified to operate at 300 MHz clock rate, 1200 MB/s bandwidth
* PC700: 16-bit, single channel RIMM, specified to operate at 355 MHz clock rate, 1420 MB/s bandwidth
* PC800: 16-bit, single channel RIMM, specified to operate at 400 MHz clock rate, 1600 MB/s bandwidth
* PC1066 (RIMM 2100): 16-bit, single channel RIMM specified to operate at 533 MHz clock rate, 2133 MB/s bandwidth
* PC1200 (RIMM 2400): 16-bit, single channel RIMM specified to operate at 600 MHz clock rate, 2400 MB/s bandwidth
* RIMM 3200: 32-bit, dual channel RIMM specified to operate at 400 MHz clock rate, 3200 MB/s bandwidth
* RIMM 4200: 32-bit, dual channel RIMM specified to operate at 533 MHz clock rate, 4200 MB/s bandwidth
* RIMM 4800: 32-bit, dual channel RIMM specified to operate at 600 MHz clock rate, 4800 MB/s bandwidth
* RIMM 6400: 32-bit, dual channel RIMM specified to operate at 800 MHz clock rate, 6400 MB/s bandwidth

Video game consoles

Rambus's RDRAM saw use in three video game consoles, beginning in 1996 with the Nintendo 64. The Nintendo console utilized 4 MB RDRAM running with a 500 MHz clock on a 9-bit bus, providing 500 MB/s bandwidth. RDRAM allowed N64 to be equipped with a large amount of memory bandwidth while maintaining a lower cost due to design simplicity. RDRAM's narrow bus allows circuit board designers to use simpler design techniques to minimize cost. The memory, however, was disliked for its high random access latencies. In the N64, the RDRAM modules are cooled by a passive heatspreader assembly.[1]

Sony uses RDRAM in the PlayStation 2. The PS2 was equipped with 32 MB of the memory, and implemented a dual-channel configuration resulting in 3200 MB/s available bandwidth. The PlayStation 3 utilizes 256 MB of Rambus's XDR DRAM, which could be considered a successor to RDRAM, on a 64-bit bus at 400 MHz with an octal data rate[1] (cf. double data rate) providing a clock rate of 3.2 GHz, allowing a large 204.8 Gbit/s (25.6 GB/s) bandwidth.[2]
Video cards

Cirrus Logic implemented RDRAM support in their Laguna graphics chip, with two members of the family; the 2D-only 5462 and the 5464, a 2D chip with 3D acceleration. RDRAM offered a cost-advantage while being potentially faster than competing DRAM technologies with its high bandwidth. The chips were used on the Creative Graphics Blaster MA3xx series, among others.
Performance

Compared to other contemporary standards, Rambus shows a slight increase in latency, heat output, manufacturing complexity, and cost. Some criticized RDRAM's larger die size, which is required to house the added interface and results in a 10-20 percent price premium at 16-megabit densities and adds about a 5 percent penalty at 64M.[2]

PC-800 RDRAM operated with a latency of 45 ns, which was more latency than other comparable DRAM technologies of the time. RDRAM memory chips also put out significantly more heat than SDRAM chips, necessitating heatspreaders on all RIMM devices. RDRAM includes a memory controller on each memory chip, significantly increasing manufacturing complexity compared to SDRAM, which used a single memory controller located on the northbridge chipset. RDRAM was also two to three times the price of PC-133 SDRAM due to a combination of high manufacturing costs and high license fees.[citation needed] PC-2100 DDR SDRAM, introduced in 2000, operated with a clock rate of 133 MHz and delivered 2100 MB/s over a 64-bit bus using a 184-pin DIMM form factor.

When installing multiple RIMMs on a memory channel, performance impact is greater than SDRAM design because the data in the further memory module has to travel across all memory chips installed physically closer to the memory controller, instead of just 1 or 2 chips in production SDRAM motherboards.

The design of many common Rambus memory controllers dictated that memory sticks be installed in sets of two. Any remaining open memory slots must be filled with CRIMMs. These sticks provide no extra memory, and only served to propagate the signal to termination resistors on the motherboard instead of providing a dead end where signals would reflect. The picture on the lower right depicts a CRIMM stick.
A RAMBUS Continuity-RIMM (CRIMM), also known as terminator or dummy.

With the introduction of the i840 (Pentium III), Intel 850 (Pentium 4), Intel 860 (Pentium 4 Xeon) chipsets, Intel added support for dual-channel PC-800 RDRAM, doubling bandwidth to 3200 MB/s by increasing the bus width to 32-bit. This was followed in 2002 by the i850E chipset, which introduced PC-1066 RDRAM, increasing total dual-channel bandwidth to 4200 MB/s. Then in 2002, Intel released the E7205 Granitebay chipset, which introduced dual-channel DDR support for a total bandwidth of 4200 MB/s, at a slightly lower latency than competing RDRAM.

To achieve RDRAM's 800 MHz clock rate, the memory module only runs on 16-bit bus, instead of 64-bit bus in contemporary SDRAM DIMM. Furthermore, not all production RDRAM module at the time of Intel 820 launch can run at 800 MHz, but rather at slower clock rate.
Benchmarks

Benchmark tests conducted in 1998 showed most everyday applications to run minimally slower with RDRAM. In 1999, benchmarks comparing the Intel i840 and Intel i820 RDRAM chipsets with the Intel i440BX SDRAM chipset lead to the conclusion that the performance gain of RDRAM did not justify its premium price over SDRAM except for use in workstations. In 2002, benchmarks pointed out that single-channel DDR400 SDRAM modules could closely match dual-channel 1066 MHz RDRAM in everyday applications.[citation needed]
History of RDRAM marketing in PC market

In November, 1996, Rambus entered into a development and license contract with Intel.Intel announced to the Wintel development community that it would only support the Rambus memory interface for its microprocessors,Intel was granted rights to purchase 1M shares of Rambus' stock at $10 per share.

In 1998, Intel planned to make a $500 million equity investment in Micron Technology, to accelerate the adoption of Direct RDRAM. Other investment included paying $100 million to Samsung Electronics in 1999.

As a transition strategy, Intel planned to support PC-100 SDRAM DIMM on future Intel 82x chipset using Memory Translation Hub (MTH).In 2000, Intel recalled the Intel 820 motherboard with memory translator hub (MTH) because the MTH can, while doing simultaneous switching, produce noise that may cause the computer to hang mysteriously or to spontaneously reboot. Since then, no production Intel 820 motherboards contain MTH.

In 2000, Intel subsidized RDRAM by bundling retail boxes of Pentium 4 CPU with 2 RIMMs.[10] Intel began to phase out Rambus subsidies in 2001.

In 2003, Intel introduced Intel 865 and Intel 875 chipsets, which were marketed as high end replacement of Intel 850. Furthermore, the future memory roadmap did not include Rambus.

Few DRAM manufacturers have ever obtained the license to produce RDRAM, and those who did license the technology failed to make enough RIMMs to satisfy PC market demand, causing RIMM to be priced higher than SDRAM DIMMs, even when memory prices skyrocketed during 2002.During RDRAM's decline, DDR continued to advance in performance while, at the same time, it was still cheaper than RDRAM. Meanwhile, a massive price war in the DDR SDRAM allowed DDR SDRAM to be sold at or below production cost. DDR SDRAM makers were losing massive amounts of money, while RDRAM suppliers were making a good profit for every module sold. While it is still produced today, few motherboards support RDRAM. Between 2002-2005, market share of RDRAM had never extended beyond 5%.

In 2004, it was revealed that SDRAM manufacturers Infineon, Hynix, Samsung, Micron, and Elpida had entered into a price-fixing scheme . Infineon, Hynix, Samsung and Elpida all entered plea agreements with the US DOJ, pleading guilty to price fixing over 1999-2002. They paid fines totalling over $700 million and numerous executives were sentenced to jail time.

Rambus has alleged that, as part of the conspiracy, the DRAM manufacturers acted to depress the price of DDR memory in an effort to prevent RDRAM from succeeding in the market. Those allegations are the subject of lawsuits by Rambus against the various companies.

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Nokia N96

Key Specs

Network: EDGE; GPRS; HSDPA Screen Size: 2.8 inches Operating System: Symbian OS 9.3 Carrier Specific?: No Digital Camera: Yes (5 megapixels) Audio Playback: Yes Internal Memory: 16GB Memory-Card Support: Yes (MicroSD) Mfr. Rated Battery Life: 2.5 to 3.8 hours (talk time); 8 to 9.5 days (standby time) Dimensions (HWD): 4.05x1.97x0.63 inches Weight: 4.5 ounces

Nokia N96 Review

Reviewed by: Louis Ramirez Review Date: March 2009

Nokia's N96 comes with every feature you'd want in a smartphone. This update to the N95 includes HSDPA (3G), Wi-Fi, 16GB of built-in memory, and a 5-megapixel camera. Unfortunately, when compared with a svelte and more advanced device like the Apple iPhone, the portly N96 fails to impress us. With its unsubsidized $705 price tag, it's also out of touch with reality. When it first debuted, Nokia's N95 put its competition to shame with an abundance of media-oriented features. The N96 picks up where the N95 left off, but ditches the N95's matte finish for a stylish high-gloss exterior. Although the glossy finish is more in line with today's trends, there's no escaping the N96's cheap, toy-like feel. In fact, a few times the phone's rear casing came loose or squeaked, since it's only held in place by one latch. Otherwise, the N96 isn't a radical departure from its predecessor, though Nokia managed to trim a bit of depth from its waistline. Like the N95, the N96 is a dual-sliding phone. Slide the screen upward to reveal the phone's numeric keypad; slide it down to access a column of four media-playback controls, which light up when the phone is on. Besides being an unlocked phone (you can use it with service from AT&T or T-Mobile), one reason for the high price tag is that the N96 is loaded with features. The problem is that if you live in the United States, you can’t use a lot them. The N96 has the ability to stream live television, but the service is not offered by AT&T or T-Mobile. It supports video calling and music downloads from Nokia Music, but both are not available stateside. But even if these capabilities become available, the price is still high when you compare it to smartphones like the iPhone, T-Mobile’s G1, and even some of the newer BlackBerry models. The front of the phone is dominated by a 2.8-inch QVGA (240x320-pixel) display, which (surprisingly in this iPhone age) is not a touch screen. Although the LCD is perfectly adequate for photos and video, the display falls short on resolution, trailing behind the iPhone’s 480x320-resolution display and other large-screen phones like it. Navigating through the phone's interface is easy, thanks to the N96's four-way directional pad and Symbian OS. Although the lack of a QWERTY keypad makes the phone feel dated, the directional pad proved to be more efficient than most touch screens we've used. On the rear sits the phone's 5-megapixel sensor with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flashes. Images looked superior to those of most camera phones and can stand up to those from your average compact point-and-shoot. Conveniently, the N96 has a GPS receiver built in. The phone uses the Nokia Maps application to display maps, and users can add optional navigation services such as voice-guided driving instructions. In terms of connectivity, the N96 packs HSDPA, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. However, Web addicts will find Nokia's Web browser very dated, especially after seeing the HTML-rich pages of the iPhone's Safari browser. Although Flash is supported, Web pages on the N96 were slow to load and oftentimes loaded incorrectly or with errors. In addition to the N96's 16GB of onboard memory, the phone also supports MicroSD cards. This is particularly useful if you want to use your N96 as your personal media player, since it already includes a 3.5mm headphone jack and sports an FM tuner, along with support for most popular audio formats (such as MP3, WMA, and AAC). To watch videos, upload an MPEG-4, WMV, or Real file. Call quality on the phone was loud and strong. Likewise, its built-in stereo speakers were among the strongest we've seen on a smartphone. The N96's battery lasted for two business days with a combination of moderate wireless use, voice calls, and standby time. Although the N96 is filled to the brim with lust-worthy features, it doesn't come close to rivaling the user experience provided by devices like the iPhone or Blackberry Bold. And for a phone that costs nearly eight bills, that's a huge setback. If you crave a Nokia N-series phone but can't stomach $705, check out the well-built, cheaper (but still pricey) N85. Price (at time of review): $639 (direct price)

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HTC Tilt2 (AT&T) phone

specifications

• Manufacturer: HTC
• Part Number:4030272

Telecom

• Data services SMS , E-Mail , Voice mail
• Cellular enhancement protocol GPRS support

General

• Built-in devices Camera , Digital player

Operating System / Software

• OS provided Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional
• Software included Microsoft Office Mobile

Memory

• Installed RAM 288 MB
• Installed ROM 512 MB

Input Device

• Input device type Touch screen , Stylus

Cellular

• Service Provider AT&T

Display

• Display type 3.6 in TFT active matrix
• Max resolution 400 x 800

Power

• Battery installed (max) Lithium ion
• Max supported batteries 1
• Talk time Up to 510 min (GSM) , Up to 390 min (WCDMA)

Expansion / Connectivity

• Expansion slot(s) total (free) 1

Product summary

The good: The HTC Tilt2 ships with Windows Mobile 6.5 out of the box and offers excellent call quality. The smartphone features a spacious QWERTY keyboard and bright touch screen.

The bad: The Tilt2 is bulky and expensive. It lacks a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

The bottom line: Delivering an improved design and updated operating system, the HTC Tilt2 is a worthy upgrade and offers AT&T's business customers a powerful smartphone.

Specifications: OS provided: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional ; Talk time: Up to 510 min (GSM) , Up to 390 min (WCDMA) ; RAM installed size: 288 MB See full specs

Price range: $299.99 check prices

CNET editors' review

• Reviewed by:
  Bonnie Cha
• Reviewed on: 10/20/2009
• Released on: 10/19/2009

Photo gallery:
HTC Tilt2

Editors' note: Portions of the Features section were taken from our review of the HTC Pure since the two smartphones share a number of same features.

After waiting in the wings, AT&T's business customers are finally getting their turn with the HTC Touch Pro2. Dubbed the HTC Tilt2 (and obviously the successor to the AT&T Tilt), the smartphone has a leg up on T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon's version of the smartphone by shipping with Windows Mobile 6.5 out of the box.

While not a major overhaul of the Microsoft's mobile operating system, it brings a more user-friendly interface and several added features, such as the My Phone backup service and Windows Marketplace. The hardware is also vastly improved over the Tilt with a sharper touch screen and top-notch QWERTY keyboard, and the combination of the two certainly gives it an edge over AT&T's other smartphones, such as the HTC Pure, BlackBerry Bold, and iPhone. The browsing experience is a little frustrating and multimedia isn't its forte, but it delivers as a business device. The Tilt2 is available now for $299.99 with a two-year contract.

Design
Despite the different name, the HTC Tilt2 is instantly recognizable as a variant of the Touch Pro2. It most closely resembles the unlocked version of the smartphone, as it features the same speaker and camera layout on the back and the sexy chrome edges and smoky, mirrored face. Unfortunately, the Tilt2 carries over one thing we didn't like about the unlocked model, and that's the lack of a standard 3.5mm jack. Instead, you'll have to use the included audio adapter to plug in your favorite headphones or earbuds. The adapter plugs into the mini USB port on the bottom of the device and sticks out quite a bit, so it's a bit of a cumbersome setup.

Unfortunately, the HTC Tilt2 isn't equipped with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.

Another variation of the Tilt2 is the full QWERTY keyboard. Instead of a dedicated number row like the T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon versions, AT&T requested that the top row be set aside for symbols, while numbers double up with some letter keys on the right half of the keyboard. While some might begrudge this change, we didn't find it hampered our typing experience. The numbers are clearly highlighted in blue, and you still get the same large buttons and ample spacing.

The HTC Tilt2 has a slightly varied keyboard from the other versions of the Touch Pro2.

The HTC Tilt2 measures 4.54 inches tall by 2.33 inches wide by 0.65 inch thick and weighs 6.3 ounces, and while bulky, the larger size makes room for the smartphone's 3.6-inch WVGA resistive touch screen. It's sharp and vibrant and features a built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor. Since the HTC Tilt2 ships with Windows Mobile 6.5, however, you get some user interface enhancements not found on the other Touch Pro2 models. For example, you get the new Lock screen, which shows notifications to missed calls, new messages, appointments, and so forth and allows you to go directly to the relevant apps. The Start menu also features a more touch-friendly honeycomb layout, and you also get the option to switch to the new Today screen, though we prefer HTC's TouchFlo 3D interface since it shows more information at a glance.

Other features of the Tilt2's design include a volume rocker and a push-to-talk key on the left side, a touch-sensitive zoom bar below the display, and a microSD expansion slot behind the battery door. For more about the smartphone's design, please read our review of the HTC Touch Pro2.

Aside from the audio adapter, AT&T packages the HTC Tilt2 with an AC adapter, a USB cable, an extra stylus, a software CD, and reference material. For more add-ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.

Features
The obvious advantage of the HTC Tilt2 over the other carrier versions of the HTC Touch Pro2 is that it ships with Windows Mobile 6.5 out of the box. This means you have instant access to Windows Marketplace for Mobile, Microsoft's My Phone backup service, and the improved Internet Explorer Mobile browser. The latter has always been a blemish on the Windows Mobile operating system, but with 6.5, you do get a number of improvements, such as Flash Lite support and better tools for page navigation. It is noticeably better than previous versions, but we'd still like to see more capabilities like tabbed browsing, an onscreen refresh button, in-page search, and so forth--all of which are features of the Opera Mobile browser, which, coincidentally, is included on Tilt2, so you get to pick and choose.

The productivity side of Windows Mobile doesn't change too much with the arrival of 6.5. The HTC Pure comes preloaded with the Microsoft Office Mobile Suite for editing native Word and Excel documents and viewing PowerPoint presentations. In addition, it offers Microsoft's Direct Push Technology for real-time e-mail delivery and automatic synchronization with your Outlook calendar, tasks, and contacts via Exchange Server and support for POP3 and IMAP accounts. Once Exchange 2010 arrives, Windows Mobile 6.5 will also support conversation view for e-mails, unified messaging, free/busy calendar lookup, and more.

As a phone, the HTC Tilt2 offers quad-band world roaming, speed dial, smart dialing, voice commands, three-way calling, push-to-talk calls (note this costs an additional $5.00 a month) and text and multimedia messaging, conference calling, and a speakerphone. The latter two functions are enhanced by HTC's Straight Talk Technology, which was designed to improve the sound of the speakerphone and better integrate conference calling into the phone's contact management system.

The address book is only limited by the available memory, and each entry can store multiple numbers, home and work addresses, e-mail, IM screen name, birthday, spouse's name, and more. For caller ID purposes, you can pair a contact with a photo, a caller group, or a custom ringtone. In addition, you can now view your contacts' status updates, any messages or e-mails you've exchanged with the person, and call history from a contact page. Search, in general, is easier since there's a Search Phone widget that will search your phone and its various apps, including e-mail, calendar, contacts, messages, tasks, and Word documents, to find results.

Bluetooth 2.0 is also onboard for use with mono and stereo Bluetooth headsets, hands-free kits, object push, file transfer, personal area networking, dial-up networking, and more. The Tilt2 is 3G-capable, though if you happen to be out of a coverage zone, the smartphone has built-in Wi-Fi to back you up and provides access to AT&T's Wi-Fi hot spots around the country.

Other AT&T services supported by the HTC Tilt2 include AT&T Navigator, which you can use with the smartphone's built-in GPS to receive voice-guided navigation, AT&T Music, and AT&T Video. The carrier also throws in a number of extra apps, which you access from the dedicated AT&T Tab through HTC's TouchFlo interface. Such programs include MobiTV, The Weather Channel, and WikiMobile. The smartphone ships with plenty of standard personal information management tools as well, such as a Adobe Reader LE, a task list, a note pad, a voice recorder, and a calculator.

Picture quality was a bit dull; colors looked washed out.

Last but not least, the Tilt2 gets a slight upgrade over its predecessor in the camera department, going from a 3-megapixel camera to a 3.2-megapixel one. As before, you get a wide range of camera settings and tools, including white balance and brightness controls, ISO settings, flicker adjustment, and various resolution and image-quality options as well as a camcorder mode. Unfortunately, picture quality wasn't that much better. Though images were slightly sharper and not as orange, there's still plenty of room for improvement in the color department. There's also a bit of shutter lag, so be sure not to pull away too soon after taking a picture. Saved images can be used for caller ID, background images, or can be viewed in a slide show. You can also share them via multimedia message or e-mail. The Tilt2 has up to 32GB of expandable memory while offering 512MB ROM/288MB RAM.

Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) HTC Tilt2 in San Francisco using AT&T service, and call quality was excellent. On our side of the conversation, the audio was exceptionally clear on both regular voice calls and speakerphone calls, with very little to no background noise. Volume was also plenty loud. Friends also reported good results, though one did say there was some occasional background noise when we were on speakerphone. We had no problems pairing the smartphone with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset or the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones.

The Tilt2 is equipped with a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A processor, and overall, the smartphone was able to keep up with our demands. There was some occasional sluggishness as far as general performance, but nothing as bad as trying to connect to the mobile Web. CNET's San Francisco office seems to be a dead zone for AT&T's 3G network, so we had an incredibly hard time getting online and accessing Windows Marketplace. Thankfully, we had Wi-Fi to fall back on, but it was still frustrating nonetheless. We were able to able to connect to AT&T's network in other parts of town, though speeds varied. Using the Opera browser, at its fastest, CNET's full site loaded in 53 seconds and at its slowest 1 minute and 44 seconds, while CNN's mobile site varied from 10 seconds to 40 seconds.

Fortunately, the Tilt2's GPS capabilities were much more reliable and steady. The smartphone was always able to home in on location in a minute or less and accurately tracked our position as we drove through the city. We used AT&T Navigator to get directions from the Golden Gate Bridge to CNET's downtown offices, and the service was able to provide an accurate route within a matter of seconds. Voice prompts were loud and clear, but route recalculations were just a touch on the slower side.

The HTC Tilt2 features a 1,500mAh lithium ion battery with a rated talk time of 8.5 hours and up to 20 days of standby time. We are still conducting our battery drain tests but will update this section as soon as we have final results. According to FCC radiation tests, the Tilt2 has a digital SAR rating of 1.16 watts per kilogram and has a Hearing Aid Compatibility rating of M3.

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Lexmark Impact S305 printer

Key Specs

Print Technology: Color inkjet Interface: USB 2.0, memory-card reader, USB/PictBridge port Maximum Paper Size: 8.5x14 inches Maximum Resolution (Color): 4,800x1,200dpi Maximum Resolution (Monochrome): 2,400x1,200dpi Scan Resolution: 1,200x2,400dpi Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) Included: No LCD Size (Diagonal): 2 inches Dimensions (HWD): 9.7x21.2x15.9 inches Weight: 14.3 pounds

Lexmark Impact S305 Review

Reviewed by: Jonathan Rougeot Review Date: October 2009

At first glance, the $99 Lexmark Impact S305 calls to mind discounted sushi: It looks perfectly fine, but you're wary why it's so cheap. This printer didn't leave us queasy once we tested it out, however; indeed, this inkjet all-in-one (AIO) can keep up with pricier models in some areas. Its design may be a bit staid, and it doesn’t include some features that many of its sister models do, but home users who need quality prints at respectable speeds will not be disappointed. The Impact S305 is simple from the get-go. Made mostly of matte-black plastic, with silver edging around the scanner top, it's not going to turn heads, but it does have a nice, sturdy body. At 10x21x16 inches, it’s a little bigger than its sister models, but it still won’t take up a great deal of real estate on your desktop. A control panel juts out from the front of the printer. (It's not finely adjustable, however; it can be left recessed into the body, or pulled out to about a 60-degree angle.) The panel is simple, with just a few buttons to navigate the operation of the printer. Power and setup buttons are on the left side of the panel. In the center is a two-line, 2-inch LCD; copy, scan, and photo buttons; forward, back, and OK controls; and a return button to navigate through the printer’s menus. On the right are buttons to toggle between monochrome and color printing, and to start and stop the printer’s operation. The Impact S305's control panel juts out from the front of the printer and features a 2-inch, two-line LCD. On the right side of the printer is a unified slot for reading flash-memory cards (supporting the SD, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, and xD-PictureCard formats), as well as a USB 2.0 PictBridge port for connecting a camera or flash drive directly to the printer. Another USB port (which serves as the PC interface) and the recessed, brickless power cord are located on the back. The power cord protrudes a bit from the rear, meaning you'll have to leave a little bit of clearance behind the unit, wherever you place it. The Impact S305 has an adjustable paper tray at the back that can hold up to 100 sheets of plain paper. Paper ejects into a pull-out tray in front. In our tests, we did not experience any jams or misfeeds. Worth noting, though: This model does not come with an automatic document feeder, and it cannot print double-sided (unless you manually flip the paper and figure out the orientation yourself). Those limitations are something of a minus if you intend to use this printer to handle small-office tasks, but they're not surprising considering the price. Lifting up the cover provides access to the Impact S305’s printhead and ink cartridges. (This model uses three color tanks and one black.) The printhead automatically moves into place when you lift the lid, providing easy access to change the ink, and the design keeps you from inserting the color ink tanks in the wrong slots. Setup is easy: Just insert the setup CD into your PC, and it walks you through everything, from installing the ink to connecting the printer via Wi-Fi. Once you're ready to print, you shouldn't run across many problems; printing, scanning, and copying on the Impact S305 are simple. Three modes are available when printing: Quick Print, Normal, and Best. When copying, you only have the choice of switching between black-and-white and color. When the printer is working, the progress of the job is displayed on the lower-right corner of your PC screen, and the time-to-completion estimates that we observed were accurate. Besides printing from your PC, you also have the option of printing directly from a flash drive, memory card, or PictBridge-enabled camera. As for scanning, you have the option of scanning to a computer, to a removable memory device, or to e-mail in up to 600dpi. You can also choose between scanning in black and white or color. Paper enters through the 100-page feeder at the top of the printer and exits in front. The Impact S305 isn’t just easy to use, it’s also speedier than many other models in its class when doing certain jobs. It printed our standard 20-page text document in Normal mode in 2 minutes and 27 seconds, about 40 seconds faster than the HP Photosmart C4780, although it lagged behind the Epson Stylus NX515, which did the job about a minute faster. (The Photosmart C4780 and Stylus NX515 are both comparably priced AIOs.) In Best mode, the Impact S305 did the job in 8 minutes and 24 seconds, besting the Photosmart C4780 by about 45 seconds and the Stylus NX515 by 20 seconds. The Impact S305 also showed it could handle text and graphics on the quick. It printed our 10-page text-and-graphics document in Normal mode in 1 minute and 54 seconds, beating the Photosmart C4780 by more than a minute, but falling behind the Stylus NX515 by about 30 seconds. In Best mode, it did the job in 4 minutes and 17 seconds, about on par with the Stylus NX515 and more than 2 minutes faster than the PhotoSmart C4780. The printhead moves into place when you lift the lid, allowing easy access to change the ink. The Impact S305 was surprisingly fast dealing with photos. It printed our 4x6-inch color print in Normal mode in 33 seconds, about one-third the time of the Photosmart C4780 and the Stylus NX515. It printed our 8.5x11-inch color photo in Best mode in 1 minute and 20 seconds, about one-fifth the time it took the Stylus NX515 to do the job. (An interesting note: The Impact S305’s print times were almost identical to those of its $199 sister model, the Interact S605. As a result, if you can do without the bells and whistles of the pricier model, you can save $100 by going with the S305 and not sacrifice speed.) Scanning was where the Impact S305 lost some of its speed advantage. It took 18 seconds to scan our one-page text document, a job that the Photosmart C4780 did 2 seconds faster and the Stylus NX515 did 7 seconds faster. It handled color photos much better, however, scanning our 8.5x11-inch photo in 18 seconds, a job that took the Photosmart C4780 twice as long to do, and the Stylus NX515 about 10 seconds longer. Copy-speed results were a wholly mixed bag. A copy of our one-page text document took 20 seconds, a job that the Photosmart C4780 did about 7 seconds faster and the Stylus NX515 about 12 seconds faster. We saw some mixed results when it came to photos. It copied our 8.5x11-inch photo in 1 minute and 25 seconds. The Photosmart C4780 did it about a minute faster; the Stylus NX515, more than a minute slower. On the right side of the printer is a flash-card slot and a USB 2.0 PictBridge port. Considering that this is a $99 AIO, we were pleasantly surprised by the Impact S305’s output quality. Text was crisp and clear down to 3 points, and graphics reproduced respectably. What we were really surprised to find, though, was that the Impact S305 printed some nice-quality photos. Our 4x6-inch test photo displayed accurate colors and contrast, with images appearing bright and crisp. Even our 8.5x11-inch photo, on which we usually note some quality loss, came out respectable. On the other hand, using the photocopy function on a budget AIO tends to yield middling-at-best results, so we didn’t expect too much of our test photocopy of our 8.5x11-inch photo. In this case, we were right. The copy’s colors were much more muted than the original’s. Copies of our text and text-and-graphics documents, however, fared much better. In most regards, it was difficult to tell the difference between the copies and their originals, though colored text was a bit more washed out. Color cartridges for the Impact S305 cost $9.99 for regular-size tanks and $17.99 for high-capacity; black cartridges cost $11.99 for regular, $24.99 for high-capacity. With the high-capacity cartridges, the cost per page works out to 5 cents for monochrome printing and 12 cents for color. This puts the Impact S305 at about average cost for both monochrome and color printing, but those figures are still good for a model that costs only $99 at the outset. You won't get many extra features with the Impact S305, but you will get a solid AIO that offers respectable speeds and quality prints. Its inability to duplex may make this model a no-go for some users, but those who need a simple home printer for everyday jobs won't be disappointed. * Editors’ Note: Parts of this review include excerpts from our review of the Lexmark Interact S605. Price (at time of review): $99 (mfr. est.) See all of our Lexmark Impact S305 coverage

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HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web

Key Specs

Print Technology: Color inkjet Interface: USB 2.0, Wi-Fi, memory-card slots, USB/PictBridge, Bluetooth, Ethernet, RJ-11 Maximum Paper Size: 8.5x14 inches Maximum Resolution (Color): 9,600x2,400dpi Maximum Resolution (Monochrome): 600x600dpi Scan Resolution: 4,800x4,800ppi Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) Included: No LCD Size (Diagonal): 4.3 inches Dimensions (HWD): 18x19.3x7.8 inches Weight: 16.5 pounds

HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web Review

Reviewed by: Sally Wiener Grotta and Daniel Grotta Review Date: October 2009

Lincoln Steffens once famously said, "I have seen the future, and it works!" That same aphorism could be applied to the new generation of all-in-one (AIO) color inkjet printers that come equipped with large, bright Web-enabled LCD touch-screen control panels. The latest of the lot is HP's Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web. It combines decent print speeds, a state-of-the-art display, very good image quality, and easy installation and setup—and yet, it stumbles over some important details that would otherwise have made this device a must-have printer. The TouchSmart is a handsome silver-and-black device that takes up a relatively small amount of space. The designers attempted to give it some style and panache by embedding geometric swirls and lines in the plastic. HP wanted to indicate that this device is somehow different from run-of-the-mill AIOs from the get-go; when we unpacked the printer, it came swaddled in an oversize, HP logo-emblazoned black canvas carry bag. This made it easy to remove it from the box, simply by lifting it by the straps (though the Styrofoam had to be lifted up at the same time, because the inserts were in the wrong direction to allow unimpeded access). Nice as it is, the bag is too light and skimpy to use as an everyday carrier, especially since it doesn't have a zipper or any other seal to protect the contents from the elements. But HP added even more class to the TouchSmart by conveniently stuffing all the cords and cables in a zippered, shaving-kit-like case, suitable for other uses once unpacked. All the cords and cables come in a small, zippered, shaving-kit-like case. Primarily a photo printer targeted at individual consumers rather than small-office or home-office users, the TouchSmart lacks an automatic document feeder. However, its nicely designed lid is easy to raise several inches, to accommodate oversize originals such as books. If that action doesn't provide enough clearance, the cover itself can also be removed for open-bed scanning. Conveniently clustered together at the left rear of the printer are USB, Ethernet, and RJ-11 ports, plus a detachable power cord (with an in-line brick). Because the automatic duplexer sticks out approximately three inches, the printer cannot be positioned flush against a wall. Paper handling is a mixed bag. The TouchSmart's primary, nonremovable paper cassette accommodates only 100 sheets at a time, and although the paper stop on the discharge tray is small and feels flimsy, it proved quite adequate for accumulating up to 100 printed sheets. For double-sided printing, the TouchSmart features an automatic duplexer. It also has a separate, nonremovable tray for photo papers. (The tray holds only up to 5x7-inch paper; if you want to print larger photos, you have to put the paper in the regular tray.) Unfortunately, the clear plastic cover has no automatic stop when you raise it, so you must hold it open with one hand while inserting blank photo paper with the other. And instead of manually pushing the photo paper into position, the TouchSmart automatically moves it when you press the print button. This not only adds 4 to 5 seconds to print times, but the complexity means more moving parts that can break down or wear out. You are able to connect to a limited number of Web apps through the Photosmart Premium’s 4.3-inch LCD. The TouchSmart's most prominent feature is its black-bezeled, high-resolution color touch screen. The 4.3-inch display folds flat against the silver front of the printer or swivels out approximately 60 degrees for more convenient viewing. Directly to its right are an assortment of memory-card slots and a USB port, for PictBridge-enabled digital cameras. When not in use, the slots and port are protected against dust by a sliding plastic cover. To the right and slightly below the memory slots are two status lights, indicating active Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth connectivity. And to the right of those lights is an illuminated power button. Setup and installation was simple and trouble-free. Unlike most inkjets, which require some sort of command or maneuver to move the printhead and ink cartridges into position for insertion or replacement, the unit doesn't even have to be turned on—you simply raise the cover and gently push the printhead into the correct position. There's nothing to assemble or install, except for the five ink cartridges, which slip easily into color-coded slots designed to prevent inserting the wrong cartridge in the wrong slot. After the ink cartridges are installed, the touch screen displays a digital time countdown of 12 minutes, while the printer initializes, aligns, and calibrates. It then leads the user through a simple-to-follow installation routine. Our initial Wi-Fi installation failed, but after the touch screen informed us that we should temporarily suppress our PC's firewall, we had no further difficulty. The only assembly that is required is installing the five ink cartridges. Before printing, we took the TouchSmart's touch screen for a brief test drive. Navigating through the menus and attractive pictorial icons was easy and intuitive, but at times, pressing on the screen was, well, touchy. Usually, a light fingertip push was sufficient to page through applications and options, but to activate a command, we sometimes had to press repeatedly or even use a fingernail. Like the Lexmark Platinum Pro905's touch screen, the TouchSmart can connect to a limited number of sites on the Web. Among the services it can currently access are the online version of USA Today, Snapfish, Disney Family, Google Maps, Coupons.com, Web Sudoku, and Fandango; HP promises that it will continue to add more apps. But unlike the Lexmark, which permits the user to magnify and read what's displayed on the touch screen, all content on the TouchSmart is "greeked" and cannot be read—you must print it out. We feel that the user should have both options—make a printout or read it on the touch screen—or, at the very least, be able to see a readable preview before printing to avoid wasting paper. Although this is a nice feature and an innovative idea, we were left pondering the true usefulness of it: How often are you really going to want to print a Sudoku puzzle or buy movie tickets direct from your printer? Of course, Web functionality like this is really just a sideshow in this or any printer; what matters is how well it prints. Here, printing is simple and straightforward, but not without a few small technical hiccups. Like other Photosmart printers, the TouchSmart offers three levels of quality: Fast Draft, Normal, and Best. When printing on HP Premium glossy photo paper, we would select the quality setting, print, and then prepare to make another print. Each time, the printer would automatically revert from Fast Draft or Best mode back to Normal mode, rather than retain the last printer selection. The difficulty may be in HP's otherwise convenient auto-detect feature, which senses the type of paper being used and selects what it thinks are the most the appropriate settings. Incidentally, while auto-sensing is designed to work with HP-encoded media, it can also automatically sense and select some, but not all, generic brands of paper. When printing, the touch screen displays a circular flashing light rotating around an HP logo, plus the message “Now Printing,” while on the PC, a brief box appears and then fades, with essentially the same message. We would much prefer seeing more useful information, such as a progress bar, the number of pages printed, or the percentage of the job remaining. On the other hand, both the touch screen and HP's Solution Center will automatically display a low-ink warning when required. (Predictably, the Solution Center allows you to order replacement ink directly from HP.) While we encountered no paper jams, the HP did occasionally eject extra, blank pages, and in one instance, dog-eared a page being printed. Prints eject from the front of the printer onto the top of the paper cassette, which doubles as the paper receiver. The copying and scanning functions were as simple to use as a dedicated desktop copier and flatbed scanner. The user has the option of customizing the settings (for instance, choosing Best mode rather than Normal), or simply pushing the color or monochrome button to begin copying. Scanning is easily triggered from the touch screen, or via HP's Solution Center. While Solution Center lacks advanced scanning tools appropriate for high-powered photo scanning, they are quite adequate for this class of photo AIO. Unlike its competitors, for which Bluetooth connectivity is optional and extra, the TouchSmart comes equipped with built-in Bluetooth. We took a few snapshots around the studio with our Palm Centro, and within 60 seconds, we easily connected to the TouchSmart and printed out a phone-quality snapshot photo. Print-speed-wise, the TouchSmart falls somewhere in the middle of its competitors. In Normal mode, it output our standard 20-page monochrome text file in 2 minutes and 1 second, slightly faster than the $299 Canon Pixma MP990 and the $399 Lexmark Platinum Pro905. However, in Best mode, it slowed to a sluggish 11 minutes and 38 seconds, three minutes slower than both its competitors. Our 10-page text-and-color-graphics file in Fast Draft mode took 42.6 seconds. The slower Canon took about 50 percent longer to do the job, while the Lexmark did it just a few seconds faster. The same file in Best mode completed the job in 5 minutes and 19 seconds, nearly a minute slower than the Lexmark but about 50 percent faster than the Canon. The TouchSmart also had mixed results outputting photos. In Fast Draft and Best modes, it cranked out 4x6-inch snapshots, respectively, in 30 seconds and 42 seconds. The Canon was only slightly slower, taking 2 seconds and 5 seconds longer, respectively, while the Lexmark was much faster, knocking down both times by about a third. Our 8.5x11-inch enlargement took a mere 44 seconds in Fast Draft mode, but extended to 2 minutes and 49 seconds in Best mode. Oddly, it was much faster than the Canon and Lexmark in their Normal modes on this test, but much slower than both in Best mode. Overall, because of variances we saw, we can't make any blanket assessment here regarding the TouchSmart's printing times, other than to say the printer was definitely in the ballpark for an all-in-one at its price. The TouchSmart's scanning and copying performance times, like its print speeds, were in between those of the Canon and the Lexmark. The TouchSmart was slightly faster in Fast Draft mode, marginally slower in Best mode, and about the same in Normal mode. What's crucial, though, is the print quality. Text quality was fair to good on our test text printouts. In Normal mode, characters are sharp, dark, and eminently legible. Fast Draft mode characters are slightly pixelated and thin, but dark and readable. In Fine mode, however, the characters are very dark but not particularly crisp or sharply delineated, because in laying down extra ink, they exhibit a slight fuzziness at the edges. While the print is legible down to 3 points, the spacing between characters is slightly irregular. Color text, however, is sharp, nicely saturated, and quite legible. Though text printing was slightly uneven, photo image quality is this model's forte. Colors are both accurate and pleasing, edges are sharp, and details are clear and crisp. While some bright areas are slightly blown out, there is very good depth and detail in the shadows. Color photocopies are somewhat duller and less sharp than the originals, but to put this in perspective, we rate the overall quality of the TouchSmart's photocopies higher than most made by an AIO printer. The TouchSmart's costs-per-page can't match the 10 cents per 4x6-inch snapshot that Kodak's AIO printers promise or meet the 1.6 cents per page for text we saw with the Lexmark Platinum Pro905. But its 4.4 cents per page for monochrome text and 11.6 cents per page for combined text and color graphics are fractions of a cent less than the Canon Pixma MP990. That makes the TouchSmart's costs about average for printers in its class. The HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web is a good choice for users who value simple setup, ease of use, and high-quality photo printing, and who are intrigued by its innovative (though limited) Web-enabled touch screen. But if you divide your printing between photos and text, and don't see yourself using the productivity apps available for the touch screen, look at the Lexmark Platinum Pro905 or the Canon Pixma MP990 instead. Price (at time of review): $399 (mfr. est.) www.hp.com See all of our HP Photosmart Premium TouchSmart Web coverage

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Upgrading a Graphics Card 20 Must-Know Tips

Maybe there are statistics, maybe there aren't, but we're willing to bet that in the computer enthusiast space, the most-upgraded part of any self-respecting system is the graphics card. That's probably doubly-true when it comes to geeks like the ExtremeTech staff that have at least one computer built especially for gaming—which means we upgrade graphics cards religiously.

The graphics market is ever-evolving, and our computers evolve right along with it. There are few feelings worse than that sense of desolate jealousy you get when you drop a brand-new video card into your system only to read—usually the very next day—an announcement of a newer, better card.

Not long ago, we presented you with a big batch of hints for when the inevitable time comes that you have to swap out your computer's motherboard. Now it's time for a similar piece, but this time we're focusing on upgrading the graphics card for your system.

The rules are the same: This is not a tutorial, a how-to, or a here's-exactly-what-you-do. The Internet is chock full of such articles. Rather, this is a collection of handy tips that to compliment such tutorials and make them that much easier.

Choosing the Right Card

Before you even begin to upgrade your computer's graphics card, you have to procure its replacement. Thus, our first set of tips is about choosing the perfect card for your impending upgrade. Remember, this isn't a step-by-step, so here, in no particular order, are our tips.

• Depending on the age of your current system, be prepared for the worst. If your computer hasn't been upgraded in several years, you might need to upgrade lots of other parts simply to facilitate a graphics card upgrade. While there are a few AGP cards still available on the market, you'll likely want to upgrade to a PCI Express graphics card. If your motherboard doesn't have a PCI Express X16 expansion slot, you'll have to upgrade the motherboard—and therefore, the CPU and very likely the memory as well.
• Set a budget before you pick out a graphics card. That way, you won't get carried away and spend more money than you actually have. The budget should take into account the current state of your finances, and also what level of graphics prowess constitutes an upgrade for you. If your last video card cost $100, you might be able to spend a similar amount for a performance boost; if your last one cost $600, get ready to spend a bundle.
• With a budget set, get the most powerful GPU, with the largest amount of onboard memory, you possibly can. The more muscle you get now, the longer you can wait before your next upgrade.
• Factory overclocked cards can be nice, but are sometimes overrated. They're generally more expensive than cards that run at performance specifications. Do lots of research to ensure that any cost difference is worth it in terms of a performance boost.
• Brand should be your last consideration, in most cases. Unless you've had terrible luck with a particular brand and wish to avoid it, go with the brand that offers the best price for the particular GPU you wish to add to your system.

Preparing to Remove the Old Graphics Card

The tips that follow assume you have a graphics card on that you're planning to insert into your system, after removing the currently-installed card. There are always some steps you should take before you actually perform the physical upgrade, and doing so will make the whole process go more smoothly.

• Download the latest drivers for your new graphics card's GPU. Save the file somewhere to which it's easy to navigate (the desktop, or the Downloads folder in your user directory).
• If you're interested in before and after performance scores, run a few benchmarks before you pop the old card out. While the proof is in the pudding and the biggest indicator of your new card's performance will be how fast it runs current games with detail settings cranked up, it's still nice to be able to quantify the boost in performance.
• Uninstall the current drivers before you power down the system to remove the old card. Purging the system of old drivers will help keep bloat to a minimum.
• Remove any overclocks before you remove the old card. Set the CPU, FSB, RAM and graphics subsystems to run at spec. If you wish to overclock your system, do it after you've installed the fresh hardware.

Performing the Physical Swap

Now it's time to actually open up the computer and swap out the old hardware for the new. Here are some hints to make your efforts more successful.

• Power down the computer and unplug the power cord before you proceed. That way, if you accidentally brush up against the power button while you're working inside the case, you won't turn on the computer. That would be a bad thing—you don't want to be digging around inside the computer on a live motherboard.
• Get the cables out of the way before you remove the old card. Lots of current PC cases feature the power supply mounts on the bottom of the enclosure, and the CPU power cable might run right atop the graphics card. Unplug it and tuck it in somewhere. Unplug the PCI Express power cables from the old card and get them out of the way, too.
• Don't forget: Lots of motherboards have locking clips on their PCI Express X16 slots. There's a release lever somewhere along the slot (usually on the side opposite the expansion bracket). Don't force the old card out of the computer or you can break the locking clip; trip the release and remove the old card gently.
• Store the old card in a safe place, preferably in an antistatic bag. Save it as an emergency backup card in case the new one arrived broken or dies before its time.
• Sometimes it's easier to connect PCI Express power cable(s) to the new card before you actually insert the new card into its expansion slot.
• Dress any cables safely away so that they don't block the new card's fan from spinning. If you're installing multiple cards, check all the fans to ensure all cables are clear.
• Power up the computer and observe the new card's fan before you close the case. Make sure it runs freely.

Completing the Process

You're almost done, but there are still a few steps left in the process and, therefore, we have a few more tips to give.

• After you power the system on and the OS loads, cease any automated driver installation routines. Launch the driver installation file you downloaded before you made the physical swap.
• After you've installed the drivers, go into the driver applet and make any settings you wish. For example, be sure to enable CrossFireX/SLI, if applicable, and tweak any performance settings you wish.
• We tend to leave most of the settings such as antialiasing and anisotripic filtering up to application settings, but that's up to you. Force any settings you feel like forcing, but remember any tweaks you make so that you can reverse them if something goes awry.
  

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• Check the GPU temperature within the driver applet's appropriate page. Ideal temperatures vary from one GPU to the next, so do your research and see what the GPU should read at idle and make sure it's not overheating.
  

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• Finally, burn in the new graphics card before you start playing games. Grab 3DMark Vantage (or 3DMark06 if you're running a pre-Vista Windows OS) and set it to loop a demo. Observe it periodically, allowing it to run for at least an hour, and watch for any unwanted graphics artifacts. Another good burn-in program is Furmark

If all seems well, launch your favorite games and blast away! See how high you can set their detail levels and still achieve a playable experience. You'll enjoy playing your old games with new graphical splendor—have at it!

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Google to Let 100,000 Surfers Ride Early Wave

On Sept. 30, 100,000 Web users will be allowed to explore Wave, Google's new data communication and collaboration tool. The company isn't calling it a beta test, and it hasn't actually pinpointed a date for general availability. For now, Wave is still being drilled by teams of developers, who are exploring new ways of working with its source code.

If you want to splash around in Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Wave right now -- the search giant's new real-time communication/collaboration tool that received plenty of tech press hype during a May unveiling -- then you have to be a developer with access to the API (application programming interface). However, that will change on Sept. 30, when Google will let 100,000 curious users take Wave for a test swim.

Just don't call it a beta, said Google spokesperson Sara Jew-Lim. "We announced earlier this week that we will be extending this preview to a small group of consumers, but I wouldn't characterize this as a 'beta' release," Jew-Lim told TechNewsWorld. "The product will still be a bit rough at that point, and the team will still be working to ready Wave for a true consumer launch."

Hence, no dates for a wide product release yet, although a Monday posting on the Google Wave Developer Blog did give some new snippets of information since Wave was showcased at the Google I/O conference seven weeks ago. "We've already rolled out roughly 6,000 developer accounts and we're working through an additional 20,000 requests over the course of the next month," product manager Dan Petersen wrote. "On the Google Wave team, we've also been hard at work improving the sandbox's stability and performance, as well as enhancing the APIs available."


Early Peeks at Wave
The new details come as Google's Mountain View, Calif., campus plays host to the Google Wave API Hackathon and some 150 developers from around the world, all writing code under the watchful eyes of Peterson and other product managers.

Peterson's blog post does include links to the Google Wave Samples Gallery, which provides early glimpses of how developers are taking the Wave source code and building out new ways for users to connect and share with others. Highlighted projects include a tool that lets users create groups and manage subscriptions; a JavaScript-based game involving colored squares, a weather data widget and a feature allowing sharing of Waves in the popular Wordpress blog creation engine.

Also let us not forget the Rickroll widget; even Wave is not immune to the obligatory Rick Astley video prank meme.

Google wants more feedback on what's been built so far, Peterson said, and it wants more developers to play in its Wave sandbox before product launch. "As we have mentioned in the past, our goal is that extensions built by third parties feel fully on-par with Google Wave's native features to users. We know we have some way to go and really appreciate your help in getting there," Peterson wrote.

Getting Wave Ready for Prime Time
Tuesday's Hackathon activities at Mountain View include something called "Federation Day." While it sounds like something celebrated in the "Star Trek" universe, it's actually a series of sessions targeting rules of the road for those who will be sharing Waves between Wave providers.

"Yes, that's between wave providers," wrote Peterson in a May 28 posting on the Wave Protocol Web site. "Anyone can build a wave server and interoperate, much like anyone can run their own SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, the foundation for all email) server. The Wave protocol is open to contributions by the broader community with the goal to continue to improve how we share information, together."

That would explain why Federation Day sessions include panels on security and spam abuse.

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Party Down, Microsoft Style

Perhaps Microsoft has embraced its overall reputation as a laggard in the realm of hip marketing. It's latest tactic for the upcoming launch of Windows 7 is to promote users nationwide to host house parties centering on upgrading one's PC operating system. To promote the idea, it's signed off on some instructional Web videos that have grabbed a lot of attention, mainly by being painfully awkward to watch.

You almost have to feel bad for Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) . The software maker isn't known for hip marketing tactics, and now that a Windows 7 video has hit it big online, people are laughing at the company, not with it.

Few details for the launch of Microsoft's next PC operating system have been made public, though it's a safe bet Oct. 22 won't feature acrobats climbing buildings and unfurling banners in New York, as was the case for Windows Vista in 2007.

One thing we do know is that Microsoft hired House Party to bring the Windows 7 buzz into living rooms around the world.

House Party, based in Irvington, N.Y., and Denver, helps companies get in front of real people by supplying materials for, well, house parties. The agency vets volunteer hosts, then sends decorations, products and suggestions for activities. Upcoming parties will promote things like Hunt's canned tomatoes, Martha Stewart's line of craft tools and avocados from Mexico.

And Windows 7.


Laptop Party!
The plan surfaced in early September: People in 12 countries including the U.S., India and Mexico could sign up to be hosts. Example photos on House Party's Web site showed friends and families smiling, laughing, drinking, eating and peering intently at laptops. Hosts would get a copy of Windows 7, plus items like Windows-branded napkins, a table centerpiece and tote bags for guests.

Now, Oct. 22 is fast approaching and hosts are busy planning! To help, House Party posted a series of instructional videos on YouTube. And there the fun begins.

A video entitled "Hosting Your Party" takes place in a balloon-festooned kitchen. Two men and two women of various ages reflect on their own Windows 7 launch party experiences while scuttling about preparing food platters. Chummy laughter and knowing smiles abound as they dish out advice.

Such as: "When everyone was there and settled, I led an overview of some of my favorite Windows 7 features. I showed my guests things from two of the Windows 7 orientation videos, and it took like 10 minutes," gushes a perky blond woman. "Oh, and you know what was great? It was totally informal. Like, everyone just kind of crowded around the computer in the kitchen."

The banter -- and overacting -- continues for six minutes, though keen observers noticed that hours elapse on the oven clock in the background. There's lots of talk of "activities."

Response Up and Down
Online news sites and bloggers latched on to the painfully earnest production. A parody emerged in which someone bleeped out references to Windows 7, making the whole thing sound dirty. The original video has logged more than 800,000 views.

It's enough to make you wonder if one of the actors was speaking his mind and not just reading from a script when he uttered this line in the video: "Can you believe that Microsoft put the launch of Windows 7 in our hands? Are they nuts or what?"

To be fair to Microsoft: It did not make these videos, though it reviewed them before they were posted.

Nor did House Party set out to make slick TV commercials for Windows 7. The videos were put together quickly, said Kitty Kolding, House Party's CEO, as an alternative to handing party hosts a software user manual.

"Keep in mind that what we are trying to create an experience around in people's homes is an operating system," Kolding said in an interview. "It's not a cool gadget, it isn't a new potato chip, it's an operating system."

Kolding said House Party tried to find the right tone for demonstrating activities like burning CDs, editing photos and learning a new task bar interface -- things that, let's face it, aren't obvious party activities.

The results may have invited high-profile mockery but the idea resonated with hundreds of thousands of people who applied to be hosts.

"Make fun all you want," Kolding said. "Microsoft got an incredible global response."

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Microsoft Puts Final Polish on XP Mode

Microsoft has finished its XP Mode, a virtual environment designed to work with Windows 7 and targeted toward businesses. When Windows 7 is made available to the public in October, users who've configured XP Mode can use it to run older programs that may not be compatible with the new operating system.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) on Thursday released Windows 7 XP Mode to manufacturing and said the final release will be generally available Oct. 22, as scheduled.


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Once configured, XP Mode will let users
run Windows XP inside Windows 7.
(click image to enlarge)
Windows 7 XP Mode is aimed at letting small and medium-sized businesses running Windows 7 Professional or higher leverage their existing investments in Windows XP applications.

It will also help SMBs migrate safely to Windows 7.

About Windows 7 XP Mode Release

The final release of Windows XP Mode will be available from the Microsoft Download Center Oct. 22, Brandon LeBlanc wrote in the Windows 7 blog. OEMs will be able to offer Windows XP Mode based on their manufacturing schedules, he said.

While Microsoft expects many XP apps to be compatible with Windows 7, Windows XP Mode is meant to serve as an added safety net so SMBs can migrate and run Windows 7 without any roadblocks, LeBlanc said.

Microsoft is working with OEM partners to include Windows XP Mode preinstalled in new PCs, LeBlanc said. It is also working with antivirus and security software vendors so their products will be supported in Windows 7 XP Mode in addition to running on the Windows 7 operating system. At least two vendors -- Kaspersky and Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) -- have confirmed their applications will run both on the OS and in Windows 7 XP mode.

Microsoft declined comment. Brianna Pinder, from the company's public relations agency Waggener-Edstrom, pointed TechNewsWorld to LeBlanc's blog posts.


Messing With Win 7 XP Mode
In order to run Windows 7 XP Mode, users will need to have a copy of the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise edition. They will also need an additional 1 GB of RAM and an additional 15 GB of available disk space.

Also, users will need computers that have processors capable of hardware virtualization with AMD-V or Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) VT turned on. These processors are used in new Intel Core 2 processors with Intel vPro technology and all AMD (NYSE: AMD) CPUs except the Sempron, LeBlanc wrote in an earlier Windows 7 blog post.

Alternatively, users will need to install Windows Virtual PC virtualization technology. For this, they will need a 400 MHz Pentium-compatible processor running at 1 GHz or faster and 35 MB of disk space.

Virtual PC runs on any version of Windows 7 as well as Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate. It also runs on Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows XP SP3.

Prepping for Win 7 XP Mode
Before installing Windows 7 XP Mode, users must confirm their PCs can run it. Hardware virtualization is not available in all PCs, Microsoft said. In PCs where it is available, it is turned off by default.

To check whether their PCs' CPUs support hardware virtualization, users can download, install and run either the Intel Processor Identification Utility or the AMD Virtualization Compatibility Check Utility.

Next, they have to check whether their PCs' BIOS supports hardware virtualization and, if it does, whether that feature is turned on. Microsoft has instructions for checking PCs from Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) , HP (NYSE: HPQ) and Lenovo ThinkPads.

Once users have confirmed their PCs can run Windows XP Mode, they can download and install Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode. These are free downloads. Users can then install Windows XP apps.

Microsoft has a Windows 7 compatibility mode Web site under construction.

Will SMBs Bite?
With the recession biting deep, will businesses take the plunge and upgrade to Windows 7 even if XP Mode makes the transition easier?

That depends, said Marty Kacin, cofounder, president and chief technology officer at systems management appliance vendor KACE. "The SMB sector has a variety of customers, each with their own situations," he told TechNewsWorld.

"The rollout of a new operating system, whether you're a small, medium-sized or large business, is no easy task," he said. "But Microsoft and their largest distributors and partners like Dell are providing more cost-effective and compelling technology to customers that may lead those willing to take the risk of upgrading to do so."

Such customers will consider the return on investment (ROI) of purchasing new technology to be worth more than the money saved by holding on, Kacin said. "We at KACE are seeing people shopping for good opportunities and realizing that there's some interesting ROI at the software and hardware levels that are available and worth investing in."

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