12 cores may sound impressive, but as rumored, it’s likely just two of the latest six-core i7s working in tandem. Actually, now that I think about it, that is pretty impressive. I can’t think of who would need such ridiculous power and multi-threading, but I know my friends in ultra-HD video and effects can’t get enough Hz. I don’t know if programs like After Effects and Final Cut are really using OpenCL much yet, but that could be a major boost as well. However, as Apple Insider notes, the 980X is not meant to be used in a dual configuration, which would necessitate two motherboards. But hey, who knows? Apple is loco. We know this.

continue reading

Nokia is tapping into the collective wisdom of mobile technology enthusiasts on the Internet as it designs a new smartphone concept device. The handset maker has launched a new project called Design by Community which aims to collect feedback about preferred device characteristics from visitors to the Nokia Conversations blog.

The website has a set of sliders that can be used to select a desired phone configuration within certain parameters. When the user has selected their optimal configuration, they can click a “submit” button to send their choices to Nokia. The company will tabulate the results and use the information to design the new device concept. There will be several rounds during which a separate set of parameters will be put up for voting.
continue reading

Google is continuing its quiet war on Microsoft Office by making it easier for users to switch from Exchange to Google Apps for e-mail. The company has launched a new server-side tool called Google Apps Migration for Microsoft® Exchange, which not only migrates your company e-mail, but also moves your calendar and contact info into the cloud.

According to Google’s Enterprise Blog, the migration is only four steps long and works quickly to bring in the information that you choose. There’s even the option to import the data in phases, which makes life easier if there’s too much to bring in at any one time. The tool works with both hosted and on-premise Microsoft Exchange 2003 or 2007 and is free to those who already subscribe to Google Apps Premier and Education edition.
continue reading

Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series shares one trait in common with Apple’s iPhone: It doesn’t support full multitasking.

While the iPhone does allow some limited multitasking (the phone and iPod apps can run in the background) many critics have knocked the iPhone for its inability to run third-party apps in the background. If you want to write an e-mail while listening to music in the Pandora app, for example, you must first quit Pandora. The only way to enable full background processing on an iPhone is to jailbreak (i.e., hack) the device.
continue reading