A computer able work even after the heat-death of the universe, using a "time crystal" to continue operating as the universe cools down and dies. Science fiction? Science fact, according to New Scientist...

Theoretical physicist Frank Wilczek was the first to suggest the idea of time crystals-- structures following that of ordinary crystals (where atoms are arranged in regular repeating patterns) in the 4th dimension, time.

Crystals adopt such a structure because it uses the least amount of energy Continue reading...

IDC forecasts the WW PC market will grow by 5% Y-o-Y in 2012, a "challenging year" with shipments reaching 383 million units amidst intense competition from mobile devices, global political uncertainty and bumpy economic roadmaps.

Headwinds from the Euro crisis are even affecting the outlook for emerging markets, including CEMA territories.

Mature regions such as W. Europe also face rising consumer saturation-- most consumers and businesses already have PCs, and see no reason to upgrade or expand Continue reading...

The Technology Academy of Finland awards Linux creator Linus Torvald with the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize, an award one can describe as the tech equivalent of the Nobel Prize.

Torvald shares the prize (a pair of silicon crystal-tipped trophies and a €1.2 million award cheque) with stem cell pioneer Yamanaka Shinya. Torvalds and Yamanaka were named as prize finalists on April 2012, but the joint award remains a bit of a surprise.

As a result Torvalds joins the ranks of pioneers in obscure Continue reading...

There is something of a craze for tiny PCs lately-- now VIA follows the example of Raspberry Pi and FXI Cotton Candy with the APC 8750 Android PC system, a miniature PC the size of a small banana.

Measuring 17 x 8.5cm, the APC 8750 uses the Neo-ITX form factor and fits in standard Mini-ITX or microATX chasses. It carries an 800MHz VIA WonderMedia ARM SoC (with built-in GPU handling 720p video), 512MB RAM, 2GB storage, x4 USB ports, microSD slot, 10/100 ethernet port and a 15W power adapter.

VIA Continue reading...

Customers longing for a tiny PC the size of a USB stick (such as the FXI Cotton Candy or Raspberry Pi) now have the Rikomagic MK802 Android-powered option.

It carries an AllWinner A10 1.5GHz CPU and a Mali 400 GPU supporting 1080p video-out through HDMI port. It uses Android 4.0, but users can also install ARM-compatible Linux versions.

Weighing less than 200g, the MK802 also has 4GB of internal flash storage, a microSD card slot and x2 USB ports (full-size and micro). Connectivity comes via wifi. Continue reading...

The W. European PC market continues to decline according to Gartner-- Q1 2012 shipments drop by -3.1% Y-o-Y and total 15.5m units, with declines hitting all market segments.

Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain are the worst hit territories. Shipments show growth in Germany (7.1%), with lower inventory levels driving growth. The French PC market shows improvement (despite a decline of -3.9%) in the professional segment, and the UK shows moderate 2.4% Y-o-Y growth.

“Consumers continue to focus their spending on alternative computing devices like smartphones and media tablets," the analyst says. The consumer segment is down by -3.8% Y-o-Y, while mobile PCs decline by -5.1% Y-o-Y.

AMD announces the 2nd generation of A-series APUs, following "Fusion" with "Trinity" processors-- chips the company claims offer longer battery lives and lower prices than Intel's Ivy Bridge.

Trinity still uses the 32nm fabrication process (unlike the smaller Ivy Bridge), resulting in larger die sizes as the number of transistors grows. AMD insists customers do not care about processor sizes, instead preferring features like instant-on functionality.

AMD aims the Trinity series for use in ultrabook-style Continue reading...

An event like the Shanghai Game Festival is an ideal place for an Nvidia announcement-- specifically one for the GeForce GTX 690, a graphics card with not one but two 28nm Kepler GPUs.

Nvidia describes the GTX 690 as "the world's fastest graphics card" (beating the recently released GTX 680) and aims it directly at the high-end PC gamer market.

The card carries 3072 Cuda cores and reaches clock speeds of 1019MHz. It has an outer frame in trivalent chromium-plated aluminium and thixomolded magnesium Continue reading...