News Bits: Intel Santa Rosa 1GB NAND chipset, Typewriter Laptop, Lenovo C200 Core 2 Duo Notebook Unveiled

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Santa Rosa notebooks to include 1GB NAND chipset

Intel announced at its developer forum this past spring that upcoming mobile chipsets for its next-gen Santa Rosa Centrino platform will come with 1GB of integrated NAND flash memory. The technology is called &quot;Robson&quot;, and will be launched with the Santa Rosa platform in Q2 2007.

Notebook makers will have a choice as to how much integrated flash memory is included with the Crestline chipset - it can have either 512MB or 1GB modules. Flash memory is an important part of the Santa Rosa platform because Windows Vista heavily depends on it to be able to cache files with Superfetch. Superfetch will be able to write files to the NAND flash memory, and Windows will be able to ask it for the files, rather than the hard drive. This method is considerably faster than accessing the hard drive, and has the added boon of power savings.

NAND flash memory is one of the requirements for the Vista Premium Logo certification in 2007.

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Lenovo C200 Core 2 Duo notebook unveiled

Lenovo today unveiled an update to the 15.4&quot; screen C100 notebook in the form of the C200. The C200 has a Core 2 Duo processor or can be optionally configured with a Celeron processor to keep price down. Other than that the C200 is esentially the same as the C100, see a review of the C100 here.

Link to product page for C200

Quanta starts test production of $100 laptop

Quanta Computer has started test production of the $100 laptop, started by the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative. Samples should be available as early as November.

Libya's recent order for 1.2 million $100 laptops has been a &quot;confidence booster&quot; for the project. Originally there had been doubt as to where the demand would come from. Michael Wang, president of Quanta Computer, said that the company's goal is to ship 10 million $100 laptops in the 12 month period after shipments start in Q1 2007.

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The typewriter laptop

A &quot;creative Japanese fellow&quot; as the Engadget blog calls him has created a laptop with mechanical keys, a wooden space bar, and a Morse key over the trackball. It is (supposedly) fully functioning and comes with USB, Ethernet, and other modern features.

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GeForce 8800 to launch on 8 November

Nvidia is expected to launch two versions of its GeForce 8800 desktop graphics card on November 8. The 8800GTX will be the flagship card, featuring a whopping 768MB of GDDR3 memory running at 900MHz, and a core clock of 575MHz. The 8800GTS will be the lower-priced version, featuring reduced clockspeeds and 640MB of memory. Nvidia is also expected to launch new chipsets (nForce 650, 680).

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Battlefield 2142 in-game ads use spyware methods

Battlefield 2142 (view large image)

Electronic Arts today announced that its Battlefield 2142 has been shipped to retailers in North America. Upon opening the box, there is a slip of paper with a disclaimer on it, which is as follows:

&quot;The software may incorporate technology developed by IGA Worldwide, the advertising technology. The purpose of the advertising technology is to deliver in-game ads when you use the software while connected to the Internet. When you use the software while connected to the Internet, the advertising technology may record your IP address and other anonymous information. That advertising data is temporarily used by IGA to enable the presentation and measurement of in-game ads and other in-game object which are uploaded temporarily to the your PC or game console, and change during online gameplay. The advertising technology does not collect personal or identifiable information about you.&quot;

Battlefield 2142 basically uses the same tactics for its in-game advertisements that most spyware does. It analyzes your computing and browsing habits and then EG/IGA uses that data to provide targeted advertisements. EA announced in August its agreement with IGA Worldwide to provide in-game advertisements.

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Nvidia Ships Windows Vista WHQL Drivers

Nvidia today announced that its first publicly available Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) graphics driver is currently ready and available for download for Windows Vista.

NVIDIA Windows Vista WHQL certified driver is now available to download here:

• Windows Vista x86 drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_96.85.html
• Windows Vista x64 drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x64_96.85.html

The list of WHQL certified NVIDIA solutions for Windows Vista can be found here:http://www.nvidia.com/object/winvista_x86_96.85_supported.html

 

 

I think the Battlefield 2 advertising deal is crossing the line - I certainly will not be purchasing the game. I am OK with certain types of advertising in-game (billboards with a texture on them), but the tracking + targeting method of advertising is ridiculous.

 

The thing is though, I think you're going to see more and more of that, unless consumers such as yourself backlash on it or they offer some way to turn it off. Microsoft bought a company this year that specializes in making in game ads customizable and that can rotate. So for example, a billboard with a coke ad becomes pepsi the next month because pepsi decided to pay for the spot in the game. Now, they don't have to do the IP tracking for that of course, but if Pepsi decides they want to advertise to people in the U.S. but not Russia and McDonald's wants the space to advertise in Russia -- well, only IP tracking can allow EA to determine which ad to serve up to somebody playing the game. I'd be okay with the IP tracking, most any site on the web does that anyway to deliver the right ads. More than that though, no thanks, I don't know what they mean by "other anonymous information", if it means stuff you're doing on your PC and tracking websites you visit -- heck no that's not good.

 

That C200 sure looks a heck of a lot like a lovechild between the N100 and R50/60 series laptops. I wonder how it holds up compared to the old one. Anyone want to let me review it side to side with my current c100

 

I agree Chaz. I will not be purchasing BF2142. That is really stupid on EA's part. Sure a lot of people will still buy it because they do not know that software exists. But I really don't want anymore tracking devices on my computer. LOL
Tim

 

I agree. If EA starts targeting me while I'm playing 2142 on that typewriter laptop, I will be PISSED OFF. I don't want to be engrossed in the game, firing my beam rifle at some bipedal supertank while I get spammed with ink ribbon ads. That's not america. That's not even mexico.

 

For those who care, this is what EA has to say about the 'spyware' thing.

Greetings,
We would like to provide more information on in-game advertising in Battlefield 2142. To try and help everyone better understand it, here is how it works.

The in-game advertisement is respectful of players' privacy: it never accesses files not directly related to the game, and it does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, gameplay behaviour or surfing history. As it is an integrated part of Battlefield 2142 and not a separate program, it only runs when the game is running.

Because BF2142 delivers ads by region, the IP address of the player is used to determine the region of the player and helps serve ads by region and language; for instance, a player in Paris will be presented with ads in French. Note that this IP address is not stored on the advertisement server and is not repurposed for other uses.

A unique ID number is anonymously assigned the first time the player joins a Battlefield 2142 online game. It is stored locally on the PC but is not linked to any personal details.

The in-game advertisement gathers what we call “impression data”, such as location of the billboard in the game or duration of advertisement impression. It helps see how many people have seen an ad – but not who has seen it.

We are also conscious that the advertisement shouldn’t distract the player from the overall gaming experience, so all ads fit in the unique environment of each level in the game. The content of the ads is also controlled to ensure that no offensive content is displayed in Battlefield 2142.

We all hope that this explanation will address recent concerns on the advertisement in Battlefield 2142.

See you on the Battlefield.

-Your Dice Live Team

Source: EA Forums

You can disscuss this with other BF2142ers at http://www.totalbf2142.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5169

 

that is a decent explanation by EA but I just have to ask the question, why? is EA really pushing that hard to make some money? i doubt it.

NAND sounds like a pretty nice idea. i like the idea of companies pushing out developments as mucha s they can, some of them may not be the best, but when a good one comes about it is better to get it out there without waiting.

 

While it is a good idea, I hope that one can change the 1GB flash chip if it burns out. Otherwise the whole motherboard will be fried.

But yeah, in the meantime I'll just use my SD card slot for similar functionality. I can use as much memory as I care too...and it is easier to replace (assuming that 1GB flash chip isn't removable).

But it is definitely nice to see some new tech...

 

Hmm...I wonder if this is true in this article. http://hgamer.blogspot.com/2006/10/another-reason-to-say-no-to-battlefield.html

It is just really too bad that EA is stooping this low just to make a few extra dollars. Heck the game is already going to cost somewhere around $50. Isn't that enough already???
Tim

 

Great article Chaz, thanks for this interesting info. I just got a few questions tough.

1. This Robson technology sounds great! But can you actually upgrade this flash memory yourself? And how must I think about this flash memory? Is it just an SD-card type or is it integrated or something.
2. I am planning to use XP for 2 more years until hardware becomes much faster. Can we use this flash memory for Windows XP, or is it not supported? (I am not going to use VISTA because it demands to much hardware for games and I am still planning to play Oblivion)
3. Man what a stupid thing of EA. No way I am going to play Battlefield 2142. I mean, adds are everywhere! Why must they also infiltrate our games!?
4. Why does the 8800GTX have 768 memory, I am not used to that. I always thought: 256, 512, 1024... Is this a special technology or is it 512 MB dedicated + 256 MB Turbocache?

Sorry for all these questions, but I am sure you guys can answer them all

Charlie

 

I love that typewriter laptop .

I agree--that makes the decision for me on this game. BF2142 is a do-not-buy for me.

A flyer inside the box is not as good as a big red disclaimer on the outside of the box in a conspicuous place--like right where the title usually goes LOL. That would ruin the out-of-box experience for me. Bringing a new game home to play only to have the anticipation ruined by a spyware notice inside the box.

I know game developers are spending more and more to create the games and want to make as much of it back, but this is just taking it too far. I mean, $50 is a lot to pay for a game to begin with from a consumer standpoint. The way for them to correct the problem is simply to make better games--not just prettier copies of previous ones/genres--and perhaps narrowing the number of releases to the good ones.

This is truly sad if it's a sign of things to come.

 

what a ripoff, I bet there will be a ton of insurance commercials, I can't stand them anymore I would love to murder the geico lizard and feed it to my cat. I bet other companies will do this too and take it to a worse level, just imagine what they can do, they could offer like only certain guns to people who would participate in a ea survey and do stuff like that, Its only going to get worse.

 

After the BF2 fiasco (v1.4 and still feels like a beta) I'm not going to buy BF2142 anyway . period .

Sure the gameplay is great and probably will be with BF2142 as well ( I wouldn't know -- tried to play the demo and wasn't able to get past the login screen ) , But now EA has simply gone overboard ( they also make money from add-ons , rentals , merchendizing etc. ) .

To be fair they have the right to do what ever they want , they got a winning card and being EA will milk you to the last drop . We got the right not to buy it - I hope it will be a huge financial flop .

 

Wouldn't it be great if EA, instead of using this technology to profit big business, used it to add to the gaming experience. Imagine if instead of bill boards of coke/ pepsi adverts that changed every week, they'd have series of comic books with marvel or manga whilst you camp out in the book store, with your machine gun ready incase an enemy came in.... or else the latest chart music being played in that elevator - you could blow it up if you hate the choon.

the possibilities are endless

 

What do you mean? Do you use SD card to store paging file? If so I do the same with my 1GB CF card.
I haven't yet noticed any difference however (with 2GB of RAM).
Have you?

 

Yes I totally agree. The adverts will disrupt gameplay and will and i can imagine them popping up in midst of an intense firefight....

It would a most unideal way to use the space available on the screen.

 

I am backlashing against EA now. First they leave us with a defective BF2 product that underdelivers on what was promised, and now they slap together BF2142 as essentially a $50 mod and fail to reduce the price despite taking in more income from the advertising service, ranked server license fees, and the severe lack of effort put into the game. Hell, many people have to uninstall a Windows security patch that fixes a kernel-level flaw because EA is too lazy to make their brand new program work around Microsoft, and the ad system violates your system's integrity by requiring this patch/hotfix be removed to play. I and many other people are boycotting BF2142 and EA for this rediculous continued abuse of the good faith of gaming communities.

Not only the above, but they also completely destroyed the game's balancing, locked out basic things like grenades and defibulators thus requiring you to play for dozens if not hundreds of hours to get these basic items back, plus give advanced players game-enforced benefits over newer players essentially forcing new people to suck regardless of their skill.

As rediculous as this picture looks: it's sure to be in our close future. EA wants to know which ads you look at, how long you look at them, what you do to them (they even log if you shoot at them), and so many more things it's beyond spyware.

Boycott the game. That's the only way to send a signal, although EA is so dense they'll probably never see it. Even basic requests from the communities got ignored for BF2142. It's disgusting.

 

Does adding a 1GB SD card in the slot do anything? and do you have to install a certain program so that the notebook actually uses the 1GB card efficiently?

 

Well, I use my card as shipped, without extra software.
I just set the system to use this card to store a swap file (instead on a default HDD).