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Phi: a wireless re-routing card that puts you in control of the airwaves (video)
For all the talk of convergence in mobile devices, there's relatively little chatter about the coming together of wireless signals themselves. In other words, why should we have a separate device to interact with each type of wireless signal? And so, with that intriguing question, begins the pitch for a new device call Phi. It's a $750 antennae-laden PCIe card that slots into a desktop and gathers up wireless signals that are flying around the home -- so long as they have a frequency below 4GHz and don't involve bank-busting neutrinos. The card then allows custom apps to re-direct those transmissions as you like: potentially acting as a "base station" so you can make free calls from your cell phone, or receiving over-the-air HD transmissions which you can play on your tablet, or doing whatever else hobbyists and devs can cook up. Phi is still version 0.1 and Linux-only while the startup behind it -- Per Vices -- looks for a Kinect-style blossoming of third-party interest, but with nothing less than a deity-like command over the domestic ether on offer, how could it ever fail?
AMD Piledriver cores will clock over 4GHz, employ 'resonant clock mesh'
AMD's Trinity APU can do some remarkable things, but we still don't know exactly what magic ingredients make its Piledriver cores superior to the tepidly received Bulldozer. Now though, a firm called Cyclos claims it's supplying 'resonant clock mesh' power-saving technology for use in the new module. In speaking to the media, it's revealed that this will help to enable a "4+ GHz" factory clock speed, which sounds high if it definitely refers to an integrated chip with low-power credentials. As for the resonant clock mesh itself, it's a bit like KERS for processors: it recycles clock power instead of letting it dissipate and thereby enables higher clock speeds in "next generation SoCs that also require ultra-low power consumption." We also know that the technology is financially backed by ARM and Siemens and has seen precious little implementation prior to AMD -- which is fine, so long as all that resonance doesn't make our rig hum even louder.
Alienware relaunches Area-51 ALX desktop with overclocked 4GHz QX9770
Hold onto your frame rates folks, as Alienware has just relaunched its more-potent-than-ever Area-51 ALX desktop. The bona fide gaming rig packs a 3.2GHz Core 2 Extreme QX9770, but rather than being satisfied with Intel's work, this thing comes overclocked to 4GHz -- it's "maximum stable output." As expected, you'll find the outfit's own High-Performance Liquid Cooling solution to keep things from turning into molten hot lava, and you'll also have your choice of twin NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GPUs or an ATI CrossFireX configuration with dual ATI Radeon 3870 X2 cards. Furthermore, you'll notice 4GB of DDR3 RAM, dual Ethernet ports, an optional Blu-ray burner, oodles of hard drive space and all the other high-end niceties you've come to expect from the company. Only problem? The $5,549 starting price that comes along with the 4GHz CPU and required 1,200-watt PSU.
