Motherboards - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Toshiba hopes to charm developers with kits for building wearables

  Toshiba is hoping developers will use its application processors to build wearable devices, and has launched hardware and software development kits to help make it happen.

• USB 3.1 set to reach desktops

  The emerging USB 3.1 standard is set to reach desktops as hardware companies release motherboards with ports that can transfer data two times faster than the previous USB technology.

• Nvidia $192 Tegra TK1 board could be used as a Linux gaming PC

  Nvidia is bringing supercomputer-class performance to its US$192 Jetson TK1 computer, which is targeted at embedded devices but could be used as a Linux-based gaming PC.

• Making wearable devices gets easier with Freescale's Warp development kit

  Freescale Semiconductor wants users to develop and test their own wearable devices with a mini-computer.

• Users should have their hands on Intel's Galileo computer within two weeks

  Intel's open-source Galileo computer aimed at hardware hackers and the do-it-yourself crowd has started shipping to distributors and will be available to the public in two weeks.

• Windows 8 comes to open-source PCs with GizmoSphere board

  The market for x86 open-source PCs is now a two-horse race, with GizmoSphere releasing schematics and design documents for hobbyists to build from scratch a Windows 8 computer based on open design.

• IBM moves toward post-silicon transistor

  Exploring methods of computing without silicon, IBM has found a way to make transistors that could be fashioned into virtual circuitry that mimics how the human brain operates.

• New $89 open-source hardware runs full Linux OS

  An open-source hardware group on Monday announced a US$89 credit-card sized motherboard based on an ARM processor that could be used for robotics, gaming and medical devices.

• Intel speeds up road map to tackle threat from ARM

  Intel will dramatically shake up its microprocessor road map to meet the demand for very-low-power processors and to fend off the competitive threat from rival chip design company ARM, CEO Paul Otellini said on Tuesday.

• Dell reaching out to fix PCs with faulty Intel chipset

  Dell on Wednesday said it will start reaching out directly to affected customers to replace motherboards in PCs with Intel's flawed Sandy Bridge chipset.

• Analyst: Japanese quake cuts silicon wafer supply

  The massive earthquake in Japan this month has suspended a quarter of the world's production of silicon wafers for semiconductors, hitting memory chips hardest, market research firm IHS iSuppli said in a note on Tuesday.

• Taiwanese semiconductor firms face supply shortages in Japan

  Taiwan's major semiconductor manufacturers, a crucial link in the global tech supply chain, scrambled on Monday to gauge how their access to raw materials from Japanese suppliers will be affected by the powerful earthquake in Japan.

• Taiwanese PC makers see Q1 snags after Intel recall

  Taiwan's top computer makers such as Acer and Asustek expect dips in first-quarter shipments as they stop early sales of units containing potentially flawed chipsets recalled by Intel.

• TSMC to raise chip capacity, puts mobile computing in focus

  TSMC, the world's biggest semiconductor foundry, said on Thursday it expects to expand capacity 20 percent this year as demand for PCs and mobile devices rises.

• Gigabyte releases new high-speed motherboards

  Gigabyte Technology on Thursday released a series of high-speed motherboards designed to let more applications run at once, without losing speed, and to convert video 10 times faster than normal.