pc components - News, Features, and Slideshows

Peruse through Network World's 2012 version of the cool yule tools. And get some great ideas for a totally tech present.

Texas Instruments on Monday announced it has agreed to acquire semiconductor company National Semiconductor for US$6.5 billion in an all-cash transaction.

The problem with the smartphones, laptops, and tablets of our day is that the tools are multifunctional, but the energy that powers them can’t be divided up by function. Well, until now. Harvard graduate student Wonyoung Kim has unveiled a prototype device that could change the way that processing chips receive power, and eventually lead to slimmer smart-tools, and longer lasting batteries.

Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday announced Fusion processors for embedded systems as it tries to put its chips in new devices such as set-top boxes and small form factor PCs.

When Lenovo had its recent Mod Contest, modder Boddaker submitted this gem: A Lenovo A700 IdeaCentre PC with an HD projector built in underneath. The A700 itself is an all-in-one desktop PC with a 23-inch widescreen LCD and slot-loading Blu-ray drive. The projector is attached to the bottom of the unit, so the whole thing can be used as a chalkboard projected onto a wall, among countless other things.

Happy Clean-Your-Keyboard Day! Okay, I made that up, but think about it: when was the last time you did anything with your keyboard besides drop cookie crumbs on it?

Chip design firm ARM grabbed the spotlight at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week when Microsoft announced that its new Windows OS would work on the ARM architecture. ARM processors go into most of the world's smartphones and tablets, and with Windows support, the company can now focus on the wider market for PCs, where it has virtually no presence. Nvidia also announced that it was building its first ARM-based chip, code-named Denver, for PCs and servers.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) isn't just all tablet, cameras, and laptops; there's plenty of news for the PC component geek, too, ranging from tiny flash drives that pack a lot of heat to the hand-held gaming console.

Cringely here, reporting from CES in Vegas, where rude beasts walk the earth (at least, the ones that don't crawl or slither), impeded in their forward progress only by hip-deep mounds of tablet PCs. Everyone appears to be tapping, swiping, and gesturing on some kind of sleek black touch-sensitive device, when they're not squinting at blurry 3D screens waiting for their turn with the polarized glasses.

With the release of the Radeon HD 6850 and Radeon HD 6870 graphics cards, AMD delivers fantastic value for the average PC gamer.