Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Avast Free Antivirus 5.0 Adds Behavior Monitor, Heuristics Engine, and Improved Performance [Downloads]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/Q7pFljIOMJw/avast-free-antivirus-50-adds-behavior-monitor-heuristics-engine-and-improved-performance

Windows only: The newest version of the popular Avast Antivirus is finally available for download. It's lighter, faster, and more feature-filled than ever, bringing a new behavior shield, heuristics engine, and code emulator to keep you protected at all times.

Apart from its far easier-to-navigate interface, Avast has a few new features that make it hard to turn down. Its new code emulator can emulate a suspicious executable's code, isolated, for use in its new heuristics engine, designed to detect malware that would otherwise be undetectable with normal definitions—in other words, spotting malware by learning what the code does. If you use the pro version, you also get their new sandboxing feature for even further protection.

Apart from the new features, Avast has also lowered scanning times as well as the resources necessary to scan and update—a common issue with antivirus programs that are always running in the background. If you're already an Avast lover (and many of you are), you can either wait for the program to update itself in the near future or go download 5.0 straight from Avast. If you've tried Avast and turned it down before, it may be worth another look—you may find that its former cons (such as the difficult-to-use GUI and resource use) are now more up to your standards.

Avast Antivirus is a free download, Windows only.

Avast Antivirus [via Download Squad]

DisplayPort 1.2 Standard Makes HDMI Look Positively Analog [Guts]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ewdVISPxKPs/displayport-12-standard-makes-hdmi-look-positively-analog

The Video Electronics Standards Association has codified the standard for the next version of DisplayPort, and the small, Apple-loving HDMI competitor, and it just got a lot more interesting. Like, multiple-monitors-on-one-plug interesting.

The concept of daisy-chaining multiple monitors on one DisplayPort connection has been part of the vision all along, but version 1.2 will be the first to actually support the technology—at this stage, up to four at a time, at a resolution of 1920 x 1200. On top of that, it'll bring full HD, 120fps-per-channel 3D support, a 21.6Gbps data rate, and bi-directional USB data, meaning that anything connected to a DisplayPort 1.2 cable could serve as a high-bandwidth USB hub.

And of course, VESA's already accepted Apple's miniaturized version of the port into the DisplayPort family and audio support is still present—albeit not in Apple's variant. In other words, no, the battle isn't settled, and HDMI hasn't won—even forthcoming HDMI 1.4 hardware can't hang with the next generation of DisplayPort hardware, if anyone decides to actually make it. [PC Authority]

Milpitas, Calif., Jan. 18, 2010 — The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today formally unveiled the industry's most innovative and flexible digital communication interface standard for transporting display, audio and other data.

VESA's DisplayPort Version 1.2 is a comprehensive extension to the original DisplayPort standard offering many new benefits to the end user. Benefits include: double the data rate of the previous DisplayPort v1.1a standard (enabling higher performance 3D stereo displays, higher resolutions and color depths, and fastest refresh rates); multiple monitor support from a desktop or notebook computer using only one DisplayPort connector; the ability to transport USB data between a PC and Display, supporting Display USB functions such as a webcam and USB hub. DisplayPort v1.2 is backward compatible with existing DisplayPort v1.1a systems, including existing cables and the Mini DisplayPort connector.

DisplayPort v1.2 increases performance by doubling the maximum data transfer rate from 10.8 Gbps (Giga-bits-per-second) to 21.6 Gbps, greatly increasing display resolution, color depths, refresh rates, and multiple display capabilities.

DisplayPort v1.2 supports "multi-streaming" — the ability to transport multiple independent uncompressed display and audio streams over a single cable, supporting protected content and high performance applications such as 3D gaming. This enables the use of multiple monitors connected by cable in a daisy chain or hub configuration. Whereas the current Display v1.1a standard can support one 2560 x 1600 monitor at 60Hz, DisplayPort v1.2 can support two such monitors with one cable, or four 1920 x 1200 monitors. Many other combinations are possible, including multiple video sources, multiple displays (even at different resolutions) and multiple audio speakers.

Another new feature is the ability to support high-speed, bi-directional data transfer, allowing USB 2.0 or Ethernet data to be carried within a standard DisplayPort cable. For DisplayPort v1.2, the maximum data rate of this "AUX" channel has been increased from 1 Mbps (Mega-bit-per-second) to 720 Mbps, providing suitable bandwidth for USB 2.0. The DisplayPort cable can therefore support USB data to/from the display to support Display USB functions, in addition to sending the video and audio information. Standard Ethernet can also be transported in the DisplayPort cable.

DisplayPort v1.2 was designed to be compatible with existing DisplayPort systems and cables. To take advantage of the new capabilities, a PC will need to be DisplayPort v1.2 enabled, however existing standard cables can still be used, including those with the new Mini-DisplayPort connector. To achieve the 21.6 Gbps rate, the per-lane data rate is doubled from 2.7 Gbps to 5.4 Gbps, over the four lanes that exist in the standard cable. For a single display, this enables up to 3840 x 2400 resolution at 60Hz, or a 3D display (120Hz) at 2560 x 1600.

DisplayPort v1.2 also adds new audio enhancements including the following:
— Audio Copy Protection and category codes
— High definition audio formats such as Dolby MAT, DTS HD, all Blu-Ray
formats, and the DRA standard from China
— Synchronization assist between audio and video, multiple audio channels, and
multiple audio sink devices using Global Time Code (GTC)

DisplayPort v1.2 also includes improved support for Full HD 3D Stereoscopic displays:
— Life-like motion using up to 240 frames-per-second in full HD, providing 120
frames-per-second for each eye
— 3D Stereo transmission format support
Field sequential, side by side, pixel interleaved, dual interface, and stacked
— 3D Stereo display capability declaration
Mono, Stereo, 3D Glasses

"DisplayPort is a truly open, flexible, extensible multimedia interconnect standard that is ubiquitous in the PC, notebook and display markets and is rapidly gaining traction in consumer electronics applications," said Bill Lempesis, VESA's executive director. "DisplayPort Version v1.2 offers a complete set of benefits and capabilities that no other standard can provide. It is completely backward compatible with DisplayPort v1.1a and requires no new cables or other equipment, making it the standard of choice across the industry.

China's Loongson Processor Could Power First Natural-Born Chinese Supercomputer [PopSci]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/w0szndpYo7M/chinas-loongson-processor-could-power-first-natural+born-chinese-supercomputer

The People's Republic has unveiled more details on its quest to phase U.S.-made processors from its microchip diet. China's next supercomputer will run purely on Chinese processors, possibly before the end of this year.

China has been developing its own CPUs at the state-run Institute of Computing Technology (ICT) for several years, but iterations of its chip – known as Loongson or "Dragon Core" – have been incapable of breaking into the elite ranks of supercomputing. China's last supercomputer, the Dawning 5000a, was intended to run on Loongson processors, but was eventually constructed around AMD processors when the ICT couldn't deliver a powerful enough chip quickly enough.

The Loongson 3, under development since 2001, should change all this if the ICT can deliver on its promise. Based on the MIPS architecture, the chips theoretically can be strung in 16-core clusters to perform at extremely high speeds, possibly hitting the petaflop performance mark with just 782 16-core chips. That's one quadrillion operations per second, for those of you keeping score.

Right now, of course, this is all on paper (well, a quad-core chip is in prototype, but the proposed 16-core bad boy is still under development). But authorities in the supercomputing field seem to agree that the chips, running in clusters, can hit the performance marks necessary to create a top-tier supercomputer. This isn't the first time the Chinese have promised a home-grown high-performance supercomputer, but for the first time it looks like they are going to deliver.

[Technology Review]

Popular Science is your wormhole to the future. Reporting on what's new and what's next in science and technology, we deliver the future now.

HTC Apparently Abandons Tablet PC Plans For Now [Tablet]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/s8hGWqOBuf0/htc-apparently-abandons-tablet-pc-plans-for-now

The rumored HTC + Google Chrome OS tablet might have to wait, based on HTC's sales and marketing director claiming that the company will kill that off and focus on Android smartphones instead.

This doesn't mean that an HTC tablet is dead forever; I bet the company is just waiting for both Apple's tablet and Chrome OS to prove themselves first before sinking their development money into a completely new field. [Channel News via Electronista]

Samsung unleashes slew of new HZ, TL, and SL-series cameras

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/18/samsung-unleashes-slew-of-new-hz-tl-and-sl-series-cameras/

Because camera companies can only unveil point-and-shoot in groups of four or more, Samsung's just announced a quintet of scene stealers. Let's go down the list, shall we? The 12.2 megapixel TL105 and 14.2 megapixel TL110 ultra-slims sport a 0.65-inch frame, 2.7-inch LCD, 720p 30fps H.264 video recording, some image effects, and a 4x / 5x optical zoom, respectively. Those will be available next month, with no price tag mentioned in the presser. The 12.2 megapixel SL630 claims all the other features but with a 28mm wide-angle lens, and only 640 x 480 AVI video recording -- that one's coming in March. Also coming in March are the 12-megapixel HZ30W and HZ35W, successors to the HZ10W / HZ15W and both with a wide-angle 24mm Schneider lens and 15x optical zoom. The pair does 720p 30fps H.264 video recording, but only the HZ35W can claim a 3-inch AMOLED screen and GPS geo-tagging. All the pics below and press releases after the break. World, you have our promise that if we ever own a camera company, we'll be sure to release less than three models in any given month.

Gallery: Samsung TL110, TL105, SL630, HZ35W, and HZ30W