Technology Hardware News

The successor to the PlayStation 3, apparently codenamed "Orbis," will use an AMD x86 processor with an AMD "Southern Islands" GPU, according to rumors emerging last week. Xbox 360's replacement, purported to be named "Durango", is also rumored to use an AMD GPU—either a Southern Islands variant or an equivalent to a Radeon HD 6670—this time paired with a PowerPC CPU.

Though these rumors are thoroughly unconfirmed at the moment, they're all well within the realm of plausibility. But if they prove true, the Orbis and Durango will be decidedly mid-range at launch when compared to top-of-the-line PC hardware. The Xbox 360, launched November 2005, and the PlayStation 3, launched November 2006, were both cutting-edge systems at their release. Their capabilities were unmatched by PCs of the time. If these rumors are to be believed, the eighth console generation won't be a repeat of the seventh.

IDG News Service reports that Qualcomm is currently working on a quad-core version of its S4 SoC to be used in a new Windows 8 laptop form factor rivaling Intel's Ultrabook. This new design is expected to be thinner and lighter than Apple's MacBook Air and Intel's Ultrabook, and sport high-resolution screens, longer battery life, always-on connectivity and perhaps even 3D graphics.

"We think much lighter than what Intel calls an ultrabook," said Rob Chandhok, senior vice president at Qualcomm, adding that the lines between high-end smartphones and laptops have started to blur.

Qualcomm typically supplies its Snapdragon SoC for smartphones, but the company is looking to expand out into the PC sector. It has already shipped a few prototype Windows 8-based PCs with Snapdragon chips to developers, but with Intel's mega-push into the mobile PC sector, Qualcomm wants to provide an alternative with built-in 4G support and strong multimedia qualities.

D-Link DIR-815 Wireless N Dual Band Router

We say 'should', because the D-Link DIR-815 Wireless N Dual Band Router is brand new. The review sample we had came with warnings of potential glitches, but in the event we experienced none. Our main grumble was the lack of UK adaptor plug, but D-Link will ship the DIR-815 with the necessary three-pin plug to customers.

We were very impressed with nearly everything the DIR-815 Wireless N Dual Band Router has to offer. It has an expansive feature set and checklists every next-generation wireless specifiation you can get your hands on. It's also easy to install and is relatively use thanks to D-Link's simple interface.