July 3 - 12:35pm EDT   EMTEC has recently showed off an upcoming nettop PC flying under the G-Box codename. The small form factor PC will be powered by the NVIDIA Ion platform that mates an Intel Atom CPU with the HD-capable graphics and system combo chipset. Despite this capability, there is a VGA output instead of HDMI, indicating the PC is aimed at a business environment, though a version with the video and sound signal port is expected to launch later on. [full story]

July 3 - 10:10am EDT   NVIDIA on Friday has purportedly denied recent claims of a conflict with Apple. Insiders believed close to NVIDIA claim that the two are still "just fine" and that the graphics company's chief Jen-Hsun Huang is personally happy with the current situation. Apple is still understood to be ordering chipsets as usual. [full story]

July 2 - 4:05pm EDT   Packard Bell has recently updated its imedia series of desktops with a 60 percent smaller footprint and a matte chassis and soft curves along with a glowing blue power button. Buyers can pick from a range of processors, including Intel Core 2 Quad or AMD Phenom II X4 quad-core chips, and option up to 8GB of RAM. Storage space can be as large as 1TB, and there is an optional Blu-ray drive. [full story]

July 2 - 9:45am EDT   AMD is developing an integrated graphics chipset for budget PCs that could take the performance crown in the category, a leaked roadmap shows. Codenamed RS880 but likely to be badged Radeon HD 4200 when it ships, the design will have a new graphics core that should run about 15 percent faster than "anything comparable" on the market, implying that NVIDIA's GeForce 9400 or 9400M may be the primary targets. The Inquirer adds that it should support AMD's Stream general-purpose computing technology and, by extension, would eventually support OpenCL. [full story]

July 1 - 4:55pm EDT   Apple and NVIDIA may be engaged in a fierce dispute that could exclude NVIDIA graphics chips from future Macs, according to sources reportedly aware of the talks. They claim to SemiAccurate that Apple views NVIDIA's proposals for renewed deals as "arrogance" and that much of the argument centers on the overheating material that triggered widespread failures in all GeForce 8400M and 8600M mobile graphics chips. The Mac firm has had to extend MacBook Pro warranties for up to three years and may be skeptical of NVIDIA's insistence that newer models aren't at risk of the same problem. [full story]

July 1 - 2:30pm EDT   The sequel to NVIDIA's Ion platform could be much faster than its predecessor when it ships, leaks today would show. While the current graphics and chipset combo is based on the GeForce 9400M and has just 16 visual effects cores, Fudzilla now hears that it will have 32 cores, potentially doubling the amount of simultaneous effects it can handle at once. The difference will have the most dramatic effect on 3D but could also impact general-purpose computing tasks that need CUDA or OpenCL. [full story]

July 1 - 9:05am EDT   eMachines today gave a new look to its least expensive ET series desktops along with hardware upgrades to match. Like the recent EL1300 slimline PC, the ET1300 and ET1810 shed the company's previous black-and-silver look for a sleeker, glossy white. They all also make NVIDIA's lower-end graphics standard for slightly faster than usual performance in the category. [full story]

June 30 - 4:45pm EDT   Intel is said to be working on a reference design guideline that would allow its hardware partners to develop an HD video decoder and integrate it into Intel's Pineview desktop platform alongside a new Atom D410 or D519 CPU, Fudzilla reported on Tuesday. The current desktop Pineview platforms are not capable of HD video playback, and thus far, only NVIDIA is offering such a capability via its Ion chipset. [full story]

June 29 - 3:05pm EDT   A major smartphone manufacturer is due to launch a phone based on NVIDIA's Tegra platform, the company has let slip in interviews. One of the "top five" smartphone producers should have a phone based on the advanced graphics technology before the end of the year. The company has also said in a discussion with CrunchGear that it should reach AT&T and T-Mobile for about $199. [full story]

June 29 - 12:25pm EDT   Gateway has quietly updated its P series FX gaming notebooks with a pair of updated and lower-cost models compared to what it's offered in the past. The 17-inch P-7809u is new and has a Montevina refresh-era 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo despite costing less than the earlier P-7805u. It also has a full 500GB of hard drive space (up from 320GB), 4GB of RAM and the previously-used 1GB GeForce 9800M key to its gaming credentials. [full story]

June 29 - 11:50am EDT   Samsung will be one of the next PC makers to launch a netbook based on NVIDIA's Ion platform based on a combination of a leak. Shown briefly during an NVIDIA presentation, the N510 is now known by insiders for Blogeee to use Ion to significantly improve 3D graphics and HD video decoding. It will also be Samsung's largest netbook-class system with a 11.6-inch display, although a very narrow bezel should reduce the overall footprint of the computer. [full story]

June 26 - 10:55am EDT   Acer on Friday announced it has redesigned its Acer Aspire M5, M3 and X3 Series of consumer desktops, including the high-end Aspire M5800 with its brushed metal chassis, the value-oriented Aspire M3800 and the small form factor Acer Aspire X3810. The Aspire M5800 sports a silver chassis that matches the keyboard, speakers and mouse, with all featuring chrome and dark gray accents. The card reader, audio jacks and USB ports are on behind a hinged door on the front of the chassis. [full story]

June 26 - 9:30am EDT   When it ships later this year, the Zune HD could cost as much or more than the iPod touch by the time both updates are released this year, an additional leak said Thursday. An interview with a previous source on Neowin cautions that prices aren't "set in stone" but has the base 16GB model costing between $249 and $279, or at least as much as the Zune 120 does today. A current 16GB clickpad Zune costs $179. [full story]

June 25 - 1:05pm EDT   NVIDIA confirmed its plans to release its own netbook PC with its own Tegra chip before the end of 2009. The Tegra chip is so far only used in the Zune HD portable multimedia player and uses hardware acceleration of 720p resolution HD video while using up a minimum of just 150mW. While final specs are not known, NVIDIA is showing a prototype model built by Mobinnova which sports an 8.9-inch screen, Wi-Fi, a 3G data radio and a webcam. It currently runs on Microsoft's Windows CE operating system, but NVIDIA says the final product could run on Google's Android. [full story]

June 24 - 5:20pm EDT   Lenovo is now shipping its IdeaPad S12 notebook PC in the US. The 12.1-inch netbook PC sports the prerequisite 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU and a 1280x800 resolution. The netbook will also be the first to offer NVIDIA's Ion chipset later this summer, giving it 1080p HD video and 3D video processing capabilities along with an HDMI output. The versions now shipping include an integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics processor. [full story]