The $12 PC project just got a little more interesting -- contrary to what the Boston Herald reported yesterday, the project is actually based around an off-license NES clone from China called the Victor, not the Apple II. The machine is entirely contained within a keyboard and accepts NES cartridges as well as Famicom software, so there's already a BASIC -- which might be what project members were referencing when they said that their generation had grown up programming Apple IIs. The Victor isn't quite the machine the Apple II was, obviously, but we're still totally intrigued by entire nations of budding console hackers -- you ready for the competition, Ben Heck?

Read - Computerworld clarification
Read - Project wiki

Look, we're all nerds around here, no shame in that game, but Maximum PC is taking it to a special level with its latest write-up. They managed to sneak into an unnamed "hardware contact" who let them mess around with a mid-range, 2.93GHz Bloomfield chip -- the desktop version of Nehalem -- and an Intel D58XSO "Smackover" motherboard. No benchmarks just yet, but they do go over all sorts of interesting topics like DDR3, larger heatsinks and SLI compatibility. Riveting stuff, we tell you.

AMD's got a new performance-per-dollar platform for running Phenom processors without breaking the bank. The 790GX is being positioned right below AMD's top of the line 790FX, with a typical motherboard built around the technology costing around $355. Primary advantages of the chipset include Advanced Clock Calibration, which allows Phenom speeds of 3.2GHz and up, and ATI Radeon HD 3300 integrated graphics -- though of course you can ramp up to discreet graphics or CrossFireX if you're really feeling it. The folks at HotHardware already took a chipset for a spin, and while it won't be besting the best from Intel, it seems to be showing some strong leadership in its price category compared to related Intel and NVIDIA technologies. It's shipping now.

Read - AMD PR
Read - Hot Hardware review

In case you haven't noticed, HP has a thing for attempting (emphasis on attempting) to stay one step ahead of the sector. Now, it's being reported that touch technology is all the rage within Palo Alto, and HP is purportedly aiming to introduce "an array of products, including notebooks," that utilize the finger-friendly tech within the next 18 months. Details on those very products are few and far between, but Phil McKinney (CTO of the Personal Systems Group) sees touch "as the almost preferred method for nontechnical users." Funny thing, though -- it seems most everyone else recognized touch as the new hotness a good while back. We're betting HP has just been holding all of this mighty close to the chest... guess we'll see in 18 months, huh?

[Image courtesy of Old-Computers]

Alright, so it won't be a laptop, adorable, or have a cheeky Linux-based OS that's eventually replaced by Windows, but unlike the OLPC or the too-good-to-be-true $10 laptop, the $12 PC currently being developed at MIT will probably hit its price target. The project, being spearheaded by Derek Lomas and Jesse Austin-Breneman, is centered around cheap Apple II-based machines currently on sale in India and other developing nations that plug into televisions, and the goal is to update the systems with more memory, web access through cellphone tethering and actual storage. Considering we've already seen Apple IIs updated with Bluetooth and USB, and the less-powerful Commodore 64 can be used at LAN parties, we'd say all that stands between this project and reality is manpower -- any Apple II hackers out there ready to help?

In yet more news about the perpetually forthcoming Fusion CPU / GPU combos from AMD, new details have been leaked regarding the chips' sizes, configurations, and other bits of insufferably tedious details that only Professor Frink could truly love. According to this latest report, the "first" Fusion processor will be called "Shrike," sport a dual-core Phenom CPU, an ATI RV800 GPU, and a footprint of just 40nm. Another chip, codenamed "Falcon," will debut in 2010 at a 32nm size, based around a platform known as "Bulldozer," and will be launched to combat Intel's 32nm offering. Of course, we've been hearing about these chips since 2006, so we're not exactly on the edge of our seats hearing new details of what essentially amounts to vaporware.

Who knows if Popcorn Hour really is still working on a couple more HD media streamers, but its latest one is definitely up for pre-order. First whispered about a few months back, the $215 A-110 is a revamped A-100 that adds 2.5- / 3.5-inch SATA HDD and USB Slave functionality, HDMI 1.3a support (for full HD audio pass-through) and an optical S/PDIF to replace the coaxial S/PDIF socket. For those of you looking for even more flexibility, you can take a look at the outfit's new B-110 Baseline. This "Home Theater Motherboard" arrives with the media enthusiast in mind, boasting support for HDMI 1.3a, optical / coaxial S/PDIF connectors, four USB 2.0 ports and a mini-ITX form factor. Both pieces should ship out within two to four weeks, but considering just how sticky things were when the A-100 launched, we'd tack on a few weeks to that estimation just in case.

[Thanks, Stephen and Jeff]

So, can a $299 mini desktop really find a place in your jaded heart? Based on a recent review by HotHardware, the answer is a resounding "yes." In terms of general performance, the box delivered more potency than critics expected, and the hardware within was able to provide a "a fluid experience in all but the full 1080p digital video playback test." Of note, it didn't have any trouble churning through a 720p clip, so there's still hope for folks obsessed with flipping through HD trailers for hours on end. Furthermore, the unit was found to be remarkably energy efficient, with only "a slightly heavier draw than an Eee PC 900." Of course, we wouldn't expect this to replace your Alienware or anything, but for the most average of tasks, the B202 should be adequate enough. Hit the read link for the full rundown.

While Intel's Larrabee might not be a household name for consumers just yet, it's certainly at the table where Nvidia and AMD/ATI eat. The many-core (8 to 48, at least, according to that Intel graphic) x86 chip runs all your existing apps while tossing in support for OpenGL and DirectX thus eliminating the need for a discrete graphics chip. At least that's the plan. While the exact number of cores remains a secret as does the performance of each core compared to current GPUs, given the importance Intel places on Larrabee, it's reasonable to assume that an 8-core chip will launch in 2009 or 2010 with comparable performance to GPUs on the market at that time. Intel does say that Larrabee cores will scale "almost linearly" (read: within 10%) in games; that means that a 16-core chip will offer nearly twice the performance of an 8-core chip, 32-cores twice that of 16, and so on. Apparently this has already been proven in-house with Intel name-dropping Larrabee-coded titles such as Gears of War, FEAR, and Half-Life 2, Episode 2. It's no coincidence then to hear that Intel's first Larrabee product will target PC gamers. Click through if you're just dying to read about Larrabee's 1024 bits-wide bi-directional ring network and other bits of technical wonderment sure to create at least the hint of a silicon malaise.

[Via CNET and Washington Post, Thanks Dan R.]

So we hate to break it to the good guys at Tom's Hardware, but while we're impressed that they managed to overclock a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad 6600 to 5.1GHz using a cryogenic cooling system, it's not nearly close to the world record they're claiming -- we've seen P4's at up to 8.18GHz, and just a couple months ago someone jacked a Core 2 Extreme QX9775 on a Skulltrail board to 6GHz. Still, it's always fun to watch people pour liquid nitrogen over a mobo -- video after the break.

[Via PC World]

We genuinely hope you don't value your dash very much, because a great deal of it will vanish if you opt to install KNGT's icom MK1.The full-fledged car computer wows passengers and drivers alike with its 6.95-inch 800 x 480 resolution display, on-screen QWERTY keyboard, wireless connectivity and mobile TV (T-DMB) tuner. Furthermore, you'll find a 40GB / 80GB hard drive, upwards of 2GB of RAM, a few USB 2.0 ports, a 1.6GHz Intel CPU and Windows XP running the show. You know all those threats you made when you were younger about heading out and just living in your '79 Riviera? Following through just got a whole lot easier.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

While at least one enterprising individual did his best to get Creative's X-Fi sound cards to play nice with Vista, Creative wasn't exactly keen on that idea and apparently decided to have a go at updating its drivers itself instead (go figure). Among other things, the new, long overdue drivers supposedly fix the problematic Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, and they add DVD Audio playback, which previously worked under Windows XP but not in Vista -- you know, the little things. Hit up the link below to find the link to the drivers themselves, which work with all X-Fi cards except the X-Fi Extreme Audio, which is clearly so "Extreme" it doesn't need driver updates.

[Thanks, Bamboo]

That's right chicks and dudes, iTunes 7.7.1 is now available for your downloading pleasure. Does it snap the App Store liberties you've been taking? Will it enhance your audio? Is it spying on you and your loved ones? Only Apple knows for sure.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]