Intel pulls SSD Toolbox for killing drives under Windows 7
Well, that was a short honeymoon — Intel’s now pulled its SSD Toolbox and associated TRIM firmware update amid reports that it was bricking drives under Windows 7. We haven’t heard more than anecdotal evidence about this, but we’d definitely pick having a functional drive over the promised 40 percent speed boost from the code, so you should probably hold off if you’ve downloaded but haven’t updated yet. We’re looking into things, we’ll let you know — but man, the X-25M just hasn’t had an easy life, has it?
Update: Intel just gave us its official statement on the matter:
Yes, we have been contacted by users with issues with the firmware upgrade for our 34nm SSDs and we are investigating. We take all sightings and issues seriously and are working toward resolution. We have temporarily taken down the firmware link while we investigate.
[Thanks, Joseph and Ty]
Read – Former SSD Toolbox download page
Read – Intel support forum page
Filed under: Storage
Intel pulls SSD Toolbox for killing drives under Windows 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Microsoft ditches Family Guy special… for being Family Guy
Face? Meet palm. Microsoft’s decided to pull out of its co-sponsoring of “Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show” after execs attending the taping came to the sudden conclusion that Family Guy-caliber jokes were to be told, tackling such topics as “deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest.” We’re not sure how 10 years and over 120 episodes of offensive precedence bypassed Redmond’s radars, but man, that’s gotta be some strong personal bubble. A Microsoft representative said of the taping, “it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand.” The show will still air November 8th, pre-recorded Microsoft references in tow, but with a new as-of-yet unnamed sponsor. All we have of the now-doomed partnership is this brief video from the Windows “741″ student site — it’s after the break.
[Via The Raw Feed]
Continue reading Microsoft ditches Family Guy special… for being Family Guy
Filed under: Software
Microsoft ditches Family Guy special… for being Family Guy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: October 26th, 2009
at 7:46pm by Ross Miller
Topics: Ads, Advertising, FamilyGuy, McFarlane, Microsoft, SethMcfarlane, Windows, Windows7, ad, advertisement, family guy, mc farlane, seth, seth mcfarlane, windows 7
eviGroup’s Pad is a 10-inch 3G tablet with personality
Time to freshen up the old netbook market with a dash of Windows 7, a pinch of touchscreen functionality, and a generous helping of… Seline10? eviGroup, the crew responsible for the attractive 5-inch Wallet MID, has announced the 10.2-inch Pad, whose pièce de résistance is the Seline10 artificial intelligence software that’s been in development for a decade, if you can believe it. Its purpose is to act as your secretary / assistant, and while the novelty’s good, we all know how well Clippy worked out. Fret not though, it’s just an optional extra and shouldn’t detract from the appeal of a device that offers 3G and a/b/g WiFi connectivity, one VGA and three USB ports, multicard reader, webcam, microphone, and the old faithful 1.6GHz of Atom power. A price of under €500 is being touted, with further details set to emerge over the coming days.
Filed under: Handhelds
eviGroup’s Pad is a 10-inch 3G tablet with personality originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: October 26th, 2009
at 3:24pm by Vladislav Savov
Topics: 3G, ArtificialIntelligence, EvigroupPad, HandwritingRecognition, InternetTablet, Seline10, Windows7, ai, artificial intelligence, eviGroup Pad, evigroup, france, handheld, handwriting, handwriting recognition, internet tablet, mid, pad, tablet, touchscreen, win7, windows 7
Lenovo gets official with Win7-powered IdeaPad and IdeaCentre machines
Lenovo already got official with a couple of its Windows 7-powered machines last week, but it looks like the rest of the crop is landing today. Of course, we’ve already seen the 11.6-inch IdeaPad U150 and 15.6-inch U550 pop up in various corners of the globe this month, and the IdeaPad U350 has been around since the summer. That said, we’ll take the OS refresh and minor spec bumps any day of the week (along with new colors on the S10-2), and that’s exactly what we’re getting. We’ll spare you the rehash (it’s all there in the read link if you need a refresher), but over on the desktop front, we’re pretty stoked about the stylish (and previously rumored) all-in-one IdeaCentre B500. Packing a Core 2 Quad CPU, 1TB of HDD space, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a 23-inch LCD, this thing may actually perform fairly well in tasks more strenuous than checking email. The business-minded K300 and bargain-priced H230 ($299 starting point) are less thrilling from a hardware perspective, but they’ll certainly fit their respective molds quite well. The whole lot should be available to order soon directly from Lenovo, and there’s bound to be plenty of options for those not content with base configurations.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Lenovo gets official with Win7-powered IdeaPad and IdeaCentre machines originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: October 26th, 2009
at 1:01pm by Darren Murph
Topics: IdeaPad, IdeacentreB500, IdeacentreK300, IdeapadU150, IdeapadU550, IdeapadY550p, Windows7, b500, color, colorful, colors, desktop, h230, ideacentre, ideacentre B500, ideacentre K300, ideapad Y550P, ideapad u150, ideapad u550, k300, laptop, lenovo, netbook, s10-2, u150, u350, u550, windows 7, y550, y550p
Lenovo’s all-business ThinkPad SL510 gets reviewed
Lenovo’s ThinkPad SL510 is just one of many new lappies hitting the market with Windows 7 in tow, but unlike most of the consumer-oriented machines, this pup is aimed squarely at that fellow over there looking mighty uncomfortable in the suit. Their test version, which included a 2.53GHz CPU, 3GB of RAM, a 320GB HDD and a $1,024 price tag, was found to be a real champion in terms of performance. The machine itself starts at just $520, and while the upgrades here definitely had an impact, they were also pleased with the multitouch trackpad, overall typing experience and bundled business tools. The only knocks? The “bulky, staid design” and low screen resolution, but something tells us a few of you won’t see the former as a negative. Hit the read link for the full skinny.
Filed under: Laptops
Lenovo’s all-business ThinkPad SL510 gets reviewed originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Posted: October 25th, 2009
at 5:35am by Darren Murph
Topics: BusinessLaptop, ThinkpadSl510, Windows7, business laptop, laptop, lenovo, reviewed, sl510, thinkpad, thinkpad sl510, windows 7
