thechangelab.com

Tech News: CES 2007 in Vegas

AGP Platform Analysis, Part 1: New Cards, Old System

If you’ve ever paid any attention to a forum where graphics cards are discussed, you’ll notice that inevitably there will be a number of threads where people will argue about whether or not it’s worthwhile it to stick a new AGP card into an older PC. Some argue that the CPU of the older system will hold the newer card back from reaching its potential. Others will claim that the video card is more of a bottleneck than the CPU when it comes to gaming, so large gains will be seen if the video card is upgraded even though the platform is aging. Still others will say that even though you might see a performance increase with a new AGP video card, it’s probably more cost effective to scrap the old AGP motherboard in favor of a new PCI Express (PCIe) motherboard.
by Don Woligroski.

CES 2007: Gaga for gadgets in Vegas

International gear watchers, from heavyweights to hobbyists, are converging on Sin City for the massive annual Consumer Electronics Show. Here’s all the news you need to know from the show floor, speeches, soirees and much more.
from c|net news.com.

Visa, Nokia turn cell phones into credit cards

Consumers will be able to pay for groceries and other purchases by swiping a phone over a reader that electronically communicates with a microchip on the phone. Phone owners confirm the purchase with the push of a button and the deal is complete.
from Reuters.

Expo: Fetch updates FTP program

Fetch 5.2 introduces WebView, a new way to view files in a Web browser and copy Web addresses from Fetch. Fetch 5.2 also adds support for creating droplet shortcuts for easy drag-and-drop uploading. The company says its new support for FTP with TLS/SSL (FTPS) makes Fetch 5.2 the first Macintosh FTP client to support all the major file transfer security standards: SSL, SFTP, and Kerberos.
by Mathew Honan.

Keeping track of multiple Windows XP computers with BGInfo

Do you regularly work with multiple computers using a Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) switch? If so, you know that it is very easy to get confused about which computer you currently have on the screen. Of course, you can find out on your own, but doing so takes several steps and can be distracting — especially if you’re in the middle of an important or lengthy task.
by Greg Shultz.