Actualités informatiques du 28-09-1999

Creative Labs US  vient d'annoncer la disponibilité du Live!Ware 3. Vous pourrez le commander dans quelques jours ici , ou attendre jusqu'à la mi octobre, date à laquelle une versionlight sera disponible en téléchargement. Voici les nouveautés :

Creation and playback of LAVA! Music Videos for MP3 content
LAVA! (Live Audio Visual Animation) is a technology that gives visual expression to Internet music and makes it possible for MP3 enthusiasts, musicians and artists to express their creativity in visual terms; expanding the Internet music experience from only a listening experience, to a complete, highly immersive audio and visual experience. With LAVA!, users can incorporate visual animations into their MP3 songs and audio files, creating "instant music videos" for sharing with friends or for promoting songs and bands. Using a combination of sophisticated audio analysis and hardware accelerated graphics, LAVA! offers a new paradigm that will change the way Internet music is distributed and experienced. More information can be found at www.lavamusic.com.

Real-time and voice communications with MediaRing Talk and Creative Voice Persona
Creative is providing the next generation Internet Voice Communication software - Creative MediaRing Talk™ 99 - by MediaRing which is available through Live!Ware 3.0. Leveraging its patented "knocking" technology, Talk 99 permits calls from the PC without the need for the receiving party to be logged on to the Internet. Long distance PC-to-PC calls-free of any long distance charges-can be made worldwide. PC-to-Phone communications are also supported at minimum charges. Creative MediaRing Talk™ 99 also features Creative VoicePersona which takes advantage of the EMU10K1 audio processor, allowing users to change their voices in real-time, and to experience the power of Environmental Audio in Internet-related applications. Users can also join the Creative VoiceChat online community to make new friends over the Internet at www.creativechat.com

Enhanced playback of Internet music and audio
The new Creative PlayCenter allows users to add realistic audio environments, play back MP3 songs and apply real-time effects such as chipmunks to change the original voice. Creative's "Time-Scaling" technology, incorporated in PlayCenter, allows users to playback any media ranging from MP3, VideoCD to DVD, at different speeds without affecting the audio-pitch quality and also playback voice recordings on Creative Nomad at a slower pace with clarity.

High-speed MP3 encoding and playback with Environmental Audio™
Live!Ware 3.0 includes a new version of Creative Digital Audio Center, from Music Match, offering unlimited CD-ripping and MP3 conversions of up to 320kbps as implemented for Live!Ware 3.0 in Sound Blaster! Live Platinum or Sound Blaster Live! MP3+. As implemented in Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer and in the Live!Ware 3.0 CD, Live!Ware 3.0 offers these same features but with conversions of up to 96kbps. In either implementation, Live!Ware 3.0 enables users to customize their own MP3 album collections and add the multi-dimensional realism of Environmental Audio. These Environmental Audio-enhanced and customized MP3 creations can be played back by users or non-users of Sound Blaster Live!, or by Creative's Nomad MP3 player.

L'i820 est retardé, mais les processeurs Pentium III 533B et 600B ne le sont pas. Ces Pentium III, gravés en 0.25 Microns comme les autres, ont la particularité d'utiliser un bus système à 133 Mhz. Ironie du sort, le seul chipset potable (or i810E donc) qui supporte ces processeurs de manière officielle (il est possible d'overclocker un chipset BX à 133 Mhz, mais l'AGP passe à 88 Mhz), c'est l'Apollo Pro 133 de VIA …

A titre informatif, le PIII600B est vendu 615$ aux OEM, soit le même prix que le PIII 600 "normal" (bus 100 Mhz).

Intel vient d'annoncer aujourd'hui un nouveau chipset, l'i810E. Comme son nom l'indique, il s'agit d'une évolution de l'i810, qui a notamment la particularité de pouvoir utiliser un bus à 133 Mhz, tout en utilisant de la SDRAM PC 100 toutefois. Le reste est identique à un i810, c'est à dire un chipset avec vidéo intégré et donc peut intéressant pour les "Power User" mais parfait pour les PC d'entrée de gamme. L'i810E est vendu 36.5$ l'unité (pour un achat de 10 000 pièces) aux OEM, et supporte les processeurs Celeron et Pentium III.

A noter qu'Intel a également annoncé une nouvelle carte mère MicroATX basée sur le chipset i810E, la CA810E.