Nvidia quietly intros first GeForce 300-series graphics card

Nvidia has quietly introduced its first GeForce 300-series graphics card -- but don't get too excited. The GeForce 310 is more or less a rebranded GeForce 210. It uses current generation Nvidia parts and doesn't appear to implement any new technology -- not even DirectX 11 -- meaning that the company's much anticipated Fermi architecture remains dormant.

Like the GeForce 210, the 310 offers a basic upgrade from an integrated graphics chip, but isn't an ideal solution for gaming with only 16 CUDA cores and a 64-bit memory bus. Other specifications include a 589MHz graphics clock, a 1402MHz processor clock, 512MB of DDR2 VRAM running at 500MHz, DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.1 support, a maximum digital resolution of 2560x1600, and connectors for DVI, VGA, as well as DisplayPort.

While it may not be a Fermi-based card and isn't adequate for enthusiast-level gaming, the GeForce 310 should prove sufficient for 1080p video and general-purpose computing. Nvidia has yet to disclose a release date.

Intel's desktop roadmap leaked, with faster i5 and i7, introduction of i3

Just when you thought you had enough gigahertz in your life, along come the folks at Impress to blow the doors off Intel's upcoming crop of desktop processors. In the highly detailed charts there's wild talk of a low-powered "S" version of Core i5 that lowers the chip from 95W to 82W, a new Core i3 line that strips out the Turbo Boost technology and dips into budget-priced territory, and word that at the time of this roadmap at least the Core i9 "Gulftown" chip isn't slated for until Q2 of next year

Sony PSPs enlisted as study aids by the Royal Navy

Whoever it was at Sony HQ that decided to pursue "military contracts" as a revenue source, kudos! Mere days after the US Air Force expressed interest in expanding its PS3 supercomputer, we're hearing glorious Britannia's Royal Navy has conscripted 230 PSPs into duty as revision aids for its trainee sailors. Loaded with maths and physics materials, the PSPs can be used in a bunk, have familiar controls for the young and mostly male recruits, and are considered pretty tough to break. The underlying reason for this move though is cost cutting: by making the training course more intensive, the Navy is saving on teaching time. Given that the UMD drive won't come disabled -- which is hoped to encourage the sailors to take better care of the device -- the future this paints is of marines who've spent more time with a freebie handheld console than with a pro instructor. At least they'll have a great stable of captured monsters to show for it.