More PSP2 pics leak ahead of launch - rumours

Is that the Sony PSP2 reportedly set to be unveiled in two days? The hardware certainly looks like images we've seen in the past, and the inclusion of the stylus backs up those recent rumors we've heard about a touchscreen on the device--though, frankly, I think we'd all be surprised is the thing didn't rock the old touchscreen. The console image also squares with rumors that the PSP2 will support dual analog nubs.

The inclusion of the SD card and PSP2-branded memory stick are in-line with the likely rumors that such a device would abandon the proprietary UMD format that nobody outside of Sony ever really seemed to like.

As Kotaku (who first got ahold of the image) points out, the shot is pretty low-res, meaning that, if it did indeed come from Sony, it's likely not "official art," so much as something pulled off an internal memo.
Adds Kotaku,
The buttons and the d-pad look to be at a slightly different resolution. The copyright in the bottom left, which appears on official Sony images, is cut off, too. Likewise, odd. However, as mentioned above, this purported PSP2 image could be photo taken of official Sony art or of an official Sony handout, hence these resolution inconsistencies.
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Rockstar's "L.A. Noire" gets May 23 release date

Rockstar Games' latest video-game epic, "L.A. Noire," is set to be released on May 23, according to a trailer that was released on Monday.
The new "Serial Killer" trailer, embedded below, reveals that the player will be after a serial killer - or perhaps a copycat - that murders women and then displays messages on their bodies. Not exactly family friendly, but then Rockstar's games rarely are.

The game uses the MotionScan technology, which applies realistic motion capture and facial expressions to the game.

MotionScan is different from traditional motion capture technology in that it utilizes 32 high-definition cameras that capture an actor's expressions in full 3D at 30 frames per second. "L.A. Noire" will be the first video game to utilize this technology by Depth Analysis, which created MotionScan.
"L.A. Noire" is currently slated for release for Xbox 360 and PS3 for $59.99.
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New Device May Revolutionize Computer Memory field effect transistors ( F.E.T)

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new device that represents a significant advance for computer memory, making large-scale “server farms” more energy efficient and allowing computers to start more quickly.

Traditionally, there are two types of computer memory devices. Slow memory devices are used in persistent data storage technologies such as flash drives. They allow us to save information for extended periods of time, and are therefore called nonvolatile devices. Fast memory devices allow our computers to operate quickly, but aren’t able to save data when the computers are turned off. The necessity for a constant source of power makes them volatile devices.
But now a research team from NC State has developed a single “unified” device that can perform both volatile and nonvolatile memory operation and may be used in the main memory.

Researchers have developed a single “unified” device that can perform both volatile and nonvolatile memory operation, with applications that could affect computer start times and energy efficiency for internet servers.

“We’ve invented a new device that may revolutionize computer memory,” says Dr. Paul Franzon, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research. “Our device is called a double floating-gate field effect transistor (FET). Existing nonvolatile memory used in data storage devices utilizes a single floating gate, which stores charge in the floating gate to signify a 1 or 0 in the device – or one ‘bit’ of information. By using two floating gates, the device can store a bit in a nonvolatile mode, and/or it can store a bit in a fast, volatile mode – like the normal main memory on your computer.”
The double floating-gate FET could have a significant impact on a number of computer problems. For example, it would allow computers to start immediately, because the computer wouldn’t have to retrieve start-up data from its hard drive – the data could be stored in its main memory.
The new device would also allow “power proportional computing.” For example, Web server farms, such as those used by Google, consume an enormous amount of power – even when there are low levels of user activity – in part because the server farms can’t turn off the power without affecting their main memory.
“The double floating-gate FET would help solve this problem,” Franzon says, “because data could be stored quickly in nonvolatile memory – and retrieved just as quickly. This would allow portions of the server memory to be turned off during periods of low use without affecting performance.”
Franzon also notes that the research team has investigated questions about this technology’s reliability, and that they think the device “can have a very long lifetime, when it comes to storing data in the volatile mode.”
The paper, “Computing with Novel Floating-Gate Devices,” will be published Feb. 10 in IEEE’s Computer. The paper was authored by Franzon; former NC State Ph.D. student Daniel Schinke; former NC State master’s student Mihir Shiveshwarkar; and Dr. Neil Di Spigna, a research assistant professor at NC State. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation.

NC State’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is part of the university’s College of Engineering.                        SUBSCRIBE TO OUR BLOG