Gaming

[video] Robots, mood phones and more at Intel research day

Click above to see some of the futuristic technologies Intel is cooking up in its labs.

Earlier this week at Intel's (INTC) annual research day in Silicon Valley, the company showed projects that could influence the way we live tomorrow.

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HP launches rival to MacBook Air

The new Voodoo Envy 133 is .7 inches thin, and has a carbon fiber body strong enough to support a removable battery. Image: HP

A little more than a week ago, Rahul Sood blogged a picture that showed him cutting his birthday cake with a $1,800 MacBook Air laptop.

It's so damn sharp, he wrote underneath, it did a fine job.

For Apple fans this was blasphemy, something like drinking Kool-Aid from the MORE

AMD leaps back into the game with Puma

Watch out, Intel: Advanced Micro Devices has a laptop with turbo power.

In essence that's what the chipmaker has created in its Puma chip platform, which it plans to unveil Wednesday. On regular settings, a Puma-powered laptop conserves battery life and does a so-so job handling complex graphics. Switch to turbo and it's a powerhouse that effortlessly renders 3D games and plays HD video.

HP reaches for the cool factor

Later this year, select Micro Center stores will set up HP-branded areas like this one that show off sleek designs and demonstrate how the products work together. Image: HP

Rahul Sood was working in a Calgary rug store when fate beckoned in 1991. A friendly customer saw him fixing a computer by the front desk, and suggested he take his skills into the PC business.

Sood borrowed $1,500 on a MasterCard and started MORE

Bizarre Take-Two meeting could determine EA's fate

By Yi-Wyn Yen

When it comes to this spring's crop of hostile takeovers, none has become more strange and complicated than Electronic Arts's attempt to buy smaller, rival game publisher Take-Two for $2 billion.

On Thursday evening, Take-Two (TTWO), which makes the popular Grand Theft Auto series, will hold its annual shareholder meeting at the W Hotel in New York City. One proposal on the table: giving management 1.5 million shares of restricted MORE

Take-Two's game card: Grand Theft Auto

By Yi-Wyn Yen

There's a lot riding on video game publisher Take-Two's launch of the highly-anticipated game, Grand Theft Auto IV.

The game is Take-Two's bargaining chip in its efforts to block Electronic Arts' (ERTS) hostile takeover bid. Take-Two (TTWO), which rejected EA's $1.9 billion buyout offer last month, raised its current quarter guidance for profits on the expectation of strong sales for Grand Theft Auto, which will be released April 29.

Take-Two MORE

Microsoft shrugs off loss of HD DVD for the Xbox

By Yi-Wyn Yen

When Toshiba conceded defeat in the high-definition DVD format battle by ending support for HD DVD technology, it was welcome news for Sony, which has backed Blu-ray for its PlayStation 3 system. But where does that leave Microsoft, which offers an optional HD DVD player for its Xbox 360 game console?

"I don't think this really affects us," John Schappert, vice president for Microsoft Xbox Live told Fortune MORE

Good times roll again at Sony

The innovative Rolly robotic speaker system, which is not yet available, is emblematic of the company's improved fortunes. Image: Sony

LAS VEGAS - After a rough couple of years, Sony is beginning to look like its old self.

It might be too soon to declare a total comeback, but the electronics giant finally seems to have momentum. Those quarterly losses that at times topped $500 million as Sony (SNE) struggled to turn MORE

CES curtain call: Gates delivers his last take on tech's future

Bill Gates is offering his view on the tech landscape he shaped. Last year, the Microsoft chairman used his CES keynote to tout ideas including an in-car technology partnership with Ford. Image: Consumer Electronics Association

LAS VEGAS - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates used his last speech opening the technology industry's biggest trade show Sunday night to announce that the software giant will challenge rivals such as Apple (AAPL), Sony (SNE) and MORE

Tech's caucus season

Trying to pick the winners in '08? Watch these three conferences.

In January, politics has Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Tech has DEMO, Macworld and the Consumer Electronics Show.

Just as primaries and caucuses define the year's political landscape, these three big technology trade shows compete to introduce trends that will shape 2008. Each show has its own personality and its own surprises – and its own part in influencing whether MORE