This week’s notes feature news coming out of Las Vegas that involve CPUs Intel is creating, presumably to be used in Apple computers. There were also announcements from Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars in addition to controversy involving a popular poker coach.
Intel Announces Core i5 Chips Suitable for Apple Notebooks
Intel announced that the new Core i7, i5, and i3 chips are available and that the new 32nm manufacturing process is in place. For Apple freaks, the processor that people are talking about is the Intel Core i5, previously known as “Arrandale.” This is the first mobile version of the Nehalem architecture that can be used in Apple notebooks. Early benchmarks show performance boosts of 11% to 29% compared to similarly clocked processors found in existing MacBook Pro notebooks. There was no official announcement that the Core i5 chips will be in MacBook Pros, but that seems to only be a matter of time.
Apple Adds 30-Second Song Samples to iTunes Previews
Apple has added 30-second song sample to its browser-based version of iTunes. The report from “GigaOM” stated that Apple is serving the previews in a 44.1 KHz AAC format at 300+ kbps via QuickTime. This might be one of the first trickle-down effects of the acquisition of LaLa.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Shows off the HP Slate
We’ve been hearing for months that Apple would debut something along the lines of an “iSlate” hand-held computer. Microsoft one-upped them yesterday at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, as CEO Steve Ballmer introduced a slate-style PC from HP. The product offered a Kindle application and will be coming later in the year.
Full Tilt Poker Announces FTOPS XV
Full Tilt Poker announced that FTOPS XV will begin February 10th and conclude on the 21st, featuring 27 events. The MiniFTOPS XV schedule will begin in March and offer the same tournaments at just one-tenth of the price.
Dusty “Leatherass9” Schmidt Leaves StoxPoker
Announced on the StoxPoker.com blog and TwoPlusTwo forums, popular online poker instructor Dusty Schmidt stated that he was leaving StoxPoker, a site he is a part owner of and helped make famous. Schmidt was a student at the site and turned the knowledge into a poker career, amassing some of the highest profits at the high-stakes games over the last few years. Schmidt recently released a book and hinted that he’ll reappear at a different training site in the near future.
PokerStars Announces New Year Reload Bonus
PokerStars released a statement that all players have the chance to qualify for a reload bonus. Members must reload their account during the promotional period and can receive a 25% bonus up to $150. The promotion ends on January 10th at 23:59 ET and players can make two further deposits within 60 days to ensure they qualify for as much of the bonus as possible.
Once you make a deposit, you can view your pending bonus in the Cashier window. The number of required VPPs to unlock the bonus will be found there and for every 20 earned at real money tables, you’ll receive $1 in the bonus bucks. For example, a player who deposits $600 would receive a $150 pending bonus. After receiving 3,000 VPPs, the bonus is completed in full and shipped off to the player.
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