aspro said:

They kill rabbits, snakes, birds etc...

But not kangaroos? That might be expecting a little too much out of 'em, Aspro.

You have a 60 incher?

aspro said:

You have a 60 incher?

Sorry, I got mixed up. 50 incher.

Sometimes I feel like I'm checking the pulse of a corpse just to see if you guys are still alive. No one commented on this story from yesterday?

Rumor: Nextbox delayed to 2014 because of poor processor


The Produced CPU does not pass quality checks

The chip, which is still referred to as ‘Oban’, is being run through multiple fabrications in very high quantities, too high by more than an order of magnitude to simply be for dev kits. Yields on the chip are said to be something between painfully low, Nvidia Fermi painfully low, and worse than that. Given the sheer number of wafers Microsoft contracted for, this seems to be both an anticipated problem, and one they have plans to work through. That said, SemiAccurate’s sources are still reporting that there is much work to be done, yields are not even up to “horrid” yet.



One of the things Microsoft seems to be trying is dual or triple sourcing the parts, hoping the elves at one foundry will fix things ahead of the rest. Even if none do, three chances of a breakthrough are better than one. While there is still time to get things right, it takes about 8 weeks to run a hot lot through a fab and analyze the results. If production wafers are really going in this year, the last time a foundry can run a test wafer is about November 1. Anything after that day will not come out of the fab in time for the results to be fed back in to the production chips. That is the technical term for “The XBox Next is going to be delayed”.

So, what is the XBox Next? SemiAccurate has been saying for a while that all signs were pointing toward a PowerPC, specifically an IBM Power-EN variant. The dark horse was an x86 CPU, but it was a long shot. It looks like the long shot came through, moles are now openly talking about AMD x86 CPU cores and more surprisingly, a newer than expected GPU. How new? HD7000 series, or at least a variant of the GCN cores, heavily tweaked by Microsoft for their specific needs..

Long story short, Pachter and now Gamestop and now this production report (3 different sources) are saying that Nextbox won't be out till 2014. Well Gamestop said they only expected 1 new console to launch in 2013, Pachter and this article specify Nextbox. Oban (the cpu) is difficult to manurfacture properly, they have low yields and a large number of produced chips that need to be junked. The chips are being made in a such a large quantity that they have to be for production models and not for dev kits. They originally planned for a September 2013 Nextbox release, this is now in jeopardy.

x86 cpu is 32bit

HD7000 GPU is Southern Islands GPU Radeon

• Support for x86

64 bit support for the GPU? Which means Oban could be x86-64 meaning a 64 bit variant. Either way Nextbox should be pretty powerful? Anyone know how the HD7000 series compared to Wii U's R700 series customised GPGPU?

Yahoo said:

What iPhones cost to make

Sleek, in demand and most definitely expensive – but the cost of actually making an iPhone is more than $478 less than the retail price.

The launch date for the iPhone 5 is approaching and speculation is rampant about what the features of the new phone will be. Recent financial figures revealed that, despite only owning around 10% of the global mobile handset market in 2011, Apple collected 50% or more of the industry's available profits.


It seems that the company must be making a sizable profit. Let's find out how much revenue Apple is making from the sales of iPhones by looking at the manufacturing costs of its iconic product.


iPhone 4s

The current model of iPhone - the 4s - will set you back $795 (UK price) if you purchase the 16GB version outright from Apple. The 32GB model will cost you $956 and the price goes up to $1113 when you purchase the 64GB model.


Sum of its parts

iSuppli, which is known for its gadget component costs analysis, released a breakdown of the parts that make up the iPhone 4S. The most basic 16GB model carries a bill of materials worth $188. This total is a long way from the sale price of $795.


Labour costs

Of course, there are labour costs to manufacture this complex piece of kit, but recent investigations suggest that these expenses certainly do not bridge the gap between material costs and sale price.


Earlier this year, ABC's ‘Nightline’ show went into the Chinese factories of Foxconn, where most of the world's Apple products - iPads, iPhones and Mac computers - are manufactured. The investigation revealed that workers earn just $1.78 an hour, work long hours and live in dorms with fellow employees.


Asymco analyst Horace Dediu used the ‘Nightline’ report to estimate that Apple pays labour costs of between $12.52 and $29for every iPhone it makes, which represents just 2-4% of the iPhone's sale price.


The ‘New York Times’ has harshly criticised the labour practices of Apple's factories, and featured an interview with a former employee of Foxconn, who said: "Apple never cared about anything other than increasing product quality and decreasing production cost .... Workers' welfare has nothing to do with [Apple's] interests."

Profit

So if the materials cost roughly $188, and Dediu has calculated that an additional $92.40 is spent on manufacturing its smartphone, (a cost that includes the labour costs, transportation, storage and warranty expenses) we reach a total of about $280 to manufacture an iPhone that retails at $796 This represents a profit for Apple of $514 per iPhone.


The bottom line

Apple is a very successful company, and as consumers, we pay a premium price for the products the company makes. Some people purchase Apple products to become part of the 'trendy' Apple brand.


However, for Apple to maintain its high profits and low manufacturing costs, the company pays its workers in China low wages. Many people wonder if these labour practices will tarnish Apple's image as a progressive company.


During the ‘Nightline’ special, the lead journalist asked a Foxconn factory executive if it would be possible for Apple to double wages at Foxconn. The executive responded: "Why not? It would be good for China and for morale." However, for now, the iPhone's hefty price tag puts it out of the price range of the workers who manufacture it.

UK article, I used a currency converter to get U.S dollar prices.

gamingeek said:

aspro said:

You have a 60 incher?

Sorry, I got mixed up. 50 incher.

Archangel3371 said:

Nextbox delay due to manufacturing problems: "I'm in Ur factories breaking Ur chipz."

I'm suprised, according to the story MS anticipated a low yield and lots of junked chips, so set up shop at many different plants thinking that they needed to have a large enough production, in order to get enough of a yield, of actual, working chips.

Some info from the team making Mass Effect 3 Wii U

• Wii U is a new, different and sophisticated piece of hardware
• Work began months before Mass Effect 3 ever saw light of day on other platforms.
• It's far from a rushed project
• They are working on 2 other Wii U games, 1 is a new IP
• Another is based on another big franchise that will come out in 2013. It's a big title and you will have heard of it
• Straight Right has had over a year to get used to the Wii U's hardware

So these guys are a port team, but interesting because they have confirmed that they are making a Wii U sku of another big franchise you will know, that is going to launch in 2013

- ten-page Mario cover story

- featuring an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka

- extensive feature that will prepare you for the launch of the Wii U

- month of online Wii U coverage

Ravenprose said:

^ I dont' see why a poor processor would prevent MS from releasing the 720 in 2013. It didn't stop them last time.

I was thinking the same thing. And what is with these guys and the crappy hardware every time they release something new? Is it so hard to have quality parts from the get go?