There's been a rumor buzzing around, in the wake of NVIDIA's GPU Technical Conference last week, that the company intends to shut down its chipset division. After a bit of sleuthing, Hot Hardware has confirmed that this is not the case. NVIDIA fully intends to continue designing its own core logic, but the scope and purpose of its chipsets will be different going forward than in years past.

NVIDIA does not intend to continue developing chipsets for current or future processors based on Nehalem, despite earlier assurances that the company would do so. Company CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was ready to box Intel on the topic as recently as last February, but OEM interest in NVIDIA-built solutions is rumored to have waned sharply once the twin spectres of litigation and compatibility raised their ugly heads. Intel's dominance of the chipset market inevitably means that OEMs who want to stay in the company's good graces pay close attention to whatever tune Santa Clara might be humming.

NVIDIA will continue to build budget AMD chipsets. According to NVIDIA PR manager Ken Brown, “The truth is, our chipset business for AMD has very high volumes overall.  MCP 61-based platforms continue to be extremely well positioned in the entry-level segments where AMD CPUs are most competitive vs. Intel,” Brown said. “We will continue to sell MPC 61-based platforms as long as there is a market for them.”

The company's plans could leave enthusiasts who prefer NVIDIA/AMD combinations out in the cold, at least in the long term. The motherboard developer has no plans for any future enthusiast-oriented AMD chipsets, noting that AMD's current position vis-à-vis Intel made such boards a poor investment.

That leaves NVIDIA's nForce 700 and NF900 (rebadged 700). The two chipsets are as feature-rich as anything else on the market; MSI even builds one board in each series that supports DDR3 at up to 1600MHz. Unless NVIDIA issues at least one additional refresh, however, features like USB 3.0 and SATA 6G will be available only via add-on card. Then again, considering how long it's going to be until either feature offers a general practical benefit, this may not be an issue.

ION-Driven Design –

NVIDIA's chipset R&D is now neither driven by Intel nor AMD. With both first-generation ION products and Tegra shipping, Team nForce has more than enough to keep its hands full when it comes to building the next generation of products. Features like GPU-accelerated Flash, jointly announced by NVIDIA and Adobe today, should offer real benefits to anyone considering an NVIDIA-based solution.

NVIDIA's willingness to shift its focus in response to changing market conditions has historically been one of the company's strengths. NVIDIA's original nForce chipset was initially seen as the answer to the prayers of would-be Athlon users who found themselves stuck on VIA chipsets. The nForce architecture didn't really catch on until the nForce 2 launched roughly a year later, but various iterations of the NF product line were the backbone of AMD launches for several years running.

Now that the company's desktop and mobile chipset options are more limited by threats of litigation on one side and AMD's own chipset division on the other, NVIDIA has engineered its own competitive platform for Intel's darling of the moment, and is in the midst of designing a second iteration of that platform that will also support VIA processors. Tegra, meanwhile, gives NV a platform and processor whose design it controls from start to finish; a luxury that's probably a nice change of pace for a company that has never found itself beholden to the roadmaps of others.

It seems rather premature to carve Requiescat in pace above the lintel of the NVIDIA chipset division.

We all have old cell phones lying aroundcollecting dust. Now, thanks to a new automated kiosk from ecoATM, you can recycleyour old cell phone and get a reward for doing so. The self-serve eCycling stationfrom ecoATM electronically inspects your phone, assigns it a real-timesecondary market value, and then provides an in-store trade-up coupon or giftcard (assuming the handset still has monetary worth). If your handset doesn'thave any value, you can assign the device to the recycle bin where it willbe recycled or refurbished.

ecoATM recently rolled out its first recycling kiosk atNebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha, NE. The company plans to install additionaleCycling Stations at several national retailers over the next quarter in SanDiego, Boston, Dallas, and Seattle. A more massive rollout is set for thesecond quarter of next year.

“The ecoATM makes it easy and convenient for ourcustomers to trade-in and recycle their used mobile phones,” said JayBuchanan, Electronics Division Director, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Inc.,America's Largest Home Furnishings Store. “This benefits both ourcustomers and the environment.”

The machines use a camera-based system to detect signs ofwear including cracked screens, missing keys, and scuff marks. The cameras alsohelp to determine an approximate value for the phone. Even if your phone isn'tworth anything, you may still get a free gift—at the Nebraska Furniture Mart kiosk,for instance, you'll get a waterproof phone case for your efforts and ecoATMwill plant a tree on your behalf.

“We are extremely pleased with the initial results andconsumers' delight with the system,” said Mark Bowles, CEO, ecoATM Inc.”ecoATM's solution finally makes it easy for consumers to give their usedphones a second life or to recycle them. Over 100 million used, but stillvaluable, phones are quietly retired to closets and drawers each year in the USwhere they decay into zero value and then enter our landfills years later. Ourautomated ecoATM provides consumers and retailers an easy, convenient,incentivized method to convert those devices into real money instead of toxicwaste.”

Right now, the ecoATM only accepts phones but in the future,the kiosks should be able to accept and recognize other gadgets such as MP3players, digital cameras, notebooks, printers, and storage devices.

For retailers, the ecoATM makes sense: the machines areinstalled for free and there are reward tie-ins and potential for increasedfoot traffic. “Consumer electronics retailers and their OEM partners arefacing a complex and growing set of state and municipal eWaste laws. Consumerconvenience is important to solving the eWaste problem in the U.S., andtrade-in/trade-up incentive programs are proving to be quite effective inretail,” said Leslie Hand, Research Director, IDC Retail Insights.

Last week, we covered NVIDIA's decision to disable PhysX support if the NV drivers detect the presence of an ATI product. Jump ahead seven days, and the utterly predictable has happened—end-users have found a way around NVIDIA's lockout and have re-enabled the one-two punch of ATI graphics and NVIDIA PhysX. Quick, kids: Can any of you guess what happens next?

Over at NGOHQ, forum member Regeneration is claiming that the NVIDIA drivers published after the 185.85 WHQL series (this includes 186.18 through 191.07) also disable Ageia's original PPU add-on board if a non-NVIDIA GPU is installed. We've yet to see concrete proof that this is true; if you're one of the handful of people who own an Ageia PPU and don't mind testing it, let us know what the results are. Presumably, even if this is occurring, it's a bug—removing functionality on what amounts to another company's product is ballsy, even for the boys in green.

The market's quick correction to NVIDIA's ATI driver lockout could pit the two sides in a constant game of one-upsmanship that NVIDIA is virtually certain to lose. There are ways for the manufacturer to assert control in the short term, such as requiring a specific driver to play a newly released game, but there's no way to maintain that lock long-term unless the company is willing to spend additional resources constantly plugging the holes the online community will be gleefully drilling into the company's “CUDA only” requirement. We understand why NVIDIA wants to keep PhysX to itself, but all the wishing in the world won't build a hack-proof driver. For now, the company has two options: Accept reality, and spin the option as a value-added feature (thereby pumping up PhysX and possibly encouraging its adoption), or battle the modders tooth and nail.

More Fermi. Less fighting.

October 6th may still be officially a day away, but that's not stoppingAT&T from getting the party started early. What party, you ask? TheWindows Mobile 6.5 party, of course. In a joint announcement made todaywith HTC, the Tilt 2 and PURE will be the carrier's first two WinMo 6.5handsets, and both are pretty stout on paper.

The PURE is a touchscreen-based phone, while the Tilt 2 relies on atilting QWERTY slider approach. Both of the handsets support 3Gbrowsing, HTC's own TouchFLO 3D interface and Windows Marketplace.WinMo 6.5 will also bring along an improved UI and Flash-supporting Webbrowser. As for pricing, the phones (which are hitting retail storesnow) will sell for $149.99 (PURE) and $299.99 (Tilt 2). That'sincluding a $50 mail-in rebate and a two-year agreement on a $69.99+phone plan. A steep entry point for sure, but did you really expect thefirst AT&T Windows Mobile 6.5 phones to hit the bargain basketright out of the chute?

HTC Tilt 2
Designed for thebusiness professional, the HTC Tilt 2 is designed with distinct styleand strength while delivering the most powerful productivity experienceavailable on a mobile phone. The HTC Tilt 2 features a high-resolution3.6-inch widescreen WVGA display which can be easily tilted for anexpanded viewing area and a large QWERTY keyboard, which is optimizedfor heavy email use. A quality speakerphone experience is enabled bydual speakers and dual microphones with advanced noise cancellation,and HTC's Straight Talk™ which allows for simplified conference callingand activation of the speakerphone by simply turning over the device.The HTC Tilt 2 also features a 3.2 megapixel camera.

HTC PURE
Leveraging HTC's TouchFLO 3D experience, the all touch screen HTC PUREoffers an advanced touch experience that is optimized for one-hand use,which further evolves the compact smartphone design. Incorporating alarge, brilliant 3.2-inch WVGA touch screen, the HTC PURE is crafted tofit perfectly into the hand and accentuates one's sense of style. Witha crisp advanced five megapixel auto-focus camera with video capture,expandable memory, gravity sensor and an ambient light sensor, the HTCPURE brings many of the most sophisticated features to a broad consumeraudience looking for the professional benefits of a smartphone, withoutsacrificing size, looks or functionality.

“TheHTC Tilt 2 and HTC PURE are not only powerhouse devices, they alsoprovide a natural simplicity in the way we communicate with the peoplein our lives whether through voice, text or email,” said JasonMackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “Our desire is to put peopleat the center of every mobile experience, and we are pleased to workwith AT&T, who shares this common vision.”

Caught yourself looking for a new Wi-Fi router here lately? Netgear'snew RangeMax Wireless-N Gigabit Router with USB (WNR3500L) is certainlyworth a look, particularly if you value flexibility and have an inklingto make on your favorite USB peripherals go wireless. The router isbuilt around a powerful open source Linux platform, giving developersand coding gurus the ability to make tweaks that would generally bedisallowed.

Outside of that and the USB port, the guts here are similar to whatyou've come to expect from Netgear. It's an 802.11n supporting routerthat can also support a wide variety of applications created by multiple development partner sand the dedicated open source community. Ifyou've ever heard of terms like DD-WRT, OpenWRT and Tomato, you'll bein love here. All of those applications (and more) can be downloadedand freely ran on this here device. Within, you'll find a 480MHz CPU,64MB of RAM, five Gigabit Ethernet ports, and a USB 2.0 host port foradding an external hard drive (and accessing it over the Web) ordeveloping other custom uses.

Netgear claims this one will be available later this fall for $139.99,and for those who can't stand a router that doesn't get tinkered with,we suspect they'll be lined up for this one.

Gigabit Switching with Wireless-N for Faster Network Performance

• Wireless-N technology for faster wireless speeds and range
• Four Gigabit Ethernet ports deliver ultra-fast wired connections
• ReadyShare™ provides fast and easy shared access to an external USB storage device
• Push 'N' Connect securely connects devices at the touch of a button
• Smart Wizard® installation CD and multi-language support make setup easy
• Automatic Quality of Service (QoS) for reliable Internet, voice and gaming applications
• Configurable as a wireless repeater for extending range
• Push 'N' Connect and Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ (WPS) ensure a quick and secure network connection

Open-Source Router, Community and Development Partner program

• Open-source Wireless-N router with Gigabit wired ports for Linux developers and open-source enthusiasts.
• Open-sourcecommunity website and development Partner program with downloadableapplications, user guide, forums, blogs and downloads at www.myopenrouter.com
• High Performance Broadcom 480 MHz MIPS® 74K CPU, 8 MB Flash and 64 MB RAM to even run business-class applications
• Popular Linux Firmware-DD-WRT, Open-WRT and Tomato available on Open-source community website
• NEWDevelopment Partner Program-development partnership with several 3rdparty software vendors to develop custom applications on WNR3500L.Please visit www.myopenrouter.com to join the partner program and see the custom applications that are released or under development.

Features

• High-performance BCM 4718 system-on-a-chip
• Gigabit Ethernet and USB port
• Double firewall protection
• Denial-of-service (DoS) attack prevention
• Wi-Fi Protected Access™ (WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK) and WEP
• Wi-Fi Protected Setup™ (WPS) – push-button and PIN
• Push 'N' Connect using Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) and Smart Wizard® Standards
• IEEE 802.11n
• Five 10/100/1000 (1 WAN and 4 LAN) Ethernet ports with auto-sensing technology