HybridPower: Pseudo-Green
During 2008, everybody was talking about protecting the environment, and Nvidia got on the bandwagon with HybridPower. The idea was to use both an IGP and a standard graphics card, and use only the IGP for normal tasks to reduce power consumption. Unfortunately, in addition to problems with the drivers (which didn’t help matters any) there were performance losses and higher consumption under load than without the technology: the graphics card and the IGP both had to remain enabled. Finally, Nvidia more or less abandoned the technology with its GT200-based cards, whose power consumption in standby has been reduced, so HybridPower only stayed alive for a few months on the GeForce 9-series cards.
The Return Of The Revenge Of Sony Batteries
We’d thought that Sony’s exploding batteries were a thing of the past, but not so. Even in 2008, this affair, which has dealt Sony a lot of damage, continued to make waves: close to 100,000 batteries were recalled this past October. That’s a far cry from the millions recalled in 2006 and 2007, but it’s still not what you’d call a minor problem.
Fiber Optics in France
Here’s a 100% French-made flop: the deployment of fiber optics. What with technical choices (cable to buildings, to the street, into each apartment?), economic choices (sharing, or individual fiber cables?), and financial issues (which providers get state aid?), the deployment of fiber optics has been pushed back. So, as thousands of people wait for those 100-megabit-per-second download speeds, nothing’s happening. Not to mention the thousands of households who still don’t even have access to a straight broadband line...
PlayTV: Non-HD DTT From Sony
Another superb fiasco for Sony: PlayTV. This DTT adaptor for the PlayStation 3, launched with much celebrity-backed media brouhaha, isn't compatible with HD DTT, which was launched in France in early November. That’s hard to take from a device that its maker claimed was HD compatible, and operates with a console that has no problem reading Blu-ray. For the time being, pending a (possible) update, Sony is reimbursing purchasers of the boxes.
GTA IV PC
We’ll end with a game that, in addition to raising its share of controversies, was nothing short of a total disaster in its PC version. Obviously we’re talking about GTA IV PC. Not only is it not very impressive graphics-wise, not only does it require a high-end computer, it just plain doesn’t run for a lot of people. Paying for a botched port after waiting six months for it, then realizing that it won’t even run, is nobody’s idea of a good time.
