Italy to launch Ferrari-style high-speed train

NTV borrows its look, and its chairman, from Ferrari                          

(Credit: NTV)                                  

Next time you're stuck in traffic on the highway, consider those lucky Italians. Some will get to ride in style next week when services on the slick Italo high-speed train kick off.

Operated by Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV), the Italo debuts April 28 and will connect Milan, Rome, and Naples. It's being billed as the most advanced train in Europe.

It has a top speed of 186 mph -- not the fastest in the world but still respectable. The record for fastest commercial service depends on several factors, but Shanghai's Maglev Train can run at 268 mph.

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Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemoto is a major shareholder in (and chairman of) NTV, as is French National Railways (SNCF). The cars are painted Ferrari-style red and feature a stylized hare on the side.

The 25 trains in the fleet are being manufactured by France's Alstom based on its AGV model (Automotrice Grande Vitesse). They'll use the same traction system as the AGV-TGV train that set a speed record of 574.8 kph (357 mph) in 2007, as seen in this video.

Italo trains will have 11 cars with a capacity of 460 passengers. The first, business, and economy classes -- called Club, Prima, and Smart -- will feature leather seats, free Wi-Fi, and ceiling-mounted screens in some cars. The cheapest ticket from Milan to Rome (about 300 miles) will cost about $60.

Services will compete with Trenitalia, which has held a monopoly on high-speed rail in Italy until now, as well as airlines. NTV hopes to attract 9 million annual passengers by the end of 2014.

Check out more pics of the Italo in our gallery.

Zuckerberg did $1 billion Instagram deal on his own

Facebook shocked the tech community with its $1

billion acquisition of Instagram, but perhaps more shocking is what the photo-sharing app's CEO originally wanted for his company: $2 billion.

During three days of quiet negotiations, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg halved Kevin Systrom's asking price -- all without involving bankers or his own board of directors, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). In fact, Zuckerberg, who controls roughly 57 percent of the company's voting rights, had pretty much closed the deal with Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom before even informing the board of the acquisition.

The board "was told, not consulted" about the deal on April 8, the day before the rest of the world learned of the deal, one person familiar with the matter told the Journal.

Zuckerberg began the negotiations on April 5 by calling Systrom and inviting him to drive down from San Francisco to meet with him at his Palo Alto home, the Journal reported. Zuckerberg reportedly informed Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg of the decision, but she did not participate in the negations.

Future Sony PS4 to Use OpenGL API!?

According to the website Thesixthaxis, Sony might be thinking of adopting Open GL for its next generation game console PS4. Currnetly, the PS3 is using the LibGCM, a rather difficult to program graphical environment. This choice would not be that surprising if we consider that the PS4 will most likely be built around specific AMD APU developed for Sony, instead of the current exotic IBM Cell CPU.

Such move would boost Open GL, the graphical API of Mac OS X, but not used that much in games, as many developers prefer DirectX. It could also force Apple to make some serious and regular update of the new version of the Open GL API released by the community in order for MAc users to benefit from its improvements. With Sony as a customer, the Open GL group will also most likely push further and faster the development of its free API.

Special A5 Chip in Apple TV 3

First, the Apple TV A5 chip is 41% smaller than the one powering the iPhone 4S. Apple and Samsung are probably using a 32 nm engraving process, if we consider that the A5X powering the new iPad is engraved at 45 nm, this smaller process is probably reducing cost of production while offering a manageable size for a small device such as the Apple TV. Heat release will laso be reduced with thinner engraving.

Then, when looking at it closer, they discovered that the Apple TV A5 chip is a dual core A5 chip in which one core has been disabled. This will for sure improve production cost as Apple can then either disable one core, or use CPU in which one core did not pass qualification test. this method is called Parts binning and contribute to increase the usable die per wafer while lowering the manufacturing cost.

Now the question is: What is Apple doing with the volume of fully functional 32 nm engraved dual core A5 chips? Stocking them for powering the next generation iPod touch?

First, the Apple TV A5 chip is 41% smaller than the one powering the iPhone 4S. Apple and Samsung are probably using a 32 nm engraving process, if we consider that the A5X powering the new iPad is engraved at 45 nm, this smaller process is probably reducing cost of production while offering a manageable size for a small device such as the Apple TV. Heat release will laso be reduced with thinner engraving.

Then, when looking at it closer, they discovered that the Apple TV A5 chip is a dual core A5 chip in which one core has been disabled. This will for sure improve production cost as Apple can then either disable one core, or use CPU in which one core did not pass qualification test. this method is called Parts binning and contribute to increase the usable die per wafer while lowering the manufacturing cost.

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The Lion’s Share

The Lion went once a-hunting along with the Fox, the
Jackal, and the Wolf. They hunted and they hunted till at
last they surprised a Stag, and soon took its life. Then
came the question how the spoil should be divided.
‘Quarter me this Stag,’ roared the Lion; so the other
animals skinned it and cut it into four parts. Then the Lion
took his stand in front of the carcass and pronounced
judgment: The first quarter is for me in my capacity as
King of Beasts; the second is mine as arbiter; another share
comes to me for my part in the chase; and as for the fourth
quarter, well, as for that, I should like to see which of you
will dare to lay a paw upon it.’
‘Humph,’ grumbled the Fox as he walked away with
his tail between his legs; but he spoke in a low growl
.’You may share the labours of the great, but you will not
share the spoil.’

The Dog and the Shadow

It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was
carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on
his way home he had to cross a plank lying across a
running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and saw
his own shadow reflected in the water beneath. Thinking
it was another dog with another piece of meat, he made
up his mind to have that also. So he made a snap at the
shadow in the water, but as he opened his mouth the
piece of meat fell out, dropped into the water and was
never seen more.
Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the
shadow.