bios

Hardware

Gigabyte BIOS Update Fixes iPhone Syncing Issues

1:00AM Chris Jacob | Gigabyte’s been listening to all of the iPhone syncing issues from motherboard owners using Intel’s P55 chipset. They’ve put out a beta BIOS that addresses the problem. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help all the Asus and MSI users who are having the same troubles, but hopefully now that Gigabyte has set an example the others will follow. More »
Computers

Phoenix’s New Laptop BIOS Boots Windows 7 In 10 Seconds

7:20AM Danny Allen | That’s Windows 7, not a mini-Linux OS like Splashtop. It’s also from a powered-off state, not sleep mode. Pretty impressive. And much of that speed comes from turning on a laptop’s devices (hard disk, ports, etc.) in just one second. More »
Computers

Lenovo Lets You Disable Your Stolen Laptop With a Stern Text Message

8:40PM John Herrman | In the next couple months Lenovo will be rolling out a BIOS update for its Montevina laptop users which enables remote shutdown and subsequent encryption via text message. The tech relies on the laptop having a WWAN connection and activates when a custom string, defined by the user and sent from a single, paired phone, is received. In other words, you can choose whatever you want as the shutdown signal, from a cool “Kill” or “Self-Destruct” to a long, patronising multi-part message about the thieving youth of today. More »
Computers

MSI Wind Scores 30% Performance Boost in Free Update

4:01AM Mark Wilson | Overclocking is nothing new, but rarely is it promoted by a PC manufacturer, let alone in a netbook. But MSI has released the v1.09 BIOS update for their Wind mini-notebook that allows users to function key toggle an 8%, 15% or 24% automatic overclock that can translate to a 30% performance boost (as independently tested). You’ll notice the extra power in apps like Photoshop especially, but keep in mind that it probably won’t do wonders for the battery life. All in all, however, it sounds like an absolute must-have update. [Electric Vagabond] More »
Software

Microsoft Adding Its Own Instant-On Feature To Windows?

11:45PM John Mahoney | This survey, sent to a random sampling of Windows users, seems to indicated that MS is at least thinking of integrating an instant-on mode to Windows. Existing quick-start features like Splashtop, found on the Voodoo Envy, Eee Box and a number of other machines, are usually Linux-based systems that stick their finger into the BIOS. A Windows-native solution would be a similar setup–giving you access to a limited feature and application set after a few seconds boot. That is, unless the respondents to this survey overwhelmingly select “1-2 minutes” as their definition of “instant.” [Engadget] More »