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Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
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iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
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  • Zooropa

    • 10 out of 10
    • U2
    • This record is perhaps U2's finest hour, yet it has been forgotten as a strange by-product of the ZooTV tour's overload, and is generally regarded by most fans as a poor effort. It is this sentiment t
  • Physical Graffiti

    • 10 out of 10
    • Led Zeppelin
    • This album bears every flavor of genius from the five records that came before. It is, I believe, the band's finest. With Physical Graffiti, Zep came raging back to their musical home territory -- har
  • Modern Lovers

    • 10 out of 10
    • Modern Lovers
    • This timeless masterpiece is little known, but it has inspired almost as many bands as The Modern Lovers' own inspiration -- and only slightly better known -- The Velvet Underground & Nico.

  • Rift

    • 8 out of 10
    • Phish
    • This quasi-concept album (the only of its kind) from these Vermonters finally showcased their ability to convey a message with a studio album, whereas previously they only succeeded in doing so live.
  • How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

    • 6 out of 10
    • U2
    • U2's latest entry is a mostly underwhelming collection of songs that does very little to sound any different from its equally pedestrian predecessor, 2000's "All That You Can't Leave Behind." While

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News

Apple Buys Chip Maker PA Semi

Apple revealed late on Tuesday that it has agreed to buy PA Semi, a company that designs embedded microprocessors. Sources close to the deal said the transaction cost the Mac, iPhone and iPod maker US$278 million in cash, according to Forbes.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling stated "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not comment on our purposes and plans."

Even though Apple isn’t commenting on its plans for PA Semi, it seems possible that it could be considering using the chip maker’s designs for upcoming products that rely on embedded processors, like new iPods or even the iPhone. If so, that could spell bad news for Intel and its push to convince Apple that the iPhone should be based on its chip sets.

Apple could also be considering licensing the chip designs to other companies since PA Semi’s product designs do offer compelling options for electronic devices. The company introduced a 64-bit dual-core processor that it claimed was 200 percent more efficient than comparable chips thanks to its 2GHz processor speed and five to 13 watt power consumption.

PA Semi’s chips are already running on hardware sold by NEC, but they aren’t likely to show up in any Apple products for at least a year because of product development cycles.

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