After years of Windows OS exclusivity, Advanced Micro Devices is looking to Google to expand their OS options with traditional x86 and ARM-based processors.

The new chips will run multiple operating systems, and according to AMD, Google’s Android and Chrome OS offer the perfect flexibility for third-party chip design and integration.

Lisa Su, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global Business Units said “We are very committed to Windows 8; we think it’s a great operating system, but we also see a market for Android and Chrome developing as well.”

Up until this point, adoption rates for Windows 8 tablets have been weak, so AMD’s exposure to mobile markets is limited.  Android support opens the door for AMD to reach a much larger market.

New Apple Product w/ Slightly Different Features

Apple appears ready and set to release new versions of its MacBook Air.

The new MacBook Airs should come in their standard thin and sleek look, but will pack a punch with a speed boost from Intel’s new Haswell chipsets. Analysts are also expecting to see a new dual-microphone system, which will enable the device to record stereo audio for the first time. In addition to the new processor and microphone, many expect to see the machine come equipped with the next-gen 802.11ac WiFi chips.

You can see a full list of features as well as more on the laptop’s design when Apple officially unveils the Air at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco next week.

AT&T Enters Hulu Bidding War

According to sources, AT&T is in discussions with the Chernin Group about mounting a joint bid to acquire Hulu.

Since Hulu owners, News Corp., Disney and Comcast, decided to sell, the online video service has had several major players from various sides expressing interest. Among the bidders are companies including Yahoo, DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, Guggenheim Partners, and the Chernin Group.

In addition to its long-standing phone business, AT&T also sells broadband and TV via its U-verse product, so if it were to acquire  Hulu, it would most likely be used in conjunction with AT&T’s existing services.

No official offers have been placed yet, but sources caution that, if the bids don’t come in at a price of at least $1 billion, it’s possible that Hulu won’t be sold.

LogiTTech Designs Cool Accessories

Logitech just acquired the accessory startup TT Design Labs, the makers of the popular TidyTilt iPhone case. TT Labs co-founders Derek Tarnow and Zahra Tashakorina were graduate students when they created the TidyTilt, and using Kickstarter, they launched their product with amazing success. Their crowd-sourced project received  over 2,200% of the desired funding, nearly $250,000.

The startup’s second product, the JustMount was also launched using kickstarter, where it quickly tripled its funding goal. Logitech will market the TidyTilt and JustMount under its own brand. You can pre-order both products from Logitech’s website today.

China’s Super! Supercomputing, that is.

China has produced a supercomputer capable of more than twice the speed of any system in the states.

Previously, the world’s fastest supercomputer, The Cray, was at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, and ran at nearly 18 petaflops. By contrast, China’s new supercomputer, called the Milkyway-2, clocks in at a staggering 54.9 petaflops.

 According to an American researcher in China, the system was built using Intel chips, but includes Chinese-produced technologies as well. The Chinese government spent just under $300 million on the Milkyway-2 supercomputer, which comes with the kind of architecture that may leave China with leading system for some time. Powering the Milkyway-2 is 32,000 Intel Xeon chips, and 48,000 Xeon Phi chips.

The United States isn’t expected to catch up with China anytime soon. The next large acquisition of a supercomputer for the U.S. Department of Energy will not be until 2015. China’s supercomputer ambitions don’t stop with Milkyway-2.

They want to produce an exascale system before 2020. The U.S is not likely to produce an exascale system until around 2025.

Youtube’s API, More Like PAY-PI

In the past six months, Youtube has tripled its advertising sales on mobile devices, contributing an estimated $350 million in revenue.

About a quarter of Youtube’s billion global users already access the video-sharing site via handheld devices.  More than half of American smartphone owners watch videos on the YouTube mobile app at least once a month. With the advent of faster networks and the increased use of smartphones and tablets, American mobile video-ad sales are projected to expand to $2.69 billion in 4 years, which is more than 10 times last year’s figures.

Currently, YouTube generates about 10% of Google’s total revenue. It’s a platform that is increasingly thought of as one of the easiest, and most cost effective advertising methods. YouTube even  automates the task for marketers buying advertising, splitting air time between computer browsers and mobile devices.

Out With Old, In With New

Facebook is closing shop on one product and replacing it with another.  On September 12, the social network will no longer support Facebook Credits and they will launch their new payment product, the Local Currency Payments API.

With the new payment API, developers can set prices for in-game items and cache static prices with Facebook, all while experiencing a reduced payment latency.

A representative of Facebook was quoted as saying, “We strongly encourage you to start the process now to ensure you have adequate time to integrate local currency pricing and to optimize your app’s payment experience, performance, and pricing.” Developers who currently use Facebook Credits and wish to use the new API have 90 days to migrate to local currency payments.

These Batteries Should Sell-Fer’ A Lot

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed a new battery with 4 times the energy density of conventional batteries. The new lithium-sulfur battery uses elemental sulfur, which is both abundant and inexpensive, to replace the expensive and somewhat rare lithium compound used in lithium-ion batteries.

Lead author on the Oak Ridge study commented on the technology saying, “Our approach is a complete change from the current battery concept of two electrodes joined by a liquid electrolyte, which has been used over the last 150 to 200 years.”

The new batteries should be able to maintain a capacity of 1,200 milliamp-hours per gram after 300 charge-discharge cycles, whereas a traditional lithium-ion battery has an average capacity of 155 milliamp-hours per gram.

Although the team’s new battery is still in the demonstration stage, the scientists at Oak Ridge hope to see their research move quickly from the laboratory into the real world.

Live Long And Acer

Lately, Acer has been showing off their newest laptop, the Aspire R7, but unlike the typical spec-driven, straightforward laptop that Acer is known for, this new device is all about appearances.

Perhaps to celebrate the newest release of the popular film series, Acer decided to create a special limited edition of its flagship laptop, the Aspire R7 Star Trek edition.

The new device was spotted at this year’s Computex, and judging from the footage, the R7 has a real starship-esque look. Only twenty-five of these special-edition notebooks exist, and Acer plans to offer one for auction on eBay from June 14th through the 24th, with all proceeds going to charity.

No word yet on who will be lucky enough to get one, but one thing’s for sure whoever gets their hands on it will live long and prosper.

To keep up with this and more tech-related news, watch us daily on the morning NewsDesk With Kristin Feledy.

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writing credit: Andrew E. Lowe