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- NYC's Made in New York Digital Map lets you see who's hiring in the tech field
- NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang announces cloud-based, virtualized Kepler GPU technology
- PSA: LG Optimus Elite available today on Virgin Mobile USA for $150
- Firefox native version hits Android in beta, new UI and speedups tag along
- Hitachi launches new CinemaStar drives for media PCs and set top boxes
- Panasonic preps samples of next-gen ReRAM devices, NAND preps for early retirement
- T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm issues memo discussing restructuring plans, more jobs affected
- Facebook snaps up mobile photo sharing firm Lightbox, decides Instagram isn't enough
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 review
- New Baidu Cloud phone unveiled: Changhong H5018 with 300GB of cloud storage
- Bridgestone reveals plan to withdraw from e-paper business, AeroBee loses its buzz
- Google Chrome 19 Stable arrives, shares live tabs across your computers and phones (video)
- Tizen OS will run Android apps -- with a little help from third-party software (video)
- Panasonic's Let's Note J10 netbook promises over 12 hours of battery life, available now in Japan
- Stream TV finds a manufacturing partner in Pegatron for glasses-free 3D displays
- O2 UK rolls out 42Mbps DC-HSPA+ 3G, gives that new iPad fast data in Old Blighty
- Voyager Mobile endures 'malicious network attack,' delays launch to the 'very near future'
- Acer ships Aspire M5 Ultrabook to UK in June, Ivy Bridge and Kepler chips in tow
- KDDI reveals its Summer 2012 collection: Android smartphones are still hot
- Adobe upgrades its Digital Publishing Suite with iPhone viewer, improved social media features
- Sounder launches, we go hands-on (video)
- WD grits teeth, hands over the goodies to Toshiba to regulators and dentists' delight
- AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down
- Sign language translator turns gestures into spoken letters, makes for a better world (video)
- MIT's Brainput reads your mind to make multi-tasking easier
- Those suave Google glasses are now patent-protected
- HTC Desire C gets official 'First Look' video and UK pricing
- Mystery Samsung phone with Snapdragon S4 pops up in benchmarks, may or may not be Verizon's Galaxy S III
- Samsung Galaxy S III manual goes online, teaches you wax-on, wax-off
- Samsung Galaxy S II LTE Ice Cream Sandwich update finally arrives, GSII HD LTE keeps waiting
- Nokia's new 110 and 112 dual-SIM phones are cheap and chatty (video)
- Subretinal implant uses light instead of batteries, shows promise in initial testing
- Apple issues Leopard update with Flashback removal tool
- Samsung Galaxy S III gets permission to enter US, still only with HSPA+
- More than 70 percent of mobile users pay little for apps, big spenders make up for us cheapskates
- Intel launches new Ivy Bridge Xeons, targets microservers
- HyQ is the latest all-terrain quadruped bot, tells Big Dog to bring it on (video)
- AMD reveals Trinity specs, claims to beat Intel on price, multimedia, gaming
- Lenovo refreshes its ThinkPad T, W, L and X lines with Ivy Bridge processors, retooled keyboards
- Lenovo announces the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, a 14-inch Ultrabook with Ivy Bridge, optional 3G and a 1600 x 900 display
| NYC's Made in New York Digital Map lets you see who's hiring in the tech field Posted: 15 May 2012 11:53 AM PDT
You can't deny Mike Bloomberg's often coming up with different ways to involve New Yorkers in tech-related bits. On this occasion, Mayor Bloomberg & Co. have introduced a novel way for citizens of The Big Apple -- and others who plan on making the move -- to find jobs in the technology sector. Dubbed "Made in New York Digital Map," the service aims to make it easier for folks to see which tech companies are seeking engineers, designers, developers, etc. At the moment there's more than 325 looking for new hires, with over "thousands of jobs" being up for grabs. Mayor Bloomberg says this is only the beginning and he's encouraging startups to set up shop here in the City, as he believes this "is the place to be if you're a growing tech startup." You can take a tour of the Digital Map now via one of the source links below. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang announces cloud-based, virtualized Kepler GPU technology Posted: 15 May 2012 11:31 AM PDT
We're here at NVIDIA's GPU technology conference here in San Jose, California and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang just let loose that his company plans to put Kepler in the cloud. To make it happen, the company has created a virtualized Kepler GPU tech, called VGX, so that no physical connections are needed to render and stream graphics to remote locations. So, as Citrix brought CPU virtualization to put your work desktop on the device of your choosing, NVIDIA has put the power of Kepler into everything from iPads to netbooks and mobile phones. NVIDIA Introduces World's First Virtualized GPU, Accelerating Graphics for Cloud Computing SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 05/15/2012 -- GPU Technology Conference -- NVIDIA today unveiled the NVIDIA® VGX™ platform, which enables IT departments to deliver a virtualized desktop with the graphics and GPU computing performance of a PC or workstation to employees using any connected device. With the NVIDIA VGX platform in the data center, employees can now access a true cloud PC from any device -- thin client, laptop, tablet or smartphone -- regardless of its operating system, and enjoy a responsive experience for the full spectrum of applications previously only available on an office PC. NVIDIA VGX enables knowledge workers for the first time to access a GPU-accelerated desktop similar to a traditional local PC. The platform's manageability options and ultra-low latency remote display capabilities extend this convenience to those using 3D design and simulation tools, which had previously been too intensive for a virtualized desktop. Integrating the VGX platform into the corporate network also enables enterprise IT departments to address the complex challenges of "BYOD" -- employees bringing their own computing device to work. It delivers a remote desktop to these devices, providing users the same access they have on their desktop terminal. At the same time, it helps reduce overall IT spend, improve data security and minimize data center complexity. "NVIDIA VGX represents a new era in desktop virtualization," said Jeff Brown, general manager of the Professional Solutions Group at NVIDIA. "It delivers an experience nearly indistinguishable from a full desktop while substantially lowering the cost of a virtualized PC." The NVIDIA VGX platform is part of a series of announcements NVIDIA is making today at the GPU Technology Conference (GTC), all of which can be accessed in the GTC online press room. The VGX platform addresses key challenges faced by global enterprises, which are under constant pressure both to control operating costs and to use IT as a competitive edge that allows their workforces to achieve greater productivity and deliver new products faster. Delivering virtualized desktops can also minimize the security risks inherent in sharing critical data and intellectual property with an increasingly internationalized workforce. NVIDIA VGX is based on three key technology breakthroughs: NVIDIA VGX Boards. These are designed for hosting large numbers of users in an energy-efficient way. The first NVIDA VGX board is configured with four GPUs and 16 GB of memory, and fits into the industry-standard PCI Express interface in servers. NVIDIA VGX GPU Hypervisor. This software layer integrates into commercial hypervisors, such as the Citrix XenServer, enabling virtualization of the GPU. NVIDIA User Selectable Machines (USMs). This manageability option allows enterprises to configure the graphics capabilities delivered to individual users in the network, based on their demands. Capabilities range from true PC experiences available with the NVIDIA standard USM to enhanced professional 3D design and engineering experiences with NVIDIA Quadro® or NVIDIA NVS™ GPUs. The NVIDIA VGX platform enables up to 100 users to be served from a single server powered by one VGX board, dramatically improving user density on a single server compared with traditional virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions. It sharply reduces such issues as latency, sluggish interaction and limited application support, all of which are associated with traditional VDI solutions. With the NVIDIA VGX platform, IT departments can serve every user in the organization -- from knowledge workers to designers ---with true PC-like interactive desktops and applications. NVIDIA VGX Boards NVIDIA VGX boards are the world's first GPU boards designed for data centers. The initial NVIDIA VGX board features four GPUs, each with 192 NVIDIA CUDA® architecture cores and 4 GB of frame buffer. Designed to be passively cooled, the board fits within existing server-based platforms. The boards benefit from a range of advancements, including hardware virtualization, which enables many users who are running hosted virtual desktops to share a single GPU and enjoy a rich, interactive graphics experience; support for low-latency remote display, which greatly reduces the lag currently experienced by users; and, redesigned shader technology to deliver higher power efficiency. NVIDIA VGX GPU Hypervisor The NVIDIA VGX GPU Hypervisor is a software layer that integrates into a commercial hypervisor, enabling access to virtualized GPU resources. This allows multiple users to share common hardware and ensure virtual machines running on a single server have protected access to critical resources. As a result, a single server can now economically support a higher density of users, while providing native graphics and GPU computing performance. This new technology is being integrated by leading virtualization companies, such as Citrix, to add full hardware graphics acceleration to their full range of VDI products. NVIDIA User Selectable Machines NVIDIA USMs allow the NVIDIA VGX platform to deliver the advanced experience of professional GPUs to those requiring them across an enterprise. This enables IT departments to easily support multiple types of users from a single server. USMs allow better utilization of hardware resources, with the flexibility to configure and deploy new users' desktops based on changing enterprise needs. This is particularly valuable for companies providing infrastructure as a service, as they can repurpose GPU-accelerated servers to meet changing demand throughout the day, week or season. Leading Businesses Endorse NVIDIA VGX "Jaguar Land Rover is a global company with an international workforce. The 'holy grail' for us is to deliver virtualized desktop to engineers overseas so we can harness the best engineering talent on the planet without risking the security of our new car designs. The NVIDIA VGX platform is the most promising step we've seen in addressing the user experience for our virtualized workforce. With NVIDIA VGX, engineers for the first time can run all of the office productivity and technical applications they need in a virtualized environment. This will dramatically improve the productivity of our global workforce." "Larson Design Group is a growing company that teams with our clients to provide responsive, innovative solutions for facility, transportation, land development and environmental needs. We therefore look to deploy technologies that will help sustain our growing geographic reach, ease administration and allow our engineers to reach their creative maximum and be more connected to client needs. With NVIDIA VGX, our engineers can now take any mobile device to the client's site, work interactively with them on a fully virtualized desktop and still maintain the industry's highest productivity levels." "Desktop virtualization is rapidly becoming mainstream for enterprises. By leveraging the NVIDIA VGX platform, combined with XenDesktop and HDX technologies, we are enabling enterprise customers to virtually deliver graphics-intensive apps beyond power users and designers. Now, they can also serve users who require only occasional access to graphics-intensive apps, which previously would have been cost-prohibitive. The combined virtual desktop solution for serving these users can be reduced by up to 80 percent, while enabling users to securely access GPU-accelerated apps from any device." "NVIDIA virtualized GPU technology aligns with Cisco's vision of cloud and delivery of desktop and rich-media applications. GPU virtualization is the one major technology challenge that has been holding back deeper adoption of VDI in the enterprise. We believe NVIDIA's breakthrough will deliver the unique user experience and ease of management customers have been demanding." "Virtual desktop environments can enable mobile workforces to perform tasks more efficiently. With HP VirtualSystem utilizing HP Blade Servers and the NVIDIA VGX platform, clients can easily deploy a simplified virtualized environment that quickly delivers the information or applications users need." Availability and Pricing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PSA: LG Optimus Elite available today on Virgin Mobile USA for $150 Posted: 15 May 2012 11:22 AM PDT
If you were one of those who jumped on last week's pre-order, chances are you're eagerly waiting for this Virgin-branded Optimus Elite to show up at your doorstep today. For those who decided to wait it out, however, you'll be happy to know LG's Gingerbread slab is now up for grabs at "major" retail shops in the States as well as Virgin Mobile USA's site. The contract-free flavor of the Optimus Elite carries a $149.99 price tag, which isn't a bad deal when you take into consideration its NFC and Google Wallet capabilities -- that said, its biggest trait's likely to be that lack of a two-year commitment. So, hit the source link below if you'd like one of these for yourself, or you could always take a quick road trip to one of your favorite stores. LG Optimus EliteTM Makes its Way to Virgin Mobile USA on May 15 First device for Virgin Mobile USA to be enabled with NFC and Google Wallet WARREN, N.J. & SAN DIEGO (BUSINESS WIRE), May 15, 2012 - Virgin Mobile USA answers to A Higher Calling™ once again, announcing with LG Mobile the availability today of LG Optimus Elite™ in Titan Silver for $149.99. The device operates on Virgin Mobile's industry-leading, no-contract Beyond Talk plans with unlimited data and messaging starting at $35 a month. Stylish and slim, LG Optimus Elite comes with Google Wallet™ and is now available at virginmobileusa.com and major retailers nationwide. A successor to the popular LG Optimus V™, this highly customizable full-featured smartphone keeps customers organized with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and other key features, including a 3.5-inch HVGA screen, 800MHz processor, 5MP autofocus rear-facing camera and camcorder with flash, and a virtual QWERTY keyboard. A first for Virgin Mobile USA devices, LG Optimus Elite comes with Near Field Communications (NFC), allowing customers to access true value features, such as Google WalletTM, an app that allows payment using a mobile device from participating retailers at select Macy's, RadioShack, Walgreens, Gap and more. "Our customers fell in love with the LG Optimus V™, so bringing another great device to our lineup of Android™-powered devices from the Optimus family goes right along with our promise of A Higher Calling™," said Jeff Auman, vice president for Virgin Mobile USA. "LG Optimus Elite offers full integration of social networking apps, Microsoft Outlook Exchange email, and advanced messaging capabilities. Combined with our awesome Beyond Talk monthly unlimited data plans, customers can realize true savings with no contract and no surprises." Operating on the Sprint Nationwide Network1, Virgin Mobile USA offers tremendous value for those customers who text, IM, post, email, friend, like and tweet more than they talk. Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk plans start at just $35 a month for 300 minutes of voice and include unlimited messaging and data. For those looking for a bit more talk time, the $45 plan offers 1,200 minutes of voice, and the $55 plan offers unlimited voice minutes each month. All plans include unlimited messaging and data (plans include 2.5GB of full-speed data). "LG Mobile strives to provide the best technologies and services that are not only extremely useful, but also accessible to everyone," said Tim O'Brien, vice president of marketing for LG Mobile. "The LG Optimus Elite not only has amazing features, but with add-ons such as Google Wallet, Box and Virgin Mobile's affordable monthly plan, consumers will be getting a great smartphone with incredible value." Customers can also download Box on LG Optimus Elite and receive 50GB of free cloud storage and sharing2 directly from LG, an estimated value of $240 per year, so they don't have to stress about storing all of their favorite music, files, photos and other memories. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Firefox native version hits Android in beta, new UI and speedups tag along Posted: 15 May 2012 11:09 AM PDT
Those who've liked Firefox for Android but have been clamoring for a native version can rest easy, as there's now a truly optimized version waiting for you in Google Play. Mozilla's new Firefox 14.0 beta now looks like, and importantly runs like, a full member of the Android family. Making the leap also affords it Flash support, a new starting page with top sites, secure Google searches and a slew of load time and responsiveness upgrades over the creakier, XUL-based version. Beta status should still trigger a moment of pause if you're not ready to accept a few bugs, but if you've got Android 2.2 or later, you're welcome to give Firefox a shot. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hitachi launches new CinemaStar drives for media PCs and set top boxes Posted: 15 May 2012 11:04 AM PDT
New CinemaStar Family Combines "Sweet Spot" 500GB Capacity, Low Power, Quiet Acoustics and High Reliability, Driving a New Generation of Traditional, and Ultra-slim and Compact DVRs, · CinemaStar C5K1000 Family Delivers Massive Capacity in a Small Footprint – The new CinemaStar C5K1000 drive delivers a generous 1TB capacity in a 2.5-inch form factor, meeting the needs of a growing number of CE OEMs who wish to offer video recording and playback features in a compact design, while still offering massive capacity and functionality as seen in much larger units in households today. The new 5,400 RPM, 9.5mm, 2.5-inch CinemaStar C5K1000 family delivers read/write power as low as 1.5 watts (W) and a quiet operation at 2.4 bels idle. The drive family is available in 1TB, 750GB and 640GB capacities. · CinemaStar™ Z5K500 Family Offers Mainstream Performance and Capacity – The CinemaStar Z5K500 offering is HGST's second-generation, 7mm, 5400 RPM, 2.5-inch CE HDD family, featuring a one-disk design with 500GB, 320GB and 250GB capacities. With its slim 7mm HDD design, power as low as 1.4W during read/write operations and a barely audible sound at 1.9 idle bels, OEMs can easily design smaller, quieter and more power-efficient DVR solutions with enough streaming performance and capacity to store 185¹ hours of HD video or television shows. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Panasonic preps samples of next-gen ReRAM devices, NAND preps for early retirement Posted: 15 May 2012 10:44 AM PDT
The Galaxy S III may rock an impressive battery life, but if Panasonic has its way, even greater benchmarks could be on the horizon. The company is ready to start making samples of a new ReRAM microcontroller, and -- like Sharp and Elpida -- it could start mass production as soon as next year. Here's a little refresher: ReRAM is a new kind of memory with re-write speeds far superior to NAND because it doesn't need power to hold onto information. Panny's chip will initially be used in simple devices like fire alarms, but the tech could eventually find its way into our TVs and even smartphones and tablets. But seriously, are we even capable of living in a NAND-free world? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm issues memo discussing restructuring plans, more jobs affected Posted: 15 May 2012 10:26 AM PDT
T-Mobile's going through some more growing pains as it continues through the process of restructuring. Less than two months after announcing it would close down seven call centers and cut a total of 3,300 jobs, CEO Philipp Humm has sent out another memo discussing that the company is ready to take the "second essential step" by announcing a new structure -- unfortunately, it means another round of layoffs is coming sometime this week. Humm gives no details on who will be affected, nor does he go into specifics on the new organizational structure that apparently is resulting in the loss of jobs. Head below the break to read the full message from the CEO.
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| Facebook snaps up mobile photo sharing firm Lightbox, decides Instagram isn't enough Posted: 15 May 2012 10:22 AM PDT
We get the impression that Facebook is on a big mobile photo sharing kick: just weeks after it bought Instagram for a cool billion, the social network has just hired the staff behind Lightbox. The two-man team of Nilesh Patel and Thai Tran is bringing its mostly Android- and HTML5-focused knowledge over to Facebook, where it's hoping to reach many, many more people. You'll have to wait awhile to see what the Lightbox team brings to Facebook's ever more mobile platform, but you'll also want to hurry if you want to keep anything hosted on Lightbox: the service shuts down on June 15th. As a consolation for the shutdown, the startup's code is being posted to GitHub so that the fruits of its efforts live on in open-sourced form. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 review Posted: 15 May 2012 10:00 AM PDT
More InfoWhen we review a second-generation product there are certain things we tend to take for granted: this new thing, whatever it is, will be thinner, faster, longer-lasting, maybe even with more bells and whistles in tow. With Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1, though, it's a little less obvious why its sequel is here. It offers near-identical specs, including a 10-inch, 1280 x 800 PLS display, dual-core 1GHz chip, 1GB of RAM and a minimum of 16GB of internal storage. What's more, this generation is slightly thicker and heavier, and sheds the LED flash that used to sit on the back side. But there's one detail we haven't mentioned yet: in addition to softening the specs, Samsung dropped the price by about hundred bucks, so that it now starts at $400. Clearly, then, the 10.1 has evolved into a mid-range tablet, whereas it used to be the best Samsung had to offer. That's good news for penny-pinching shoppers, but Samsung has a bit of a problem on its hands: it's jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire, dodging direct competition with the new iPad, only to find itself competing with a raft of affordable tablets made by Acer, ASUS and even Apple. So how does Samsung's warmed-over 10.1 compare? Can it be a winner in the mid-tier category, at least? Let's find out. Hardware
On paper, when reduced to a list of specs, the two 10.1 tablets are difficult to tell apart, what with their dual-core processors, 1GB of RAM and 1280x 800 IPS-like displays. Hold them both in front of you and the difference is obvious, though it's clear Samsung wasn't prepared to stray far from its tried-and-true aesthetic. Like the OG model, this guy has a plastic back that seems immune to both fingerprints and scratches (we should know: yours truly accidentally sent it flying off an airplane tray table). This time, though, Samsung opted for a matte silver finish, as opposed to the white, finely patterned back it used on the first-gen model. Timeless and understated. Also, very similar to this, this and this. But although the build quality hasn't changed, Samsung made the Galaxy Tab 10.1 slightly heavier and thicker this go-round (1.29 pounds / .41 inches thick vs. 1.25 pounds / .33 inches). That wouldn't necessarily be a problem -- after all, chunkier tablets sometimes bring longer battery life -- but in this particular case, it's a shame that the second generation is plumper than the OG model, but doesn't last as long on a charge (more on that later). All told, there's nothing wrong with the way the new 10.1 looks or feels; we just would've hoped that a second generation of products would usher in progress, not a series of steps backwards. Before we point out the remaining differences (and there are a couple), let's linger on the display, another piece of the design that remains unchanged. Once again, Samsung went with a 1280 x 800 PLS panel -- the same one it used on the last gen 10.1. True, it's not a Retina display, or even the 1920 x 1200 screen you can look forward to on the Infinity Pad 700 or (supposedly) the Acer Iconia Tab A700. For what it's worth, though, the viewing angles are wide enough that you should have no problem following along with a movie while the tablet's resting face-up on a table in front of you. One thing Samsung did tweak this time around was the speaker placement: here, you'll find them on the front side, flanking the display. Now that they're not tucked on the underside, you won't have to suffer through muffled noise when you lay the tablet flat, or set it down in bed next to you. Indeed, the volume gets respectably loud, though we wouldn't recommend cranking it all the way up: the sound quality is constrained at best, and gets increasingly distorted as you raise the decibels. At some point during testing, this reviewer went on an early '90s REM kick, and though Michael Stipe's voice sounds soothing enough, his voice and certain lower-pitched instruments like the piano get lost amid the shrill violins. To unlock poor, lovelorn Michael and his trapped vocals, you'll probably want to plug in headphones. Last thing we want to point out on the front face: a 2-megapixel camera, identical to the one planted on the OG 10.1. Flip the tablet over and you'll see the same 3-megapixel shooter, except this time it's been robbed of its LED flash. Finishing our tour around the device, there's the same ol' proprietary charging connector on the bottom landscape edge, while the two portrait sides are both devoid of ports and buttons. Up top is where you'll find the power / lock button, volume rocker, microSD slot, 3.5mm headphone jack and an IR blaster, which was missing from the first-gen 10.1. Performance
Normally, we don't put too much stock in benchmarks, but in this case, the raw scores are telling. The second-gen 10.1 trails its Tegra 3-packing competition by a wide margin. Worse, those quad-core tablets can be had for the same price or less. The 10.1 does manage to best some other dual-core tablets, such as the $350 Acer Iconia Tab A200, but it's tough to get excited about a gadget that can only win when pitted against products with similarly stale specs. The same is true when positioning it against its nigh-identically specced ancestor, the OG Galaxy Tab 10.1. Stacked side-by-side with that aging Honeycomb slab, Sammy's second-coming slate notched a few marginal victories -- namely in Quadrant and Linpack (single and multi) results -- but ultimately couldn't outpace its elder in graphics performance. Numbers aside, the 10.1 also stumbles in real-world use -- and in a way we think even less tech-savvy users might notice. Blessedly, we didn't suffer any app crashes during our testing period, but too many of the things we did felt laborious. The display wasn't always responsive to our taps and swipes, and you might have to teach your finger to apply more pressure than its used to. The tablet stops to think when you launch apps, and certain animations appear sluggish (imagine application shortcuts taking their sweet time to fly off the screen when you press the home button to exit the app menu.) With gaming, too, we got off to a promising start in Temple Run. Unfortunately, our goodwill vanished when we tried to swipe the screen to jump over a tree stump (and away from the persuing monkeys), but were met with an unresponsive display. Even when the screen was cooperative, we still noticed some stuttering and motion blur as we made hair-pin turns around the course and slid under obstacles. Battery life
Though the 10.1 is relatively slim compared to its competition, that thinness thankfully doesn't translate to skimpy runtime: it lasted roughly nine hours in our battery rundown, which consists of looping a movie with WiFi on and the screen brightness fixed at 50 percent. That's a respectable showing, especially when you consider the ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 crapped out half an hour earlier, despite having a slightly bulkier build. Still, one has to wonder why the original 10.1 managed to last an hour longer in the same test, despite having a skinnier design. While we're on our "if it ain't broke don't cripple it rant," the $400 iPad 2 lasts ten and a half hours, while the current-gen iPad lasts nearly ten under optimal circumstances. Prefer to stick with Android, thank you very much? The new Iconia Tab A510 holds out for about ten and a half hours as well, though it comes at the price of a heavier design and a loftier price ($450, versus $400 for the 10.1). Software As you'd expect, the unit we tested ran Ice Cream Sandwich (version 4.0.3, to be exact) with Samsung's TouchWiz layered on top. If you've ever owned a Samsung device or even played with one at a local store, you know what you're getting: for better and worse, this is the same skin we've seen on oodles of other Samsung products, including the 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 we tested last month. That means certain apps (calendar, for example) have been replaced by Samsung-designed equivalents (S Planner, in this case). Samsung's also taken liberties with certain basic aspects of the UI, such as the way the clock in the lower-right hand corner looks. Additionally, the app menu is peppered with various "Hubs," including ones for gaming, media, music and e-books. Make of these what you will: it's absolutely possible to enjoy the tablet without ever launching these, making them as unobtrusive as bloatware, but potentially more useful. Amid all those hubs, it can be easy to ignore the sprinkling of third-party applications. Nonetheless, they're there, and the selection is fairly standard. On tap, we've got Amazon's Kindle app, Netflix, the Pulse news reader and Polaris Office, which you'll also find on the keyboard-dock-compatible Transformer Pad TF300. There's also Dropbox, which comes with 50GB of complimentary storage, good for one year. (This came in especially handy when we tried to get files onto a test MacBook Pro, since the tablet didn't show up in Finder when we plugged it in over USB.) Even more than Dropbox, though, the most memorable, unusual bit of software is Peel's universal remote app, and even that's unsurprising, given that all of Samsung's other tablets with IR emitters come pre-loaded with the same app. Since this isn't all that new, we'll spare you an encore performance of previous reviews, but suffice it to say the last time we gave it a whirl, we were generally pleased with its easy setup, which doesn't require you to remember the model numbers of all the pieces in your home theater rig -- just the brands. Camera
As tablet makers take steps to cut the price of their wares, camera quality invariably ends up being one of the first things to land on the chopping block. Which makes sense to us: even at their best, slates have never been known for their stellar images, and we imagine this feature is underused anyway -- given how impossible it is to frame shots on a 10-inch screen without attracting stares. Interestingly, though, while lots of tablet players have decided to compromise on image quality, each company seems to have taken a different approach: ASUS, for example, widened the aperture slightly but removed the flash, while Acer simply chose not to endow the A200 with a rear shooter at all. In the case of the second-gen 10.1, Samsung kept the pair of three- and two-megapixel cameras, but removed the LED flash on the back, almost as if they thought we wouldn't notice. Truth be told, the 10.1's still photos are dismal, even by tablet standards, but the lack of a flash seems to be the least of its problems. Even with ample light, the rear camera is clueless about what part of the image it should be focusing on. Try to snap a photo of an orange butterfly, and the sharpest thing in the picture will be the green foliage in the background. Try taking a close-up shot and the best you can hope for is that the foreground will be in focus; hoping for even a slightly blurred background is an exercise in denial. Compounding matters, the camera app lacks tap-to-focus -- a table-stakes feature in smartphone / tablet cameras, if you ask us -- but to be honest, a camera worth its salt will focus on the obvious thing even without you prompting it to. As for the absent flash, even photos taken in modestly dim rooms showed large patches of noise, but then again, we haven't any tablet camera we'd trust by candlelight. It's more of the same with 720p video recording. The hyperopic focus isn't so obvious with wide shots (say, traffic hurtling by), but it absolutely hamstrings more tightly framed shots. Returning to that butterfly, for instance, we didn't have any more success locking in focus here than we did with still photos; the sharpest part of our clips are blades of grass in the background. The competition
One senses that Samsung cut the 10.1's price by $100 to avoid direct competition with the iPad. Too bad other tablet makers had the same idea. Now in its second generation, the 10.1 finds itself against other mid-range 10-inch Android tablets, including the ASUS Transformer Pad TF300 ($380 and up) and the Acer Iconia Tab A510 ($450). And if Samsung really was trying to escape the iPad, well, it didn't work: the iPad 2 now costs $399, and though its display isn't the stunner you'll find on the new iPad, its long battery life, slim design and exhaustive app catalog still make it a good buy. Leaving the iPad out of this for a second (not everyone prefers Apple's ecosystem, after all), the new 10.1 will probably still struggle to stand out. For $20 less, the TF300 offers comparable battery life, a bright IPS display, a superior camera and unskinned Android, if you're into that sort of thing. And though the Transformer's signature keyboard dock ratchets the cost up by $150, the fact that it's even possible to use the TF300 this way makes it a more compelling option. Meanwhile, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 whips the 10.1's butt in performance and longevity, and it, too, has a pleasing design. That's not to say we'd heartily recommend spending $450 on the A510 when you could pay fifty dollars more and get a Transformer Prime or new iPad, but our point still stands: if an affordable 10-inch tablet is what you're after, you've got lots of choices. Wrap-up Although the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is the clear successor to the original, it's hardly an upgrade. It's not materially better than the OG model -- in fact, it's worse in almost every way -- and now Samsung finds itself in a market where it can't compete as effectively as it used to. Sammy's corporate heart was in the right place when it cut the price by $100, but it's almost as if the company forgot other companies are doing the same thing -- and stepping up their games in the process. When ASUS, for instance, set out to create a cheaper alternative to the Transformer Prime, it compromised slightly on battery life and settled for a thicker, heavier design, but the Transformer Pad TF300 is nonetheless similar where it counts: like its big brother, it has an IPS display, quad-core Tegra 3 chip and an excellent camera. The 10-inch Galaxy Tab 2 actually costs more than the TF300, even though it packs last year's specs and a hopelessly crippled shooter. If you have $400 to spend, you could buy an iPad 2 or the new Transformer and enjoy comparable (if not longer) battery life, along with smoother graphics and an improved imaging experience. Assuming you were going to ignore that camera anyway, you can't exactly go wrong with the 10.1, but you could also do a lot better. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Baidu Cloud phone unveiled: Changhong H5018 with 300GB of cloud storage Posted: 15 May 2012 09:49 AM PDT
That new Baidu Cloud phone we told you about last week? You're looking right at it! Following the flagship Dell Streak Pro D43 (which was branded with what was then known as Baidu Yi aka version 1.0 of the platform), this Foxconn-built Changhong H5018 is the second smartphone to have its Android Gingerbread system enhanced by Baidu, meaning it'll come with 300GB of cloud storage space (instead of the old 100GB), voice search, voice control and a set of other online services offered by the Chinese search giant. As for the hardware itself, we're looking at a 10.3mm-thick matte chassis housing a 650MHz MTK6573 processor, a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 display, a three-megapixel camera and a non-removable 1,400mAh battery, all of which would explain that highly affordable CN¥899 (US$140) off-contract price tag. That said, you'll still find a dual-SIM (WCDMA plus GSM) tray and a microSD slot hidden beneath the bottom cover. Not sure where ZTE is on this one, but for now, you can head over to Sina Tech for its hands-on report and photos. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bridgestone reveals plan to withdraw from e-paper business, AeroBee loses its buzz Posted: 15 May 2012 09:22 AM PDT
If you were intrigued by those 21-inch e-paper tablets Bridgestone showcased last year, you're sure to be bummed by this news. The company has announced that plans to withdraw from the electronic paper business and expects to bring production to a screeching halt by the end of October. Citing increased competition and rapid declines in material prices for the move, the outfit looks "to put an increased focus on its core businesses." As you may recall, Bridgestone had partnered with Delta Electronics to develop the business-focused AeroBee tablets and it remains to be seen if the latter part of the duo will continue its e-paper exploits with a new mate. Bridgestone to Withdraw from Electronic Paper Business Tokyo (May, 15 2012) - Bridgestone Corporation today announced plans to withdraw from electronic paper business. The company has made this decision after careful consideration of its options and in accordance with its management principal of "selection and concentration" which Bridgestone is implementing to put an increased focus on its core businesses to provide maximum value to its customers and shareholders. Due to increasing competition and rapidly declining prices in the liquid crystal panel business, the company decided that the best course of action for its overall business is to exit the electronic paper market. Exact timing for the withdrawal is still being determined but the company expects to conclude its production of electronic paper by the end of October 2012. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Google Chrome 19 Stable arrives, shares live tabs across your computers and phones (video) Posted: 15 May 2012 09:01 AM PDT
Google first teased live tab syncing in Chrome 19 beta, and it's now available for all of us who tread the safer path of Stable releases. If you weren't living on the bleeding edge for long enough to try the syncing early, you'll be glad to know that it lets you see and quickly sync all the tabs that are open on any device signed into your Google account. That includes your phone or tablet, if you've got Android 4.0 and the Chrome for Android beta loaded up. Like with the beta, though, you'll have to cool your jets if you were hoping to get live syncing right away: Chrome 19 Stable is pushing automatically over the next few days, but tab syncing will take weeks to be ready for everybody. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tizen OS will run Android apps -- with a little help from third-party software (video) Posted: 15 May 2012 08:39 AM PDT
As Tizen's open-source OS continues to make its first steps into the world, there's some good news for anyone concerned with a weak app line-up. It looks like both Android versions and Samsung's own Bada SDK will be supported through an application compatibility layer (ACL) which works along similar lines to the Android app player on BlackBerry's Playbook. Open Mobile, which is responsible for the ACL, claim it'll have 100 percent compatibility with Google's back catalogue and be just as responsive -- some pretty heady statements. The company wants its program be included on the OEM side of the equation -- this isn't aimed at humble end-user tinkerers. For now, you can check how its ACL fares in a quick video walkthrough after the break. (It's worth noting that the demo tablet isn't running on the Tizen UI -- it looks like we'll have to loiter around for some more hardware.)
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| Panasonic's Let's Note J10 netbook promises over 12 hours of battery life, available now in Japan Posted: 15 May 2012 08:18 AM PDT
To pair nicely alongside that beastly Let's Note B11 we showed you last week, Panasonic's now also selling its J10 netbook series in Japan. Aesthetically speaking, the new Let's Note J10 isn't much different than its predecessor, the J9, though it has changed a bit (as expected) in the specs department. The entry level 10.1-inch (1366 x 768) J10 gets you Intel's Core i3-2350M CPU with 320GB of hard drive storage as well as 4GB of RAM, while the higher-end model sports an i7-2640M chip (sorry, no Ivy Bridge here), up to 8GB of memory and you can choose between a 256GB SSD or a 1TB HDD. Additionally, each unit's packing a hefty amount of ports, including two USB 2.0, one USB three-dot-oh and an HDMI out. Those looking to grab one of these J10s best have deep wallets, as pricing ranges from 120,000 yen (about $1,500) all the way up to around 267,000 yen. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stream TV finds a manufacturing partner in Pegatron for glasses-free 3D displays Posted: 15 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT
We've been hearing about (and even seeing) Stream TV's Ultra-D autostereoscopic 3D chops for a while now, but so far there hasn't been any actual hardware to show for it. That could change soon, since the company is announcing OEM Pegatron as a manufacturing partner today. Ultra-D's claim to fame is the ability to bring clear 3D to displays of varying sizes, from portables to HDTVs with no loss of quality as well as SeeCube 2D-to-3D conversion technology. Pegatron builds devices for more recognizable names like Apple, Asus, Toshiba and others, and once they're ready to build products around the tech it should be able to put them together at more affordable prices than we've seen for glasses-free 3D hardware so far. CEO of Stream TV Mathu Rajan says this partnership will help it bring Ultra-D products to customers this year, so it might be time to clear out some space next to that 3DS and Evo 3D. We'll be convinced when we have Ultra-D hardware in our own hands, but until then you can check out the full press release after the break. STREAM TV NETWORKS PARTNERS WITH Stream TV announces a manufacturing partner for Ultra-D 3D without glasses technology May 15, 2012 [Philadelphia, PA] - Stream TV Networks, Inc. (www.StreamTVNetworks.com) is proud to announce a manufacturing partnership with Unihan (Pegatron) Corporation for Stream TV's 3D without glasses devices. The 3D without glasses devices will be equipped with Stream TV's proprietary Ultra-DTM technology. The most exciting part of the Ultra-D technology is that it can be ported to displays of almost any size without any noticeable loss in brightness or resolution. Stream TV's initial manufacturing partnership with Unihan (Pegatron) will be to assemble 42-inch 3D without glasses displays and accompanying Ultra-D SeecubeTM converter boxes that autoconvert 2D, 3D animation and stereoscopic 3D into 3D without glasses real-time. Other products in the partnership roadmap include tablets, smart phones, laptops, PCs, digital communicator and television sets of various sizes. Pegatron will be involved in helping to distribute Ultra-D devices worldwide. Stream TV and Pegatron will also collaborate to create a worldwide 3D without glasses format based on the Ultra-D technology as a standard for their customers and content and broadcasting companies. "Unihan (Pegatron)'s enormous manufacturing and R&D capabilities will allow us to accelerate the release of Ultra-D products to reach consumers in 2012," said Mathu Rajan, CEO of Stream TV Networks, Inc. "Ultra-D is the next generation 3D technology designed to replace 3D with glasses and win preference over 2D devices." Ultra-D is the gold standard when it comes to 3D without glasses technology. The new version of the devices gives a quality equal to the stereoscopic 3D but without the glasses. Ultra-D is the result of years of research and development in the field of optical delivery. The result is a state of the art display that allows the unassisted human eye to view live and recorded content in true 3D. Ultra-D is a unique amalgam of hardware and software in perfect sync. It introduces a layer of lenses on display panels that directs light at an optimal angle to create a 3D image for the human eye. Behind the scenes, a matrix of sophisticated algorithms scans incoming feed to decipher the different layers that may be used to extrude and generate depth. This depth may be either user defined or computer generated and packaged into the Ultra-D format. Autoconversion happens in microseconds keeping video latency indiscernible to the human eye. Stream TV and its partners who have seen this technology at work predict that Ultra-D will be the standard for 3D displays and content. The Seecube will convert any kind of content to Ultra-D eliminating the need to wait for the During the Computex show in Taiwan additional information and demonstration units will be Additional partnerships and markets will be announced soon regarding Stream TV's 3D without About Stream TV Networks, Inc. About Pegatron | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| O2 UK rolls out 42Mbps DC-HSPA+ 3G, gives that new iPad fast data in Old Blighty Posted: 15 May 2012 07:44 AM PDT
The UK might be champing at the bit for 4G auctions to finish and give the country a taste of sweet, sweet LTE, but O2 UK is at least offering a panacea with a launch of dual-carrier HSPA+ 3G, or DC-HSPA+ in less wordy form. The British carrier has started deploying a full 42Mbps to "major" cities on the isle, most likely including London as one of them. Vodafone would argue that going dual-carrier is old hat, having started a year earlier, but it's also peaking at 28.8Mbps -- and frequent data advocate Three doesn't start its own proper 42Mbps deployment until the summer. As such, if you're a Brit looking for the speediest path to the Internet for a new iPad or one of the few other devices that supports DC-HSPA+ at full bore, O2 looks to be your best bet for now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Voyager Mobile endures 'malicious network attack,' delays launch to the 'very near future' Posted: 15 May 2012 07:27 AM PDT
Launch aborted. Wireless newbie Voyager Mobile has opted to delay its unveiling today to a "time and date in the very near future." A mysterious "malicious network attack" is to blame for the interruption, though that appears to be the extent of the explanation. The company also reinforced its commitment to bettering our planet, one $19 monthly unlimited plan at a time. Voyager Mobile Launch Postponed Due to Network Attack KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- During its Tuesday, May 15 launch, Voyager Mobile experienced a malicious network attack to its primary website: voyagermobile.com. Due to the network outage, Voyager Mobile is postponing its launch to a time and date in the very near future. Our goal of low cost wireless service for all will not be undermined and we strive to continue the voyage for a better wireless world. For further information, please email us at voyager.mobile@voyagertelecom.com. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acer ships Aspire M5 Ultrabook to UK in June, Ivy Bridge and Kepler chips in tow Posted: 15 May 2012 07:12 AM PDT
Acer made something of a splash when it trotted out its Timeline Ultra series of Ultrabooks at CES; those waves are just now hitting the shore with a full-on release in the UK under a tweaked Aspire M5 name. Both the 14- and 15-inch models are now known to be packing Intel's Ivy Bridge-era third-generation Core processors, and the "dedicated" video we heard about in January is NVIDIA's Kepler-based GeForce GT 640M, which we saw in the Timeline Ultra M3. Either new PC is still under 20mm (0.8 inches) thick with the option of an SSD, like the M3, but slapping the M5 badge on top means a much narrower display bezel, a backlit keyboard and other more upscale touches that show where your money's going. Picking the 15-inch model adds an optical drive along with a keypad for number-crunching. Mum's the word on exact specs and that all-important pricing, but those questions will be answered by the time the M5 hits British shops in mid-June. Now all that's left is to know when the new Aspire reaches the other side of the Atlantic. 15 May 2012 Acer Debuts the Aspire M5 - Light, strong, urban gorgeous Once again Acer pushes the boundaries of mobile computing to the extreme and created a family of Ultrabooks™ that are destined to impress and leave a mark. The all new Aspire M5 series reaches unprecedented levels of performance, convenience, connectivity and battery life. Simply thin and light and not compromising with 14" and 15" form factors, the Aspire M5 represents the new experience of instant use and anywhere mobility. The Aspire M5 series are stunning laptops from any point of view, starting from the ultra-thin and smart design all the way through the powerful processors and graphics, the advanced audio technology and the seamless connectivity. The first thing that catches the eye is the new metallic silver of the top cover that blends with the revolutionary new display technology: this integrates the display frame, cutting the bezel thickness by a third to create a futuristic effect. The clean lines, the geometric shapes and smooth angles all conjure up a minimalistic and ultra-stylish look and feel. The casual design houses powerful all-around performance features. Sharp graphics performance comes from the latest NVIDIA® GeForce® GT640M with 1GB DDR5, supporting PhysX™, which accelerates gaming detail of material and effects for fast and smooth image experience, and Microsoft® DirectX® 11 for film-like geometric detail, perfectly smooth curves, and life-like animation. The Acer Aspire M5 Series is based on the third generation of Intel® Core™ processors family, providing dynamic processing performance and speedier multitasking while consuming less power. The overall experience is ultra-responsive. Acer Green Instant-On provides fast resume in 1.5 seconds from sleep mode. Likewise, Acer Instant Connect automatically scans and registers most-visited access points, letting users connect to the Internet in just 2.5 seconds, which is four times faster than conventional methods. Acer leads the trend of thin and light: thus in around 20 mm thin form factor, the Aspire M5 still features an optical disc drive, backlit chiclet keyboard (14" and 15") with numeric keypad (15" only), which provides prosumer look and feel, easy-to-clean efficiency, and typing with comfort. An ample hard disk drive offers plenty of space for large files, and an integrated solid state drive enables instant-on capability. An SSD-only configuration is also available. The highly durable SSD lets user access files faster, run the battery longer, and operate more quietly. In the Timeline tradition, this Ultrabook™ features 8 hours of battery life, providing a full day of on-demand multimedia enjoyment and productivity on a single charge. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KDDI reveals its Summer 2012 collection: Android smartphones are still hot Posted: 15 May 2012 06:51 AM PDT
It's that time of the season again, as Japan's mobile carriers unveil more alternate-universe models that we'll probably never see elsewhere. Leading the pack is the final version of Fujitsu's long-time-coming quad-core Android phone, arriving as the Arrows Z ISW13F. With NVIDIA's Tegra 3, WiMAX connectivity, 16GB of built-in storage and a 4.6-inch 1280 x 720 display, Fujitsu's somehow jammed it all into less than 11mm of smartphone. The 13-megapixel camera includes an Exmor R sensor, while a microSD slot can add up to 32GB of space. The AQUOS Serie is another belle of KDDI's spring ball, with a 4.6-inch 1280 x 720 display, 1-seg TV tuner and a 12-megapixel camera on the back. It's also the first phone to pack both NFC and Felica mobile payment hardware into the same device, mobile wallet fans. The collection is also joined by the HTC J and the final retail version of Kyocera and KDDI's "Smart Sonic Receiver" in the Urbano Progresso -- a phone that transmits sound through vibration. Any ex-pats in the mood for a new keitai can take a closer look at the rest of the new family at the source below. Update: Kyocera has confirmed to us that the Smart Sonic Receiver used in the Urbano Progresso is indeed the same tissue conduction technology Kyocera demonstrated last week at CTIA Wireless. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adobe upgrades its Digital Publishing Suite with iPhone viewer, improved social media features Posted: 15 May 2012 06:30 AM PDT
Moving on, SocialSharing is exactly what it sounds like: it promises to make it easier for people reading these magazines to share stories using built-in email, Twitter and Facebook functionality. Getting more granular, a new font rights policy means that once a publishing company buys rights to use a certain font, it won't have to pay additional per-usage fees every time someone downloads the app. Lastly, Adobe announced that Meredith, the company that brings you (yes, you) Better Homes and Gardens, Parents and Fitness will also begin using the platform to create digital editions. Hold onto your britches, kids.
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| Sounder launches, we go hands-on (video) Posted: 15 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT  We don't know about you, but most of us Engadget editors live in a perpetual state of inbox insanity. Keeping on top of voicemails, text messages, emails, IMs, Twitter DMs, Facebook and Google+ messages -- to name just a few -- is a herculean yet unavoidable task. As a result, personal messages often get drowned out in a sea of work-related correspondence. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WD grits teeth, hands over the goodies to Toshiba to regulators and dentists' delight Posted: 15 May 2012 05:36 AM PDT
Western Digital has completed its FTC-ordered handover of assets to Toshiba in order to buy Hitachi's HDD business Viviti. The wedding of the year was halted when regulators, citing monopoly concerns, demanded WD hand over a bundle of IP, R&D materials and production line gear to Tosh. In exchange, Western Digital will take over Toshiba Storage Device (Thailand), the arm of the company that was devastated in the recent flooding. It's WD's aim to integrate the remaining assets into its own local operations -- you can read the official line WD® Completes Divestiture Of Assets To Toshiba Corporation IRVINE, Calif., May 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today announced that it has completed its divestiture of certain 3.5-inch hard drive assets to Toshiba Corporation, as required by regulatory agencies that conditionally approved the company's completed acquisition of Viviti Technologies Ltd. (formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies). The assets will enable Toshiba to manufacture and sell 3.5-inch hard drives for the desktop and consumer electronics markets and will enhance its ability to manufacture and sell 3.5-inch hard drives for near-line (business critical) applications. As part of its deal with Toshiba, WD® also completed its purchase of Toshiba Storage Device (Thailand) Company Limited (TSDT), which manufactured hard drives prior to the recent Thailand flooding. The principal assets of TSDT are its Thailand property, facilities and employees, which WD plans to integrate into its Thailand operations. The financial terms of the two agreements were not disclosed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down Posted: 15 May 2012 05:07 AM PDT
If you've been following AMD's game plan over the last couple of years, then you probably won't be totally shocked by what follows. That said, reviewers' verdicts of the new high-end Trinity laptop APU, the 2.3GHz quad-core A10-4600M, do include some dizzying highs and despairing lows, which are still kinda surprising in their own way. Like how? Well, HotHardware found that AMD's chip beats Intel's Ivy Bridge (with integrated HD 4000 graphics) by 30 to 50 percent in some games, albeit with a few stumbles over immature DX11 drivers. Similarly, AnandTech's handy table above shows just how far ahead Trinity is across fifteen common titles. On the other hand, most reviewers found that non-gaming CPU performance fell far short of Ivy Bridge and even Sandy Bridge mobile chips. For example, Hexus's Geekbench scores put the APU 40 percent behind last year's Dell XPS 15z, which is totally underwhelming. So, as usual, it'll all depend on what you need a laptop for -- but if you're after something that costs $699 or less, handles regular day-to-day tasks okay and can also play current games with decent frame-rates, then you'll be keen to conduct further research at the links below. Read - HotHardware | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sign language translator turns gestures into spoken letters, makes for a better world (video) Posted: 15 May 2012 04:45 AM PDT
By far one of the greatest challenges of sign language has been to translate it for everyday folk that wouldn't know where to begin a conversation with the deaf. Cornell University engineering students Ranjay Krishna, Seonwoo Lee and Si Ping Wang -- along with some help from Jonathan Lang -- used their final project time this past semester to close this gap in one of the more practical solutions we've seen to date. Their prototype glove uses accelerometers, contact sensors and flex sensors to translate complex finger gestures from the American Sign Language alphabet into spoken letters: after converting hand positions to digital signals, the test unit both speaks out the resulting letters and sends them to a computer, where they can be used for anything from a game (shown in the video below) to, presumably, constructing whole sentences. Along with being accurate, the Cornell work is even designed with a mind towards how it would work in the real world, as the glove and its transmitter are both wireless and powered by 9-volt batteries. We hope that the project leads to a real product and an extra bridge between the deaf and the rest of us, but in the meantime, we'll be happy that at least one form of powered glove is being put to the noblest use possible. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MIT's Brainput reads your mind to make multi-tasking easier Posted: 15 May 2012 04:23 AM PDT
With so much information readily available at our fingertips, a multitude of devices to access it from and an increasing outside demand for our divided attention, it's easy to short-circuit on the productivity front. But there's a bright spot on the horizon as emerging research out of MIT is poised to help offload the burden shouldered by our overtaxed grey matter with a much needed and intuitive assist from human-robot systems. The Brainput project -- as the collaborative effort is known -- combines near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with an input system designed to read changes in a user's brain state and translate those signals into an adaptive multi-tasking interface. Sounds like heady stuff, but if successfully implemented into high-stress environments like air traffic control, the low-cost, experimental tech could go a long way to boosting individual performance and reducing overall stress levels. For now, the team still has a ways to go before the system, presently capable of interpreting three distinct mental states, could make its way into end user applications. Curious for a more in-depth, jargony journey through the project's ins and outs? Then click on the source below for your daily dose of scientific head candy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Those suave Google glasses are now patent-protected Posted: 15 May 2012 03:53 AM PDT
Google has successfully patented the "ornamental design" of its augmented reality eyewear. To you, me and Aunty Dee they might look almost like regular Ray-Bans, but there's a lot of secret technology concealed within those sleek lines and Google evidently wants to prevent others from copying their appearance. After all, if people started faking Project Glass, it'd be impossible to tell if we're being properly scanned or merely checked out. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HTC Desire C gets official 'First Look' video and UK pricing Posted: 15 May 2012 03:43 AM PDT
Just a day after being papped in Portugal, the HTC Desire C has turned up in this official video. There's not much new info to take away, bar a quick glimpse of the Sense interface. T-Mobile UK, however, has also been in touch to let us know its pricing for the phone. Pay monthly users can get the handset for free as long as they are willing to cough up £15.50 a month for two years, or snap it up sans commitment on Pay as you go for £169.99 (about $270). Both options being available early next month. Update: We've added the PR after the break. New HTC Desire C – brilliant, entertaining and well connected
LONDON, UK - 15 May 2012 - Following on from the successful launch of the HTC One series, HTC, a global designer of smartphones, today unveiled its latest phone, the HTC Desire C. Featuring Beats Audio™ technology, this premium designed, yet affordable smartphone, allows you to hear your music just as the artist intended. The HTC Desire C also enables you to easily manage your professional and personal lives and share the moments that shape them.
Available in white and black, and coming with HTC Sense 4.0 integrated with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), the HTC Desire C is great as a first smartphone or for those upgrading from an existing one. Packing a powerful battery and offering access to thousands of apps, games, music and movies – available through Google Play – you will always be connected and entertained whether at work, home or on the move.
"Listening to music is one of the most popular things people use their phones for, so it's more important than ever that we deliver the power and emotion artists capture in the studio," said Jason Mackenzie, President, Global Sales and Marketing for HTC Corporation. "The HTC Desire C offers customers excellent design, easy access to content and fast connectivity – making it the perfect all round device."
Authentic sound without compromise The HTC Desire C features a powerful, yet rich studio-quality sound experience that is enabled through the combination of optimized Beats Audio and amazing hardware. This integration enables a rich, clear audio experience to customers no matter if they're listening to music or playing a game.
Premium design taken to a new level Combining a durable metal frame with precision engineering, the HTC Desire C is ideal for those who want a premium-designed phone. Boasting a micro-drilled earpiece for sharp in-call sound, hyper-viewing angle display and metal camera bezel, this compact smartphone offers an unrivalled level of design and user-experience for its class.
Designed for sharing Packing the latest mobile technology into a neat, eye-catching design, HTC Desire C's vibrant 3.5-inch HVGA screen makes it easy to browse the Web, view photos or connect with friends and family. If you like to share personal experiences with your social network, HTC Desire C's 5 megapixel camera and instant sharing capabilities will allow you to post any moment, seconds after it was captured.
Through HTC Desire C's deep integration of Dropbox and 25GB of free online space[i], you also have the freedom to securely back-up, browse and share thousands of photos, videos and documents, whether stored locally or in the cloud.
Ensuring that HTC Desire C keeps pace with new mobile services as they become available there is also an NFC variant of this model, allowing users to make payments or access information and offers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 15 May 2012 03:27 AM PDT
While pre-release benchmarks have a very hit or miss record for clues as to what future devices will bring, they almost always raise eyebrows. Nowhere is that more true than in a round of NenaMark2 testing uncovered this weekend: a previously unknown Samsung SCH-i535 for Verizon has tipped up sporting a 1.5GHz, dual-core Snapdragon S4 instead of one of Samsung's own chips, like the Exynos 4 Quad. Given that the SCH-i515 is the model badge for Verizon's Galaxy Nexus, it's not a great leap in logic to speculate that this is a custom version of the Galaxy S III. It's entirely possible that something else might fit the bill, but knowing that Samsung has used Snapdragons itself to include 4G before and that HTC just recently switched up the One X with an S4 to give it LTE on North American networks, we may be looking at the compromise Samsung needs to make to get its 4.8-inch gigantophone on Big Red. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samsung Galaxy S III manual goes online, teaches you wax-on, wax-off Posted: 15 May 2012 03:02 AM PDT
As you can imagine, we love nothing more than sitting next to a roaring log fire and diving into a good owners manual. As luck would have it, we'd just finished the last one, and then this lands in our laps. Yes, if you've already decided that you will be treating yourself to Samsung's latest mobile darling, you can start boning up on all those new features, and see the specifications for yourself in black and white. At the very least, you can start getting to grips with those new "use motion" gestures. Our favorite? The "Palm touch" media pause move. Hit the source to find your own fave. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samsung Galaxy S II LTE Ice Cream Sandwich update finally arrives, GSII HD LTE keeps waiting Posted: 15 May 2012 02:27 AM PDT
The slow rollout of Android 4.0 to Samsung's recent Galaxy devices continues, and the latest variation to receive Ice Cream Sandwich is the Galaxy S II LTE. We should all be familiar with the ICS feature set by now, as well as Samsung's TouchWiz alterations. The news was spotted on Samsung's Korean site, but we wouldn't be surprised to see the new software popping up on devices elsewhere shortly (AT&T's Skyrocket already saw a leaked update in March). According to a tweet from the company, it's still working on an update for the LTE's 720p-screened HD cousin (although we hear Tizen already works great), but you can hit the source link for more information. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nokia's new 110 and 112 dual-SIM phones are cheap and chatty (video) Posted: 15 May 2012 02:02 AM PDT
Nokia may be serving up polycarbonate slabs of smartphone with one hand, but the other is still dishing out candy bars for the masses. The new 110 and 112 models, announced today, are perfect examples of this. Once again, these phones are dual-SIM, which should appeal to the Asian / Indian markets, and offer money-saving features like crunching websites in the cloud first -- which Nokia claims reduces data consumption by up to 90 percent. As for the rest of the phone, it's all about being social, with direct access to Facebook and Twitter from the home screen, and the eBuddy IM service preloaded. Those 1.8-inch displays might not be ideal for watching movies, but are likely adequate for viewing the shots taken with the VGA camera. These stripped down specifications thankfully equate to a stripped down price, with the 110 landing at around 35€ and the 112 just three euros more when they show up sometime this quarter. Full PR after the break. Nokia introduces new range of mobile phones to provide a fast, affordable internet experience Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 offer Facebook, Twitter, world-class EA games and access to thousands of apps from the Nokia Store Karachi, Pakistan - Nokia has today unveiled two new mobile phone models as it continues to accelerate its strategy to connect the next billion consumers to information and the internet. The Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 have been designed to appeal to young, urban consumers who want to experience a fast, affordable online experience. Both devices are perfect for communicating across Facebook, Twitter and social media networks. The internet experience is also smooth thanks to the Nokia Browser. This innovative technology allows users to consume less data by up to 90%, by compressing websites in the cloud. Both devices offer direct access to Facebook and Twitter from their home screens. The Nokia 112 also features preloaded eBuddy instant messaging service right out of the box, so users can use popular chat services to keep conversations going 24/7. In common with other Nokia mobile phones, consumers can choose from thousands of apps to download on the Nokia Store. With the upgraded camera, they can now customize their contacts with pictures, and share them with friends via social networks and Bluetooth. "Today's mobile phone users want a quick internet experienceNokia 110 that allows them to discover great content and share it with their friends - but without being held back by high data costs," said Mary T. McDowell, executive vice president, Mobile Phones, Nokia. "The new Nokia 110 and Nokia 112 devices combine browsing, social media, apps, world-class entertainment and long battery life to create a great package for young, urban consumers who want to do it all." Perfect for all-day and all-night entertainment Nokia 112Both new phones offer an improved VGA camera for sharp and clear pictures with support for up to 32GB of external memory, enough for more than 6000+ songs or 90,000 pictures. Consumers can tune into their favorite radio stations and share their favorite songs with friends over Bluetooth. The phones have been optimized to provide a long-lasting battery life, with over 10 hours of talk time and nearly a month's standby, meaning that consumers can stay in-touch and entertained all day long. Dual SIM capability The Nokia 110 will also be available as single SIM versions - Nokia 111 and Nokia 113, with this last one available in Europe and Eurasia only. The estimated retail price for Nokia 110 and its single SIM versions is about EUR 35 and they are expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2012. The estimated retail price for Nokia 112 is about EUR 38, excluding taxes and subsidies, and is expected to start shipping in the third quarter of 2012. *data costs may apply.
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| Subretinal implant uses light instead of batteries, shows promise in initial testing Posted: 15 May 2012 01:32 AM PDT
There's been significant progress in bringing sight to the blind in recent years, and this looks set to continue that miraculous trend. Scientists at Stanford University have invented a subretinal photodiode implant for people who have lost their vision due to degenerative retinal diseases. Existing tech involves batteries and wires, but the new implant works without such crude appendages. Instead, it's activated by near-infrared beams projected by a camera that's mounted on glasses worn by the patient. Those beams then stimulate the optice nerve to allow light perception, motion detection and even basic shape awareness. The glasses also have an onboard camera that records what the patient sees. It hasn't actually been tested with humans just yet, but the first few | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Apple issues Leopard update with Flashback removal tool Posted: 15 May 2012 01:01 AM PDT
Folks still rocking Apple's Leopard may have been feeling left out after Lion and Snow Leopard both got an update for addressing that Flashback malware. If you're one of them, you'll be glad to know that Apple has finally issued a Leopard fix that comes with a removal tool for the vulnerability afflicting its big cats. In addition to a 1.23MB Flashback update, Apple also released a second 1.11MB fix for Leopard that disables versions of Adobe Flash Player that don't have the requisite security updates. Both should further whittle down the number of Apple computers affected by the Flashback trojan. For the actual updates, feel free to pounce on the source links below. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samsung Galaxy S III gets permission to enter US, still only with HSPA+ Posted: 15 May 2012 12:28 AM PDT
This is the same European version we've already spent so much time with, just stopping by the FCC to get its wireless paperwork in order. There's no LTE onboard, but the phone would handle HSPA+ on AT&T or just EDGE on T-Mo if it was (now legally) carried into the States. The regulatory label also helpfully alludes to one of the phone's key selling points: its 2,100mAh battery, which reportedly lasts for a tablet-like ten hours under load. It'll be globally available from May 29th, if you fancy getting into the import / export business. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More than 70 percent of mobile users pay little for apps, big spenders make up for us cheapskates Posted: 14 May 2012 11:26 PM PDT
We know smartphone and tablet owners like to buy games. But if you go by a new ABI exploration of user habits, most of us aren't buying much of anything. More than 70 percent of the crowd spends little to nothing on mobile apps, dragging down the average of $14 spent per month among paying customers to a median of $7.50 when you include the skinflints. As you might imagine, that leaves the remaining 30 percent making up for a lot of slack: three percent of downloaders represent a fifth of all the spending in the mobile app world. Researchers suggest that developers focus on a long-term strategy of freemium pricing or utility apps to get more customers buying, but we imagine that writing more games about catapulting frustrated birds might just work out on its own. ABI Research: 3% of Users Account for One-Fifth of All Money Spent on Mobile Apps LONDON, May 14, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- According to a US consumer survey conducted by ABI Research, about two-thirds of app users have spent money on an application on at least one occasion. Among these paying users, the mean spend was $14 per month. Behind the seemingly high average amount there are, however, some striking findings. Senior analyst Aapo Markkanen explains, "The median amount among the consumers who spend money on apps is much lower than the average, just $7.50 per month. This reflects the disproportionate role of big spenders as a revenue source. The highest-spending 3% of all app users account for nearly 20% of the total spend, while over 70% spends either nothing or very little." The numbers also reflect certain trends in different app categories. Thus far, the releases that have best succeeded in making money have typically been utility apps often used for business purposes, or iOS games monetized through strings of in-app purchases. In both cases the money comes from a remarkably small base of customers. Is there anything developers can do to boost the conversion rate from free to premium? Markkanen has two recommendations. "First, don't get obsessed by mobile and apps, but remember also the web," he adds. "Most of the successful app concepts either support, or are supported by, a web component. Second, see your product through a long-term lens, asking yourself what could convince your customers to still engage with the app in two years' time. Evernote, for example, has excelled at both. It has skillfully combined the web and the mobile, and at the same time it has also managed to become a habit for many of its users. It demonstrates that the longer its customers stick around with a free version of an app, the likelier they're going to convert to its premium version." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intel launches new Ivy Bridge Xeons, targets microservers Posted: 14 May 2012 10:41 PM PDT
Intel is pushing out that delicious Ivy Bridge update to server chips and, interestingly, it's not focusing purely on the high end to start. In total, 28 new Xeon CPUs were introduced today, including the E5-4600 and 2400 families targeted at four and two socket systems, respectively. Those tweaked mainstream processors aren't the interesting part, though. We're more intigued by the updated E3 series, the low-end offerings that are aimed small businesses and light web-hosting duty. In particular the new E3-1220L v2 slashes power consumption to an impressive 17w by going with just two cores and only 3MB of cache. While that 3W advantage over its predecessor may not sound like much, it can make a huge difference in the microserver market and in high-density environments where cooling a room full of servers can become problematic. Even in its stripped down form the extremely low-power processor still supports Turbo Boost, Trusted Execution Technology and PCI-Express 3.0. Considering that last-gen's Atom-based server chip pulled down 15W, we'd consider the 1220L v2 an impressive feat of engineering. Now we've just gotta hope that Intel can carry through on that promised 6W Centerton chip. Check out the PR after the break. Intel Gives IT More Options with New Intel® Xeon® Processors NEWS HIGHLIGHTS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HyQ is the latest all-terrain quadruped bot, tells Big Dog to bring it on (video) Posted: 14 May 2012 10:03 PM PDT
You might not know this, but you can literally never have enough all-terrain quadrupedal robots... at least according to us (John Connor might disagree). So, while HyQ from the Italian Institute of Technology might bear more than a passing resemblance to Boston Dynamic's Big Dog, we won't hold it against the creators. The Hydraulic Quadruped robot (HyQ for short) was first dreamed up in 2008, but the project is only now coming into its own. Researchers at IIT took the bot for a stroll outside of the confines of a laboratory and treadmill for the first time. They've also stepped up the treadmill testing by bumping up the incline and practically throwing obstacles at it. Impressively, HyQ holds his own, even as his creators pelt it with shipping pallets. Check out the video after the break to see the cybernetic crawler in action. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AMD reveals Trinity specs, claims to beat Intel on price, multimedia, gaming Posted: 14 May 2012 09:01 PM PDT
Itching for the details of AMD's latest Accelerated Processing Units (APUs)? Then get ready to scratch: Trinity has arrived and, as of today, it's ready to start powering the next generation of low-power ultra-portables, laptops and desktops that, erm, don't run Intel. The new architecture boasts up to double the performance-per-watt of last year's immensely popular Llano APUs, with improved "discrete-class" integrated graphics and without adding to the burden on battery life. How is that possible? By how much will Trinity-equipped devices beat Intel on price? And will it play Crysis: Warhead? Read on to find out. Unlike Intel's Ivy Bridge refresh, which brought a significant reduction in transistor size, Trinity carries on with last year's 32nm fabrication process -- any shrinkage will have to wait until 2013. AMD has still managed to put more transistors onto the new chip compared to Llano, but the die size has increased proportionally as a result. Challenge AMD over its apparently half-hearted pursuit of Moore's Law and the company will simply tell you that the average consumer doesn't care too much about transistor size: after all, most people don't know the nanometer credentials of an iPad's processor -- all they really care about, we're told, is the overall experience. The precise type of experience you'll get will obviously depend on what PC form factor you buy. As the name Trinity suggests, the new APUs cover a third category at the far low-end of the power spectrum, beyond desktops and regular laptops: namely, AMD's version of the Ultrabook, which it simply calls an "ultra-thin" laptop. Thanks to improvements in AMD's architecture and its new Piledriver core, the 17-watt A6-4455M processor for ultra-thins promises to deliver the same performance as a 35W Llano -- hence the claim of 2x performance-per-watt. We've been hands-on with a Compal reference ultra-thin packing a Trinity APU and it certainly lived up to the moniker with an overall thickness of just 18mm. We can expect this type of machine to cost around half the price of an Intel Ultrabook. Meanwhile, the middle 35/65W category covers regular laptops and other low-power form factors like all-in-ones and HTPCs. This bracket includes the A10-4600M quad-core 2.3GHz processor (boostable to 3.2GHz) -- which is the chip AMD chooses to promote most heavily in its official benchmarks versus Intel's Sandy Bridge Core i5-2520M. These benchmarks need to be corroborated by independent tests, but for now AMD reckons its superior GPU, plus its support for the OpenCL standard that allows the GPU to be used for compute tasks, put the A10-4600M drastically ahead of its rival in 3D benchmarks and overall compute capacity. Conversely, the APU doesn't do so well at PC Mark 7, falling seven percent behind the Intel chip. The kicker in this mid-power category is that all the performance increases come with a pledge not to burn battery life, thanks once again to those more efficient Piledriver cores. AMD's John Taylor told us that Trinity will deliver "equal or better battery life than the other guys," and the chart below broadly attests to that -- although it only sticks the A10-4600M up against Sandy rather than Ivy Bridge. Oh yes, and the other key factor is the price: we can expect to see A10-powered laptops starting at around $699. Completing the trio, we have the 100W Trinity APUs for desktops, for which technical details and pricing have yet to be announced -- so, no evidence of those resonant frequency clock meshes just yet. The only concrete info we have right now concerns the A10-5800K, which AMD has stacked up against the Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K in the benchmarks below. These give the APU a 20-50 percent lead in games like Crysis: Warhead, Metro 2033, DiRT 3 and Skyrim when played at 1680 x 1050 with undisclosed quality settings. This oomph derives in no small part to the new Radeon HD 7000G-series onboard graphics, which beat Llano's visual prowess by over 50 percent -- not bad when you figure that Llano's integrated graphics were already well ahead of Intel's HD 3000. So, that's about it. AMD's first round of Trinity APUs is available starting today, wrapped up in various mobile packages from manufacturers like Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Toshiba and Acer -- with desktop systems and components rolling out next quarter. Stay tuned for a round-up review coming shortly -- if not multiples thereof. Sean Buckley contributed to this post. 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APUs Enable Best-in-Class PC Mobility, Entertainment, and Gaming Experience in Single Chip SUNNYVALE, Calif. - May 15, 2012- AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the widely anticipated launch of its 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series Accelerated Processing UnitsWU (APUs) for mainstream and ultrathin notebooks, All-in-One and traditional desktops, home theater PCs and embedded designs. The 2nd-Generation A-Series APU, codenamed "Trinity", is a grounds-up improved design over the previous generation, enabling a best-in-class PC mobility, entertainment, and gaming experience. New features of the product design include: Double the performance per watt of the previous generation2 An increase in CPU performance of up to 29 percent3 with higher processor speeds thanks to the next-generation AMD "Piledriver" CPU core with 3rd generation AMD Turbo Core technology, where power is dynamically shifted between the CPU and GPU depending on application needs, effectively providing a more responsive experience that can boost CPU frequencies to up to 3.2 GHz;
The Growing AMD Accelerated Application Ecosystem The developer ecosystem continues to gravitate to the unmatched level of compute and unique processing capabilities of the APU as more than 100 applications and games are now accelerated by AMD APUs. The 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APU gives users superior Web-based video experience thanks to plug-ins for Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer 9 that make it easy for consumers to turn on AMD Steady Video technology.6 Recent applications that have been optimized for use on AMD A-Series APUs include Adobe Photoshop CS6, WinZip 16.5 and VLC Media Player. AMD A-Series APUs are also well-positioned to take advantage of the upcoming transition to the Windows® 8 operating system. "We are excited for the introduction of the 2nd-generation AMD A-Series APU and are confident it will continue the great work Microsoft and AMD have done together on the A-Series APU," said Aidan Marcuss, Senior Director, Windows Business Planning, Microsoft Corp. "We look forward to the seeing the A-Series APU in action with Windows 8 to deliver a great user experience across a variety of hardware." For developers who want to engage in the industry's move toward heterogeneous computing, the upcoming AMD Fusion12 Developer Summit will offer them a unique opportunity to enhance their knowledge base. More information on AFDS 12 can be found here. Unmatched Mobility With more than 12 hours of 'resting' battery life, AMD is now an industry leader in notebook battery-life performance. The 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APU delivers increased levels of performance, while consuming half the power as its predecessor. These gains can be attributed to the new, power-optimized "Piledriver" CPU core, as well as to AMD Start Now technology, which is designed to maximize system responsiveness by quickly entering and exiting low power states. With AMD Start Now, the computer resumes from sleep mode in as few as two seconds and boots to the desktop in as few as 10 seconds.7 In ultrathin form factors, AMD enables an uncompromised visual experience thanks to a power-efficient and premium AMD Radeon™ graphics engine. Consumers can expect to see ultrathin notebooks based on the dual-core 17-watt and quad-core 25-watt AMD A-Series APUs. These products will be easily identifiable by aluminum-styled VISION Technology stickers at a range of competitive price points. Best-in-class Entertainment As more and more people turn to their computers as the hub for their entertainment, the visual aspect of computing becomes ever more important. To enhance these capabilities, AMD created the AMD HD Media Accelerator – a unique set of technologies that enable the best video quality on a PC. Key features of the HD Media Accelerator include: AMD Perfect Picture HD – An image, video processing and display technology that automatically makes images and video better with color vibrancy adjustments, edge enhancement, noise reduction and dynamic contrast fixes.8 Gaming Leadership The 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APU builds on AMD's legacy of gaming leadership with an increase in graphics performance of up to 56% over the previous generation4 and support for: AMD Eyefinity Technology – For the first time, this immersive technology is available from an APU without the need for a discrete graphics card.10 Availability and Technical Details AMD has a record number of design wins with companies like Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba based on our 2nd-Generation AMD A-Series APUs and VISION Technology from AMD, with mainstream and ultrathin notebooks, as well as embedded solutions, available beginning today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lenovo refreshes its ThinkPad T, W, L and X lines with Ivy Bridge processors, retooled keyboards Posted: 14 May 2012 09:01 PM PDT
Now that Intel's Ivy Bridge specifications are finally out of the bag, you may as well resign yourselves to a deluge of PC refreshes over the coming months. Today Lenovo's up at bat, unveiling a slew of products under its business-friendly ThinkPad brand. If you were looking for a wholesale redesign, we'll kindly direct you to the X1, which was just reborn as a 14-inch Ultrabook. Otherwise, if you were just holding out for a little Ivy Bridge, we've got your refresh right here. All told, the upgrades span Lenovo's ultraportable X series, mainstream "T" lineup, budget "L" models and the W-series workstation. In general, you'll find Ivy Bridge processors (natch), Dolby audio and, in some cases, optional 4G radios. Additionally, the company tweaked its famed keyboard ever-so slightly and added a backlighting option to almost every system, save the newly available T430u Ultrabook. That's the abridged version for those of you not actually in the market for a new system, but folks craving more nitty-gritty details can follow past the break for a more detailed breakdown of pricing and specs.
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| Posted: 14 May 2012 09:01 PM PDT  Yes, that laptop you see up there is called the ThinkPad X1 and yes, it's the successor to the X1 we reviewed around this time last year. But, folks, this isn't your typical refresh. The X1, once a 13-inch system, has grown up into a 14-inch ultraportable, now being marketed as an Ultrabook. Despite gaining an inch in screen real estate, though, it manages to be both thinner and lighter than its predecessor: 3.0 pounds and roughly 18mm (.71 inches) thick, down from 3.7 pounds / .84 inches. (As the name suggests, carbon fiber is the secret ingredient.) Chances are, you won't have the luxury of comparing the two systems side by side, but coming from someone who reviewed the original, we can assure you the difference is noticeable, even going off of sheer muscle memory. That bodes well for people picking up the X1 for the first time. But those aren't the only changes the X1 has undergone. Lenovo also bumped the resolution from 1366 x 768 to 1600 x 900, and made some subtle tweaks to the backlit, spill-resistant keyboard. 3G connectivity is also a major selling point, though that was an optional feature last time around, too. As you could've guessed, it packs an Ivy Bridge processor, coupled with Intel's vPro management technology and (we assume) integrated graphics. Like the last-gen model, it makes use of Lenovo's RapidCharge tech, which allows the notebook to re-charge up to 80 percent capacity in 30 minutes. Unfortunately, though, the company's staying mum on battery life claims for the time being. Another teensy detail we don't know? Price. So far, we only know it'll go on sale sometime this summer. Until then, though, check out some teaser shots below, along with a short hands-on video after the break.
Zach Honig contributed to this report. |
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