Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, August 01, 2008

MotionPlus co-developer shows off with LiveMove 2 video

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/352536779/

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Nintendo may not have been totally forthcoming with third-party devs about its MotionPlus add-on, but no secrets (okay, maybe a few) were withheld from AiLive. As it turns out, said outfit actually collaborated with Nintendo in order to create the MotionPlus hardware, and it's extra kindly offering up LiveMove 2 "to help game developers take full advantage of its capabilities." According to the company, LiveMove 2 can slash up to half a year off of the time required to tie basic functionality of the device into a game, though we're obviously in no position to confirm / deny. For the small minority that cares more about how MotionPlus works rather than just accepting the fact that it does, check out the read link for a few geektastic vids.

[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Flickr Commons (Library of Congress Project)

Newser) – Flickr users are helping the Library of Congress identify photos in its historical archives, reports USA Today. So far, users have supplied information on 500 photos featured in Flickr's "The Commons" project, which drew 8.2 million views in just 6 months. Both partners are "stunned by the level of knowledge and also the generosity" of contributors, says one Flickr rep.

The LOC teamed with Flickr last year to publicize its collection of copyright-free, public-domain photos, uploading more than 4,000 dating from the 1900s to the 1940s, and adding 50 more each week. Flickr users have since posted more than 5,000 comments, helping to identify people, places, machines, and even airplanes.

Dell slots in 24-inch widescreen S2409W LCD monitor

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/349392494/

Filed under: Displays

Just over a month after Dell added in a new 27-incher to its (admittedly unwieldy) LCD monitor family, along comes a sibling with a few less pixels and a much smaller price tag. The 24-inch widescreen S2409W checks in with a 1,920 x 1,080 panel, 300 cd/m2 brightness, 5-millisecond response time, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, VGA / DVI / HDMI sockets, and 160- / 170-degree viewing angles. The best part(s)? It's available for just $379, and it's shipping within one to two days. Hooray!

[Via Electronista]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

WiBrain to offer Atom / SSD / HSDPA-packin' I1 UMPC

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/349427504/

Filed under: Handhelds

Say what you will about the attractiveness (or lack thereof) of WiBrain's line of -- shall we say, unique -- UMPCs, but hardware wise, they're hard to bang on. The B1 just recently saw an update that added in a succulent SSD, and the all new I1 looks to share in that joyousness while also including two more tidbits we've been longing for. According to early reports, the I1 will feature a tweaked B1 design with a mildly updated casing, but the real fun is within; we're talking a 1.1GHz / 1.3GHz Intel Atom CPU, SSD options as roomy as 64GB, Windows XP or Linux running the show, 6-hours of battery life when browsing and a drool-worthy HSDPA module. Pricing has yet to be disclosed, but we are told to expect a worldwide launch (yes, including North America) in October.

[Via Pocketables, thanks Jenn]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

India developing $10 laptop, Gartner says $100 laptop "at least three years away." We're confused.

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/349484853/

Filed under: Laptops

A pair of Indian universities -- the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Technology -- have teamed up to produce a $10 laptop for "higher education applications." The Indian government is clearly involved in the project, and there's no telling if that price involves subsidies, but however and whenever they pull it off, a $10 laptop would certainly be landmark event for all parties involved. To supplement the project, the government is also working on a low-power, low-priced access device to help with internet proliferation. On the other side of the world, the folks at Gartner have tacked on an extra zero, and are saying that a $100 laptop "will not be a realistic target for the next three years," and that the pursuit of such a pricepoint could be detrimental to companies chasing the mini laptop market. While Sony's Mike Abary might agree with the conclusion, one little fact disagrees with the premise: Jointech's $99 laptop (pictured). We know, the truth hurts.

Read - India's $10 laptop
Read - Gartner says $100 laptop is three years away

Permalink | Email this | Comments

NVIDIA's sub-$100 GeForce 9500 GT gets introduced and reviewed

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/349533359/

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Peripherals

Should the GTX 280 be a bit too rich for your blood, NVIDIA's lookin' out. Introduced (and reviewed) today, the PCIe 2.0-compatible GeForce 9500 GT checks in a few bucks south of $100 depending on where you go and provides a 550MHz core clock, 1,400MHz shader clock, 32 stream processors, 800MHz memory clock, 256MB / 512MB of RAM and twin dual-link DVI ports. Assuming the specifications meet your standards, you're probably curious about performance. Based on the first reviews, it was found to be "measurably faster than the Radeon HD 3650, and pretty much on par with the GeForce 8600 GTS." For under a C-note, it's a solid buy for those okay with being a few steps behind, and HTPC builders will find the low power consumption, quiet operation and small size to be quite appealing. Check out the links below for pages upon pages of in-depth coverage.

Read - Introduction, benchmarks and review
Read - Benchmarks, images and another review

Permalink | Email this | Comments

VIA Nano and Intel's Atom benchmarked head-to-head

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/349644141/

Filed under: Laptops

Netbooks based on VIA's Nano mobile processor aren't nearly as common as those based on Intel's Atom, but based on the benchmarking that's been going on recently, that's a shame, since the Nano appears to be much faster than the Atom 230. PC Perspective, Eee PC News, and Hot Hardware all ran some tests recently, and a 1.8GHz Nano L2100 with Chrome9 graphics was usually able to outperform a 1.6GHz Atom 230 with GMA950 graphics at everything from MP3 ripping to 3D benchmarking. Of course, that's not without a tradeoff -- the Nano was a bit more power-hungry, and the Atom's memory and graphics systems were occasionally faster than the Nano's. Still, it seems like the Nano has more raw horsepower than the Atom -- and it's pin-compatible with VIA's popular C7M, so hopefully we'll be seeing machines like HP's Mini-Note make the jump relatively soon.

Read - PC Perspective results
Read - Hot Hardware results
Read - Eee PC News results

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Samsung unveils latest Series 6 Touch of Color LCD HDTVs

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/349867648/

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Samsung treated us to a few new HDTV lineups just last week, but apparently one of the fresh families managed to slip through the cracks. The all new Series 6 -- not to be confused with the widely available 650 Series -- consists of the 40-inch LN40A630, 46-inch LN46A630, and the 52-inch LN52A630. Each set provides a 1080p panel, 120Hz technology, the outfit's Touch of Color bezel design, three HDMI 1.3 ports and a USB socket for accessing digital photos and the like. Expect the trifecta to ship sometime next month for $1,699.99, $2,099.99, and $2,699.99, respectively.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Alienware slaps NVIDIA's Quadro FX 3600M into Area-51 m15x

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/349933489/

Filed under: Laptops

Some five months after NVIDIA took the Saran Wrap off of its professional-oriented Quadro FX 3600M, along comes Alienware patting itself on the back. Why? Because its Area-51 m15x is the first 15.4-inch laptop on planet Earth to offer said card, giving users who practically live in CAD, DCC or other visualization applications an option to still look 1337 (and tap into the occasional 3D game) on their lappie. Unfortunately, such graphical prowess will add $600 to the cost of your rig over the standard 256MB GeForce 8600M GT, but no one ever said that dancing on the cutting edge was cheap.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

SplashTop instant-on OS hacked to run other programs, boot off flash drives

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/350169701/

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

DeviceVM's SplashTop "instant-on" OS is based on Linux, even though it's locked down to only run IM, Skype, media software, and Firefox, and you know what that means -- it's already been hacked wide open. Yep, the clever kids at the Phoronix forums have managed to open up the BIOS-based OS and make it do all kinds of tricks, including run other programs and boot other machines off a flash drive. The hacks are still a little complex, but with ASUS shipping tons of ExpressGate-enabled mobos and laptops and HP's support in the Voodoo Envy 133, we'd there's a one-click unlocker in the wild fairly soon. Anyone brave enough to install it on their machines?

[Thanks, george85]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Benchmarks - Bloomfield and Gainstown vs Penryn and Opterion

Source: http://www.nehalemnews.com/2008/07/benchmarks-bloomfield-and-gainstown-vs.html

Thanks to Hornet331 over on Xtremesystems.org for investing significant effort in compiling some excellent graphs for a number of benchmarks provided by JC and others in the Bloomfield thread giving us these great comparisons... (click to enlarge)

I think Extelleron summarized this best with his comments:

You do realize what you are comparing here?

8 Barcelona cores @ ~2.4GHz vs. 4 Nehalem cores @ 2.93GHz.

8 Barcelona cores @ 2.4GHz under 64-bit (which improves performance by 15-20%) are losing to 4 Nehalem cores @ 2.93GHz under 32-bit.

Granted your numbers are a bit lower than they should be for a Barcelona system. If you read Anandtech's MP Barcelona review, Dual Opteron 8356 (2.3GHz) score 14,487, under 64-bit. Were Nehalem also in a 64-bit environment, that would mean that 4 Nehalem cores @ 2.93GHz would be a good 15% faster than 8 Barcelona cores @ 2.3GHz. Work that out and that means that 4 Nehalem cores are not that far behind clock/clock parity with 8 Barcelona cores.

If you look at the Gainestown DP results, they are just as impressive. With SMT enabled (full 16 threads, for some reason only 8 threads were run), Dual Gainestown @ 2.4GHz will effectively tie Quad AMD Opteron 8356 @ 2.3GHz in! Cineben ch 64-bit.

Now imagine the performance of Quad Beckton (32 cores, 64 threads, 24MB L3/CPU) and you know that AMD is in trouble.

Follow the discussion here (about mid-page).

Vortex Fountain Scares the Piss Out of Traditional Fountains [Water Fountain]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/349539106/vortex-fountain-scares-the-piss-out-of-traditional-fountains

The Vortex Fountain eschews gentle, soothing streams for a powerful water funnel. The illusion of a standing block of water is created by an acrylic case hidden by transparency and water cascading down the sides, and the vortex itself is formed through the combination of strong, alternate currents of water that collide in the tank. Depending on the angle from which you view the fountain, it alternates between a majestic restraint of nature and an oversized science experiment involving expensive two-liters. Here's a clip of the Vortex Fountain in full vortexness:

[WilliamPye via OhGizmo]

WiBrain I1 UMPC Gets Intel Atom Processor [Wibrain I1]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/349726420/wibrain-i1-umpc-gets-intel-atom-processor

The original WiBrain B1E was relatively inexpensive for a UMPC at $699, but it definitely fell well short of greatness. However, the manufacturer has made some upgrades with the upcoming I1 model that should address some of its predecessor's shortcomings. New features include: your choice of 1.1GHz (Z510) and 1.33GHz (Z520) Atom processors, a WWAN antenna, SD card slot, an optional SSD and a slightly different finish. Users can also choose between a Linux and XP machine with a 30GB or 60GB hard drive or a 64GB SSD. Pricing and a release date have not been announced. [Dynamism via Pocketables]

SVATS Anti-Theft System Bands Cars Together to Fight Crime [Security]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/349731979/svats-anti+theft-system-bands-cars-together-to-fight-crime

What if all of the cars in a parking lot were wirelessly keeping an eye on one another just in case a member of the "herd" was damaged or stolen? Sencun Zhu, an assistant professor at Penn State University, wants to make this concept a reality with his new Sensor Vehicle Anti-Theft System (SVATS). This is how it works: each car is given a coin-sized sensor that wirelessly calls roll with other cars inside a certain range. If one of these cars fails to respond to the roll or issues a "goodbye" signal when it is unlocked, the system will assume that the car has been stolen and would respond by alerting a base station.

Zhu believes that the best solution would be for each car to have a master sensor that draws power from the car and backs it up using a series of battery-powered slave sensors hidden throughout the vehicle. If the master sensor was defeated by the thief, the slave sensors would jump in and take over. Mass produced, these sensors would be cheap enough for owners to hand out at commercial parking lots as a preventative measure. Again, the SVATS is only a concept at this point, but could it make it as a real-world product? The system is designed to prevent theft, not stop a theft in progress. In my opinion, it probably wouldn't be much more effective than a built-in alarm—and a lot more complicated to boot. [LiveScience]

Microsoft's 'Mojave' Bait-And-Switch Vista Experiment Video [Microsoft Vista]

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/349759208/microsofts-mojave-bait+and+switch-vista-experiment-video

Remember Microsoft's Mojave experiment? Where they took XP users who didn't know a lot about Vista, stuck them in a room, showed them a mysterious OS that they loved, then revealed that it was Vista. Here's the video they took of the experiment.

What's interesting about this experiment is that sure, people who don't know anything/enough about Vista are kneejerking their way into hating it. These people are the ones that are easily convinced with a slight-of-hand that Vista is good. But what they didn't show was the day-to-day usage of Vista, like accidentally installing an XP printer driver and not being able to print. Sure, we like Vista just fine, but this demographic that Microsoft has in its video would be just the kind to not really be tech savvy enough to fix the aforementioned printer problem.

What can we conclude from the Mojave experiment? Pretty much exactly what we thought of Vista: that it's not that bad. Definitely not as bad as these people previously thought.

However, this is a video of people clueless about what Vista looks like in the first place. No Gizmodo readers would fall for such a ruse. Here's a video there of a guy recognizing Mojave as Vista:

Kudos to Windows Marketing for including cases like this, because there's no way that the public perceptions of Vista being not all that great/bad are solely based on prejudice. But maybe, just maybe, a lot of it is. [Mojave Experiment]

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)