Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Sunday, August 23, 2009

PCI Express 3.0 specification formally delayed, products pushed to 2011

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/23/pci-express-3-0-specifications-formally-delayed-products-pushed/

We've been enjoying (or just dealing with, depending on perspective) PCI Express 2.0 since early 2007, and it now looks as if we may still be utilizing said protocol come early 2011. Way back in June of '08, we began to hear whispers that the next iteration of the technology would be finalized by the end of this year, but now the PCI SIG has formally delayed the release of the specification until the second quarter of 2010. What does that mean for the consumer? Try coping with the fact that you won't see a PCIe 3.0 product until 2011. As the story goes, the delay was needed in order to "maintain backward compatibility with current PCI Express standards," and while the technical details of all that may interest some, it's the awfully unfortunate setback that's most notable here. But hey, at least all those PCIe 1.0 cards that are still totally relevant will work with your next (next-next?) PC!

[Via Reg Hardware]

Filed under: Peripherals

PCI Express 3.0 specification formally delayed, products pushed to 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 04:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AOC's 2436Vw does 24-inches of power sipping LCD on the cheap

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/23/aocs-2436vw-does-24-inches-of-power-sipping-lcd-on-the-cheap/

It's nothing too astonishing in the specs department (300 nits, 60,000:1 contrast, 5ms response time), and the DVI and VGA plugs are rather lonesome without an HDMI or DisplayPort plug to tag along, but we can't fault AOC for the 2436Vw's $220 pricetag. The 49W of power draw in a 24-inch 1080p display doesn't hurt either, and we're sort of digging the clean design. The 2436Vw is out now.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Displays

AOC's 2436Vw does 24-inches of power sipping LCD on the cheap originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 07:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Pharma Giants Shift Tactics in Wake of FDA Crackdown on Search - http://bit.ly/12Polo

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Contextual Bubble Help

Contextual bubble help for webpages/blogs: dictionary, thesaurus, wikipedia, amazon, and clip2send (1-line install) - http://bit.ly/34Tca0

HDMI 1.4 Rocks for Six Reasons, Sucks for Four More [Hdmi]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/X_UkQnD1c-w/hdmi-14-rocks-for-six-reasons-sucks-for-four-more

The new HDMI standard—1.4 to be precise—is pretty excellent, since it has an integrated Ethernet channel, 1080p 3D support and oh yeah, delicious 4K resolution images. But, like we said before, you need all-new everything for it.

TechRadar breaks down everything you need to know about HDMI 1.4 into an easy-to-digest 10-thing listicle. Personally, I'm most excited about the new Micro Connector, since I just love new kinds of cables, though sad I'll have to wait a whole year to buy it. [TechRadar, Image via Sam Catchsides/Flickr]

World's Biggest Water Pump Under Construction In New Orleans, Would've Been Cooler Four Years Ago [Engineering]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/PpgeALwb4uM/worlds-biggest-water-pump-under-construction-in-new-orleans-wouldve-been-cooler-four-years-ago

The Army Corps of Engineers has broken ground on a serious construction project: a 150,000-gallon-per-second, $500m pumping station charged with keeping the city of New Orleans a little, uh, dryer than it has been in the last few years.

The pump is just a small part of a larger $14bn plan to seal up New Orleans' levees and bolster the city's disaster preparedness, but it's without a doubt the most visually impressive. PopSci's thrown together a couple of diagrams to give us a sense of scale, and trust me, they're necessary—see that little white thing next to the diesel engine? That's a full-sized human being. There aren't a whole lot of companies that make combustion engines that cartoonishly huge, so my money's on something from a company like Wartsila-Sulzer, which makes engines like this to spin the props on ultramassive cargo ships, and conceivably, pumps:

At any rate, the pump is expected to be operational—and NOLA slightly safer—by 2011. More at [PopSci]

Plasma HDTV Sales Soar, LCD Sales Steady, Sony Loses Ever More Market Share [HDTVs]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/49gdSHBRMxI/plasma-hdtv-sales-soar-lcd-sales-steady-sony-loses-ever-more-market-share

HDGuru has some notes from the now-concluded second quarter HDTV sales, and they show some interesting movement: With dirt-cheap prices, high end plasmas (42"-50") surged almost 40%, though LCD sales merely held steady. The big loser? Sony.

Total plasma sales went up 31% compared to the first quarter, mostly due to the high value attached to them in this economic downturn. In terms of LCDs, Vizio continues its hold as the number 1 maker, and in fact grew their market share, as did Samsung, Toshiba and Panasonic. Sony, unfortunately, lost more than 3% of the market—a huge piece of its share—though the Japanese giant did retain its third place position. Check out HDGuru for more info and analysis of the numbers. [HDGuru]

Lenovo's Sleek IdeaCentre Q110 Nettop Has Nvidia Ion Graphics [Lenovo]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Sxz0-aCeJkM/lenovos-sleek-ideacentre-q110-nettop-has-nvidia-ion-graphics

After teasing us over Twitter yesterday, Lenovo has now outlined full specs and pricing for its new Q100/Q110 nettops, and D400 Home Server. Both nettops are 0.7-inches thin, and the Q110 has Nvidia Ion graphics with 1080p HDMI output.

The $349 IdeaCentre Q110 has 2GB of memory and a 250GB hard disk, versus the $249 Q100's 1GB RAM and 160GB hard drive. Both use a lowly single-core Atom 230 processor, but I guess they are tiny systems, and Atom is a requirement for Ion.

Each also has Gigabit Ethernet, an 802.11b/g Wi-Fi dongle, and run either XP Home or Vista Premium. No keyboard or mouse is included.

Meanwhile, the IdeaCentre D400 will start at about $499, and support up to 8TB of storage over four hard drives. Specs include an Atom 230 single-core CPU, 1GB memory, Gigabit Ethernet, plus 1eSATA and 5 USB ports.

The company has had a bunch of new gear of late, including the IdeaCentre C100 All-in-One and IdeaCentre Q700 HTPC.

Asus Tops Apple Again in Reliability Rankings [Reliability]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/Vkc_XaA28t4/asus-tops-apple-again-in-reliability-rankings

Asus has held onto its lead over Apple in the second quarter RESCUECOM Consumer Reliability Report, scoring 416 to Apple's result of 394. IBM/Lenovo and Toshiba came in third and fourth, with scores of 394 and 314, respectively.

The report aims to provide unbiased data on big name computers by taking into account both market share and the amount of repair and service calls RESCUECOM had to handle.

"Because ASUS just introduced the newest version of the EEE laptop last fall, the original predicted computer reliability of this laptop has been somewhat up in the air," says David A. Milman, RESCUECOM's founder and CEO.

"However, a good eight months later, we're still receiving the fewest calls for computer repair and support with ASUS, while their market share is increasing, adding the EEE desktop to their line as well, indicating that this PC is continuing to prove itself in terms of computer reliability."

[RESCUECOM Report via PR Newswire]

ASUS' Ion-based Eee Top ET2002T makes itself known in France

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/18/asus-ion-based-eee-top-et2002t-makes-itself-known-in-france/

ASUS sort of got official with its Eee Top ET2002T back at Computex in June, but it's looks like things are now a whole lot more real in France, where Blogee.net has gotten the pics and the complete specs of the all-in-one desktop. In addition to that all-important (and already known) Ion chipset, this one comes packing a 20-inch 1,600 x 900 display, an Atom 330 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a DVD burner, and even an HDMI input in case you want to simply use it as a display, among some other fairly standard specs (detailed at the link below). Still no word on an official price or release over here, unfortunately, but it'll apparently be available in Europe in "several weeks" and run a not so low €598, or about $845.

Filed under: Desktops

ASUS' Ion-based Eee Top ET2002T makes itself known in France originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer reportedly set to launch three touch-enabled, Windows 7-based devices

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/18/acer-reportedly-set-to-launch-three-touch-enabled-windows-7-bas/

Another company producing yet more products that take advantage of Windows 7's much-vaunted touch capabilities? Amazing but true, at least according to DigiTimes, which is reporting that Acer is set to launch no less than three "touch-enabled products" loaded with Windows 7. That word apparently comes straight from a product manager in the company's mobile computer department, who also went on to say that touch-enabled netbooks might see "good market acceptance" if they're marketed as cheaper alternatives to tablet PCs, although it's not clear if the products in question are actually touch-enabled netbooks. In other touch-related news, Acer is also reportedly looking at using in-cell touch panel technology when it becomes widely available, which should be cheaper to produce than conventional touch panels that don't have all the necessary touch components built right in at the LCD panel level.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablet PCs

Acer reportedly set to launch three touch-enabled, Windows 7-based devices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer Veriton N260G nettop arrives, does not blow minds

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/18/acer-veriton-n260g-nettop-arrives-does-not-blow-minds/

Alright, we understand that Acer's new Veriton N260G Atom nettop is primarily aimed at businesses and comes with novel features like "OneButton Recovery" system restore and "eLock Management" for data security, but the pricing seems way out of line to us: the NVIDIA Ion-powered AspireRevo starts at $299, while the Veriton uses the far less powerful Intel GMA 4500MHD chip and costs $399. That's pretty much all we need to know, but if you're still interested there's more info at the read link.

Filed under: Desktops

Acer Veriton N260G nettop arrives, does not blow minds originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Mobile 6.5 'touch interface' update in February to coexist with WinMo 7?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/19/windows-mobile-6-5-touch-interface-update-in-february-to-coexi/

The evidence that Windows Mobile 6.5 could soon be moving beyond the stylus to gather finger-friendly, multi-touch, capacitive screens into its long, loving arms has been mounting with the leak of the HTC Leo ROM and TouchFlo 3D 2.6. Such a move would quickly put Microsoft back on track to compete with the iPhone and Android devices like the HTC Hero. Now DigiTimes, based on sourced information from Taiwanese handset makers, is reporting a "touch interface" version of Windows Mobile 6.5 set for release in February 2010 -- an upgrade to the initial Windows Mobile 6.5 launch expected on October 1st. However, instead of phasing out Windows Mobile 6.5 with the Q4 2010 launch of Windows Mobile 7, DigiTimes asserts that Microsoft will lower the price of WinMo 6.5 to compete against open-source Android devices while positioning WinMo 7 to go head-to-head with the iPhone. In other words, Microsoft appears to be adopting a dual-platform mobile strategy like we've heard before, regardless of Steve Ballmer's recent grandstanding against Google's dual-platform approach.

Filed under: Cellphones

Windows Mobile 6.5 'touch interface' update in February to coexist with WinMo 7? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:06:00 E! ST. Ple ase see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nine HDTVs form 3D visualization rig, but only in the name of science

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/19/nine-hdtvs-form-3d-visualization-rig-but-only-in-the-name-of-sc/

If you're the kind of person who happens to have a number of LCD HDTV's lying around, we suggest you give University of California, San Diego's Calit2 Visualization Team a ring. Researchers from the group have constructed a three-column, nine-panel 3D display using flat screens from JVC, stereoscopic glasses, and "game PCs with high end NVIDIA game engines." Dubbed NexCAVE, it's a much more inexpensive version of the its projector-powered StarCAVE used for data analysis, although its range is more limited -- on the plus side, however, since this is LCD, it can be used in bright rooms. At 6,000 x 1,500 pixel, the resolution isn't as mind-blowing as we'd hope, but the team is currently building a version for Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) that's 7 columns (totaling 21 panels) and 15,000 x 1,500 resolution. If nothing else, any chance we can play Mirror's Edge on this? Video demonstration of the nine-panel rig after the break.

[Via PhysOrg]

Continue reading Nine HDTVs form 3D visualization rig, but only in the name of science

Filed under: Displays

Nine HDTVs form 3D visualization rig, but only in the name of science originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 launches in Taiwan, Windows Mobile and all

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/19/garmin-asus-nuvifone-m20-launches-in-taiwan-windows-mobile-and/

Following last month's launch of the proprietary OS'd G60, Taiwan's now playing host to the Windows Mobile-based M20 from Garmin-Asus, the joint venture's second model. Local carrier Chunghwa will be carrying the phone, which features HSDPA, a VGA display, 3 megapixel cam, and comprehensive navigation capabilities that earn it the Garmin name -- but it turns out they'll also be launching the iPhone 3GS and Hero in the next few days, a situation that effectively defines the phrase "hostile competitive landscape." Best of luck, Garmin-Asus -- given the Duke Nukem-esque delays you've encountered in your bumpy road to retail, you need all the luck you can get if you want to turn a profit any time soon.

Filed under: Cellphones, GPS, Handhelds

Garmin-Asus nuvifone M20 launches in Taiwan, Windows Mobile and all originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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