Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, December 04, 2009

SmartSynch intros GridRouter for smart meters and the electric companies that love them

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/04/smartsynch-intros-gridrouter-for-smart-meters-and-the-electric-c/

The last time we heard from SmartSynch it had inked a deal with AT&T to provide communications between its smart energy products and power companies. Now the company's back with a little something called the GridRouter, an IP-based device based that connects appliances, smart grids, and utilities -- no matter which communication protocol is used. The device is built on an open platform since the current grid is a mish-mash (or a hodge-podge, if you will) of proprietary hardware and software, and includes WiMax and Wi-Fi capabilities. Sounds like it just might be the thing for utilities struggling to catch up to the 21st century smarter energy revolution -- and those of you who are really, really into Google's PowerMeter beta. Want to give it a spin? Hit the source link to get in touch with the company. PR after the break.

Continue reading SmartSynch intros GridRouter for smart meters and the electric companies that love them

SmartSynch intros GridRouter for smart meters and the electric companies that love them originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

CNET |

GridRouter | Email this | Comments

Nokia Booklet 3G review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/04/nokia-booklet-3g-review/

You might think MikroMikko is the name of some Asian fusion restaurant, but it was actually Nokia's first computer line -- and in 1987, the MikroMikko 3 was a state-of-the-art MS-DOS machine with 1MB of RAM and 20MB drive. It's been about 25 years since Nokia's made a computer bigger than an N900, but it's back in the game with its first netbook, the Booklet 3G. Nokia's pitching the Booklet as a top-of-the-line machine with an all-aluminum chassis, integrated connectivity and GPS apps, and at $599 it's certainly priced that way -- although inside it's got a low-power Atom processor and 4,200rpm hard drive. The Booklet 3G is one of the best-looking netbooks out there, but is Nokia's entry back into the market a winner? Click on to find out what we think of the entire system in our full review.

Gallery: Nokia Booklet 3G Review

Continue reading Nokia Booklet 3G review

Nokia Booklet 3G review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Core Values: What's next for NVIDIA?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/04/core-values-whats-next-for-nvidia/

Core Values is our new monthly column from Anand Shimpi, Editor-in-chief of AnandTech. With over a decade of experience poring over the latest in chip developments, he's here to explain how things work and why our tech is the way it is.

I remember the day AMD announced it was going to acquire ATI. NVIDIA told me that its only competitor just threw in the towel. What a difference a few years can make.

The last time NVIDIA was this late to a major DirectX transition was seven years ago, and the company just quietly confirmed we won't see its next-generation GPU, Fermi, until Q1 2010. If AMD's manufacturing partner TSMC weren't having such a terrible time making 40nm chips I'd say that AMD would be gobbling up marketshare like a fat kid. By the time NVIDIA gets its entire stack of DX11 hardware out the gate, AMD will be a quarter away from putting out newly refreshed GPUs.

Things aren't much better on the chipset side either -- for all intents and purposes, the future of NVIDIA's chipset business in the PC space is dead. Not only has NVIDIA recently announced that it won't be pursuing any chipsets for Intel's Core i3, i5. or i7 processors until its various legal disputes with Intel are resolved, It doesn't really make sense to be a third-party chipset vendor anymore. Both AMD and Intel are more than capable of doing chipsets in-house, and the only form of differentiation comes from the integrated graphics core -- so why not just sell cheap discrete GPUs for OEMs to use alongside Intel chipsets instead?

Even Ion is going to be short lived. NVIDIA's planning to mold an updated graphics chip into an updated chipset for the next-gen Atom processor, but Pine Trail brings the memory controller and graphics onto the CPU and leaves NVIDIA out in the cold once again.

Let's see, no competitive GPUs, no future chipset business. This isn't looking good so far -- but the one thing I've learned from writing about these companies for the past 12 years is that the future's never as it seems. Chances are, NVIDIA's going to look a lot different in the future because of two things: Tesla and Tegra.

Continue reading Core Values: What's next for NVIDIA?

Core Values: What's next for NVIDIA? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | | Email this | Comments

Motorola prepping 'La Jolla' low-end Android clamshell?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/04/motorola-prepping-la-jolla-low-end-android-clamshell/

It's a source code-palooza these days! Fresh off that huge HTC code name find, someone's dug into the Motorola CLIQ's source code and found references to a new Motorola device dubbed "La Jolla." Meaning "The Jewel" in Spanish, La Jolla apparently means "low-end Android clamshell" in Motorola-ese, with mention of a WQVGA screen, 528MHz processor and what seems to be a QWERTY keyboard. (What such a phone might look like is pictured above. Thanks, LG). In fact, a QWERTY Android clamshell (the clamshell bit was extrapolated from the display driver by the folks at AndroidandMe, but sounds reasonable) seems to be the perfect cure for the recent rash of QWERTY featurephones we've been seeing lately, perfect for the SMS / email junky that doesn't want to bother with high-powered apps or a big price tag or the resistive touchscreen-only typing of the HTC Tattoo. Now, if only could find some device source code that could solve our trigger shyness brought on by this steady stream of Android handsets -- not that we're complaining.

Motorola prepping 'La Jolla' low-end Android clamshell? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

P hone Arena | source

AndroidandMe | Email this | Comments

FTC moseys into Intel / NVIDIA dispute

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/04/ftc-moseys-into-intel-nvidia-dispute/

The dispute between Intel and NVIDIA has already reached legendary proportions, and it looks like now even the FTC is getting involved as a result of its longstanding investigation into Intel regarding another matter. While Intel just settled the antitrust fight with AMD that originally kick-started the investigation last month, the FTC is now reportedly talking to NVIDIA to see if its numerous complaints against the chipmaker actually hold water. While complete details are exectedly light and none of the parties involved are saying much on the record, some "people familiar with the matter" say that the FTC is trying to determine if a lawsuit filed by Intel earlier this year is nothing more than an effort to disrupt NVIDIA's business. Of course, things could well expand from there, considering what the FTC has waded into.

FTC moseys into Intel / NVIDIA dispute originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink

CNET News | source

Bloomberg | Email this | Comments

Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Friday, December 04, 2009