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Friday, January 22, 2010

Origin's Genesis gaming desktop gets reviewed: blisteringly fast, but oh-so-pricey

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/21/origins-genesis-gaming-desktop-gets-reviewed-blisteringly-fast/

The latest high-fashion gaming outfit (known as Origin 'round these parts) has just started shipping its beastly Genesis out, and if you've ever wondered what five large could get you in the land of desktops, wonder no more. The crew over at Hot Hardware managed to procure a darn-near-loaded machine, complete with a Core i7-920 CPU (overclocked from the factory to 3.8GHz), 6GB of Corsair DDR3 RAM, twin ATI Radeon HD 5970 GPUs, a liquid cooling system, 80GB SSD boot drive and pretty much every other top-of-the-line component you could imagine. How'd it stand up to testing? Well. Really well. It crushed every benchmark that dared get in its way, and we're told that when pressed, the company's explanation of its warranty was truly best in class. What's interesting is that the MSRP of the test unit can be halved by simply opting for a few marginally weaker pieces, and we're guessing that the overall performance wouldn't suffer a huge deal. Hit the source link for all the bars, charts and in-depth analysis you can handle.

Origin's Genesis gaming desktop gets reviewed: blisteringly fast, but oh-so-pricey originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Twin Video camera has two lenses, two mics, one body

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/22/twin-video-camera-has-two-lenses-two-mics-one-body/

Ion Audio, who seem to enjoy doing unconventional work in the electronic peripherals space, are back with a two-way pocket camcorder that records both sides of a conversation, literally. Strapped with pairs of microphones and cameras, it is capable of doing picture-in-picture or split-screen recording, and can selectively switch between the audio streams depending on which side you want to hear at which time. Just skip along past the break and all will be elucidated -- price is not yet specified, but the Twin Video cam should be arriving at some point in the first half of this year.

Continue reading Twin Video camera has two lenses, two mics, one body

Twin Video camera has two lenses, two mics, one body originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ARM-based processors to overtake x86 competition in netbooks and MIDs by 2013?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/22/arm-based-processors-to-overtake-x86-competition-in-netbooks-and/

We suppose industry analysts must be paid on account of just how grand their prognostications are. ABI Research know-it-alls have come out with their own spectacular claim today by asserting their expectation that x86 processors -- still dominant the world over -- will be swept aside in the rapidly developing "ultra-mobile device" space by the ascension of ARM-based processing architectures. That the Cortex CPUs have grown in popularity (and power) is undeniable, but who realistically expects Intel to sit back and watch all this happen? The x86 patriarch has even gone and created an Atom SDK, so we hardly expect the forecast table above to become reality. We're just happy to see that ARM's lower power profile is attracting investment -- it's always good to see a threat to Santa Clara's chokehold on the CPU market, and AMD's sleepwalking through the past few months hasn't helped things. Now if only those Tegra 2 smartbooks were on retail shelves instead of inside prototype shells, we could get started on this supposed revolution.

ARM-based processors to overtake x86 competition in netbooks and MIDs by 2013? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:26:00 EST. Pl! ease see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC HD2 extended battery with kickstand up for pre-order in the UK

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/22/htc-hd2-extended-battery-with-kickstand-up-for-pre-order-in-the/

British electronics e-tailer Clove has started listing a new £53 ($86) HD2 accessory that should be of interest to everyone who owns or plans on owning the device. We always thought that generous 4.3-inch screen could do with some backside support, and indeed the new kickstand-equipped extended battery will provide just that. You'll also get a nice energy bump, as the new accessory is set to double the 1,230mAh capacity of the default juice pack. Deliveries are expected by Clove in February, meaning it shouldn't be too long before this official appendage makes its global debut -- let's just hope other nations don't have to suffer as much wallet damage as the UK.

HTC HD2 extended battery with kickstand up for pre-order in the UK originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google devs reveal Chrome OS will have media player

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/22/google-devs-reveal-chrome-os-will-have-media-player/

If you thought Chrome OS was all about the Chrome, here are some words of reassurance from Google's Matthew Papakipos, engineering director for the project. In a marathon interview with Ars Technica, he notes that Chrome OS will have its own integrated media player, and although the focus remains on being "lean and mean," it'll not neglect basic system functionality. Current thinking is to keep JPEG and other media file handlers within the tab structure, with native and web apps being melded seamlessly into the browser experience. That may all still change, of course, since development is also noted to be a good year away from a consumer release. Hit up the read link for more, much more, on the past and future of Google's featherweight OS.

Google devs reveal Chrome OS will have media player originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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