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Thursday, November 08, 2012

Intel launches 8-core Itanium 9500, teases Xeon E7-linked Kittson

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/08/intel-launches-8-core-itanium-9500-teases-xeon-e7-linked-kittson/

Intel's Itanium processor launches are few and far between given that only so many need its specialized grunt, but that just makes any refresh so much larger -- and its new Itanium 9500 certainly exemplifies that kind of jump. The chip centers around much more up-to-date, 32-nanometer Poulson architecture that doubles the cores to eight, hikes the interconnect speeds and supports as much as 2TB of RAM for very (very, very) large tasks. With the help of an error-resistant buffer, Intel sees the 9500 being as much as 2.4 times faster as the Tukwila-era design it's replacing. The new Itanium also ramps the clock speeds to a relatively brisk 1.73GHz to 2.53GHz, although there will be definite costs for server builders wanting to move up: the shipping roster starts at $1,350 per chip in bulk and climbs to an eye-watering $4,650 for the fastest example.

Anyone worried that Poulson might be the end of the road for Intel's EPIC-based platform will also be glad to get a brief reminder that Itanium will soldier on. The next iteration, nicknamed Kittson, will be framed around a modular design that shares traces of silicon and the processor socket with the more familiar Xeon E7. Intel casts it as a pragmatic step that narrows its server-oriented processors down to a common motherboard and should be cheaper to! make. I t's likely that we'll have to be very patient for more details on Kittson knowing the long intervals between Itanium revamps, but fence-sitting IT pros may just be glad that they won't have to consider jumping ship for awhile yet.

Continue reading Intel launches 8-core Itanium 9500, teases Xeon E7-linked Kittson

Filed under: Desktops, Intel

Intel launches 8-core Itanium 9500, teases Xeon E7-linked Kittson originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NVIDIA's revenue hits a record $1.20 billion for Q3 powered by Tegra 3 tablets, Kepler GPUs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/08/nvidia-q3-2013-earnings/

Just as it predicted, NVIDIA's earnings show revenue rose again in Q3, to a new record high of $1.20 billion, 15.3 percent higher than in Q2 up 12.9 percent from the same period last year. Its profits also grew accordingly, to $209.1 million, which should be no surprise thanks to its Tegra 3 chip's place at the heart of tablets including Google's Nexus 7 and Microsoft's Surface for Windows RT, with more arriving daily. The Consumer Products division that includes the Tegra family and other hardware had a 27.6 percent rise in revenue for the quarter. Despite predictions of a slumping PC market, its consumer GPU unit had revenue up 10 percent from last quarter as Kepler based products reached into lower price points and notebook revenue rose. Riding high, the company has decided to issue dividends to shareholders as well as extend its current stock repurchasing program. Hit the source links for the full breakdown, but so far NVIDIA's bets on the future of its chips in PCs and post-PC devices seem to be paying off.

Continue reading NVIDIA's revenue hits a record $1.20 billion for Q3 powered by Tegra 3 tablets, Kepler GPUs

Filed under: Cellp hones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Mobile, NVIDIA

NVIDIA's revenue hits a record $1.20 billion for Q3 powered by Tegra 3 tablets, Kepler GPUs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 19:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Arduino Micro shrinks your favorite DIY platform down to ridiculous proportions

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/08/arduino-micro-shrinks-your-favorite-diy-platform/

With the Arduino Leonardo, everyone's favorite hackable microcontroller turned a new page. Now it's time to bring that simplified design and slightly expanded feature set to the rest of the family, including the itty-bitty Arduino Micro. The tiny, embed-friendly board was designed with help from Adafruit Industries, one of the biggest players in the DIY market. At the heart of the Micro is the same 16MHz ATmega32u4 chip that powers the Leonardo, which means all the necessary USB controls are baked into the processor. Obviously, the layout here is different, so you wont be mounting the Micro to any shields, but with 20 digital I/O pins, 12 analog input channels and seven PWM channels, there's plenty of room for wiring up your own expansions. Amazingly it crams all that capability in a package just 48mm long and 18mm wide. The Arduino Micro will be available exclusively through Radio Shack and Adafruit first before becoming more widely available next month. The board is available with headers for €21 (roughly $23) and without headers for €18 (about $27). For more, check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Arduino Micro shrinks your favorite DIY platform down to ridiculous proportions

Filed under: Misc

Arduino Micro shrinks your favorite DIY platform down to ridiculous proportions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AT&T To Discount All Tablets (Including iPads!) $100 With Two-Year Data Plan Agreement (T)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/att-discounts-tablets-100-with-data-plan-agreement-2012-11

ipad

AT&T announced today it will knock $100 off tablets if you buy one with a two-year data plan agreement.

And yes, that includes iPads.

The offer starts November 9.

You can either add the tablet to your exisiting shared data plan or choose from one of AT&T's tiered data plans to activate the offer.

It seems like a pretty good deal, especially if you plan to use a lot of data on your tablet. Why not get an iPad or other tablet for $100 off if you plan to spend money on data anyway?

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MIT ear-powered wireless sensor sustains its charge through sound

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/08/mit-ear-powered-wireless-sensor-sustains-its-charge-through-sound/

You wouldn't immediately think of the ear's cochlea as an energy source, but MIT knows that every mammal effectively has a pair of very small power plants because of the ionized environment. School researchers are trying to harness that energy through a new sensor that exploits the whole ear canal system. As eardrum vibrations naturally create a usable voltage from brain signals, the prototype can build enough charge in a capacitor to drive a very low-power wireless transmitter that relays the electrochemical properties of the ear and potentially diagnoses balance or hearing problems. The beauty of the system is its true self-sustainability: once the transmitter has been been jumpstarted with radio waves, it powers itself through the resulting transmissions. Energy use is also sufficiently miserly that the sensor doesn't interrupt hearing. Work is still early enough that there's a long way to go before such implants are part of any treatments, but there's hope that future chip iterations could help fix inner ear maladies, not just report on them. Something tells us, however, that the doctor won't ask us to take two dubstep tracks and call back in the morning.

Filed under: Wearables, Science, Alt

MIT ear-powered wireless sensor sustains its charge through sound ! original ly appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Nov 2012 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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