Friday, March 15, 2013

Samsung puts Exynos 5 Octa into production: guess who's the first customer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/15/samsung-puts-exynos-5-octa-into-mass-production/

Samsung puts Exynos 5 Octa in mass production, no prizes for guessing where it shows up

That Galaxy S 4 isn't going to compute tasks through sheer force of will, you know. Just a day after Samsung unveiled the smartphone as its inaugural Exynos 5 Octa device, the company has confirmed that the not-really-eight-core ARM processor should be in mass production during the second quarter of the year, or between April and June. There aren't many more details to share beyond what the company mentioned at CES, but that doesn't diminish what could be a best-of-all-worlds processor: the automatic switching between four Cortex-A15 and four Cortex-A7 cores should give it a performance edge over many of its peers while reducing power consumption by up to 70 percent. We also know that the Octa's graphics performance has largely caught up to peers versus earlier Exynos 4 designs, as Imagination Technologies has confirmed that its PowerVR SGX544MP is providing enough muscle to double 3D performance over the creaky Mali-400 in the Exynos 4 Quad. About the only mystery left is whether or not many companies beyond Samsung will get a chance at some Exynos 5 Octa silicon, although there's one or two

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Source: Samsung, Imagination Technologies

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iRig Recorder arrives on Android, ready for your broadcasting needs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/15/irig-recorder-android-app/

iRig Recorder arrives on Android, ready for your broadcasting, podcasting needs

Catching up to its iOS rival, IK Multimedia's iRig recorder app is now available on Google Play. Compatible with all your existing iRig mics and peripherals, the app is tailored to ensuring all your audio is suitably organized by date or location -- it even saves a backup version for those all-important recording sessions. There's also a waveform editor available as an in-app purchase ($4.99), adding the ability to select, crop and loop on your phone. You can also reduce background noise as well as speed up (or slow down) your files without affecting the timbre. Recording time is dependent on how much storage space available on your Android, so those phones with expandable memory are at a slight advantage here. If your audio needs a bit of work, you can pick up the app at the source starting today.

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Source: iRig recorder (Google Play)

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From A Hardware Perspective, Samsung's Galaxy S4 Is On Par With The Competition

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/galaxy-s4-vs-iphone-5-and-other-smartphones-2013-3

Samsung has finally unveiled its latest smartphone, the Galaxy S4.

From a hardware perspective, there's a lot of impressive specs here.

But if you compare it to other top-tier phones, it's pretty much in line as far as processor speed, memory, screen resolution, etc. 

That just proves the GS4's (or any smartphone's) most important and differentiating features are in the software.

Here's the complete breakdown. Click the chart for a larger view.

samsung galaxy s4 spec sheet versus other top smartphones

SEE ALSO: Here's Your First Hands-On Look At The Samsung Galaxy S4 >

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BLU Life Series phones include quad-core CPU, Android 4.2, start at $229 unlocked

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/15/blu-life-series-smartphones/

Blu Life Series phones include quadcore CPU, Android 42, start at $229 unlocked

Coming this April, BLU Products will have three new smartphones vying for your hard-earned dollar. The trio of dual-SIM handsets, known as the Life View, Life One and Life Play, will be sold unlocked on Amazon and will range in price between $229 and $299. As a nice touch, Android 4.2 will be common among the bunch, as will backside-illuminated sensors on the cameras and the quad-core, 1.2GHz MediaTek MT6589 (Cortex A7) SoC. Likewise, each smartphone will also feature an HD IPS display.

The Life View ($299), the largest of the bunch, includes a massive 5.7-inch display, a 12-megapixel rear / 5-megapixel front camera, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage and a 2,600mAh battery. Meanwhile, the more reasonably sized Life One ($299) includes a 5-inch display, a 13-megapixel rear / 5-megapixel front camera, similar storage specs and a 2,000mAh battery. Lastly, the sleekest of the three, the Life Play ($229), includes a 4.7-inch display and measures 7.9mm thick. Here, you can expect to find an 8-megapixel rear / 2-megapixel front camera, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of expandable storage and an 1,800mAh battery. You'll find the band support for each of the three phones in the PR after the break, but needless to say, you'll be safe on AT&T (and in many areas, T-Mobile).

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Researcher breaks Pi calculation record with the help of NVIDIA

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/15/researcher-breaks-pi-record-with-nvidia/

Researcher calculates Pi to digit digit with the help of NVIDIA

Yesterday's self-congratulatory pat on the back to anyone reciting Pi to ten digits might feel a bit inadequate compared to Santa Clara University's Ed Karrels. The researcher has broken the record for calculating Darren Aronofsky's favorite number, taking the ratio to eight quadrillion places right of the decimal. Given the location of the University, you'll be unsurprised to learn which hardware maker's gear was used to break the record. Karrels will be showing off the new digits at the GPU technology conference in San Jose, demonstrating the CUDA-voodoo necessary to harness all of that Kepler-based computing power.

[Image Credit: Ed Karrels]

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Via: NVIDIA

Source: Ed Karrels

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