Friday, October 18, 2013

AMD rides semi-custom business back to profitability, cites net income of $48 million in Q3 earnings

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/17/amd-rides-semi-custom-business-back-to-profitability/

We had our doubts when AMD promised to bounce back from its second quarter slump, but the company has held its word, reporting a net income $48 million in its Q3 financial reports. Why the jump? AMD cites growth in its Graphics and Visual Solutions (GVS) division, which is responsible for semi-custom products like the chips bound for the upcoming PlayStation 4, Xbox One and the floundering Wii U. "We achieved 26 percent sequential revenue growth driven by our semi-custom business and remain committed to generating approximately 50 percent of revenue from high-growth markets over the next two years," AMD President and CEO Rory Read stated in the earnings announcement.

Not every portion of AMD's business is flourishing, however -- both its Computing Solutions and GPU segments saw a drop in revenue over the past year, and the company admits that it's shipping fewer notebook chipsets these days. Even so, the numbers bode well for the company, which posted a total revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, alongside an optimistic outlook. After all, the company's Mantle graphics cards are just around the corner.

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Via: Market Watch

Source: AMD

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Sharp's Chop-Syc prototype asks you to chop veggies on a touchscreen

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/17/sharps-chop-syc-prototype/

Sharp's ChopSyc prototype asks you to chop veggies on a touchscreen

Generally, your choice of cutting board comes down to two basic options: wood or plastic. While there are plenty of subcategories (Flexible? Bamboo?), you're generally not presented with a list of specs when it comes time to pick a board for chopping up meat or veggies. If a Sharp intern has her way, however, resolution and processor power will become important choices. Chop-Syc is the brainchild of Siobhán Andrews, the winner of a competition to become a paid intern with the company in the UK. Essentially, it's a tablet with a custom software and a scratch-proof surface designed to be used in the kitchen. In addition to functioning as a surface for slicing and dicing, the tablet includes a recipe manager, a scale and a visualizer to help you m easure out (healthy) serving sizes of food, such as pasta.

The tablet itself is embedded in a wooden block to help control spills, and the wireless charging means you shouldn't have to worry about electrocuting yourself with a (very) poorly placed swipe of the blade. For now, Chop-Syc is only a prototype, but Sharp says it may eventually bring the device to market. If we were executives at the company, though, we might just wait to see how Sony's dedicated kitchen tab fares before entering this extraordinarily niche market.

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Via: Pocket Lint

Source: Humans Invent

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Nexus 5 listing appears in the Play Store, teases 16GB for $349

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/17/nexus-5-16gb-349-play-store/

Nexus 5 listing appears in the Play Store, teases 16GB for $349

We still haven't heard anything official about Google's next Nexus phone, but tonight some people are already seeing the Nexus 5 as an option in the Play Store. Just among our editors, some see the outgoing Nexus 4 while others get the result shown after the break, with a 16GB (from the link in the page, although it doesn't go anywhere) Nexus 5 listed for $349, along with the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. Previous leaks have given us a good look at the outside while a service manual gave up the internal details: 1080p 4.95-inch display, 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 CPU, LTE and storage capacity that tops out at 32GB. These screenshots show the Hangouts app where we'd usually expect our SMS icon to be, which is among the software changes we're expecting when this new device arrives with Android 4.4 KitKat some time in the future -- possibly around October 28th.

Update: It looks like Google has plugged the leaky hole, as the page is showing all of us the Nexus 4 once again. Nothing to see here... for now.

[Thanks, Jacob]

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Source: Google Play

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Samsung finally offering the ATIV Book 9 Plus in the US with a 256GB SSD, Core i7

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/18/samsung-ativ-book-9-plus-core-i7-256gb-SSD/

Samsung finally offering the ATIV Book 9 Plus in the US with a 256GB SSD, Core i7

If you read our review of Samsung's new flagship Ultrabook, the ATIV Book 9 Plus, you know we mostly adore it: it's exceptionally thin, runs cool and rocks a best-in-class display. Unfortunately for some of the nerds reading Engadget, the laptop launched in the United States with just one configuration option -- a Core i5 model with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. Not good news for people who want bragging rights, or who need more storage, or who just like having choices. Now, at least, you get two options. Samsung just announced it will start selling a Core i7 version in the US, complete with 8GB of memory and a 256GB drive. Those specs bumps aside, this is otherwise the same laptop, with a low-glare, 3,200 x 1,800 screen and an aluminum chassis weighing in at 3.06 pounds. It won't actually be on shelves until early November, but you can pre-order it today for $1,800.

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Fujifilm launches mid-tier X-E2 and XQ1 cameras with fast imaging and WiFi

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/18/fujifilm-launches-x-e2-and-xq1-cameras/

Fujifilm reveals faster XE2 mirrorless ILC, XQ1 compact camera

The refined image processing from Fujifilm's X100s and X20 is at last reaching more affordable cameras: welcome the X-E2 and X-Q1. The X-E2 is a direct upgrade to the X-E1 that brings the company's 16.3-megapixel X-Trans CMOS II sensor and EXR Processor II to a mid-tier interchangeable lens design, giving welcome boosts to both the image quality and autofocusing speed. Software upgrades like split image display and 60 fps 1080p video come along with the new hardware, and there's both WiFi photo transfers as well as a much sharper one-megapixel, three-inch preview LCD. The X-E2 will ship in November for $1,000 in body-only form, or $1,400 when paired with an 18-55mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens.

Photographers looking for a more pocketable shooter will want to look at the XQ1. The 12-megapixel compact cam is a spiritual successor to the XF1 that ditches the faux leather look in favor of a plainer, smaller body. It still has a non-removable 25-100mm f/1.8-4.9 lens, but it gets the X-E2's image processing upgrades and WiFi. An improved three-inch, 920,000-pixel LCD is present as well. The XQ1 should arrive later this month for $500. %Gallery-slideshow101222%

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Source: Fujifilm

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