Saturday, August 30, 2008

BlackBerry Bold Hitting Sept. 12 for $299, Say AT&T Employees [Blackberry Bold]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/377557849/blackberry-bold-hitting-sept-12-for-299-say-att-employees

You read the review, you're stoked that you suit-and-tie guys have a sweet new phone to wave at Apple fanboys. Well, now you got a date: September 12. And a price: $299. At least, so say the dudes down at the AT&T store who were a little overexcited when they saw our review model from Wireless Imports. The leak's in line with expectations, so we're gonna say it's 95% solid. [BlackBerry Bold on Giz]


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Volkswagen Caddy Van Features a Wooden Boat Deck For Sunbathing [Cars]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/377590989/volkswagen-caddy-van-features-a-wooden-boat-deck-for-sunbathing

The designers at Volkswagen brought out the big guns for an upcoming recreational vehicle show in Düsseldorf, Germany by crossing one of their small commercial Caddy vans with a sailboat. While the Caddy Topos Sail design is not capable of traveling on water, it does feature a sailboat style deck on the roof that can be modified for relaxation and sunbathing. It even features a wooden ladder built into the glass to grant easy access to the roof. I suppose that it is clever in a stupid sort of way, but no matter how you feel about the quirky design, it is only a concept.


[Jalopnik]


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(Presumably) Very Cheap Tablet PCs by NEC [Laptops]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/377581422/presumably-very-cheap-tablet-pcs-by-nec

See this tablet? It's new from NEC and features the same monotonous specs (1.6GHz Atom, 512MB-1GB RAM and 80GB HD) that we see in those cheapie mini-notebooks like the Asus Eee. Running XP or Vista and loaded with a 12 or 15-inch touchscreen, it's by no means beautiful, but this NEC could be the forebear of a new netbook-tablet market. We don't have pricing or release details at this time, but we'll keep a lookout, just for you. [Akihabara News]


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Graff Luna: The Samurai Sword of Faucets [Sinks]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/377615608/graff-luna-the-samurai-sword-of-faucets

We are in the midst of a sink design Renaissance folks—crazy new designs seem to pop up all the time. The latest comes to us via Graff in a form that bears more than a passing resemblance to a samurai sword. Plus, the faucet itself is 3 feet tall, so I wouldn't be surprised if visitors to your bathroom linger a bit admiring this masterpiece of plumbing. You even have the option of wall mounting the handles depending on which style you prefer. [Graff via HDF]


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Jesus Tries to Save Your Soul But Windows Stops Him [Windows]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/377622675/jesus-tries-to-save-your-soul-but-windows-stops-him

And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder: One of the four beasts saying: "Come and see." And I saw. And behold, there was the other Jesus, the Bible character, calling me from a big screen saying "Jesus is the Reason for The—V-Sign this program-and will be shu-whaaa?" Clearly, Jesus is good with all this saving Humanity and making water into wine tricks, but I'm afraid he's no match for Windows errors. [Fail]


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CPU vs GPU -- totally misleading, but totally AWESOME

Source:

http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/08/28/mythbusters-gpu-vs-cpu-demo-2100-paintballs-make-the-mona-lisa-in-275ms/

Mythbusters’ GPU vs. CPU demo: 2100 paintballs make the Mona Lisa in 275ms

Well, this really is awfully misleading, but it sure is awesome. The idea is that a normal CPU processes things one at a time, like the single-paintball robot, and a GPU has parallel processors that can do (in this case) 2100 times the work in a single stroke. Well, considering CPUs are moving to serious multi-core architecture and GPUs are being used to do CPU work, the whole demonstration is a little dubious. Still, how filthy was that? [via TGDaily]

Source:

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/39112/135/

Mythbusters duo launches new GeForce, codenamed Mona Lisa PDF Print E-mail
Hardware
By Theo Valich
Thursday, August 28, 2008 16:03
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San Jose (CA) – Even though Nvidia’s Nvision tradeshow did not achieve its goal of 10,000 visitors, more than a thousand gathered at the Center for Performing Arts to witness the ending of the event. The duo behind the popular Mythbusters showed the results of six months of work, demonstrating the difference between a CPU and a GPU, following the conventional wisdom of parallel computing. Dubbed Smiley and Mona Lisa, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman presented two robots that represented the difference between a CPU and a GPU. Smiley was given a task to draw a smiley using conventional CPU techniques, doing one thing at a time. Smiley was a relatively simple robot, while Mona Lisa consisted out of "1100 massively parallel barrel processors", dwarfing the 240 shaders offered by a GeForce GTX 280 chip. These 1100 "shaders" painted a picture of Mona Lisa in a matter of a few hundreds of a second, resulting in lots of stunned faces, laughter and a big round of applause for the Mythbusters crew. We won't dwell into the specs of these two, but Mona Lisa's fill-rate is quite interesting: 1100 (paintball) balls travelled eight feet onto wood-enforced canvas in just in just 275 ms, creating a picture of Mona Lisa within three quarters of a second. We guess you could say Nvision ended with a bang (sorry, we couldn’t resist.) There was no information if and when these barrel processors will be available for sale.
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Samsung X360 Laptop is Super Skinny [Ifa 2008]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/378661348/samsung-x360-laptop-is-super-skinny

It's pretty clear where Samsung is going with the X360 laptop when you notice it's branded it as "lighter than air" and say it's the "lightest notebook in its 13.3 inch class" since it weighs just 1.27 kg. Inside there's a 45nm Core 2 Duo mobile processor, mated to a 1280 x 800 pixel LED-backlit screen, and the machine has no internal DVD drive: instead it comes with an external one. Sounds a little familiar, no? But the battery life is claimed to be 10 hours, by Samsung, and it's got a full array of ports, including an RJ45 socket for wired LAN, a mic-in, three USB 2.0 sockets, a PCI express card slot and a HDMI socket. Somewhat strangely it's also been "sprinkled" with nano silver ion powder to keep the keyboard bacteria-free. It'll be available in September in some European countries, and Russia, China and Hong Kong, but there's no info on the US release or pricing. Extensive press release below.

Berlin, Germany, August 29, 2008 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a
market leader in consumer electronics and world leader in IT
technology, today lifted the lid on the most innovative addition to
its ever expanding notebook range – the ultra-lightweight Samsung
X360. Capable of meeting the extreme performance and connectivity
needs of the new aristocrats of the mobile world, the X360 sets a
completely new standard in mobile computing – offering a comprehensive
set of features unlike anything of its kind on the market.

Even though it is the lightest notebook in its 13.3 inch class,
weighing a miniscule 1.27 kg*,

the Samsung X360 incorporates all of the extensive functionality
demanded by ultra mobile and results-driven professionals. Unlike the
claims of some other "light" notebooks, the X360 is fully featured
without compromise, including 3 USB port! s, a bui lt-in HDMI (High
Definition Multimedia Interface) connection, a 34mm express card slot
and VGA output. For fast and easy transfer of documents, images, video
or music it incorporates a highly flexible 7 in 1 memory card reader,
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR* (Enhanced Data Rate) and super-fast 802.11n
wireless technology. It also boasts an integrated digital motion
camera, so it's easy to stay in touch with colleagues or friends using
video-conferencing or live messaging. But there is more, for business
and home office users the X360 incorporates a 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN
connection and support for Samsung P-Dock, docking station – which
simplifies cabling and provides a 'single click' connection and easy
access to a wide variety of ports..

"The X360 pushes back the boundaries of form and function to deliver
real style with substance," said HS Kim, Executive Vice President of
Samsung Computer Systems Division. "It offers a tremendous reduction
in size and weight but without compromising on functionality, so users
have everything they need for life on the move," Mr. Kim added.

The X360 will be available from September this year in European
countries including UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, and also in
Russia, China and Hong Kong.

For non stop productivity on the move, the X360 incorporates a
removable 6 cell battery that enables up to 10 hours continuous use –
making all day mobile computing a practical reality. Its efficient
power consumption is supported by the use of Intel(R) Centrino(R) 2
Ultra Low Voltage processor technology and an innovative 13.3" WXGA
(1280x800) LED screen, whose backlight technology consumes
significantly less power but delivers around 33 percent improved
brightness over a traditional LCD screen, so it is easier to work in a
range of conditions. And with security at a premium, it even has a
secure biometric fingerprint and trusted platform module
authen! tication system to ensure that your data is always fully
protected.

With its captivating craftsmanship, the X360's Protect-O-Edge casing
is built using durable magnesium alloy to provide amazing strength and
superior reliability coupled with enhanced ergonomics and premium
styling. And, wherever possible, Samsung uses its own components from
memory, batteries and screens. This focus on manufacturing excellence
means Samsung mobile computers have one of the best reliability
records in the industry, lowering the total cost ownership.

The X360 also features the option of an ultra-fast and reliable 128GB
Solid State Drive (SSD)*, which significantly enhances performance
compared to a typical hard disk drive (HDD), with a boot time that is
25-50 percent faster and data access times that are 300 percent faster
(53 MB/s) for reading and 150 percent faster (28 MB/s) for writing.
With no moving parts SSDs also weigh less, uses significantly less
power and are less prone to errors and damage - in fact, the X360 is
equipped to withstand twice the impact of the hard-drive-enabled
model. So, the notebook will perform faster and last even longer.

Finally, the X360 features an amazing Samsung innovation - Silver Nano
Technology. By sprinkling incredibly small, nano-sized silver ion
powder on the keyboard your system will remain "bacteria free" for
even longer.

FEATURES:
World class mobile performance

Featuring state of the art Intel(R) Centrino(R) 2 Ultra Low Voltage
processor technology, which delivers unrivalled performance, energy
efficiency and connectivity too keep you working longer. The X360
comes with the all new 45 nano-meter sized Intel(R) Core™2 Duo mobile
processor, which literally puts the power of two processors into one,
so you can open up all of your favourite applications with no
compromise on performance.

Sharper display
Its 13.3" wide display provides up to 30% m! ore view ing area than
traditional screens and allows you to enjoy photo-like image quality,
greater viewing angles and better text legibility, reducing eye strain
and therefore increasing productivity. Using LED technology also means
that the screen is thinner, up to 33% brightness, and uses much less
power than traditional LCD screen. Even the durability of the system
is better, because there are fewer breakable parts.

Light Weight and Durable
Despite being ultra lightweight and slim at just 1.27kg, the X360 is
built to last. It's durable Protect-o-Edge(c) casing provides amazing
strength and superior reliability. As a result, the X360 is more than
capable of withstanding the inevitable hardships of life on the move,
which all translates into a measurably lower Total Cost of Ownership.

Simple data sharing
Incorporating a 7 in 1 memory card reader (MS, MS Pro, SD, SDHC, MMC,
MMC plus, xD) and 3 x USB ports, it lets you to seamlessly move data
from your digital camera, camcorder, MP3 player or PDA straight to the
notebook. Alternatively you can use the Bluetooth 2.0+EDR* (Enhanced
Data Rate) capability to quickly connect to other Bluetooth devices at
speeds that are 3x faster than previous generations.

Wireless World
Featuring the super fast 802.11a/b/g/n wireless, delivering up to five
times the performance and up to twice the range of previous-generation
technologies.*

*Based on Factory specification

Your connection to the Digital World
For the ultimate in viewing experiences simply connect it to your HD
monitor, Television (HDTV) or home theatre system using the X360's
built-in HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) connection, which
allows 100% transmission of visual and audio digital signals, and
experience richer colours, beautiful rendering and perfect image and
sound reproduction.

Smile, you are on camera*
Featuring an integrated 1.3 mega pixel digital ! motion c amera, it
offers a simple way to keep in touch with friends or family, using
video-conferencing or live messaging.

Optimised graphics, premium experience
Featuring the new Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 graphics
core, which dynamically allocates system memory to provide incredible
visual quality, faster graphics performance and flexible display
options.

Revolutionary Battery Life
The battery life is vastly improved. It can deliver battery powered
performance of up to 6-10 hours based on usage scenario. The longer
battery life is guaranteed by the LED display and the flash-based SSD
which require less power to run.

Huge 128GB Solid State drive
Its Solid State Drive (SSD) has a boot time that is 25-50 percent
faster than systems that employ a traditional, rotational hard disk
drive (HDD). Overall system performance is also significantly
enhanced, as the SSD is capable of reading 300 times faster (53 MB/s)
and writes 150 percent faster (28 MB/s) than typical HDDs, and the
seek time (the amount of time required to find information in the
system memory) is also greatly reduced. Having no moving parts means
that power consumption is reduced dramatically, extending battery
life, and it is capable of withstanding much greater impacts, so there
is no loss of data.

Bacteria free
By sprinkling incredibly small, nano-sized silver ion powder on the
keyboard your system will remain "bacteria free" – for even longer.

Total security
For complete peace of mind, the X360 incorporates a secure biometric
fingerprint authentication system and a trusted platform module, so
your valuable information will always remain safe from prying eyes -
and you may never need to remember another password!

Fast docking
Is compatible with Samsung's P-Dock docking station, which simplifies
cabling and provides a 'single click' connection and easy access to a
wide variety of! ports, including Serial, 5 x USB, LAN, HDMI, SIO,
e-SATA and DVI (Digital Video Interface) to deliver outstanding
digital image quality on large displays and projectors.

ECO friendly
Samsung's own certification mark (ECO), which guarantees ECO-friendly
features, including removal of hazardous substances and material,
optimised energy efficiency and effective material usage for a more
environmentally friendly product.

Warranty, On Time, On Us
All this is backed up with the peace of mind that your notebook is
protected by Samsung's class leading warranty service. In the unlikely
event that something goes wrong with your notebook, the Samsung
International warranty infrastructure will provide you with a fast
track collection repair and return service for your notebook in order
to minimise disruption and get you back working as quickly as
possible.

X360 Specifications
* based on factory specification, Subject to change. Errors and
omissions accepted. Battery life based on mobile Mark test scores that
will vary based on configuration

Processor
Intel(R) Centrino(R) 2 ULV Processor Technology (FSB 800MHz)

Operating System
- Genuine Microsoft Windows(R) Vista(R) Home Basic
- Genuine Microsoft Windows(R) Vista(R) Home Premium
- Genuine Microsoft Windows(R) Vista(R) Business

Memory
- DDR3 1066MHz 1GB ~ 4GB

LCD
- 13.3" WXGA (1280 x 800) SuperBright(c) LED backlit

HDD
- 64/ 128 GB Solid State Drive
- 120 GB (5400 rpm S-ATA)

Optical Drive
- External DVD Super Multi Dual Layer Writer

Graphics Processor
- Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator X4500 graphics core

Wireless LAN
- Intel 802.11 a/b/g/n
- Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate*

LAN
10/100/1000 Ethernet

I / O Ports
- 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS, MS Pro, SD, SDHC, MMC, MMC plus, xD)
- 3 x USB 2.0
- 1 x PCI Express Card Slot (34 mm)
- 1 x HDMI
- 1 x Headph! one-out< br> - 1 x Mic in
- 1 x Integrated Mic
- 1 x VGA Port
- 1 x RJ45 (LAN)
- 1 x Docking Port

Multimedia
1.3 Mega Pixel Web Camera*

Battery Life
Up to 10 hours


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