Thursday, June 04, 2009

Video: NVIDIA Tegra's GPU gets busy with HD video and full-screen Flash -- Intel 945GSE shrugs, kicks dirt

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/video-nvidia-tegras-gpu-gets-busy-with-hd-video-and-full-scree/

If you didn't believe the Tegra hype -- 25 days audio, 10 hours of 1080p video on single charge -- already then pull up a stool, son, NVIDIA wants to tell your a story. TechVideoBlog sat down with Gordon Grigor, NVIDIA's Director of Mobile Software to see Tegra's little Atom smasher in action. So sit back while Gordon smoothly streams a 720p MSN HD trailer off the web (over WiFi) then switches over to Firefox to take Flash for a spin at full-screen. Gordon also clarifies earlier confusion over Tegra's ability to handle HD video; see, the Tegra 600 can do H.264 video at 720p while the Tegra 650 can decode 1080p. Gordon also gives some more insight into memory configurations. It seems that the OS (either Android or Windows CE in single or dual-boot configurations) will be embedded with minimal on-board storage like those early Eee PCs. RAM will also be limited to about 512MB on base units going as low as 256MB and as high as 1GB in future (unannounced) devices. A 512MB model limits Firefox to about 3-4 opened tabs at a time. All of this is meant to keep prices down below $200 (or less when subsidized by carriers). Also of note is how the Tegra's GPU assists in rendering pixels anytime they appear on the display. In other words fonts, Firefox pages, scrolling, and of course video playback all benefit from an extra boost by the GPU. Check the video after the break to hear Gordon make some not so subtle jabs at Intel's relatively power-hungry Atom processor.

Continue reading Video: NVIDIA Tegra's GPU gets busy with HD video and full-screen Flash -- Intel 945GSE shrugs, kicks dirt

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Video: NVIDIA Tegra's GPU gets busy with HD video and full-screen Flash -- Intel 945GSE shrugs, kicks dirt originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel snaps up Wind River, looks for that embedded systems edge

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/intel-snaps-up-wind-river-looks-for-that-embedded-systems-edge/


Wind River Systems has been doing Android up right for quite some time, and evidently Intel is sick and tired of sitting on the outside looking in. Disregarding that massive EU fine for a moment, the company somehow managed to find time to pen a check in the amount of $884 million in order to fully acquire the aforesaid embedded systems company. The reason? Intel knows the CPU business is morphing into something entirely more elaborate, and it reckons a solid presence in the embedded devices segment (MIDs, UMPCs, etc.) is necessary to keep those profits up in the future. Honestly, such a pickup isn't really a shock; Intel has shown great interest in being a serious player in the handheld computing market, and its fledgling CE 3100 media processor could also benefit from a respectable layer of software behind it. Meanwhile, something tells us those Wind River guys are gearing up for the weekend of their lives.

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Intel snaps up Wind River, looks for that embedded systems edge originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Hero / Lancaster running Android and "Rosie" UI launching on June 24th?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/04/htc-hero-lancaster-running-android-and-rosie-ui-launching-on/

While the Economic Daily News doesn't cite any sources, its claim that HTC will launch its Android-powered Hero handset on June 24th makes a lot of sense to us. Something's up on that day since we've already seen the press invite to a June 24th event in London, the same place that witnessed the launch of the HTC Touch Diamond last year. The EDN reports two variations of the Hero: one without the QWERTY and another, the HTC Memphis (better known as the HTC Lancaster around AT&T) with full keyboard in tow. What confuses us though is the EDN claim that the Memphis/Lancaster will be an AT&T exclusive for 6 months when it ships in Q3... so why the London launch then?

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HTC Hero / Lancaster running Android and "Rosie" UI launching on June 24th? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wednesday, June 03, 2009

KillCopy Speeds Up Disk Transfers and Securely Deletes Files [Downloads]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/ivI5q5_I4HU/killcopy-speeds-up-disk-transfers-and-securely-deletes-files

Windows only: It's no secret that the default copy handler in Windows is miserably inadequate. KillCopy runs circles around the default handler with tons of customizable options including a secure over write of moved files.

Killcopy, like previously reviewed TeraCopy and FastCopy, handles local and network file transfer with radically more efficiency than the default Windows file copier. There are a host of features including the ability to toggle settings like copy verification for important files, parallel read/write to boost speed, and whether to prompt, overwrite, or skip if a file already exists. The feature that really sets KillCopy apart from other custom copy handlers is its ability to securely overwrite file locations. You can instruct KillCopy to scrub the previous location of a file with 1-3 passes of data, making secure deletion part of your basic file handling. KillCopy is freeware, Windows only.



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Google Squared Goes Live, Formats Your Searches Into a Spreadsheet [Search Engines]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/5HHodxkfQ1o/google-squared-goes-live-formats-your-searches-into-a-spreadsheet

Google Labs today released Google Squared, which, according to the search giant, "constructs a table of facts about any search category you specify"—though some searches produce distinctly better results than others.

The product is still pretty raw right now, but think of it sort of like Google's short-term answer to the very cool Wolfram Alpha's structured search—with results displayed in a spreadsheet format of sorts.

Google Squared is a search tool that helps you quickly build a collection of facts from the Web for any topic you specify.

  • Facts about your topic are organized as a table of items and attributes (we call them "Squares" for fun).
  • Customize these Squares to see just the items and attributes you're interested in.
  • See the websites that served as sources for the information in your Square.
  • Save and share Squares with others.

As I said, right now the strength of results varies. One search for digital cameras, for example, produced a list of many items—viewed seven rows at a time—while the above pictured "cheese" search came up with several empty fields.

The fields themselves vary according to your search. In the digital camera query, Google Squared automatically included a product name, along with an image, description, price, design, and author fields. In addition to name, image! , and de scription, the cheese search offered texture, milk, and country fields. Google Squared lets you delete an option, add columns or click on a link to see the next 10 results.

You can also start with an empty square and sign-in to save your selections. Running your mouse over a field will produce the source; Wikipedia is a recurring one.

Try out Squared for yourself and let us know what you think and how it stacks up against Wolfram Alpha—if at all. We'll update the post once Google provides an official announcement.

Google Squared [Google Labs]


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