Choose One: The Archos 7 and Archos 8 Home 'Tablets' Each Cost $200 [Android]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ODSPvIIBxbs/choose-one-the-archos-7-and-archos-8-home-tablets-each-cost-200

Archos has never made bad products, but their PMPs have definitely grown less relevant over the last few years. But now? Now two Android-wielding Archos Home Tablets will each cost only about $200.

The Archos 7 Home Tablet is pretty much just a refresh to their existing Archos 5 Internet Tablet—it's a 7-inch touchscreen Android tablet (or, OK, MID), loaded with Wi-Fi and USB. This April, a 2GB model (we really hope there's an SD card slot) goes on sale for about $200 overseas.

Meanwhile, the Archos 8 Home Tablet (or, OK, picture frame) is an 8-inch touchscreen tablet loaded with 4GB of storage, available overseas this May. The screen to case ratio isn't fantastic, but the cooking software already has me mentally placing the Archos 8 into my kitchen. It should be available overseas this May for about $200.

It should be noted that both tablets have Arm9 CPUs that won't be blazing fast. And each will probably be launched in the US, eliminating the need for an import. [UMPC Portal via SlashGear]

Read More...

Summary only...

Freescale's i.MX508 Chip Will Make E-Ink Readers Way Cheaper and Turn Pages 4X Faster [Guts]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/KaPmwYHWAgk/freescales-imx508-chip-will-make-e+ink-readers-way-cheaper-and-turn-pages-4x-faster

The silicon inside 90 percent of ereaders out there is made by Freescale, and their new chip, the i.MX508—based on a ARM Cortex A8 (sorta like the iPad!)—will make them cheaper, and page turns 4x faster.

The chip's a custom SoC that integrates the functions from multiple chips into one—specifically, the E-Ink hardware display controller—along with that Cortex A8, which gives the readers enough juice to turn pages in half a second, versus the two seconds that's typical now. As the first chip expressly designed for ereaders, it also strips out unnecessary features, so the net result for the ereader is that it's $30 cheaper a unit. Freescale wagers that with the cost savings, it could drive ereaders to under $150 by the end of the year. (Though that in part depends on how much the E-Ink displays themselves are going to continue to cost.)

An E-Ink reader that costs $150 would definitely look more attractive as a dedicated long-reading device against an iPad that does lots of things on top of reading—and has those fancy digital magazines—than the ones that more like $260 today. Then again, Amazon's working on a full-color multitouch Kindle with Wi-Fi, if that tells you anything about the future of E-Ink readers. In the meantime, I'm all for cheaper. [Freescale via Bloomberg via Digital Daily]

Read More...

Summary only...

Netgear brings the goods to CeBIT: HD streamers, HomePlug AV adapters

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/01/netgear-brings-the-goods-to-cebit-hd-streamers-homeplug-av-ada/

Another month, another blockbuster trade show. CeBIT's show floor doesn't open up until tomorrow (and yeah, we'll be storming it like no other), but Netgear's wasting precisely no time in unveiling its latest wares. The two pieces that are nearest and dearest to our hearts are the WNHDB3004 and WNHDB3004, the former of which is an 802.11n HD Home Theater Kit and the latter of which is a universal WiFi adapter that adds wireless support to any AV product with an Ethernet jack. Users interested in streaming "multiple, simultaneous, jitter-free 1080p HD video streams wirelessly throughout the home" should certainly give the first a look, as it enables instant wireless streaming from your existing router to any component with an Ethernet port; think of this as the beautiful alternative to running a 50 foot patch cable through your living room and simultaneously eroding your relationship with Mr. / Mrs. Significant Other. The outfit also doled out a few SMB-centric ReadyNAS devices and a couple of HomePlug AV boxes with AC outlet passthroughs, all of which are detailed there in the source links.

Gallery: Netgear brings the goods to CeBIT: HD streamers, HomePlug AV adapters

Netgear brings the goods to CeBIT: HD streamers, HomePlug AV adapters originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hot Hardware  |  Netgear 1, 2, 3  | Email this | Comments

Read More...

Summary only...

Intel's six-core Core i7-980X Extreme Edition 'Gulftown' chip goes on sale in Germany

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/01/intels-six-core-core-i7-980x-extreme-edition-gulftown-chip-go/

Intel's existing line of Core chips just not potent enough for your tastes? Sicko. For those who just can't sleep without longing for the next best thing, it seems that said "thing" is just a few days away from a proper reveal. Germany's own Alternate has already listed Intel's six-core Core i7-980X Extreme Edition chip for sale, enabling moneyed consumers to snap up a piece of Gulftown for the princely sum of €1,049 ($1,430). Yeah, that's a stiff premium for a six-core chip that's ready to do more than sit snugly within some under-appreciated server box, but do you have any idea how much more bodacious you'll be than your dual- and quad-core owning contemporaries? Way.

[Thanks, Peter]

Intel's six-core Core i7-980X Extreme Edition 'Gulftown' chip goes on sale in Germany originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PC Advisor  |  Alternate  | Email this | Comments

Read More...

Summary only...

Apple's A4 chip: less is more?

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/01/apples-a4-chip-less-is-more/

Although early erroneous reports placed Apple's custom A4 chip at the leading edge of ARM-based design, things are slowly falling back to earth. First, we learned that the graphics subsystem was almost certainly the same PowerVR SGX component found in the iPhone, and now Ars Technica reports that the actual CPU is the familiar single-core Cortex A8 also found in Apple's handset. That makes the A4 seem an awful lot like an tightened-up, overclocked iPhone 3GS chip, which makes sense, seeing as it was actually in production in September of last year. So why the need for a custom part? The answer may well be efficiency and power savings: by cutting out extraneous Cortex A8 features and I/O that go unused in the iPad, Apple can further reduce the A4's size and energy draw -- which could be why Steve Jobs said the iPad's chips "use hardly any power." That might not make a huge difference when tied to a large LCD in a device like the iPad, but Ars speculates that this strategy combined with some of P.A. Semi's dynamic power optimization tech could result in a hyper-efficient chip for the iPhone somewhere down the line. That would certainly be interesting in the future -- but right now we've got the A4, and we can't wait until the end of the month to properly put this thing through its paces.

Apple's A4 chip: less is more? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:37:00 EST. Please! see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Ars Technica  | Email this | Comments

Read More...

Summary only...