AMD's 3.2GHz hexacore Phenom II X6 1090T comes out for a review roundup

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/27/amds-3-2ghz-hexacore-phenom-ii-x6-1090t-comes-out-for-a-review/

How's your memory today? Specifically, can you remember the last time AMD had a legitimate claim to the desktop performance crown? Don't hold your breath, the latest and greatest Phenom II still can't steal the spotlight from Intel's spectacular top-of-the-line Core i7-980X, but if prices actually matter to you, you'll wanna read on. Whereas you'd need to shell out $999 to get six cores from Intel, AMD is offering you its flagship 3.2GHz 1090T model at a reasonable $285, or an even more affordable option with the 2.8GHz 1055T at $199. The T in those names stands for Turbo Core, which automatically downclocks half the cores in order to provide a little extra speed (up to 500MHz more) to the other three. Reviewers agreed that its inclusion helped significantly improve single-threaded performance, to the point where the faster (in default clock speed) 3.4GHz Phenom II X4 965 was falling behind in benchmarks. The general opinion by the typically jaded journalists was that AMD has finally regained some pep in its step and that these new 6-core CPUs are going to give Intel's upper midrange offerings something to worry about. Lest we forget, the 1090T and 1055T also retain socket compatibility with current AM2+ and AM3 motherboards, making upgrades a cinch too. The full reviews await below.

Read - AnandTech
Read - HotHardware
Read - PC Perspective
Read - Hexus
Read - Legit Reviews
Read - TweakTown
Read - TechSpot

AMD's 3.2GHz hexacore Phenom II X6 1090T comes out for a review roundup originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 03:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Read More...

Summary only...

Rovio robot controlled via Skype with Emotiv brain-reading headset

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/27/rovio-robot-controlled-via-skype-with-emotiv-brain-reading-heads/

The Emotive EPOC "mind-control" headset may not be quite as advanced as some of the brain-reading devices unavailable to the general public, but it looks like it's at least accurate enough for some basic tasks -- like controlling a WowWee Rovio robot via Skype. That impressive feat was accomplished by the folks at ExtremeTech, who paired the headset with the Robodance 5 software program and Skype (not to mention plenty of custom code), which allows the Rovio to be controlled from afar using both facial and mental commands. Needless to say, that's a lot easier said than done, but you can check out the results in the video after the break, and find the complete details on the project at the source link below.

Continue reading Rovio robot controlled via Skype with Emotiv brain-reading headset

Rovio robot controlled via Skype with Emotiv brain-reading headset originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink S lashdot  |  ExtremeTech  | Email this | Comments

Read More...

Summary only...

Toshiba Mobile Display touts 21-inch glasses-free 3D HDTV, raises a few eyebrows

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/27/toshiba-mobile-display-touts-21-inch-glasses-free-3d-hdtv-raise/

While we were fretting about what special tech Nintendo's 3DS would use to generate autostereoscopic imagery on its comparatively puny screen, Toshiba Mobile Display (and others) have been working on bringing that same headgear-free 3D to TV-sized panels. Employing a "multi-parallax" technique, the latest from the Toshiba spinoff firm promises "significant reduction in eye fatigue" as well as approximately a 30 degree horizontal viewing angle. The latter might be peanuts compared to a quality 2D display, but let's not begrudge being offered at least some positional flexibility. Other specs include a 1280 x 800 effective resolution and 480 nits of brightness, which are notable achievements when you consider that the 9-parallax implementation requires the generation of 9 separate images and therefore could be achieved with only an "ultra-high definition LCD module." We've sadly no info about this panel's potential for retail availability, but judging by the bezel-free picture we've been given, that might be a good way off from now.

Toshiba Mobile Display touts 21-inch glasses-free 3D HDTV, raises a few eyebrows originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Toshiba Mobile Display  | Email this | Comments

Read More...

Summary only...

Nokia N8 goes official: 12 megapixels, Symbian^3, shipping in Q3

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/27/nokia-n8-goes-official-12-megapixels-symbian-3-shipping-in-q3/

And just like that, it's official. We heard back at CTIA that Nokia's N8 would see an official reveal during April, and just a few short days after surfacing in Russia, that very smartphone has indeed been announced over in Espoo. There's not much here we didn't know about -- it'll be rocking a 12 megapixel camera (with Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash), 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, HDMI output, 16GB of internal storage, a microSD expansion slot, HD video recording, access to Ovi Store apps, free Ovi Maps walk and drive navigation, and of course, the company's new Symbian^3 operating system. The N8 touts multiple, personalizable homescreens "which can be loaded with apps and widgets," native multitasking, support for multitouch gestures and integration with the Qt software development environment. It'll also ship in a variety of lovely hues (read: five), with availability pegged for "select markets" in Q3 for €370 ($494) without any subsidies involved. Not like it'll have any other competition up in its grille by that point or anything...

Update: Here's a look at a few sample images from that 12 megapixel camera. Thanks, Matija!

Gallery: Nokia N8: 12 megapixels, Symbian^3, multitouch

Continue reading Nokia N8 goes official: 12 megapixels, Symbian^3, shipping in Q3

Nokia N8 goes official: 12 megapixels, Symbian^3, shipping in Q3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 06:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Nokia Blog  | Email this | Comments

Read More...

Summary only...

Toshiba NB305 and HP Mini 210 to be upgraded with Atom N455 CPUs and DDR3 memory

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/27/toshiba-nb305-and-hp-mini-210-to-be-upgraded-with-atom-n455-cpus/

A little bit of Euroland investigation this morning has revealed signs that Intel's upcoming 1.66GHz N455 and 1.83GHz N475 Atom processors are close to making their official debut. Netbook Italia spotted the official Toshiba website posting up an NB305-10F model a little prematurely -- a page that was promptly yanked, but not before our amici were able to note the inclusion of the DDR3-compatible N455 CPU, a gigabyte of RAM, 250GB hard disk and otherwise unchanged specs. The expected price for that netbook is noted at €350 ($467), which is also the price at which the upgraded HP Mini 210 -- spotted by German outfit nDevil -- is listed on Amazon.de. Shipping dates are predictably not yet ascertained, though it's looking like things are about to get moving nice and swiftly from here on out.

Toshiba NB305 and HP Mini 210 to be upgraded with Atom N455 CPUs and DDR3 memory originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear, nDevil  |  Netbook Italia, Amazon.de  | Email this | Comments

Read More...

Summary only...