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Monday, July 19, 2010

Intel's 3.2GHz hexacore i7-970 now shipping

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/intels-3-2ghz-hexacore-i7-970-now-shipping/

Just this once, DigiTimes has turned out to be spot on with its prognostication. The six-core Core i7-970 rumor we heard earlier this month has now transmogrified into a retail product, and just as promised, it brings most of the goodies of the sublime i7-980X at a moderately more affordable $899 price point. Based on the same 32nm Gulftown architecture as its costlier brother, the 970 will run at 3.2GHz by default, though presumably it too will be able to crank up speeds using Intel's Turbo Boost. Aside from that, you get a healthy 12MB of on-chip cache and the standard triple-channel DDR3 memory controller. UK speed freaks can order one up as well now, clearly a tiny bit ahead of Intel itself making things official, so we'd advise checking with your nearest super-CPU purveyors in case they too have received some early units of this multithreaded code cruncher.

[Thanks, Polytonic]

Intel's 3.2GHz hexacore i7-970 now shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony restricts stereoscopic PS3 games to 720p 3D

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/sony-restricts-stereoscopic-ps3-games-to-720p-3d/

Sorry, fellow gamers, we're out of luck if we want to play stereoscopic PS3 titles in their full high definition glory -- Joystiq reports that Sony guidelines won't allow for 1080p 3D. As we discovered in April, the goal is to run even native 1080p content at a lower 720p resolution when splitting the image in twain, allowing enough processing overhead for a smooth 60fps framerate and likely reducing eyestrain. Mind you, it's not like there are many occasions when you'd have cause to complain -- even in two dimensions, native 1080p titles on modern consoles are few and far between. Exempt from the specification are 3D Blu-ray movies, which run at a slower (but larger) 1080p24 by default, so rest assured that when you're being tortured with Clash of the Titans repeat viewings, you'll see every glorious detail.

Sony restricts stereoscopic PS3 games to 720p 3D originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completes first flight with crew on board

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/virgin-galactics-spaceshiptwo-completes-first-flight-with-crew/

It still has a few more key hurdles to cross, but it looks like Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (a.k.a. the VSS Enterprise) is remaining on track for its first commercial flight sometime next year. The latest milestone is the spacecraft's first flight with a crew on board, which occurred on July 15th at Virgin Galactic's usual base of operations, the Mojave Air and Space Port. As with previous flights, however, SpaceShipTwo remained attached to the VMS Eve "mothership" for the duration of the flight, but it did stay aloft for more than six hours as the crew (including test pilots Peter Siebold, Michael Alsbury) went through a range of tests. Still no word on exactly when SpaceShipTwo will see its first solo flight but, barring any change in plans, that should be the next flight that takes place.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo completes first flight with crew on board originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android versus iPhone live multiplayer gaming made possible in SGN's Skies of Glory

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/android-versus-iphone-live-multiplayer-gaming-made-possible-in-s/

Shocking as this might sound, there are no only a few games in which iPhone and Android users can go at each other in live multiplayer mode. Exploiting this vast void is Social Gaming Network, whose Skies of Glory aerial dogfighting title has been ported to Android (2.0 and above) while retaining the ability to communicate with iOS devices over WiFi, 3G or Bluetooth connections. Frankly, we can't think of a better game to get the cross-platform multiplayer movement going: fAndroids and iPhoneys gunning each other down while talking smack to themselves should prove therapeutic for both parties. On a more serious note, given the tireless growth that both platforms are showing, this kind of thing should hopefully tend toward being the rule rather than the exception.

Update: Our readers have sagely reminded us that Raging Thunder 2 and Homerun Battle 3D have done the cross-platform dance already. The more the merrier, we say.

Continue reading Android versus iPhone live multiplayer gaming made possible in SGN's Skies of Glory

Android versus iPhone live multiplayer gaming made possible in SGN's Skies of Glory originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 06:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS UL-series laptops surface at e-tailers with Core i3 ULV processor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/19/asus-ul-series-laptops-surface-at-e-tailers-with-core-i3-ulv-pro/

If the pint-sized ASUS laptop above looks a wee bit familiar, it's because you've seen it before -- the 12-inch UL20FT is basically a refreshed UL20A, but with the surprisingly elusive Core i3 ULV guts. The UL20FT appeared at ExcaliberPC this weekend, while its Optimus-equipped big brother appears destined for Amazon; in a slight change of plans, both feature the 1.2GHz Core i3-330UM processor. While the $600 UL20FT is a solid netbook alternative, the $900 UL80JT has double the capacity (500GB) and memory (4GB) plus an optical disc drive, and if our review of its doppelganger is any indication, the 14-inch switchable graphics machine will have stellar battery life. Still, we can't help feel a little bummed by the lack of the Core i7-640UM we were originally promised.

[Thanks, David T.]

ASUS UL-series laptops surface at e-tailers with Core i3 ULV processor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 07:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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