NVIDIA, Fusion-io and HP drive a dozen 1080p streams on four displays at SIGGRAPH (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/09/nvidia-fusion-io-and-hp-drive-a-dozen-1080p-streams-on-four-dis/

A dozen uncompressed 1080p video feeds, simultaneously running off a single workstation. Yep, you're looking at it. NVIDIA's showcase piece here at SIGGRAPH was undoubtedly this wall -- a monster that trumps even Intel's CES wall in terms of underlying horsepower. A relatively stock HP Z800 workstation was loaded with the NVIDIA QuadroPlex 7000 Visual Computing System (that's four GPUs, for those counting) in order to push four HD panels. A pair of Fusion-io's ioDrive Duos were pushing a total of three gigabytes per second, enabling all 12 of the feeds to cycle through with nary a hint of lag. We're still a few years out from this being affordable enough for the common Earthling, but who says you need to wait that long to get a taste? Vid's after the break, hombre.

Gallery: NVIDIA, Fusion-io and HP drive a dozen 1080p streams on four displays

Continue reading NVIDIA, Fusion-io and HP drive a dozen 1080p streams on four displays at SIGGRAPH (video)

NVIDIA, Fusion-io and HP drive a dozen 1080p streams on four displays at SIGGRAPH (video) originally appeared on Engadget on ! Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft's KinectFusion research project offers real-time 3D reconstruction, wild AR possibilities

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/09/microsofts-kinectfusion-research-project-offers-real-time-3d-re/

It's a little shocking to think about the impact that Microsoft's Kinect camera has had on the gaming industry at large, let alone the 3D modeling industry. Here at SIGGRAPH 2011, we attended a KinectFusion research talk hosted by Microsoft, where a fascinating new look at real-time 3D reconstruction was detailed. To better appreciate what's happening here, we'd actually encourage you to hop back and have a gander at our hands-on with PrimeSense's raw motion sensing hardware from GDC 2010 -- for those who've forgotten, that very hardware was finally outed as the guts behind what consumers simply know as "Kinect." The breakthrough wasn't in how it allowed gamers to control common software titles sans a joystick -- the breakthrough was the price. The Kinect took 3D sensing to the mainstream, and moreover, allowed researchers to pick up a commodity product and go absolutely nuts. Turns out, that's precisely what a smattering of highly intelligent blokes in the UK have done, and they've built a new method for reconstructing 3D scenes (read: real-life) in real-time by using a simple Xbox 360 peripheral.

The actual technobabble ran deep -- not shocking given the academic nature of the conference -- but the demos shown were nothing short of jaw-dropping. There's no question that this methodology could be used to spark the next generation of gaming interaction and augmented reality, taking a user's surroundings and making it a live part of the experience. Moreover, game design could be significantly impacted, with live scenes able to be acted out and stored in real-time rather than having to build something frame by frame within an application. According to the presenter, the tech that's been created here can "extract surface geometry in real-time," right down to the millimeter level. Of course, the Kinect's camera and abilities are relatively limited when it comes to resolution; you won't be building 1080p scenes with a $150 camera, but as CPUs and GPUs become more powerful, there's nothing stopping this from scaling with the future. Have a peek at the links below if you're interested in diving deeper -- don't be shocked if you can't find the exit, though.

Gallery: Microsoft's KinectFusion research project at SIGGRAPH 2011

Microsoft's KinectFusion research project offers real-time 3D reconstruction, wild AR possibilities originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Plug-in Prius pulling into American driveways in February or March of 2012

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/09/plug-in-prius-pulling-into-american-driveways-in-february-or-mar/

Good new PHV fans, the plug-in Prius you've been promised should start pulling into American driveways in February or March of 2012 -- at least according to a startup date chart at Donlen. The fleet management firm claims initial orders will be taken on November 10th of this year, with the vehicle scheduled to into production in January. An Autoblog tipster also claims to have some rather vague details about trim and color options, as well as its estimated MSRP, which should be below $30,000. Now we've just got to figure out how many extension cords it'll take to reach from our apartment window to the street below.

Plug-in Prius pulling into American driveways in February or March of 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How Did Jay-Z and Kanye Keep the Biggest Album of the Year from Leaking? [Music]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5829033/how-did-jay+z-and-kanye-keep-the-biggest-album-of-the-year-from-leaking

Kanye and Jay-Z, rap's Zeus and Athena, have finally released their buzz-flinging collaboration, Watch the Throne. And it's pretty good! But more impressively, unlike virtually every single album ever these days, it didn't leak online first. How'd they do that?

By exploiting tech to the fullest—both ignoring and embracing it to their advantage, XXL reports. The news that Watch the Throne would debut on iTunes weeks before smaller (physical) outlets pissed off these smaller (physical) outlets. They were getting snubbed on one of the most hyped musical releases in quite some time. But everyone knows that CDs are the reason albums leak online—the process of stamping and shipping out the discs provides an ocean of time for unscrupulous employees to pilfer and rip unreleased music.

So screw discs, said Ye and Jay. Eschewing CDs for AACs might have angered the retail establishment, but it guaranteed their full control over the music. Nobody had access to those files but them, and because they recorded the entire thing together in person, no verses or beats were ever exchanged via email, making hacking or any other online interception out of the question. And we know Kanye doesn't take kindly to hackers, after he flipped out when an unfinished track of his was put online last fall. Whether it was resultant paranoia, or just a new indifference toward physical media (Jay-Z would be shrewd enough for this!), Watch the Throne beat the hackers. Now all they have to worry about is the reviews. [XXL via NY Mag]

Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Getty

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You can keep up with Sam Biddle, the author of this post, on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.

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BlackBerry's Site Hacked After RIM Vows to Help Bring BBM-Using Rioters to Justice [BlackBerry]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5829077/blackberrys-site-hacked-after-rim-vows-to-help-bring-bbm+using-rioters-to-justice

There's been talk over how the UK rioters have been using BBM as a means to organize the troublemaking that's plagued London and UK cities the last three nights. In an act of retaliation, RIM's Inside BlackBerry blog's been hacked.

Calling themselves "TeaMp0isoN," the hackers claim they did it because they opposed RIM helping the UK policeforce to identify rioters using their BBM messaging service, writing in a statement to RIM that:

"You Will _NOT_ assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all, the Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment…. if you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerryMessengers you will regret it, we have access to your database which includes your employees information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc. – now if u assist the police, we _WILL_ make this information public and pass it onto rioters…. do you really want a bunch of angry youths on your employees doorsteps? Think about it…. and don't think that the police will protect your employees, the police can't protect themselves let alone protect others….. if you make the wrong choice your database will be made public, save yourself the embarrassment and make the right choice. don't be a puppet..

p.s – we do not condone in innocent people being attacked in these riots nor do we condone in small businesses being looted, but we are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government…. and before anyone says "the blackberry employees are innocent" no they are not! They are the ones that would be assisting the police."

While other social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have been used to either help organize riots or merely gloat over their looted goodies, RIM has received much of the blame. This could be attributed to the fact that BBM messages are free and private to send—or simply because 37 per cent of 16 - 24 year olds in the UK own a BlackBerry, according to Ofcom. [Inside BlackBerry via TNW via Techmeme]

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