drag2share: HP to announce ARM-based servers next month, throw Intel a curveball

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/27/hp-to-announce-arm-based-servers-next-month-throw-intel-a-curve/

Sources close to Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal say that HP is primed to help ARM wrestle its way into the server game next month, citing unannounced plans that may challenge Intel's corner on the market. HP is said to be working with Calxeda, an outfit with dreams of outclassing today's servers by selling OEMs an ARM-based system on a chip that can be used to build high performance racks with low energy footprints. ARM, HP and Calxeda all declined to comment, although a spokesperson for Calxeda mentioned that it has a product release event scheduled for November 1st. Intel doesn't seem too concerned, and told the Wall Street Journal that ARM architecture still had a few hurdles to jump before it was ready for the server game. "We believe the best-performing platform will win." Spoken like a true sportsman, Intel. Game on.

HP to announce ARM-based servers next month, throw Intel a curveball originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: ITG xpPhone 2 to get some Windows 8 love, starts living large in January

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/28/itg-xpphone-2-to-get-some-windows-8-love-starts-living-large-in/

Let's be honest: with the size of a brick and a relatively short battery life, it's no surprise that ITG's xpPhone hasn't quite dominated the smartphone market since its launch back in November. In fact, we haven't even seen one in the wild, and we certainly wouldn't have missed it if there ever was one on the street. That said, ITG hasn't given up, as the company's just announced its second-generation Windows-powered smartphone. The reason? Well, interestingly enough, ITG prefers Windows' greater range of compatible software compared to those of mobile OSes, namely Android and iOS. Let's just leave it at that for now.

Simply dubbed the xpPhone 2, this beast of a QWERTY slider packs a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 chip, along with 2GB RAM, up to 112GB of SSD storage, 4.3-inch display and compatibility with both Windows 7 and Windows 8 -- obviously the latter OS will depend on its final release date. Not only has battery life been bumped up to around 18 hours of call time or 46 days on standby, but the phone's also been slimmed down to 140mm x 73mm x 17.5mm, which is a huge improvement compared to its bulky predecessor. With the touch-friendly Windows 8 on board along with a non-underclocked CPU, we have a feeling that the xpPhone 2 will at least fare much better than Fujitsu's F-07C; as for the rest, we shall see when it comes out in January next year. And no, it probably won't run Crysis.

Gallery: ITG xpPhone 2

ITG xpPhone 2 to get some Windows 8 love, starts living large in January originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: LSI acquires SandForce for $370 million, looks to step up its SSD game

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/27/lsi-acquires-sandforce-for-370-million-looks-to-step-up-its-ss/

SandForce has been behind many an SSD in its day, but it looks like it's finally about to settle down, and get hitched. Yesterday, LSI announced plans to acquire the flash storage company, as part of a $370 million agreement. The deal brings SandForce's processors and energy efficient DuraClass technology under LSI's roof, giving the semiconductor designer some new flash firepower and an extra boost into a burgeoning market. Tangible results, of course, remain to be seen, though it's certainly not the first time these two have danced. SandForce, after all, provided the motor for LSI's WarpDrive lineup, and will presumably do much more, once the deal goes through. Pending regulatory approval, the acquisition should be finalized by the first quarter of 2012. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading LSI acquires SandForce for $370 million, looks to step up its SSD game

LSI acquires SandForce for $370 million, looks to step up its SSD game originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 02:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid review roundup: a speedy and spacious storage solution

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/27/ocz-revodrive-hybrid-review-roundup-a-speedy-and-spacious-stora/

Ever since we spent some time with OCZ's RevoDrive Hybrid back at Computex, we eagerly awaited its arrival so that it could be put through its paces. Well, the time has come for the $500 storage mongrel to face the music and for us to find out if it adds up to more than the sum of its SSD and HDD parts. Hot Hardware found the RevoDrive Hybrid delivered on its promise of mind-blowing peak transfer speeds of almost 1GBps, with performance that could only be matched by dual SATA III SSDs in a RAID 0 setup. Everyone spoke well of the Dataplex software that manages the RevoDrive's caching, as it dutifully maxed out performance once it learned usage patterns. TRIM support was a welcome feature, but all noted the niggle that it must be used as the system boot device, so it can't pull duty as secondary storage. All in all, the consensus is that while the RevoDrive Hybrid may be too pricey for some, it's a darn good deal for the performance it provides. Of course, you don't have to take our word for it, so dig into the full reviews at the sources below.

OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid review roundup: a speedy and spacious storage solution originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Nature Valley creating Street View-style tour of National Parks, chews through countless granola bars to do so

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/27/nature-valley-creating-street-view-style-tour-of-national-parks/

"There's a good reason why Street View is done in cars." That's a quote from Mat Bisher, associate creative director at McCann, who is teaming up with granola connoisseur Nature Valley in order to deliver a "Street View-style tour" of America's National Parks. Fast Company reports that the two have embarked on quite the ambitious initiative (dubbed Trail View), sending a cadre of well-trained hikers to some of America's most gorgeous locales with specially-rigged camera setups in tow. The goal? To capture views from near-limitless hiking trails, and bring them to your web browser starting in February 2012. Sadly, it won't be integrated into any of the platforms already in existence; it'll be its own standalone thing, but hopefully the likes of Microsoft or Google will take notice and either contribute or convert it. We're told that "layers for user-generated content, social networking and mobility, and perhaps form partnerships with travel sites" are on tap, and yes, Woodrow Wilson's ghost has purportedly approved.

Nature Valley creating Street View-style tour of National Parks, chews through countless granola bars to do so originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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