Wednesday, December 07, 2011

drag2share: Kindle Fire gets unofficial Ice Cream Sandwich port, mixes temperature metaphors

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/07/kindle-fire-gets-unofficial-ice-cream-sandwich-port-mixes-tempe/

Kindle Fire owners are becoming increasingly spoilt for choice when it comes to developmental OS releases. Sidling up alongside CyanogenMod 7, Android's latest and greatest version has made an appearance: the Ice Cream Sandwich is on Fire. XDA-Developers forum member g1011999 has been kind enough to offer up the shot you see above, with the promise of a kernel release in the near future. As is often the case with these works in progress, it's not perfect just yet. While hardware acceleration and touch input are ticking along, both audio and WiFi are proving trickier to pin down, so we'd recommend interested non-tinkerers hold out a little longer. You can, however, whet your appetite with a brief video rundown after the break.

Continue reading Kindle Fire gets unofficial Ice Cream Sandwich port, mixes temperature metaphors

Kindle Fire gets unofficial Ice Cream Sandwich port, mixes temperature metaphors originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 1:31 PM

drag2share: NVIDIA rebadges GeForce 500M chips in preparation for Ivy Bridge release in 2012

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/07/nvidia-rebadges-geforce-500m-chips-in-preparation-for-ivy-bridge/

NVIDIA has released a new range of mobile graphics chips that bring the features of last year's 500M series down to a lower price point. Keen-eyed observers might notice the GT635M is remarkably similar to the GT555M, albeit with slightly faster memory bandwidth. The GT630M is a dead ringer for the GT540M/GT550M and the 48 CUDA core GT610M could be the GT520M if you squint at it in bad light. It's all rather detailed and low-key, but NVIDIA reminded us that it'll launch "something more exciting" around the time Ivy Bridge makes its debut in 2012 -- very possibly those 28nm Kepler chips we've been drooling over for a while?

[Thanks, Omar]

NVIDIA rebadges GeForce 500M chips in preparation for Ivy Bridge release in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Notebook Check  |  sourceNVIDIA (635M), NVIDIA (630M), NVIDIA (610M)  | Email this | Comments

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Posted by Augustine at 1:31 PM

drag2share: Sharp AQUOS SH-01D's optical image stabilizer hands-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/07/sharp-aquos-sh-01ds-optical-image-stabilizer-hands-on-video/

If you need further proof of how the Japanese keep the best to themselves, then here's yet another fine example to fuel your jealousy. Sharp's recently launched AQUOS SH-01D is one of the few -- if not the first -- Android phones that feature optical image stabilization, and this is all thanks to the company's new 12.1 megapixel, 1/3.2-inch CMOS camera module. The demo videos are plenty impressive, but naturally, we had to see for ourselves to really believe it, so playstyle.hk kindly lent us an SH-01D for a quick and dirty hands-on.

As per typical NTT DoCoMo Android phones, our SH-01D suffered from minor lags due to the heavy OS customization; but leaving that aside we dug its 4.5-inch 1,280 x 720 ASV display and its overall build quality. We then quickly moved on to the camera: while image stabilization is available for both photo and video modes, don't expect it to fully compensate your shakiness -- you'll see below that we ended up with a few slightly blurry stills at night, which isn't surprising; but regardless, we got plenty of vibrant colors in most cases.

The stabilization is more noticeable in video mode, and it's definitely more effective than the Droid RAZR's implementation -- we got some sample clips after the break for your viewing pleasure. There's no telling when other phones will get this technology, but if you want a taste of the future then you can grab an SH-01D from playstyle.hk for HK$5,500 or about US$708.

Continue reading Sharp AQUOS SH-01D's optical image stabilizer hands-on (video)

Sharp AQUOS SH-01D's optical image stabilizer hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 1:31 PM

drag2share: LG Nitro HD review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/06/lg-nitro-hd-review/

And then there were three. AT&T's lonesome LTE duo -- the Samsung GS II Skyrocket and HTC Vivid -- just gained a new member with the recent launch of LG's Nitro HD. You may recognize this particular handset from its former life as the Optimus LTE, except here the phone's been rebranded with a moniker that more astutely conveys its blazing 4G purpose. There may be tough times ahead for the handset, considering the current crop of high-end devices hogging the spotlight. But if three's company, the Galaxy Nexus, HTC Rezound and Droid RAZR are sure to make this a standing room-only crowd -- an especially haughty bunch given their heavyweight specs. Which is why this sudden end-of-year release for the Nitro HD has us questioning the company's timing. Sure, it's no slouch when stacked up against the competition, with a 4.5-inch 1280 x 720 AH-IPS display, dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm APQ8060 processor and 1.3 front-facing / 8 megapixel rear cameras. Yet at $250 on contract, the Nitro HD needs to outshine the legacy set by its best-in-class Sammy stablemate or, at least, offer a performance boost over the cheaper Vivid. So can LG's last second contender rise above the fray to win your holiday dollars? Will it succeed in outclassing its LTE compadres? Or is it a case of too little, too late for this me too three! smartphone. Follow on past the break as we dive into the mobile nitty gritty.

Continue reading LG Nitro HD review

LG Nitro HD review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 7:54 AM

drag2share: Intel springs another leak, mobile Ivy Bridge CPUs abound

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/07/intel-springs-another-leak-mobile-ivy-bridge-cpus-abound/

Just yesterday, we caught a glimpse of what Intel has in store for Ivy Bridge, and it seems those details were but a prelude to a bevy of details that leaked out today. It seems the folks over at VR Zone got their hands on some of Chipzilla's internal documents showing a host of changes for its post-Sandy Bridge mobile CPUs. Apparently, we can expect quite a few new full-power models, including a 2.9GHz Core i7-3920XM -- clocked at 200MHz faster than the Core i7-2960XM that's Intel's presiding mobile chipset champion -- along with two other quad-core Core i7s and a couple of Core i5 chips as well. For those who cherish battery life above all else, there's a dual-core Core i7-3667U clocked at 2.0 GHz and a 1.8GHz Core i5-3427U coming down the pipe. All the speedy new silicon comes with upgraded Intel HD 4000 graphics, and is slated for release in April and May of next year. If you can't wait until then for your next-gen CPU fix, head on over to the source for a heaping helping of Ivy Bridge charts and specs.

Intel springs another leak, mobile Ivy Bridge CPUs abound originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Posted by Augustine at 7:51 AM

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