Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Acer's Windows 8 all-in-ones cause big fuss in Taiwan, we go hands-on to find out why (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/acer-aspire-5600u-7600u-hands-on/

Although Microsoft's Windows 8 launch will very likely go down in history as a positive turning point for the company, it wasn't without it glitches. Specifically, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Microsoft reps in Taipei found it difficult to navigate their own OS due to hardware issues with their demo devices -- namely, new all-in-one PCs from Acer and ASUS. There were said to be issues with opening and closing apps, possibly due to the implementation of touch on such large screen sizes of 23-inches and over.

Well, we've just been fingers-on with both the 23-inch Acer Aspire 5600U and the 27-inch 7600U in London, and we can report that the touch interface was totally fluid. Moreover, the LCD displays maintained their natural colors very well when switching from an almost vertical 80-degree orientation to an almost-flat 30 degrees. These models come with Ultrabook innards starting with low-voltage versions of the Core i5 and the NVIDIA 630M, and they also come with HDMI-in and optional TV tuners so they can be used in a living room or kitchen situation. Pricing in Europe begins at 1,000 Euros for the 23-inch model, rising to 2,000 Euros for the full-spec 27-incher. Check out the video after the break and you'll see that we asked our Acer rep for his view on what happened in Taiwan and, although he didn't have first-hand knowledge of the event in question, he insisted that it was a storm in a teacup. Given our experience of the devices so far, we're inclined to believe him.

Gallery: Acer Aspire 5600U and 7600U hands-on

Continue reading Acer's Windows 8 all-in-ones cause big fuss in Taiwan, we go hands-on to find out why (video)

Filed under: Desktops, Acer

Acer's Windows 8 all-in-ones cause big fuss in Taiwan, we go hands-on to find out why (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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N2Acards to let Nook Tablet owners dual boot Jelly Bean in November

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/n2acards-nook-tablet-dualboot-android-jelly-bean/

If Nook Color owners cast their memories back to last summer, they may remember Nook2Android: a microSD card that could let their Barnes & Noble e-reader dual boot Gingerbread and the hardware's Android-based operating system. Now sporting the moniker N2Acards, they're just about ready to give Nook Tablet (but not Nook Color) devices a taste of Jelly Bean thanks to Cyanogenmod. The cards come in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB flavors and range from $30 to $90 in price, but you can download the OS image for $20 and load it onto a card of your own. While those who'd rather purchase the whole enchilada will have to wait until the cards ship on November 1st, folks who prefer the download can already load their slates with Android 4.1.

[Thanks, Dmitry]

Filed under: Tablets

N2Acards to let Nook Tablet owners dual boot Jelly Bean in November originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 09:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Spectrum 2 made official for Verizon, brings Optimus LTE II to the US for $100

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/30/lg-spectrum-2-made-official-for-verizon-brings-optimus-lte-ii-to-us/

Hints that LG would bring the Optimus LTE II to Verizon have persisted since the spring, which almost led us to wonder if the smartphone was still coming: not to fear, as it's finally here under the Spectrum 2 badge. Other than the expected switch-ups in navigation keys and the mix of both CDMA with global GSM roaming, the design will feel very familiar to anyone who's been on a trip to South Korea lately. The Spectrum 2 preserves the 4.7-inch AH-IPS display, dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4, 8-megapixel camera, 16GB of storage and support for wireless charging for those who buy a charging pad. We're also expecting a relatively light tweak of the software that keeps it running Android 4.0 for now, with LG's support for Tag+ stickers and QuickMemo being the standouts. We do wish we were looking at a quad-core Optimus G instead. For the moderate $100 post-rebate price, however, we'll take the two fewer processor cores -- especially when the Spectrum 2 is already on sale online and should be in retail stores sometime in the next few weeks.

Continue reading LG Spectrum 2 made official for Verizon, brings Optimus LTE II to the US for $100

Filed und! er: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

LG Spectrum 2 made official for Verizon, brings Optimus LTE II to the US for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Monday, October 29, 2012

AMD promises 64-bit ARM-based Opteron server CPUs coming in 2014

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/29/amd-64-bit-arm-opteron-server-cpus/

AMD has long stuck to x86 architecture for its server processors, but its gearing up to add 64-bit ARM-based Opteron CPUs to its arsenal in 2014. Sunnyvale also plans to reap the fruits of its SeaMicro acquisition by employing the company's "fabric" tech to link its ARM-based processors in clusters for maximizing efficiency. Where might these new processors come in handy? AMD thinks they'll fit nicely into clouds and "mega data centers" thanks to their power efficiency, but it'll let its x86-based hardware do the heavier lifting such as video encoding and rendering. Other details on the CPUs are scarce, but we suspect that'll change as 2014 approaches.

Filed under: Desktops, AMD

AMD promises 64-bit ARM-based Opteron server CPUs coming in 2014 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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OmniVision unveils 5MP BSI sensor that takes low light cameras further into the entry level

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/29/omnivision-unveils-5mp-sensor-for-entry-low-light-photography/

It's almost a truism that starter smartphones have poor cameras that struggle just to get pristine photos in broad daylight, let alone dim interiors. Thankfully, OmniVision's new OV5645 sensor could lead newcomers out of a very literal darkness. The 5-megapixel imager includes backside illumination, support for 1080p30 (or 720p60) video and its own internal autofocus system, but no dedicated JPEG compression engine -- in short, a lot of the low-light performance of more sophisticated smartphones without the usual attached costs. Its cost-cutting even extends to front cameras, as a forward-facing sensor can share resources with the back camera to scale back on redundant hardware. We're looking forward to when mass production starts in the first quarter of 2013; we might not have to excuse our photo quality for a long, long time afterwards.