Researcher breaks Pi calculation record with the help of NVIDIA

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/15/researcher-breaks-pi-record-with-nvidia/

Yesterday's self-congratulatory pat on the back to anyone reciting Pi to ten digits might feel a bit inadequate compared to Santa Clara University's Ed Karrels. The researcher has broken the record for calculating Darren Aronofsky's favorite number, taking the ratio to eight quadrillion places right of the decimal. Given the location of the University, you'll be unsurprised to learn which hardware maker's gear was used to break the record. Karrels will be showing off the new digits at the GPU technology conference in San Jose, demonstrating the CUDA-voodoo necessary to harness all of that Kepler-based computing power.

[Image Credit: Ed Karrels]

Filed under: Desktops, Alt, NVIDIA

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Via: NVIDIA

Source: Ed Karrels

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Philips' New Crazy Huge TV Is Just a Giant Sheet of Glass That Leans Against the Wall

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5990562/philips-new-crazy-huge-tv-is-just-a-giant-sheet-of-glass-that-leans-against-the-wall

Forget mounting your huge television on the wall. That's so common. Philips' new DesignLine TVs just lean casually, like the Fonz waiting for a date. Ayyyyyy.

The new 46- and 55-inch televisions look totally stunning. The LCD display is mounted to a massive sheet of glass using a super strong adhesive tape. You then prop the whole thing up wherever you have room. No installation required, although, these things are heavy so you'll probably need a hand moving it around. It's an innovative new way to think about the TV—not as a consumer electronic product, but as a piece of furniture that beautifies your living room. Just don't, you know, try to sit on it. [Philips via The Verge]

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Ting gets serious: Samsung Galaxy S IV, HTC One and LTE devices incoming

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/14/ting-samsung-galaxy-s-iv-htc-one-alte/

Yearning for a contract-free option for cellular service? Ting's certainly a compelling one, but to date, the limited device options have kept it from becoming a standout alternative. That, however, is about to change. The MVNO -- which leans on Sprint's network here in the US -- has just announced plans to sell contract-free Galaxy S IV "for around the full unlocked price" as soon as it can. Specifically, you'll see it hit the Ting device page as a pre-order in around six to eight weeks.

If that's a little large for your blood, HTC's drop-dead gorgeous One will also be making its way over, with pre-orders to start in around 30 days. Inching ever smaller, the Galaxy S III Mini will join the carrier's lineup about the time the GS IV does, though there's no mention of pricing there. As for other nuggets? Ting's expecting to offer up its first LTE device "within six weeks," and yes, it's still working on a way to support Apple's iPhone as well as the entire range of Windows Phone 8 products.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung

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Source: Ting

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Scientists Have Made Graphene Earphones, and They're Amazing

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5990520/scientists-have-made-graphene-earphones-and-theyre-amazing

A team of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, has created the first ever pair of graphene-based earphones. It might not surprise you to find out that they're utterly incredible.

In fact, in its raw state, a single sheet of graphene—with no special tweaks or tuning of its properties—provided a frequency response comparable to a pair of commercial Sennheiser earphones. That's pretty good going.

The graphene diaphragm, made by the researchers, is 7 millimeters across but just 30 nanometers thick: insanely thin and light. (Trivia time: a single gram of graphene could cover an entire football field.) That thin sheet was sandwiched between two silicon dioxide electrodes, which allowed it to be driven and to produce sound.

So how come it can keep up with expensive headphones, even on its first iteration? Simple: despite being incredibly light, it's also incredibly strong. A hundred times stronger than steel, in fact. So while regular diaphragms have to be damped so they don't tear themselves to shreds—in turn affecting their audio fidelity—graphene version can pump out beats without any tweaks.

It's worth remembering that these headphone are completely unoptimized, yet still match up to expensive commercial headphones. Tweak the size of the diaphragm, its thickness, and other physical parameters, and the guys at Berkeley could be creating sounds with untold clarity. Just don't ask for the price tag—yet. [arXiv via Extreme Tech]

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Xolo X1000 reaches India, mates a 2GHz Atom with a 4.7-inch screen for $369

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/14/xolo-x1000-launches-in-india-mates-2ghz-atom-with-4-7-inch-lcd/

For all the credit the Xolo X900 earned as the first Intel-based smartphone, it grew long in the tooth very quickly between that 4-inch screen and 1.6GHz Atom chip. The solution, naturally, is a straight-up modernization like the X1000. The new smartphone jumps to a more contemporary 4.7-inch, 720p LCD and the same 2GHz Atom Z2480 that we saw in the RAZR i. Most other components won't rock the boat for those who bought in last year, though. There's still the familiar high-speed 8-megapixel rear camera as well as a 1.3-megapixel camera at the front, 1GB of RAM, 21Mbps HSPA+ 3G and 8GB of expandable storage. The X1000 is even using Ice Cream Sandwich instead of some flavor of Jelly Bean. Still, the price is right -- a contract-free 19,999 rupees ($369) for the Indian debut could have at least a few customers willing to bring some Intel Inside.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Intel

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Source: Xolo

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