| Computex 2012 Cheat Sheet: 7 Trends For The Next Year In Tech Posted: 12 Jun 2012 03:52 PM PDT  Last week was Computex, the annual trade show where most Asian electronics companies announce their hardware lineup for the coming year. It's an important event for the industry and for enthusiasts, but the show can be a hard to follow--the laptop-heavy announcements can get a little dry, and the show falls on the same days as the much-flashier E3.
Fortunately, unless memorizing Ultrabook model numbers is your hobby, you don't really need to read every press release from the show. We've distilled Computex 2012 down to its 7 major themes. Read on for a brief primer on the next year of consumer hardware. |
| Acer Timeline M3 Review Posted: 12 Jun 2012 01:23 PM PDT Putting the ultra in ultrabook WHEN LOOKING FOR a tagline that will easily sell a boatload of Acer Timeline M3 notebooks, it doesn't take much more than: "an ultrabook that will play Battlefield 3 on Ultra setting." And it's true, too. The Timeline M3 will indeed play BF3 on Ultra, provided you're comfortable with 30 frames per second. That dips a bit below our thresholds for a shooter. We preferred playing Battlefield 3 on High, which gave us 50–60fps in online play. Granted, we were only playing at the 1366x768 native resolution of the machine's 15.6-inch panel, but that's pretty good for a so-called ultrabook. We say so-called ultrabook because even though it's within the very loose parameters set by Intel, a lot of people who encounter the Timeline M3 aren't going to think this widescreen notebook is an ultrabook. Most people equate ultrabooks with PC clones of a MacBook Air. But the definition is broader. Ultrabooks must be within a certain height, run a certain proc, reach a certain battery life rating, and come out of hibernation in a certain amount of time. The Timeline is wide—just shy of 15 inches across—so wide that it has enough space for an optical drive. There's even room in the Timeline to sport a 7mm, 2.5‑inch drive bay. Acer doesn't use the bay, though, instead opting for a teeny-but-fast SATA 6Gb/s Lite-On SSD in mSATA trim. Storage hogs hoping to use both bays will be heartbroken—installing a drive in the 2.5-inch bay turned off the mSATA drive. 
The Timeline M3 sports a Kepler-based GeForce GT 640, making it the first ultrabook we know of that's capable of running modern games. App performance was spot on for the dual-core 1.7GHz Core i7-2637M part. The chip will Turbo up to 2.8GHz under lighter loads and, for the most part, it's slightly faster than the 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-2557M in our zero-point, the Asus Zenbook. Frankly, Acer could save its customers a bit of cash by opting for the nearly identical Core i5 chip instead. Gaming performance, obviously, is outstanding for this class. You're looking at at least three times the graphics performance of the Sandy Bridge-based graphics in the Asus Zenbook UX31E in very old games. In titles that integrated graphics can't even run, the new 28nm Nvida Kepler-based GeForce GT 640M does not disappoint. And for the record, it'll hit P1798 in 3DMark 11. Let's say it again: We're floored to see modern games run on a notebook that's less than an inch thick. It's truly a testament to Kepler's graphics power and power savings. The Timeline is by no means a replacement for a multi-GPU, 12-pound gaming desknote, but it's probably the best portable version of it. The Timeline M3 also sports Nvidia's Optimus technology, so when discrete graphics aren't needed, you can cruise along using the Sandy Bridge graphics. Not all is perfect with the Timeline M3. A sore point is the trackpad which is twitchy and takes a lot of tuning to get right. The screen is simply blah. Off-axis visibility is TN-poor and when we ran the Lagom panels tests (www.lagom.nl), we found the screen to be slightly inferior to those of the other ultrabooks we've tested. What bugged us most was the picture's milky sheen and the anti-Retina display resolution of 1366x768 on a 15.6-inch panel. All that aside, however, we're still awed by the gaming performance of the Timeline M3 and its portability—provided you have a wide enough bag. With a proper screen and better touchpad, you'd have a seriously kick-ass machine. |
| Author Neal Stephenson Kickstarts PC-Exclusive, Motion-Controlled Swordfighting PVP Game Posted: 12 Jun 2012 11:14 AM PDT Meticulous detail, motion-controlled swords and PC exclusivity: that's what noted sci-fi and historical fiction author Neal Stephenson is bringing to the table if his arena-style blade-dueling game, Clang, meets its $500k funding goal. Stephenson, you see, is sick of seeing guns, guns and more guns in games and he -- with the help of Subutai, his Seattle-based media company -- wants to bring back old-school sword duels in virtual form, all powered by Razer's Hydra motion controller. 
Despite calling the game "Guitar Hero with swords" in the most hilarious Kickstart video we've ever seen -- keep your eyes peeled for an ornery, crowbar-crafting Gabe Newell! -- Stephenson says that the Hydra's low latency and high accuracy will open up a word of advanced sword-fighting capabilities, including different stances, pommel strikes, grappling, feints, and parries. The game is slated to start off as a simple one-on-one multiplayer arena game, with longswords being the only weapons available, but Stephenson says that as the technology and gameplay is perfected, the team hopes to introduce adventure-style quests and a toolkit dubbed MASE (for Martial Arts System Embodiments) that will enable Subutai and others to add new weapons and fighting styles to Clang, with Japanese kenjutsu and Viking sword-and-board being the two examples cited. Stories and books set in the Clang universe are already being published through Amazon. Clang's already raised around $250,000, or just under half its goal. Dropping $25 into the proverbial bucket gets you kudos in the game credits as well as a copy of the title once it's finished, which should be around February of next year. Even if you're not into the whole crowdfunding thing, be sure to check out that intro video to witness Stephenson's wicked humor (and his even more wicked beard) firsthand. |
| Raspberry Pi-Like VIA APC Mini PC Goes Up For Preorder, Promptly Sells Out Posted: 12 Jun 2012 10:15 AM PDT Raspberry Pi: it's a geek's low-cost dream for a basic HTPC, but due to the time difference between the U.S. and Britain I've yet to be able to get my hands on one in the brief windows that they've been available for. Sigh. So my hopes skyrocketed when VIA announced its Pi look-alike, the $50 APC 8750. And joy of joys, it went up for preorder today! …then promptly sold out in a matter of hours, before I was able to snap one up. Double sigh. 
From the APC blog: Last night at 10:30pmTaiwantime (GMT+8) we began to accept pre-orders of APC. Those who had registered to be notified were given the first opportunity to place orders, which were limited to a maximum of 2 units. Due to the staggering demand we sold out in just a few hours. Those first units are expected to ship towards the beginning of July. In the same post, VIA said that it is working hard to get the APC 8750 stocked with major market distributors to cut down on end-customer shipping costs around the world. A valiant cause, but you gotta make 'em before you ship 'em, VIA! Wondering what all the hub-bub is about? We already covered the nitty gritty details about the neo-ITX APC 8750 -- including its 720p video streaming via HDMI, 2GB of onboard NAND storage and keyboard-friendly flavor of Android Gingerbread -- when the mini-PC was announced a few weeks back. |
| Intel to Start Phasing Out Sandy Bridge Processors in September Posted: 12 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT  Now that Ivy Bridge is here, it's time for Intel to start tearing down Sandy Bridge and directing traffic to its newer architecture. And in fact, that's exactly what the Santa Clara chip maker is reportedly planning to do starting in September, though don't expect Sandy Bridge processors to disappear overnight. Instead, Intel will gradually retire Sandy Bridge while simultaneously pushing its Ivy Bridge platform hot and heavy, especially as the back-to-school season approaches.
Citing sources in the notebook industry, DigiTimes says dual-core Ivy Bridge processors makes it easy for Intel to retire Sandy Bridge, though the chip maker will continue to ship older chips as demand dictates. Meanwhile, 3rd Generation Core processors are already shipping to OEM customers, some of which have already started shipping systems, with many more to follow later this month. According to DigiTimes, Intel expects to ship over 50 percent more volume of Ivy Bridge processors during the architecture's first two quarters of production in 2012 compared to the first two quarters of production of Sandy Bridge a year ago. Image Credit: Flickr (Ryan Holst) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Sony Leads Charge in Surging Smart TV Market Posted: 12 Jun 2012 07:06 AM PDT  Is your television smart? If not, chances are your next one will be. According to NPD DisplaySearch's Quarterly Smart TV Shipment and Forecast Report, which tracks connected and smart tv shipments by brand, region, display technology, and screen size, smart TV shipments are surging around the globe, particularly in Japan, where more than a third of all TVs shipped have smart capabilities.
DisplaySearch says the most surprising finding of its study is that no region is being left behind, including areas with low broadband uptake such as the Middle East and Africa. Smart TV penetration in all regions was found to be at over one-in-ten, with North America at 18 percent. "Connected TV is largely driven by content," said Paul Gray, Director of TV Electronics Research for NPD DisplaySearch. "Where there are compelling things to watch, the Internet becomes a major source of entertainment. We are now seeing a second stage of evolution as Internet video relocates from a PC screen onto the TV screen." Sony so far is the biggest beneficiary of the smart tv surge taking place around the world. According to DisplaySearch, Sony accounts for half of all smart TV shipments. Image Credit: Sony Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Velocity Micro Refreshes Overdrive PC Brand in a 'BigBlock.GTX' Way Posted: 12 Jun 2012 06:30 AM PDT  It's one thing to relaunch a PC series with refreshed components, as many system builders are doing now that Intel's Ivy Bridge processors and Nvidia's Kepler GPUs are both hot to trot, but it's another thing entirely to do it with the amount of awesomesauce Velocity Micro poured into its Overdrive BigBlock.GTX system that highlights the relaunch of the company's Overdrive PC brand.
Lest you think we're exaggerating, take a look at what baseline configuration consists of: - Intel Core i7 3960X processor (liquid cooled and overclocked to 4.6GHz)
- Asus Rampage IV Extreme motherboard
- 32GB quad-channel DDR3-1600 memory
- 3 x Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 graphics cards in SLI
- 2 x Intel 520 Series 240GB solid state drives
- 2TB 7200RPM hard drive
- Blu-ray burner
- Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatality
- 1500W power supply
- 100 percent aluminum chassis with custom fans
- Windows 7 Ultimate
"We're always looking for new ways to revolutionize the desktop PC through our meticulous engineering to create a truly mind blowing customer experience. With the Overdrive brand, we're able to continue to push that envelope," said Randy Copeland, President and CEO of Velocity Micro. "By giving our customers this extreme luxury option, the new Overdrive PC rounds out our line of ultra-performance desktops perfectly." Awesomesauce like this doesn't come cheap, however, with a starting price of $7,999. You can shave a few digits by paring down the included accessories, like the Logitech Gaming Keyboard G110 and Razer DeathAdder mouse, and likewise, you can also spend more by playing with the various configuration options. A BigBlock.GTX system configured today is estimated to ship on July 3, 2012. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Super Talent Starts Shipping High Performance TeraNova SATA III Solid State Drives Posted: 12 Jun 2012 06:04 AM PDT  Super Talent just announced the newest addition to its TeraDrive solid state drive family, the TeraNova, not to be confused with Terra Nova, the sci-fi TV series that was officially cancelled earlier this year after just a single season. No need to worry about Super Talent's TeraNova SSDs falling from relevancy quite as fast, not if the drives can live up to rated read and write speeds.
Armed with multi-level cell NAND flash memory and supposedly optimized transfer rates at various queue depths, Super Talent says the TeraNova series excels in a variety of applications and overall general responsiveness, not just bootup and benchmarks. They're also the fastest SSDs Super Talent has released to date, boasting read and write speeds of up to 540MB/s and 520MB/s, respectively. Other features include a SATA III interface, SandForce 2200 series processor, and a rated 2 million hours MTBF. The drives have started shipping today in 60GB, 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB capacities, though Super Talent didn't announce MSRPs for any of the SSDs. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Report: Intel's Ivy Bridge-powered NUC Mini PC to Cost $400 Posted: 12 Jun 2012 06:00 AM PDT  First at PAX East and then at the inaugural Intel Platinum Summit in London, a diminutive PC designed by Intel managed to get a lot of eyeballs back in April. Dubbed "Next Unit of Computing" by Intel, this small PC stood out due to both its small size and powerful entrails. At 4x4", it lies somewhere between the Raspberry Pi and traditional mini-desktop PCs, but has just about enough space for powerful Ivy Bridge innards.
When it introduced the NUC, Intel said that it had been designed with kiosks and digital signage in mind. However, according to TechReport.com, the world's largest chipmaker has decided to extend the concept to the consumer market owing to the huge amount of interest it's managed to generate. The first retail adaptations of the NUC concept will reportedly arrive later this year. According to the site, the very first NUC-based PC will retail for $400 and pack a Core i3 "Ivy Bridge" processor, 4GB of RAM, a 40GB mSATA SSD, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, three USB 2.0 ports and two HDMI-out ports. A bit further down the road, we could even see yet more powerful variants featuring Core i5/i7 processors, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. And for good measure, Intel is also said to be considering a Celeron-based variant. |
| Intel: Android Not Optimized for Multi-Core Chips Posted: 12 Jun 2012 05:36 AM PDT  At a time when the ranks of quad-core Android devices are swelling rapidly, Intel is trying to find its feet in this highly competitive market with its single-core "Medfield" Atom chip. But Mike Bell, GM of Intel's Mobile and Communications Group, does not view Medfield's current lack of multiple CPU cores as a cause for concern.
In a recent interview with The Inquirer, Bell was critical of the way Android handles multiple cores: "If you are in a non-power constrained case, I think multiple cores make a lot of sense because you can run the cores full out, you can actually heavily load them and/or if the operating system has a good thread scheduler. A lot of stuff we are dealing with, thread scheduling and thread affinity, isn't there yet and on top of that, largely when the operating system goes to do a single task, a lot of other stuff stops. So as we move to multiple cores, we're actually putting a lot of investment into software to fix the scheduler and fix the threading so if we do multi-core products it actually takes advantage of it." He then proceeded to criticize rival SoC vendors, who he feels haven't done enough to offset this problem and are therefore equally culpable. In fact, he thinks "the lack of software effort by some of the folks who have done their hardware implementation is a bigger disadvantage than anything else." He feels multi-core mobile devices currently on the market make little sense considering their huge thermal and power footprints. Although he seems to have a point, power efficiency has never been Intel's strong point either when it comes to the mobile market. With Medfield Intel has made a decent start, but it still needs to do a lot more if it wants to turn the tables on its "Arm-ed" rivals. |
