vendredi 23 mai 2014
Microsoft amp; NVIDIA To Design CPUs
jeudi 22 mai 2014
It's quot;Bye bye netbook, hello Sandy Bridge tablet quot; for Acer
Well, it seems like Acer has finally reversed its stand after all. After steadfastly claiming for almost four months that netbooks will still be here to stay despite growing competition from tablet and slate PCs, the company has admitted that the low-performance ultraportable notebooks will eventually have to make way for the next big thing in portable computing.
In an interview with IDG, Acer's Taiwan sales manager Lu Bing-hsian confirmed that the company intends to place more focus on the rapidly growing tablet PC market, and that users can expect to see "two or three new tablet PCs in the first half of the year, including one with a seven-inch screen". However, in typical Acer style, he also dropped a surprising revelation that the tablets are more than just new product launches for the company. Instead of positioning them as separate devices that can be used to complement the netbooks in its mobile lineup, Acer will market the tablets as direct replacement devices for netbooks as part of its strategy in satisfying customer demand.
"They (the new tablets) are aimed at phasing out netbooks," he said. "That’s the direction of the market."
Taking the Aspire One's place will be the company's new line of tablets which are powered by Intel's Sandy Bridge platform and will sport "quad-core processors". However, it will not be Windows 7 that gets pre-installed on the tablets, but Google's very own Android OS. That should not be a problem though, as Android has already been known to play nice with Intel's x86 architecture.
Lu's mention of a quad-core processor is another thing though. While Intel has made huge improvements in attempting to keep the heat output of its processors as low as possible, it is unlikely that a quad-core processor would fit into the tight confines of a netbook without turning it into a heap of melted plastic. This has led us to think that Lu might be referring to dual-core processors with built-in support for HyperThreading, which grants the processor the theoretical performance of a quad-core processor.
That is not to say that the Aspire One line will be discontinued with immediate effect; Acer claims that its netbook production line will proceed as per usual, but at reduced output volumes and with lesser possible hardware configurations. Over time, the company expects to scale down its netbook production even more as tablets and slate PCs continue to grow in popularity.
Reference: Tom's Hardware
mercredi 3 juillet 2013
Nintendo's 'Revolution' becomes 'Wii'
Japan's Nintendo announced that its new gaming console -- known during development as "Revolution" -- will be called "Wii" and will be unveiled next month.
"Wii", the replacement for Nintendo's "Gamecube", is scheduled to be launched by the firm on its home market and in North America in late 2006 to compete with Sony's upcoming PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's XBox 360.
The name deliberately sounds like "we" to emphasise what the firm hopes will be its universal appeal, Nintendo said.
"Wii will break down the wall that separates video game players from everyone else," it said in a statement.
"While the code-name 'Revolution' expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer."
"Wii" is to be officially unveiled at "E3 2006", the world's biggest show for video-game makers, which is being held in Los Angeles from May 9 to 12.
Nintendo said that "Wii" uses an infra-red game control that senses the movements of the user to give increased control.
Nintendo has lagged in the game console stakes since about 2000.
In the battle for new-generation gamers, the XBox 360 has already had a poor reception in the key Japanese market while Sony has had to put back the PlayStation 3's launch because of technical difficulties.
© 2006 AFP
mardi 18 juin 2013
How do you turn 10 minutes of power into 200 Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency
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A robot that drives into an industrial disaster area and shuts off a valve leaking toxic steam might save lives. A robot that applies supervised autonomy to dexterously disarm a roadside bomb would keep humans out of harm's way. A robot that carries hundreds of pounds of equipment over rocky or wooded terrain would increase the range warfighters can travel and the speed at which they move. But a robot that runs out of power after ten to twenty minutes of operation is limited in its utility. In fact, use of robots in defense missions is currently constrained in part by power supply issues. DARPA has created the M3 Actuation program, with the goal of achieving a 2,000 percent increase in the efficiency of power transmission and application in robots, to improve performance potential.
Humans and animals have evolved to consume energy very efficiently for movement. Bones, muscles and tendons work together for propulsion using as little energy as possible. If robotic actuation can be made to approach the efficiency of human and animal actuation, the range of practical
Proposals are sought in response to a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). DARPA expects that solutions will require input from a broad array of scientific and engineering specialties to understand, develop and apply actuation mechanisms inspired in part by humans and animals. Technical areas of interest include, but are not limited to: low-loss power modulation, variable recruitment of parallel transducer elements, high-bandwidth variable impedance matching, adaptive inertial and gravitational load cancellation, and high-efficiency Actuation will share their design approaches at the first DRC live competition scheduled for December 2013, and demonstrate their final systems at the second DRC live competition scheduled for December 2014.
dimanche 12 mai 2013
EA launches Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13
Electronics Arts (EA) has launched Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, the latest golf simulation game on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
The game, which comes in a normal edition and a Masters Collectors Edition, features a revamp of the swing mechanic to allow over 62 million combinations of customised shots, online support for competitive gameplay, and a Tiger Legacy Challenge mode for reliving the legends most memorable golf achievements.The PlayStation 3 version is Move compatible and Xbox 360 version is compatible with the Kinect, allowing users to play golf with no controller. It is even responsive to gamers voices.“We focused on making Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 the most immersive golf experience ever,” said Mike Taramykin, VP and GM of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR. “Fans have the opportunity to chase and win one of sport’s most highly coveted accomplishments, the Green Jacket, play with or against friends with our online Country Clubs mode and incorporate their authentic swing in the game with Kinect integration. Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 13 is the total package.”The Masters Collectors Edition features a few extras, such as exclusive access to the Augusta National Golf Glubs Tournament Practice Facility and its Par 3 Course, a presentation on the Green Jacket, and five additional courses.The game retails at $59.99 for the normal edition and $69.99 for the Masters Collectors Edition. It has shipped in North America and will be available in stores worldwide from 30 March.mercredi 1 mai 2013
Englide Releases N.Zero Case Fans
n.zero hydro 80
Hungary-based Englide, a relatively new player in the cooling arena, has launched its n.zero hydro series of case fans.
n.zero hydro 120 with Thin Cables
Availablein 3 (n.zero hydro 80, 120 & 120 1.2k) variants, the fans featurehydrodynamic bearings for longetivity and special thin cables for easymanagement. Measuring 80 x 80 x 25mm and weighing 77g, the n.zero hydro80 can run at speeds of up to 1500 RPM at 17dBa.
Both the n.zero hydro120 and 120 1.2k are 25mm thick, weigh 122g and are capable of amaximum speed of 980 RPM and 1200 RPM at 17dBa and 20dBa respectively.Backed by a 3 year warranty, all 3 variants come equipped with a 40cm 3pin cable for connection to the motherboard/rheobus/PSU. Pricing andavailability has not been announced yet so stay tuned for more updates.
News via [Englide]