| Samsung slips into AMD's HSA party, may seek parallel processing boost for Exynos Aug 31st 2012, 13:24  Trust us, this should ultimately make a lot of sense. As we already know, AMD recently set up the HSA Foundation to promote its vision for better parallel processing -- and especially GPU compute -- in mobiles and PCs. Its semi-rival ARM was one of the first big players to join up, and now Samsung has decided to hop onboard too. Why would it do that? For the simple reason that the Korean company still makes its own chips, based on ARM designs, and we've seen that GPU compute is going to be a big feature in its coming Exynos 5 processor with Mali T604 graphics. Now, anything else at this point is pure speculation, since we only know about Samsung's HSA membership from the appearance of its logo on a relevant slide at AMD's keynote speech at IFA, and there's no official word on Samsung's intentions. At a bare minimum, the company could simply be firming up friendships and hedging its bets on the future of computing. We wouldn't be surprised, however, if Sammy is looking to work with ARM and AMD to implement further aspects of the HSA philosophy into even more advanced Exynos chips down the line -- chips that are able to use both GPU compute and smaller transistors to achieve leaps in performance while also gobbling fewer volts. Continue reading Samsung slips into AMD's HSA party, may seek parallel processing boost for Exynos Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets Samsung slips into AMD's HSA party, may seek parallel processing boost for Exynos originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Carphone Warehouse stocking Sony's Xperia T, J and Tablet S for wannabe James Bonds Aug 31st 2012, 13:05  Given that James Bond himself is rocking Sony's Xperia T as his handset of choice in Skyfall, it's natural that wannabe Bonds will be clamoring for similar gear. Fortunately, Carphone Warehouse has announced that it's stocking the T, Xperia J and Xperia Tablet S when they make their debut in the UK. The two smartphones will be arriving on the increasingly busy September 5th, while the Tablet S's arrival date is still in the air, but we know it'll cost you £330 for the WiFi or £430 for the 3G version. Continue reading Carphone Warehouse stocking Sony's Xperia T, J and Tablet S for wannabe James Bonds Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile Carphone Warehouse stocking Sony's Xperia T, J and Tablet S for wannabe James Bonds originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Huawei's MediaPad 7 Lite gets detailed specs, shipping dates Aug 31st 2012, 12:59  When Huawei revealed its new MediaPad 7 Lite slate, it wasn't generous with the details, but now we've got a few more to share with you. The final specifications are out, so we now know for sure that the ICS tab will arrive packing a 7-inch IPS display (1,024 x 600) supporting 1080p, a 1.2GHz Cortex A8 processor, 1GB RAM and 8 gigs of storage, expandable via microSD (up to the usual 32). To keep you connected, you've got Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi of the a/b/n varieties, or the option of sticking a SIM in it for HSPDA 3G speeds on the move. The cameras are nothing to shout about, but 3.2 megapixels on the back and 0.3 on the front will probably do for the odd Skype call or emergency picture. We can't see how much later into August you can get, but the PR states shipping will begin then, to South Africa, China, Russia, the Philippines and Taiwan, and to Indonesia and Malaysia in September. Seven inches just not enough? Then how about its keyboard-endowed bigger brother? Continue reading Huawei's MediaPad 7 Lite gets detailed specs, shipping dates Filed under: Tablets Huawei's MediaPad 7 Lite gets detailed specs, shipping dates originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Huawei | Email this | Comments | | Samsung Galaxy Camera accessories include flashes, wireless charging pad, barn doors (eyes-on) Aug 31st 2012, 12:47  Samsung's going all out with its Galaxy Camera accessory lineup. In addition to the cases and Flip Covers we saw at Unpacked earlier this week, the company had some external flashes and professional-looking holsters on hand at its IFA booth, including a grip-mounted adjustable strobe, a ring light set and a sophisticated carrying rig, complete with hinged barn doors to block out unwanted glare. There were also hard covers in multiple dark colors, a handful of soft rubber-looking covers in light colors like aqua and lime green, along with an oversized wireless charging pad mock-up. In typical IFA fashion, booth attendants were unable to provide any information whatsoever, so it's anyone's guess what any of these gadgets cost, or if they'll even make it to market. It's also unclear whether or not any of the accessories are functional at this point, or simply mock-ups of add-ons under consideration. In the meantime, you can take a closer look in the gallery below. Filed under: Cameras Samsung Galaxy Camera accessories include flashes, wireless charging pad, barn doors (eyes-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Acer Aspire ZS600 AIO announced at IFA 2012: 23-inch multi-touch Windows 8 PC (hands-on) Aug 31st 2012, 12:40  As we inch closer towards that October 26th release, the glut of announced Windows 8 devices continues to grow and today is no exception. At Acer's press conference here at IFA 2012, the company unveiled its new all-in-one PC: the Aspire ZS600. At first glance, the AIO's adjustable aluminum frame enclosure didn't much strike us "contemporary" per the company's claims, as it seemed to blend into the vast array of similar PCs showcased at the booth. And without any available keyboard dock to help us navigate that vibrant 23-inch full HD display, we were left to make use of the screen's 10-point multi-touch which proved a tad frustrating, bordering on ineffectual -- at least on this demo model. We also witnessed a considerable amount of glare in our brief time testing the product, though it's worth noting we were surrounded by a multitude of showroom lighting. Powering this multimedia-focused family AIO along is Intel's 3rd generation chipsets (up to Core i7) joined by Dolby Home Theatre 4.1 for superior sound and AcerCloud for convenient personal media streaming. The company's offering users the ability to configure it with up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 640, as well as a generous 2TB SATA hard disk. As far as optical options go, consumers can choose from a Blu-ray player or standard DVD drive. You'll have to sit tight for this fella to head to market, but rest assured you should see it on retails shelves before year's end -- we hope. While you wait, why not check out our gallery below? Mat Smith contributed to this report. Filed under: Desktops Acer Aspire ZS600 AIO announced at IFA 2012: 23-inch multi-touch Windows 8 PC (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | AcerCloud blows into Europe, bringing remote access to your (Acer) laptop Aug 31st 2012, 12:36  We took a good look at the AcerCloud service early this year and its companion Android handset, the award-winning CloudMobile phone. Now, Acer has launched a beta service in Europe, so buyers of the company's new laptops and desktop machines over there will be able to try it out for themselves. To get it working, you can install the portal app onto your Android device and Acer PC, allowing you to download images and other files between the pair. You can also send files back to your computer for backup, expanding the storage of your smartphone or slate through your own mini-cloud. Everything will be synced through the service, which will store the data if your home machine isn't fired up -- and transfer everything when it's alive again. There's no word on when users will be able to partake stateside, but if you're across the pond, hit the source link for the mobile app. Continue reading AcerCloud blows into Europe, bringing remote access to your (Acer) laptop Filed under: Cellphones, Storage, Internet AcerCloud blows into Europe, bringing remote access to your (Acer) laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Acer (Google Play) | Email this | Comments | | Huawei Ascend 330 appears at IFA, looking for smartphone first-timers (hands-on) Aug 31st 2012, 12:21  Perhaps obscured by Huawei's other new -- and bigger --smartphone, the Ascend 330 also made it's first appearance here in Berlin. For a smaller price tag (200 euros, around $250) you'll be getting a slightly humbler 4-inch smartphone, with a 1GHz dual-core processor and up to 5.76 Mbps through its HSPA connection. The 800 x 480 TFT screen is noticeably jaggier than Huawei's other new devices, but for an entry-level model, we've seen plenty worse. It's also aided by Android Ice Cream Sandwich, offering a more up-to-date mobile OS experience than existing starter smartphones. There's a 5-megapixel camera on the back, while a 1,500mAh battery resides under the cover. The phone will land in Europe this November, in the single Black Matte option you'll find in our gallery below. Continue reading Huawei Ascend 330 appears at IFA, looking for smartphone first-timers (hands-on) Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile Huawei Ascend 330 appears at IFA, looking for smartphone first-timers (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | LCD and E-ink dual-screen prototypes show up at IFA, one vendor already said to be on board Aug 31st 2012, 12:07  Well hells bells, it was only yesterday that the idea of an e-ink / LCD screen mash-up device was the stuff of patent dreams, and now it's a reality. The chaps at Stuff were shown the prototype handsets at a closed meeting at IFA, as expected with a regular screen on one side, and the e-reader-style display on the other. E-ink was apparently tight lipped about possible vendor interest, but they did confirm that one firm was working with the concept already. We're not about to make any leaps, but if we'd applied for the patent, we'd also want first dibs. Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile LCD and E-ink dual-screen prototypes show up at IFA, one vendor already said to be on board originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Stuff | Email this | Comments | | Samsung Galaxy Note II gets early benchmark treatment at IFA Aug 31st 2012, 11:36  Here at IFA, the Galaxy Note II's glossy plastic build is practically fading under the ambush of cameras snapping away at Samsung's booth, but clearly this phone is more than just a (super sized) pretty face, and it's time to take a look at what's under the hood. As mentioned in our hands-on, Samsung upgraded the original Note's dual-core 1.4GHz chipset to a quad-core 1.6GHz Exynos processor. We put the device to the test today to see how those amped-up insides reflect in the Note II's benchmark scores. As you'll see below, Sammy's latest handset fares significantly better than the original Note and the Galaxy S III. | | Galaxy Note II | Galaxy Note (international) | Galaxy S III (I9300) |
AnTuTu |
11,736 |
N/A |
11,960 |
Quadrant |
6,644 |
3,810 |
4,454 |
Vellamo |
2,466 |
901 |
1,751 |
SunSpider 0.9.1 (ms, lower is better) |
1,330 |
2,902 |
1,460 |
CF-Bench |
15,305 |
N/A |
13,110 |
GL Benchmark Egypt Offscreen |
114 fps |
N/A |
99 fps | Oh, what a difference a processor makes. Clearly the step up to a quad-core CPU is to thank for the large performance delta between the Note II and the last-gen Note, though the international version of the Galaxy S III, with a quad-core 1.4Ghz Exynos processor, also falls behind in Quadrant and other tests. The Note II also trumped its Samsung siblings on the browser-focused Vellamo benchmark, which hints at snappier performance on this phone. The phone's graphics chops look pretty good, too, if the GL Benchmark score is any indication. Our testing got cut short before we could run SunSpider, but we'll add that figure shortly. Update: We've added SunSpider as well -- the device clocked in at 1,330ms, which is a hair faster than the Galaxy S III. Filed under: Cellphones Samsung Galaxy Note II gets early benchmark treatment at IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 07:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | |
