| BBC iPlayer adds radio support to Xbox app Aug 29th 2012, 13:16  Well, they certainly made you wait for it, but the BBC has finally delivered on its promise, bringing radio support to its Xbox 360 app. When iPlayer launched on the console in March, patient customers were initially left without access to the national network's vast catalog of audio programming. With today's 22MB update that changes, but only so long as you're sticking with archived materials. You'll have access to the catch up feature, but no live streaming (so don't expect to get your breaking news through your Xbox). You'll also be able to pick up where you left off with previously accessed programs. If you've got an urge to find out about all the work that went into the UI design, hit up the source. Filed under: HD BBC iPlayer adds radio support to Xbox app originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  BBC | Email this | Comments | | ASUS Designo MX279H and MX239H monitors are slim, inspired by sundials Aug 29th 2012, 13:00  We'd wager that "inspired by sundials" isn't a phrase you expected to hear at this year's IFA, but there it is, in the press release for a pair of new monitors from ASUS. The Designo MX279H and MX239H have edge-to-edge screens, largely free of worrisome bezels and slim profiles at 14.5- and 17.5 millimeters, respectively. The displays are matte IPS, which offer up a 178-degree viewing angle, according to the company. And the stands -- they've got "sundial" written all over them. Peep the press release after the break. Continue reading ASUS Designo MX279H and MX239H monitors are slim, inspired by sundials Filed under: Displays, Peripherals ASUS Designo MX279H and MX239H monitors are slim, inspired by sundials originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | ASUS 15-inch Zenbook U500: Ivy Bridge, optional NVIDIA graphics and a full numpad Aug 29th 2012, 13:00  ASUS is expanding its Zenbook lineup to include a larger 15-inch model. The company just announced the Zenbook U500, an Ultrabook packing some pretty robust internals. There's an Ivy Bridge Core i7 processor under the hood, along with an optional NVIDIA GT650M graphics chip and up to 512GB of storage. No word on weight yet, but the package measures 0.78 inches at its widest. The U500 also keeps in line with other Zenbooks' aluminum design, complete with the famous spun-metal lid. The 15-inch form factor gives the U500 room for a separate numpad on the keyboard (there's backlighting here, too). For storage options, you get either dual SSDs with up to 512GB capacity or the combination of a 128GB solid-state drive and a 500GB hard drive. And, like ASUS' other latest Zenbooks, this machine will sport a full HD, anti-glare display with IPS technology. The company has yet to announce pricing and availability -- that info will come at the company's Windows 8 press event. Continue reading ASUS 15-inch Zenbook U500: Ivy Bridge, optional NVIDIA graphics and a full numpad Filed under: Laptops ASUS 15-inch Zenbook U500: Ivy Bridge, optional NVIDIA graphics and a full numpad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | ASUS outs dockable Windows 8 Vivo Tab and Vivo Tab RT Aug 29th 2012, 13:00  It looks like IFA will be where many Windows 8 devices shown back at Computex get (more) official. Exhibit A is ASUS, which today pulled the curtains on the Vivo Tab and the Vivo Tab RT, previously known as the ASUS Tablet 810 and the ASUS Tablet 600, respectively. There's still no pricing info available, but the company has filled in some of the remaining spec gaps. As we previously knew, the Vivo Tab sports an 11.6-inch IPS display with a 1,366 x 768 resolution and supports a Wacom digitizer input in addition to 10-point multitouch. The tablet runs an Intel Atom CPU with 2GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The Vivo Tab measures 0.33 inches thick and weighs in at 1.5 pounds. There's also an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, plus a 2-megapixel shooter up front. As we learned back in Taipei as well, an NFC sensor will be on board. Then there's the Vivo Tab RT, which is slightly smaller, at 0.33 inches thick and 1.1 pounds, and with a 10.1-inch screen. Like its non-RT brother, it boasts an IPS display with a 1,366 x 768 resolution, but it runs a Tegra 3 processor and a 12-core GPU, with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The RT tablet includes the same cameras and NFC sensor as the Vivo Tab. Of course, these two slates also come with a Transformer-like dock, which adds a full QWERTY keyboard, trackpad, two USB ports and a second battery. The missing element to this equation is still pricing and availability: check back for those details, and in the meantime hit up the press release below the break. Continue reading ASUS outs dockable Windows 8 Vivo Tab and Vivo Tab RT Filed under: Tablets ASUS outs dockable Windows 8 Vivo Tab and Vivo Tab RT originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Intel's full Atom 'Bay Trail' roadmap leaked: 22nm, Ivy Bridge graphics, quad-core Aug 29th 2012, 12:42  We saw a leaked hint of what was coming for Intel's Valleyview system-on-a-chip (SoC), but now the full plan appears to have been outed by Chinese blog Expreview. The lineup will feature four models of the 22nm chips, with the D- and M-series looking to replace the Cedar Trail 32nm SoC chips used in current netbook and low-end desktop devices. The I-series is for embedded and industrial use, while the T-series would appear in tablets and other small form-factor devices, according to the leaked slides. That model would supersede the Clover Trail SoCs, which are only just arriving themselves in upcoming Windows 8 slates like the Acer W510 or Asus Tablet 810. The chips should offer a burly horsepower bump over their predecessors, with up to four cores and clock speeds topping out at 2.4Ghz. The icing on the cake will be the integrated Gen 7 graphics engines of Ivy Bridge fame, featuring the same HD 4000 and HD 2500 GPU's as the grownup chips, but with only four "execution units" instead of the 16 you'd find there. That would offload functions like video decoding and 3D rendering from the CPU and allow simultaneous display to a TV or monitor. Bay Trail would also support 8GB of DDR3 RAM, double that of the "last" gen, as well as USB 3.0, SATA 2.0 and a host of other connection options. If the leak is accurate, the processors would arrive sometime next year, we'll just have to wait and see if that's soon enough for Intel to take a run at its formidable competition. Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets Intel's full Atom 'Bay Trail' roadmap leaked: 22nm, Ivy Bridge graphics, quad-core originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 08:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Ars Technica | Expreview (translated) | Email this | Comments | | AMD teases next-gen Steamroller CPU, aims to Bulldoze the competition Aug 29th 2012, 12:20  AMD's Bulldozer CPUs remind us of Betamax (or MiniDisc), in that its superlative design hasn't been embraced thanks to one or two humbling limitations. However, Mark Papermaster, Sunnyvale's new CTO, took to the stage at Hot Chips to show how he's changing the situation with the third-generation Steamroller architecture. It's rowing back on the more experimental elements of the design, scrapping the single shared fetch-and-decode hardware in favor of dual-cores that should double the amount of instructions it can handle. It's hoping to make performance gains of 15 percent, clawing back some of Intel's lead, and is considering roping in the GPU to help with the heavy-hitting in future versions. The chips will be built at Globalfoundries 28-nanometer line and are hoped to be out at some point next year. Filed under: Desktops AMD teases next-gen Steamroller CPU, aims to Bulldoze the competition originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 08:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Hot Hardware, AnandTech | Email this | Comments | | Archos unveils 7-inch GamePad with physical controls, Ice Cream Sandwich for 'less than €150' Aug 29th 2012, 12:06  Archos already has its hands in the kiddie-tablet market, with its 7-inch Arnova Child Pad, and it's taking on the productivity-minded crowd with its keyboard-toting 101 XS. Now the company is going after another niche segment with the just-announced GamePad. The 7-inch slate runs Android 4.0 with a dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz and a quad-core Mali 400 MP GPU, and it sports physical gaming controls in addition to the standard touchscreen. Archos includes its own "game recognition and mapping tools," which ensure that the physical buttons are compatible with Android games that use virtual controls (some 1,000 titles are apparently compatible with the GamePad at this point). Of course, this is an internet-enabled device as well, and it will include full access to the Play market and WiFi connectivity when it goes on sale at the end of October. Other specs include 8GB of internal storage, plus a microSD card slot that adds up to 64GB. There's also a mini-HDMI connection for outputting content to your TV. For now, Archos is only announcing pricing as "less than €150", and the device will drop in the US and Europe at the same time. For now, the below-the-break press release will have to satisfy your curiosity. Continue reading Archos unveils 7-inch GamePad with physical controls, Ice Cream Sandwich for 'less than €150' Filed under: Gaming, Tablets Archos unveils 7-inch GamePad with physical controls, Ice Cream Sandwich for 'less than €150' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 08:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | |
