It wasn’t that long ago that we were commending ATI on the stellar regularity of its product launches while NVIDIA was floundering, yet now the roles are reversed and we’re seeing NVIDIA flesh out its second generation of Fermi products with the midrange GeForce GTX 550 Ti presented today. Its biggest attraction is a $150 price tag, but it makes a major concession in order to reach that pricing plateau — there are only 192 CUDA cores inside it, equal to the previous-gen GTS 450 , but less than the celebrated GTX 460 . NVIDIA tries to ameliorate that shortage of parallel processing units by running the ones it has at an aggressive 1800MHz allied to a 900MHz graphics clock speed, and it also throws in a gigabyte of RAM running at an effective rate of 4GHz. That too is constrained somewhat, however, by a 192-bit interface, rather than the wider 256-bit affair on its bigger brother GTX 560 Ti . What all these specs boil down is some decent performance, but few recommendations from reviewers — mostly due to the abundance of compelling alternatives at nearby price points. Hit up the links below for more. Read – AnandTech Read – Tech Report Read – PC Perspective Read – techPowerUp! NVIDIA sends GeForce GTX 550 Ti into the $150 graphics card wars originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 09:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Adobe finds ‘critical’ security hole in Flash Player, won’t fix it before next week
March 15, 2011 No Comment
Oh, here we go again . Adobe’s kicked out a security bulletin for users of its Flash Player on “all platforms” — that’ll be the entire population of the internet, then — warning them that a new critical vulnerability has been discovered that may cause crashes and potentially permit the hijacking of systems. The issue also affects the company’s Reader and Acrobat software products. Even better news is that Adobe has found it’s being actively exploited “in the wild” via a .swf file embedded in an Excel spreadsheet, but a fix won’t be forthcoming until the beginning of next week. So, erm, enjoy your full web experience until then! Adobe finds ‘critical’ security hole in Flash Player, won’t fix it before next week originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 04:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Cyberdyne demos lower-body HAL exoskeleton for helping the disabled, not eradicating mankind (video)
March 15, 2011 No Comment
Cyberdyne’s HAL (Hybrid Assistive limb) robotic suit has been kicking (stumbling?) around for years now, and at this year’s Cybernics International Forum, the company demoed a couple of new iterations of the technology. We’ve seen the heavy-duty version of the technology scale a Swiss peak , but the new demo showcased a lighter and leaner lower-body suit (not unlike Lockheed’s HULC system) meant for helping those with muscle diseases remain ambulatory. The differences between the new rig and previously seen full-body exoskeleton — meant for use by health care professionals and factory workers to aid in heavy lifting — are less robust servos and a slimmer profile allowing wearers to worry less over their looks and more over living their lives. Peep the bipedal bionics in action after the break. Continue reading Cyberdyne demos lower-body HAL exoskeleton for helping the disabled, not eradicating mankind (video) Cyberdyne demos lower-body HAL exoskeleton for helping the disabled, not eradicating mankind (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 07:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Google said to be preparing NFC checkout trials for San Francisco and New York City
March 15, 2011 No Comment
Google does not sell hardware, Eric Schmidt told us as much , but the company has few qualms about buying the stuff up. Bloomberg is reporting, on the authority of a pair of well informed sources, that the Mountain View team is about to buy up “thousands” of VeriFone’s NFC payment terminals , with a view to installing them in stores across San Francisco and New York City. Those two technophile cities represent the most receptive audience NFC is likely to get in the US, and Google will be hoping that users there will be able to appreciate the convenience of being able to swipe their Nexus S (or other similarly equipped handset) to complete payments. We already know that Schmidt and co. consider the concept of “mobile money” a priority and there have been rumblings of Google setting up its own payment system , which together make this hookup with VeriFone appear highly credible. Bloomberg expects the trials to commence within the next four months, just in time to make iPhone 5 users green with envy . Google said to be preparing NFC checkout trials for San Francisco and New York City originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 05:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Google said to be preparing NFC checkout trials for San Francisco and New York City
March 15, 2011 No Comment
Google does not sell hardware, Eric Schmidt told us as much , but the company has few qualms about buying the stuff up. Bloomberg is reporting, on the authority of a pair of well informed sources, that the Mountain View team is about to buy up “thousands” of VeriFone’s NFC payment terminals , with a view to installing them in stores across San Francisco and New York City. Those two technophile cities represent the most receptive audience NFC is likely to get in the US, and Google will be hoping that users there will be able to appreciate the convenience of being able to swipe their Nexus S (or other similarly equipped handset) to complete payments. We already know that Schmidt and co. consider the concept of “mobile money” a priority and there have been rumblings of Google setting up its own payment system , which together make this hookup with VeriFone appear highly credible. Bloomberg expects the trials to commence within the next four months, just in time to make iPhone 5 users green with envy . Google said to be preparing NFC checkout trials for San Francisco and New York City originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 05:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Besides the fact that it isn’t shipping, HP’s TouchPad also can’t shoot video or take flash pictures out its backside. Fact is, the TouchPad announced back in February only has a single 1.3 megapixel camera up front. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop HP from presenting the fictitious device above at its HP Summit 2011 event yesterday to demonstrate a truly augmented reality. But hey, let’s not let something trivial like facts get in the way of a story you’re trying to pitch to investors and analysts. See the video clip after the break. Continue reading HP TouchPad with rear-facing camera really does augment reality (video) HP TouchPad with rear-facing camera really does augment reality (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 06:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung ‘TangoView’ vacuum surveillance camera will bring you to your knees
March 15, 2011 No Comment
In a new milestone testing the limits of convergence, Samsung has just released a WiFi-connected robotic vacuum cleaner with an integrated “TangoView” home monitoring system onto the unsuspecting families and pets of Korea. Like LG’s Hom-Bot , first seen at CES in January, Samsung’s latest Tango cleaner (model VC-RL87W) features an integrated video camera that lets PC, smartphone, and tablet owners treat the vacuum as a remote controlled surveillance camera when not sweeping the floors. The relatively quiet vac operates at 48dB and features a microphone and external lighting. Why? Why not, we say, assuming you can get past the KRW799,000 (about $711) price tag. Gallery: Samsung ‘TangoView’ vacuum surveillance camera will bring you to your knees Samsung ‘TangoView’ vacuum surveillance camera will bring you to your knees originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 04:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …‘Soul by Ludacris’ headphone series priced from $69 to $299, shipping in May
March 15, 2011 No Comment
You know what they say — if you can’t Beat ‘em, undercut ‘em. Signeo’s Soul by Ludacris headphone series — which made its debut a couple of months ago at CES — has just been priced, and sure enough, each pair is cheaper than what Dr. Dre and co. are charging for the HP Beats assortment. The top-end SL300 is set to sell for $299, while the similarly styled SL150 goes for $199. The more conventional SL100 will list for $149, and if it’s earbuds you’re craving, the SL99 will sport an MSRP of $99 while the low-end SL49 offers itself for just $69. Specifics on each one are hosted up after the break, and Americans can expect to see the whole crew this May. As for everyone else? There’s no time table yet, but we’ve been assured by the company that international distribution is being worked on as we speak. Word. Continue reading ‘Soul by Ludacris’ headphone series priced from $69 to $299, shipping in May ‘Soul by Ludacris’ headphone series priced from $69 to $299, shipping in May originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The Motorola Droid 2 and Droid X are both headed toward their one-year anniversaries this summer, which has pretty much become the culling hour for a smartphone of any creed these days. Their successors, ingeniously titled the Droid 3 and Droid X 2, have seemingly made an appearance over at HowardForums , courtesy of longtime forum member wnrussell. He’s also kindly provided imagery of a heretofore unknown device, called the Targa, which promises Verizon 4G LTE and has a protrusion on its rear that looks to be dedicated to accommodating an outsized camera sensor. It reminds us most of Motorola’s XT720 , though it sports a chrome outline to its body similar to what you see above on the purported Droid 3. Click past the break to get an eyeful of this Targa device and its Droid X 2 brandmate. Continue reading Motorola Droid 3, Droid X 2 and LTE-equipped Targa pictured? Motorola Droid 3, Droid X 2 and LTE-equipped Targa pictured? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 02:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Space junk is a growing problem — 200,000 pieces and counting — and as the amount of earth’s orbital debris increases, so does the chance some satellite will be involved in a cosmic collision. As this would cause much gnashing of teeth and woe for the affected terrestrial parties, some researchers from NASA’s Ames Research Center have pitched the idea of removing said junk with a laser — once again proving that everything’s better with lasers . The idea is to use a 5kW ray, like the one we’ve got at the Starfire Optical Range , to slow our galactic garbage enough to burn it up in earth’s atmosphere. Current estimates say such a laser could eliminate ten pieces of junk a day, promising us a future of neat and tidy skies. In lasers we trust: NASA researches 5kW galactic trash disposal system originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 01:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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