AMD launches Radeon HD 6990 powerhouse for $699, maintains ‘world’s fastest’ title
March 7, 2011 No Comment
If you’re scoring at home, NVIDIA currently holds the lead in single-GPU graphics cards with its GeForce GTX 580 , but ATI’s dual-chip Radeon HD 5970 has been holding down the absolute speed crown for a good long while. Now, bearing the name of AMD Radeon HD 6990, its successor sidles up to the throne and demands attention as the fastest single expansion board you can plug into your shiny new motherboard. The 6990 boasts a massive 4GB of GDDR5, 3,072 Stream Processors, 64 ROPs, and an 830MHz core clock speed. A dual-BIOS switch will let you crank that clock up to 880MHz with a corresponding increase in voltage, but don’t expect to see much overclocking headroom above that. Reviewers note, alongside their fawning assessment of the world’s best performance, that the HD 6990 is a massively power-hungry card (375W TDP) and one that makes quite a bit of noise while going through its herculean tasks. That’s in spite of a new vapor chamber cooling system that allegedly supports up to 450W of thermal output. If all this strikes you as a somewhat flawed execution, maybe you’ll join us in hoping NVIDIA’s imminently upcoming response, dubbed the GTX 590 , will be able to offer a neater, more efficient assault on the extreme peaks of graphical performance. Read – HardOCP Read – AnandTech Read – Tech Report Read – PC Perspective Read – Hot Hardware Read – Hexus AMD launches Radeon HD 6990 powerhouse for $699, maintains ‘world’s fastest’ title originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …AMD launches Radeon HD 6990 powerhouse for $699, maintains ‘world’s fastest’ title
March 7, 2011 No Comment
If you’re scoring at home, NVIDIA currently holds the lead in single-GPU graphics cards with its GeForce GTX 580 , but ATI’s dual-chip Radeon HD 5970 has been holding down the absolute speed crown for a good long while. Now, bearing the name of AMD Radeon HD 6990, its successor sidles up to the throne and demands attention as the fastest single expansion board you can plug into your shiny new motherboard. The 6990 boasts a massive 4GB of GDDR5, 3,072 Stream Processors, 64 ROPs, and an 830MHz core clock speed. A dual-BIOS switch will let you crank that clock up to 880MHz with a corresponding increase in voltage, but don’t expect to see much overclocking headroom above that. Reviewers note, alongside their fawning assessment of the world’s best performance, that the HD 6990 is a massively power-hungry card (375W TDP) and one that makes quite a bit of noise while going through its herculean tasks. That’s in spite of a new vapor chamber cooling system that allegedly supports up to 450W of thermal output. If all this strikes you as a somewhat flawed execution, maybe you’ll join us in hoping NVIDIA’s imminently upcoming response, dubbed the GTX 590 , will be able to offer a neater, more efficient assault on the extreme peaks of graphical performance. Read – HardOCP Read – AnandTech Read – Tech Report Read – PC Perspective Read – Hot Hardware Read – Hexus AMD launches Radeon HD 6990 powerhouse for $699, maintains ‘world’s fastest’ title originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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If you were looking for something more worthwhile to spend Facebook credits on than virtual trinkets for some game, Warner has an idea: all those movies you said you “liked.” Starting today it is testing out a plan to rent movies right on their respective pages for 30 Facebook credits / $3 each. The first one on deck is The Dark Knight ( again? ) which should be live later today, with more available to rent or purchase in the future. there’s no word on resolution or other features, but at the price we’re assuming SD only. Full details are in the press release after the break, but the rentals have the standard 48-hour VOD window and can be paused/resumed simply by logging back into Facebook. In its current state, we doubt Netflix, Amazon and the rest have anything to worry about as far as competition, but maybe Warner thinks it can snag a few bucks from simply making sure there’s a buy button of some kind awaiting our various identities in as many places as possible. Continue reading Warner Bros. starts renting movies via Facebook Warner Bros. starts renting movies via Facebook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …If you were looking for something more worthwhile to spend Facebook credits on than virtual trinkets for some game, Warner has an idea: all those movies you said you “liked.” Starting today it is testing out a plan to rent movies right on their respective pages for 30 Facebook credits / $3 each. The first one on deck is The Dark Knight ( again? ) which should be live later today, with more available to rent or purchase in the future. there’s no word on resolution or other features, but at the price we’re assuming SD only. Full details are in the press release after the break, but the rentals have the standard 48-hour VOD window and can be paused/resumed simply by logging back into Facebook. In its current state, we doubt Netflix, Amazon and the rest have anything to worry about as far as competition, but maybe Warner thinks it can snag a few bucks from simply making sure there’s a buy button of some kind awaiting our various identities in as many places as possible. Continue reading Warner Bros. starts renting movies via Facebook Warner Bros. starts renting movies via Facebook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …If you were looking for something more worthwhile to spend Facebook credits on than virtual trinkets for some game, Warner has an idea: all those movies you said you “liked.” Starting today it is testing out a plan to rent movies right on their respective pages for 30 Facebook credits / $3 each. The first one on deck is The Dark Knight ( again? ) which should be live later today, with more available to rent or purchase in the future. there’s no word on resolution or other features, but at the price we’re assuming SD only. Full details are in the press release after the break, but the rentals have the standard 48-hour VOD window and can be paused/resumed simply by logging back into Facebook. In its current state, we doubt Netflix, Amazon and the rest have anything to worry about as far as competition, but maybe Warner thinks it can snag a few bucks from simply making sure there’s a buy button of some kind awaiting our various identities in as many places as possible. Continue reading Warner Bros. starts renting movies via Facebook Warner Bros. starts renting movies via Facebook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It’s a common problem, not having as much cash as you want to, and Skype ‘s solving it with a common web solution: advertising . It may come as a surprise to hear that the eminently popular voice and chat service doesn’t peddle stuff to its users already, but it’s now formalizing a plan to introduce a carefully controlled measure of paid-for display ads on the Home tab of its Windows desktop client. You heard that right, there’s no mention of Mac or mobile services here, and it’s further limited to the nations of Germany, the UK, and USA. Anonymous data may be collected as part of the new scheme to target ads to specific audiences (you can, however, opt out), while Skype promises that user experience remains paramount to its future goals, though clearly that looming Initial Public Offering isn’t too far from its thoughts right now either. Skype to start serving ads in US, Germany and UK ahead of upcoming IPO originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Kinect hack turns arduino-controlled delta robot into aggressive claw crane (video)
March 7, 2011 No Comment
Candy crane, teddy picker, claw machine, whatever you call it, this arcade mainstay was robbing children of their golden tokens long before we slid into our first pair of Hammer pants, but despite the changing face of the plush offerings within, the crane game’s remained mostly the same. Now a team of students at the Bartlett School of Architecture have produced a Kinect hack that could change the way you drop that claw. The rather temperamental delta robot enlists the ever-hackable peripheral in combination with Processing and Arduino to mimic the movements of a user’s arm. As you can tell by the video below, the delta hasn’t quite figured out the subtleties of human gestures, but the robot’s creators say they intend to implement “several autonomous behaviors” once all the kinks are worked out. Frankly, we’d pay our weight in tokens to see the crane game bite back at an unsuspecting whippersnapper . Video after the break. Continue reading Kinect hack turns arduino-controlled delta robot into aggressive claw crane (video) Kinect hack turns arduino-controlled delta robot into aggressive claw crane (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 23:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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New video has surfaced of the burning World Trade Center towers on 9/11. It was was shot from a police helicopter and was released after a FOIA request by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which investigated the incident.
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Here in the small but intense world of writing for tech blogs, trolling and spam are a daily nuisance. In fact, on a highly commented-upon blog such as Engadget, dealing with them (i.e., deleting comments, banning spammers, and responding to irrational people) can sometimes feel like a full-time job. I know this firsthand, as I have, possibly more than most of the other editors here over the past few years, made it one of my primary daily tasks (along with our three amazing interns). By engaging with our commenters, I’ve made a few friends. Mostly though, it’s a thankless task, an unending, uphill battle for Engadget, which ranges between 10 and 20,000 comments per day. The low quality of many comments is largely caused by anonymity on the internet, and the fact that anyone can sign up for as many Disqus accounts as they wish. Sure, people can log in using Twitter or Facebook, and while the number of people who choose to do so has risen drastically, nearly half our our commenters still use the Disqus option, which is the most anonymous. I’d venture to guess that 100 percent of our spammers and trolls do so. It’s a major headache, and one which we’ve spent an incredible amount of time combating and discussing, and occasionally, just giving up on . Continue reading Editorial: Facebook, single identities, and the right to be anonymous Editorial: Facebook, single identities, and the right to be anonymous originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Cisco’s Umi and TelePresence video calling systems: now with work at home and home at work
March 7, 2011 No Comment
It was only a matter of time before Cisco’s Umi and TelePresence services got together for some HD video calling synergy, and the company has finally enabled “full interoperability” between the two. Not only that, but the networking giant is also rolling out a free HD calling client called Umi Connect for PC and Mac (think SkypeHD ) and a new Umi 720 system that works with slower broadband connections. The 720 will cost $399 upon its market arrival this summer, while the already available Umi 1080 gets a much-needed-yet-still-underwhelming hundred dollar price drop to $499. Service fees have also fallen from $275 to $99 a year and from $24.95 to $9.95 monthly for those who are commitment-averse. Maybe now you can persuade the bossman (or bosslady, as it were) to finally let you work from home — though pants-free employment will undoubtedly remain off, or maybe just under, the table. PR’s after the break. [Thanks, Adam] Continue reading Cisco’s Umi and TelePresence video calling systems: now with work at home and home at work Cisco’s Umi and TelePresence video calling systems: now with work at home and home at work originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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