Motorola Xoom overclocked to 1.5GHz, eats Quadrant and Linpack for breakfast (video)
February 27, 2011 No Comment
Hold on to your hats, gents, because things just got real — that’s a Motorola Xoom in the picture above, clocked at a blazing 1.504GHz. While we highly doubt that’s a new world record of any sort, the dual-core Tegra 2 inside seriously screams at that clockspeed, scorching Quadrant to the tune of 3105 (remember this ?) and delivering 47 MFLOPS in Linpack. Oh, and in case you’re curious, this achievement wasn’t some random hack. It was perpetrated for our collective benefit by the master of SetCPU himself, and you’ll find full video proof of his accomplishment below and instructions at our source link. Got root? Then you’re on your way. Continue reading Motorola Xoom overclocked to 1.5GHz, eats Quadrant and Linpack for breakfast (video) Motorola Xoom overclocked to 1.5GHz, eats Quadrant and Linpack for breakfast (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 19:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …PlayBook Android app support mentioned during demo at MWC, old BlackBerrys show up in ShopSavvy’s Android logs
February 27, 2011 No Comment
As far-fetched as it may seem, rumors that RIM is working on some sort of Android app support for its QNX-based PlayBook tablet have persisted in various forms for months now — and they’ve turned up once again in a video posted by development community MobileMonday’s Rio chapter taken at MWC earlier this month, where a RIM rep seemingly says “we will also support Android apps” after talking about Java-based offerings. Of course, this could’ve been staged by some rabble rousers or a rep could’ve simply been echoing back the rumors he’s seen on the interwebs — but regardless, it adds fuel to the fire. Follow the break to see the video of that. But it gets weirder. ShopSavvy — which makes versions of its app for iOS and Android — has started turning up a couple of older BlackBerry devices in its Android build’s usage statistics on Flurry : the Curve 8300 and 8520, to be specific, along with an 8600 model that doesn’t exist (at least, not yet). The 8300, in particular, is pretty ancient at this point and we’re having a hard time wrapping our brain around RIM’s game plan in porting Dalvik (or a Dalvik-like) VM and associated libraries over to it; if anything, Flurry could be confused. Then again, a next-generation full-touch BlackBerry that just happens to run a full suite of Android apps in a sandbox could be a pretty compelling product, indeed. [Thanks to everyone who sent these in] Continue reading PlayBook Android app support mentioned during demo at MWC, old BlackBerrys show up in ShopSavvy’s Android logs PlayBook Android app support mentioned during demo at MWC, old BlackBerrys show up in ShopSavvy’s Android logs originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Gmail accidentally resetting accounts, years of correspondence vanish into the cloud?
February 27, 2011 No Comment
If you’ve got a working Gmail account, you might want to back it up every so often — as many as 500,000 Gmail users lost access to their inboxes this morn, and some of them are reporting (via Twitter and support forums) that years worth of messages, attachments and Google Chat logs had vanished by the time they were finally able to log on. While we haven’t experienced the issue personally, we’re hearing that the bug effectively reset some accounts, treating their owners as new users complete with welcome messages. For its part, Google says that the issue “affects less than .29% of the Google Mail userbase,” engineers are working to fix the issue right now, and that missing messages will be restored as soon as possible. We’ll soon see if this is a momentary setback… or a lengthy wakeup call . [Thanks to everyone who sent this in] Gmail accidentally resetting accounts, years of correspondence vanish into the cloud? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 18:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Stop us if you’ve heard this one before . A mysterious startup company operates in secret for a number of years, raises millions in funding from some of the biggest players in the industry (in this case, Google and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers), and announces a breakthrough technology that promises to change everything . In this case the startup is a company called Transphorm, and the breakthrough is a gallium nitride technology that promises to improve AC/DC transformers. While that might not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, the company’s CEO says that it could not only drastically reduce the electricity wasted by electronics that currently rely on silicon components, but significantly reduce the size of the components as well. One prime example there is laptop charger bricks, which Transphorm says could be reduced or even completely eliminated by building the necessary components right into the laptop itself. The company also sees a huge opportunity with electric cars, and especially data centers, which is one of the first markets it will be targeting. Of course, complete details are still fairly light at the moment, but the company is promising to unveil its first products in just two weeks, and you can be sure we’ll be watching. Transphorm promises brickless laptop chargers, power savings aplenty originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 16:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …OCZ’s consumer-grade Vertex 3 SSD gets benched, SandForce SF-2281 helps spank competition
February 27, 2011 No Comment
We thought OCZ’s Vertex 3 Pro was some flaming hot stuff, but solid state storage experts have mind-boggling news — the plain ol’ Vertex 3 will bring the same completely ludicrous 550MB / sec read speeds (plus even faster 525MB / sec writes) at a down-to-earth price. Previews found the Vertex 3′s new SandForce SF-2281 controller and Micron 25nm flash memory chips edged out even its own enterprise-grade cousin in nearly every test — with a few anomalies here and there — and were reportedly too fast to achieve full performance with any SATA 6Gbps controller save the one in Intel’s new Cougar Point chipset. Best of all, they claim that OCZ’s targeting a price of just $250 for the 120GB version, or $500 for the 240GB drive benched here. That’s still a chunk of change, but considering current-gen 120GB SSDs still cost over $200 street, it sounds like OCZ is setting a bar that will drive down prices across the board. We can’t wait. Read – AnandTech Read – Hot Hardware Read – Legit Reviews Read – PC Perspective Read – Storage Review OCZ’s consumer-grade Vertex 3 SSD gets benched, SandForce SF-2281 helps spank competition originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 15:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Sure, you could just watch the Oscars for free along with a bowl of popcorn and your favorite Twitter commentary, but the folks behind the Academy Awards are hoping you’ll try something even more “interactive” this time around. Those that head to Oscar.com this evening will be treated to a few different live cameras that are freely available to everyone, but to really see to everything you’ll have to fork over $4.99 for the “all access” pass. That will give you access to a number of “exclusive viewing opportunities,” including multiple 360 degree cams that you can control, and numerous cameras along the red carpet, backstage, and at the Governors Ball afterwards. And if that’s not enough, you can also download the Oscar Backstage Pass app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch — it’ll run you an additional $0.99. Continue reading Oscar.com offers ‘all access’ pass to the Academy Awards, for a cost Oscar.com offers ‘all access’ pass to the Academy Awards, for a cost originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 14:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Man builds machine to push phone buttons from half a world away (video)
February 27, 2011 No Comment
If your ambition was to travel the world, and your job to push the buttons of three cellphones located in South Korea, you might go insane. That seems to be what happened to Mok Young Bak, at least, when he invented the crazy contraption depicted in the video above. Called the Caduceus, it’s a telepresence machine that does just one thing — it controls every single button on each of those three phones with a series of servo motors and actuator cables, and moves a pendulum-like webcam so he can clearly see each screen from wherever he happens to be. That way, he can enjoy tourism while leaving his livelihood within reach, at least so long as concerned neighbors don’t assume the terrible din is, say, a killer robot assembly line, and insist that police investigate. Man builds machine to push phone buttons from half a world away (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 11:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …HTC Incredible S, Desire HD, Desire Z and original Desire will all be eating Gingerbread by the end of June
February 27, 2011 No Comment
When it launched the Incredible S at MWC a couple of weeks ago, HTC promised the new 4-inch device would be quick to get a Gingerbread update and now it’s giving us a definitive schedule for it by saying that Android 2.3 will be distributed to its new flagship phone by the end of Q2 2011. We’re not sure four months of sitting by the window waiting for the OTA update to float in necessarily matches up to our definition of “quick,” but there are much better news for owners of HTC’s older devices. The Desire HD and Desire Z — both released in September 2010 — will also be leaping away from Froyo and up to Gingerbread and will be joined by the original Desire , which was announced way back at last year’s MWC. That handset was essentially HTC’s own-brand Nexus One, so we already knew it was capable of running Gingerbread, but it’s still rare to see a device go through two significant Android updates (the Desire began life with Android 2.1). All these old Desires are placed on the same update schedule as the Incredible S, whereas the newly announced Desire S and Wildfire S will ship with Gingerbread preloaded. [Thanks, Johannes] HTC Incredible S, Desire HD, Desire Z and original Desire will all be eating Gingerbread by the end of June originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …HTC Incredible S, Desire HD, Desire Z and original Desire will all be eating Gingerbread by the end of June
February 27, 2011 No CommentWhen it launched the Incredible S at MWC a couple of weeks ago, HTC promised the new 4-inch device would be quick to get a Gingerbread update and now it’s giving us a definitive schedule for it by saying that Android 2.3 will be distributed to its new flagship phone by the end of Q2 2011. We’re not sure four months of sitting by the window waiting for the OTA update to float in necessarily matches up to our definition of “quick,” but there are much better news for owners of HTC’s older devices. The Desire HD and Desire Z — both released in September 2010 — will also be leaping away from Froyo and up to Gingerbread and will be joined by the original Desire , which was announced way back at last year’s MWC. That handset was essentially HTC’s own-brand Nexus One, so we already knew it was capable of running Gingerbread, but it’s still rare to see a device go through two significant Android updates (the Desire began life with Android 2.1). All these old Desires are placed on the same update schedule as the Incredible S, whereas the newly announced Desire S and Wildfire S will ship with Gingerbread preloaded. [Thanks, Johannes] HTC Incredible S, Desire HD, Desire Z and original Desire will all be eating Gingerbread by the end of June originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Considering nabbing a $99 OnLive Game System to connect your TV to the company’s game streaming cloud? Here’s another thought — pre-order THQ’s Homefront on OnLive instead for $50, and get a voucher for a free MicroConsole (and a free game) in the bargain. That’s the deal OnLive announced the other day, which runs through March 14th, though the fine print says supplies are limited, shipping costs extra, and you won’t actually receive the hardware until after the deal expires no matter when you pre-order the game. We’re not sure what it says for OnLive’s ongoing viability that the company finds itself having to give hardware away for less than half its worth, but we won’t look a gift horse in the mouth! OnLive offering free MicroConsole with Homefront game purchase originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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