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What to expect at Computex 2017
We're pretty much halfway through the year, which means it's Computex time. As usual, you'll find a handful of us running around the Taipei show floors next week, where we'll be getting our hands dirty with the latest PC products and components. Last year was relatively fruitful, thanks to what was then a recent VR explosion. Several PC brands introduced high-end GPUs or affordable ones capable of running VR. Even Intel surprised its hardcore users with its first 10-core desktop CPU. ASUS topped it all off with Zenbo -- an adorable $600 home robot that went on sale in Taiwan earlier this year. This year, however, is bound to be quieter. For one, Microsoft already stole some of Computex's thunder with its own events earlier this month, so we're not expecting anything major from it next week. Intriguingly, HTC Vive has no official presence at Computex this year, which means less VR. Still, based on recent leaks and launches, we have at least a rough idea of what to expect.
Samsung promises 'differentiated' smartphones based on its camera expertise
Samsung has instigated a small corporate reshuffle that could potentially have big implications for its future smartphones. The company has shunted its digital imaging unit sideways so that it sits under the giant umbrella of the mobile division, in the hope of combining "technical know-how" in these two areas and ultimately "differentiating" its smartphones with better camera technology. At the same time, Samsung expects expertise to flow in the opposite direction, allowing its engineers to create cameras with better wireless connectivity. It's a move that makes plenty of sense given the recent spate of Galaxy-branded hybridized products, such as the slightly awkward Galaxy S 4 Zoom and hugely over-priced Galaxy NX mirrorless shooter. It also suggests that Samsung has paid attention to what Nokia has achieved by rethinking mobile camera technology for its PureView phones, instead of using standard off-the-shelf parts.
AMD FX-8350 review roundup: enthusiasts still won't be totally enthused
Now that AMD's fresh new FX processors based on the Piledriver architecture are out in the wild, the specialist hardware sites have seen fit to benchmark the top-lining FX-8350. Overall, the group feels that AMD has at least closed the gap a bit on Intel's Core juggernaut with a much better FX offering this time around, but overall the desktop CPU landscape remains unchanged -- with Intel still firmly at the top of the heap. Compared to its last-gen Bulldozer chips, "in every way, today's FX-8350 is better," according to Tom's Hardware: cheaper, up to 15 percent faster and more energy efficient. Still, while the new CPUs represent AMD's desktop high-end, they only stack up against Intel's mid-range Core i5 family, and even against that line-up they only edge ahead in heavily threaded testing. But if you "look beyond those specific (multithreaded) applications, Intel can pull away with a significant lead" due to its superior design, says Anantech. As for power consumption, unfortunately "the FX-8350 isn't even the same class of product as the Ivy Bridge Core i5 processors on this front," claims The Tech Report. Despite all that, Hot Hardware still sees several niches that AMD could fill with the new chips, as they'll provide "an easy upgrade path for existing AMD owners and more flexibility for overclocking, due to its unlocked multipliers." That means if you already have a Socket-AM3+ motherboard, you'll be able to do a cheap upgrade by swapping in the new CPU, and punching up the clock cycles might close the performance gap enjoyed by the Core i5. Finally, AMD also saw fit to bring the new chip in at a "very attractive" $195 by Hexus' reckoning, a much lower price than an earlier leak suggested. Despite that, however, the site says that AMD's flagship FX processor still "cannot tick as many desirable checkboxes as the competing Intel Core i5 chips." Feel free to scope all the sources below to make your own conclusions. Read - Tom's Hardware Read - Hot Hardware Read - AnandTech Read - Hexus Read - The Tech Report
AMD updates its FX processors: 8-core chip has 4GHz base clock, '15 percent' more oomph, $195 price tag
If you get the impression that AMD is diverting its energy away from traditional CPUs and towards APUs and fresher PC form factors such as all-in-ones, then you're certainly right -- but you're also slightly ahead of the game. The company promises there's a still a good few years of life left in its CPU-only chips and the AM3+ socket, and it's putting today's announcement forward as evidence. As of now, last year's eight-core FX-8150 has been superseded on retailers' shelves by the FX-8350, which notches the stock clock speed up to 4GHz, or 4.2GHz on turbo (alas with no obvious sign of that resonant mesh we once heard about). The full stack (codenamed 'Vishera') includes eight-, six- and four-core options, all based on the new Piledriver architecture which -- when combined with these higher clock speeds -- promises an overall performance uplift of around 15 percent versus the old Bulldozer cores. To be fair though, those Bulldozers weren't so snappy to begin with, and besides, the most significant performance claims with this upgrade relate to multi-threaded applications and a few gaming titles like Skyrim and Civ 5. Judging from the slide deck below, gains in other areas of performance may be lower -- perhaps in the region of seven percent -- so as usual we're going to roundup a bunch of reviews later today before we jump to any conclusions. If it turns out that stock performance alone isn't enough to sell these chips, then potential buyers still ought to check out FX's pricing relative to Intel -- not least because, as is typical, AMD sells overclockable chips at no extra charge. The top-end FX-8350 will hit the market at $195, which is not only cheaper than some earlier leaks suggested, but also $40 cheaper than an unlocked Core i5-3570K that has a lower clock speed and a smaller L3 cache -- although the relative performance of these two chips remains to be independently tested. Meanwhile, the entry-level quad-core FX-4300 will virtually match the price of a locked i3-2120 at $122, but can be readily overclocked to 5GHz with water-cooling. AMD is also making a few claims based on the cost of multiple components in a rig: for example, that you can spend $372 on an FX-8350 and Radeon HD 7850 combo that delivers a 25 to 70 percent gaming advantage over a similarly priced Core i5 3570K with a GeForce GTX 650 Ti. Again, stay tuned for our roundup and we'll figure out just how compelling this really is.
Slingbox 350 and 500 show up unannounced in Best Buy, flaunt 1080p and built-in WiFi
You might say Dave Zatz just had a happy accident. While he was hunting for the as yet unofficial Logitech Harmony Touch in Best Buy, he discovered the Slingbox 350 and 500 -- two more living room gadgets that have yet to receive an official introduction. The placeshifting hubs both look to be major improvements over the aging Slingbox Pro HD and Solo, making 1080p streaming available as long as the connection is up to snuff. Those who spring for the 500 should also get long overdue support for WiFi without having to use a wireless bridge, although they may miss the Pro HD's ATSC tuner. Outside of the networking, Sling Media is making expansion its upsell angle: the 500 supports USB media sharing and HDMI, while the 350 has to make do with whatever can pipe through its component and composite jacks. Zatz was unfortunately foiled in an attempt to buy one of the new Slingboxes and couldn't get final pricing, but Best Buy's suggestion to try again around mid-October hints that we won't have long to wait for a much-needed upgrade to our remote TV viewing.
JEDEC announces final DDR4 RAM specification
A couple of companies have been jumping the gun on DDR4 production, but the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association is finally bringing order to the industry by releasing its official standard for the next-gen DRAM. It calls for "higher performance, with improved reliability and reduced power" -- which we roughly take to mean: less gigs for better rigs. The DDR4 per-pin data rate standard is 1.6 gigatransfers per second (GT/s) at the minimum and 3.2 GT/s at the top-end, although this cap is expected to increase in future updates (given that DDR3 also surpassed its initial target). Speeds will begin at 2133MHz, a significant jump from your average DDR3 stick, and will also operate at lower power thanks to the Pseudo Open Drain Interface. Check out the PR below if you want to delve deeper into the specs, and if even that's not enough to sate you, head to the source link below to tackle the full documentation. Godspeed!
Slickdeals' best in tech for September 17th: 30-inch HP monitor, motherboard combo and SSDs
Looking to save some coin on your tech purchases? Of course you are! In this round-up, we'll run down a list of the freshest frugal buys, hand-picked with the help of the folks at Slickdeals. You'll want to act fast, though, as many of these offerings won't stick around long. Still need to make some improvements to a machine you've got lying around after last week's group of component offerings? If so, here's another handful of discounted tech ready to meet your eager mouse clicks. For those not looking to alter their current setup, a 30-inch HP display gets quite the handsome price reduction as well. Don't get too comfortable, because these bad boys will be gone before you know it. Head on past the break to get started but just remember to include the requisite rebate forms should you need 'em.
Next iPhone's motherboard possibly spotted with a dash of extra wireless
We may well have seen the next iPhone's back shell, front panel, SIM tray and even its cabling. Why not round it out with what might be the motherboard? A WeiPhone forum goer who slipped out the iPhone 4S' board last year is back with the 2012 update's potential new heart. While the tipster hasn't been courteous enough to do a side-by-side with the older component, repair shop iDeviceGuys notes to 9to5 Mac that the newer part isn't just a carbon copy; that smaller SIM slot (what you see in the middle) is one of the bigger giveaways. The real treat may be the extra wireless antenna connections. They aren't any surefire signs of 4G, but the antenna links suggest Apple isn't content with what the iPhone 4S has to offer. We're mostly left wondering about what's under that shielding -- it's a mystery as to whether or not the next iPhone's processor speed bump is a mountain or a molehill. Barring one more peek, we could get the full scoop next month.
SIGGRAPH 2012 wrap-up
Considering that SIGGRAPH focuses on visual content creation and display, there was no shortage of interesting elements to gawk at on the show floor. From motion capture demos to 3D objects printed for Hollywood productions, there was plenty of entertainment at the Los Angeles Convention Center this year. Major product introductions included ARM's Mali-T604 GPU and a handful of high-end graphics cards from AMD, but the highlight of the show was the Emerging Technologies wing, which played host to a variety of concept demonstrations, gathering top researchers from institutions like the University of Electro-Communications in Tokyo and MIT. The exhibition has come to a close for the year, but you can catch up with the show floor action in the gallery below, then click on past the break for links to all of our hands-on coverage, direct from LA.%Gallery-162185%
We're live from SIGGRAPH 2012 in Los Angeles!
Most of us experience the Los Angeles Convention Center during one of its most chaotic weeks of the year, when tens of thousands of gaming industry manufacturers, video game designers and consumers descend upon downtown LA for the annual E3 expo, booth-babe radar tweaked to 11. There's a hint of graphics prowess amid the halls this week, too, albeit on a vastly smaller scale, and with a heavy heap of civility. SIGGRAPH is a trade event through and through, with attendees demonstrating their latest tech, taking in a handful of seminars or hunting for networking opportunities, in search of employment and partnerships. It's often also a venue for product launches, which is what's brought us out, along with the usual bounty of kooky creations that serve to entertain and lighten the mood. As always, we'll be bringing you a little bit of everything over the next few days, letting you sample the best of SIGGRAPH from the comfort of your own device -- head over to our SIGGRAPH 2012 tag to follow along.
iFixit tears down the Nexus Q: made in the USA, and possibly somewhere else
Is it possible to manufacture a sophisticated wireless-capable device entirely in the United States? That's vaguely the suggestion of Google's jet-black orb, launched last week at the search (and now hardware) giant's I/O event in San Francisco. Now, the Nexus Q is just dying to get undressed, and that's exactly what our iFixit friends have done, revealing each component's country of origin. Perhaps one of the most notable items, the Samsung 16GB moviNAND Flash Memory module, may have been made stateside (Austin, TX), but could also have been produced in Hwaseong, South Korea. Some parts, such as the Ethernet port (China) or optical-out connector (Japan) could only have been imported, as iFixit points out, though others are certainly domestic (a photomicrosensor made in California or Illinois). Ready to dive in yourself to verify those findings? You're not going to want to open this thing up on your own -- there's a bevy of capacitors inside, including one with output in the 400-volt range (a warning label alerts would-be trespassers). You can, however, poke around a bit more at our source link below.
Google's Nexus 7 tablet hits the iFixit teardown labs
We can always count on iFixit to get down and dirty with its spudger and the latest tablet tech, and we're not going home empty handed today. The latest victim happens to be Google's recently announced Nexus 7, which has achieved a "repairability score" of 7 out of 10 (the Kindle Fire squeaked one notch past with an 8), with many accessible components including a replaceable battery and standard Phillips screws. While the site's ultimate goal is to illustrate the delicate process of opening our gadgets while leaving them unharmed, the good folks at iFixit never fail to entertain us in the process, with two dozen high-res photos of the Nexus 7's innards littering the 21-step repair guide. The most disappointing discovery appears to be the display, which is permanently affixed to its Corning glass covering, but given the tablet's $200 price tag, replacing such a component is not likely to be a cost-effective proposition. There's plenty more to gawk over, but you'll need to head to iFixit to, well, get your fix. Click on through at our source link below.
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 review roundup: a $99 card that fails to keep Kepler's promise
NVIDIA blew reviewers away with its flagship GTX 680, but building cards for the low-end is a whole different challenge. The GT 640 hits the $99 price point, where it sits right between the AMD Radeon HD 7750 at $109 and the last-gen Radeon 6670 at around $80. As it turns out, these rivals pull off something of a pincer movement, leaving NVIDIA's card little room to retaliate. The GT 640 contains a 28nm Kepler chip, but it's a cutdown version of the silicon with just 384 CUDA cores, a poor memory bandwidth of 28.5GB/s and no GPU Boost feature -- which means the card can't boost its 900MHz to make use of thermal headroom. These limitations have a significant impact on the benchmarks, as you'll see in our little review roundup after the break.
Tablet component suppliers concerned over iPad's dominance
Tablet component suppliers in Asia are concerned about the lack of competition in the tablet market. The iPad is the dominant player and is driving the growth in the industry. This is great now that the iPad is growing 166% year over year, but it doesn't bode well for the future when iPad sales reach their saturation point. Other tablet manufacturers are either dropping out of the race completely or proceeding cautiously. As a result, these companies are ordering small volume orders which won't help component suppliers when the demand for the iPad sales begin to level off. To combat this possible slowdown, component suppliers are reportedly working hard to meet the demands of these trailing tablet makers. Second tier component suppliers, in particular, are more flexible and willing to accept these smaller orders. These suppliers are likely grabbing orders while they can and hope that one of these competing tablets will catch on before iPad demand begins to plateau.
Cooler Master launches Silent Pro Hybrid Fanless Series of power supplies
Desktop PC power supplies are tough to get excited about, no matter how many features they cram in. But Cooler Master's Silent Pro Hybrid Fanless series is actually pretty alluring. The supply isn't actually "fanless" but it does have a fanless mode that can be used to minimize machine noise, at least until the load crosses the 200W threshold. Add to that a 90-percent efficiency, fully modular cables and a control panel that lets you manually adjust the speed of your system fans and you're looking at quite the compelling product for the DIY desktop enthusiast. As you could have guessed though, all these fancy features don't come cheap. Cooler Master is offering three different models: 850W, 1050W and 1300W, which range in price from $200 to $300 -- a sizable chunk of change to drop on any component. They'll be shipping this month to the US and Asia, with Europe to follow in November. Check out the complete PR after the break.
Belkin announces a trio of new products to help your HDTV get its stream on
Belkin today unveiled a handful of new products aimed at making your TV a bit more streamy. The ScreenCast AV 4 lets you stream content from devices like Blu-ray players to an HDTV without the need for an HDMI cable. The transmitter plugs into the source device and the receiver plugs into the TV, making it possible to watch 1080p video wirelessly. The ScreenCast AV 4 will run $249.99 when it hits next month. The company's Universal HDTV Adapter and Universal Wireless AV Adapter, meanwhile, offer up wireless for TVs, making it possible to stream content with dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz. The Universal Wireless HDTV Adapter offers up streaming for a single Internet-ready set, while the Universal Wireless AV Adapter works with up to four AV devices. Both are available this month, and will run you $79.99 and $99.99, respectively. More info on all three after the break.
iPhone N94 prototype's front assembly leaked, set to be an iPhone 4S?
As we approach the rumored September or October launch date for the next batch of iPhones, the web's been spiced up with photos of alleged parts for an "N94" iPhone prototype. We've been rather skeptical about them until the above photos landed in our inbox, courtesy of our friends from uBreakiFix. A little while back we'd already heard from our other sources that the N94 is set to be a cheaper version of the current iPhone 4 (probably the 8GB iPhone 4 mentioned by Reuters last week), which would explain why all these components and cables look super familiar. The only notable difference here is the funny dot right next to the sensor location above the earpiece -- the dotted pattern is very much like that used by the microphone and the webcam LED indicator on Mac computers, but obviously the latter is more likely the case here.That said, do bear in mind that according to the mark along the bottom of this part, we're apparently looking at an "EVT1" (Engineering Verification Test) piece from March 3rd 2011 (making it about three months older than the white N94 back covers that made the rounds last week, assuming they're legit). Additionally, when our sources last checked around June and July, the N94 had yet to hit the DVT stage, so it's hard to determine whether these parts will remain the same in the final design, or whether the N94 will even make it to the production line at all.On the other hand, our sources pointed out that an elusive N97 device -- previously reported by the Wall Street Journal as a tiny iPhone -- had already reached "DVT" (Design Verification Test) stage back in June, though there's little information about it other than that it's been tested with various cellular technologies (though plagued by some bugs related to switching between specific frequencies back then), plus it may sport a camera module supplied by Sony, which was semi-confirmed by Howard Stringer himself back in April. Whatever the N97 ends up being, hopefully we'll have something at least as slim as our little souvenir from Beijing.
Sharp's Molecular Beam Epitaxy machine births components in its space-like womb (video)
A machine that builds other machines? Sounds like robot apocalypse time -- except it's not. This component-building, space-mimicking chamber of liquid nitrogen-cooled sterility gives birth to LEDs, not that kid from A.I. Housed in Sharp's Oxford Laboratory, the Molecular Beam Epitaxy machine moves atoms "almost individually...to build the basis of high tech electronics." Through the use of magnetic poles on the contraption's exterior (kind of like in foosball), researchers can virtually manipulate substrates and elements, allowing for precise control and untainted crystal growth. While this MBE isn't exactly new tech -- larger commercial-grade versions already exist -- it is noteworthy for its innovative petri-vacuum abilities. After all, progress has to start somewhere. Click past the break for the ominously toned video explanation.
New PS3 model drops HD Blu-ray display over component
The PS3 has gradually shed features over its lifespan -- like PS2 backwards compatibility and OtherOS. That's happening again with the latest revision of the PS3 hardware, but it's not entirely Sony's fault this time. Kotaku obtained an internal GameStop communication detailing the new "K" model of PS3 hardware, which states that an HDMI cable will now be required to display high-definition, and that component cables will no longer work. GameStop doesn't quite have all the details right, but part of that is true. "The new CECH-3000 series PS3 requires HDMI only for BD movie output in HD, in compliance with AACS standards," Sony told Ars Technica. "PS3 continues to support component output for HD gaming and streaming content." The restriction is just on high-definition video from Blu-Ray discs. So this isn't a cost-cutting measure like the removal of PS2 hardware -- it's to conform to the Advanced Access Content System, a standard for DRM developed by a consortium of media companies including ... Sony. The standard requires that devices restrict analog outputs to 960 x 540 to prevent recording from analog capture devices. The strange part, then, is that the PS3 ever supported HD Blu-ray playback through component. Digital Foundry speculates that the rule didn't kick in officially until the AACS Final Adopter Agreement in December 2010, and thus only affects PS3s produced after then. That would mean that Sony (and pretty much every other electronics company) skirted its own rule for as long as possible.
Report: Touchscreen demand to grow by 90-percent, led by mobile, tablet markets
This just in: people really like touchscreens, and their tastes aren't going to change anytime soon. That's the takeaway from a new report from market research firm DisplaySearch, which predicts that revenue from touch panel sales will hit the $13.4 billion mark by the end of this year, before soaring to nearly $24 billion by 2017. Shipments of capacitive touch displays, in particular, are expected to increase by 100-percent over last year, accounting for a full 70-percent of all tactile revenues. The mobile market still accounts for most of this industry-wide growth, but demand for touch-based tablets is accelerating considerably, with more than 72 million panels expected to ship this year, and 100 million projected in 2012. Jonesing for more numbers? Better gallop past the break to get your hands on the full PR.
