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NEC expands Valuestar 3D lineup with two new desktop PCs; laptops say LaVie
We'll have to assume NEC managed to free Willy and that its first 3D venture was a success, as the company's just revealed a brand new set of stereoscopic screens, one of which is actually not part and parcel of an all-in-one PC. NVIDIA's 3D Vision kit (with active shutter glasses) and a 23-inch, 1920 x 1080 120Hz monitor accompany this Valuestar L, with a 2.93GHz Core i7-870 processor, GeForce GT 330 GPU, 8GB of memory, 1TB of storage and Blu-ray 3D drive in an attractive white case. There's also a similarly-sized Valuestar W 3D all-in-one with a 2.53GHz Core i5-460M and GeForce GT 330M graphics, a digital TV tuner, half the memory, a 1.5TB drive and a passive, polarized display. If you're not interested in wearing glasses while chained to a desk, of course, you could always consider the new LaVie Light netbook, newly refreshed with a dual-core Intel Atom N550. And yes, we know we made a horrible pun. Sometimes we just can't help ourselves.
ASUS busts out dual-core Eee PC 1015PEM netbook
ASUS has just introduced the Eee PC 1015PEM, its first 10-inch netbook with a 1.5GHz dual-core Intel Atom N550 CPU. Specwise, it boasts an up to 350GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, USB 3.0, Bluetooth 3.0, and 802.11b/g/n WiFi. It comes pre-loaded with Windows 7 Starter Edition, with prices starting at $349. The ASUS Eee PC 1015PEM is available today, in red, blue, pink, black, or white.
Rumored T-Mobile doc pegs myTouch HD with front-facing camera, screen sharing, and 'dual processor'
Now that T-Mobile's got its G2 slider out in the open, the cosmic universe reckons it's time to look towards the next HSPA+ device -- and the next iteration of the Android-laden myTouch series. We've seen alleged pics of the myTouch HD before, and now TmoNews has what it claims is an internal document from the carrier boasting some of the key features of the device. Sure, it could be all for naught, but let's hear this one out. According to the alleged paper, the myTouch HD runs on "America's largest 4G network" (that's gonna make some eyes roll) and has a 3.8-inch screen, Swype, 4GB internal space, a bundled 8GB SD card, a five megapixel rear camera, and a VGA camera on the front for video chat over Qik or Yahoo Messenger. There's also talk of screen sharing for pictures and video onto a HDTV, but that could be something as simple as HDMI output. Something tells us the 1GHz "dual processor" is more than likely a typo that's meant to say dual-core, à la the Snapdragon chips, but when you're dealing in the world of the unconfirmed, we suppose anything's possible.
Qualcomm: 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon devices to arrive at end of 2011, 1.2GHz in Q1
Bad news: Qualcomm's just informed us that while it's still on track to ship the juicy 1.5GHz dual-core QSD8672 Snapdragon in Q4 this year, the end-user devices aren't expected to hit the market until the end of 2011 -- potentially almost a whole year later than its previous "early next year" or "by Christmas" prediction. What a shame. On a slightly more positive beat, though, the lesser 1.2GHz dual-core MSM8x60 chipset should be heading towards consumers early next year. Alas, this won't change the fact that we'll still need something to fill the void until 2011 -- Windows Phone 7, we're looking at you.
Acer introduces Atom D525-equipped Aspire Revo 3700, your den swoons
Ah, hello again! It seems like just yesterday that we were talking up Acer's latest Aspire Revo -- a '3600' model equipped with a dual-core Atom 330 and NVIDIA's Ion graphics system. Nearly a year to the day, we're now faced with the company's latest and greatest subcompact, the Aspire Revo 3700. As far as evolutionary advancements go, this one's fairly predictable -- within the one-liter box is a 1.8GHz Atom D525 dual-core processor, NVIDIA's next-generation Ion platform, support for 1080p video playback, a 500GB hard drive, four USB 2.0 ports, 4GB of DDR3 memory, VGA / HDMI outputs, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, gigabit Ethernet and a mini PCIe slot. It's expected to ship later this year with a $580 price tag, but it's still a TV tuner shy of being exactly what our living room asked for.
Samsung's Orion is the 1GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 we've all been waiting for
We still consider Samsung's Hummingbird application processor to be among the very best for mobile computers, but this morning Sammy itself is stepping up the charge to make it look real old real fast. The freshly announced dual-core Orion promises to whip us all into a frenzy of geek lust with "5 times the 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation from Samsung," 1080p video encoding and decoding at 30fps, embedded GPS, a native triple display controller, and on-chip HDMI 1.3a interface. Those last two bits mean you can drive two displays on your mobile device while feeding a third, such as a HDTV, all thanks to the one all-powerful chip inside. Availability for "select customers" is coming late this year, with mass production set for the first half of 2011. To say we're looking forward to it would be a massive understatement.
Hannspree pairs Android 2.2 with Tegra 2 for a 10.1-inch multitouch tablet
Yearning for a bit of dual-core action on the move? Who isn't. Hannspree will soon try to quell that 1080p-sized hunger in all of us with its freshly announced €399 ($507) Froyo tablet. There's no lack of spec sheet ambition here: a 1GHz Tegra 2 SOC is surrounded by 16GB of internal storage (expandable via MicroSD), an accelerometer, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, a 1,024 x 600-pixel capacitive touchscreen, and mini versions of HDMI and USB ports. Flash 10.1 is also proudly supported, while the 3,500mAh battery is said to last up to 8 hours when playing 1080p movies. We'd be getting real excited right about now, but we've learnt to be cautious with such lofty promises -- remember the Gemini?
HP bringing dual-core Atom N550 to Mini 5103, other netbooks expected to follow
HP only just rolled out its Mini 5103 business netbook earlier this month, but it looks like it might already be set to get an upgrade -- a newly-discovered support document on HP's own site clearly lists the new dual-core Atom N550 processor alongside the current Atom N455 and N475 options. No indication of any other changes beyond that, but this should only just be the beginning of broader rollout for the dual-core CPU -- CNET says it expects a full refresh to hit HP's consumer netbooks next month.
Dual-core Atom-powered Gigabyte and Lenovo netbooks up for sale in Australia
As promised, we've been keeping an ear to the ground on Intel's new mobile, dual-core Atom processor, and as luck would have it a number of netbooks are popping up with the new CPU baked in...well, at least in the land down under. Australian e-tailer Pena.au has 10.1-inch netbooks from both Gigabyte and Lenovo listed on its site with the fresh 1.5GHz Atom N550 processor. The Gigabyte T1005M convertible -- or netvertible, as we like to call it -- is much like the T1000, and still has a 1,366x768 pixel capacitive touch display, USB 3.0 ports, and an eSATA jack. It sounds like a pretty impressive little system, but it's listed for 905 Australia dollars, which translates to about $800 US. That's a bit steep, but Aussies looking for something more affordable have the N550-powered Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 to choose from as well -- although that too is listed for a pricey $699 Australian (about $617 US). We're assuming the dual-core CPU adds about $50 to $75 to the average single-core netbook selling price, but here's hoping that the prices are a bit lower once they hit this side of the hemisphere.
Qualcomm to ship 1.5GHz QSD8672 Snapdragon processor in Q4
And you thought a dual-core 1.2GHz chip was quick. If all goes to plan (that's a big "if," by the way), Qualcomm will one-up its Computex standout before the end of this year, with vice president of product management Mark Frankel affirming that his company is on track to ship a 1.5GHz dual-core QSD8672 chip prior to the dawn of 2011. He's quoted as saying that the blazing new Snapdragon could find a home in smartphones, low-cost laptops and tablet PCs, and while we're led to believe that the vast majority of said products won't actually greet consumers until early next year, a few aggressive partners may get wares out "by Christmas." For those unfamiliar, the fancy new 8672 is based on an ARM design and will be crafted using a 45nm process technology, and the individual voltage scaling will enable each core to be clocked independently of the other in order to maximize battery life and performance. Naturally, 1080p video playback will be supported, as will DDR2, DDR3 and HDMI interfaces. Oh, and don't sweat it -- you've still got plenty of time to get on Santa's 'good' list.
VIA reveals 1.6GHz Nano DC processor at Computex, shows it handling 720p (video)
Guess who showed up at Computex with an all-new dual-core processor? Nah, we're not referring to AMD or Intel (though they certainly did) -- we're talking about VIA. The company quietly (re)introduced a dual-core desktop chip here in Taipei, with the codename Nano DC being used to describe it for the time being. The device utilized a VN1000 Digital Media Chipset and fully supported dual-channel DDR3 memory. A Chrome 520 GPU was helping to push out a 720p movie trailer on the demo system, and the innate compatibility with HDMI and DisplayPort should keep home cinema owners happy. The 65nm chip was clocked at 1.6GHz, and we were told that it wouldn't be venturing into mobile machines in its current form. 'Course, this device has been a bit of unicorn for the past couple of years, but company representatives seemed certain that it would finally be ready to ship (using a different process technology, mind you) in around six months. We shall see. Live action video is just past the break. %Gallery-94153%
Qualcomm ships first dual-core Snapdragon chipsets clocking 1.2GHz
Oh yeah baby, Qualcomm's finally shipping its first dual-core Snapdragons. To whom, is the big question. Its third-generation Mobile Station Modem MSM8260 and MSM8660 Snapdragon chipsets for high-end smartphones -- originally announced in February 2009 -- are now sampling and capable of running at up to 1.2GHz. The MSM8260 supports HSPA+, while the MSM8660 brings support for multi-mode HSPA+ and 1xEV-DO Rev. B. Both integrate GPS, a GPU with 2D / 3D acceleration engines for Open GL ES 2.0 and Open VG 1.1, 1080p video encoding and decoding, a dedicated low-power audio engine, and support for 24-bit WXGA 1,280 x 800 pixel displays. Anybody at Computex care to step forward with a reference design? Update: We just spoke with company representatives here at the show, and try as we may, we couldn't convince anyone at the company to show off a dual-core reference design. We were flat-out told that the only people at Computex getting a glimpse at the new silicon were prospective customers, though we did manage to pry out a few interesting details about the chip itself and the future of the line. For one, these new chips have two application cores and a single modem core, whereas existing chips have a single application core alongside a single modem core. We were also told in no uncertain terms that an even quicker version of the Snapdragon would be launched before the year's end, and as you'd likely surmise, it'll be aimed at "larger screen" devices -- you know, like slates and tablet PCs. [Image courtesy of Carina Larsson]
Intel is down with tablets and razor thin netbooks, yo
With Microsoft's Courier canned, and HP's Slate suffering a debilitating identity crisis, what's a WinTel fan to do? Easy, wait for Computex set to kickoff on June 1st in Taipei. According to Intel's Mooly Eden, Vice President of PC Client Group and all around hip dude, that's when Intel will respond to ARM and its Apple iPad lovechild. Speaking at the Intel Investor Meeting on Tuesday, Mooly rapped: "People ask me, are you serious about trying to participate in the tablet market? The answer is yes, we are going to have tablets... stay tuned for Computex. We are going to design silicon for this category and we are going to actively participate in this category." Gauntlet, thrown. Mooly also took the opportunity to show off a razor thin netbook reference design that he expects to see on the market "sooner or later" sporting a hard working dual-core Pineview-class Atom CPU to support heavy-duty multi-tasking OSes -- the same chips that are apparently at the heart of Intel's tablet ambitions. See the incredibly thin netbook prototype after the break along with a few choice grabs of Mooly raising the roof.
Samsung's ARM roadmap lays coordinates through 2013: Aquila, Venus, and Draco (oh my)
Ah, leaked company presentation slides, they have a clarity only Mr. Blurrycam would despise. EETimes got a batch of them from Samsung dated November 2009 making the rounds, but more important than revealing its equal love for both Roman and Greek mythology, we get a glimpse at its then-planned ARM chip roadmap (yeah, another one) through 2013. In a nutshell, for the Cortex A9 crowd we've got the 800MHz dual core "Orion" due for mass production in Q1 2011, a 1GHz single core "Pegasus" for Q4 2011, a 1GHz dual core "Hercules" for Q1 2012, and for sometime in 2012 / 2013, a 1.2GHz dual core "Draco" and quad core "Aquila." Fear not, Cortex A5 fanatics, you've got gifts as well, in the form of 600MHz single core "Mercury" and dual core "Venus" chips, slated for 2010 / 2011 and 2012 / 2013, respectively. We don't expect the nomenclature to extend beyond internal usage, but frankly, who cares -- it's the devices that count, and unfortunately all we can do is doodle our future gadget hopes and dreams onto scraps of paper while we wait.
Intel wraps up 'best first quarter ever' by teasing new dual-core Atoms for Q2
Android support for Moorestown isn't the only morsel of Intel news to come out today. In an earnings call today that kicked off with word of a 288 percent year-over-year net income increase -- its "best first [fiscal] quarter ever" reportedly -- Intel CEO Paul Otellini said, "the next innovation coming out on Atom is dual core, which comes out in the second quarter." Given dual core Atoms already exist for nettops, we're gonna guess he's referring specifically to netbooks. That jibes pretty well with what we heard about the supposed D510 remake as N500. Guess we've got something to look forward to in the netbook category over the next few months.
Notion Ink Adam still alive, working on Flash compatibility
It was three months ago, in the midst of the most tablet-centric CES in recent memory, that we first laid our hands on Notion Ink's impressive Adam prototype. Since then, we've been on the lookout for signs that the small Indian startup will actually deliver on the tablet's lofty promises, and while that still seems to be on track, the latest update from the company's founder is casting doubt on the originally planned June release date. Stressing the need to agree subsidization deals with telecoms for the 3G-equipped device, Rohan Shravan explains that "some want to give you Adam for Thanksgiving, some for summer holidays." Add in his resolute commitment to only going ahead with the tablet when it's fully capable of running Flash (seriously Adobe, the thing can do 1080p video, but Flash makes it wince?), and you have a significantly more elastic release window than we were originally led to believe. All the same, Rohan couldn't leave us without some titillation, and he also promises "amazing freedom" on the email front and a number of content collaborations that he's not yet allowed to announce. If you ask us, we just want something -- anything -- with a Pixel Qi display; we'll make up our own content, just give us the hardware already. [Thanks, Srikanth]
ST-Ericsson's U8500 brings dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 to the Android world
Can't get enough of hearing about implementations of ARM's Cortex-A9 MPCore processors? Good. ST-Ericsson's powerhouse U8500 system-on-chip has come a major step closer to appearing in mainstream devices with today's newly announced support for the Android operating system. Having optimized the OS to take advantage of Symmetric Multi Processing -- a method for extending battery life by sharing the load between the two processing cores and underclocking when necessary -- the partner company is now ready to start dropping these 1.2GHz dual-core beasts inside the next generation of smartphones. The claim is that you'll get all that additional power while sacrificing nothing, as devices based on the U8500 would maintain "the cost and power consumption characteristics of a traditional feature phone." We're promised built-in HDMI-out support, 1080p video recording, and 120 hours of audio playback or 12 hours of Full HD video off a 1,000mAh battery -- pledges we'd very much like to see fulfilled.
Intel teases six-core Gulftown, discusses tera-scale computing
The 32nm dual-core Clarkdale processors that recently made their debut are about to pave the way for Intel's next performance crown chaser, the six-core Gulftown. You might've known that already, but Intel's decided to furnish us with the above slide detailing the particular differences between the two dies, with the most notable being the whopping 1.17 billion transistors that the new CPU will be composed of. The major attraction of Clarkdale chips lies in their power efficiency and competent integrated GPU, but the Gulftown focus will be firmly on the high end. Hence, there's no integrated graphics, but the built-in memory controller supports three channels of DDR3 RAM and even plays nice with lower-powered 1.35-volt sticks. There's also confirmation that the forthcoming hex-core chip will fit inside the familiar LGA-1366 socket, so if you bought a high end Core i7, worry not, you'll be able to replace your still blisteringly quick CPU with an even faster beast. Quad-core variants -- by virtue of disabling a pair of cores -- are on the cards as well, while Intel also took the opportunity to delve into questions of 1Tbps+ bandwidth interconnects and its 80-core processor project, but you'll have to hit up the links below to learn more about those.
MSI X-Slim X430 gets an Athlon Neo CPU, Windows 7 and Blu-ray
AMD spoiled MSI's surprise a bit by snagging an X-Slim X430 early for its VISION gala back in September, but now that Windows 7 is out and about, MSI has decided to officialize its latest thin-and-light. Unlike most of its rivals, this one shuns Intel's CULV lineup and instead relies on a dual-core AMD Athlon Neo X2 CPU, and with Win7 Home Premium at the helm, performance shouldn't be too much of an issue when it comes to handling basic tasks. There's also a 14-inch display (1,366 x 768), 2GB of RAM, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, HDMI / VGA sockets, an SD card slot, a 320GB or 500GB HDD and even an optional Blu-ray drive (albeit an external one). 4 and 8-cell batteries will also be available, and at 3.3 pounds, we're guessing you won't need to bulk up before slapping this in your knapsack.
Intel purportedly fast-tracking Pine Trail platform, forgetting all about N270 / N280 at CES
Say it with us now: "freaking finally!" The world at large seems perfectly fine with using Atom N270 and N280 CPUs for the rest of eternity (judging by the latest netbook sales figures, anyway), but techies like us are sick and tired of dabbling with the same underpowered chips and the same lackluster capabilities. At long last, we're hearing that Intel will supposedly officially announce the Pine Trail platform in late December, with a raft of netbooks based around the new Pineview chips hitting the CES show floor in January. The 1.66GHz Atom N450, dual-core 1.66GHz Atom D510 and Atom D410 are expected to be all the rage at the show, with the existing N270 and N280 making an expedited trip to the grave. Good riddance, we say.
