Continue reading AMD launches R-Series chip for next-gen casinos, surveillance systems, distractions

AMD launches R-Series chip for next-gen casinos, surveillance systems, distractions originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Accuracy is generally an important consideration in computer chips, but a team of researchers led by Rice University are touting a new "inexact" chip (dubbed PCMOS) that they say could lead to as much as a fifteen-fold increase in efficiency. Their latest work, which won a best paper award at a recent ACM conference, builds on years of research in the field from the university, and is already moving far beyond the lab -- some inexact hardware is being used in the "i-slate" educational tablet developed by the Rice-NTU Institute for Sustainable and Applied Infodynamics, 50,000 of which are expected to wind up in India's Mahabubnagar school district over the next three years. As for the chips themselves, their inexactness comes not just from one process, but a variety of different measures that can be used on their own or together -- including something the researchers describe as "pruning," which eliminate rarely used portions of the chip. All of that naturally comes with some trade-offs (less defined video processing is one example given), but the researchers say those are often outweighed by the benefits -- like cheaper, faster chips that require far less power.

Researchers tout efficiency breakthrough with new 'inexact' chip originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 May 2012 06:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Intel had already promised that it would avoid using conflict minerals, and now it's giving itself a more concrete timetable for that to happen. It wants to have at least one processor that's proven completely conflict-free across four key minerals -- gold, tantalum, tin and tungsten -- by the end of 2013. Lest you think Intel's not taking swift enough action, it wants to reach the tantalum goal by the end of this year. The effort's part of a wider array of goals that should cut back on the energy use, power and water use by 2020. Sooner rather than later, though, you'll be buying a late-generation Haswell- or Broadwell-based PC knowing that the chip inside was made under nobler conditions.

Continue reading Intel wants to have conflict-free processors by the end of 2013

Intel wants to have conflict-free processors by the end of 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 19:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

VIA is planning to get some serious mileage out of its Eden X2 processor -- in the most literal sense possible. It's now producing the AMOS-3002, a Pico-ITX-sized PC intended for in-car infotainment and other situations where an embedded PC needs to have a little more juice for media tasks. The Eden X2 in question comes in a dual-core 1GHz flavor that's completely fanless, but it's fast enough to show 1080p video (when your car is parked, we hope) and can handle more intensive work like dual gigabit Ethernet jacks, optional 3G and even a 2.5-inch hard drive. That breadbox-sized shell can also take a lot of abuse, surviving temperatures between -4F and 140F as well as 50 Gs' worth of shock. You'll have to wait until your favorite car designer or digital sign maker uses the AMOS-3002 to see it in action, but until then, you can get the full details after the break.

Continue reading VIA unveils fanless, Eden X2-packing AMOS-3002, promises tiny dual-core PC in your car

VIA unveils fanless, Eden X2-packing AMOS-3002, promises tiny dual-core PC in your car originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 18:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you've been following AMD's game plan over the last couple of years, then you probably won't be totally shocked by what follows. That said, reviewers' verdicts of the new high-end Trinity laptop APU, the 2.3GHz quad-core A10-4600M, do include some dizzying highs and despairing lows, which are still kinda surprising in their own way. Like how? Well, HotHardware found that AMD's chip beats Intel's Ivy Bridge (with integrated HD 4000 graphics) by 30 to 50 percent in some games, albeit with a few stumbles over immature DX11 drivers. Similarly, AnandTech's handy table above shows just how far ahead Trinity is across fifteen common titles. On the other hand, most reviewers found that non-gaming CPU performance fell far short of Ivy Bridge and even Sandy Bridge mobile chips. For example, Hexus's Geekbench scores put the APU 40 percent behind last year's Dell XPS 15z, which is totally underwhelming. So, as usual, it'll all depend on what you need a laptop for -- but if you're after something that costs $699 or less, handles regular day-to-day tasks okay and can also play current games with decent frame-rates, then you'll be keen to conduct further research at the links below.

Read - HotHardware
Read - AnandTech
Read - Hexus
Read - PC Perspective

AMD Trinity laptop review roundup: beats Ivy Bridge on gaming, but CPU lets the herd down originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 08:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Itching for the details of AMD's latest Accelerated Processing Units (APUs)? Then get ready to scratch: Trinity has arrived and, as of today, it's ready to start powering the next generation of low-power ultra-portables, laptops and desktops that, erm, don't run Intel. The new architecture boasts up to double the performance-per-watt of last year's immensely popular Llano APUs, with improved "discrete-class" integrated graphics and without adding to the burden on battery life. How is that possible? By how much will Trinity-equipped devices beat Intel on price? And will it play Crysis: Warhead? Read on to find out.

Gallery: AMD reveals Trinity APU

Continue reading AMD reveals Trinity specs, claims to beat Intel on price, multimedia, gaming

AMD reveals Trinity specs, claims to beat Intel on price, multimedia, gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 May 2012 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ivy Bridge, Intel's first generation of chips to use the 22nm fabrication process, is hardly out of the gate, and yet talk has already turned to the company's next manufacturing technologies. According to Xbit Labs, which got its hands on some telltale slides, Paul Otellini et al. have the roadmap for 10nm, 7nm and 5nm processes locked down, and the company is preparing fabs in the states and Ireland to make chips using the 14nm fabrication method. Given that timeframe, Intel says 10nm chips will ship in 2015, with work on 5nm technology beginning that same year. While the slides in question look legit -- and that timeline matches previous reports -- we're not sure just when these mystery slides first made the rounds. Alas, we'll have a good few years to sort 5nm fact from fiction.

Intel sets sights on 5nm chip; already gearing up fabs for 14nm production originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 May 2012 10:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

NVIDIA confirms no 'Project Grey' until 2013, Tegra 3 LTE later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 May 2012 15:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Not exactly groundbreaking news here -- Clearwire's impending LTE TDD network is happening, regardless -- but it's always good to have the weight of a mainstay like Qualcomm behind you. Particularly when you're pushing uphill, into the wind, against far more established 4G networks from AT&T and Verizon Wireless. Qually has announced that it'll soon add support for the aforesaid waves, including Clearwire in its list of partners ready to ingest those multi-mode LTE chipsets that are so vital to our future enjoyment. The key here is support for 3GPP's Band 41 (B41) radio frequency, and we're told that the outfit plans to make chipsets supporting that band available "later this year." You're cool to wait, right?

Continue reading Qualcomm gets on the Band 41 bandwagon, pledges support for Clearwire's upcoming LTE TDD network

Qualcomm gets on the Band 41 bandwagon, pledges support for Clearwire's upcoming LTE TDD network originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 15:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you read our interview with ARM co-founder John Biggs, you know the company behind the processor in most smartphones had quite modest beginnings, what with an office in a barn and all. But Biggs is only part of the story, and Reghardware fleshes the rest out with a two-part series on the "unsung heroes of tech": Sophie Wilson, Steve Furber and Herman Hauser, the team behind Acorn Computers, the British PC company that spawned ARM in the mid-80s. We'll let you click through to the source links to take the journey yourself, but here are a few highlights: earning a computer contract with the BBC, happening upon ARM chips' low power consumption by accident and striking gold thanks to a partnership with Apple.

Series revisits ARM's humble beginnings, BBC Micro and all originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 May 2012 10:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Not all iPads are made equal, even if they're all packaged and branded identically. There's a major new mutation within the 2nd generation tablet and it brings significantly better battery life. Specifically, the fourth and latest production model of the iPad 2 (known as iPad2,4) has not only a lower price tag ($399) but also a new 32nm processor, which is significantly smaller and more efficient than those in previous iPad 2s (which had 45nm chips and an older transistor design). According to AnandTech, this results in an overall 16 percent increase in battery life during web browsing and as much as a 30 percent boost when playing games. Obviously that's worth having, but how can you tell if a boxed-up iPad 2 has the new processor before taking it to the checkout? Here's the downer: you can't. Until retailers' inventories naturally flood with the updated type, the only way to tell is by switching the slate on and running a utility like GeekBench -- and perhaps there'll be circumstances where you can give that a go on the shop floor. Alternatively, if third-party sellers discover that their stock is the iPad2,4, they could pull off a Darwinian win-win by marketing that fact to buyers.

Buying an iPad 2? Here's the rarer, more efficient specimen you need to (somehow) track down originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 May 2012 05:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We know TSMC's energy-miser 28-nanometer manufacturing process has a lot of headroom, but the company just ratcheted expectations up by a few notches. Lab workers at Taiwan's semiconductor giant have successfully run a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor at 3.1GHz under normal conditions. That's a 55 percent higher clock speed than the 2GHz maximum that TSMC normally offers, folks, and about twice as fast as a 40nm chip under the same workload. Don't expect that kind of clock speed from your next smartphone or tablet, though: expect processors of this caliber to find "high-performance uses," which takes us that much closer to NVIDIA's Project Denver as well as other ARM-based desktops, notebooks and servers that should give x86 chips a run for their money.

TSMC ramps 28nm ARM Cortex-A9 chip to 3.1GHz, gives your desktop jitters originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 May 2012 09:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We hear that pilgrims have already started flocking to the town of Ivybridge (population 12,056) in the forested depths of southwest England. Very soon though, you'll be able to pay homage to Moore's law without travelling further than your favorite online retailer, because the third generation of Intel Core processors has just launched and should be available to buy before the end of this month. These include eight different variants of Core i7 for desktops and notebooks (including Ultrabooks of course), plus five types of Core i5 destined for desktops only. Those watching out for cheaper dual-core i5, i3 and Pentium-branded options will have to wait a little longer, because today's launch is all about the high-end. And just how high is 'high'? Judging from the gossip we've heard, and from benchmarks of leaked desktop and notebook chips, we're looking a significant improvement over Sandy Bridge. But if you want the first official boasts, then read on.

Gallery: Intel Ivy Bridge official slides and benchmarks

Continue reading Intel puts Ivy Bridge on the map: first 22nm product, decent official benchmarks, desktop quad-cores from $174

Intel puts Ivy Bridge on the map: first 22nm product, decent official benchmarks, desktop quad-cores from $174 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

So, there's still a little while to go before Intel gives Ivy Bridge a full unveiling, with official benchmarks, pricing and all those trimmings. But in the meantime, the BBC has detailed just how different this new architecture is compared to 32nm chips like Sandy Bridge and also AMD's coming Trinity processors. Most of this stuff we already knew -- like the fact that Intel has switched to a 3D or 'tri-gate' transistor design -- but what's new is a direct and official boast about performance. According to Kirk Skaugen, Chipzilla's PC chief, we can expect Ivy Bridge to deliver "20 percent more processor performance using 20 percent less average power." Now, judging from leaked desktop and laptop benchmarks, this broad-brush claim masks some very different realities depending on what type of CPU or GPU workloads you want throw at the chip, so stay tuned for more detail very soon.

Intel's Ivy Bridge will offer '20 percent more performance with 20 percent less average power' originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Encroaching into the semiconductor business might not seem the most obvious move for a phone manufacturer that's trying to unify its efforts. Nevertheless, China Times reports that HTC has signed a "memorandum of cooperation" with ST-Ericsson to co-develop a new dedicated chip for low-end handsets coming out next year. Since ST-Ericsson is a fabless chip designer, HTC won't risk getting silicon between its fingernails. Instead, if this agreement is what it seems, the Taiwanese manufacturer may simply want more direct control over its supply chains and to reduce its current reliance on ready-made designs from Qualcomm or NVIDIA. After all, it can't be easy for HTC's new CFO, looking on while others gobble up those margins.

China Times: HTC wants to develop its own processors for low-end phones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 05:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This isn't the easiest time to be an AMD fan. The company's eight-core FX-8150 desktop chip was widely panned on the review circuit, and then NVIDIA's GTX 680 graphics card ran off with Radeon HD's thunder. Even when you look at notebook processors, where AMD has long excelled with its Fusion APUs, the hype wars currently favor Ultrabooks and Ivy Bridge. Affection for the gamers' brand and its ATI back-story may make this stuff uncomfortable, but the predicament is already starting to mess with AMD's balance sheet. Which raises the obvious question: what's to be done?

Sasa Marinkovic, AMD's Head of Desktop and Software Product Marketing, bravely took up the challenge of providing his side of the story -- even after we warned him that we'd try to disrupt his flow with accusatory glances. In the end, we did get him to acknowledge some recent hard knocks, particularly with respect to the FX chips and their (lack of) single-threaded performance. But we also got some insight into the mind of a chap who remains genuinely and abundantly confident about his employer's future. Read on and see for yourself.

Continue reading The Engadget Interview: AMD's Sasa Marinkovic

The Engadget Interview: AMD's Sasa Marinkovic originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Any troglodytes out there who didn't know that AMD's next APU architecture is inbound? If so, we're gonna toast marshmallows outside your cave and give you a little pre-brief: Trinity will be a range of processors for "performance" notebooks and desktop PCs, which will continue in AMD's Fusion tradition of providing both the CPU and discrete-class graphics in a single-chip, power-efficient design. A potential rival to Ivy Bridge and the coming stampede of Ultrabooks? Yes indeed, although it's too early to say how closely matched these athletes will be, despite some early indications of 4GHz+ clock speeds. Judging from our recent look at a Trinity-packing Compal laptop, undercutting Ultrabooks on price will also be part of AMD's strategy -- along with throwing out Brazos 2.0 APUs to mop up the extreme low-power category. After all, Ivy Bridge probably won't offer truly discrete-class graphics until it's paired with an add-on GPU, which will inevitably bump up its price for gamers and multimedia types. If Trinity serves up great visuals and next-gen performance all in one go, AMD's accountants might be able to leave their subterranean hideouts too.

[Thanks, Tyler]

AMD confirms Trinity and Brazos 2.0 shipping now, globally available 'soon' originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reported Tegra 4 roadmap hints at LTE, Q1 2013 release originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Samsung, NTT DoCoMo, et al. cancel plans for LTE chip joint venture

Samsung, NTT DoCoMo, et al. cancel plans for LTE chip joint venture originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading AMD has a server chip for the cheap seats: the 'desktop-like' Opteron 3200

AMD has a server chip for the cheap seats: the 'desktop-like' Opteron 3200 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

IBM's Holey Optochip transmits 1Tbps of data, is named awesomely originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Intel intros Xeon E5-2600 family, finally ushers servers into the Sandy Bridge era

Intel intros Xeon E5-2600 family, finally ushers servers into the Sandy Bridge era originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 14:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading New Intel Ivy Bridge i5 details leaked in Intel sales book

New Intel Ivy Bridge i5 details leaked in Intel sales book originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Intel reportedly delays Ivy Bridge launch until June, manufacturing process to blame originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Huawei adds home-grown K3V2 quad-core mobile CPU to its arsenal

Huawei adds home-grown K3V2 quad-core mobile CPU to its arsenal originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Samsung demos new 32nm quad-core Exynos ahead of MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

HTC Ville to run on a dual-core Snapdragon S4? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Intel releases Core i7-3820 CPU, proves Sandy Bridge E isn't entirely elitist originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Intel teaches Haswell the core values of teamwork, optimism originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Researchers get CPUs and GPUs talking, boost PC performance by 20 percent originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Taking next-gen augmented reality for an ARM-powered walk around the block

Taking next-gen augmented reality for an ARM-powered walk around the block originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tilera sees sense in the server wars, puts just 36 cores in its newest processor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Intel offers overclocking protection plan, takes Cash4CPUs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Samsung looks to borrow $1 billion to expand production capacity in Austin, Texas originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"This is the greatest platform on Earth right now... way ahead of Apple, and it's the first Cortex-A15 (which runs 2x faster than the Cortex-A9) product on the market. When running two Cortex-A15 chips at 800MHz, it's more or less the same performance as running two Cortex-A9s at 1.5GHz. You'll see [commercially available products] ramping up with this stuff in late 2012 or early 2013. We are also running Windows 8 on the latest OMAP; it runs perfectly well, and we've been working very closely with Microsoft. We're working on multiple form factors -- tablets, thin-and-lights -- and we think ARM is going to bring tablets to the masses."

Gallery: Texas Instruments first-ever OMAP 5 reference design demo at CES 2012

Continue reading Texas Instruments demos first OMAP 5, Android 4.0-based reference design, promises it in laptops next year (video)

Texas Instruments demos first OMAP 5, Android 4.0-based reference design, promises it in laptops next year (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Fuzhou Rockchip hypes RK2918 chip for bargain ICS phones and tablets

Fuzhou Rockchip hypes RK2918 chip for bargain ICS phones and tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading MetroPCS announces Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G, LG Connect 4G handsets

MetroPCS announces Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G, LG Connect 4G handsets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Texas Instruments unveils new car infotainment processors, wireless systems

Texas Instruments unveils new car infotainment processors, wireless systems originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading ZiiLabs debuts '100-core' ZMS-40 processor optimized for Android 4.0, you can call it quad-core

ZiiLabs debuts '100-core' ZMS-40 processor optimized for Android 4.0, you can call it quad-core originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Quanta sues AMD, claims it sold defective products originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.