Wednesday, March 9, 2011

AMD Bulldozer and Llano launch dates reportedly leaked

Rumours are going around about the expected release date for the AMD Llano and Bulldozer. Xbit Labs,says that some of its indutry sources ahve leaked the luanch dates for the new APUs. According to the site's sources, AMD will start shipping its brand new high-end desktop Bulldozer APUs on the week commencing 20 June 2011.These will likely compete with Intel's LGA1366 and the upcoming LGA 2011 series chips.
According to the website's sources, the Bulldozer APUs will come in eight-core, six-core and quad-core variants, which will be released with the FX8000, FX6000 and FX4000 model names respectively.
There isn't much fothcoming information about the mid-range and mobile-targeted Llano parts, but Xbit's sources say that AMD will ship these in the week commencing 4 July. On the other hand, Turkish tech site Donanim haber is running with a purportedly leaked Power Point slide detailing what looks like AMD’s mobile CPU line-up for the next two years, spanning everything from sub-12in portables to performance machines.
Click for a larger image


The slide details three types of Llano chips for 2011, coming in two-core, three-core and quad-core variants. According to the slide, all the CPUs will support 1,600MHz DDR3 memory, and will also feature integrated DirectX 11 GPUs.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Gigabyte Claim World's First Overclocking Mobo

Gigabyte Claim World's First Overclocking Mobo

CeBIT 2011: AMD Demos Llano Behind Closed Doors : AMD Demos Mobile Llano

CeBIT 2011: AMD Demos Llano Behind Closed Doors : AMD Demos Mobile Llano

Powercolor PCS ++ The "+" "+" stands for the position any consumer will enjoy. Teh beauty of AMD Radeon 6950 and 6970 in One Card!!

So you have been thinking of buying a new AMD Radeon 6950 and flashing it to the Radeon 6970? Alas some of us haven't got around either being n00bs or are to oscared to flash their device for fear of invalidating their warranties. Well, fear not, you have hope now. Powercolor have just released the PCS++ version of the Radeon 6950. This one boasts proper use of the AMD dual BIOS in the card. That is, They have included both the 6950 as well as the 6970's BIOS in the card itself. At just a flick of the button you get the more powerful Radeon 6970. And the best part - it is valid as far as warranty is concerned and more importantly, the card is specifically designed to handle the heat generated by the Radeon 6970 model. Win - win situation. So how well does this idea fare? Check out the link below for the review.

Powercolor HD6950 PCS++ 2GB Review – dual action | KitGuru

 

Motorola Xoom costs $360 to build but sells for $799

Motorola Xoom TabletOne of Apple's best management practices is sourcing their materials at the cheapest rate by buying in huge quantities. This is basic commerce as we all know. Every organisation tries to achieve economies of scale. This in turn helps them get a competitive advantage over their rivals. IHS iSuppli estimates the bill of materials of the Motorola Xoom at $360, while Apple's first-gen iPad (32 GB/3G) was estimated at roughly $320. The estimated difference of $40 turns into $70 in the store, as the Xoom sells for $799 and the comparable iPad for $729. With a two-year 3G commitment, the Xoom sells for $599 at Verizon, while there is no such discount currently available for the iPad. 
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"With its features and functionality, the Xoom is clearly designed to go head-to-head against the iPad 3G," Wayne Lam, an analyst with IHS iSuppli, wrote in a March 1 research note. "In pursuing that design philosophy, Motorola has closely lined up the Xoom's component costs with that of the iPad's, especially where it counts: in the touch screen, the display and the cellular radio." We are now waiting for a first cost estimate for the ipad 2, which should, despite the additions of cameras go down, due to Apple's long term material supply contracts as well as obvious integration improvements.

Apple's cost advantages are substantial pressure for its rivals. Motorola, Samsung, RIM and others will have to find ways to compete with Apple on a cost level - not just on a feature level - as tablets move more and more into the mainstream.

VIDEO: Adreno 220 GPU in Desert Winds Demo

During Mobile World Congress 2011, Qualcomm presented a "Desert Winds" demo using its new Adreno 220 GPU and the dual-core Snapdragon MSM8660 chipset. The GPU displayed mind blowing graphics performance in the form of the female warrior Amira taking on a giant jumping scorpion named Alacran.

"Desert Winds was shown in stereoscopic and non-stereoscopic 3D via HDMI out to a 55-inch HD LCD display," the company said. "As with Qualcomm’s other dual-core Snapdragon MSM8660 demos at the show, the new Desert Winds game was running on the Snapdragon Mobile Development Platform (MDP), which is a device available to developers who want early access to Snapdragon chipsets and Adreno GPUs."

"With more Android devices based on Snapdragon and Adreno and with over 100 games optimized for Snapdragon and Adreno, it seems clear that the mobile industry is already well aware of the many advantages that Snapdragon and its Adreno GPU [offer]," said Brent Sammons, graphics product manager, Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.

"In my opinion, it was apparent at this year’s Mobile World Congress that Qualcomm is well-positioned to continue its strong momentum in providing OEMs and 3D game developers with a powerful and efficient graphics platform that brings more of the industry’s latest and best 3D games to more smartphones, tablets and laptops everywhere," he added.

 

Catch this video of the Adreno 220 GPU in action.

 

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Hot on the heels of iPad 2 release, Microsoft release IE 9

Not to be outdone by Apple, Microsoft has just released the IE 9. As it is right now, this is what Microsoft tweeted over an hour ago. So for all those who were enthralled by the beta release of IE 9 here is the link for the actual release
Beauty of the web

Gizmodo have a hands on with new iPad 2!

iPad 2 Hands On: It Really Is Different

iPad2 is Finally here!

The wait is over. The iPad2 has been released. It will be available from March 11, 2011 for $499. The device sports a 1Ghz Dual Core A5 processor and boasts a 10 hr battery life. As expected, Facetime makes an appearance here with its front facing camera. The rear Camera can record videos in 720p whereas the front facing camera is a VGA one that can record videos up to 30 fps. You can change the look and feel of your iPad with Smart Covers. Yep, you know your little sister is going to get the Pink one. It has a 9.7 inch (diagonally) LED Display with IPS providing a viewing angle of 178 degrees. the Apple website already show that it will be available on both AT&T and Verizon. the iPad 2 introduces "Airprint", using which you can wirelessly print your pictures from supported devices using Wi-Fi. As expected, the devices sports iOS 4 and is only 0.34 inches thick. There is absolutely no difference between the Wi-Fi version and the Wi-Fi + 3G version except that the Wi-Fi + 3G version weighs a bit more. You have three flavours - 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. Here is the Apple video of the iPad 2.

Jaguar XFR review - Top Gear - BBC

Crysis 2 will Launch with DX 9!

Crysis 2 is all set to launch, but with DX 9. Talk about Epic Fail! Hopefully, it won't be for long. Crytek and EA are expected to release DX 11 support through a patch. But the question still remains, why release Crysis 2 in the first place without DX 11? especially considering that CEO Cevat Yerli has put his name on the line saying this will still be a huge hit on the PC and they have spent considerable time on PC making sure PC fans are not disappointed. Check out the multiplayer demo videos below. As you can see, the servers are full and this is just a Demo!!



Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Thermaltake Level 10GT review and videos.

It was Hexus that brought out the first preview of this chasis, it seems like they are the first to do a review. Something even I  wouldn't let go off because the hoopla surrounding its elder sibling the Level 10. I also managed to find two videos of this. The first one is just an unboxing but it shows you the works. The second one is a more comprehensive overview and detailed insight into ow this case actually looks and feels after a complete hardware installation by Cyberpowerpc.
HEXUS.net - Review :: Thermaltake Level 10 GT chassis review : Page - 1/4


AMD Radeon 6990 pics out! the beast is finally seen

The battle is about to begin. Both AMD and NVIDIA are poised to launch their high end dual-GPU cards this month. Hexus had posted a few leaked pics of the 6990 a few days ago. Now it seems there is more concrete evidence of the existence of the AMD Radeon 6990. Will this beat the NVIDIA GTX 590 and keep its crown as king of the dual-GPU jungle or will NVIDIA reign supreme. Only time will tell. Till then here is a look at the brand new 6990 in full glory.
 A look at this and you feel like as if you just went to buy a Merc and ended up with something having the look of the Polo. For a high end beast that it is, this card has a very understated presence. Crouching tiger hidden dragon one may say.

 Following tradition from the Radeon 5970, this one is also expected to be nothing but two 6970's packed onto the same PCB. This means that there are somewhere around 3000 plus shader units onboard, not to mention some expect this to come in both 2GB and 4GB flavours which is yet unconfirmed.
 The Radeon 6990 is expected to be in the TDP bracket of about 300W.
The release dates of both the AMD Radeon 6990 and the NVIDIA GTX 590 are not known at this moment. A closely guarded secret in a cat and mouse game between both the companies.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

USS Ronald Reagan video

Found this one on NGC. You gotta admit, this is one monster of a carrier. My sister actually wondered if this was the WMD they were looking for. Jokes apart, it is a marvel of modern technology.

Former Apple manager may get 20 years for leaking Apple secrets

You don't mess with the Steve
You got that right, don't mess with AppleA former Apple manager, Paul Devine, learnt that the hard way. He has pleaded guilty to accusations of wire fraud and money laundering. His sentence will be read on June 6 and he could face up to 20 years in prison.


Lockheed F-35A and F-35C(Navy variant) Flight videos

Here are a few videos as promised. The first one is a F-35A Flight photoshoot. However, the plane is in actual flight and it is actual footage. The second one is the real production piece in action a few days ago during its test flight


What happens when you pour LN2 on a road?

A few guys from Erodov decided to give this idea a shot. This is something they did at 3 AM in the city of Bangalore, India. Check out the video below.