Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve been hearing about Intel’s Sandy Bridge moniker for over two years now, and though we’re still some months away from their release in early 2011, AnandTech has managed to get one to play with — a Core i5 2400 model running at 3.1GHz, to be exact. Through the course of a typically exhaustive two-part, 15-page report, Anand details exactly how that chip performs and, more recently, what’s coming on the mobile front. For the desktop, the quad-core processor with integrated graphics performs quite well, besting similarly-clocked current processors by around 10 percent while offering similar power consumption. What the chip, and indeed the whole series, doesn’t offer is overclocking — at least not proper overclocking, with Intel locking down both the multiplier and the FSB. On the mobile side things will initially be a bit slower, with clock speeds maxing out at around 2.7GHz, compared to 3.4GHz on the desktop side. But, all mobile chips will have 12 graphics “EUs,” Intel’s arbitrary concept of graphics cores, enough for Anand to conclude that discrete graphics will not be needed for most laptops going forward. That, dear readers, is what we like to call progress.

Intel’s Sandy Bridge CPUs detailed and tested exhaustively, actually made from sand originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It might sound too good to be true, but
mobile rovers can now get unlimited WiMAX data service without
signing up for any pesky contracts. Introducing Rover, a pay-as-you-go 4G mobile broadband service and WiMAX modems.

The Rover Stick, a USB model, and Rover Puck, a 4G mobile hotspot. The Rover Stick is a 4GB USB modem that provides broadband to a laptop, netbook, or computer.

As a portable access point, the Rover Puck can share a single WiMAX connection with up to eight simultaneous Wi-Fi connected users, whether they are on laptops, netbooks, iPad, smartphones, or game consoles.

Both the Puck and Stick are compatible with Windows and Macs.

The Rover Puck also offers Wi-Fi b/g/n with built-in WPA/WEP encryption and can operate two SSIDs simultaneously. The Puck has a range of 100 feet and four hours of battery life.

3G is not available on either the Puck or the Stick. If you are not in a CLEAR service area, these modems will be useless.

There is a a 14-day no-hassle return policy on the Rover modems. New owners receive two days of free service to decide whether or not to keep the phones.

The pay-as-you-go plans are available at $5 a day, $20 a week, or $50 per month. Refills in $20 and $50 denominations will be sold in select stores and online.

The Rover Stick is available for $99.99
and the Rover Puck is priced at $149.99. The Rover modems are
available online and at CLEAR stores.

In the water, we’re such natural swimmers that we sometimes forget what stroke we’re using to propel ourselves through that clear, chlorinated cocktail at the Y. If only we had the Finis Swimsense wrist-worn performance monitor that wouldn’t be a problem. Using internal motion sensors plus a little information from you (such as pool size) the thing can not only tell you how many laps you swam and at what pace, but how many strokes you took to get there and even what style you were using at the time. At the end of the day it’ll spit back total calories burned, which could help us identify just how many crullers we’re allowed to down during our apres-swim donut binges.The Swimsense is slated for release in time for stocking season this year, priced a penny under $200.

Continue reading Finis Swimsense swimming performance monitor can tell a butterfly from a breaststroke

Finis Swimsense swimming performance monitor can tell a butterfly from a breaststroke originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft seems to have caught the hardware tinkering bug. Having overhauled its Xbox 360 design, the software giant is now said to be keeping busy in the lab working on the console’s controller. Such is the word coming from our buddies over at Joystiq, whose reliable source indicates that Redmond will soon produce a new 360 controller with a redesigned D-pad. As the story goes, when you rotate the directional pad ninety degrees, it’ll rise up by about a quarter of an inch, making it more accessible for those that still care to use it (e.g. fighting game fans). No details on what sort of bundled or standalone retail fate this little guy may have, but the holidays are its unsurprising destination. We just hope the Bond-esque mechanism comes with an appropriately futuristic swooshing sound.

Xbox 360 to get fresh controller, better D-pad in time for the holidays? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let’s take a moment to congratulate Toshiba on a fine feat of engineering. It was only last year that the company started shipping 32nm NAND flash memory, and yet today its factories are starting to churn out 24nm chips. Unsurprisingly, this comes with the boast of offering “the world’s highest” density and capacity per single chip, an honor going to the 2 bits-per-cell 64Gb parts. That newfangled Toggle DDR transfer-acceleratin’ technology is also supported, naturally, leaving us only to wonder who’ll be picking up the earliest deliveries of these minuscule data stores.

Continue reading Toshiba sends 24nm NAND flash memory chips into mass production

Toshiba sends 24nm NAND flash memory chips into mass production originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 08:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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