Hasta La Gadget!

According to DigiTimes, processor vendor AMD isn’t terribly concerned about powering the next iPad or even a would-be assassin; the company’s still waiting to see if the tablet market even takes off. The silicon firm will still work on desktop PC products and graphics cards, but is currently focused on graphically potent ultraportables; according to the publication, they’re also not terribly interested in following in competitor Intel’s smartphone footsteps. Of course, that’s the same basic thing AMD execs said in 2008, right before Intel ate their lunch. We reached out to a company spokesperson this afternoon, and received the following statement:

Our current generation of notebook platforms has not been designed for tablets. Our focus continues to be on ultrathin and mainstream notebooks which address the vast majority of the PC market opportunity.

AMD in no rush to build tablets, says netbooks are priority one originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been hearing about / poking fun of ITG’s xpPhone since June of last year, but amazingly enough, we’d yet to actually see one in the flesh until today. Slyly stuck in the back corner of Microsoft’s Computex booth were a trio of xpPhones, at least one of which was shockingly functional. As the story goes, the company has decided to axe Windows XP in favor of a much more lightweight version of WinXP Embedded, and responsiveness seemed suitable enough given the circumstances. And by “circumstances,” we mean “the outrageous size.” You see, we’ve no qualms making and receiving calls on an ultra-sleek Dell Streak, but this bad boy was pushing a solid inch in thickness. Sure, there’s a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, optical sensor and integrated Bluetooth, but that hardly makes it viable in a world where smartphones are thinner than wallets and full-fledged laptops are rolling in at under 10mm. During our time with the device, we found the display to be surprisingly crisp, and while our finger presses were easily recognized, the omission of an accelerometer, the tremendous size, inexcusable weight and the tremendous size kept us from falling head over heels. We will say, though — it’d make a darn good weapon should someone pull a fast one in the alley, and we’d probably buy one for kicks at under $150. Comedy ensues after the break.

Continue reading ITG xpPhone functioning at Computex, we go head-on (video)

ITG xpPhone functioning at Computex, we go head-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 10:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The PC hardware community recently discovered that quad-SLI was a huge waste of cash, so when we heard that TweakTown were stringing together four Radeon HD 5870s in a similar CrossFireX configuration, we figured they were about to throw away their time, too. Boy, were we wrong, because the hardware site never intended to seriously benchmark the rig as a viable gaming PC — their intent was to make our jaws drop, and right now they’re somewhere around our ankles. The contraption brought 3DMark03 to its knees with a soul-shattering score of 200,000 and achieved average framerates approaching a ludicrous four digits in Devil May Cry 4. How? Liquid nitrogen, of course. By attaching LN2-filled copper pots to each of the four already-powerful graphics cards and physically tacking on extra capacitors to direct the voltage, they bumped the Core i7-980X CPU clock to 5.8GHz and each GPU to 1250MHz, in what we think you’ll agree is a healthy jump from 3.06 3.33GHz and 850MHz, respectively. Watch them build the mean machine after the break, and remember kids, don’t try this at home.

Update: The Core i7-980X runs at 3.33GHz, or 3.6GHz in Turbo Mode, not 3.06GHz. Our bad!

Continue reading TweakTown slathers four Radeon HD 5870s in liquid nitrogen, crushes some benchmarks (video)

TweakTown slathers four Radeon HD 5870s in liquid nitrogen, crushes some benchmarks (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 May 2010 13:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If the words “Dell” and “AMD” excite you then lean in, we’ve got something for you. You won’t find it on Dell’s US site just yet, but Dell Singapore is showing off its first laptop to feature AMD’s new Nile-class of processors. The Inspiron M301z starts at $999 (that’s about $715 of the US green stuff) with a 1.3GHz dual-core Athlon II Neo K325 processor (optional 1.5GHz Neo K625), 2GB (up to 4GB supported) of 1,333MHz DDR3 memory and a 320GB hard disk spinning at 7,200RPM, ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4225 integrated graphics, a glossy 13.3-inch WLED display pushing 1,366×768 pixels, and a 6-cell 44WHr battery for up to 5-hours of promised life. It’s available for purchase now in Singapore and likely elsewhere just as soon as the sun begins to warm the western world.

[Thanks, Qayser]

Inspiron M301z: Dell’s first laptop to take on AMD’s new dual-core Neo originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 May 2010 01:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Could 2010 be the year AMD poses a real threat to Intel on the laptop front? Well, you know that rumor that it’s gonna be powering 109 new laptops? Not only is that true, but it’s also going to be in 26 more thin and light systems. Frankly, we’re not all that surprised, particularly since it’s been no huge secret that AMD’s had a bunch of new processors floating about — some of which have been finding homes in new HP, Lenovo, Acer, and Dell laptops. Thankfully, the silicon heavyweight is finally revealing the source of all this mojo by sharing details about these mighty, yet energy efficient slabs of silicon. Up first is the Ultrathin platform (codenamed “Nile”), which now includes the new 23w Turion II Neo dual-core, Athlon II Neo dual-core, and Athlon II Neo processors — there’s clock speed and TDP specifics of each in the gallery, if that’s your sort of thing. To be found in 11- to 13- inch laptops like HP’s dm1 and Acer’s Aspire One 721, the CPUs can be coupled with ATI Radeon HD 5400 or Radeon 4200 integrated graphics options, not to mention DDR3 and Direct X 10.1 support. The biggest change? Apparently, the line up has been improved in terms of battery life and thermals, and AMD’s promising over eight hours of usage when fully charged. Given that battery life and heat were our biggest issues with the previous Neo processors, we’re happy to see those problem areas being addressed, but we’ll believe it when we really test some of these bad boys in the near future.

On the mainstream side of things, AMD continues to cram desktop power into its Athlon II dual-core, Athlon Turion II dual-core, Phenom II dual-, triple- and quad-core processors. There’s 12 new chips in all, but the top of the line 2.3GHz quad-core Phenom II Black Edition X920 is definitely the most juicy, and should give some Core i7 rigs a run for their money. Obviously those powerful CPUs can all be paired with ATI’s Radeon HD 4500 or higher discrete graphics (which will support Direct X11) or a lower-end Radeon 4200 integrated graphics option. Because AMD now likes to use simple terms with its Vision branding, it didn’t provide any hard benchmark numbers, but it promises 80 percent smoother gaming performance than comparable competitive mainstream systems, and 30 percent longer battery life than AMD’s previous generation of processors. Hit the break for the full presser, and click on through the gallery for a closer look at the technical details.

Continue reading AMD promises better battery life and thermals with new Neo CPUs, more power with Phenom II platform

AMD promises better battery life and thermals with new Neo CPUs, more power with Phenom II platform originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 May 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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