Hasta La Gadget!

ASUS had a fairly big showing here at Computex, and while mobile computing was obviously the highlight of the show, the desktop gamers were thrown a bone with this gem. Dubbed Immensity, this concept X58 mainboard has plenty of room for an ultra-speedy Core i7 processor, but what makes this one unique is the built-in GPU. Nah, it’s not some lame-o integrated chip that chokes up when playing back 480p versions of last night’s Glee — it’s a full-fledged ATI Radeon HD 5770. Thankfully for you, that’s not where the fun ends. There’s also an integrated Lucid Hydra chip fused onto the PCB, which means that you’re free to slap another pair of PCIe-based GPUs in and get a three-way CrossFireX setup going. Representatives at the booth were fairly confident that the concept would turn commercial by the end of this year (or early 2011 at worst), though they’re still trying to hammer down what exactly the final GPU will be. We’re sure there’s a good bit of “dealing with thermals” going on in the labs, but here’s hoping ASUS really can pull this off and change the way we think about IGPs. Have a look at the monster below, and try your best to not get those hopes too high.

ASUS demos Immensity X58 Hydra mainboard with integrated ATI Radeon HD 5770 GPU originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Jun 2010 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No patience left to wait for Google TV? Tough luck, bubs — ’cause Bonux’s Android set-top box ain’t shipping till the year’s end, either. Tucked away in a small corner of Computex was the gem you see above: an Android 2.1-based set-top box designed to bring… well, Android to your television. The white mockup box was strictly in place to demonstrate the software, and the inability to find a live internet connection on the floor crushed their desires to demonstrate connected extras. Essentially, this STB would scale a mobile OS up to TV size, which isn’t exactly the most elegant of solutions. That said, it does “work,” and the idea of using Android to pull in local media and web content may tempt those who aren’t willing to deal with the expense and complications of snagging a full-blown HTPC. We were told that the box could play back nearly every major file format known to man, and the HDMI output ensures broad compatibility with practically every HDTV ever sold.

When speaking with company representatives at its booth, they asserted that their goal was to shrink the white box down to the size of the black unit sitting beside it, or something barely larger than a deck of cards. If all goes to plan, they should be shipping worldwide by the end of this year, but they stated that it would be awhile before Froyo (Android 2.2) was supported given the intrinsic need for more potent hardware. Speaking of which, they’ve yet to actually nail down a final processor, and they’re still debating whether they’ll have WiFi as an option. In the end, consumers should expect “between one and three” variants (including one with an integrated TV tuner, possibly), and a retail starting price of around “$120 to $130.” So, found that patience you were looking for yet? Per usual, a video demonstration awaits you after the break.

Continue reading Bonux’s Android set-top box is pretty much Google TV lite… really lite (video)

Bonux’s Android set-top box is pretty much Google TV lite… really lite (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer may have announced its new Aspire Ethos line a few months back, but this is the first time we have had the chance to catch a glimpse of the multimedia monsters in person, albeit these were lacking that special Ethos branding on the exterior. We’ve really got to hand it to Acer on the new aesthetic of the 18.4-inch 8943G and 15.6-inch 5943G — the systems have a nice brushed metal coating and glorious-looking chiclet keyboards. Though obviously, the first thing that caught our eye was that black dual-mode touchpad which is pictured above — it’s a standard touchpad until you press the circular button between the buttons, after which it turns into the system’s multimedia controls. When we tapped that movie button, it briskly launched Windows Media player, but we do fear that the glossy plastic coating on the pad will hamper everyday navigation. Both models on display were powered by 1.6GHz Core i7-720QM CPUs, but the 5943G had 4GB of DDR3 RAM and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics while the 8943G boasted 8GB of RAM and a Radeon HD 5850. In addition, they’ve got 8-cell batteries and Blu-ray drives, so three cheers for that. We’ll be keeping an ear out for the arrival of these bad boys stateside, but until then feast your eyes on the beauty shots below.

Acer Aspire 8943G and 5943G (aka Acer Ethos) preview originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Always thought the iPad should’ve really just been an enlarged iPhone? No, seriously — like an iPhone after one of those “Honey, I Blew Up the Kids” incidents? Well, iiView is bringing just that to market this month, except its M1Touch runs Windows 7 Premium and packs an Intel Atom N450 processor along with 2GB of RAM. It also has a 250GB hard drive and a 1.3-megapixel cam on its left bezel. We finally got to see the tablet up close and personal — it’s been under lock and key in the Microsoft booth all week — and it’s pretty much the biggest iPhone you’ve ever seen. The capacitive touchscreen was fairly responsive, though there was a noticeable lag in opening programs. We’re told it also has an accelerometer and that the familiar circular button on the right bezel will bring you back to the desktop, but both were disabled on the display model. Around the edges you’ll spot a trio of ports, a SIM slot, a mini HDMI output and a microphone jack. As for the actual feel of this thing, it’s pretty thick from the sides and weighs 1.5 pounds. Chances are that you stopped reading this post a few minutes ago and started clicking through the gallery to see shots of bugger alongside a normal iPhone, but we’d encourage you to also peek the video waiting just past the break. Oh, and if you’d like to give your iPhone an inferiority complex, you can always head on over to that source link and order one of these for $499.

Continue reading iiView M1Touch is a 10-inch iPhone tablet, seriously (video)

iiView M1Touch is a 10-inch iPhone tablet, seriously (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, isn’t this typical ASUS. Yet another Eee Pad, or this time an ‘EPad’ as the placard says, has shown up on the Computex show floor. While the company introduced two Eee Pads at its press conference earlier this week — the 10-inch EP101TC with NVIDIA Tegra 2 / Windows Embedded Compact 7 and the 12-inch EP121 with Intel / Windows 7 — this new 10-inch version has popped up running Windows 7 at the Intel booth. We’d be lying if we said we knew what was going on here, but to us it looks like ASUS shot out a working Windows 7 model — perhaps just to have a functioning device to display on the show floor. There’s no telling if it’s being powered by Intel’s Atom Moorestown platform or a current Menlow Z Series CPU, but the design looks very similar to that of the EP101TC. We’ve sent off an inquiry to ASUS’ PR team, but you’ll still want to check out the video after the break of a very slim slate and real live “booth babe.”

Continue reading ASUS EPad: like the EeePad, but with less ecstasy

ASUS EPad: like the EeePad, but with less ecstasy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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