Jun 02

ECS stuffs Atom, ION and Blu-ray into a vase for all the right reasons

Posted in: nettop, nvidia ion, NvidiaIon, Today's Chili

This is really more of what we’d expect out of some slightly deranged basement hacker, not a company like ECS at a major tradeshow, but we’ll take any entrants in the burgeoning “nettop in a vase” space we can get. To be serious for a moment, this is actually a pretty interesting illustration of the future afforded by small, low-power components: ECS has stuffed a full Intel Atom 230 system, including NVIDA ION graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 2.5-inch HDD and a Blu-ray drive into what looks like a family heirloom. There’s even room for a couple USB ports, Ethernet and HDMI plugs on the bottom, which keeps the main body uninterrupted other than the tray-loading drive. Basically, we’re floored.

Gallery: ECS stuffs Atom, ION and Blu-ray into a vase for all the right reasons

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ECS stuffs Atom, ION and Blu-ray into a vase for all the right reasons originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 02

Video: ECS T800 netbook brings us to our knees with Android on 1GHz OMAP3

Posted in: Android, Features, netbook, texas instruments, ti, Today's Chili

This is quite possibly a better Vaio P… you know, if it actually worked. This non-functional stunner of a prototype is sitting pretty at Computex, an event where OEMs (like Sony, HP, and Dell) shop from the latest ODM (like Foxconn and Compal) designs before tweaking for retail launch. Instead of taking chances with Vista overpowering an Intel Atom processor, however, the ECS T800 on display at Computex is destined to run Android on your choice of 800MHz OMAP3 3440 or 1GHz OMAP3 3450 TI processors. It measures in at 246 x 121 x 20-mm / 800-grams (1.76-pounds) and packs an 8.1-inch display, 512MB of memory, a 2.5-inch hard disk or SSD, and a pair of internal Mini-PCIe slots for WWAN cards. Regarding ports, we’re looking at 2x USB 2.0, a 4-in-1 card reader, and an audio jack for your headset. Hey ODMs, we’re interested (even if the case for Android on a netbook hasn’t been clearly defined) especially if it can be offered for $99 or less through a subsidized carrier agreement. So who’s going to bite first, huh? Maybe you Dell now that your Mini 9 netbook has been discontinued. Video after the break.

Continue reading Video: ECS T800 netbook brings us to our knees with Android on 1GHz OMAP3

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Video: ECS T800 netbook brings us to our knees with Android on 1GHz OMAP3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 02

Acer launching world’s first Android-based netbook in Q3

Posted in: Android, breaking news, BreakingNews, intel, netbook, Today's Chili

Acer’s been straightforward with the fact that it’s been dabbling with Android on netbooks. In fact, the entire industry seems to be. Now we’ve got word that Acer will in fact launch an Android-based netbook in the 3rd quarter of 2009. The move was announced by Acer’s global president for IT products, Jim Wong. The Android netbooks will run Atom (sorry Tegra hopefuls) and presumably cost less than Windows XP-based netbooks that require an estimated $25 tithe to Microsoft. Acer will continue to offer Windows-based netbooks along side the Android builds. Whether Android, an OS designed for smartphones, will succeed in gaining back market share lost to Microsoft remains to be seen. But if Microsoft’s boasting about consumers wanting netbooks offering the same OS experience they’re used to is true, well, how can Android succeed where those early Linux distros failed?

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Acer launching world’s first Android-based netbook in Q3 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 02

Gigabyte shows off thin-and-light Booktop M1305 and super slim Myou netbook

Posted in: netbook, thin and light, ThinAndLight, Today's Chili

Apparently people are really falling hard for this whole “thin” fad, and Gigabyte’s design department is the latest victim. The new Booktop M1305 (pictured) sports a CULV Intel processor and a 13.3-inch screen, putting it squarely in the land of MacBook Air and ThinkPad X300-style thin-and-lights, while also managing a disc drive and room for up to 8GB of RAM. Meanwhile, the new Myou netbook is actually Gigabyte’s ThinNote S1024, which weighs under two pounds, measures less than an inch thick, and still leaves room for a 10-inch screen and 6 cell battery. It should be shipping in the next few months for an estimated $600 pricetag. Video of the surprisingly excellent form factor is after the break.

Read – Booktop M1305
Read – Myou

Continue reading Gigabyte shows off thin-and-light Booktop M1305 and super slim Myou netbook

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Gigabyte shows off thin-and-light Booktop M1305 and super slim Myou netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 05:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 02

NVIDIA unveils 12 Tegra devices, 25 days of music or 10 hours of 1080p video on single charge (updated)

Posted in: breaking news, BreakingNews, MID, NVIDIA, tegra, Today's Chili

You’ve read about it, maybe even dreamed about it in your fantasies of a Microsoft Pink smartphone drizzled with Zune media. Now we’ve got Tegra taking center stage at Computex with a dozen “mobile internet devices” powered by the Tegra processor, the “world’s smallest and lowest power computer-on-a-chip” according to NVIDIA. Of notable importance, the latest Tegra press release contradicts the Mobinnova Elan release by claiming 1080p video playback is supported by Tegra, not just 720p. Something we saw for ourselves (and had confirmed by NVIDIA) during our hands-on with the Elan.

Now, get this; NVIDIA is using the term MID unlike Intel uses MID even though the terminology is of Intel origin. Instead of referring to handheld devices for consumers, NVIDIA’s MIDs are classed as Tegra-based netbooks and tablets. In other words, the 8.9-inch Elan is a MID. Ugh.

Semantics aside, the platform is smokin’ hot with promise offering the following benefits:

  • 25 days of music or 10-hours of 1080p video playback on a single charge
  • video games play at up to 46 frames per second
  • GPU accelerated Adobe Flash animations (huzzah for Hulu!)
  • always-on processors for instant access to the network
  • 3G, WiFi, and WiMax solutions support

Great on paper, but still not available for purchase. Rest assured, we’ll be hands-on with more Tegra devices on the quick.

Update: Tegra devices are expected to land before 2009 is through, priced around $200 or less with carrier subsidies.

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NVIDIA unveils 12 Tegra devices, 25 days of music or 10 hours of 1080p video on single charge (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 04:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 02

Video: Tegra-based Mobinnova élan running Windows CE rocks our world

Posted in: Android, breaking news, BreakingNews, NVIDIA, tegra, Today's Chili, video, Windows

To quote our Engadget Chinese editor, Andy Yang, “Tegra really rocks!” Our team in Taipei grabbed a video of the 8.9-inch Mobinova Elan in action and came away seriously impressed. NVIDIA is really pushing the HD playback and gaming capabilities of this Tegra-based netbook smartbook machine. In fact, we saw it running a 1080p trailer as smooth as silk. Now we know what you’re thinking, Windows CE… ugh. Remember, CE (and Android for that matter) runs on the ARM-based Tegra whereas XP, Vista, and Windows 7 won’t. Besides, NVIDIA was showing a custom UI with an OS X-like application launcher along the bottom. No word on price yet or availability but we’ll update you when we’ve got more. Video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Tegra-based Mobinnova élan running Windows CE rocks our world

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Video: Tegra-based Mobinnova élan running Windows CE rocks our world originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 02

Mobinnova élan smartbook powered by NVIDIA Tegra

Posted in: netbook, tablet, tegra, Today's Chili

Ready for the smartbook revolution? Too late, cause here they come — and the first officially-announced product we’ve got is the Mobinnova élan netbook, a NVIDIA Tegra-powered machine that weighs in at just two pounds but can pump out 720p video on its 8.9-inch screen. It’s not at all clear what OS this guy’s running, but we’re told that it has an “innovative 3D graphical user interface,” supports hardware-accelerated Flash video — which is huge freaking deal, if you ask us — has WiFi and 3G, and can play video for five to ten hours on a single charge. That’s pretty impressive, but we’ll wait to see what pricing looks like — if it’s cheaper than the sub-$300 10-inch netbooks that are starting to arrive we’d say it could be a huge winner. That’s not all for Mobinnova’s Tegra announcements either: there’s also the T8 tablet, which repackages the élan in a 10.1-inch tablet form factor with GPS and HDMI out. Definitely interesting — check the full presser after the break.

Gallery: Mobinnova élan

Continue reading Mobinnova élan smartbook powered by NVIDIA Tegra

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Mobinnova élan smartbook powered by NVIDIA Tegra originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 01

OCZ intros 17-inch DIY laptop, Ion-based HTPC / Neutrino netbook

Posted in: diy, netbook, Today's Chili

Just as it did with the Z-Drive at CeBIT, OCZ Technology has delivered a few surprises across the way at Computex. Kicking things off the 17-inch DIY gaming laptop, which takes a note from the DIY-styled Neutrino, but gets a much bigger form factor. It’s one of the few laptops that actually arrive sans a CPU, hard drive and RAM, but it’ll support Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Extreme chips, as many as two 2.5-inch hard drives and plenty of DDR3 memory. Other specs include a 17-inch WXGA panel, NVIDIA’s Hybrid GeForce 9600GTS graphics, an optional Blu-ray drive, ExpressCard slot and a full accompaniment of connectors. The 7.9 pound machine ships with an 8-cell battery, though there’s no word yet on pricing or availability.

Moving on, we’ve got the Ion-based HTPC, which is outfitted with a 1.6GHz Atom 230 CPU, Vista Ultimate (64-bit), 4GB of DDR2-667 RAM, an OCZ 120GB SSD, Blu-ray drive, gigabit Ethernet, WiFi, HDMI output and a multicard reader. Finally, there’s an all-new Neutrino, which is being introduced just weeks after the original shipped here in the US. This new character packs a little more color and a lot more oomph, with NVIDIA’s nForce Ion graphics, a 1.6GHz Atom 230 CPU, 10.1-inch display (1,024 x 600), room for 2GB of DDR2 RAM (ships with none), a 2.5-inch HDD / SSD slot (ships with none), WiFi, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, Ethernet, HDMI, two USB 2.0 sockets and audio in / out jacks. As with the 17-incher, there’s no word yet on pricing or availability, but we’re hoping to hear more on those tidbits soon.

Gallery: OCZ intros 17-inch DIY laptop, Ion-based HTPC / Neutrino netbook

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OCZ intros 17-inch DIY laptop, Ion-based HTPC / Neutrino netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 01

NVIDIA strikes gold with Ion: 21 new products at Computex

Posted in: NVIDIA, Today's Chili

We had a hunch that Computex would be a massive show for NVIDIA, and while we already caught a glimpse of what the GPU manufacturer had in store, we had no idea it’d come out with guns this big a-blazin’. Showing absolutely no mercy for those other integrated graphics sets of the world, NV’s today unveiled 21 new Ion-based products in Taiwan, with all but a handful being completely unheard of. Of course, there’s the AspireRevo, Ion 330 and IdeaPad S12, but outside of that select few, everything else is all new. Asus is introducing its C2N7A-I motherboard and all-in-one Eee Top ET2002, Colorful is busting out its iHTPC, ECS is pushing out a new desktop and MSI is showcasing its Windtop AE201. And that’s just to name a few. Hop on past the break for the full spill, and don’t stray too far — we’ll be out and about grabbing hands-on time with as many of these as we can track down.

Gallery: NVIDIA strikes gold with Ion: 21 new products at Computex

Continue reading NVIDIA strikes gold with Ion: 21 new products at Computex

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NVIDIA strikes gold with Ion: 21 new products at Computex originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 01

AMD debuts Athlon II X2 250 and Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition CPUs

Posted in: AMD, dual-core, DualCore, Today's Chili

If you’re AMD, you’ve got to be feeling pretty good right now. Intel’s busy handling a lawsuit bigger than the left half of Russia, you’re finally free of that dreaded manufacturing business and you’ve got a new pair of mainstream CPUs debuting at Computex. The first of the two is the dual-core 45nm Athlon II X2 250, which features a TDP of 65-watts and can whittle power consumption down to 50 percent when handling just “basic tasks.” Then there’s the first-ever dual-core AMD Phenom II, the X2 550 Black Edition. Built from the ground-up for its ‘Dragon’ platform, this here chip also supports OverDrive 3.0 and should provide some higher-end features on a budget. Unfortunately, details beyond that are inexplicably scant, but we’ll be sure to pass on whatever surfaces at the show. Full release is after the break.

Gallery: AMD debuts Athlon II X2 250 and Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition CPUs

Read – HotHardware review
Read – AMDZone review
Read – OverclockersClub review
Read – PC Perspective review
Read – LostCircuits review
Read – BenchmarkReviews review
Read – TechSpot review
Read – X-bit Labs review
Read – Legion Hardware review

Continue reading AMD debuts Athlon II X2 250 and Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition CPUs

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AMD debuts Athlon II X2 250 and Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition CPUs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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