Hasta La Gadget!

2011 can’t come soon enough, particularly if you’re AMD. The company has been attempting to maintain hype behind its CPU / GPU hybrid since last century, but the newest demonstration of its Llano Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) is getting us back in the mood. For those who haven’t followed the play-by-play, this here all-in-one chip is expected to hit laptops and desktops at some point in 2011, and the company’s most recent demo featured a single chip simultaneously processing three separate compute-and graphics-intensive workloads. Llano was able to calculate the value of Pi to 32 million decimal places, decode HD video from a Blu-ray film and handle some other mysterious task that we may or may not ever truly find out about. Head on past the break for a promotional / informational video, and be sure to re-circle next year on your calendar. That’ll be the one… just like your high school football team always thought.

Continue reading AMD demos next-gen Llano Fusion APU, promises consumer availability in 2011

AMD demos next-gen Llano Fusion APU, promises consumer availability in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 02:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Looks like Intel’s having its best quarter ever all over again: this time, the company’s reporting $3.0 billion in profit on a record $11.1 billion in revenue. Chipzilla attributes the surplus to three percent increases in laptop and server chips sales respectively, but none to Atom-based netbooks — sales of Atom chips actually decreased by four percent. That may be more than you needed or wanted to know about the booming processor business, but humanitarians will be pleased to know it’s not all about the silicon; Intel also hired 1,300 new flesh-and-blood employees last quarter to keep the machines running.

Intel reports record $11.1 billion revenue, brings home $3 billion in bacon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bold words coming from a program that choked in epic fashion this past Saturday in front of 58,000+, don’t you think? Thankfully for those who are actually involved in the global energy and communications infrastructure (not to mention depressed alumni), NC State‘s athletics department is far removed from its research labs, and the university’s latest development was born and bred in the latter. A team of researchers have managed to patent a new technology that is expected to enable the development of “high-power, high-voltage and high-current devices that are critical for the development of energy distribution devices, such as smart grid technology and high-frequency military communications.” The secret? Integrating gallium nitride (GaN) sensors and devices directly into silicon-based computer chips, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by any team prior. According to Dr. Jay Narayan, this newfangled integration has “enabled the creation of multifunctional smart sensors, high-electron mobility transistors, high-power devices, and high-voltage switches for smart grids,” and it also makes a broader range of radio frequencies available — something that’ll obviously be beneficial in the advancement of communications. Best of all, a US-based corporation is already in the process of licensing the technology, so it’s likely that we’ll see this in use in the not-too-distant future. An ACC championship, however, remains far more elusive.

NC State patents multifunctional smart sensors, looks to ‘revolutionize energy and communications infrastructure’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You know the drill — some quirky research team whips up some phenomenal discovery in the middle of nowhere, gloats about it, gets it published in a journal you’ve never heard of it, and then it all vanishes into the ether, leaving your soul hurt and wondering why you ever got your hopes up in the first place. The Foundations wrote a little tune about this very situation back in 1968, but a UK team from the Center for Quantum Photonics led by Jeremy O’Brien are claiming that their latest discovery is no joke. According to him, most people have believed that a functional quantum computer wouldn’t be a reality for at least another score, but he’s saying “with real confidence that, using [his] new technique, a quantum computer could, within five years, be performing calculations that are outside the capabilities of conventional computers.” The center of this bold claim is a new photonic chip that works on light rather than traditional electricity, and those who built it say that it could “pull important information out of the biggest databases almost instantaneously.” Of course, this stuff would hit the Department of Defense long before it hits your basement, but it’s on you to keep tabs on the progress. Wouldn’t be let down again, now would we?

UK research team brings quantum computing closer than ever… or so they say originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Sep 2010 09:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is Intel’s Sandy Bridge — the actual silicon itself. And if you think about what the previous generation of Core processors looked like under their heatspreader hoods, that internal codename actually makes a good bit of sense now. But we’re sure you’d rather know what’s inside. To that end, you’ll find a handy diagram right after the break.

Continue reading Intel’s Sandy Bridge, eyes-on

Intel’s Sandy Bridge, eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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