Hasta La Gadget!

As mentioned earlier, we’ve just gotten our hands on Qualcomm’s latest development platform to see how its first quad core chipset fares. And boy, that APQ8064 really doesn’t disappoint, but it should be no surprise — we’ve already seen how the top dual core S4 chipsets already beat their quad core competitors in certain aspects, so it’s only natural for the quad core S4 Pro to annihilate them. As you can see in our chart after the break, the APQ8064-based MDP easily beat the Tegra 3-based One X and Nexus 7, as well as the Exynos 4412-based Galaxy S III. And partly thanks to the Adreno 320 graphics core, the MDP even scored an astonishing 132fps in our GLBenchmark test, while the quad core Galaxy S III with Mali-400 graphics came second with 99fps, with the remaining devices lingering around 60fps only.

Obviously, the question remains how big of a trade-off there is on battery life in exchange for those two extra cores and the more powerful graphics chip. That said, we have a feeling that Snapdragon’s Krait architecture and asynchronously clocked cores will again prove that Tegra 3’s 4-PLUS-1 design isn’t the best solution for battery efficiency — as many of you might already know. We shall see when APQ8064-based products become available later this year. For now, take a gander at our numbers and photos.

Update: Hit the break for our hands-on video with the MDP. Also, we had a chance play with the 13-megapixel autofocus camera in the worst possible lighting conditions, and it acquitted itself rather well considering the circumstances. Check out the sample gallery below.

Myriam Joire contributed to this mind-blowing hands-on.

Continue reading Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064) MDP benchmarks blow away the competition (update: video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro (APQ8064) MDP benchmarks blow away the competition (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 18:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP’s plans to open-source webOS included mention of Enyo 2.0, a framework designed to spread webOS’ learnings to other platforms — to spread the love around, so to speak. The code foundation, while behind schedule, has just left beta: any developer with a mind to producing web apps can now create interface elements and whole apps using the technology derived from Palm’s legacy. Any reasonably modern browser will run the end result, whether it’s running Android, iOS or a full-fledged desktop release. We may never recreate the exact feeling of using an HP TouchPad on our iPads and Galaxy Tabs, but we know that some of its software design heritage will carry on.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software

Enyo 2.0 released in finished form, shares webOS’ web app legacy with everyone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 15:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Scoop  |  Enyo  | Email this | Comments

Facebook’s App Center is having its passport stamped quite a lot lately. Just days after the HTML5 app portal set foot in the UK, it’s making the leap to seven more countries. Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey will all get a crack at using web apps both on the desktop as well as in the Android and iOS native clients. The new group is coming onboard in the next few weeks. In the meantime, countries where English makes a frequent appearance — Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the US — now supply the App Center for every single user. To help speed along the virtual customs claims, Facebook is trotting out a translation tool to get developers on the right track. It shouldn’t be long before App Center is a mainstay of the entire Facebook world, even though we may end up cursing the company after hour three of a Jetpack Joyride marathon.

Continue reading Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the English-speaking world

Facebook App Center goes globetrotting with 7 new countries, blankets all of the English-speaking world originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week will be remembered as a volatile one if you’re a MeeGo fan. Just hours after Nokia posted the PR 1.3 update for N9 owners, the company’s MeeGo development lead Sotiris Makyrgiannis and other team members have confirmed that they’re leaving for greener pastures. The split appears to be an amicable one, with the crew largely going to CloudBerryTec to write mobile apps (including for MeeGo) and consult on software even as they share fond memories. What’s left is a lot of doubt over the fate of the swipe-driven OS itself. Nokia promised years of support for the OS as a side project following the big leap to Windows Phone, but it also hadn’t mentioned the possibility of important staff departures, either. We’ve reached out to the company for a fuller answer — if it turns out that MeeGo development is winding down, the staff shift could be the end to completely in-house OS creation at a company that was once defined by its custom platforms.

Key MeeGo team members leave Nokia, N9 owners swipe away a few tears originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GSMArena, My Nokia Blog  |  Sotiris Makrygiannis (Twitter), Maemo.org  | Email this | Comments

Vanadium oxide seems to be the go-to guy in power storage right now. A new solid-oxide fuel cell — developed at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences — that can also store energy like a battery, also uses the stuff. In the new cell, by adding a VOx layer it allows the SOFC to both generate and store power. Example applications would be situations where a lightweight power source is required, with the potential to provide reserve juice should the main fuel source run out. The team who developed the cell usually work with platinum-based SOFCs, but they can’t store a charge for much more than 15 seconds. By adding the VOx, this proof of concept extended that by 14 times, with the potential for more lifespan with further development. Especially handy if you’re always running out of sugar.

New fuel cell keeps on going even once the fuel’s dried up originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Jul 2012 06:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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