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In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

Parallel computing is normally reserved for supercomputers way out of the reach of average users — at least at the moment, anyway. Adapteva wants to challenge that with its Parallella project, designed to bring mouth-watering power to a board similar in size to the Raspberry Pi for as little as $99. It hopes to deliver up to 45GHz (in total) using its Epiphany multicore accelerators, that crucially, only chug 5 watts of juice under normal conditions. These goliath speeds currently mean high costs, which is why they need your funds to move out of the prototype stage and start cheap mass production. Specs for the board are as follows: a dual-core ARM A9 CPU running Ubuntu OS as standard, 1GB RAM, a microSD slot, two USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet and a 16- or 64-core accelerator, with each core housing a 1GHz RISC processor, all linked “within a single shared memory architecture.”

An overriding theme of the Parallella project is the openness of the platform. When finalized, the full board design will be released, and each one will ship with free, open-source development tools and runtime libraries. In addition, full architecture and SDK documentation will be published online if-and-when the Kickstarter project reaches its funding goal of $750,000. That’s pretty ambitious, but we’re reminded of another crowd-funded venture which completely destroyed an even larger target. However, that sum will only be enough for Adapteva to produce the 16-core board, which reportedly hits 13GHz and 26 gigaflops, and is expected to set you back a measly $99. A speculative $3 million upper goal has been set for work to begin on the $199 64-core version, topping out at 45GHz and 90 gigaflops. Pledge options range from $99 to $5,000-plus, distinguished mainly by how soon you’ll get your hands on one. Big spenders will also be the first to receive a 64-core board when they become available. Adapteva’s Andreas Olofsson talks through the Parallella project in a video after the break, but if you’re already sold on the tiny supercomputer, head over to the source link to contribute before the October 27th closing date.

Continue reading Insert Coin: The Parallella project dreams of $99 supercomputers

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Insert Coin: The Parallella project dreams of $99 supercomputers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 12:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: CEATEC JAPAN 2012 – Cutting-Edge IT & Electronics Comprehensive Exhibition, Startup Conference FailCon Succeeds On Failure ,

In the startup world, everyone knows that making mistakes and learning from them is critical to success. Failure, however, is rarely the topic of conversation at startup events, especially here in France. If we have so much to learn from our failures, why aren’t we talking more about them?

That’s exactly what the FailCon producers realized in 2009. Tired of hearing successful entrepreneurs endlessly share how they built great companies (but never about mistakes made along the way), they launched FailCon, where technology founders and investors discuss their failures to prepare for success.

Contrary to the conference’s theme, FailCon has NOT failed; it reaches half a dozen countries around the world, including Germany, Singapore, Australia, and Brazil, and has featured hundreds of industry leaders sharing personal mistakes made and lessons learned.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Fashion+Tech Expo by SFFAMA & Fashion+TechSF – Sept 25, SF, DEMO Fall 2012 – Only Two Weeks Left To Buy Tickets ,

There was a time when the BenQ brand could be seen on laptops and mobile phones, but nowadays you’d have to turn your eyes to projectors, LCD monitors and cameras (in select markets) in order to spot it. If you’re in China, you might have even come across the gigantic BenQ Medical Center in Nanjing. That’s right, a hospital; and later this year BenQ will be opening another one in Suzhou, which is where the company’s Chinese operation is based. Interesting times, right? But as to whether BenQ has any intention to re-enter the two mobile markets in the near future, the answer is a firm “no.”

Continue reading BenQ: We’re not going back to cellphones and laptops, but check out our luxury lamps!

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BenQ: We’re not going back to cellphones and laptops, but check out our luxury lamps! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 06:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I finally got the time to shoot additional photos of the Optimus G white version, which is the model I prefer.  So far, I am really impressed by the unit I played with, the unibody design is sleek and elegant, with a great build quality that encloses powerful performance.

LG is pushing hard its software differentiation by emphasizing its “unique user experience”, which is supported by a set of custom user interface features. Some people are not really fan of Google mobile OS customization since it  increases the fragmentation of the Android ecosystem, however, I found LG innovations very interesting, pleasing to the eyes and practical.

See the demo video above, another one is available in the full post with a detailed explanation. More information about the Optimus G in the full post.

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By Ubergizmo. Related articles: New LG P930 device hinted in an XML file could be a smartphone, LG Apex Coming to U.S. Cellular on Friday,