Hasta La Gadget!

After a brief tease earlier this summer, AMD just announced pricing and availability for its new market-leading FirePro W9000 graphics processing unit — the $3,999 GPU is available now through AMD resellers, and is compatible with Supermicro SuperWorkstations. Joining that “world’s most powerful” rig are the W8000, W7000 and W5000, which sell for $1,599, $899 and $599, respectively, and can each power six 30-inch 4K displays. Power-hungry pros will want to opt for the top-of-the-line model in order to take advantage of four TFLOPs single precision or one TFLOP double precision, along with 6 gigs of high-speed GDDR5 RAM. The W8000, on the other hand, offers 3.23 TFLOPs single precision and 806 GFLOPs double precision, followed by the W7000 with 2.4 TFLOPs / 152 GFLOPs, both with 4 gigs of RAM, along with the W5000, which packs 1.27 TFLOPs single and 80 GFLOPs double, with 2 GB of GDDR5 RAM.

Design pros with slightly more modest demands may find the FirePro A300 APU more in line with their budgets — we don’t have precise pricing to share, since third parties will ship their own configs, but terms like “entry-level” and “mainstream” make it clear that you won’t be drawing in more than a couple zeros in the checkbook to make your purchase. The integrated solution utilizes AMD’s Turbo Core tech, supports Eyefinity and Discrete Compute Offload, and can power horizontal display arrays of up to 10,240 x 1,600 pixels. You’ll find all the nitty-gritty in the pair of press releases after the break.

Update: Our pals over at HotHardware have just pushed out a review of the W8000 and W9000, but found the results to be a bit of a letdown. Hit up their post for the full skinny.

Continue reading AMD announces $4k FirePro W9000 GPU, entry-level FirePro A300 APU for CAD and graphics pros

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Peripherals

AMD announces $4k FirePro W9000 GPU, entry-level FirePro A300 APU for CAD and graphics pros originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back when we met the Galaxy S III for the very first time, Samsung promised a wireless charging solution would be coming soon to its sleek and potent slab. Unfortunately, Sammy’s power-boosting companion’s been hit by hapless delays that have prevented it from seeing the light of day. Now, thanks to a few recent shots from Phone Arena, it looks like at least some S3 owners could see a bundle in the near future, albeit not the official one from the Korean outfit. According to the site’s kind tipster, Verizon’s allegedly pricing the charging station at $50, while the rear case is expected to be around $40 — making it about $90 for the entire kit. Naturally, this could change at any given moment, but hey, at least we know it’s out there.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Wireless

Verizon-branded Galaxy S III wireless charging kit starts showing up at retail stores originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 00:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is for sure: if you’re a gamer seeking a primo wireless surround sound headset, now is a very good time to buy. It’s been less than two weeks since Astro Gaming’s A50 wireless surround headset impressively traversed the Engadget review gauntlet, and now the crazy kitties that are Mad Catz and Tritton are up for a turn. It’s taken the duo well over a year and a half to get its full range of Microsoft-licensed Xbox 360 headsets off the ground, with the flagship Warhead 7.1 Wireless Surround Sound Headset set to hit shelves in just a few days.

Aside from packing some innovative and exclusive features for Xbox 360 users, it stands as the only totally integrated wireless headset for the system — for the first time you won’t need a pesky controller-to-headset cable or a controller-mounted Bluetooth dongle for voice chat. We’ve been fortunate enough to get an early look at this $300 Dolby Headphone-enabled headset, so join us past the break and we’ll let you know whether it’s been worth the wait — or whether it’s too much, too late.

Continue reading Tritton Warhead 7.1 Wireless Surround Sound Headset for Xbox 360 review

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Peripherals, Wearables

Tritton Warhead 7.1 Wireless Surround Sound Headset for Xbox 360 review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If Cisco’s ill-fated Umi video conferencing system had been more like this, would it have survived? Logitech is about to find out, one way or the other, once its TV Cam HD — recently spotted at the FCC — arrives in the US this month. The $199.99 device hooks up to your TV and contains all the processing power needed to run Skype and transmit wide-angle, 720p footage of your couch over WiFi or Ethernet. Unlike the previous TV Cam, there’s no need for a Viera Connect HDTV — anything with HDMI-in will do. The company is banking on the notion that families will forgo the use of their existing mobile devices and laptops in favour of an always-on dedicated system with incoming call alerts, four noise-cancelling mics and a Carl Zeiss lens that “gets the whole family in the video call, so everyone from grandparents to grandchildren can move around naturally.” If you’re tempted, the publicity video after the break gives a decent overview of the product in action.

Continue reading Logitech launches TV Cam HD for living room video chats: built-in Skype, 720p, $200

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, Networking

Logitech launches TV Cam HD for living room video chats: built-in Skype, 720p, $200 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 04:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By now, you’re likely familiar with Twelve South, the Mac-minded accessory maker that prides itself on staying small. Well, three years after the debut of its first product, the BackPack, it’s refining the shelf accessory in three ways that’ll make you smile. If you’ll remember, the BackPack originally began its life as an attachable storage shelf for the iMac and Apple Display, which sat discretely behind the unit. Now, not only can the BackPack 2 be attached in a forward-facing manner, but it also offers integrated cable management and vertical support pegs to properly hold equipment such as the MacBook Air and upright hard drives. In all, the BackPack 2 will accommodate up to 3.5 pounds of gear, and it’s available now for $34.99. If you’d like to get acquainted with the redesign, just check the gallery below.

Filed under: Peripherals

Twelve South debuts BackPack 2 shelf accessory for iMac with three enhancements originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 21:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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