Phoenix, Arizona, is a famously fast-growing city. But, instead of growing up, the city has almost uniformly grown out, with terracotta-tiled subdivisions consuming the adjacent desert at a frightening rate: some estimates claim its suburbs grew an acre per hour during the early 2000s housing boom.
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We did talk about the Phoenix Portable Bluetooth Speaker in the past, and this time around, it is about time there has been a hardware refresh introduced to keep up with the times. As usual, do not judge a book by its cover is an adage that folks would do well to adhere to, as one should not judge the performance of a particular portable wireless speaker based on its size. The £59.99 Phoenix Portable Bluetooth Speaker might be extremely diminutive in nature, but it is capable of pumping out thumpin’ volume levels, coming in a choice of black, blue and red colors.
Charging up the Phoenix Portable Bluetooth Speaker is done via the included mini USB cable that is located at the bottom, where one gets to enjoy up to 10 hours of play time. There is also a particularly neat 3 button interface that is located on top of the Phoenix 2, where it would enable you to skip tracks, adjust the volume level and synchronize with all your devices in double quick time. Relying on Bluetooth connectivity would mean you need not have to worry about a wired mess ever again, and it even sports a working range of up to 20 metres, now how about that?
[ Phoenix Portable Bluetooth Speaker gets a hardware refresh copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
No trip to France is complete without seeing the grand gardens and spectacular palace at Versailles, the place that epitomizes the excess of 18th century France. Who better to lead the tour than everybody’s favorite 21st century French band, Phoenix. Plus also too, drones.
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We called Beacon Audio’s Phoenix “our new favorite portable speaker” just over a year ago. Today, the company’s taking to Kickstarter to fund the production of its followup: the Blazar. The speaker features a grown-up design wrapped in aluminum (the Phoenix was plastic), with a softball-sized, cube-esque design. The slightly bulky shape allows for 12 hours of battery life, aside from promising big and clean multi-directional sound thanks to two 50mm drivers and a 65mm bass radiator. Beacon’s also loaded the speaker with a microphone, NFC and a dual pairing mode for completely wire-free stereo sound between two units — like Nokia’s Play 360.
On top you’ll find rubber playback controls, while one side of the unit houses a microUSB input, 3.5mm input and output jacks, power switch and a pairing / mode button. Early-bird pledges of $99 dollars will be available for the first 198 units (split between silver and graphite), followed by an additional 600 priced at $124. Beacon’s counting on its artist collaboration editions, however, offering three more colors (500 pieces each) at $134 with Neon Trees, AWOLNATION and Halestorm. If you’re up for the risk, Beacon plans to ship all orders by December 1st. Join us past the break for some impressions with pre-release units.
Gallery: Beacon Audio Blazar (hands-on)
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video
Source: Beacon Audio, Kickstarter
If you think HP’s new battery-powered all-in-one is a gimmick, fear not: the company’s still churning out all manner of traditional desktop towers. In fact, the outfit just refreshed its lineup with five new models, ranging from a space-saving mini to a high-end gaming rig. There’s a lot to digest in the way of specs and pricing, so to keep things simple we laid out a neat list just after the break. Read on for the full break-down.
T-Mobile has started to roll out 4G services in the Phoenix and San Jose ahead of a press gathering today, according to our tipsters. Screen grabs show the service alive and kicking out speeds in the 20-30Mbps range, though we’ve yet to verify it for ourselves. The company already outed its “UnCarrier” plans on its site earlier featuring non-subsidized smartphones — including LTE models — along with unlimited voice, text and basic data plans. We should be able to color in the rest of the details later this morning.
[Thanks Nick, Dustin]
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, T-Mobile
Did NVIDIA say it would stick to one new mobile processor design per year? If so, it’s not worried about its own rules: meet the Tegra 4i. The 4-plus-1 chip formerly known as Project Grey is a Tegra 4 mostly in name, and goes for integration rather than raw power. It sheds the newer Cortex-A15 architecture of the Tegra 4 for a spruced-up 2.3GHz Cortex-A9 with the i500 LTE modem built directly into the chip die — a move that cuts the surface area in half and simplifies the hardware, even as it supposedly outruns equivalent competition. The design is more than just an overclocked Tegra 3 with 4G inside, though. The 4i touts 60 graphics cores versus the 12 of its ancestor, and inherits the high dynamic range photography and video engine of the Tegra 4. NVIDIA is demonstrating the 4i’s chops through the Phoenix (pictured above), a 5-inch, 1080p reference Android smartphone that builders can use as a starting point. There’s no immediate customers mentioned for the CPU, although we suspect those are coming soon.
Speaking of that camera technology, NVIDIA has also given it a name. Chimera, as it’s now called, isn’t just about making HDR available for every photo and video. The mix of CPU and GPU processing can capture HDR panorama shots without requiring a single-direction sweep, letting a would-be Ansel Adams ‘paint’ the panorama out of order. The autofocusing engine is also smart enough to include subject tracking with an exposure lock. Both 8-megapixel Aptina and 13-megapixel Sony camera sensors can already support Chimera, which gives us a clue as to just what imaging we can expect with the first batch of Tegra 4 and 4i devices.
NVIDIA Introduces Its First Integrated Tegra LTE Processor
Tegra 4i Delivers Highest Performance of Any Single-Chip Smartphone Processor
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-February 19, 2013- NVIDIA today introduced its first fully integrated 4G LTE mobile processor, the NVIDIA(R) Tegra(R) 4i, which is significantly faster yet half the size of its nearest competitor.
Previously codenamed “Project Grey,” the Tegra 4i processor features 60 custom NVIDIA GPU cores; a quad-core CPU based on ARM’s newest and most efficient core- the R4 Cortex-A9 CPU- plus a fifth battery saver core; and a version of the NVIDIA i500 LTE modem optimized for integration. The result: an extremely power efficient, compact, high performance mobile processor that enables smartphone performance and capability previously available only in expensive super phones.
“NVIDIA is delivering for the first time a single, integrated processor that powers all the major functions of a smartphone,” said Phil Carmack, senior vice president of the Mobile business at NVIDIA. “Tegra 4i phones will provide amazing computing power, world-class phone capabilities, and exceptionally long battery life.”
Tegra 4i’s new 2.3 GHz CPU was jointly designed by NVIDIA and ARM, and is the most efficient, highest performance CPU core on the market.
“Tegra 4i is the very latest SoC solution based on the ARM Cortex-A9 processor and demonstrates the ability of ARM and our partners to continue to push the performance of technology and create exciting user experiences,” says Tom Cronk, executive vice president and general manager, processor division, ARM. “ARM and NVIDIA worked closely to further optimize the Cortex-A9 processor to drive performance and efficiency in areas such as streaming and responsiveness. This is an example of the collaboration and innovation that enables ARM technology-based solutions to be market drivers through multiple generations of SoC solutions.”
Utilizing the same architecture as Tegra 4’s GPU, Tegra 4i features five times the number of GPU cores of Tegra 3 for high-quality, console-quality gaming experiences and full 1080p HD displays. It also integrates an optimized version of the NVIDIA i500 software-defined radio modem which provides LTE capabilities, and makes networking upgradability and scalability fast and easy.
“NVIDIA’s Tegra 4i appears to outperform the leading integrated LTE chip significantly, and also benefits from an integrated ‘soft-modem’ that can be re-programmed over-the-air to support new frequencies and air interfaces – something other modem vendors can only dream of,” said Stuart Robinson, director, Handset Component Technologies Program at Strategy Analytics.”
Tegra 4i mobile processor’s camera capabilities include the NVIDIA Chimera[TM] Computational Photography Architecture recently announced in Tegra 4. This delivers many advanced features, including the world’s first always-on high dynamic range (HDR) capabilities, first tap to track functionality and first panoramic photos with HDR. NVIDIA also introduced its “Phoenix” reference smartphone platform for the Tegra 4i processor to demonstrate its unique mobile technologies. Phoenix is a blueprint that phone makers can reference in designing and building future Tegra 4i smartphones to help get them to market quicker.
NVIDIA Introduces Groundbreaking Camera Technology with Chimera – World’s First Mobile Computational Photography Architecture
Tegra 4 Family Delivers First Always-On HDR Photos and Video, HDR Panoramic and Tap-to-Track Capabilities to Smartphones and Tablets
SANTA CLARA, Calif.-Feb. 19, 2013-Forging a path for the next wave of advanced, consumer-focused mobile imaging experiences and applications, NVIDIA today announced new capabilities delivered by the NVIDIA(R) Chimera[TM] Computational Photography Architecture.
Available in the NVIDIA(R) Tegra(R) 4 family of mobile processors, Chimera[TM] architecture offers a number of features never before available on mobile devices, including always-on high-dynamic range (HDR) photos and videos, HDR panoramic and persistent tap-to-track capabilities.
NVIDIA developed Chimera to enable mobile photography to be as flexible and creative as it is convenient. Its suite of new features, supported by enormous visual computing power, delivers capabilities far beyond what’s currently available, even in high-end dedicated DSLR cameras, to mainstream smartphones and tablets.
“NVIDIA’s Chimera architecture takes mobile imaging far beyond what consumers have come to expect from the phones and tablets,” said Brian Cabral, Vice President of Computation Imaging at NVIDIA. “Capabilities that until now have been reserved for professional photographers – like instant HDR and HDR panoramic shots and flawless image tracking – are now within easy reach for the rest of us.”
Previous mobile device architectures have made it difficult to use the best tools for different parts of complex image processing. Chimera architecture removes those boundaries by providing the power to conduct nearly 100 billion mathematical operations per second to perform image processing, using computational techniques used in X-ray CT scanners, deep space telescopes and spy satellites.
First revealed at CES 2013, the architecture redefines mobile imaging with always-on HDR photos and videos. This allows camera users to instantly capture high-quality, HDR images similar to how the human eye sees the world – in a vast array of locations and scenes, and under diverse lighting conditions.
Additional new features include HDR panoramic, which takes wide-angle, or “fish-eye,” shots that normally require an expensive digital single-lens reflex camera. The Chimera architecture captures a scene while the camera moves – from side to side, up and down or diagonally – effectively “painting” a panorama in real time from many angles and in any order the user wants. In contrast, competing offerings must either be moved in one direction along a single horizontal plane, or require significant amounts of post processing – taking up to 35 seconds – to stitch together the panorama.
In another industry first, the Chimera architecture includes persistent tap-to-track technology, which allows users to touch the image of a person or object to focus on within a scene. The camera then locks in on that subject whether it moves or the camera is repositioned to a better angle, while maintaining proper focus. Persistent tap-to-track also adjusts the camera exposure depending on any movement, helping avoid under- or over-exposure of the image’s subject or background.
NVIDIA Chimera is available as technology integrated into the Tegra 4 family, including Tegra 4 – the world’s fastest mobile processor – and the new Tegra 4i – the first integrated Tegra LTE processor.
Support from Leading Industry Players
Device makers can use the architecture to create differentiated imaging solutions to ship with their smart phones and tablets. The architecture also provides an application programming interface (API) that developers can use to create enhanced imaging apps for the growing Android mobile customer base.
Two important players in the camera imaging sensor market, Sony and Aptina – with others to be announced – have already added support for the Chimera Computational Photography Architecture. Sony’s Exmor RS IMX135 13 MP sensor and Aptina’s AR0833 1/3″ 8MP mobile imaging sensor support Chimera architecture, bringing always-on HDR capabilities to market. Device makers can now adopt this technology into their Tegra 4-powered devices; dramatically enhancing their photo and video capabilities.
“NVIDIA’s Chimera architecture with our AR0833 sensor delivers mobile customers an amazing photo and video experience,” said John Gerard, Senior Director of Mobile Products at Aptina.
Chimera Computational Photography Architecture Key Features:
o. First always-on HDR photos and videos
o. First HDR panorama
o. First persistent tap-to-track technology
o. First single-flash HDR capture
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Sony, NVIDIA
Source: NVIDIA
DARPA made some bold promises last summer when it announced its Phoenix program to harvest dead satellites for still-valuable parts, but it didn’t have much more than some concept videos to show at the time. It looks like the agency has been making some steady progress since then, though, and has today released a new video showing some of the work it’s done up through November of last year. As you can see after the break, that work is all still being doing in the lab, but it covers quite a few of the components that DARPA ultimately hopes to use in space, including robotic arms and gripping mechanisms. Those tests will remain Earth-bound for the next few years, but a demonstration mission is slated for 2016 to see how the system fares on an actual satellite in orbit.
Via: PhysOrg
Source: DARPA
We’ll admit it: we’re jaded. There is so much bad, middling and just okay stuff floating around in the portable speaker universe that we’re tired of even thinking about it. We’ve had our distinct favorite — the Tivoli iPal — for almost 10 years now, and it takes a lot to knock it off its unglamorous, but distinctive, pedestal. And we predict that it will continue to stay there. But newcomer Beacon has a hot little number in a soft-touch red dress that we’re willing to put right next to it on a slightly more diminutive pedestal. The $99, baseball-sized, Bluetooth-packing Phoenix has gotten under our collective skins, and we’d like to tell you why.
Gallery: Beacon Audio Phoenix review
Continue reading Beacon Audio Phoenix review: our new favorite portable speaker
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household, Wireless
Beacon Audio Phoenix review: our new favorite portable speaker originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Jul 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The DARPA Tactical Technology Office wants swarms of small spacecraft that would go to space, attach to dead satellites, and use their components to create new working satellites. The idea is fascinating—although it seems too wild to become real anytime soon. More »
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