Hasta La Gadget!

ATI just announced its latest greatest polygon cruncher on the planet: the previously leaked Radeon HD 5970. The new card card is also one of the first to support Microsoft DirectX 11 and Eyefinity multi-display (driving up to three displays at once for a 7680×1600 maximum resolution) with ripe potential for overclocking thanks to the card’s Overdrive technology. Instead of relying upon a single GPU like the already scorching Radeon HD 5870, the 5970 brings a pair of Cypress GPUs linked on a single board by a PCI Express bridge for nearly 5 TeraFLOPS of computer power, or a mind boggling 10 TeraFLOPS when setup in CrossFireX. Naturally, the card’s already been put to the test by all the usual benchmarking nerds who praise the card as the undisputed performance leader regardless of game or application. It even manages to keep power consumption in check until you start rolling on the voltage to ramp those clock speeds. As you’d expect then, ATI isn’t going to offer any breaks on pricing so you can expect to pay the full $599 suggested retail price when these cards hit shelves today for retail or as part of your new gaming rig bundle.

Read – Press Release
Read – Anandtech
Read – HotHardware
Read – PC Perspective
Read – HardOCP
Read – Hexus
Read – MaximumPC
Read – TweakTown

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

ATI Radeon HD 5970: world’s fastest graphics card confirmed originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sure, Verizon’s doubled down on the 3G map ads in response to AT&T’s false advertising lawsuit, but eventually the company’s lawyers had to file a response and, well, ain’t nobody backing down in this one. Here’s the freaking introduction:

AT&T did not file this lawsuit because Verizon’s “There’s A Map For That” advertisements are untrue; AT&T sued because Verizon’s ads are true and the truth hurts.

Yeah. It’s gonna be like that. Verizon goes on to argue that even AT&T concedes the maps are accurate, and that pulling any of the ads off the air without proof that they’re misleading consumers would be unfair, and that at the very least both parties need time to investigate further. Honestly? We’ve read it over a couple times now and while the legal arguments are certainly interesting, it’s hard not to get the impression that Verizon drafted this response with publication in mind — check out this quote:

In the final analysis, AT&T seeks emergency relief because Verizon’s side-by-side, apples-to-apples comparison of its own 3G coverage with AT&T’s confirms what the marketplace has been saying for months: AT&T failed to invest adequately in the necessary infrastructure to expand its 3G coverage to support its growth in smartphone business, and the usefulness of its service to smartphone users has suffered accordingly.

See what we mean? Now, we still think there’s some merit to the idea that Verizon’s ads improperly conflate 3G coverage area with 3G service quality, but that’s really not what AT&T’s arguing — hell, it’s busy pimping EDGE. We’ll see if these two can solve their differences and get back to work, but we’ve got the feeling this thing ain’t over yet.

Update: Here’s the PDF, in case you’re interested.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Verizon responds to AT&T’s Map For That lawsuit: ‘the truth hurts’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The long-rumored little brother to the Galaxy, the i5700, has finally been made official by Samsung — and sure enough, it’ll go by the trade name “Galaxy Spica.” Sammy’s latest Android-powered set clocks in at 13.2mm thick and comes equipped with a 3.5mm jack (which, frankly, every smartphone in the world should be including at this point), an 800MHz core (presumably the same as the Moment’s), and an Android first: built-in DivX support. This one appears to be a no-frills Google Experience device considering the number of times that “Google” is mentioned in Samsung’s press release, but for some Android connoisseurs, the purest, unskinned look and feel is preferred. Sammy says it’s already out in Europe and the CIS and will be coming to the Middle East and Asia shortly.

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung unveils Android-equipped Galaxy Spica i5700 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Anyone looking for the hottest T-Mobile-powered BlackBerry experience that money can buy need only wait a few dozen hours now, because the carrier has just revealed that it’ll be launching the latest rendition of the Bold — the 9700 — on Monday, November 16 for $200 on contract. Your hard-earned cash reels in T-Mobile’s very first 3G BlackBerry underpinned by a 3.2 megapixel camera and 480 x 360 display, beating AT&T’s launch by a solid six days. Enjoy, folks.

Filed under: Cellphones

T-Mobile launching BlackBerry Bold 9700 on November 16 for $199.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dubbing itself the “multimedia powerhouse” for T-Mobile’s expansive Android lineup, the Samsung Behold II has just been confirmed for that rumored November 18th launch on T-Mobile (still no word on price, though we’re hearing a predictable $200). The slate-style touchscreen handset has a 3.2-inch AMOLED display, and puts it to good use with a hearty skinning job on the part of Samsung, porting in most (but not all) of its TouchWiz UI — unfortunately for us, that silly cube menu made the cut. Underneath is Android 1.5, and what seems to be a pretty standard processor.

Hardware-wise there’s really nothing to complain about on this phone. It’s heavy, relatively thin (not iPhone-thin, but just fine), with solid materials and wonderfully tactile face buttons. The screen is everything you’d expect out of an AMOLED display, though high-resolution phones like the Droid dampen that enthusiasm somewhat. One wonderful Samsung addition to the traditional Android experience is a “real” camera button on the side, which can even register half-presses for focus. For someone who doesn’t want a physical keyboard, but doesn’t want their handset to feel like a toy (sorry, myTouch) there’s plenty to love. However, we’re more concerned about the software side of things. We’re not morally opposed to Samsung adding in TouchWiz, but we are afraid of anything that has the potential to slow down the OS, and on first glance we’d say it’s notably less responsive than stock Android. We’ll of course be going further in-depth to see just how usable this iteration is, but let us just put this out on the table: a virtual 3D cube to launch media apps is no way “intuitive,” “helpful” or “cool.” OK, maybe it’s kind of cool, but seriously Samsung, stop it. Check out our unboxing below.

Update: We added some video after the break. Behold the cube!

Continue reading Samsung Behold II hits T-Mobile on November 18th, unboxed today (now with video!)

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung Behold II hits T-Mobile on November 18th, unboxed today (now with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments