Hasta La Gadget!

Say hello to the little friend you already know and want, this time dressed in a more extrovert red attire. We don’t yet know whether this 1201N variant will be finding retail shelves or if it’s just a pretty prototype, but that doesn’t make too much difference at this point. With the classical black model still only available on a pre-order basis (with a mid-January landing date) the closest you’ll be getting to ASUS’ Ion-powered 12-incher is glamor shots like these. Well, either that or a forthcoming Engadget review, both are good. See one more snap of the burgundy bruiser after the break.

Continue reading ASUS Eee PC 1201N dons burgundy garb, you still can’t have one

ASUS Eee PC 1201N dons burgundy garb, you still can’t have one originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re scouting a nettop that’ll hit your doorstep prior to those Christmas bells ringing, you’ll want to look elsewhere. That said, those with plenty of time to spare may want to consider ASRock’s ION 330HT-BD, particularly if you just can’t seem to stop renting Blu-ray Discs from Netflix. The box has just landed on Amazon with a $588.99 price tag and an admittedly frightening “usually ships within 1 to 4 months” warning, and if you’re no fan of BD (liar!), the standard 330HT is in the same boat for $458.99.

ASRock ION 330HT-BD nettop goes on sale for $589 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you need yet more reason to delay purchasing a current generation netbook, we’re hearing that Acer has eagerly scooped up an order for NVIDIA’s Ion 2 chips, which will eventually be found partnering Intel’s forthcoming Pineview hardware in machines of the future. With Intel now integrating graphics processing and the memory controller into the CPU packaging, the Ion 2 is expected to serve much more like a discrete GPU than the Ion chipset of today. Plans to support VIA processors are also still firmly in place, should you wish to experience the improved graphics performance outside of the realm of Lord Intel.

NVIDIA Ion 2 already ordered up by Acer? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I remember the day AMD announced it was going to acquire ATI. NVIDIA told me that its only competitor just threw in the towel. What a difference a few years can make.

The last time NVIDIA was this late to a major DirectX transition was seven years ago, and the company just quietly confirmed we won’t see its next-generation GPU, Fermi, until Q1 2010. If AMD’s manufacturing partner TSMC weren’t having such a terrible time making 40nm chips I’d say that AMD would be gobbling up marketshare like a fat kid. By the time NVIDIA gets its entire stack of DX11 hardware out the gate, AMD will be a quarter away from putting out newly refreshed GPUs.

Things aren’t much better on the chipset side either — for all intents and purposes, the future of NVIDIA’s chipset business in the PC space is dead. Not only has NVIDIA recently announced that it won’t be pursuing any chipsets for Intel’s Core i3, i5. or i7 processors until its various legal disputes with Intel are resolved, It doesn’t really make sense to be a third-party chipset vendor anymore. Both AMD and Intel are more than capable of doing chipsets in-house, and the only form of differentiation comes from the integrated graphics core — so why not just sell cheap discrete GPUs for OEMs to use alongside Intel chipsets instead?

Even Ion is going to be short lived. NVIDIA’s planning to mold an updated graphics chip into an updated chipset for the next-gen Atom processor, but Pine Trail brings the memory controller and graphics onto the CPU and leaves NVIDIA out in the cold once again.

Let’s see, no competitive GPUs, no future chipset business. This isn’t looking good so far — but the one thing I’ve learned from writing about these companies for the past 12 years is that the future’s never as it seems. Chances are, NVIDIA’s going to look a lot different in the future because of two things: Tesla and Tegra.

Continue reading Core Values: What’s next for NVIDIA?

Core Values: What’s next for NVIDIA? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS’ Eee PC 1201HA just went on sale here in the States earlier today, but already it seems that the debatable father of netbooks is looking to one-up its own with the 1201T. Shown off recently at an event overseas, this 12.1-inch netbook gets powered by AMD’s Congo platform. The 1.6GHz MV40 CPU was at the helm, followed along by 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 250GB hard drive, 6-cell battery and an enclosure that looks pretty much like every other Eee PC announced within the past six months. Mum’s the word on price and availability, but we’re guessing both of those will clear themselves up in short order.

Update: The Eee PC 1201T doesn’t have the ION chipset. Those responsible have been responsibly sacked.

ASUS shows off Congo-based Eee PC 1201T netbook originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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