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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

You’ve got to love it, don’t you? The prolonged hatefest between Intel and NVIDIA is continuing on today, with Andy Keane, general manager of the company’s GPU computing group, delivering the latest blow. While speaking to reporters at the outfit’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, he was quoted as saying that there is still “an incredible amount about Larrabee that’s undefined.” Furthermore, John Mottram chimed in by suggesting that “as [blogger and CPU architect] Peter Glaskowsky said, the ‘large’ Larrabee in 2010 will have roughly the same performance as a 2006 GPU from NVIDIA or ATI.” We’re beginning to wonder if these guys aren’t just passing disses while sharing a cold one afterwards just to get attention, but being that it’s more fun to envision suits from rival firms intensely angry with one another, we’ll just keep believing this actually isn’t a joke.

[Via Slashdot]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Loyal All-in-Wonder users from years past have probably been watching the progression of AMD’s revised version of the card with extreme interest. After such an absence, however, we understand the need to be cautious before snapping this up for your upcoming HTPC. HotHardware recently received one of these units for testing, and while it was only deemed “entry level” in the gaming department, the multimedia performance was smiled upon. To quote, “the [card] did an excellent job presenting digital video content in a quality manner without creating excessive power consumption in order to do so.” As expected, the unit wasn’t recommend for everyone (read: non-TV buffs), but those who’d utilize the built-in ClearQAM support probably can’t go wrong for $199. Hit the read link for a whole gaggle of test results.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

Details are slim at the moment, but one thing’s for sure: Dell customers affected (or not affected… yet) by those wonky NVIDIA GPUs will have their warranties extended by 12-months to compensate. The 1-year “limited warranty enhancement” will add coverage for this issue to everyone who recently purchased one of the 15 NVIDIA-equipped machines listed in the read link, and we’re told to expect further details about the whole ordeal in short order. Breathe easy, folks — you’ll be taken care of somehow or another.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

It’s arriving a month later than anticipated, but at least it’s arriving (we hope). According to a first look at PhysX on NVIDIA’s GeForce cards, The Tech Report is reporting (ahem) that the graphical outfit will dish out new drivers that add PhysX support on August 12th. The new software will allow owners of GeForce 8, GeForce 9 and GeForce GTX 200-series cards to use PhysX acceleration without shelling out any additional coinage, which means that you all will surely be giving it a shot just for kicks, right? Keep next Tuesday clear — you and Unreal Tournament 3 have a date, like it or not.

[Via UberReview]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

We already had a glance at NVIDIA’s newest low-ender, the GeForce 9500 GT, but the outfit clearly wasn’t done. In case the previously mentioned card was just a tad too weak for your needs, you can also check out the GeForce 9800 GT and / or 9800 GTX+, which feature 112 / 128 stream processors and support for HybridPower and PhysX. Both cards can be found just about everywhere right now for $149.99 and $199.99, respectively, with 512MB of RAM on board.

[Via Hardware Revolution]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Peripherals

Should the GTX 280 be a bit too rich for your blood, NVIDIA’s lookin’ out. Introduced (and reviewed) today, the PCIe 2.0-compatible GeForce 9500 GT checks in a few bucks south of $100 depending on where you go and provides a 550MHz core clock, 1,400MHz shader clock, 32 stream processors, 800MHz memory clock, 256MB / 512MB of RAM and twin dual-link DVI ports. Assuming the specifications meet your standards, you’re probably curious about performance. Based on the first reviews, it was found to be “measurably faster than the Radeon HD 3650, and pretty much on par with the GeForce 8600 GTS.” For under a C-note, it’s a solid buy for those okay with being a few steps behind, and HTPC builders will find the low power consumption, quiet operation and small size to be quite appealing. Check out the links below for pages upon pages of in-depth coverage.

Read - Introduction, benchmarks and review
Read - Benchmarks, images and another review

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

So yeah, quite a few NVIDIA GPUs have been acting up. Nothing new there. However, Dell’s attempting to help its laptop owners out by making a few notable BIOS updates readily available for download. Apparently the issue “is a weak die / packaging material set, which may fail with GPU temperature fluctuations.” In order to combat the problem, Dell’s BIOS flashes “modify the fan profile to help regulate GPU temperature fluctuations,” though the Round Rock powerhouse only promises that the updates will “help reduce the likelihood of GPU issues.” Hit the read link and give it a go — it can’t hurt… we hope.

[Via Electronista]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio

Just after seeing how the Nintendo DS’s touch panel could be used to scratch things up, along comes a full-blown turntable setup that relies heavily on interactions with touchscreens. Dreamed up and designed by Scott Hobbs, the ATTIGO TT enables DJs to manipulate sounds via sensors, and the added visual effects are fantastically beautiful, if not useful. Check out a video of the creation being used after the jump — just make sure one earcup is firmly planted around the ear first, alright?

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

Continue reading ATTIGO TT elegantly integrates touch panels into DJ setup

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Handhelds, Portable Audio

Not like we haven’t seen Nintendo’s DS used as a music maker before, but this variant may be the most amazing to date. yarglaaaafr’s ProteinDS application is currently in demo mode, but judging by the demonstrative video waiting after the break, it’s remarkably solid as-is. C’mon, it’s a tool that enables users to scratch up tunes via the handheld’s built-in touchscreen — how could Mario not approve?

[Via BoingBoing]

Continue reading ProteinDS app enables DJ-style scratching on Nintendo’s DS

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen any fresh new kit from Plextor, but the firm has just rolled out a new pair of NAS drives for those on the hunt for — what else? — networked storage. The StorX PX-NAS500L / PX-NAS1000L drives offer up 500GB and 1TB of capacity, respectively, and each unit includes a gigabit Ethernet port, one-touch USB back-up button and the ability to grow thanks to a pair of USB 2.0 sockets. Beyond that, you won’t find much else special about the new duo, and your guess is as good as ours on pricing / availability.

[Via BIOS]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

We can’t really see the logic in releasing a Blu-ray player without BD-Live in 2008 — and neither can Samsung, which just announced its fourth generation BD-P1500 will be BD-Live Ready. The bad news is the May release date announced earlier has slipped to June, and the formerly comfortable $399 MSRP is now a less promising TBA. We’re not sure if that “ready” tag means it will be BD-Live enabled out of the gate, however DTS-HD “High resolution” is confirmed on the way in a future firmware update. A slight delay for a significant upgrade in features? We’ll allow it.

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Original post by Richard Lawler

Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Oh sweet mercy, what have we here? A sneak peek (on video) of the looming PlayStation Store revamp and a confirmation of DTS-HD Master Audio output in the next PS3 firmware update, that’s what. Over on the PlayStation Blog, we’re casually walked through the impending v2.30 update, and just as we had heard, Blu-ray fans can shout in unison as the inclusion of their favorite audio codec (as well as DTS-HD High Resolution Audio) is just days away. Word on the street has v2.30 headed down the pipes on April 15th, and if you’re eager to catch a glimpse of some more stills from the made-over PS Store, head on over to Joystiq.

Read - PlayStation 3 firmware v2.30 walkthrough video
Read - Revamped PlayStation Store images

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Just in case you missed it, the Verizon XV6900, Motorola Q9c, and LG enV(2) are all finally launched on Verizon. Head on over to Engadget Mobile for the full details.

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Original post by Ryan Block

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Video

They haven’t revealed anything we didn’t already know, but AT&T’s finally come out with a semi-firm date for the launch of its MediaFLO-powered mobile TV service which will be branded simply as “AT&T Mobile TV.” It’ll be available to subscribers in May — no specific date just yet — on two exclusive handsets, the Prada-esque LG Vu and the more pedestrian Samsung Access; the Vu features an expansive touchscreen and 2 megapixel camera, while the Access makes do with a smaller landscape display and a 1.3 megapixel sensor. Both feature Bluetooth and 3G data, but the real story here is Mobile TV itself, which will come with two new channels that are exclusive to AT&T (in other words, unavailable on the other live MediaFLO service, VCAST TV from Verizon). The latest, hottest way to burn productivity on the go gets real in just a few short weeks, folks, so finish up whatever remaining work you have now.

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Original post by Chris Ziegler

Filed under: Cellphones

It’s not often we see a cellphone that we’re actually a little hesitant to pick up, but LG has managed to pull off that considerable feat with its new LG-SH240 slider, which boasts the rather unique characteristic of a keypad that purportedly feels like real human skin. If that hasn’t swayed you away from it, you can also expect the phone to pack a 2 megapixel camera, 3G HSDPA connectivity, and built-in Bluetooth, among other decidedly non-creepy features. You apparently won’t be able to pick one up ’round these parts anytime soon though, but those in Korea can grab one now for 400,000 won, or just about $400.

[Via Register Hardware]

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Original post by Donald Melanson