Technology
AMD kills ATI brand
Aug 30th
Alas, the day has come when the world of computer graphics cards will no longer be a race between red (ATI) and green (Nvidia). Instead it’ll be green all over, as AMD just announced that it will be shuttering the ATI brand. ATI’s product brands — Radeon, FirePro, Eyefinity, and the like — will still remain and will be colored red, but they’ll all now be AMD-branded.
The decision is based on the company’s upcoming Fusion hybrid APUs, which will combine an AMD CPU and ATI graphics chip into one core. Branding everything as AMD makes things simpler, but we have to question the company’s judgement in the graphics space. Whereas AMD is still largely seen as a value-oriented second-choice to Intel in the processor space, ATI has a market-leading brand image in graphics.
Only time will tell whether AMD will end up diluting its strength in graphics by associating Radeon with Phenom. Interestingly, the change would mean that Intel-powered computers with ATI graphics would now have both Intel and AMD stickers on them, so AMD will be offering stickers that say just “Radeon graphics,” without AMD — which seemingly defeats the purpose of killing the ATI brand.
Read on for more about AMD’s decision.
Sphere: Related ContentBrowser Shootout: Windows Phone 7 vs. iPhone, Android
Aug 25th
A new video from Pocketnow compares browsing speed on a Windows Phone 7 prototype from LG, the iPhone 4, and Google’s Nexus One on Android. Even though the software’s not finalized yet, Internet Explorer on Windows Phone 7 is surprisingly competitive with the WebKit-based browsers on the iPhone and Android, beating or matching them in most tests. No Flash, Silverlight, or HTML5 A/V support yet, but the browsing experience is at least on par with the competition and at least won’t be a hindrance to the platform’s success.
While the rendering engine is a mix of IE 7 and 8, Microsoft has clearly put a lot of effort into the user experience, with silky-smooth scrolling, multi-touch zoom, and tab management. It’s a completely different animal from IE Mobile 6 on Windows Mobile 6.x (though most WinMo owners use Opera Mobile or other browsers in any case).
Video after the break.
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Microsoft reveals Windows Phone 7 games: Xbox Live in your pocket
Aug 17th
Microsoft has finally launched a portable Xbox. It’s neither a dedicated gaming device like Sony’s PSP or Nintendo’s DS nor just a casual gaming platform like the iPhone/iPod Touch. The software maker has fully integrated its Xbox Live experience into its upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system– every WP7 phone will be able to play Xbox Live Arcade-style games with graphics reportedly exceeding anything seen in mobile gaming so far. The platform includes avatars, achievements, and more, though head-to-head multiplayer is not on the cards for the initial version.
Microsoft revealed over 60 launch titles, including Assassin’s Creed, Crackdown 2, Castlevania, Earthworm Jim, Guitar Hero, Halo: Waypoint, Splinter Cell, Star Wars, and more. Let’s just say it’s a pretty solid lineup.
Head over to Engadget for a full preview of what Windows Phone 7 gaming will have to offer.
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HTC Schubert: Windows Phone 7, aluminum unibody
Aug 13th
247WindowsPhone has obtained a prototype of a Windows Phone 7 handset built by HTC. The HTC Schubert will be a Windows Phone 7 launch device, and while we have no confirmed details, it is an aluminum unibody design and appears to have around a 3.7″ screen, likely with WVGA (800×480) resolution.
Photo and video after the break.
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Apple’s mystery 1.2″ touchscreen device
Jul 10th
Taiwanese site Apple.pro has unearthed a tiny touchscreen with Apple markings. The panel measures a minuscule 3 cm (1.18″) diagonally- the fact that it’s touch sensitive is interesting given how tiny any touchable items would be on screen. This could be anything, but if we had to guess, it might be the next-generation iPod Nano, with touch gestures to switch songs and the like. Or maybe it’s a new device altogether.
One more photo after the break.
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Eye telescope implant gains FDA approval
Jul 8th
The FDA just approved a tiny implantable telescope meant to assist patients over 75 years old who suffer from end-stage macular degeneration. In a clinical trial with over 200 patients, seventy-five percent of patients with the implant “had their vision improve from severe or profound impairment to moderate impairment.” The manufacturer, VisionCare Opthalmic Technologies, is planning a follow-up study with these patients, along with another one involving 770 new patients.
The device replaces the eye’s natural lens and provides a magnified image (the two available versions offer 2.2x or 2.7x zoom), which is then projected onto a healthy part of the patient’s retina. The implant can only be used in one eye, as the other eye is needed for peripheral vision. Since the brain has to adjust to the implant’s image, patients must go through rehabilitation for the telescope to work. The FDA warns the treatment is still risky and could even necessitate a corneal transplant.
VisionCare says each implant will cost $15,000, so start saving up.
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Microsoft Kills Kin
Jul 2nd
Microsoft has killed its Kin social phone line just a few weeks after it launched. Gizmodo reports that the company has merged the whole Kin team into the Windows Phone 7 team. Rumors suggest that a mere 500 Kins have been sold to date, and while the figure’s probably higher than that, it might explain such a large project being folded so suddenly.
Kin was accompanied by some strange advertising, but the biggest problem was that Verizon only offered Kin phones with its $30 monthly smartphone data plan. Kin was supposed to be a cheaper, social-oriented alternative to a smartphone, but without a cheaper data plan, it became almost pointless. Even drastic price cuts to just $20/$50 for the Kin One/Two (from $50/100) didn’t help, and Microsoft’s ads promoting Kin as a Windows Phone just caused further confusion.
Read on for the full story behind Kin’s demise.
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iPhone 4 screen smashed in first drop test
Jun 12th
Apple’s new iPhone 4 isn’t even on sale yet, but it’s already been put through a series of drop tests. iPhone repair site iFixyouri managed to get an iPhone 4 (minus the motherboard inside) and dropped it from pocket height (3.5 feet). The good news? It survived two drops. The bad news? On the third fall, a loud popping sound was heard, and the phone’s glass front was smashed to bits.
iFixyouri comments that the new phone’s construction – essentially two pieces of glass with aluminum sandwiched in between – made it particularly vulnerable compared to earlier iPhones, which had a slightly recessed glass screen surrounded by a chrome bezel.
Source: iFixyouri
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T-Mobile HSPA+ beats Sprint 4G WiMax in speed test
Jun 12th
T-Mobile’s taken some flak recently (particularly from AT&T) after it claimed that its newly upgraded 3G service (HSPA+) offers “fourth generation speeds.” The carrier’s now been vindicated by a series of tests conducted by Phone Scoop, which surprisingly found that T-Mobile souped-up 3G matched and sometimes noticeably outpaced Sprint/Clearwire’s WiMax-based 4G service.
T-Mobile delivered particularly strong upload speeds and low latencies, and more importantly, T-Mobile’s service already works on nine different phones, including the HTC HD2, Touch Pro 2, myTouch series, G1, and others, while Sprint’s only works on the HTC EVO 4G. See Phone Scoop’s full report for more details. T-Mobile says it hopes to have its upgraded HSPA+ service up and running in 100 major metro markets by the end of 2010.
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Apple’s new iPhone 4: A4 CPU, HD video, high-res screen, video chat, 3-axis gyro for $199/299, June 24
Jun 8th
Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4 at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) yesterday. The phone sports a high-resolution screen, thin new (though repeatedly leaked) design, front-facing camera for video chat, the iPad’s A4 processor, HD video capture and playback, a three-axis gyroscope, and the newly-renamed iOS 4.
The iPhone 4 will be available starting June 24 for $199 (16GB) / $299 (32GB) in either black or white, on a 2-year contract– and yes, it’s still tied to AT&T in the U.S.
Read on for our full coverage of Apple’s fourth-generation iPhone.
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