Apple MacBook Pro (with Penryn and multi-touch) unboxing

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/242841029/

Filed under: Features, Laptops

We just got our 2.5GHz Penryn / 4GB fourth-gen MacBook Pro. Plenty of power under that hood, but the outward differences are few: it’s got the new, reorganized F-key layout (which we’re not all that fond of), and the trackpad physically the same (with the addition of multi-touch, which works just as well as it did on the MacBook Air). It’s definitely an anticipated upgrade to the flagship, but whether you think the form factor’s still got the longevity necessary to keep you coming back after, what, more than two years on the market with no major changes — well, we’ll leave that to you. We’ll have some updated benchmarks shortly.

P.S. -It includes the same model 60Wh battery they’ve been selling on these for a while, for those puzzled about the battery life changes made to the Apple’s MBP spec page.

Gallery: Apple MacBook Pro (with Penryn and multi-touch) unboxing

 

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Researchers Transmit Optical Data at 16.4 Tbps Over 1,500 Miles [Speed]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/242764960/researchers-transmit-optical-data-at-164-tbps-over-1500-miles

FiOS, you ain’t got nothing on this: Alcatel-Lucent researchers in France have successfully transmitted optical data at an absolutely blazing speed of 16.4 Tbps over a distance of over 1,500 miles.

The transmission was done with the goal of achieving a 100 Gbps Ethernet connection, which, as I’m sure you’d agree, is a goal we can all get behind. All sorts of fancy, confusing-sounding technologies were used to get the blazing optical transmission, including “a highly linear, balanced optoelectronic photoreceiver and an ultra-compact, temperature-insensitive coherent mixer.” I kept telling them that they just needed a more balanced optoelectronic photoreceiver! I’m glad they finally listened.

We’re still pretty far from seeing speeds anywhere near this in consumer connections, as the technology being worked on here will go towards the internet’s backbone rather than in a line to your house. But I mean, honestly, at what point is bandwidth so fast that it doesn’t matter if it gets any faster? When we’re talking about speeds that’ll allow you to download a full HD movie in 15 seconds versus 3 seconds, you really start to lose the right to complain about it. Those 50 Mbps connections we’ll start seeing offered to consumers in the next few years should be just plenty for the time being, no? [IT News Australia via Slashdot]

Android gets handled, now with Street View

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/242724761/

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

While Apple might have your attention at the moment with that impending SDK, the Android OS seems to be coming along quite nicely over at Google and the Open Handset Alliance. BBC’s Darren Waters got to peek “under the bonnet” with Andy Rubin himself, and has video to prove it. The OS was running on an unknown 3G touchscreen prototype, which also had a track ball at the bottom. The interface has come a long way since we saw it first, and browsing the web looks snappy and intuitive. Andy also showed off a version of Street View — complete with smooth panning and zooming, of course — and the fan-favorite Quake demo. Not bad at all for a 300MHz-ish processor, and while Android is still in “Alpha” stage, it’s already got a lot of good things going for it. Video is after the break.

[Thanks, Omar A.]

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Gmail CAPTCHA Cracked in Teams; Bots Get ‘Tude [Security]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/242135977/gmail-captcha-cracked-in-teams-bots-get-tude

Cracking Yahoo’s CAPTCHA human verification may have been a major security-breach milestone, but now bots have been tag-teaming in pairs to crack Google’s Gmail human test too, which they currently can pull off one in five attempts. During the crack, they also appear, somewhat snarkily, to read Google’s help pages, perhaps as a means of preventing a timeout. [Slashdot]

1,301 Florescent Bulbs Lit Solely by Magnetic Fields [Science]

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/242215818/1301-florescent-bulbs-lit-solely-by-magnetic-fields

This field has 1,301 florescent bulbs planted in it, and they’re all glowing. They aren’t plugged into anything, however; they’re powered solely from the magnetic fields produced by the power lines above. It’s all a large art project by Richard Box, and if you’re really interested in it you can order a DVD of the whole thing from him. If you’re cheaper and less interested, just peruse our gallery for the cool shots.
[Project Page via GadgetLab]

Intel Touts Larrabee At GDC

Intel Touts Larrabee At GDC

Theo Valich

February 21, 2008 11:52

San Francisco (CA) – Intel's multi-billion dollar project is slowly gaining traction, and this year's GDC conference is the last one where Larrabee is not going to be the key topic of conversations between game developers and like.

During a very interesting presentation by Daniel Pohl of Quake 4: Ray-Trace fame, The L-word (not the TV show Lost for those of you stuck in a cave for the past few years) was not just mentioned, but a slide was published for world to see.

As you can see now, Intel is using all of resources from the Folsom Prison, Houston bull-riding bar to a Biergarten in Braunschweig to get the chip done. Given the fact that description calls for "highly parallel, programmable architecture" that is targeting "Scientific Computing, Recognition Mining & Synthesis, Financial Analytics, Health applications and Graphics", it is not a very hard thing to guess what Intel is working on – a cGPU, GPGPU chip that is set to start its life with a 12 mini-core setup, that will expand to 16 and 24 mini-cores in the future. We hope that putting huge-ass cache (4MB) in the chip is going to solve the branching issues that GPU chips have today.

Oh yeah, it is supposed to be a great chip for IntelRT, or simply – great for Ray-Tracing. If all things go as planned, silicon should be done by year's end, and the release date should be by the end of 2009, probably 2010. frame.

Intel Touts Larrabee At GDC

Intel Touts Larrabee At GDC

Theo Valich

February 21, 2008 11:52

San Francisco (CA) – Intel's multi-billion dollar project is slowly gaining traction, and this year's GDC conference is the last one where Larrabee is not going to be the key topic of conversations between game developers and like.

During a very interesting presentation by Daniel Pohl of Quake 4: Ray-Trace fame, The L-word (not the TV show Lost for those of you stuck in a cave for the past few years) was not just mentioned, but a slide was published for world to see.

As you can see now, Intel is using all of resources from the Folsom Prison, Houston bull-riding bar to a Biergarten in Braunschweig to get the chip done. Given the fact that description calls for "highly parallel, programmable architecture" that is targeting "Scientific Computing, Recognition Mining & Synthesis, Financial Analytics, Health applications and Graphics", it is not a very hard thing to guess what Intel is working on – a cGPU, GPGPU chip that is set to start its life with a 12 mini-core setup, that will expand to 16 and 24 mini-cores in the future. We hope that putting huge-ass cache (4MB) in the chip is going to solve the branching issues that GPU chips have today.

Oh yeah, it is supposed to be a great chip for IntelRT, or simply – great for Ray-Tracing. If all things go as planned, silicon should be done by year's end, and the release date should be by the end of 2009, probably 2010. frame.

Garmin’s Nuvifone comes under fire for trademark violations

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/242357225/

Filed under: Cellphones

Garmin probably thought getting into the mobile phone game would just be smooth sailing, but it looks like they’ve made a deadly miscalculation. Okay, that might be over-dramatizing the situation, but the PND-maker is facing a new lawsuit over its upcoming 3G wonder-device, the Nuvifone. Apparently, internet telephone provider Nuvio Corp. feels that Garmin has crossed trademark boundaries just a smidge, alleging the nav company is stepping all over its good name. “Our customers commonly refer to our service as the Nuvio phone,” said Jason P. Talley, the company’s CEO. Not only is the provider calling for a cease-and-desist on the use of “Nuvifone,” but it also wants kickbacks for past infringement, and termination of the word “Nuvi” on any device made by Garmin. Garmin spokesman Ted Gartner says the company has been using the Nuvi name since early 2006 in North America, and earlier in Europe. He went on to add that they don’t discuss pending litigation — though we understand to friends and family he was like, “Pfft, whatever.”

 

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Intel lays out roadmap for Montevina-based Centrino 2 platform

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/242369013/

Filed under: Laptops

We’ve already gotten wind of Intel’s not-so-surprising branding choice for its Montevina platform, but it looks like the company’s just now gotten a whole lot more specific about things, with it laying out its roadmap for the newly-named Centrino 2 product line. As Daily Tech reports, the new platform will make its debut in June of this year, and will include separate “Performance” and “Small Form Factor” lines. On that former front, you can expect processors ranging form 2.26GHz to 2.8GHz, with a TDP rating of either 25W or 35W and prices from $209 to $530. The Small Form Factor line, on the other hand, is considerably more over the map, boasting processor speeds from 1.2GHz all the way up to 2.2GHz, and TDP ratings ranging from a mere 5.5W to 25W (prices will be between $262 to $316). Needless to say, this bit of news has also already set the latest MacBook rumor mill into full swing, with DailyTech reporting that “Apple insiders” say the company will refresh its laptop line alongside the platform’s launch in June, not that you likely needed “insiders” to tell you that.

[Via MacRumors]

 

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Asus U2E gets unboxed

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/242394411/

Filed under: Laptops

Although we’d been told that the hot Asus U2E ultraportable was delayed so the company could launch several products at once, it looks like the crew at PC Perspective managed to get their hands on one and do the requisite unboxing. No word on how the lil’ scamp runs with that ULV Core Duo, but it looks just as slick as ever, and we’re digging that satchel case it comes with — check it all out at the read link.

[Thanks, Ryan]

 

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