|  |  |  | | | | | Engadget | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  We've been waiting, rather patiently we might add, for carbon nanotubes to really start making a difference in our computing lives. That day has yet to pass, but researchers at Stanford are making good progress. Breakthroughs have been coming at a steady pace over the last several years, but there are still major obstacles. For one, aligning tubes end to end has proven practically impossible, and metallic carbon nanotubes (as opposed to semi conducting ones) wreak all sorts of havoc with circuits. (That wouldn't be an issue if there was a reliable way to produce only the semiconducting variety.) Rather than charge headlong into those challenges though, the Stanford team has figured out a way around modern limitations, without sacrificing much of the energy efficiency that makes carbon nanotubes so attractive. The team has found an "imperfection-immune" way of designing nanotube circuits that removes metallic contaminants and is unaffected by misaligned tubes. For more info, check out the PR after the break. Continue reading Stanford engineers find work around for barriers to carbon nanotube computers Stanford engineers find work around for barriers to carbon nanotube computers originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 01:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Amidst the upheaval in Espoo Nokia continues to push forward, and tonight its Facebook page has already posted a couple of teaser images, including the one seen above, suggesting there's big news due on June 18th. Astute observers will note that's also the day its good buddy Microsoft has already planned its own high profile and highly secretive event, although you may not want to connect the two just yet. One of the images is a map of Hawaii, which AllThingsD notes is home to area code 808, a possible reference to Nokia's PureView 808 41MP cameraphone technology, which was followed up by the above image, with tempo cranked all the way up. Draw your own conclusions -- of course we'll be hanging around Monday to see what happens. Nokia hints at June 18th news, may be PureView related instead of Microsoft originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 23:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Nokia US (Facebook) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Dell showed the heart of its 2012 laptop design language in the XPS 13 just as the snow started melting, but it's been mostly silent or conservative ever since. The company must want to close out the spring the same way it entered: Dell and Romania's Asesoft Distribution have just previewed a larger XPS 15 at an event B1 attended at the Bucharest-based Romanian Aviation Museum. Based on the early look, Dell isn't going to stretch the Ultrabook definition across the whole XPS range. There will still be full-power, 2.5GHz dual Core i5 and quad 2.1GHz Core i7 chips from Intel's Ivy Bridge family, and NVIDIA is supplying some modestly ultraportable GeForce GT 630M and 640M video. Although there's no special tricks that we can see so far, the 15.6-inch system is reportedly due to show in at least Romania by the end of the spring, which leaves just weeks to wait if you prefer your mid-size performance laptops designed in Texas. Dell gives a peek at a revamped XPS 15 in Romania originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 20:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  The Verge | B1 | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  We recently got a look at Samsung's new Ivy Bridge-enhanced Series 5 laptops, but it turns out that's not the only refresh the line has gotten this month. Samsung's also now rather quietly introduced a pair of new AMD-based models on its website, including an $850 14-inch version with a quad-core A10-4655M APU, and a $700 13.3-inch model with a quad-core A6-4455M (both otherwise known as Trinity processors). You'll also get an AMD Radeon HD 7500G GPU on the 13.3-incher (while the 14 relies on integrated graphics), but their specs remain pretty much in line with their Intel-based counterparts beyond that, including a standard 4GB RAM on both models and 500GB or 750GB hard drives. You can find the full rundown on each at the links below. Samsung refreshes Series 5 laptops with AMD Trinity processors originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Samsung (1), (2) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  It's not often that the folks in Redmond get to debut a new operating system as big as Windows 8, so we can't really blame them for going on at length about every feature of it. The latest to get the in-depth treatment on the Building Windows 8 blog is the Mail app, which has already gone through some fairly big changes since the Consumer Preview and is apparently set to receive even more before the final release. As Microsoft's Jeremy Epling explains in the post, central to the latest version is a three-pane view that's designed to take advantage of the 16:9 ratio Windows 8 is optimized for, and make the best use of all the space afforded by the full-screen "window" -- the latest release is now able to display 14 messages at a time at the standard 1366 x 768 resolution, for instance, as opposed to just 8.5 in the Consumer Preview version. It's also, of course, deeply integrated into Windows 8 itself, even taking advantage of a new networking APIs to detect if you're on a metered network and only download the first first 20KB of each message body if that's the case. Unfortunately, Epling didn't divulge much about those promised future changes, noting only that there are "many more features on the way." In the meantime, you can find out more than you may have wanted to know about Mail in its current state at the link below. Microsoft explains Windows 8's Mail app, promises more changes to come originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 17:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Building Windows 8 | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Reports are abound that a section for podcasts is nowhere to be found in the latest beta version of iTunes for iOS 6. Given its beta status, it's easy to dismiss the exclusion as functionality that's yet to be baked in, but Peter Kafka of AllThingsD believes that Apple has something entirely different in mind. According to his sources, podcasts are set to receive a new home within a separate app of iOS 6. If true, this would provide one central hub for podcasts, as opposed to Apple's current scheme where they're discovered and downloaded in the iTunes app, then played within the Music app -- a little disjointed, but it's the setup we've come to know. Kafka's sources go on to state that podcasts will remain part of iTunes on the desktop. Unsurprisingly, Apple hasn't commented on the speculation. Guess we'll all learn more in the coming months, eh? Will podcasts receive a separate app in iOS 6? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 16:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | AllThingsD, MacRumors forums | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Can you say "edutainment?" Yep, this month we'll be exploring the intersection of technology and education like only the Engadget Show can, including trips to NYU's ITP school and Northeastern University in Boston to check out some amazing student projects. Tim will be traveling all the way to Alaska to work with a team of researchers studying the northern lights with high-tech balloons and helmet cameras. And none other than LeVar Burton will be sitting down for an interview to discuss the next step in the evolution of his beloved Reading Rainbow. We'll also be highlighting the best of this year's E3, paying a visit to the awesome Artisan's Asylum in Somerville, MA and checking out the month's latest and greatest gadgets. Best of all, if you're in New York City, you can be a part of the live show at Metropolis Studios on 106th St. in Manhattan -- just fire off an email to engadgetshow [at] engadget.com. Here are the deets:
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[RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically. The Engadget Show returns Friday, June 22nd -- get tickets to the taping! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Tech finance sleuth Horace Dediu was clearly astute when he determined that it's really Apple and Samsung's smartphone world, and we just live in it. ABI Research just estimated that, combined, the iPhone and Galaxy creators were responsible for more than 90 percent of the profits in the first quarter of 2012 -- mostly through carving out more than 55 percent of the total market share for themselves. We already know that only a handful of companies, like HTC, were making any kind of profit at the same time; ABI, however, has underscored just how much of a mountain Nokia has to climb to reclaim its glory days. For Nokia to completely make up for Symbian's decline, shipments of Lumia phones will have to jump a staggering 5,000 percent this year. The Finnish phone maker is certainly hopeful, but with the 80 percent growth rate in China mostly being led by locals like Huawei and ZTE, that's no mean feat. Continue reading ABI: Apple and Samsung have over 55 percent of the smartphone space, 90 percent of its money-making ABI: Apple and Samsung have over 55 percent of the smartphone space, 90 percent of its money-making originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | ABI Research | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Stop! Fanboys, what's that sound? Well, we're not sure, actually, but a couple of things we know that sound isn't are Brian Heater, an optical drive, and a Vertu phone. If you asked us we might tell you it sounds kind of like an HD Big Mouth Bass hanging from the wall in an undisclosed location. But yeah, we're not sure, so you'll just have to listen for yourself and see where the Engadget Podcast takes you. You won't be disappointed. Probably. Hosts: Tim Stevens, Darren Murph, Richard Lawler
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Orbital - Never 00:03:45 - The 2012 MacBook Pros vs. the 2011 models: what's changed?
00:22:59 - Apple axes 17-inch MacBook Pro, giant laptop owners weep
00:25:07 - Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display review (mid 2012)
00:25:26 - Apple announces refreshed MacBook Air: Ivy Bridge processor, USB 3.0, shipping today
00:29:00 - Apple officially gives Google Maps the boot, launches own Maps app with turn-by-turn navigation (updated)
00:36:50 - Apple demos Passbook, a one-stop shop for tickets and boarding passes
00:40:22 - Apple rolls out updated Mac Pro lineup with faster processors, not much else
00:41:51 - Siri comes to the New iPad
00:45:04 - OS X Mountain Lion: arrives on Macs next month, priced at $20
00:52:20 - Verizon's Share Everything data plans go live June 28th, let you add family (or a tablet) for a little extra
00:57:40 - Nokia 'sharpens strategy' by dropping three executives, laying off 10,000 and dumping Vertu
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Filed under: Podcasts Engadget Podcast 298 - 06.15.2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Primed goes in-depth on the technobabble you hear on Engadget every day -- we dig deep into each topic's history and how it benefits our lives. You can follow the series here. Looking to suggest a piece of technology for us to break down? Drop us a line at primed *at* engadget *dawt* com.
Welcome to one of the most unnecessarily complicated questions in the world of silicon-controlled gadgets: should a savvy customer care about the underlying nature of the processor in their next purchase? Theoretically at least, the answer is obvious. Whether it's a CPU, graphics card, smartphone or tricorder, it'll always receive the Holy Grail combo of greater performance and reduced power consumption if it's built around a chip with a smaller fabrication process. That's because, as transistors get tinier and more tightly packed, electrons don't have to travel so far when moving between them -- saving both time and energy. In other words, a phone with a 28-nanometer (nm) processor ought to be fundamentally superior to one with a 45nm chip, and a PC running on silicon with features etched at 22nm should deliver more performance-per-watt than a 32nm rival. But if that's true, isn't it equally sensible to focus on the end results? Instead of getting bogged down in semiconductor theory, we may as well let Moore's Law churn away in the background while we judge products based on their overall user experience. Wouldn't that make for an easier life? Well, maybe, but whichever way you look at it, it's hard to stop this subject descending into pure philosophy, on a par with other yawnsome puzzles like whether meat-eaters should visit an abattoir at least once, or whether it's better to medicate the ailment or the person. Bearing that in mind, we're going look at how some key players in the silicon industry treat this topic, and we'll try to deliver some practical, offal-free information in the process. Continue reading Engadget Primed: why nanometers matter (and why they often don't) Engadget Primed: why nanometers matter (and why they often don't) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Have a thing for wood grain and high-end audio? You're in luck, as Samsung has announced that its DA-E750 Audio with Dock will be available in the United Kingdom and Korea beginning Monday, June 18th. As a refresher, this rather handsome boom box uses a handful of glass fiber speakers, a dedicated subwoofer and vacuum tubes to output 100 watts of "natural and harmonious" sound. What's more, the device (available in mahogany or piano black) can accommodate your Galaxy or iOS handheld of choice via a dock, or, for those that abhor cables, stream audio via Bluetooth 3.0, AllShare or AirPlay. Sammy didn't specify a price in its latest announcement, but the figure $800 was mentioned back at CES 2012 when the model was first announced. Any audiophiles out there interested in this tube-driven shelf unit with a bookcase-sized price tag? Samsung's tube powered DA-E750 audio dock hitting the UK, Korea on June 18th originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Samsung Tomorrow | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.  We can't say a smartphone-connected sonar fish detector ranks high on our must-have list, but man is it a cool idea. Friday Lab's taking the plunge with its Deeper Smart Fishfinder -- a spherical waterproof device that beams back individual fish depth and location info, along with temperature and floor depth to your Android 2.2+ or iOS 4.0+ smartphone or tablet within 150 feet via Bluetooth. You simply use a standard rod and line to lower Deeper from a bridge, boat or shore, and the device automatically powers on when it makes contact with water -- a six-hour battery should suffice for all but the most dedicated of fishermen, unless they have a USB power source nearby for charging. Naturally, the sphere is water- and shock-resistant, and can operate in temperatures ranging from -10 to 40 degrees Celsius (14 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit). The Deeper app also provides air temperature and moon phase readouts, and social media functionality that lets you post fishing updates to Facebook or Twitter -- so all of your less fortunate friends can see how much fun you're having catching fish and stuff. The first 60 Deeper backers can snag one set for $129 (plus $20 shipping) on Indiegogo, while latecomers can hop on board for $20 more. You can also place your pre-order through the company's site, also for $149. There's just shy of four weeks left for Friday Lab to meet its $49,000 goal, so hit up our source link after the break to show your support. And if you're not quite ready to commit, there's a video awaiting you there as well. Continue reading Insert Coin: Deeper Smart sonar Fishfinder for Android and iOS Insert Coin: Deeper Smart sonar Fishfinder for Android and iOS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Indiegogo, Friday Lab | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  After the familiar vertical keyboard structure of a BlackBerry, but with all the Google friendliness and app breadth of an Android phone? Then Huawei may have the answer -- and it looks like it'll land on the US carrier, Cricket. According to leaked photos sent to PhoneArena, the Huawei M660 is modestly equipped with Android 2.3 and a portrait QWERTY keyboard nestled below a 3.2-inch display. Its existence is backed up by a page on the manufacturer's site, pointing to a (now non-existent) user guide that references expandable microSD storage, the possibility that it may arrive as the Ascend Q, and name-drops Cricket in the process. For those with portrait keyboard needs, you can hit up the link below for a few more shots of the device. Huawei M660 wields portrait keyboard, headed for Cricket Wireless? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 11:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | PhoneArena, Huawei | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  It's not often that we spend quality time with automobiles here at Engadget, but our motives are usually geared by electricity when we do. Take for instance, the Audi A3 e-tron concept above. This isn't the first e-tron concept -- if you'll recall, the A1 and A2 EVs were recently cancelled -- but back in November we learned that the German automaker planned to begin testing this all-electric plug-in in four regions within the US. It hopes to gain insight into how these cars will take to different climates and roadways in the country, while finding out how it will fit into drivers' daily lives. Naturally, the goal is to have something ready for consumers, but Audi figures that it's still about two years away from realization. After being in the hands of folks within the company, it's decided to let these prototypes loose in the hands of news media like ourselves (!) to show it off and see what outsiders think. As you've probably figured out, we definitely just took this four-door hatchback for a spin near Engadget HQ, and you'll find out all about how it got us around the city in one piece -- with us nearly draining the battery in Times Square in the process -- after the break. Continue reading Audi A3 e-tron hands-on (video) Audi A3 e-tron hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 10:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line.  The AeroVelo group, a team of students and professional engineers, wants its Atlas helicopter to hover for one minute, reaching at least three meters (10 feet) powered by human muscle alone. If the grunt-powered machine succeeds, it'll nab the American Helicopter Society International's $250,000 Sikorsky Prize, which has gone unclaimed since it launched in 1980 -- with the best efforts barely leaving the ground. But the University of Toronto-based team reckons it has the chops, with two PhDs aboard and Snowbird, the first successful human-power ornithopter, under its belt. The Atlas will feature four rotors like a 1994 design from Japan, which flew for 19 seconds, a simple and stable configuration that required less pilot power than other models. The would-be flyers have rustled up more than $27k toward the $30k target with 35 hours left, so if you'd like to help out -- and fulfill the dream of eccentric inventors everywhere -- hit the source link for details. Continue reading Insert Coin: Atlas human-powered helicopter gunning for elusive Sikorsky prize (video) Insert Coin: Atlas human-powered helicopter gunning for elusive Sikorsky prize (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Kickstarter | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Still recovering from last week's barrage of fitness gadgetry? Yeah, we are too. This week, we take a less active approach to the latest issue of our tablet mag. Motorola's influence on the tech that we all know and love extends far beyond flip phones and pagers. Our own Brian Heater takes a look at the history of the company in the issue's editorial feature, offering a glimpse into the timeline that led up to Google's $12.5 billion purchase. The folks in Cupertino had an event a few days back that offered a handful of juicy tidbits -- to say the least. If you fear you might've missed something or just need a quick refresher, we run down WWDC's 10 most important talking points. Speaking of which, the "Hands-on" section this week is devoted entirely to the next-gen MacBook Pro with Retina display -- in case you've been napping and haven't had a look for yourself. In terms of device reviews, we offer our thoughts on both the Sony Xperia P and Xperia U for your weekend read. If you're still reminiscing about E3, "Reaction Time" looks at Ubisoft's new title in a week that chock-full of sequels while "Eyes-on" takes a gander at the Nest thermostat and "Time Machines" visits the roots of the TI-30X IIS. The download links are just a click away, so hit yours to get started. Distro Issue 45 PDF
Distro in the iTunes App Store
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Distro APK (For sideloading)
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Follow Distro on Twitter Distro Issue 45: a brief history of Motorola and WWDC 2012's top stories originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | iTunes, Google Play | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  It's hard to tell exactly what Motorola is thinking of here, but it probably isn't a billowing sheet of fabric stretched loosely over the face of a smartphone -- even if that's what it looks like. Instead, this appears to be a patent application for a "free floating display lens" that helps the panel of a mobile device to be used as a Beo-style acoustic speaker. The idea is that you can get louder and less resonant sound without having to dedicate more precious real estate to a larger traditional speaker unit. The application also talks about generating haptic feedback on the lens, using the same underlying piezoelectric structures that would power the audio. Creating vibrations this way could require "eight times" less voltage than current methods while also delivering a higher-amplitude sensation. Merge that with KDDI's weird vibrational speaker technology and the results could be deafening. 'Free form' lens over mobile display could improve audio and haptics, says Motorola patent filing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | USPTO | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  See that complication of a line-drawing above? Well that's Microsoft describing how it would like to patent a function for a dual 3D and 2D camera setup that's able to process precisely where your eyes fall on a screen. While Kinect could fulfill that hardware component, the application goes into more detail on how the "gaze tracker" would calculate both the direction you're looking in and track the region of the screen that you're focusing on. It aims to do this by closely following your eye -- more specifically the pupil and iris -- with some attention also paid to monitoring the orientation of your head. The Mountain View crew aren't too specific with the remit for the notion, but it could follow similar lines to an Apple patent application we've seen previously -- heck, it could even lead to some eyeball-based UI navigation. Let your mind wander over the possibilities and stare at the full application at the source below. Microsoft applies to patent gaze-tracking camera, wants to stare into your eyes originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 05:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | USPTO | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Hear that, Toronto-based readers? That's the sound of Porsche Design's P'9981 BlackBerry doing donuts at a store near you (well, relatively speaking). Fresh from satisfying many a midlife crisis in London, the luxury phone is now available in Canada via the fancy Porsche Design boutique store in Toronto's Yorkville neighborhood, according to MobileSyrup. Folks willing to pay the pinky-raising premium price of $1,899 essentially get a BlackBerry 7 OS phone featuring upscale Porsche Design touches like a metal keyboard, stainless steel frame and leather-wrapped back cover. Still need to do some tire kicking? No worries -- you can take the phone out for a virtual test drive with our P'9981 review. Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry screeches into Canada originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | MobileSyrup | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Germans, grab your reading glasses, for it's today that Google is announcing the arrival of Play Books -- complete with the ability to purchase native language texts -- in the land of the Kant and Goethe. Yes, those in Deutschland may now buy and read titles from Google Play Books on their Android or iOS device of choice, and access the service via the web. In addition to Germany, Google's online bookstore is currently open for business in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. While the company has yet to disclose future markets for expansion, we hear the Bordeaux region is quite beautiful this time of year. Google Play Books makes an efficient arrival in Germany originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 04:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Android Police | Google Play (Google+) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  AMD's CTO Mark Papermaster may have just dropped a minor graphics bombshell at the end of the AMD Fusion Developer Summit. His presentation was officially to show off the FirePro W9000, a beast of a workstation graphics card with 6GB of GDDR5 memory, a 264.8-megapixel fill rate and four teraflops of single-precision math. While the screen behind him showed the one-fan FirePro card, however, he was clearly holding another, three-fan card in his hands -- and though it could be that the W9000's cooling system went through a major revision between presentation slide and production, it may be a clue to a gamer-friendly Radeon part instead. Attendees like Tweakers.net have reason to believe it might be the Radeon HD 7990, a long-rumored dual-chip version of the 7900 series for the very upper echelons of gamers. If so, the bets are on it keeping up the tradition of having two slightly underclocked versions of AMD's fastest chip (here the Radeon HD 7970) working in tandem to produce a big leap in speed despite occupying the same two card slots. AMD hasn't set the matter straight with either a yea or a nay, but with NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 690 largely cornering the high-end market unopposed, it's tough to picture AMD simply twiddling its thumbs. AMD previews FirePro W9000 graphics, possibly throws in dual-chip Radeon HD 7990 for good measure originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 02:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Tweakers.net | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
