Horsepower Archive

  • Confirmed: AT&T’s Pixi Plus launches June 6

    Confirmed: AT&T’s Pixi Plus launches June 6

    Posted on May 18, 2010 | No Comments
    We said it was coming on June 6, and we weren't lying -- the Pixi Plus, that is, rife with GSM compatibility for AT&T's airwaves. The Pre Plus is already available (with a free Touchstone thrown in, no less), but if you're looking for something a smidge smaller with a little less horsepower, you might be holding out for this one. For what it's worth, we're hearing that the Touchstone promotion won't apply to the new model -- largely because it'll sell for $100 less on contract, if we had to guess -- so be sure you come packing enough cash on the 6th if wireless charging is your secret, irrepressible passion.

    [Thanks, Jacob M.]

    Confirmed: AT&T's Pixi Plus launches June 6 originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Tue, 18 May 2010 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Full Story

  • New MacBook specs leak out of Vietnam

    New MacBook specs leak out of Vietnam

    Posted on May 15, 2010 | No Comments
    Looks like we get a peek at an unannounced update to the MacBook a little bit early. The update (showing up on the label as MacBook7,1) has the same CPU and GPU as the entry level MacBook Pro, but assuming Apple keeps the pricing the same, it should be available for $999.

    Full Story

  • Intel’s Atom Z6xx series isn’t targeting Windows Phone 7, but ‘full Windows experience’ still an Atom priority

    Intel’s Atom Z6xx series isn’t targeting Windows Phone 7, but ‘full Windows experience’ still an Atom priority

    Posted on May 5, 2010 | No Comments
    As many times as Intel has tried and failed to shoehorn its way into the phone arena, you'd think it'd want to pimp as many notable platforms as it possibly could -- but strangely, Windows Phone 7 is notably absent from Intel's fact sheet on the just-announced, smartphone-focused Z6xx series of Atom cores. Instead, the wording of the paperwork clearly spells out that Android and MeeGo / Moblin are the focal points right now, which is leading everyone to wonder whether Intel's looking to steer clear of Microsoft's mobile strategy altogether. Granted, Microsoft's focus is clearly on ARM right now with its Qualcomm partnership having been announced back in February, but we're sure it wouldn't take too much pressure from Intel to get an x86 build of Windows Phone out there if these guys really wanted to play ball. We reached out to Intel to get some clarification on the issue and got this in response:
    "Intel's goal is to ensure we offer our customers a choice of software that runs best on our processors. Yesterday's announcement was focused on Linux OSs, however our strategy is to also support a full Windows experience on Atom as we do with Menlow, Intel's first generation atom chip for mobile devices and Pinetrail, Intel's chip family for netbooks. Stay tuned."
    What's getting us here is Intel's seemingly careful phrasing: "full Windows experience on Atom." Does that mean that Intel wants to keep Atom up in the Windows 7 end of the horsepower spectrum and avoid Windows Phone for the foreseeable future? It seems like a tough sell to say that Android is playing in an entirely different ballpark than Windows Phone is, and we're not sure that Intel can effectively argue that distinction -- but hey, with the Z6xx series' iffy power consumption stats, maybe it's for the best.

    [Thanks, R2V2]

    Intel's Atom Z6xx series isn't targeting Windows Phone 7, but 'full Windows experience' still an Atom priority originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Full Story

  • HP and Dragon Training

    HP and Dragon Training

    Posted on March 29, 2010 | No Comments
    How to Train Your Dragon, from DreamWorks Pictures opened on Friday and promptly blew fire over most of the competition. Numerous outlets reported the film was Number 1 at the box office this past weekend, despite somewhat slower ticket sales than expected. In case those HP commercials featuring New Zealand comedian Rhys Darby (perhaps most well-known [...]

    Full Story

  • Best Buy Mac optimization includes create a user account. Mmm-hmm.

    Best Buy Mac optimization includes create a user account. Mmm-hmm.

    Posted on January 5, 2010 | No Comments
    Part Two of the ongoing Best Buy Optimization scandal. Yesterday I highlighted the Geek Squad's PC optimization, which was silly to say the least. Today we look at their Mac optimization: it consists of creating a username. Cough.

    Full Story

  • Hardware accelerated ‘Doom’ comes to the Pre

    Hardware accelerated ‘Doom’ comes to the Pre

    Posted on December 31, 2009 | No Comments
    Pre homebrew has certainly come a long way in its short but happy life -- and now it's just gotten another little notch in its belt. Apparently, with the release of webOS 1.3.5, Palm has included a software library called SDL (or Simple Directmedia Layer) which allows developers low-level hardware access -- like the kind needed to tap into accelerated 3D graphics. With a little bit of elbow grease, webOS hacker extraordinaire zsoc was able to put together a port of Doom which can be run within a card in the OS, and completely functions (including keyboard controls). You've got to get your hands a little dirty with the Terminal app to make things happen right now if you want to try it for yourself, though the experimenters promise an easier solution in the coming days. Exciting stuff for webOS users hungry for a little more horsepower... now let's see if Palm puts this into play come CES.

    Update: PreCentral has a video of the app in action -- check it out after the break!

    [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

    Continue reading Hardware accelerated 'Doom' comes to the Pre

    Hardware accelerated 'Doom' comes to the Pre originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Full Story

  • Prank Pack fake gift boxes double up on holiday cheer

    Prank Pack fake gift boxes double up on holiday cheer

    Posted on December 7, 2009 | No Comments
    Just a friendly reminder that these “Prank Pack” fake gift boxes exist for your amusement. Be careful, though, as you run the risk of disappointing the person who opens the gift. I mean, how would you feel if you thought you were getting travel coffee mugs with built-in walkie talkies only to open the box to find a pair of argyles or a dumb Red Robin gift card?

    Full Story

  • Casio Exilim CA003 and CA004 uncloaked in KDDI au’s winter lineup

    Casio Exilim CA003 and CA004 uncloaked in KDDI au’s winter lineup

    Posted on October 19, 2009 | No Comments

    Filed under: , ,

    KDDI au's unleashing its winter lineup, and among them sits Casio's latest cameras phone, the 12.17 megapixel Exilim CA003 and 8 megapixel CA004. The higher-tier former boasts a 28mm wide angle lens with 3x optical zoom and autofocus, and a 3.3-inch WVGA OLED screen. It'll also shoot a quick burst of 20 pics per second when you need to capture the exact moment and aren't exactly sure when that is. Other amenities include microSDHC card slot, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM radio, and a handful of color options. Not wanting all that horsepower? The CA004 has smaller resolution shots, support up to 2GB microSD, and a 3.1-inch WVGA OLED screen, but is otherwise touting the same features. Akihabara News has some hands-on shots of the beaut you might wanna check out, unless you're the type who gets violently jealous by phones that aren't hitting American soil.

    [Via Engadget Japan]

    Read - KDDI au lineup
    Read - CA003 / CA004 hands-on

    Casio Exilim CA003 and CA004 uncloaked in KDDI au's winter lineup originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink | Email this | Comments

    Full Story

  • Yup, the Acer Aspire One AOD250 dual boots Windows XP and Android, all right

    Yup, the Acer Aspire One AOD250 dual boots Windows XP and Android, all right

    Posted on October 15, 2009 | No Comments
    Oh, netbooks. Doug loves ‘em, but I’m still not convinced of their vitalness. Is it neat to see a tiny little computer zip around the Internet? Sure, yeah. Can I go about my business without ever having owned one? So far, so good! I bring this up because yesterday I was able to goof around—in [...]

    Full Story

  • Ducati Hypermotard 796. No, really. That’s what its called.

    Ducati Hypermotard 796. No, really. That’s what its called.

    Posted on October 5, 2009 | No Comments
    Seeing as how all of our readers are avid motorcycle enthusiasts who can drop ten grand for the latest crotch rocket, here's Ducati's latest street machine. If you are one of those lucky few, how about purchasing a fleet and donating it to your favorite tech blog?

    Full Story

  • EeeBox PC gets Ion power, can handle 1080p video

    EeeBox PC gets Ion power, can handle 1080p video

    Posted on September 1, 2009 | No Comments
    EeeASUS' NVIDIA Ion-powered EeeBox PC has gotten sort of official. It's on ASUS' website now, at least, although there's still not much in the way of pricing or availability. The specs look pretty nice, though, with a whisper-quiet setup thanks to a dual-core Atom N330 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 250GB SATA hard drive, 802.11b/g/n wireless, card reader, and, of course, the horsepower to push full 1080p video.

    Full Story

  • Review: Lenovo IdeaPad S12 netbook with VIA Nano CPU

    Review: Lenovo IdeaPad S12 netbook with VIA Nano CPU

    Posted on August 6, 2009 | 1 Comment
    Quick Version: The Lenovo IdeaPad S12 represents one of the first netbooks to feature VIA’s Nano platform as a configuration option. You’ll gain some extra horsepower over Intel’s Atom setup while saving about $70 off the total system price, making the Nano a good option for those of you who want to watch 720p video. [...]

    Full Story

  • MIT students developing electric car that can be recharged in about ten minutes

    MIT students developing electric car that can be recharged in about ten minutes

    Posted on July 22, 2009 | No Comments
    Students at MIT are building an electric car capable of being recharged in about ten minutes. Granted, the kind of power that’s necessary to do that would be enough “to blow the fuses on 20 residential homes at once,” according to project team member and MIT student Radu Gogoana. Thankfully, the car — a modified Mercury [...]

    Full Story

  • Video: The World’s Fastest Remote-Control Car

    Video: The World’s Fastest Remote-Control Car

    Posted on July 9, 2009 | No Comments
    Friggin’ nuts. If you wish to live a long life, you should never drive a car over 100 miles per hour. But remotely controlling a vehicle at blazingly fast speeds sounds pretty rad. That’s the idea behind Nic Case’s Schumacher Mi3, who holds the world record for fastest R/C car with a max speed of [...]

    Full Story

  • Five Things Google’s Chrome OS Will Do for Your Netbook

    Five Things Google’s Chrome OS Will Do for Your Netbook

    Posted on July 8, 2009 | No Comments
    Chrome OS, Google’s newly announced computer operating system, is coming this autumn and promises to revolutionize netbooks and other underpowered machines. Essentially, the OS is a small, fast-booting platform whose purpose is to run a browser, and from there all the Google apps and other web services you know and love. But why bother? Your [...]

    Full Story