Asus Memo Pad successor leaks ahead of Computex 2013 launch

Asus is all set to launch an upgraded version of its Memo Pad at Computex 2013, which will kick off next week. The upcoming tablet is said to be named as Memo Pad 7 HD, according to a report from Yugatech.

Asus Memo Pad 7 HD is rumored to sport a 7-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and a pixel density of 210ppi. The tablet is said to feature a 1.6 GHz quad-core processor along with 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory, a wide range of connectivity options and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
The potential Memo Pad successor is expected to be available in Black, White, Blue, Pink and Yellow color options. Asus Memo Pad 7 HD is estimated to be priced around $169 in the US market

Twitter for iOS and Android updated with new UI changes

Twitter has updated its mobile applications on iOS and Android with some new UI changes. First of all, you will notice a new tweet compose window, which instead of a popup now appears as a new screen over the current one. You will also see larger fonts while typing but more importantly they have completely changed the way you add images and preview them.

Now, when you try to add an image to your tweet, it will pop a drawer below that shows all your images from your device in a grid. This view includes images from all your folders so if you want to go to a specific folder without having to sift through all the photos then you can still do that by launching your image gallery from within the app and selecting the folder and the file.
After you add the image, you’ll notice a new preview mode, where the image appears in the same size as it will in the tweet after you post it whereas it would show a tiny thumbnail on the side. This makes it easy to check how the tweet will look once you post it.

Rayman Jungle Run now available on Windows Phone 8

One of the best mobile games on the market has now made its way to the Windows Phone platform. Ubisoft has released a version of Rayman Jungle Run for Windows Phone 8, which is now available on the store for $2.99.

We reviewed the game when it was first released on iOS and Android last year and found it to be absolutely phenomenal in every possible way. The game has challenging but incredibly exciting gameplay and combines it with gorgeous visuals and a peppy soundtrack. If you’re a Windows Phone 8 users and were feeling a bit left out of the action, this game will surely keep you busy for a while.

Apple launches new 16GB iPod touch for $229 sans the rear camera

Out of the blue, Apple has launched a new variant of their popular iPod touch. This new model starts at $229 but loses a few features to achieve the price drop.

For starters, the iSight camera on the back has been dropped and all you get now is the FaceTime camera on the front. Other omissions include a lack of the mechanical loop on the back for lanyard and no color options other than the default silver. Lastly, the internal capacity is now 16GB.
Other than that, the new iPod touch variant is identical to the 32 and 64GB models. It has the same design, the same 4.0-inch Retina display, dual-core A5 processor and comes with a pair of Apple EarPods. While not a bad option for those on a tight budget, it makes more sense to just pay the extra $70 and get the 32GB model with the camera for $299.

Analog Camera for iPhone now available in the App Store for $0.99

Realmac Software, the creator of the popular Clear to-do app for iOS, introduced its new iPhone photography app named Analog Camera, just a few days ago. Now, the camera software for the iPhone is officially available in the App Store.

Analog Camera is one of the easiest ways to take images, process and share your photography skills on your favorite social networks. The latest camera app has a simple user interface and comes with a set of eight filters for post-processing.


Images of Analog Camera for iPhone
Analog Camera for iPhone has three camera modes to set up a perfect shot and even offers manual focus and exposure. The app also has a horizon line, which helps you capture images like a professional. Lastly, the newly built camera app allows you to easily access your photos from your camera roll and photo stream.

Google updates its Calendar app with colors, new time and date picker

Google updated its Calendar app for devices running Android Jelly Bean 4.1 and above and those of us that are heavy Calendar users can now enjoy a variety of colors for events. There’s also the option to set a default calendar (if you have more than one) as well as a nifty new date and time picker interface.

The most notable improvement are the color options, which have finally arrived to Google Calendar and are probably the best way of organizing events – for instance birthdays purple, work stuff in red, personal errands in green, etc.
The color-coding option has been a big part of Apple’s Calendar for some time now and comes really handy when you’re browsing through your Agenda view so it’s a welcome feature for Android as well.

Google Calendar
The new date and time picker interface is pretty simple and intuitive. You get a clock-like interface and you drag the clock hands to the time you wish.

Razer announces 14-inch Razer Blade and 17-inch Razer Blade Pro gaming laptops

Razer has updated their 17-inch gaming laptop – the Razer Blade – and it now comes with improved hardware and a new name. Called the Razer Blade Pro, the ultrathin gaming laptop gets some increased firepower under the hood courtesy of some next generation parts.

For starters, Razer has swapped the previous Intel Ivy Bridge processor in favor of a new 4th gen Intel Core ‘Haswell’ processor. The GPU has been updated from the NVIDIA GTX 660M on the previous model to a GTX 765M. Other specs include 8GB DDR3 RAM, 128GB SSD (optional 256/512GB drives available), 3x USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, HD webcam and the same 17.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 resolution display from the previous model. The Razer Blade Pro also has a secondary touchscreen LCD with Razer’s Switchblade interface that doubles up as the trackpad, and ten user configurable keys above.
The Razer Blade Pro is priced at $2,299 and will be available on Razer’s website in Q2, 2013. If you’re an indie game developer with a successfully funded Kickstarter, you can get a new Blade Pro for just $999.
The reason the previous Razer Blade was promoted to the ‘Pro’ status is because there is a new Razer Blade in town. The new 14-inch model carries over most of the important bits from the Blade Pro, including the Haswell CPU, the GTX 765M GPU, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD and 3x USB 3.0 ports. The 14-inch display, however, has a resolution of 1600 x 900 and the Blade lacks the touchscreen LCD trackpad and the configurable keys of the Blade Pro. However, it is incredibly thin at just 0.66-inch in height, which Razer claims makes it the world’s thinnest gaming notebook.
The Razer Blade is priced at $1,799 and will be available in Q2, 2013.

NVIDIA announces GeForce GTX 770 GPU for $399

NVIDIA announced its newest GeForce GTX 770 GPU, which is the slightly more affordable version of the GTX 780 we saw last week.

The GeForce GTX 770 is based on the NVIDIA Kepler architecture for superior gaming performance. It features 1,536 cores and either 4GB or 2GB of high speed 7 Gbps GDDR5 RAM.
The latest GPU also includes NVIDIA GPU boost (2.0) technology, which automatically increased the clock speed for enhanced performance when needed and adds temperature target and fan controls.

The GeForce GTX 770 GPU supports a wide range of gaming technology, including the PhysX engine, NVIDIA TXAA and GeForce software enabling the users to have smooth gaming experience.
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 GPU is currently available in the market from suppliers such as ASUS, EVGA, Gainward, KFA2, Gigabyte, Inno3D, MSI, Palit, PNY, Point of View and Zotac. The pricing of the GTX 770 is supposed to start at €329 for a 2 GB version in EU and $399 in the US.

Apple has sold 100 million iPod Touch players over the last six years

Today Apple unveiled the new affordable 16GB version of the iPod Touch 5 that loses the rear camera and the eyelet. The day also marked a huge milestone for the company – 100 million iPod Touch sold since the first model hit the shelves way back in 2007.

The iPod Touch was an offspring of the iPhone that tried to capitalize on the hype the first iPhone created. It hasn’t quite been able to achieve the iconic status of the original iPod but its sales are still going pretty decently.
The iPod Touch managed to outlive the now almost completely deserted portable medial player market by becoming a viable alternative to portable gaming consoles and a capable tool for browsing the web. Having access to the extremely rich iTunes store, full of quality titles it might live for quite a few more years to come, too.

Watch the Xbox One announcement highlights in a short, hilarious video

Last week, Microsoft finally took the wraps off the highly anticipated next generation Xbox console, oddly named Xbox One. Most of you may have already watched the hour long keynote by now but if you haven’t, someone has made a video featuring just the highlights.

Even if you have watched the full keynote, I’m sure you are going to enjoy watching this.

The Humble Indie Bundle 8 gives you five great games for an amount of your choice

The Humble Bundle is back and this time they have a great collection of indie games for Windows, Mac and Lunix. As usual, you get to choose the amount that you want to pay and for that money you get Little Inferno, Awesomenauts, Capsized, Thomas Was Alone and Dear Esther along with their soundtracks.

If you choose to pay above the average amount (which is currently $5.69), you also get Miami Hotline and Proteus, along with the soundtrack for Proteus.
The money you spend can be split between the developers, the Humble Bundle team and charity (Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play) and you get to decide how the amount of split. Upon purchase, you will get the Steam codes for all the games that can be used on Windows, Mac as well as Linux, along with direct download or BitTorrent links for the games (in case you don’t want to use Steam) and the soundtracks in MP3 or FLAC.

A new technology from South Korea promises to triple the efficiency of lithium-ion batteries

A new technology developed by a group of South Korean scientists can triple the efficiency and in turn the capacity of lithium-ion batteries, according to a report from the country’s science ministry.

The scientists of Seoul National University have found out a way to increase the capacity of the lithium-ion battery by three times by using a nano structure of iron oxide and manganese oxide for the cathode of the battery, instead of the lead, which is currently being used.
The latest innovation will also enhance the efficiency of the battery and the prototype battery module is said to have lost less than 0.5% of its performance even after numerous recharge cycles.

Samsung challenges people to stare at the Galaxy S4′s eye tracking technology for an hour to win one

Samsung and Swisscom promoted the fourth generation Galaxy S smartphone in the Zurich Main Station in an interesting manner. Samsung challenged the audience to stare at the Galaxy S4 for 60 minutes straight without looking away – and it wasn’t an easy task due to lots of available distractions.

Samsung promised a free Galaxy S4 smartphone to anyone who managed to stare at the device for 60 minutes non-stop with distractions like police dogs barking, hot dog vendors on fire, musicians, motorcycles driving past your side and crashing and other such attention killers.
Furthermore, Samsung also gave huge discounts to its potential buyers, who managed to stare at the smartphone long enough. Samsung Galaxy S4′s eye-tracking technology, which is also known as Smart-pause, allows the phone to tell whether the user is looking at the screen and is able to say, pause an on-screen video when the users looks away due to some distraction.

Rumor has it Apple is looking to introduce a 12.9″ iPad Maxi in the first half of next year

Apple higher-ups always say “We’re never going to do X” and later they go and do X anyway – the company was claiming that 9.7″ is the perfect screen size for a tablet and then went and released a smaller, 7.9″ tablet. Can the same happen in the other direction, a tablet with a bigger screen?

Korean site ETNews thinks yes and claims Apple plans to launch an iPad Maxi (no, it’s not going to be called that) in the first half of next year. The publication also suggests that Apple is already talking to parts suppliers that will make the screens.
The iPad Maxi will allegedly have a 12.9″ display, close to 13.3″ Ultrabooks. Windows 8 tablets have recently moved into that screen size as well, so Apple might be looking to compete with them.
Mac shipments were flat (actually down a bit) in the first quarter of this year and PC and laptop shipments in general are starting to give way to tablets and smartphones. Hybrids – a tablet with keyboard dock – are becoming quite popular, a 12.9″ Maxi pad, uh, iPad Maxi might be just thing Apple needs in a post-PC world.

Snapdragon 800 to power the Samsung Galaxy Note III

The latest report coming from Samsung's homeland suggests the next Samsung Galaxy Note III will be powered by Qualcomm's top-notch Snapdragon 800 platform instead of the octa-core Exynos.
If this is true, Samsung either still has some troubles manufacturing its homebrew chipset or it just considers the Snapdragon 800 more powerful and probably cheaper. Unlike the Exynos chipset, the Snapdragon 800 platform has an embedded LTE radio, while Samsung needs a third-party hardware to enable LTE support on Exynos.
The Snapdragon 800 chipset has a quad-core Krait 400 processor that can be clocked up to 2.3GHz. Adreno 330 GPU is in charge of the graphics and it supports up to 4K video playback and recording. Snapdragon 800 also comes with a new generation LTE chip that supports category 4 (Up to 300Mbps downlink, up to 75Mbps uplink) and 7.1-channel sound.
Additionally, Samsung Galaxy Note III is rumored to pack at least 6" Super AMOLED display, 2+ GB of RAM, a 13+ MP camera and naturally, an S-Pen.
We expect Samsung to announce the Galaxy Note III at an UNPACKED event at IFA in Berlin this September and launch it soon after.

Rumor: the screen of next iPhone will have twice as many pixels

"The next iPhone" rumors are a popular pastime activity on the Internet and they vary wildly in terms of plausibility. This latest batch comes from China's Wei Feng social network and claims Apple is going to double the pixel count for the next iPhone and that the side bezels will be thinner, similar to the iPad mini.
The current iPhone 5 has about 730 thousand pixels and 326ppi pixel density. If the rumor is true, the next iPhone will have a screen with around 1.5 million pixels and 460ppi pixel density (that's assuming the screen size doesn’t change). If Apple decides to match current 5" 1080p droids at 440ppi, the screen size can be increased up to 4.2".
Of course, such a move will be difficult – going from the 3GS to the 4, Apple doubled the pixel count both horizontally and vertically, effectively quadrupling the pixel count. Apps that didn’t support the new resolution were easily upscaled.
From the 4 and 4S to the 5, Apple added an extra 176 pixel rows and apps that don't support the new resolution are just letterboxed with black bars (some still have them).
But to double the pixel count for the next iPhone, Apple will need to multiply the horizontal and the vertical pixel count by a square root of 2 (so the resulting resolution is something like 905 x 1606). Scaling apps to fit will be more difficult this time (or there will be black bars on the sides too), so it's unlikely Apple will go for this solution.

The rumored brand new look for iOS 7 might help somehow, but we'll have to wait and see. The rumor also states that the next iPhone goes into production next month and will launch in September, meaning we might soon start seeing leaks.

Gold Samsung Galaxy S4 is now available for £1700

Apple's iPhone 5 isn't the only one getting to dip its toes in a gold bath. Samsung's latest Android flagship has also undergone some gold-plating treatment thanks to a company called Goldgenie.

The quad-core edition of the phone retails for £1700, which isn't that much more expensive than other luxury Android smartphones around. Goldgenie has also done the Galaxy S4 in platinum and rose gold. Additionally, you can opt-in for the black or white version of the phone to serve as base.
The gold-plated Galaxy S4 is SIM-free and only the 16GB variation is offered. Check out the source link below for more information and photos.

Windows Blue is officially dubbed Windows 8.1, to be free on the Windows Store

At the JP Morgan Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in Boston today, Tami Reller of Microsoft announced that the Windows 8.1 update, previously carrying the Blue moniker, is going to be free.

Microsoft will launch the update through its Windows Store with a public preview becoming available on June 26 (coinciding with the Build conference). In the meantime, the company will unveil the update’s newly added features and fixes.
She touted that the Windows Store now offers more than 70,000 apps. That’s 20,000 more than the store packed just two months ago.
An exact date for the release of the final version of Windows 8.1 hasn’t been disclosed yet, but it’s expected to launch around the end of the year. Expect an RTM version of the update around August, provided it keeps the schedule that Windows 8 established last year.

Archos announces ChefPad, a 9.7-inch Android tablet for the kitchen

Archos has launched its ChefPad, a tablet that is designed exclusively for cooking enthusiasts. The slate comes with few dedicated apps, which is bound to be your virtually cooking assistant.

Archos ChefPad sports a 9.7″ display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and is powered by a 1.6 GHz dual-core processor along with 1 GB of RAM. The tablet features a quad-core graphic processor, 2 megapixel front and rear cameras, 8 GB internal memory, built-in mic and a pair of speakers for providing voice cooking lessons.
The virtual cooking assistant runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and has the ability to play 1080p videos. Archos ChefPad also comes with an exclusive Chefs app zone, where aspiring chefs can discover a selection of cool cooking apps, cooking tips and cooking TV channels.
The ChefPad has a silicone casing that will keep the slate safe from water or food splashes and the package includes an adjustable stand for the best viewing angles while cooking. Archos ChefPad carries a price tag of $210 and will be available starting from June.

Official Nokia Lumia 925 photos emerge ahead of announcement

The first official photo of the upcoming Nokia Lumia 925 has been posted on the now famous evleaks twitter account. Previously dubbed Catwalk, this is the first all-metal handset to come out of Nokia in a while. While nothing has been officially confirmed, the material of choice for the Lumia 925 is believed to be aluminum

The device is said to feature a Snapdragon S4 chipset with 1.5 GHz dual-core Krait processor, 1 GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Nokia is believed to give the Lumia 925 the same 8.7 megapixel camera with f/2.0 aperture as the one in the Lumia 928. The battery capacity is said to be 2000mAh.
Update: evleaks has posted yet another image of the unreleased Lumia 925, this time on the right hand side. The photo reveals the apparently aluminum shell as well as the button array which is reminiscent of the Lumia 928 - a volume rocker, lock/unlock button and a shutter key.

Unfortunately, there'll be no more leaks until tomorrow, when evleaks promises to unveil the Lumia 925's back.
The Lumia 925 is very likely to see its official debut at Nokia's London event tomorrow, May 14.

Samsung plans to offer 5G services by 2020

Samsung, the South Korean manufacturer has successfully developed a core technology of the 5G network and the company is aiming to bring the service to consumers by 2020.


The latest wireless technology will enable users to access faster data service compared to the current 4G networks. The 5G service was successfully tested with a 28 Gigahertz waveband to transmit data at a speed of 1 Gbps. According to Samsung, the fifth-generation network will allow you to download an entire movie in less than a second.
The newest platform will also allow you to download and upload data at incredible speeds of tens of gigabits per second as compared to the 75 Mbps on the current 4G LTE networks.
Samsung is said to have used 64 antenna elements, which allow the smartphone to exchange real-time signals. The 5G service is rumored to become an international standard in the future.

Samsung announces dual-SIM Galaxy Core

Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Core smartphone. The Galaxy Core is a mid-range device and comes with optional dual-SIM support.

Other features include 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4.3-inch WVGA (800 x 480) resolution TFT LCD, 5 megapixel rear camera with LED flash, VGA front camera, 8GB internal memory with microSD card slot, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, A-GPS, 1,800mAh battery and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
The dual-SIM variant of the Galaxy Core will go on sale this month and the single-SIM variant will go on sale in July. Availability depends upon the market.

Amazon lists 8-inch Acer W3-810 Windows tablet ahead of launch

A couple of weeks ago we talked about an upcoming Windows 8 tablet from Acer in the 8-inch form factor, which is a first for this platform. The tablet in question is an Acer W3-810, which has now reached a semi-official status after a listing on Amazon ahead of the official announcement.

The listing, which has since been pulled, priced the tablet at $379.99. The pricing seems reasonable when you consider the specifications of the device. The W3-810 is said to have an 8.1-inch, 1280 x 800 resolution display and runs on a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2760 (Clover Trail) processor with 2GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage space. You also get dual cameras and micro HDMI out. The W3-810 runs on the full Windows 8 operating system and not Windows RT so you can also run legacy Windows desktop applications on it, although the performance isn’t going to be scintillating.
With Amazon putting up the tablet on for sale, it seems that the official launch isn’t too far from now.

Sony C190X model number leaks, hints at a mid-range droid

Sony is preparing the announcement of a new mid-range smartphone with a model number C190X. A photo taken with said phone has been posted to PicasaWeb, but, sadly, it doesn't reveal much about the upcoming phone.

All the EXIF info of the photo reveals is the software version - 15.1.A.1.0. Judging by the model number, C190X (X is a number that varies for the different regions), Sony has destined the device to sit in-between the lower mid-range Xperia E and the not-so-long-ago announced Xperia L.

Don't get your hopes up though, as this is definitely not the device that's carrying the rumored Sony Honami camera sensor.

The company has been doing quite well with its Xperia Z flagship, with analysts estimating 4.6 million units flew out of the shelves in just 40 days. As a result, the company is having a golden chance to cash in on its success, so, apparently, it's looking to take the mid-range smartphone market by storm.
Expect more information on the Sony C190X as it gets available.

Nokia might release a smartphone with 16-element camera lens

Nokia has always been among the leaders when it comes to cameraphones and the company might aim to extend its advantage by releasing a smartphone with a 16-element lens camera by Pelican Imaging.


Nokia had strengthened its investments in Pelican Imaging and now, the imaging establishment claims that the company is in talks with at least one manufacturer to bring their latest module in a smartphone by 2014.
The Pelican camera, which features 16 lenses, snaps images when the shutter is pressed and captures depth information at every pixel. The technology allows the photographer to alter the focus point of the image even after the shot is captured. Furthermore, you can change the image backgrounds, scale any part of the image, and combine elements from multiple images into a new picture.

BlackBerry R10 poses for the camera in red and white

 

A third member of the new BlackBerry family of smartphones has posed for the camera. The BlackBerry R10, as it's called, is going to join the already available Z10 and the Q10, which is soon hitting the market.

The BlackBerry R10 isn't yet announced by the Canadian phone manufacturer, so information is sparse at the moment. The source of the photo adds that it's a "mid tier" handset with a plastic build, which nevertheless feels "nice".
The R10 is destined to sit below the BlackBerry Q10, and is aimed at the BlackBerry OS user who wants a more affordable QWERTY device. According to the person behind the leak, the R10 is scheduled to come out in Q3 this year, but a more specific time slot hasn't been mentioned.
Judging from the photograph above, the R10 will be available in multiple color options. Red and white are among them, given that they appear on the photo. Specifications of the smartphone are yet to be known

Samsung unveils NX2000 smart camera with 20.3MP sensor for $650

Samsung has extended its collection of NX camera’s with the latest addition being the NX2000. The image of the NX2000 smart camera leaked earlier and now, the company has officially announced the availability of the sharpshooter, which is based on a SMART camera technology.

The NX2000 comes with a 20.3 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor and the DRIMe IV engine, providing improved picture processing and color reproduction.
The latest camera of the NX series has a 3.7″ WVGA display and offers full HD video recording. The dedicated direct link key on the camera allows you to directly post your shots to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter etc.
While the NX2000 doesn’t run a proper smart OS, its The images can be shared using the Smart camera app available on iOS and Android. The application also allows you to back-up the data using the Wi-Fi or the NFC.

Images of Samsung NX2000
Samsung NX2000 is bundled with a 20-50mm lens and will be available in White, Pink and Black color options. The smart camera carries a price tag of $650 in the US and €649 in Germany.

Apple releases iOS 6.1.4 update for the iPhone 5

03 May, 2013

Tags: Apple, iOS, Touch UI

Apple has released a new iOS update exclusively for the iPhone 5. This update bumps the version number to 6.1.4 and includes just one tiny little change.

According to the change log, the 6.1.4 update brings ‘updated audio profile for loudspeaker'. The update is just 11.5MB in size and currently available for download on the iPhone 5. If you have any other iOS device, don't bother checking as it's not available for them.

Samsung Galaxy Note III to pack Exynos 5 Octa, 8-core Mali-450

02 May, 2013

Tags: Samsung, Android, Rumors

The Samsung's Exynos 5 Octa platform couldn't make it to all the Galaxy S4 flagships, so it was replaced by the fastest Snapdragon chipset available at that moment - the Snapdragon 600.
According to SamMobile's trusted insider, all Galaxy Note III smartphones will be powered by the Exynos 5 Octa platform. There is even more: the GPU inside the chipset will be Mali-450 with eight graphic cores. You could also expect 3GB of RAM.

Alleged image of Samsung Galaxy Note III

The rest of the Galaxy Note III specs should include a 5.99-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen with the same pixel structure as the Galaxy S4's display, a 13MP camera, S-Pen, and full-blown connectivity package. As the rumor has it, the Galaxy Note III will be as big as the recently announced 5.8" Galaxy Mega, which means smaller screen bezel.

The Galaxy Note III is rumored to run on the latest Android version available, probably 4.3 Jelly Bean. The Samsung's proprietary TouchWiz Nature UI will be on top with some new S-Pen features for sure.
We expect Samsung to announce the Galaxy Note III at the IFA 2013 in September in Berlin.

Intel details GPU options in Haswell, announces Iris

Intel has provided additional details about it’s upcoming fourth generation of Core processors (codenamed Haswell) specifically related to the GPU that will be running in these chips. But most importantly, they have also announced a new brand of high-end integrated mobile GPUs called Intel Iris.

Intel Iris is the name of a new series of graphics processors that will be integrated into the upcoming Haswell processors. Mind you, not all integrated GPUs on the Haswell processors will be designated with the Iris name. Intel is reserving this name for only their highest performing mobile GPUs, which will be integrated into the top of the line Core i7 models.
With Iris, Intel is promising a performance boost of around two times over the current generation Ivy Bridge processors, which is quite significant. Intel also plans to compete with the NVIDIA 650M, a dedicated mobile GPU, which is quite ambitious.

This doesn’t mean that the other Haswell chips won’t be getting a GPU upgrade. There are five tiers of Intel GPU for the next generation Haswell chips, denoted by the GT acronym. The GT1 levels chips will have Intel HD Graphics, GT2 will have Intel HD graphics 4600/4400/4200, GT3 (15W TDP) level chips will have Intel HD graphics 5000, GT3 (28W TDP) levels chips will have Intel Iris graphics 5100 and the top of the line GT3e chips will get the Intel Iris Pro graphics 5200 GPU. Intel is promising performance improvement over Ivy Bridge across the board, with the most improvement seen in the chips running Iris. Haswell also brings support for DirectX 11.1, OpenCL 1.2, OpenGL 4.0 and 4K x 2K support.

A faster onboard GPU is an important asset for Ultrabooks as they don’t have a dedicated GPU due to power and thermal constraints. An onboard GPU is all they have and if it isn’t powerful enough then you can pretty much forget about gaming, which is what the situation has been so far. This is where Haswell is expected to make a big difference, with graphics powerful enough to make gaming possible even without a dedicated GPU without consuming too much power. On desktop computers, a powerful onboard GPU will come in handy for tasks such as video encoding, using Intel’s QuickSync technology.

Android 4.3 running on several devices already, server logs show

01 May, 2013

Tags: Android, Rumors

When Google I/O is underway, there’s usually some new Android version waiting to be unveiled. Despite all the murmurs about Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, this I/O might bring just 4.3 Jelly Bean.
The version number first showed up in logs of the Android Police website and now Android Authority is reporting its server logs show visits from Android 4.3 devices. They seem to run newer builds than the JWR23B that visited AP (note: the first letter of the build number matches the first letter of the codename).

But more interesting is the list of device names that run version 4.3. There’s the Nexus 4 phone, the older Galaxy Nexus, the two Google tablets, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. Then there are two surprising entries - a yet to be announced Huawei U8819 and a rather low-end Pantech Breakout (listed as ADR8995).
The Breakout packs a single-core 1GHz processor and just 512MB of RAM. If that’s enough oomph for Android 4.3 then the news should be good as far as the eligibility for upgrades of old devices is concerned (it would fall to the manufacturer).
It’s interesting that the Pantech reported it’s running Android 4.3.1 Key Lime Pie so there is a chance the new version of the OS will get a new name, but it could just be an eager dev putting in the wrong name in the build.
Google I/O starts in two weeks, but the two-day keynote has been cut down to a single day, which potentially means no groundbreaking changes (and no 5.0).