Notebooks, Tablets, Smartphones, Wearables And Gadgets
In-depth product reviews and news of notebooks, tablets, smartphones, wearable technologies and gadgets. We're now living in a contextually-aware computing world and mobile devices can not only help us enjoy the ride but create and capture new experiences as well.
NVIDIA has built its brand and reputation as a GPU designer since the company was founded in 1993, but recent comments by the company have implied that it believes platforms like Tegra and ION will be key revenue generators in the future. We've previously discussed NVIDIA's ongoing emphasis on the GPU as a massively parallel processor capable of handling workloads and programs far outside the realm of video games, but to date, reviewers and analysts alike have treated Tegra as more of a side project than a future core competency. The two core components of NVIDIA's mobile strategy: ION and Tegra Given how difficult the last twelve months have been for NVIDIA, it's easy to wonder...
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Don’t be fooled by the Nikon Coolpix L100’s DSLR-like looks. Although the L100 looks like a high-end camera that could compete with the functions of a DSLR, it’s really a relatively simple point-and-shoot with a wide angle 15x zoom lens as well as image stabilization, a 3-inch LCD, and a high speed burst shooting mode of 13fps that surpasses that of many cameras.The L100 is part of Nikon’s Life series of digital cameras that are known for their simple and easy to use functions. As Nikon describes it, the Life series is “Powerfully capable–yet simple, at an entry-level price.” Indeed, the L100 offers plenty of fully automatic controls for the user who wants to simply point and shoot....
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Digital designers and video editors will tell you that one display is often not enough. With so many different tool and palette windows, a single display can get crowded very quickly, leaving little room for the primary workspace. Add some other apps to the equation, such as e-mail and Web browsers, and you can wind up with a desktop drowning in windows. But another full-sized display is not always a practical solution for such users: A second display might represent a prohibitive expense or it simply might not fit on a desk that has limited space. Perhaps even more importantly, many systems simply lack a second video-port (or even lack the ability to swap out a graphics card, such as with...
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Back in August of last year, at the NVISION visual computing conference in San Jose, NVIDIA publicly demonstrated some new stereoscopic 3D technology. While stereoscopic 3D in and of itself is not new, the devices on display at NVISION were, and featured new hardware, monitors, wireless glasses, and software. At the event, the technology was demoed on a Mitsubishi 73-inch 3D Ready 1080p-capable DLP television and new ViewSonic 120Hz LCD monitors using a number of popular games. We got the chance to play a few games ourselves back then and watched some others play as well, and thought the effect was excellent.Fast forward to today, and NVIDIA is ready to officially take the wraps off of their...
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When we first looked at the NVIDIA GeForce 8M series of mobile graphics chips, over six months ago in early May, the series had just been announced. At the time, the lineup only consisted of the 8400M mainstream series and the 8600M mid-range series. Although rumors had been circulating about the possibility of a high-end, G80-based enthusiast chip for some time, and hopes were high, none were announced. This was compounded by the fact that the fastest chip in the initial lineup, the 8600M GT was quite a bit slower than last generation's top chip, the GeForce Go 7950 GTX. A month later, NVIDIA announced what was supposed to be the first enthusiast-class chip in the GeForce 8M family, the GeForce...
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If you want high-performance PC gaming action in a portable package, a laptop equipped with a GeForce Go 7 series chip has been your best bet for the last year or so. From the modest GeForce Go 7600 to the monstrous GeForce Go 7950 GTX, NVIDIA has most mobile gaming needs covered. If you were really serious, you could even get SLI in a (barely) mobile platform. However, with several highly anticipated DirectX 10 titles right around the corner, many mobile gamers have been eagerly awaiting DX10 capable GPUs for notebooks, a luxury that desktop gamers have enjoyed since November '06 with the release of the GeForce 8800 series. Today marks an industry first of sorts,...
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The enthusiast gaming notebook has become an extremely viable and desirable alternative to today's desktop systems, which in-part explains why the mobile segment is one of the fastest growing in the PC industry. The latest crop of high performance notebooks are an engineering marvel of sorts, as they come dangerously close to providing the same levels of performance without the excessive bulk and heat associated with a full desktop system. Over the course of the last year in particular, we have witnessed the notebook gain further ground on desktops with the arrival of new processors and NVIDIA's SLI multi-GPU configurations on the notebook platform. As such, we now have...
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In the past, notebooks and gaming were two mutually exclusive things. Granted, you could get away with some Solitaire or Pinball though that was just about the extent of any gaming for mobile users. Over the course of the last few years, we've witnessed the notebook industry go through some dramatic changes. Gaming-specific notebooks were introduced by boutique PC vendors such as VoodooPC and Alienware and offered a solid gaming experience using mainstream desktop GPUs and faster LCD screens to minimize any ghosting effect. Once Dell entered the picture with their XPS line of gaming notebooks, the world knew that the "gaming notebook" was more than a marketing buzz word and that it...
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About three weeks ago, we tested a new Acer notebook powered by ATI's Mobility Radeon X700. With our testing complete, we found the Mobility Radeon X700 to be a well-balanced mobile GPU that offered very good performance, in a thin and relatively light form factor. Then, a few days after that article went live, we were contacted by representatives from NVIDIA and given an opportunity to test a different sort of animal. NVIDIA told us they'd be releasing a new mobile GPU meant for high-end, desktop replacement notebooks. What we ended up getting our hands on was a new Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 with a GeForce Go 6800 Ultra pushing the pixels. The GeForce Go 6800 Ultra incorporates all of the technology...
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We recently had a chance to talk with representatives from NVIDIA regarding a new initiative they've spearheaded, with the goal of bringing a consistent graphics interface to PCI Express equipped notebooks. Historically, the graphics processors used in laptops / notebooks have been impossible, or prohibitively expensive, to upgrade. A few companies, like Alienware and Toshiba, have recently introduced upgradeable notebooks, but they each use different standards. Alienware's parts can't be used in Toshiba's notebooks, and vice-versa. The video cards used in desktop systems, however, can be easily upgraded because there is a consistent interface standard (i.e. AGP)...
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GeForce FX Go 5200 and 5600 Mobile GPUs NVIDIA's New Mobile FX Offering Unveiled By - Dave Altavilla March 13, 2003 The PC Graphics Industry certainly has been heating up over the past few weeks, to say the least. NVIDIA and ATi alone are making coverage, of their new technologies for the desktop alone, a full time job. In addition however, coincident with Intel's "Centrino" Launch and Mobile/Wireless initiative, the Mobile Graphics space is bubbling and buzzing as well. ATi gave us a taste of their new "M10" core, with an intimate demo of their Mobility Radeon 9600. In like fashion, very recently we were briefed on NVIDIA's new GeForce FX products...
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