Items tagged with xo
Chris Ball, the Lead Software Engineer for the OLPC project, made a series of announcements this week about the direction the low-cost laptop is taking, not the least of which is the addition of a multitouch display. That's right folks, the next iteration of the XO laptop -- XO-1.75 -- will sport a touchscreen display, and so will upcoming XO tablets. "We've begun working on modifications to Sugar to enable touchscreen and multitouch use (the XO-1.75 will have a touchscreen, as will future OLPC tables based on its design), and we'll continue to do so," Ball said. "The first outcome from this work is Sayamindu Dasgupta's port of the Meego Virtual Keyboard to Sugar -- you can see a screencast of...
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One Laptop Per Child is a wonderful organization. Despite their failed attempts to provide thousands of laptops to students around the globe for under $100 (the machines ended up being slightly more expensive than they had hoped), that has not prevented the company from shipping mini notebooks to classrooms all around the world, helping children learn in a way that they otherwise would not if it hadn't been for OLPC's determination. The green XO laptop is now a symbol of hope and excitement, and we're thrilled to see the next generation of OLPC taking shape. As the tablet revolution marches on, OLPC is looking into creating a tablet for the future generations of students in developing nations...
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When folks begin to look back at all that went down during this decade, One Laptop Per Child will be impossible to miss as a real standout moment. It's somewhat difficult to believe that the OLPC XO laptop is years old now, and while it has largely fallen out of the limelight due to its higher than expected cost, it is still being shipped to school children all over the globe.With anything, particularly in the consumer electronics realm, comes progress. Even for OLPC. This week, the nonprofit organization has unveiled an all new concept that could very well put it back on the mainstream map. The new design has a familiar mantra: it's create to "deliver robust laptop performance and innovative...
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The Classics Deserve First-class Treatment ASUS Announces Xonar Essence STX PCI-e Audio Card with 124dB SNR Audio and Built-in Headphone Amplifier for Extraordinary Audio Performance Taipei, Taiwan, November 12, 2008 – Aimed as the culmination of searching for the very essence of sound, the new ASUS Xonar Essence STX range of audio cards delivers the purest, cleanest audio to offer users the ultimate audio experience ever from a sound card. Equipped with carefully-selected components, and ASUS’ exclusive Hyper-grounding and EMI Shield design, the Xonar Essence STX is capable of achieving an industry-leading 124dB SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) in signal clarity. Furthermore, full-driving for any...
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XOHM, Intel and WiMAX Partners Celebrate New 4G Broadband Era in Baltimore4G mobile service provides XOHM customers a city-sized hotspot. New Intel-based notebooks, other WiMAX-ready devices on roadmap. XOHM retail push includes Web, area Mall kiosks and select Best Buy stores. Symbolic "wire-cutting" event signifies Internet freedom and mobility. Baltimore – Oct. 8, 2008 – Catalysts of a new 4G wireless broadband era gathered today in Baltimore as Sprint (NYSE: S), Intel and their WiMAX ecosystem partners celebrated the recent launch of XOHM mobile 4G service, and announced new access devices and retail strategies at an Inner Harbor event. The occasion marked a business model transformation...
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The fashionable soldier of tomorrow will rip off the flak jacket and store the camo for a trip to the mall. If the military magnates at Raytheon have their way, soldiers will be donning futuristic exoskeletons before heading into combat. Sweet! Described as a "wearable robot" on the Raytheon site, the exoskeleton looks extremely clunky...yet strangely super cool. After watching a video of an engineer ripping through a solid set of pull downs of a 200 lbs, we were wondering where we could score a pair of robotic arms for our next workout.Raytheon tied the release of their super suit to the big-screen release of blockbuster flick "Iron Man," but we're not sure of the bigger surprise -- a sober...
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Reuters reports that the second-largest U.S. ISP, Comcast, has agreed to acquire online address book and social networking site Plaxo for somewhere between $145 million and $175 million. "Comcast will use Plaxo to offer social network links across Comcast-connected devices from TVs to digital video recorders to, eventually, wireless devices, thanks to a new partnership with Sprint, Clearwire and Google." Plaxo currently has approximately 20 million members, and estimates that it can net up to another 30 million members from Comcast's roughly 24 million television and 14 million broadband Internet subscribers. Comcast had already been working with Plaxo on its SmartZone communications center service,...
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A few months ago, ASUS jumped into the audio card market with both feet with the introduction of their Xonar product line. One of the first models to market was the premium Xonar D2 Ultra Fidelity 7.1 sound card. The D2 boasted a superb retail package with all of the cabling, software and extras one would need thrown in, along with a slick, eye-catching design, for around $180. Not only did the Xonar D2 Ultra Fidelity 7.1 deliver on all fronts, but it also proved to be solid competition for Creative, who still has somewhat of a stranglehold on add-in audio card marketTo further infuse themselves into the audio card market though, ASUS didn't stop with the Xonar D2...
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Just a few years ago, if someone said that integrated audio would deliver great performance with many of the features of a full-blown add-in card, it might have raised an eyebrow or two. Today, however, thanks to vastly improved integrated technologies, today's integrated audio solutions are often more than satisfactory for a large portion of consumers. Nonetheless, there are those who want a better audio experience, which can only be delivered from the likes of an add-in card.A few months ago, ASUS jumped into the audio card market with both feet with the introduction of the Xonar product line. One of the first models to market was their premium...
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Crystal Clear Audio for Gaming and Home Entertainment The ASUS Xonar DX PCI-e 7.1 soundcard delivers 35 times cleaner audio than integrated motherboard solutions FREMONT, CALIFORNIA (March 17, 2008) - Providing an alternative to flat and murky motherboard audio, ASUS, leading manufacturer of high quality computer components, releases the Xonar DX soundcard. Engineered for pristine, clean audio quality with a 116 dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), the Xonar DX is equipped with innovative technologies such as Dolby Home Theater and DirectSound3D Game Extensions 2.0 (DS3D GX2.0) offering immersive home theater audio and rich gaming sound features. 35 Times Cleaner Audio QualityToday’s motherboards...
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ASUS Xonar Series Revolutionizes the PC Audio Soundscape -- World’s first PCI-Express audio card Xonar D2X and the smallest USB audio station Xonar U1 revitalize gaming audio and simplify home theater upgrades -- FREMONT, CALIFORNIA (November 27, 2007) – Adding to the success of the company’s entry into PC audio, ASUS®, worldwide leader in component and notebook design and manufacturing, today extended its product offerings by introducing the world’s first PCI-Express (PCI-E) interface audio card Xonar D2X; and the stylish USB based audio station Xonar U1. The Xonar D2X is the first sound card in the industry to address the audio challenge for gaming under the Windows Vista®...
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Asus makes bold claims about their new Xonar sound card being the “best” PC audio card on the market currently. We took the product to task in an effort to prove out these claims. At the very least, perhaps a company with the Hardware and Software Engineering resources that Asus has, can deliver reasonable audio fidelity and hopefully a better set of drivers than the likes of Creative’s X-Fi debacle.Read on:ASUS Xonar D2 Ultra Fidelity 7.1 PCI Sound Card...
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Claiming to be the best at anything is bold. From professional athletes to product manufacturers, stating you or your product is the best out there opens things up for closer scrutiny. Being the best at what you do, or what you make, means near flawless execution. Regardless of the context, one thing is certain, if you claim you are the best at what you do, you better be prepared to back those statements up. This is the position ASUS has put themselves in, stating that their latest product is the best of its kind, period.In this HotHardware showcase we're going to take a look at a new sound card from ASUS called the Xonar D2 Ultra Fidelity 7.1 PCI Surround...
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Asus has announced the launch of the Xonar D2 sound card, which is the very first product in its brand new product line. Based on the AV200 audio chip, the Xonar integrates various sound-enhancing technologies from big names like DTS and Dolby. With a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 118 dB, for both audio in and audio out, users can enjoy unprecedented sound quality on their PCs. "Unlike generic sound cards in the market that provide the highest SNR to only the front stereo outputs, the Xonar D2 is able to deliver 118 db quality audio for all 7.1 channels." Gamers can enjoy superb in-game audio quality thanks to the various onboard technologies brought to...
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Bruce Schneier got his hands on a listing of MySpace user passwords that were the result of a phishing attack. He analyzed them for difficulty in cracking them. Guess what? Kids really are dumb. Just not as dumb as you, me, or the average corporate user when it comes to choosing a password: I'm impressed that less than 4 percent were dictionary words and that the great majority were at least alphanumeric. Writing in 1989, Daniel Klein was able to crack 24 percent of his sample passwords with a small dictionary of just 63,000 words, and found that the average password was 6.4 characters long. And in 1992 Gene Spafford cracked 20 percent of passwords with his dictionary, and found an average password...
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Gamers take notice! Many of you may recall the legal battle between Valve and Vivendi, with Valve's child, Steam, in the middle. Well all of that is over and done with, but the questioned still remained as to who would be the next to distribute Valve's products. Now we know(and knowing is half the battle - GI Joe), Valve has teamed up with, drum roll please... Electronic Arts(EA). Details and info on upcoming game packages can be found below, as well as your afternoon dose of news. EA AND VALVE TEAM UP TO DELIVER HALF LIFE TO GAMERS WORLDWIDE Redwood City, Calif. and Bellevue, WA – July 18, 2005 – Electronic Arts, the world's leading interactive entertainment company and Valve(R),...
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Good morning folks! Long time no see. I apologize for my extended absence. Can you believe that was the longest I've been away from HotHardware for over 6 years! But I have a good excuse - I was on my Honeymoon! Adrienne and I tied the not on May 14, 2005 and then we hopped on a plane for a couple of weeks in Antigua. What a great experience. Sun, sand, sea, another "S" word, and lots of relaxation. Right now though, it's time to get back in the saddle and bare down for some work. To be honest, I missed it! ATI and AMD Drive the Market for Dual Core Leadership Radeon Xpress 200 provides broad support for the AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core...
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How To Work With Your Digital Camera's Histogram @ The Tech Zone: "While teaching a recent photography workshop, an older fellow in the back of the room raised his hand. He said, "I just bought me a new toy and she's a beauty! But I can't figure out how to make the hysterectomy work?" Fortunately, my student wasn't describing a woman. He was talking about how to pull up the histogram on his new Nikon digital camera. His confusion is not unusual. When I use my digital cameras around film people, one of the first things they see and ask about is the histogram. They want to know what it is, and how should they use it." Koolance EXOS-2 Self Contained Computer Water Cooler @ HardOCP:...
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Hey folks, what's up? If this is your first visit to HH of the day, Dave has taken a look at the HIS Radeon X850 XT and Radeon X800 XL - IceQ II Turbo. And yes, with a cooler that spiffy, there had to be some overclocking ;) Oh, and for you X-Box owners who are still interested in the cable replacement fiasco, you might want to check this out. Adios. Thermaltake Hardcano13 Multi-Function Panel @ SystemCooling "Multifunction panels have become more popular and more complicated as of lately. Rather than only controlling the speed of your fans, newer panels now incorporate LCD displays and card readers into them. Today we'll be taking a look at Thermaltake's latest entry into the multifunction...
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Hello everyone, welcome to the HH Nightcap. Tonight we are serving a buffet of news from all over the continent. With just about the entire spectrum of hardware being covered this evening, everyone should find what they are looking for ;) Xoxide Clear Keyboard @ Bytesector "Xoxide is well known for their active involvement in supplying computer enthusiasts with modded cases and modding equipment. In the past we took a look at a couple of their cases and found them to be fairly interesting and definitely worth looking at when searching for a new case. Today, I will be taking a look at a very unique computer keyboard that will catch the eyes of many while serving its purpose...
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Good morning everyone. We've got a large line up of news treats for you today, so let's get right down to it... Seasonic PowerAngel Power Monitor @ Systemcooling: "Did you ever wonder how much power that computer sitting next to your desk is really using? Or for that matter, how about any other electrical device in your house? What's running efficiently, and what's making the little meter spin? The device we're looking at today, from Sea Sonic Electronics Co., is the Seasonic PowerAngel power monitor. Designed to identify power-wasting appliances, help forecast electrical expenses, and assist in troubleshooting problems, the PowerAngel also makes a great companion for the computer enthusiast."...
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Hey gang, JeffB here for your Thursday morning news fix. It's the same story here, we're all loaded up with hardware, cranking away for your entertainment. The best part is the stuff just keeps coming, so there is no slowdown in sight. On a side note, have you guys been paying attention to the BigWop? We need you to jump into the Folding frenzy and put your PC to good use. You can help save lives with a little effort. I myself was a hold out for a long time, being somewhat of a PC purist, but I've seen the light and have been folding away. You can too, just visit our Folding Forum to find out how! Do something good, represent your team and you may end...
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