Parallella: supercomputing for the masses?

A Kickstarter campaign seeking to build a US$99 "supercomputer for everyone" saw its funding target of $750,000 comfortably met on Saturday, raising just shy of $900,000 in pledges. The Parallella is billed by its designers at Adapteva as an affordable, open and easy parallel computing platform based on the company's own multicore Epiphany chips.
It's perhaps more realistic to think of Parallella as a highly efficient piece of parallel computer engineering rather than a supercomputer. Though the term supercomputer is ill-defined, the word tends to conjure images of room-filling, petaflop-crunching mainframes (though the term mainframe is hardly more concrete). This ain't that.
What it is, though, is a powerful parallel computer complete with Adapteva's 16-core Epiphany-III processor which the company claims is capable of 32 GFLOPS peak performance while consuming no more than 2 watts of electrical power. The company claims that a Parallella has "10–50 times more performance" than the Raspberry Pi. If 16 cores sounds impressive then consider that, had Adapteva reached its stretch goal of $3 million, then its aim was to ship 64-core Epiphany-IV-based Parallellas come May 2013. In any case its development roadmap leads to 1000-core processors come 2014.
In the meantime, though, a $99 Epiphany-III Parallella will ship as a PC on a circuit board roughly the size of a credit card, complete with a separate Zynq-7010 dual-core A9 CPU, 1 GB RAM, two USB 2.0 ports, a microSD card reader, an HDMI connection and an Ubuntu installation (among other things). Ubuntu runs on the dual-core Zynq-7010, leaving the Epiphany-III free for whatever dark arts parallel programing wizards eventually dream up for it.
The Parallella is partly aimed at the tinkerer market, much like the Raspberry Pi and Arduino which Adapteva (a semiconductor and chip startup founded in 2008) says directly inspired it to make the computer. But Adapateva says its prime target is the developer, "the guys who really want to study parallel programing," says Adapteva CEO Andreas Olofsson in a promotional video. "We've had lots of people interested in our platform, but our price point has turned them away: thousands of dollars today is too much for somebody to do research." The Kickstarter funding, then, will be spent to tool up for mass production, to turn prototypes costing three figures into single-figure chips suitable for the mainstream.
Olofsson acknowledges that backers are doing Adapteva the favor by enabling mass production of the Parallella, and pledges that in return, the Parallella platform will be as open as possible. Software, architecture reference and documentation will be published on the web. The software will include a development kit which will include a C compiler, multicore debugger, Eclipse IDE, OpenCL SDK/compiler, and run time libraries.
In the video below Olofsson not only introduces the Parallella, but makes the case for a grassroots parallel computing movement.
Supercomputer? Possibly. Super computer? It certainly sounds like it.

Sources:Gizmag, Kickstarter, Adapteva

Korea shows off salad-tossing robot at Robot World 2012

Researchers from the Korean Institute of Science and Technology's (KIST) Center for Intelligent Robotics (CIR) demonstrated their household service robot, CIROS, at Robot World 2012. CIROS, the third version of the robot since development began in 2005, is intended to help out around the home by performing simple chores. You can watch it prepare a salad by slicing a cucumber and adding dressing in the video below.
According to a KIST official, CIROS is able to recognize common objects as well as kitchen appliances like microwaves, sinks, refrigerators, and dishwashers, and can move intelligently through its environment. The robot's artificial intelligence is the result of collaboration between robotics labs at several top-ranking Korean institutions including Seoul National University, the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea University, Sungkyukwan University, Sogang University, and the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH). As such, CIROS represents the latest in Korean robotics technology.
The robot's head contains stereoscopic cameras and a 3D IR sensor similar to the Microsoft Kinect, which it uses to recognize objects. Furthermore, robust speech recognition is made possible with a 12-piece microphone array. CIROS stands 5'3" (160 cm) tall, weighs a hefty 330 pounds (150 kg), and moves in any direction thanks to its wheeled base. It can detect and avoid obstacles in its vicinity thanks to a pair of laser range finders and six ultrasonic sensors in its body. And its dexterous hands, identical to those developed for HUBO (another robot developed separately at KAIST), can hold a variety of objects and tools.

CIROS loads a dishwasher

Earlier versions of the robot poured beverages from juice dispensers, and delivered them on a serving tray. Photos from the lab suggest CIROS is also capable of intelligently loading and unloading a dishwasher. Eventually, the researchers plan to build and program a robot that can perform every step of serving a meal, from its preparation through to tidying up. That won't be a reality for several years, but progress is being made slowly but surely. Similar projects are also underway in the United States, Germany, and Japan, and researchers compete in RoboCup @Home, an annual competition to build household robots that can perform simple tasks like serving a bowl of cereal.
Besides CIROS, the researchers at KIST CIR are also developing a bipedal humanoid robot named KIBO, and educational robots designed to teach students English lessons. A separate lab at KIST also works on bipedal robots with technology giant Samsung.
Robot World 2012 ran from October 25 to 28, and attracted many businesses to display their industrial manufacturing robots, robot vacuum cleaners, commercial service robots, and educational toys and kits.
Source: KIST CIR (Korean) via Robot World 2012 (Korean)

Nexus 10 vs. iPad (4th generation)

Google is evolving. Though Android is still licensed to countless manufacturers, the company is stepping up production of its flagship Nexus products. The devices, close collaborations with hardware vendors to promote new versions of Android, have been multiplied in number. This year, Google has released (at least) one new Nexus smartphone, and two Nexus tablets.
The higher-end of Google's tablets – the Nexus 10 – was built to go toe-to-toe with the iPad. How does it compare to Apple's market-leading slate? Let's take a look …

Dimensions

The Nexus 10 is thinner than the iPad, with slightly more oblong dimensions. Google intends Nexus 10 as more of a landscape tablet, while the iPad is primarily seen as a portrait-mode device.

Weight

The Nexus 10 is a bit lighter than the iPad, despite its slightly larger display.

Display

Google and Samsung went for broke with the Nexus 10's display. Its 2560 x 1600 resolution makes it the first major tablet to improve on the iPad's 2048 x 1536 resolution. That gives the Nexus a whopping 299 pixels per inch (PPI), notably sharper than the iPad's 264PPI.
There are other differences, as the Nexus utilizes Super AMOLED technology, next to the iPad's IPS. We look forward to getting these remarkable displays next to each other for some real-world comparisons.

Processor

The Nexus 10 packs Samsung's dual core Exynos chip, while the iPad 4 carries the Apple A6X (also manufactured by Samsung). This will also get more interesting with hands-on time, but both tablets should perform well.

RAM

The 4th-generation iPad's 1GB of RAM is unconfirmed, but we suspect it carries the same amount as the 3rd generation iPad. The Nexus 10, meanwhile, brings a full 2GB.

Storage

Apart from the iPad's pricier 64GB option, storage options are even. The big story here is that the Nexus 10 undercuts the iPad's equivalent models by US$100.

Wireless

The Nexus 10 launches as a Wi-Fi only affair, but it's possible that Google will later offer a mobile data-equipped version. The iPad is available in both Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + 3G/LTE models.

Cameras

At least on paper, cameras look close. Both sport 5MP rear shooters, with the Nexus 10 having a higher-megapixel front-facing camera.

Battery

The only meaningful battery life comparison will come with hands-on use, but, on paper, the iPad's battery hardware looks better. As the Nexus 10's display also packs a ludicrous amount of pixels, it will be interesting to see if its uptimes are on par with the iPad's.

Intangibles

The Nexus 10 ships with the updated version of Jellybean, Android 4.2. It's a relatively minor update, but it adds some new features like Photo Sphere (a 360 degree panorama photo tool), updated Google Now, and multiple user accounts. It also adds a Swype-like trace keyboard, built right into stock Android.
The biggest weakness of Android tablets, though, is still their native tablet app selection. This is where the iOS App Store excels, with its 275,000+ library of tablet-specific applications. If the Nexus 10 – along with its little brother, the Nexus 7 – is popular enough, that gap could soon shrink. It already has, to some degree. For now, however, too many Android tablet apps are still stretched-out smartphone apps.
For many shoppers, the most important category will be price. Here the Nexus 10 has a big advantage. Google and Samsung wisely undercut the iPad, selling the 16GB model for US$400. A tablet is a big purchase, and it will be interesting to see how many holiday shoppers opt for the cheaper – yet arguably more powerful – Nexus 10.

Summing up

When rumors recently surfaced about the Nexus 10, we didn't think we'd see the device until 2013. Google and Samsung, however, are getting it into customers' hands on Nov. 13. This could make for an epic holiday showdown with the iPad.
Many full-sized Android tablets have fallen at the iPad's feet. Is the Nexus 10's top-notch hardware, aggressive pricing, and trusted branding enough to give the iPad a serious run for its money? It won't likely outsell the iPad anytime soon, but it could position itself as a long-term threat. Stay tuned.

Source : Gizmag

Oak Ridge unveils Titan, the world's most powerful supercomputer

The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has just introduced Titan, the world’s most powerful supercomputer. The size of a basketball court and using enough power to run a small town, the water-cooled circuits of Titan are capable of 20 petaflops or 20,000 trillion calculations per second. This makes Titan ten times more powerful than ORNL’s previous computer, Jaguar and 20 trillion times more than the average PC. What’s more, it achieves this through components originally created for gaming computers.
Also known as the Cray XK7 system, Titan has 18,688 nodes. Each of these consists of a 16-core AMD Opteron 6274 processor and an NVIDIA Tesla K20 graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerator. It also has 700 terabytes of memory.

GPUs are designed to handle computations simultaneously at high speed and make excellent supercomputer components. The 299,008 CPU cores in Titan are used to guide the simulations, while the GPUs do the brute-force number crunching.
"One challenge in supercomputers today is power consumption," said Jeff Nichols, associate laboratory director for computing and computational sciences. "Combining GPUs and CPUs in a single system requires less power than CPUs alone and is a responsible move toward lowering our carbon footprint. Titan will provide unprecedented computing power for research in energy, climate change, materials and other disciplines to enable scientific leadership."

The increased speed and computational power of Titan will allow for faster, more detailed simulations of a wide range of phenomenon. ORNL and Cray are still working on final system acceptance, but Titan is already working on projects, such as those from the Department of Energy's Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment program, better known as INCITE.
The INCITE projects that Titan will work on include nano-scale study of magnetic materials for new motors and generators. Another project is the creation of computer models of the turbulent combustion inside an internal combustion engine and large-molecule hydrocarbon fuels to improve fuel efficiency. It will also be used to simulate nuclear fuel rods to study extending reactor life and the development of more accurate climate modeling to not only determine if the climate is changing, but where and how.
But it's not only high-end scientific research that's set to benefit from the development of this monster computer – the GPU technology is also likely to find its way into consumer graphics cards in the future.
Source:Gizmag via ORNL

Nexus 4 vs. iPhone 5

Google is going straight for Apple's throat. In addition to announcing its first direct iPad competitor, the Nexus 10, it's also set to release a new high-end smartphone, the Nexus 4. How does Google's (and LG's) latest flagship compare to the iPhone 5? Let's take a look …

Dimensions

In every dimension, the Nexus 4 is larger than the iPhone 5. Thinness – long one of Apple's hallmarks – is a big advantage for its handset.

Weight

The weight of the Nexus 4 corresponds to its size, as it's significantly heavier than the feather-light iPhone 5.

Display

Both handsets have high-end resolutions, but the Nexus 4's 4.7-inch display offers more real estate. Whether that's an advantage or overkill may depend on your taste.

Processor

On paper, the Nexus 4 looks like the favorite. But performance can go beyond cores and gigahertz, and Apple's A6 is a benchmark record-breaking beast. The bottom line: both chips are top-notch, and neither is likely to be pushed to the limit by many currently-available apps.

RAM

The Nexus 4 packs 2 GB of RAM, double the 1 GB found in the iPhone 5.

Storage

Google and LG pinched pennies here to keep the Nexus 4's off-contract price low. US$299 gets you 8 GB of storage, and $349 boosts that to 16 GB. Considering that the iPhone 5 only costs $100 less on-contract, you may find the freedom that the Nexus 4 offers to be appealing.

Wireless

Here's the other area where Google and LG skimped: the Nexus 4 lacks LTE. Though Google is promoting the phone's use of HSPA+ (often marketed as "4G"), you don't get the blazing-fast speeds of "true 4G."

Battery

On paper, this looks like a clear advantage for the Nexus 4. Like everything else here, though, take it with a few grains of salt. Many factors influence battery life, and the iPhone 5 should easily last a full day for most users.

Cameras

These specs are looking similar: two 8-megapixel rear shooters, with the Nexus 4 having a slightly-higher number for the front-facing camera.

Intangibles

Both smartphones have distinctive designs, with particularly attractive backsides. The iPhone 5's anodized aluminum has a striking look, while the Nexus 4 sports a unique bedazzled appearance.
The Nexus 4 is one of the first mainstream smartphones to ship with wireless charging capabilities. Though you'll need to purchase a separate mat or dock, the device is compatible with the Qi wireless charging standard.
Google is taking another stab at bypassing wireless carrier subsidies, selling the Nexus 4 online and off-contract. That didn't work out too well for the Nexus One, but that was almost three years ago. With Google Play established as a premiere marketplace for apps, music, and other media, the time may be ripe for Google to prove that, when it comes to selling high-end smartphones, the carriers can be circumvented.

Summing up

Is the Nexus 4 an iPhone 5 killer? Of course not. No rival smartphone is going to "kill" the iPhone; it will sell in bunches regardless. The Nexus 4 can, however, serve as the new cream of the Android crop. Despite its lack of LTE, its specs are top-of-the-line, and it's priced competitively. Its off-contract pricing could also grant you a freedom not typically associated with owning a smartphone.
No matter which phone you prefer, this holiday season is shaping up to be a great time to shop for a new gadget. Specs can be illuminating, but they're only part of the equation. Getting your hands on the devices in a store is still the best way to know which works best for you.

Souce : Gizmag

Game Review: Pro Evolution Soccer 13

Soccer isn’t called the “world game” on a whim. It is the biggest football code on the planet with fans and players hailing from all corners of the globe. The game is also the most popular video game in the ball sports genre, and with good reason. It is fun, has tactical depth and is usually pretty thrilling to play – and it's in the gameplay stakes that Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 on the Xbox 360 shines.

Fans of the genre will love the direction this game is heading in. Pro Evolution Soccer may not always have had the best visuals or the current roster of teams or players, but this is one title where gameplay is king.
Pro Evolution Soccer 13 delivers fast paced play where precision and a constantly varied attack will yield dividends. You can’t just continually lob long bombs at your forward line and expect to score. Indeed if you do dare to take this sort of approach too regularly you will discover the computer controlled team is very adept at delivering a rapid rebound that often scores.

Instead you will want to switch between a flanking, passing game and making the occasional Ronaldo inspired run and dribbling past a few defenders. You will need to gauge the spread of defenders and work the ball, passing back to find space and eventually set up a great cross from the sidelines or a gap you can exploit head on. Patience and persistence is the key here.
While doing this you’ll notice that the humble art of introducing boot to ball has been given considerable polish. PES13’s new “Full Control” ball handling system really adds a few new layers to passing and even defending.
When pushing forward the duration of your button presses will help dictate how high your pass soars. This can be instrumental in helping you achieve a looping trajectory that arcs over defenders and hits the back of the net.
You can also now far more effectively trap or flick pass the ball forward, using a deft waggle of the joystick. Executing the perfect heel flick pass to set up a cross is something that requires true skill, but with the Full Control system it is also delightfully rewarding.
Thankfully the game lets you develop these skills in a tutorial mode. It is advisable to take this option as the new moves aren’t natural or easy at first. That said over time you’ll love the result, having mastered the system and developed quick skilled passing techniques. It can make Blitzkrieg like assaults on the front line of your opponent’s defenses quite effective and satisfying.

It is not only the art of booting the perfect pass that has been refined here either. Receiving passes has also been tweaked with PES13’s new player movement system. You won’t just be able to hammer passes forward and expect that your team mates will easily claim the incoming ball. If you miss-time the kick or don’t deftly pass the ball in a way that favors your forwards, you may well run the risk of an unwelcome interception.

The game now challenges you not only with the ability to execute passes with after touch, but to get your receivers into position of best control the ball. This adds another layer of skill to the process and again while it makes passing in the short term harder, the gameplay is more rewarding as a whole once you have achieved a certain degree of mastery.
Your opponents have also become more skilled and challenging. Variety and flexibility in attack is definitely the key as opposing defenders will get a feel for you approach if it is too consistent and you will be shut out. For the player defense has been rendered more satisfying as it is easier to now push for an interception or try and cut off an incoming ball by stalking the receiver.

You won’t have to opt for the late desperate slide tackle to steal the ball as much as you had to in previous games and this development helps the PES13 feel more balanced. As a consequence defending can be more enjoyable and rewarding. You won’t just feel like you are being teased in huge, televised game of “keepings-off.”

As you would have gathered from above PES13 is all about deft game play. Even though the graphical garnishing isn’t quite as impressive as rivals like FIFA, PES13 is still a decent looker. The visuals are workmanlike, yet effective, with smooth player animations, plenty of colorful stadiums and some nice lighting effects.

Verdict

PES13 will reward you handsomely if you don’t mind putting in a bit of work early and learning how to use the new tools at your disposal. The game delivers a nice blend of serious sport with a few nods to arcade accessibility.

Gizmag Rating 8/10

Images supplied courtesy of Mindscape
Source : Gizmag

Nikon announces 70-200mm f/4G ED VR full-frame lens

The Nikon 70-200mm f/4G ED VR boasts a constant f/4 aperture and promises up to five stops of image stabilization


The recently announced 70-200 F/4 is an important lens for Nikon – not only does it plug a longstanding gap in the manufacturer's lens lineup, but it's also the debut for the third generation of Nikon’s Vibration Reduction (VR) technology. Considerably smaller and lighter than the f/2.8 alternative, the new lens still boasts a respectable constant f/4 aperture and promises up to five stops of image stabilization.
The 70-200mm telephoto focal range is a key one for many photographers, it's equally versatile whether shooting portraits, sports or wildlife – even more so on a cropped DX sensor where it gives a 35mm equivalent of 105-300mm – and as such you'd be hard-pushed to find any photojournalist without one. But their trusty f/2.8 70-200 is big, heavy and expensive, while consumer zooms over the same range normally have restrictively small apertures.
For many enthusiasts a happy medium is a constant f/4 telephoto zoom lens, which is why it's surprising that Nikon hasn't made one for quite some time. The company's 70-210mm f/4 was discontinued in 1988 and the Nikon 70-210mm f/4-5.6 in 2000, but now it has announced the launch of the NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR, which joins the 16-35mm and 24-120mm constant f/4 lenses, and is designed to appeal to advanced photographers and videographers.

Constructed from 20 optical elements in 14 groups, the AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4 features many of the features found in pro Nikon lenses. A Nano Crystal Coat is said to significantly reduce ghosting and flaring, while Nikon’s Silent Wave Motor (SWM) ensures speedy but quiet autofocus. Two focus modes offer either autofocus with manual override (M/A) or straight manual focus (M).
But it's the Vibration Reduction (VR) technology which is potentially most intriguing. The third generation of Nikon’s VR technology is said to be good for five stops of image stabilization. That means considerably better low-light or handheld shots and smoother video, though if it's fast action you're capturing a 2.8 lens will obviously still be better.
Measuring 178.5 mm (7 inches) long with a 78 mm (3.1 inches) diameter, and weighing 850 g (30.0 oz) the Nikon 70-200mm f/4G ED VR will obviously be easier to carry than the 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II which comes in at 205.5x87 mm (8.1 x 3.4 inches) and weighs 1540 g (54.3 oz). It's also due to cost US$1400 when it is released in late November, compared to the going rate of $2400 for the f/2.8. However, an optional tripod collar will set you back an additional $224.
Source: Nikon , Gizmag

Dyskograf lets you draw your own beats

The turntable continues to be relevant in a market dominated by digital media, as little can compare with a good slab of vinyl in the minds of many music aficionados. However, the Dyskograf by arts collective Avoka takes this venerable format and injects a modern twist, producing a turntable installation which enables you to draw your own beats in real time.
The Dyskograf was created in order to lend a tangible experience to the act of creating music – a notion which can certainly become muddled in the current era of flexible music software capable of replicating real instruments with the click of a mouse.

The setup comprises a turntable complete with the usual speed and playback settings. A graphic disk reader takes the place of a stylus, and instead of a vinyl record, there’s a blank surface with which visitors to the installation are encouraged to draw upon.
In operation, the system appears to work a lot like a rudimentary sequencer, and in the video below it’s used to great effect. It would certainly be interesting to hear what could be done with a few units used simultaneously in a live performance setting.
The Dyskograf is set to appear in Paris on November 16 and 17, as part of Festival Visiosonic, check out the video below to see it in action.
Source: Avoka via Hack A Day, Gizmag

ADzero, world's first bamboo smartphone: specs revealed

A specs list for ADzero, 'the world's first bamboo smartphone,' was revealed at Droidcon on Friday


The makers of the "world's first bamboo smartphone," the ADzero, revealed the final design and specification of the forthcoming Android handset at Droidcon on Friday. The ADzero team has also announced pricing as well as early bird discounts for those that sign up for an ADzero during the, yup, inevitable Kickstarter fundgasm. Details within…
Dominating the spec sheet is the 1.4 GHz Samsung Exynos 4 quad-core processor: the same as inside the international edition of Samsung's Galaxy S III. This is backed up by 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB internal storage. The device will run a choice of either Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or the AD Android Operating System (ADAOS), the latter being "open-sourced to the development community," but available to users alike. The full spec sheet as it stands can be seen below, but bear in mind that until these things hit the production line, all are subject to change.

So far as the Kickstarter campaign goes, it seems the typical array of funding options will be available. Things get interesting at US$500 for the "Early Bird Special," a $200 discount from the final retail version, assuming it sells for $700 – the "approximate" eventual price, according to its makers. One imagines these Specials will be limited in number. Alternatively, a $300 deposit can be laid down against an ADzero phone, for an eventual sum of $600 (still a $100 saving). Limited edition phones can be had for $700 for the duration of the campaign. There's no word yet on when the Kickstarter campaign will actually begin.
Here's the specification as it stands for now:

• Processor: 1.4 GHz Samsung Exynos 4 (quad-core)
• Display: 4.5-inch TFT LCD with 720x1280 HD Resolution, 326ppi
• Handset Dimensions: 134 x 68 x 11.8 mm
• Operating System: Stock Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich + ADAOS (Open Bootloader)
• Networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; UMTS/HSPA+ 1900/2100 MHz
• Memory: 1 GB DDR2
• Storage: 16 GB internal storage
• Battery capacity: 2050 mAh
• Cameras: Rear-facing 8MP f/2.0 back illuminated sensor with RingFlash, 0.3MP front-facing camera
• Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g/n

Source: ADzero and Gizmag

Nissan's new leather seats feel like human skin

Nissan's new upholstery aims to replicate the texture and softness of human skin (Photo: Shutterstock)

Nissan is working on a material for its car seats that will replicate the texture and softness of human skin. The project called Premium-fEEL interior concept (PEEL) has seen engineers carry out detailed studies of what provides the sense of touch with a comfortable sensation. They discovered that nothing matches the comfort and tranquility associated with the feel of human fingers against the body. Being enveloped in the softness, the warmth, and the texture associated with a pattern of fingerprints is uniquely satisfying to people, who subconsciously interpret these sensations as a gentle caress.

The leather upholstery of the new Infinity QX56 (Photo: Nissan)

Most surfaces of an automobile cabin are experienced through pressure, sliding contact, or both. Nissan's studied both of these interactions as a function of perceived comfort, and the results appear below:

Nissan's research findings on comfort. The upper half of the figure describes comfort in terms of the compressibility of a surface, while the bottom half does the same in terms of the roughness of a surface (Image: Nissan)

The graphs indicate that the situation of maximum comfort occurs when a leather surface is only slightly less compressible than a human finger pad, and when the roughness of the surface is about that of a human fingerprint. Their overall conclusion is that the texture and yielding nature of baby skin is very nearly ideal.
Nissan is aiming to achieve this using semi-aniline leather with a textured and lightly pigmented protective coating which contains the fingerprint patterns.
One could argue that the best way to replicate an original is to use the original itself, but – aside from the serious creepy factor – with the cost of lab-grown human skin currently around US$250,000 per square meter, it's not likely to end up in car upholstery any time soon.
Source: Nissan Motor Company, Gizmag

Samsung's Ultra Touch Windows 8 ultrabook to start at $809.99

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Samsung is taking the wraps off its 13-inch Series 5 Ultra Touch Windows 8 ultrabook today, and at a starting price of $809.99 for the Core i3 version, it’s one of the more reasonably-priced machines we’ve seen so far. An extra $50 will buy you a Core i5 processor upgrade, but otherwise, both models will have the same 1366x768 10-point touch display, 4GB of RAM, and 500GB hard drive with 24GB of ExpressCache — Samsung’s term for high-speed solid state storage directly on the logic board. The Series 5 Ultra Touch isn’t breaking any records with its 3.83-pound weight, but it’s not bad for a machine with a spinning hard drive.
The company also took a minute to touch on its renamed Ativ Smart PC 500T and 700T Windows 8 tablets, which will be selling for $749.99 and $1,199.99, respectively. While both will be running Windows 8 and not the more limited Windows RT, that extra $450 will buy you an Intel Core i5 processor (the 500T comes with an Atom Z2760), a bump from 2GB to 4GB of RAM, and a doubling of storage, from 64GB to 128GB. No word so far on availability, but we’re expecting all of these to be available for Windows 8’s October 26th launch.

Frankly, this is much better than the crappy ultrabooks out there under 1K$, and at least for now is one of the best buys out there

Microsoft Surface RT vs. iPad (4th generation)

Technology moves quickly. Just a few weeks ago, we were anticipating an epic showdown between the 3rd gen iPad and Microsoft's Surface RT. Now, ahead of Surface's launch, Apple has already announced a brand new 4th-generation iPad. How does Microsoft's intriguing new tablet compare to the newly-refreshed iPad? Let's take a look …

Dimensions

The iPad 4 has the same dimensions as the iPad 3, so nothing has changed here. The Surface and iPad have identical thickness, but different length and width.
Surface is primarily a landscape tablet, as its display's oblong 16:9 aspect ratio may look odd in portrait mode.

Weight

These numbers are close, with Surface tipping the scales just a hair more than the 4th-gen iPad does.

Display

On paper, this is an enormous advantage for iPad. It has three times the pixels of Surface's display.
Surface, however, should fare better than these numbers would suggest. A renowned display expert says that Surface's ClearType display tech will make its resolution appear sharper than it is. It won't likely, however, be on par with the iPad's market-leading Retina Display.

Processor

This is the big upgrade for the iPad 4. Its A6X chip is a derivative of the terrific A6 SoC found in the iPhone 5. Like the A6, it is a dual core processor, but the A6X has quad core graphics to help drive that Retina Display. Apple is advertising twice the speed and twice the graphical performance of the iPad 3.
Surface's Tegra 3 is still one of the best mobile chips you can find, so it should perform admirably.

RAM

The iPad 4's RAM is still unconfirmed, but it likely retains the 1 GB found in the iPad 3. Surface RT, meanwhile, brings a full 2 GB to the table.

Storage

Microsoft has taken some grief for pricing Surface RT on even ground with the iPad, but the tablet does offer more storage. For the same US$500, the base model of Surface gives you twice the internal storage as the iPad does.

Wireless

Surface is, at least for now, a Wi-Fi only device. The iPad 4 is available in Wi-Fi only and Wi-Fi + 3G/LTE models. It also expands its Wi-Fi capabilities to cover dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) 802.11n networks.
Apple also added new carriers for the 4th-gen iPad, including Sprint in the US.

Battery

The iPad has a higher-powered battery than Surface, but this spec won't directly translate into actual usage. Remember that the iPad's battery is powering a display with three times the pixels of Surface's. Uptimes could end up being similar.

Cameras

Apple updated the front-facing camera in the iPad 4, and Surface's cameras aren't likely to be in the same league. Microsoft is being vague about the megapixels in the tablet, only saying that they're capable of "720p video." This probably means that they're around 1 MP or less.

Intangibles

One of Surface's defining features is its add-on keyboard accessories. The Touch Cover, pictured above, is one of the most innovative mobile tech inventions of 2012: think of an iPad Smart Cover, only with touch-sensitive keys and trackpad. The only catch is that you'll have to throw down an extra US$100 (bundled) or $120 (separately) to add it to your Surface.
The iPad 4 ships with the new Lightning connector, which Apple is adding to all of its mobile devices. Its advantages are that it's tiny and reversible; its big disadvantage is that it makes your old Apple accessories obsolete. Though unauthorized vendors may soon offer cheaper solutions, Apple wants $30 for each Lightning adapter. Change is good, but it would have been nice to see the company eat some profit (if necessary) to acknowledge its customers' long-term loyalty.
You can't compare these two tablets without talking about software. The iPad runs the established iOS 6, with the world's biggest and best collection of tablet apps. Surface, meanwhile, is running the Windows RT branch of Windows 8. Since it won't run legacy Windows apps, its software is all tied to the Windows Store. This gives the iPad the overwhelming software advantage.
A bright spot of Surface's software, though, comes in Microsoft Office. The new RT version of the iconic productivity suite ships with the tablet for no additional cost. Depending on your priorities, this could be a big-time advantage, or a non-factor.

Summing up

If you ask Microsoft, Surface is less of an iPad rival and more of a brand new product. That may be, but countless holiday shoppers will compare the devices nonetheless. It remains to be seen whether Surface will be the market-changing product that Microsoft hopes it will be. At launch, all we know for sure is that it's a bold new device with an attractive design, innovative accessories, and a sparse software library.
The iPad, meanwhile, is still the overwhelming leader of the tablet market. This 4th-generation iPad is a minor update over the 3rd generation iPad, but its performance will see a nice boost. For a product that has thus far been untouchable, that may be all Apple needed to do.

Source : Gizmag