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Samsung develops new graphene transistor, promises to drastically improve performance over silicon

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Researchers at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), have refined a technology that allows them to create a new, faster transistor.

Graphene’s electron mobility is more than 200 times faster than silicon, and semiconductor devices with this technology are expected to have highly increased performance. Read more »

Samsung begins mass production of 4 gigabit LPDDR2 memory based on 20nm technology

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Samsung has announced that it has begun mass production of industry’s first 4 gigabit LPDDR2 memory for mobile devices based on the 20nm technology.

So what does this mean for the user? Well, for starters the memory modules will now be smaller, which should let the hardware manufacturers pack in even more things in the limited space inside mobile devices. Read more »

Touche technology from Disney could revolutionize touch gestures

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A new touch sensing technology by Disney Research in Pittsburgh could drastically alter the way we interact with our environment, our tools, and our technology.

Touche can be used in a wide variety of applications, from expanded touchscreen interfaces on smartphones, to everyday objects such as doorknobs, and even liquids. Read more »

Meizu EP-40 headphones ears-on

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We recently got a set of Meizu EP-40 headphones in the office, and we decided to give them a whirl.

The headphones are designed to have a High Speed Response technology, which ideally minimizes the resistive impact they have on audio signals coming from devices. Read more »

HTC One X torn down, take a peek inside

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HTC’s quad-core Tegra 3-wielding flagship One X got the teardown treatment over in China.

If you were wondering what secrets hide behind the gorgeous Super LCD 2, read on to find out. Read more »

New AMD Trinity and Brazos 2.0 APUs now shipping

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AMD have announced that their upcoming processor and GPU combo chips, which shipped last quarter to OEMs, are just about to hit market availability.

Set to sport superior performance-per-watt over the previous generation A-Series APUs, the new Trinity line should find a home in upcoming ultrathin notebooks and tablets. Read more »

NVIDIA Tegra 3+ with improved performance arriving this year, won’t have LTE

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NVIDIA announced that it will be releasing an updated version of the Tegra 3, called the Tegra 3+, some time in 2012. It will feature improved performance and will be available on both tablets and smartphones.

Unfortunately, though, unlike what it said before, this updated version won’t be bringing LTE support to Tegra 3. This has been one of the shortcomings of this chipset because of which hardware manufacturers such as HTC had to turn to Qualcomm for powering their LTE phones. Read more »

New $399 iPad 2 and Apple TV found to be running on 32nm A5 processors

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Thanks to some poking around by Chipworks and AnandTech, we have learned that the new $399 iPad 2 as well as the new Apple TV are running on a newer version of the A5 SoC (APL2498) that is using the 32nm HKMG fabrication process compared to the previous one (APL0498) that used 45nm process.

Both these processors were found to be identical, which means that the processor in the Apple TV is actually a dual-core CPU but with one core disabled. Considering the simple tasks that the Apple TV has to handle, even with a single-core the A5 processor has more than enough power, although it’s unclear whether the second core being disabled is due to Apple choosing to go with a single core or due to binning. Read more »

Tegra 4 coming in 2013 with LTE support

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A leaked roadmap for the Tegra 4 has spilled some beans on Nvidia’s next generation mobile SoC. Assuming this image is authentic, we won’t have a Tegra 4 device with us before the first quarter of 2013, meaning Nvidia is not quite keeping up with its promise of delivering a new Tegra processor every year.

The first model to come out will be for flagship devices and will use the ARM Cortex A15 processor in the 4-PLUS-1 configuration and clocked at 1.8GHz. The next flagship processor will be out in Q3 and will take things up a notch by increasing the clock speed to 2.0GHz. Read more »

Transform your video-call cam into a joystick, no it’s not a joke

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Playing games on your touch-enabled phone can be frustrating if you’re not, you know, a Galaxy Note owner.

Well, a research group from Keio University are in development of a joystick add-on that’s placed on top of your front-facing camera and can, depending on the precision of your hardware, perform the simple actions of navigating left, right, up and down in apps and games. Read more »

iTunes Movie Trailers app gets Retina Display support for the new iPad

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With the amount of money going down on the table, it’s no surprise that proud new owners of the latest iPad will want to squeeze every ounce of goodness out the new features it brings to the party, namely that all important Retina display.

Brave on iTunes Movie Trailers

Well for the movie buffs and trailer junkies out there, the iTunes Movie Trailers app has just been upgraded to version 1.1, which adds Retina display support for the new iPad. Read more »

Chipset head-to-head: the new iPad battles the Transformer Prime

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The first direct comparisons of the Tegra 3 found on the ASUS Transformer Prime and the Apple A5X chip found in the new iPad have surfaced.

And what better way to test out these robust tablets than with a gaming comparison? Read more »

Archos’ G10 xs series tablets set their sights on Asus’ Transformer family

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To coincide with Archos now shipping Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on their current G9 tablet family, two new models have emerged to join lineup, the Archos 80 G9 Turbo and the Archos 101 G9 Turbo.

a line drawing of the soon to be announced Archos G10 xs

These two new devices come similarly specced with 1.5GHz CPUs and ICS, the 80 utilizes an 8-inch display, whilst the 101 a, you guessed it, 10.1 inch display. Depending on the device and storage capacity you opt for prices range from $310 to $425. These two tablets have little time to bask in the limelight however as Archos’ next tablets under the banner of the G10 xs Series, ready themselves for deployment. Read more »

Electronics of the future could utilize spider silk in their construction

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A team at Iowa State University in the US have discovered that spider silk possesses properties that could see use within the future of electronics. The team have established that spider silk makes for an excellent heat conductor, which could lead to advances in manufacturing down the line.

golden orbweaver

The perplexing substance that is spider silk was shown to conduct heat up to 800 times more effectively than any other organic material. Professor Xinwei Wang, who is heading up the university’s research, used eight golden silk orbweaver spiders to test the notion of heat conductivity through spider silk. Read more »

Apple could rack up an $11 billion bill with Samsung before 2012 is out

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With all the market rivalry, patent lawsuits and sly televisual marketing going on between Samsung and Apple, you’d be forgiven for thinking all ties between these two companies would have already been severed at this heavily tumultuous stage in their relationship, but at the end of the day business is business and both these big names know that need to work together to make money.

Apple will owe Samsung a lot of money before the end of 2012

The likes of LG and Sharp were initially entrusted with creating displays for Apple’s newest tablet, set to touch down in a couple of days, but when they were unable to deliver due to manufacturing issues, Apple passed the task to Samsung who will now be producing the new iPad’s QXGA display panels (for the time being at least). Read more »