HP SlateBook x2: Tegra 4 on Android 4.2.2 in August

Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards, Processors, Mobile | May 15, 2013 - 09:02 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: tegra 4, hp, tablets

Sentences containing the words "Hewlett-Packard" and "tablet" can end in a question mark, an exclamation mark, or a period on occasion. The gigantic multinational technology company tried to own a whole mobile operating system with their purchase of Palm and abandoned those plans just as abruptly with such a successful $99 liquidation of $500 tablets, go figure, that they to some extent did it twice. The operating system was open sourced and at some point LG swooped in and bought it, minus patents, for use in Smart TVs.

So how about that Android?

The floodgates are open on Tegra 4 with HP announcing their SlateBook x2 hybrid tablet just a single day after NVIDIA's SHIELD move out of the projects. The SlateBook x2 uses the Tegra 4 processor to power Android 4.2.2 Jellybean along with the full Google experience including the Google Play store. Along with Google Play, the SlateBook and its Tegra 4 processor are also allowed in TegraZone and NVIDIA's mobile gaming ecosystem.

As for the device itself, it is a 10.1" Android tablet which can dock into a keyboard for extended battery life, I/O ports, and well, a hardware keyboard. You are able to attach this tablet to a TV via HDMI along with the typical USB 2.0, combo audio jack, and a full-sized SD card slot; which half any given port is available through is anyone's guess, however. Wirelessly, you have WiFi a/b/g/n and some unspecified version of Bluetooth.

The raw specifications list follows:

• NVIDIA Tegra 4 SoC
  • ARM Cortex A15 quad core @ 1.8 GHz
  • 72 "Core" GeForce GPU @ ~672MHz, 96 GFLOPS
• 2GB DDR3L RAM ("Starts at", maybe more upon customization?)
• 64GB eMMC SSD
• 1920x1200 10.1" touch-enabled IPS display
• HDMI output
• 1080p rear camera, 720p front camera with integrated microphone
• 802.11a/b/g/n + Bluetooth (4.0??)
• Combo audio jack, USB 2.0, SD Card reader
• Android 4.2.2 w/ Full Google and TegraZone experiences.

If this excites you, then you only have to wait until some point in August; you will also, of course, need to wait until you save up about $479.99 plus tax and shipping.

Haswell Laptop specs! NEC LaVie L to launch in Japan

Subject: General Tech, Graphics Cards, Processors, Systems, Mobile | May 14, 2013 - 03:54 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: haswell, nec

While we are not sure when it will be released or whether it will be available for North America, we have found a Haswell laptop. Actually, NEC will release two products in this lineup: a high end 1080p unit and a lower end 1366x768 model. Unfortuantely, the article is in Japanese.

IPS displays have really wide viewing angles, even top and bottom.

NEC is known for their higher-end monitors; most people equate the Dell Ultrasharp panels with professional photo and video production, but their top end offers are ofter a tier below the best from companies like NEC and Eizo. The laptops we are discussing today both contain touch-enabled IPS panels with apparently double the contrast ratio of what NEC considers standard. While these may or may not be the tip-top NEC offerings, they should at least be putting in decent screens.

Obviously the headliner for us is the introduction of Haswell. While we do not know exactly which product NEC decided to embed, we do know that they are relying upon it for their graphics performance. With the aforementioned higher-end displays, it seems likely that NEC is intending this device for the professional market. A price-tag of 190000 yen (just under $1900 USD) for the lower end and 200000 yen (just under $2000 USD) for the higher end further suggests this is their target demographic.

Clearly a Japanese model.

The professional market does not exactly have huge requirements for graphics performance, but to explicitly see NEC trust Intel for their GPU performance is an interesting twist. Intel HD 4000 has been nibbling, to say the least, on the discrete GPU marketshare in laptops. I would expect this laptop would contain one of the BGA-based parts, which are soldered onto the motherboard, for the added graphics performance.

As a final note, the higher-end model will also contain a draft 802.11ac antenna. It is expected that network performance could be up to 867 megabits as a result.

Of course I could not get away without publishing the raw specifications:

LL850/MS (Price: 200000 yen):

• Fourth-generation Intel Core processor with onboard video
• 8GB DDR3 RAM
• 1TB HDD w/ 32GB SSD caching
• BDXL (100-128GB BluRay disc) drive
• IEEE 802.11ac WiFi adapter, Bluetooth 4.0
• SDXC, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, USB3.0, 2x2W stereo Yamaha speakers
• 1080p IPS display with touch support
• Office Home and Business 2013 preinstalled?

LL750/MS (Price: 190000 yen):

• Fourth-generation Intel Core processor with onboard video
• 8GB DDR3 RAM
• 1TB HDD (no SSD cache)
• (Optical disc support not mentioned)
• IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi adapter, Bluetooth 4.0
• SDXC, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, USB3.0, 2x2W stereo Yamaha speakers
• 1366x768 (IPS?) touch-enabled display

NVIDIA Announces Shield Pricing, Taking Pre-orders

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | May 14, 2013 - 09:06 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: tegra 4, tegra, shield, project shield, nvidia

Solid information about the NVIDIA Shield (no longer called Project Shield) is finally becoming available with a blog post written up today on NVIDIA's website.  The company will begin accepting pre-orders from users that have previously signed up for the Shield mailing list while the rest of you will have to wait until May 20th to plop down your money. 

The cost?  $349.  Newegg, Gamestop, Micro Center and Canada Computer will carry it.

If you want to sign up for official June release schedule of the Tegra 4 powered mobile Android gaming device, you'll have to head over to shield.nvidia.com. 

NVIDIA does point out in the blog that the PC game streaming feature that I truly believe is the one thing that makes Shield a compelling gaming device, will be launching as BETA feature.

And GeForce game streaming, launching as a beta feature, will give SHIELD the power to access your NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPU-powered computer from the comfort of your couch. We’re working on streaming your favorite PC games to SHIELD, including great titles from Steam.

High level features of the device, for those of you that are unaware, include:

• Tegra 4 – The world’s fastest mobile processor delivers rich graphics and unbeatable performance thanks to 72 GPU cores, four CPU cores and 2GB of RAM
• Console-grade controller – Precise control thanks to dual analog joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analog triggers, full-sized bumpers and A/B/X/Y buttons
• Multi-touch display – 5-inch, 720p retinal multi-touch display for high-fidelity visuals
• Integrated speakers – Custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system – we think this is SHIELD’s sleeper feature
• Wi-Fi – 802.11n 2X2 MIMO game-speed Wi-Fi for seamless game streaming
• Pure Android – Latest Android Jelly Bean operating system from Google, for access to Android games and apps
• There’s more – We put into SHIELD everything we would want in a premium mobile gaming device: 16 GB memory, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI output, micro-USB 2.0, a microSD storage slot, a 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack. See the full spec sheet, here.

We took a look at the NVIDIA Shield device at CES this year and posted a video of our experiences, so check it out below. 

NVIDIA has also posted a separate blog that talks about some of the upcoming Android games that will highlight the power of the Tegra 4 mobile processor including Broken Age and Costume Quest from Double Fine, Chuck's Challenge from Niffler and more. 

I think many people at NVIDIA as well as in the media are very curious to see what the reaction of Shield will actully be upon its release.  I am very excited to test it out in real-world, long term usage models but I definitely have doubts about the market's desire for another mobile gaming platform. 

Leave me your thoughts in the comments below!!

A last ride down Clover Trail? Asus' VivoTab Smart ME400C

Subject: Mobile | May 10, 2013 - 06:56 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: clover trail, asus, VivoTab Smart ME400C, atom

While the new Atom processors that we discussed are a long way off you can still pick up some interesting devices powered by the current generation.  The ASUS VivoTab Smart ME400C has a Z2760 @ 1.8GHz, 2GB DDR2 and a 64GB eMMC SSD which is not too shabby for a $400 device.  The 1366x768 resolution screen might not be the best but at 10.1" it is a reasonable choice for ASUS to make.  The Tech Report's testing showed you can expect about 10 hours of battery life and it is capable of running Windows 8 and legacy x86 software as opposed to the ARM powered WinRT tablets it competes with.  They do recommend you purhase the TranSleeve and a bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo seperately as you will save a good amount of money doing so.

"This Windows 8 tablet has an Atom processor, solid battery life, and a $430 price tag. Is it compelling as a tablet, and can it really double as a productivity PC?"

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• MSI GT70 0NE @ Hardware.info
• Microsoft Surface Pro @ Hardware.info
• Toshiba Kirabook Review @ TechReviewSource
• CyberPowerPC FangBook @ AnandTech
• Acer Aspire R7 @ The Inquirer
• ASUS VivoTab Smart ME400 10.1 inch Windows 8 Tablet Review @ Legit Reviews
• Gigabyte P2742G Gaming Laptop @ Modders-Inc
• Acer Aspire S7-191 Touchscreen Ultrabook @ Tweaktown
• Lenovo IdeaPad Lynx Review @ TechReviewSource
• ASUS VivoBook X202E Laptop @ Hardware Secrets
• Acer Aspire E1-531 Laptop Review @ Madshrimps
• AVATAR Mercury Ultrabook AVIU-145A2 Review @ OCC
• Acer Aspire S7-391 Touchscreen Ultrabook @ Tweaktown
• Samsung 5-Series NP540U3C-A01 13.3-inch Ultrabook Notebook Review @ PCSTATS
• Samsung Galaxy Note II Phablet @ Tweaktown
• Sony VAIO Fit 14 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Giada Q11 Android OS Mini PC @ techPowerUp
• Cooler Master NotePal A200 Laptop Cooling Pad Review @ Ninjalane
• ADATA DashDrive Air AE400 Review @ Legit Reviews
• Spire Power Bank 4000 Battery Charger Review @ Legit Reviews
• Thermaltake GOrb II Portable Laptop Cooler @ Tweaktown
• TYLT PowerPlant Portable 5200mAh Battery Pack @ Tweaktown
• Noreve Sony Xperia Z Leather Case (Tradition - 21038T) Review @ Madshrimps
• BlackBerry Q10 @ The Register
• Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5 head to head @ The Inquirer
• Samsung Galaxy S4 @ Hardware.info
• Samsung Galaxy S4 @ The Inquirer

NVIDIA shows Project Shield manufacturing mold, building hype

Subject: Mobile | May 10, 2013 - 03:28 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: tegra 4, tegra, shield, project shield, nvidia

After the initial announcement at CES in January, NVIDIA has been trying hard to keep excitement and interest about Project Shield going.  The upcoming Tegra 4-powered mobile Android-based gaming machine will be launched sometime in the summer; both Computex and E3 would make perfect timing. 

NVIDIA passed us a photo of the mold for the casing of Project Shield and though you don't really get any awesome new information out of it, I thought I would share.

The photo you see below shows the production mold that's used to craft the ergonomic casing that houses Project SHIELD's high-powered components: Tegra 4, 5-inch 720p HD retinal touchscreen, Stereo Bass Reflex Speakers, WiFi, accelerometer, gyro, a massive battery, and more. 

To create the casing, we inject a polycarbonate material into the RHCM (Rapid Heat Cycle Molding) tool at 10,800 PSI and 300 degrees Celsius. We use a polycarbonate mixture comprised of 90% Sabic 500ECR-739 PC and 10% glass. This material and injection molding process ensures a sturdy yet lightweight casing that will deliver hours of gaming with no fatigue.

In case you are behind on what Project Shield is, you should check out the hands-on video we made during our time with the device last January.

What do you think...are you excited about the launch of this device?  Do any of its features really make you want to buy it once available?

Unreal Engine 3 compiled to asm.js

Subject: Editorial, Mobile | May 7, 2013 - 12:07 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: unreal engine, firefox, asm.js

Over the weekend we published a post which detailed Javascript advancements to position the web browser as a respectable replacement for native code. Asm.js allows for C-like languages to be compiled into easily optimized script executed at near native performance on asm.js-aware browsers, but are still functional as plain Javascript otherwise. If you wish to see a presentation about asm.js and compiling native code into web code, check out an online slideshow from Alon Zakai of Mozilla.

If, on the other hand, you wish to see an example of a large application compiled for the browser: would Unreal Engine 3 suffice?

Clearly a computer hardware website would take the effort required to run a few benchmarks, and we do not disappoint. Epic Citadel was run in its benchmark mode in Firefox 20.0.1, Firefox 22.0a2, and Google Chrome; true, it was not run for long on Chrome before the tab crashed, but you cannot blame me for trying.

Each benchmark was run at full-screen 1080p "High Performance" settings on a PC with a Core i7 3770, a GeForce GTX 670, and more available RAM than the browser could possibly even allocate. The usual Firefox framerate limit was removed; they were the only tab open on the same fresh profile; the setting layout.frame_rate.precise was tested in both positions because I cannot keep up what the state of requestAnimationFrame callback delay is; and each scenario was performed twice and averaged.

Firefox 20.0.1

• layout.frame_rate.precise true: 54.7 FPS
• layout.frame_rate.precise false: 53.2 FPS

Firefox 22.0a2 (asm.js)

• layout.frame_rate.precise true: 147.05 FPS
• layout.frame_rate.precise false: 144.8 FPS

Google Chrome 26.0.1410.64

• Crashy-crashy

For Unreal Engine 3 compiled into Javascript we notice an almost 3-fold improvement in average framerate with asm.js and the few other tweaks to rendering, Javascript, and WebGL performance between Firefox 20 and 22. I would say that is pretty enticing for developers who are considering compiling into web standards.

It is also very enticing for Epic as well. A little over a month ago, Mark Rein and Tim Sweeney of Epic were interviewed by Gamasutra about HTML5 support for Unreal Engine. Due in part to the removal of UnrealScript in favor of game code being scripted in C++, Unreal Engine 4 will support HTML5. They are working with Mozilla to make the browser a reasonable competitor to consoles; write once, run on Mac, Windows, Linux, or anywhere compatible browsers can be found. Those familiar with my past editorials know this excites me greatly.

So what do our readers think? Comment away!

Cloth simulations in Javascript, optimized for asm.js

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | May 4, 2013 - 06:47 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: mozilla, javascript, firefox, asm.js

Web browsers are getting really good at being general-purpose application platforms.

You can write most applications in web standards if you are willing to give up some level of performance for the gained ubiquity. HTML5, Javascript, and CSS are very full featured; WebGL and WebCL extend functionality by backing apps with surprising GPU horsepower; WebAPIs such as gamepad, telephony, and accelerometer support also keep advanced hardware-specific features open to web developers.

I can see the web developers drooling already.

But even though performance lags behind reasonable native environments, the divide is rapidly shrinking. Many applications have reached or exceeded the saturation of useful performance at the same time as browser developers narrow the gap between native performance and themselves.

Javascript is often, simply, good enough.

Mozilla has recently added support for the draft asm.js in their Aurora prerelease channel for Firefox. The specification is designed to permit a subset of Javascript to be flagged for optimization in compatible browsers but otherwise execute as normal everywhere else. It is also possible to compile more native code into Javascript if you can afford the ever-decreasing performance hit. Early implementations of asm.js execute code compiled from C within half of native performance.

Because... pants.

According to David Herman of Mozilla, one of the lead authors of the ASM.js draft, the specification also allows for multithreading through web workers. Applications can take advantage of multiple hardware threads in this way, and potentially other methods as they continue development. I would expect this is especially relevant for mobile devices which tend to have relatively many cores considering their single threaded performance.

James Long of Mozilla compiled a cloth simulation into this Javascript subset. It will run in multiple browsers but will perform better in Aurora both in cloth precision and, as I have found, responsivity.

Check it out, imagine what you could be doing in your web browser in the near future.