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Submission + - Microsoft Smartband Coming in October with 11 Sensors (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by TuxHiggs
TuxHiggs writes: Last month, Forbes wrote that Microsoft was preparing a cross-platform smartwatch with the ability to continuously track your heart rate and sync the data to your devices. A trusted source with knowledge of the development has verified some of that information and provided Tom's Hardware with additional details about the device. The source confirmed previous rumors that the device is cross-platform compatible, and added there would be open APIs as well. The source also confirmed that the display is on the inside of the wrist as opposed to the outside. Design-wise, Microsoft has gone with a slim band design that is said to resemble a thinner, flatter version of the Nike Fuelband. While details about the hardware are scant, the source did reveal that there are 11 sensors under the hood and a mix of chips, including some from TI and Atmel. Finally, the release for this device is apparently set for October.

Submission + - Nvidia Shield Review Roundup: Tegra 4-Powered Handheld Gaming (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Today, Nvidia officially releases the SHIELD. After an unexpected delay last month, the company dropped the price of its hotly-anticipated handheld gaming system from $350 to just $300. Sporting a 5-inch 720p touchscreen attached to an XBox-style controller, the SHIELD is the first serious Android-based handheld gaming device. The SHIELD is also the first major device top ship with Nvidia's new Tegra 4 SoC. But the potentially killer feature of the SHIELD is its ability to steam heavy-duty PC games from your desktop right into your hands. Right now the selection of PC games is pretty scarce, with just 21 titles to choose from so far, though Nvidia promises more to come.

Tom's Hardware just posted an exhaustive review of the Nvidia SHIELD, which includes demos of both Android gaming and PC streaming, display and battery testing, plus the usual bevy of performance tests versus the Tegra 3-based Nexus 7 (2012), the new Nexus 7 carrying a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro, the iPhone 5, and a Wintel tablet with the Atom Z2760.

Tegra 4 presents nearly four times the performance of Tegra 3, and leaves most of its competition in the dust. However, it also means that Nvidia is now the only ARM competitor without an OpenGL ES 3.0 implementation on the horizon, making Nvidia's new position as top dog quite uncertain.

PCPer and HotHardware have also posted SHIELD reviews.
AMD

Submission + - AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition: Taking Back The Crown (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The benchmarks are in for the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition. Starting at $500, AMD's new single-GPU flagship boosts the original 7970's clock speed from 925 MHz to 1 GHz (1050 MHz with Boost). The GHz Edition also sports 3 GB of faster 1500 MHz GDDR5 memory, pushing 288 GB/s as opposed to 264 GB/s. While the AMD reference board runs hot and loud, retail boards will use different cooling solutions. A simple test of aftermarket GPU coolers shows that any other option will shave degrees and slash decibels. But it's the Catalyst 12.7 beta driver that really steals the show for AMD, pushing FPS scores into overdrive. With the new Catalyst, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 670 can no longer beat the original Radeon HD 7970 and the GHz Edition outmaneuvers the GeForce GTX 680 in most cases. However, when factoring price and possible overclocking into the equation, the original Radeon HD 7970 and GeForce GTX 670 remain the high-end graphics cards to beat.
GNOME

Submission + - Fedora 16 And GNOME Shell: Tested And Reviewed (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by LordDCLXVI
LordDCLXVI writes: Ubuntu and Mint don't want it; Linus called it an “unholy mess.” While most other distros are passing up or postponing GNOME Shell, Fedora is full steam ahead. Does Red Hat know something the rest of us don't? Or is GNOME 3 really as bad as everyone says? This massive article amounts to a full-blown guide to Fedora 16 “Verne” and complete dissection of GNOME Shell. It begins with an installation guide, with instructions for enabling 3rd party repos, proprietary graphics drivers, Wi-Fi, Flash, Java, multimedia codecs, and 32-bit libs. Next up is a GNOME Shell tear-down, including customization options and methods to “fix” the Shell or mimic GNOME 2. Finally, Fedora is benchmarked against Ubuntu 11.10 and Windows 7. The author makes a compelling case for why the GNOME Shell is so disastrous for the GNOME project, and just wrong for Fedora. While he adds to the voices criticizing GNOME Shell, he also points out that the extensions can empower distributors to create unique, yet compatible layouts. One of the most fair and constructive critiques of GNOME 3, definitely worth the read, and even makes GNOME 3 worth a second look.
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Battlefield 3 Performance: 30+ Graphics Cards, Ben (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by wesbascas
wesbascas writes: Have you ever wanted to play a new PC game, but weren't sure where your PC falls between the minimum and recommended system requirements? I don't have a whole lot of time to game these days and with new hardware perpetually coming out and component vendors often tweaking their model numbering schemes, knowing exactly what kind of experience I'm buying for $60 can be difficult. Luckily, somebody benchmarked Battlefield 3's campaign on a wide range of hardware configurations and detail settings. If you've purchased a system in the past few years you should be in luck. The video cards tested start with the AMD Radeon HD 4670 and Nvidia GeForce 8500 GT, and go up to the brand new Radeon HD 6990 and GeForce GTX 590. I hate it that my aging Radeon HD 4870 isn't going to cut it at 1080p, but am glad that I found out BEFORE buying the game. I suppose it's time for an upgrade anyway, there's no way I'm missing this title.
Software

Submission + - Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal), Reviewed In Depth (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I came across this heavy-duty review of Ubuntu 11.04 today. It covers basically every aspect of the new release from installation to post-install essentials. The new Unity interface is broken down into its individual elements and explained ad nauseam. Overall the article is objectively balanced, the author does a good job of pointing out specific design flaws and shortcomings instead of complaining about how Unity doesn't work for him specifically. The walkthrough of the uTouch gesture language is exciting (wish I had multi-touch), though a full listing of keyboard and mouse shortcuts come in handy, too. Towards the end of the article there are benchmarks between Lucid, Natty with Unity, and Natty with the Classic interface. The performance of the Unity interface isn't bad at all, but that kernel power issue does rear its ugly head. Pretty much everything about the new Ubuntu in one article — an interesting and informative, if not long read.
Hardware

Submission + - Nvidia's GF100 Turns Into GeForce GTX 480 And 470 (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by crazipper
crazipper writes: After months of talking architecture and functionality, NVIDIA is finally going public with the performance of its $500 GeForce GTX 480 and $350 GeForce GTX 470 graphics cards, both derived from the company’s first DirectX 11-capable GPU, GF100. Tom’s Hardware just posted a comprehensive look at the new cards, including their power requirements and performance attributes. Two GTX 480s in SLI seem to scale impressively well—providing you have $1,000 dollars for graphics, a beefy power supply, and a case with lots of airflow.

Comment Re:Good grief (Score 3, Informative) 119

Quick summary:
Lynnfield = the internal name for the new Core i5/Core i7 CPUs for LGA 1156.
Core parking/ideal core = two optimizations from Microsoft in Win7 that are supposed to save power by consolidating background tasks onto as few CPU cores as possible, and then putting the idle cores to sleep.
Clarksfield = Core i7 Mobile; basically, the Lynnfield stuff with a different interface, more aggressive Turbo Boost, etc.
Nehalem = Another Intel internal name referring to the whole family of 45nm CPUs based on this architecture. Members include Bloomfield, Lynnfield, Clarksfield.
Power

Submission + - Win 7 Vs. Vista: Snappy Performance/More Power Use (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by crazipper
crazipper writes: Back when Intel launched its Core i5/i7 'Lynnfield' CPUs, Tom's Hardware ran some tests in Windows 7 versus Vista to gauge the benefits of the core parking and ideal core optimizations, said to cut power consumption in the new OS. It turned out that Win7 shifted the Nehalem-based CPUs in and out of Turbo Boost mode faster, resulting in higher power draw under load, while idle power was a slight bit lower.

The mobile version of the architecture was claimed (at the time) to show a greater improvement in moving to Win7. Today there's a follow-up with the flagship Clarksfield processor that shows the same aggressive P-state promotion policies giving Win7 a significant performance advantage with Core i7 Mobile. However, power consumption is higher as well.

Comment Re:How to Jump Your Own Shark! (Score 1) 114

by crazipper (#28742011) Attached to: Build Your Own Render Farm
Thanks for the feedback.
There's actually a page of test information in every story. You could even reproduce the results if you so desired.
There are also several pages of comments that go along with each story, in which the authors participate very regularly :)
Hope that helps address your concerns!
Chris
Earth

Submission + - Dinosaur posture still wrong, says study (cosmosmagazine.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The current depiction of the way giant sauropod dinosaurs held their necks is probably wrong, says a new study.

"For the last decade the reigning paradigm in palaeontology has been that the big sauropod dinosaurs held their necks out straight and their heads down low," said co-author Matt Wedel, who researches biomechanics at the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California.

But "our research [now] suggests that this view of sauropods is simply incorrect, based on everything we know about living animals," he said.
Operating Systems

Submission + - Ubuntu 9.04 For The Windows Power User (tomshardware.com) 1

Submitted by
crazipper
crazipper writes: "Know a Windows power user who is (honestly) good with technology, but hasn't yet warmed to Linux? Tom's Hardware just posted a guide to installing and using Ubuntu 9.04, written specifically for the MS crowd (in other words, it talks about file systems, mount points, app installation, etc). Hopefully, by the end, your "friend" will realize just how easy Ubuntu can be to use and start down a long path of exploration with a new operating system."

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