174219315
submission
mobby_6kl writes:
After much anticipation, the first of the new ARM-based Windows laptops are in the hands of reviewers and results are coming out. Broadly the results seem competitive with current generation of Intel and AMD processors, pulling ahead in some areas and falling behind in others. Still significantly behind Apple in both performance and efficiency, and with new AMD and Intel CPUs just around the corner, however, this somewhat disappointing considering the expectations of greater efficiency and battery life.
Techpowerup summarizes the early results:
The first reviews of a notebook with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite SoC have appeared today, and it looks like the promised performance isn't quite there. And yes, all the reviews that went live today are all based on Asus' Vivobook S 15 OLED, so it might be a bit too early to state that Qualcomm isn't delivering on its claimed performance, as other manufacturers might deliver better performance. Let's start with the battery life. The Vivobook S 15 OLED comes with a 70 Wh battery pack which enables it to deliver better battery life than many AMD or Intel notebooks, but Apple's MacBook Air 15 M3 delivers on average a 40 percent better battery life, with a smaller 66.5 Wh battery pack. Browsing the web or watching movies aren't really too taxing for the Snapdragon X Elite, but under heavier loads the battery life drops off a cliff.
81429885
submission
mobby_6kl writes:
The HTC Vive VR headset, developed in a partnership with Valve, has been announced ahead of schedule today to cost $799, with pre-orders opening on December 29th and shipping form April 1st. The Vive will ship with two games that take advantage of the system's two motion controllers and "room-scale" capabilities, Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption. Currently, the release appears to be limited to a number of countries in North America, Europe and Asia.
This makes the headset $200 more expensive than the main competitor Oculus Rift, but does include the two motion controllers as well as Bluetooth for smartphone connectivity. However, detailed specifications for either system are not yet known.
