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To say that we’ve been waiting for AMD’s Fusion CPU / GPU combo for a long time would be an understatement. In fact, while AMD was busy talking about it, Intel swept in with its own Arrandale and Clarkdale chips that pack graphical and computing processing into the same chip. Lest we were discouraged, then, AMD is making a return to form with news that its first Fusion APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) is about to start sampling to manufacturers, with a now definite 2011 launch window. Codenamed Llano, this will be a quad-core beastie with intended operating speeds of more than 3Ghz and graphics parts borrowed from ATI’s successful line of Evergreen GPUs. That means DirectX 11, a feature Intel is unlikely to match, whereas AMD will have everything Intel currently does and more, with a 32nm production process, on-die integration (rather than just the same chip packaging), and power gating allowing for dynamic per-core overclocking a la Turbo Boost. It’s been lonely without you AMD, now just fulfill this promise and all that absenteeism will be forgiven.

AMD Fusion sampling soon, arriving in 2011 with Llano APU originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This LG Mini GD880 is so good-looking it makes my brain hurt at the injustice of it (presumably) running LG’s S-Class OS, and not Android. Still, there’s some nice spec to back up this slim 16:9 phone.

Just like the Chocolate phone before it, the display has a 16:9 aspect ratio, in this case at 3.2-inches. LG hasn’t released many details about the internals just yet, but we do know it has a 5.0-megapixel camera with face detection, Wi-Fi, and HSDPA 7.2Mbps connectivity.

The lack of buttons, metal finishings and square corners make it look like it’ll be part of their more “premium” range of handsets, so expect to pay a pretty penny if you want it PAYG, otherwise it’ll most likely go for the usual month contract fees when it goes on sale in March in Europe—with worldwide availability expected shortly. I’m going to harass LG for confirmation of the OS, but with Mobile World Congress starting this weekend, I’m sure we’ll find out a whole load more then. [LG]

Looking to get a Bluetooth earpiece without actually upping your tool factor by 40x or so? Good luck. Helium Digital’s so-called alternative (that’d be the HDBT-990 Bluetooth wristband) was recently reviewed by our iPhone-lovin’ pals in the Great White North, and while they found it to work well when it came to handling calls without actually using the speaker and microphone within the iPhone 3GS, everything else about it was ho hum at best. There’s no inbuilt LCD for watching Caller ID streams, the mini-USB jack was “flimsy,” and there’s still the issue of this unit being at least somewhat unsightly. It’s also $90, which puts it just north of the all-important “ah, who cares” range for most of you price-conscience consumers. Hit the source link for their full impressions, but don’t be shocked if you come away still in search of the aforementioned mystery device.

Helium Digital HDBT-990 Bluetooth wristband gets reviewed, given 3.5 Jack Bauers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Do you think non-disclosure agreements apply if you’re one of the guys who built the company you represent? Probably not, as evidenced by Shigeru Miyamoto, who recently took the opportunity — while receiving an award, no less — to blab about forthcoming hardware and games based around the MotionPlus peripheral. There wasn’t much content to his mentions, beyond us now knowing that he’s actively engaged in the design of multiple games outside of the next Zelda iteration, but this is the firmest confirmation yet that the Wii is set for a Wiiplacement. Parsing this with earlier comments from Miyamoto-san would suggest the company will be looking to optimize its present formula (maybe with a touch of HD?) rather than revolutionize what is already a wildly successful console. Until then, let’s just be happy that one of gaming’s patriarchs is still going strong and dropping crumbs of knowledge for us undeserving earthlings.

Nintendo’s Miyamoto casually references new hardware, MotionPlus games originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toyota just announced a recall of its 2010 hybrid cars. Four hundred thousand worth. The reason? A change in “brake feeling” caused by faulty antilock braking software. There is no fix for cars on the road yet.

This problem, unrelated to the sticky gas pedal issue that other drivers complained about. But I’m still wondering what exactly is bothering our Prius-loving friend Woz, who claims he has a faulty cruise control issue that is software related, not mechanical.

Remember that old joke about if cars were as crash prone as computers? Yeah, not funny in 2010. [CNN]

The good news first: Adobe’s promising Flash 10.1 is going to hit smartphones—Android, WebOS, Windows Mobile—and desktops in the “first half” of this year, a slightly less squishy date. And it’ll come over the air. The bad part?

Well it’s bad for Android, anyway: You’re gonna need Android 2.1. At least. Because it provides some access Adobe needs to make the Flash magic happen. So, sorry everything but the Droid and Nexus One, at least for the moment. The “over the air” thing is also kind of “up in the air” as to what that means: It could come from your carrier, it could come from your phonemaker, or failing all else, it could come from Adobe. Which means, Flash isn’t necessarily going to hit your phone at the same time as everybody else’s. Depends on your phone. But, they’re betting that over half of smartphones—53 percent—will have Flash Player by 2012. Not surprisingly, Adobe says Flash 10.1 is going to be all over some tablets, too, with accelerated performance on Nvidia’s Tegra 2, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon (like what’s in the Nexus One), and Freescale’s i.MX515.

Lastly, Adobe would like you to know that this whole Adobe vs. HTML5 thing is silly, since they totally support HTML5, like all web standards. They love them some web standards, they say. But! They would also like you to note that HTML5 standardization is years away, and Flash works right now. And the reason you notice crappier performance on the Mac is sorta the Mac’s fault, they say, because they need more access to APIs and they get half-assed crash reports. Plus, Adobe claims, apps tend to run faster in Windows than OS X generally, because performance is about 20 percent worse using OS X’s GCC compiler, not to mention performance varies even within an OS, since Flash runs 20 percent faster in IE8 than Firefox, for instance. Either way, performance will be better on Mac with Flash 10.1, since it’s shifting over to using CoreAnimation.

Okay, you can resume your “death to Flash!” chants now (even though it’s not going anywhere for a while, people!). [Adobe]

Finally making the transition from the trade show floor to retail shelving are Panasonic’s famed Viera 3D plasma HDTVs. The company has just announced it will be launching two 1080p panels on April 23 in Japan, priced at ¥530,000 ($5,932) for the 54-inch P54VT2 and ¥430,000 ($4,813) for its smaller sibling, the P50VT2 (pictured after the break). For your money, you’ll be getting those deep, deep blacks that ensure a ridiculous 5,000,000:1 native contrast ratio, a plethora of inputs highlighted by four HDMI jacks, and of course a pair of those inescapable active shutter glasses. Don’t worry though, the screens are capable of working at the necessary 120Hz to ensure smooth frame rates for each eye. Whether the premium paid for 3D is worth it, on the other hand, remains a question best left for each deep-pocketed consumer to make on his own.

Continue reading Panasonic TH-P54VT2 takes plasma HDTVs into 3D territory

Panasonic TH-P54VT2 takes plasma HDTVs into 3D territory originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google readily admits that its Nexus One customer support at launch was lacking. However, the Goog says that it’s committed to improving the experience as it blazes a path into the world of consumer handset sales. Today, more than a month since the launch of the Nexus One, Google is offering owners access to a real live person via 888-48NEXUS (63987). The new support line is operational from 07:00am to 10:00pm PST and augments Google’s support forums, FAQs and email support. Unfortunately, Google’s live support line seems limited to status and shipping issues — for live tech support you’ll still have to call either HTC customer care number or T-Mobile depending upon the issue. And of course, the whole thing changes if you’re an international user. As convoluted as it all sounds, an unamed Google spokesperson still claims that “live phone support from Google, combined with an optimized on-line support experience, enables a superior Nexus One customer experience.” Sure it does: the average consumer just loves looking through on-line forums and FAQs to solve issues before picking up the phone to complain.

[Thanks, Phil L.]

Google starts live phone support for Nexus One owners originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The vision of ebooks Google has presented to publishers: allowing people to print copies, cut and paste portions, and paying publishers 63 percent of the revenue. The vision the publishers presented in return: Go eff yourself.

That’s right, Google’s finally getting around to opening an ebook store too—called Google Editions, and it’s been in the works for a while—the idea being that people will be able to read the books on any internet-connected device.

What’s incredible is how the Times says negotiations are now proceeding. Now that Apple and Amazon are fighting over publishers and their books—imagine how oh-so-hotly desired they must suddenly feel—publishers have real power to negotiate, and it comes with wondrous effects, like getting an information monolith like Google to actually back down. There will be no printing, no cutting and pasting. And 70 percent, like what Apple and Amazon are now offering, is apparently starting to sound dandier to Google. Another point Google gave in on, surprisingly, is search. Previously, they planned to make up to 20 percent of every book they sold through the store searchable, but that wasn’t kosher with some of the publishing execs, so now they can choose to opt out of search.

Google finally jumping into selling ebooks, with the idea of being the ebook seller to everyone—or at least, everyone not toting a special reading device, just your average thing with a screen and internet access—could definitely shake things up even more than they already are. And you know, a Chrome OS tablet with an ebook store would be slightly more interesting as a cheaper iPad rival.

Publishers should enjoy the attention, and power, while it lasts. Because it won’t. [NYT]

Back at CES, we were pretty excited to get our hands on Notion Ink’s far out, Pixel Qi display-boasting reader, Adam. Well, Notion Ink is on the move, and encouraging development for the Tegra-powered little devil is apparently a top priority. The company has unveiled plans to hold an App Competition with one million dollars in prize money for the development of Adam-compatible software. There are no final details about the contest yet, but we think we’ll probably be hearing more about it next week at MWC. Slashgear’s got some interesting renders Notion Ink sent over which give us an idea of what a final production model might look like — and it’s definitely different than the prototype we saw in Las Vegas. The company also told Slashgear that it’s considering having two retail versions of the Adam — but has only said that one might measure 12.9mm thick, and the other 11.6mm thick — so we’re not sure what other differences might be in tow. We’ll let you know when we hear more details about that million dollar prize money, though.

Notion Ink to have competition to encourage development for Adam reader, might release two versions originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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