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iphone
iPhone 3GS Graphics Performance Benchmarked (Verdict: Significantly Faster)
The analysis was correct: the iPhone 3GS graphical abilities are significantly better than the iPhone 3G. Here's how much better, according to OpenGL benchmarks: More » -
culture
Emoji Comes to iChat, Cuteness Ensues
In case you can no longer express yourself in words, instead demanding cute Japanese emoticons to encapsulate inner longing and turmoil, you can sleep well knowing that the iPhone's Emoji set has been ported to iChat. More » -
notebooks
Nvidia GeForce 200M Graphics Cards Just Made Your Notebook Old and Busted
A year after Nvidia's monstrous GeForce 200 series graphics cards first stomped onto the scene (literally the biggest GPUs ever), Nvidia's finished making them mobile, delivering double the performance of current 9M series using half the power. More » -
iphone 3gs
iPhone 3GS: Just How Awesome Are the Graphics Gonna Get, Really?
Hubert at Ubergizmo walks us through how much more powerful the iPhone 3GS can be for graphics over the previous iPhones—he used to program for Nvidia—and it's potentially mindblowingly better. More » -
directx 11
AMD Unveils World's First DirectX 11 Graphics Processor, Takes It for a Spin in Public
AMD demoed their buzzed-about DirectX 11 graphics processor at the Computex show in Taiwan, offering proof that they're making progress in getting to market first with their product. More » -
netbooks
Nvidia Ion-Powered Cheap PCs Arrive En Masse
Lenovo and Acer were the first, but now they're not the only ones with cheap computers powered by Nvidia's Ion platform—GeForce 9400M graphics paired with an Intel Atom CPU. Besides Asus's eeetop here, there's 20 others, though you won't find the likes of Dell or HP here: More » -
graphics
Factory-Overclocked ATI Radeon HD 4890 Is First 1GHz Graphics Card
At 1GHz, the ATI Radeon HD 4890 is the fastest-clocked graphics card in the planet—a world's first. It's not a new chip, however, just a "factory-overclocked" air-cooled 4890 that looks like a Ferrari. More » -
windows 7
Why Windows 7 Is Snappier Than Vista
Most people will tell you that Windows 7 is snappier than Vista, even though the raw numbers say otherwise. But it's not in your head. Windows 7 is more responsive than Vista. Here's why. More » -
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netbooks
GMABooster Squeezes 22% Performance Gain From Lousy Netbook Graphics
If you want to get slightly more speed out of that beater of a graphics chipset they call an Intel 945, GMABooster is the app for you. More » -
graphics
Toshiba's SpursEngine Chip to Improve Internet Videos with PS3 Tech
Toshiba's new SprusEngine chip can't do anything about annoying internet memes, but it does promise to include their image quality a bit. More » -
gpus
ARM's GPUs Will Make This Year's Mainstream Phones More Powerful Than the Current iPhone
By the end of 2009, computer and graphics chip designer ARM says we'll see the first sub-$150 cellphones using the low-power Mali 200 GPU, which will give devices greater graphics capabilities than the current-gen iPhone. More » -
apple
MacBook Pro 17-Inch Gets Update for Less Toasty Graphics Cards
Apple just dropped Graphics Firmware Update 1.0 for the 17-inch MacBook Pro, which "addresses the possibility of vertical lines or distorted graphics on the display," likely caused by graphics cards' faulty fans. Download it! [Apple] -
mac pro
Mac Pro's Priciest Video Card Actually Kinda Sucks for Gaming
Benchmarking the new Mac Pro's default Nvidia GeForce GT 120 against the ATI Radeon HD 4870—a $200 upgrade—Crave finds that the Radeon doesn't deliver a whole lot of boom, especially in Call of Duty. More » -
graphics
Ex-Apple Engineers' Caustic Startup Promises 200x Faster Ray-Tracing Graphics by 2010 (Suck It, Crysis)
Caustic Graphics, a startup from ex-Apple engineers, thinks their approach to 3D graphics—ray-tracing—will result in way more realistic eye candy than you see today, with chips that are 200x faster than today's by 2010. More » -
macbook pro
MacBook Pro Graphics Issue Could Be Due to Faulty Fan Speed
Let's not storm the Nvidia gates with our torches and pitchforks just yet, folks, because today we learned that the MacBook Pro graphics issue could be due to a cooling problem. More » -
windows 7
Windows 7 Performance Meter Goes Up To 7.9, Still Not Fantastic For Gaming Measurements
Vista's Windows Experience Index was an easy way to see, in number form, which parts of your computer was responsible for your sluggish performance. Windows 7 does the same, but now it's better by two. More » -
movies
The 50 Greatest Special Effects Shots In Cinema
Not only did the Den of Geek assemble a respectable (if not a little controversial) list of the top 50 special effects shots of cinema, the site also explained the tricks behind the illusions. -
gtx 295
Nvidia GeForce GTX 295 Graphics Card Is Insane: Two GTX 260s Bolted Together
Tired of ATI ruling the uberidiculous end of the graphics card space, Nvidia is apparently striking back with its own super-stacked GTX295—it's basically two GTX 200 GPUs hot-glued together. -
software
The Linux Boot Sequence, Visualized
Most of us don't appreciate all the processes involved with our OS's boot sequence; we're far more interested in watching that status bar fill. In this visualization of the Linux boot sequence, each function is a node, and each line connecting the nodes represents a call, direct branch, or indirect branch. The image itself was created via logarithm interpreting the process as electrical signal, so if we're reading this correctly, it's almost as if you're looking at the brain pathways that boot Linux (oh you computer science junkies will have a field day with that analogy). [Perry Hung via MAKE] -
macbook pro
Confirmed: Apple Can Enable Dual GPU and On-the-Fly Switching in MacBook Pro
Nvidia dropped by today to demo some of the awesome things that the GeForce 9400M in the new MacBooks can do that Intel's integrated graphics just can't touch, and to discuss a few technical points. Besides confirming that you'll see it in other notebooks soon, they definitively answered some lingering questions about the chip's capabilities: It can support up to 8GB of RAM. It can do on-the-fly GPU switching. And it can work together with the MacBook Pro's discrete 9600M GT. But it doesn't do any of those things. Yet. More » -
amd
AMD Promises DirectX 11 in 2009
AMD has confirmed rumors that it is working on DirectX 11, announcing at CEATEC that it plans to release its first DirectX 11-compatible GPUs in 2009. The company also predicted an increase in general purpose computing on GPUs (GPGPU) and a transition to a 40nm fabricating standard, which ought to give graphics chip performance rates a considerable boost. In layman terms: Things are about to get a lot bigger and a lot prettier. [Xbit Labs via Tweaktown] -
medical imaging
Scientists Say Virtual Imaging Colonoscopy As Good As Real Thing, With Less Probing
According to the results of a new study, a virtual-reality 3D-graphic colonoscopy is about as good as the real thing for screening for colon cancer. The virtual procedure is made by image processing the results of an abdominal CT scan, then a doctor views the results in a sort of first-person-shooter "fly through" of the patient's inner tubes, looking for abnormalities toshootexamine. The graphical technology is of course less invasive *ahem*, more convenient and preferred by patients...though it'll likely come down to a dollars-based calculation before you start seeing this in your local medical facility. [Medgadgets] -
Fun With Data
Cool Visualization Shows World's Spending On Electronics By Country (We Spend A Lot)
Here we see ol' Mercator, if country sizes were drawn according to the amount of discretionary income spent on electronics by its citizens. As the world's largest economy, the US being the biggest blob here at $162 billion for 2007 is not that surprising. But what might be surprising is Japan, who spends more on recreation than clothing, household items and electronics combined—pretty interesting for such a style- and gadget-conscious nation. Also note central Europe's electronics spending, which is clearly becoming a force to be reckoned with if IFA in Berlin was any indication. Head over to the NYTimes for more playing with this cool little flash data visualization with other categories of spending. [NYTimes via Boing Boing] -
textures
Scientists Work Out Way to Capture 3D Texture Info in a Flash
Some scientists at University of Manchester in the UK and Dolby Canada in Vancouver have worked out a way to capture 3D info of complex-textured objects really simply with a camera flash. You should care about this because it's likely to make the textures applied to characters and objects in computer games way more realistic: normally texture capturing needs expensive devices like laser scanners. More » -
olympics
Footprint Fireworks Were Faked into Olympics Opening TV Show
A local Beijing paper has revealed that some of the amazing fireworks in the Olympics opening show were digitally-crafted fakes, inserted into the live TV feed. The Beijing Times quotes the head of visual effects, who says that the 28 giant footprints that stomped through the air above the city, ending at the stadium, were advanced CGI. Though the pyrotechnics really were set off, the airborne camera view that the rest of the world watched was fake. Why go to these lengths? Apparently the Olympic committee decided that to follow the real trail of firework footprints was too dangerous for a helicopter camera. Instead a team spent almost a year crafting the fake segment, paying attention to even get the smog lighting effects correct. [The Telegraph] -
larrabee
Intel's Larrabee Multi-Core GPU Chips Get Detail, Timescale
About a year ago, we first brought you news on Intel's Larrabee multi-cored GPU chips, but some new info is hitting the intertubes and hints that the chips could have uses beyond graphics. An alternative to developing faster—but hotter—processors, Larrabee will have between 16 and 48 processor cores aboard, all compatible with the classic x86 instruction set. More » -
review
Lightning Review: ViDock Gfx Display Enhancer Adds Two Monitors To Your Setup
The Gadget: The ViDock Gfx, a box with an ATI 2600XT inside that allows you to add two DVI displays to your ExpressCard Laptop (e.g. MacBook Pro). It doesn't affect your current display setup, which might already have an external monitor being driven by the on-board DVI port, which means you can have a total of three external displays plus your MacBook Pro's going at the same time. Mac and Windows versions are available in both 128MB and 256MB flavors, running at up to 2560x1600 resolution.
More » -
nvidia
Dell Issues BIOS Update to Keep Nvidia GeForce Cards From Frying
Even after Nvidia downplayed their original report that GeForce 8400-8700 cards were failing in large numbers due to overheating, Dell has issued a BIOS update for all of its machines running the affected GPUs anyway. The update tweaks the fan settings to "regulate temperature fluctuations" to keep the maybe-faulty-maybe-not chips cooler. So who do we believe here? More » -
iphone apps
Sega Says the iPhone Is As Powerful As the Dreamcast
Developers are just getting their heads around the concepts introduced by the iPhone, but so far they like what they see. EA said it's more powerful than the DS, and now Sega—the guys who made Super Monkey Ball for the platform—is saying that it's just as powerful as the Dreamcast. The Dreamcast! Do you remember how good that was? Soul Calibur? House of the Dead? Typing of the Dead? Shenmue? Those were some quality games. Who else wants some of that action in the next few years? [Kotaku] More » -
ati
ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Previewed: ATI's Fastest Single Graphics Card Ever
ATI fanboys, your time may have come with the R700-based Radeon HD 4870 X2. It's a $500 multi-GPU card that basically straps together a pair of Radeon HD 4870s with 2GB of onboard memory to create ATI's fastest single card ever. (It's not your imagination, they're really stepping with the Nvidia-killing, which is sweet.) Benchwise, it actually beats Nvidia's monster GeForce GTX 280 running in SLI in a couple of games, like Age of Conan. More » -
intel
Nvidia, Intel Kiss and Make Up: Bloomfield CPU to Have SLI Tech After All
Intel and Nvidia's cold war over the discrete and integrated graphics chipsets that sit inside our computers seems to have at least partially thawed. Nvidia's announced that "it will be bringing the power and performance of its SLI® multi-GPU technology to Intel’s upcoming line of Bloomfield CPUs." Upcoming SLI motherboards will have the nForce 200 SLI processor alongside Bloomfield CPUs, and Tylersburg (X58) chipsets, which should come as good news to gamers with top-end gaming PC setups. Nvidia's press release below (including some interesting "customer viewpoints") More » -
sony
Sony Playstation 3 Graphics Chips Going More Energy Efficient 65nm This Fall
The Cell processor in ye old PS3 has been getting the 65nm treatment since the holiday, but the RSX graphics chips inside should get the same in the fall, resulting in slightly more reliable, more energy efficient chips. [Kotaku] -
nvidia
Nvidia GeForce GTX 200 Graphics Cards Makes Your Gaming Rig Officially Outdated
Nvidia's latest line of graphics cards gets official today: The GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280 mark the debut of the next-gen 200 series, a completely overhauled and badass line of GPUs. The GTX 280 rocks 240 processing cores and 1GB of RAM, while the 260 comes with 192 cores and 896MB of memory, making them equally adept at generating eye-popping graphics or serious parallel computing and physics crunching. Nvidia demoed for me some of the stuff these puppies can do in SLI—and it's pretty incredible. Check out some of Nvidia's ass-beating benchmarks for yourself. Update: Benchmarks and reviews are rolling in, and they're not looking as hot. More » -
cellphones
NVIDIA Mobile GeForce Processor Chews Up HD Video, Aims to Gnaw On Silverthorne
Mobile devices are clearly the next frontier to conquer for established big boy computer gutsmakers. NVIDIA is recharging into the mobile market with "the world's lowest power, high definition computer on a chip" that tears through 720p video among other graphical jujitsu. More » -
gpu
New NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2 Has 2 Processors, 1GB Memory, Eats PS3 for Breakfast
The Skinny: NVIDIA's GeForce 9800, launching in late Feb / early March, will be successor to the 8800 Ultra. With an estimated 30% performance increase over the aforementioned top end GPU, and apparent support for "Quad SLI," it is certainly no slacker. More » -
graphics
PS3 Game Developer Claims to have Crossed Uncanny Valley
We're fascinated with the battle against uncanny valley—that point in graphics or robotics where the human likeness isn't quite reached, which in turn repulses the viewer. And while we've seen graphics card makers and robot designers tackling the problem before, for the first time a video game developer claims to have bridged the gap. Quantic Dream is a maker of highly cinematic games and houses one of the most advanced motion capture studios in the world. Here's what they've gone on record to say: More » -
displayport
ATI RV635 XT in the Wild - First DisplayPort-Capable Card
Hot Hardware has snagged one of the first graphics cards launched with full DisplayPort support. Before you write off DisplayPort as just another adapter to buy, consider its support for daisy-chaining: multi-head setups can be rigged up easily with the need for only one port on your box. Watch for the RX635 (along with the first DisplayPort LCDs) to hit first quarter '08. [via Hot Hardware] -
symbian os
Symbian OS's ScreenPlay and FreeWay Enhances UI and Speeds Downloads
In addition to the touchscreen UI we saw in Symbian last week, two new features—ScreenPlay and FreeWay—are coming to add even more sophistication to the platform. ScreenPlay is their new graphics engine that allows transparency and animations without taking up too much more battery life. FreeWay is less visible, but it's a new IP networking stack/architecture on 3G networks/WiMax to allow faster audio/video streaming and VoIP calling. Check out the touch video above again just for a refresher. -
clips
Total Immersion D'Fusion, Realtime Dynamic 3D Awesomeness
You know those graphics you see on your evening news? Those are lame. But this semi-new D'Fusion software from Total Immersion takes graphical video layovers to the next level—meaning that 3D graphics can be manipulated in real space...and like we said in the headline, real time. This is some crazy cool stuff. More »




































