Gizmodo: r700

Asus R710 GPS with Head-Up Display Demoed on Video

Kit Eaton — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EDT

This is some video of Asus' swanky new GPS model that projects data onto your windshield, saving you from distracting yourself from the road by peering at a device screen. So will the R710 make you feel like you're flying a fighter aircraft with glitzy HUD graphics? No, not really, as it projects just some very basic info, like distance to next turn and which direction you're going in. But if it prevents accidents, and makes navigating across tricky junctions a little easier since you won't have to move your eyes from the road, seems like a great idea to me. [Navigadget]

ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Previewed: ATI's Fastest Single Graphics Card Ever

matt buchanan — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:40:00 EDT

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.

One of the most fundamental changes in the R700 cards—which are two RV770s with a PCI Express switch connecting the the two and double the memory—is that the GPUs actually communicate with each other, whereas past CrossFire configs had both cards basically rendering their own sections independently, then combining them. AnandTech says it's not entirely clear how much communication there will be, but there will definitely be more than there was. Also, the drivers still need to come up to spec to let the card truly shine, but the hardware is totally in the right place. [AnandTech]

Asus R700 3D GPS Navigator and Portable Media Player Mutant

matt buchanan — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:00:49 EST

The Gear: Ah, convergence at its best. Asus cross-bred a GPS navigator that does 3D maps and real-time traffic info with a typical Taiwanese PMP that handles MP3s, videos and photos in a 1.3-cm thick unit. The touchscreener also uses Bluetooth to verbalize incoming text messages (probably poorly) and dial calls. It's $400 when it comes out in a couple of weeks. The Hmm: Most mutt devices rarely do everything well, and I hate the gold paintjob. (Granted, that's a personal thing.)