AMD FX-8170 and FX-6120 Processors to Arrive in Early 2012

Even though there are still two weeks to go until AMD will release its first FX-Series processors into the wild, reports suggest the Sunnyvale-based chip maker is already planning to introduce faster versions of these chips in the first quarter of 2012. According to a recently leaked company roadmap, the start of 2012 will mark the introduction of two new FX-Series CPU that are referred to as the FX-8170 and the FX-6120. Just as its name implies, the FX-8170 is a faster version of the FX-8150 that will launch on October 12 and it boasts four Bulldozer modules to deliver a total of eight computing cores. These will be accompanied by 8MB of Level 3 as well as 8MB of L2 cache memory, but the rest of its specifications haven't been finalized yet. However,...

Read more »

Ice Cream Sandwich to Arrive as Android 4.0

Mountain View-based Internet giant Google is hard at work with the release of a new flavor of their mobile operating system, Android, and it seems that they might put the 4.0 version next to it.  There is no mystery that a new Android platform flavor is on its way to devices, as Google themselves mentioned that a few times before.  However, the company referred so far to the next platform release as Ice Cream Sandwich, but did not offer info on the version number it might sport.  While the said number won't affect the list of features and capabilities that the platform would feature, enthusiasts are still arguing whether the new OS release will be part of the 2.X branch, or it will come with a completely new version number attached...

Read more »

How to Manually Install Android 2.3.6 on Google Nexus One

The venerable Nexus One handset is about to get the latest Android 2.3.6 update far ahead other modern smartphones.  In fact, Nexus One is the second smartphone to receive this update, after Google pushed Android 2.3.6 to all Nexus S devices about three weeks ago. Unfortunately, Nexus S owners who updated to Android 2.3.6 reported several issues with the phone's Wi-Fi and USB tethering capabilities. It is also worth mentioning that Sprint already delivered the Android 2.3.7 update to Nexus S 4G devices, last week. Even though we strongly recommend Nexus One users to wait for the update to be pushed OTA (over the air), those who do not want wait until Google decides to deploy Android 2.3.6 upgrade can install the update manually following...

Read more »

Windows 8 is Windows 6.2

Yes, Windows 8 is actually Windows 6.2, versioning-wise. As I’m sure you remember, Windows 7 is Windows 6.1, and Windows Vista was Windows 6.0.  Don’t be surprised if Microsoft ends up making the successor of Windows 8, Windows 6.3, because most likely, this is the plan.  The Windows OS version increment can be a source of incompatibilities with existing applications, especially if they’re designed to check for upper bound OS version.  Microsoft is simply doing away with some potential compatibility issues by keeping versioning changes as small as possible.  Remember how well Vista apps ran on Windows 7? Well, the promise from Microsoft is that Windows 7 applications will play just as nice on Windows 8.  “The internal version number for Windows Developer Preview and...

Read more »

Major iPhone 5 Details Break Out: 1GB RAM, Assistant, Backlit Camera

Sources familiar with the new Apple iPhone have leaked a bulk of new information about the inner workings of the handset, as well as some software enhancements that will allegedly work with new-gen iPhones only. According to the people cited by 9to5mac, the iPhone 5 will pack Apple’s dual-core A5 processor but it will have drastically improved graphics and double the RAM of the iPhone 4. Not even the iPad 2 has 1GB of RAM, so why would it need so much? Well, it’s because iPhone 5 will need to handle a lot of new background tasks that Apple will introduce, according to a source familiar with the manufacturing of the A5 SOC (system on a chip). An upgraded camera system will also be found on the fifth-gen iPhone. It will have an 8 megapixel image...

Read more »

Clear-Back 'iPhone 5' Cases Depict Relocated Hardware Switch, Tapered Back

A new set of alleged iPhone 5 cases marketed by an online merchant site appears to indicate there will be a relocation of the hardware-switch button, and a tapered back shell akin to that of the iPad 2. Advertised in three versions - “Air Series”, the “2.0 Cover”, and an “Ex-Sleek” case - the accessories all tell the same story, as in the iPhone 5 will have a completely redesigned body. Falling in line with most rumors about the next-generation Apple handset, these cases show a tapered back that is almost identical in form to the back side of the much-larger iPad 2. A wide (though not very large) opening can be seen on the right side of the case (when viewed front-side) which suggests Apple is relocating the mute on-off toggle. On the iPad,...

Read more »

AMD FX-8150 Performance Revealed, On-Par with Intel's Core i7 980X

With a bit more than two weeks to go until AMD releases its first FX-Series processors based on the Bulldozer architecture, a Turkish Website has published the media presentation deck for these chips, revealing the performance of the upcoming AMD FX-8150 when compared with Intel's current CPUs. The press deck made public by Donanim Haber pits AMD's most powerful desktop Bulldozer processor against the Intel Core i7-980X and Core i7-2600K in a wide selection of tests. These range from gaming to video encoding and rendering using popular applications such as WinRAR, Handbrake or POV Ray, to name just a few. Judging by the results from AMD's presentation slides, gaming seems to be the strong point of the FX-Series, as it manages to come about...

Read more »

Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy S HD LTE Go to South Korea

South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung Electonics has just announced two new smartphones for its home land market, namely the Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy S HD LTE.  Both devices are expected to arrive on shelves in the country soon with 4G capabilities, as well as with large touchscreen displays and fast application processors.  The Galaxy S II LTE was unveiled to the world at the IFA show in Berlin several weeks ago as an upgrade to the already popular Galaxy S II, while the Galaxy S HD LTE arrives on shelves as the first smartphone from the company to include an HD display.  Galaxy S II LTE was packed with a large 4.5-inch WVGA Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen display, and with a dual-core application processor clocked in at 1.5GHz.  It...

Read more »