Intel Prepares to Drop Atom Brand Name

Anyone who has previously heard that Intel was planning on dropping the Atom brand name may have thought they've heard wrong.

They didn't though. Intel really is planning on that, according to Digitimes. It won't happen right away, but neither will the Santa Clara, California-based company be dawdling. Intel will stop releasing processors from the Atom line at some point in the fourth quarter of 2014. After that, the entry-level market will be covered by Celeron and Pentium CPUs instead.

To clarify, Intel isn't dropping any CPU architecture, only the brand, for whatever reason. I suppose the lack of demand for presumably weak and not-worth-it Atom units warrants this. Meanwhile, Intel will preserve the reputation of Pentium and Celeron chips by releasing Haswell-based models as well, and units based on subsequent architectures.

Intel prepares to drop Atom brand
Image credits to Intel

Read more »

Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 Now Available in the US for $300/€230

Officially unveiled last month, Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 has just hit shelves in the United States. The smartphone is expected to arrive in the UK as well, but the first stocks are slated for September.

As GSMArena reports, the Galaxy Ace 3 is now available for purchase via Popular Electronics for only $300/€230 outright. Negri Electronics is about to start offering the smartphone as well for a bit cheaper, $280/ €215. Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 is powered by Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system out of the box and packs a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor.

The smartphone sports a 4-inch capacitive touchscreen display that supports 480 x 800 pixels resolution. It also features 1GB of RAM and 4/8 GB of internal memory. There will be three versions of Galaxy Ace 3 up for grabs in the following weeks: Galaxy Ace 3 S7270 (3G), Galaxy Ace 3 S7275 (LTE) and Galaxy Ace 3 S7272 (dual-SIM).

Samsung Galaxy Ace 3
Image credits to Samsung

Read more »

Garmin USA 2.5 for iOS Adds Themes, Performance Improvements

Navigation expert Garmin has released an updated version of its US-centric mapping application which includes themes and stability improvements.

Garmin is the first iPhone navigation app to include the company’s exclusive photoReal images of complex junctions to help users navigate with ease. The software offers rich mapping with detailed 3D buildings and landmarks, as well as lane guidance, speed/red light camera alerts, and many other advanced features for drivers.

Users of Garmin USA 2.5 will be able to choose from many different map themes to make their iOS navigation easier on the eyes. The update further includes various stability improvements and bug fixes to smoothen out your experience. Garmin USA is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation), and iPad, and requires iOS 5.1 or later.

Garmin USA screenshots
Image credits to Garmin

Read more »