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FXI Cotton Candy Demo: More Power than You Can Shake a (Thumb) Stick at

PC News Zone — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:54:00 +0000

Anand and Jason had a chance to enounce with FXI a while back, but at the time they werenâ€™t able to give him any hands-on time with their micro-computer plan device, codenamed Cotton Candy. Theyâ€™re demoing the hardware at CES, and this time we were able to play around with the draw and derive a taste for what it can do. At a lofty level, the view is beyond doubt simple: select your typical SoC device, strip away the display and battery, and add a couple USB connectors and an HDMI output. The result is a completely functional computer in something roughly the size of a thumb driveâ€”at least, a larger thumb plod circa 2008. The core SoC in Cotton Candy is the latest Exynos chip running at 1.2GHz, giving you twain ARM Cortex A9 cores and a Mali 400 GPU. This is one of the fastest 40nm SoC solutions currently available, and itâ€™s capable of running any compatible OS. (Future versions of the hardware can of class slither to newer, faster, smaller SoCs.) FXI had several Cotton Candy demo units on hand demonstrating different OSes; Android 2.3.4 is the farthest along in the Android ecosystem, although they did have an Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS = Android 4.0) construct running in software rendering mode (and the fully functional construct of ICS is expected in the next few months). Besides flavors of Android, FXI had another unit running a Ubuntu build. Thereâ€™s no flash storage built into the SoC itself, or even in the â€œUSB stickâ€; the units instead have a micro-SD slot for storage, and the OS and data all resides there. That opens up the potential for a single hardware draw that could nothing else but run multiple operating systems with fair a easy swap of the micro-SD chip, which has some beyond doubt cool possibilities for those that like to try out modern OS releases but may not want to root/wipe their current OS. Another interesting aspect of Cotton Candy is how it interfaces with other devices. The simplest mode consists of plugging the HDMI connector directly into any HDMI-compatible display, using the full size USB connector to provide power (via an AC-to-USB adapter). The OS boots in roughly 15 to 20 seconds, and if you have the strict hardwareâ€”e.g. FXI used a USB Bluetooth radio with a keyboard and mouseâ€”you can begin using your computer. Thatâ€™s nothing particularly noteworthy, but itâ€™s only one of several options. Plug Cotton Candy into another PC and matters change; after a 15-20 second delay for the draw OS to boot, Cotton Candy presents itself as a storage draw on your desktop/laptop. Run the strict executableâ€”Windows, OS X, and Linux binaries are includedâ€”and you derive an application that shows the Cotton Candy OS, all in a virtualized environment. (Note that the virtualization is fair for the display and input options on the host computer.) You can also plug Cotton Candy into tablets and smartphones, where again the input devices and screen are virtualized and you derive a touch interface. (Presumably this will require an strict virtualization client for the host device, so Cotton Candy may not work with every tablet/smartphone out there.) Now granted, running Android with a keyboard and mouse in place of a touch-screen interface feels a bit clunky depending on what youâ€™re doingâ€”swiping through screens with a mouse fair isnâ€™t as intuitive, and Angry Birds isnâ€™t as fun when youâ€™re not poking at the screen with your fingerâ€”but for web browsing and other traditional PC-centric tasks it works fine, and 1080p video also played without issue. Using a tablet or smartphone fair to drag up another tablet/smartphone fashion OS may also seem a bit unusual, but there is a goal in all of this. So FXI has put a small and fully functional computer inside a thumb stick, capable of running some of the latest OSes at 1080p without trouble. Thatâ€™s fine, but why exactly carry out we need this? FXIâ€™s view is that as SoC hardware continues to advance, devices like smartphones and smart TVs are rapidly consigned to the scrap heap of history. While that might be stunning for a smartphone that gets upgraded every year or two, it doesnâ€™t work as de facto with TVs, car computers, or other â€œsmartâ€ devices that may be used for 5-10 years (or longer, assuming they sustain up). Whatâ€™s more, as people shove towards Cloud-centric computing models, all they beyond doubt need is a general user interface that lets them derive to the cloud. Thatâ€™s where Cotton Candy comes in, as you could potentially carry one draw around that has access to all the apps and data that you want/use and the UI stays the same wherever you go. Besides a USB input (for power and data) and an HDMI output, the current units also include a micro-USB harbour that can interface with acceptable USB peripherals. FXI had a PS3 controller connected at one point playing a recreation on the Ubuntu stick. Of course, thatâ€™s a little bizarre looking as the controller is many times larger than the rest of the hardware, but it works and it adds potential for other interesting uses of the hardware. Finally, the thumb adhere includes wireless networking and Bluetooth preserve as well. FXI is aiming to have hardware available for â€œwell underâ€ $200 by the end of the year. $200 would probably be too high, considering Appleâ€™s iPod Touch goes for $200 and comes with a display, speakers, case, etc. The FXI hardware is faster than the current iPod Touch, but thatâ€™s over a year old. If Apple releases an updated iPod with hardware similar to the iPhone 4S/iPad 2 at the same $200 price point, we propose a price closer to $100 as fair for Cotton Candyâ€”similar to what many media streamers cost. Whatever the price, however, there will likely be buyersâ€”software developers as one example might be interested, particularly given the potential to nothing else but swap between micro-SD cards and OSes. Depending on what other features are bundled into the device(s), and what interesting software is created to leverage the hardware, thereâ€™s a lot of room for creative and innovating solutions. We see forward to seeing where matters sprint from here, and hopefully as final hardware nears completion weâ€™ll be able to provide some extra testing and evaluation of Cotton Candy.

MSI Announces WindPad 110W With New AMD Z-01

PC News Zone — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 10:51:00 +0000

The tablet market is expanding every bit as rapidly as netbooks did when they first arrived, and then some. MSI has announced their entry into the market today, and it's a very different breed of tablet compared to the largely Android-based units available. The new WindPad 110W has a heck of a lot going on under the hood, including some new kit from AMD.

Unlike the Android-based tablets that have been multiplying in the market, the WindPad 110W is running a full-on Windows 7 Home Premium installation, and a peek under the hood reveals a beastly amount of hardware for a tablet.

At the center of the 110W is the AMD Z-01 APU, a 1GHz dual-core processor with a TDP of just 5.9 watts. Essentially a lower-clocked, much lower-power version of the E-350 we're so fond of, the Z-01 brings with it Radeon HD 6250 graphics with 80 stream processors clocked at 276MHz. Strapped to the single-channel memory controller is 4GB of DDR3, which should be more than enough for what the WindPad is intended for.

The rest of the 110W is no slouch either, with a 32GB SSD integrated, 802.11b/g/n networking, and Bluetooth 3.0 support. The 10" screen is an IPS panel with a 1280x800 resolution. External connectivity is handled by a mini-HDMI port, an SD card reader, and a single USB 2.0 port. If there's one place where the WindPad falters compared to other tablets, though, it's the integrated cameras: both the front-facing and rear-facing cameras are only 1.3 megapixel, miles behind the rest of the pack.

MSI ships it with a two-cell, 4200mAh battery, a Trusted Platform Module, and personalized software for ease of use with touch control. That's important since Windows 7's touch-based controls still leave something to be desired. At 1.87 lbs. it's not too heavy but will definitely be noticeable.

Presales are starting now at Newegg and Amazon, for a reasonable MSRP of $599.

ASUS targets Christmas for Padfone launch, hints at Ice Cream Sandwich

pcnz_admin — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:13:12 +0000

From Endgadget.com — We just got to spend some quality time with ASUS’ newly unveiled Padfone and you can see the smartphone that doubles up as a tablet on video after the break. It’s still a mere mockup for now, but ASUS has big plans for it — plans that coalesce around the Christmas period and the very latest version of Android at that time. ASUS’ Benson Lin was careful not to openly admit the company intends to ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, but he did point out that you can’t launch a smartphone with Honeycomb as the OS. We were encouraged to draw our own conclusions.

The smartphone is actually the only smart aspect of this hardware pair — the slate part acts as a display, a set of speakers, an extended battery, and an I/O extender, but it doesn’t work by itself. ASUS also tells us there’ll be other functionality enabled by the tablet panel, but that’s being kept under wraps for now. Compatibility between the display dock and subsequent phone generations is being contemplated but couldn’t be confirmed, and as to the UI, ASUS says it’ll be almost the same as its second-gen Android tablets. You heard that right, second generation ASUS Android tablets — to succeed the Transformer and Slider — will be coming around the same time as the Padfone.

NVIDIA’s quad-core Kal-El used to demo next-gen mobile graphics, blow minds

pcnz_admin — Mon, 30 May 2011 08:34:43 +0000

You might think yourself too grown-up to be wowed by shiny, glittery things, but we doubt many will be able to watch NVIDIA’s new Glow Ball tech demo without a smidgen of childlike glee. Built to run on the company’s quad-core Kal-El processor, it shows us the first example of true dynamic lighting on mobile devices and also throws in some impressive physics calculations like fully modeled cloth motion. Instead of the pre-canned, static lights that we see on mobile games today, NVIDIA’s new hardware will make it possible to create lighting that moves, fluctuates in intensity, and responds realistically to its environment — all rendered in real time. The titular glow ball can be skinned with different textures, each one allowing a different amount and hue of illumination to escape to surrounding objects, and is directed around the screen using the accelerometer in your tablet or smartphone.

NVIDIA demoed the new goodness on a Honeycomb slate with 1280 x 800 resolution and the frame rates remained smooth throughout. In order to emphasize the generational leap that we can expect with Kal-El, the company switched off two of the four cores momentarily, which plunged performance down to less than 10fps. That means the simulations we’re watching require a full quartet of processing cores on top of the 12-core GPU NVIDIA has in Kal-El. Mind-boggling stuff. Glow Ball will be available as a game on Android tablets once this crazy new chip makes its way into retail devices — which are still expected in the latter half of this year, August if everything goes perfectly to plan. One final note if you’re still feeling jaded: NVIDIA promises the production chip will be 25 to 30 percent faster than the one on display today. Full video demo follows after the break.

ASUS to unveil a phone-docking tablet at Computex?

pcnz_admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 06:08:03 +0000

We love teasers, but the wait can be unbearable sometimes. Luckily, all it takes is a tweak in the URL to uncover ASUS’ upcoming Computex teaser pics ahead of time, as discovered by our eagle-eyed reader Anas. As you might have already figured out, the image on the left — which just went live — seems to be just a reminder of the Eee Pad MeMO’s June launch, though the words “A Tablet That Jumps Out at You” could also imply a device bearing 3D functionality of some sort. Maybe ASUS managed to upgrade said 7-inch Honeycomb tablet just in time? We shall see.

But the real meat here lies in the remaining image, which is scheduled to close the loop on the “Pad or Phone” teaser campaign this coming Sunday. What’s new is merely the intriguing line “How about Both?” below the old text, accompanying the silhouette of what appear to be a large tablet and a smaller phone-like device. Could this mean ASUS is toying with the idea of an Atrix-like docking combo, except the lapdock is instead just a tablet? We could well be stretching here, but hey, ASUS does say it wants to “break the rules,” right? Stay tuned as we’ll find out more at Computex 2011 next week.

Update: It should be noted that the phone-docking idea we’re referring to is not related to the MeMO and MeMic duo — look at the second pic closely and you’ll see that the smaller device has four Android soft keys, whereas the MeMic has different buttons. Check out the close-up after the break.