With a week left in an already successful Kickstarter campaign (approaching three times its initial $ 50,000 goal), the makers of the MiiPC are giving backers the chance to increase their system’s memory. Add $ 15 before the close of the project and you’ll be able to double things up, from 1GB to 2GB of RAM and 4GB to 8GB of storage — the move comes in response to pledger feedback, according to the company. And speaking of listening, the makers of the parental-friendly Android PC are also tossing in a free built-in mic for those who pre-ordered, just for good measure.
Filed under: Desktops
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The Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium has been almost too patient in developing a standard for for its eponymous technology — efforts began 17 months ago — but it at last has more than good intentions to show for its work. Its just-published HMC Specification 1.0 lets companies build platforms and RAM with 2GB, 4GB and 8GB chips incorporating the stacked, power-efficient technology, all without compatibility jitters from other supporters. The completed spec is a scorcher when living up to its full potential, too. With eight links, a memory cube can reach a peak 320GB/s (yes, that’s gigabytes) of aggregate bandwidth — more than a hair faster than the 11GB/s we often get from existing DDR3 memory.
The Consortium is teasing us with more. Although we’ll have to wait until the second half of the year before HMC 1.0 products appear in earnest, the Consortium already has a next-gen blueprint due in early 2014 that should nearly double individual data link speeds (from 15Gbps to 28Gbps). While we’d like to see the group walk the walk with real products before it talks more talk, there’s still a chance that some memory performance bottlenecks could vanish for a good, long while.
Filed under: Storage, Samsung, Microsoft, HP
Via: Computerworld
Source: Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium
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Using Microsoft’s Kinect to replace a mouse is often considered the Holy Grail of developers; there have been hacks and other tricks to get it working well before Kinect for Windows was even an option. A lead Technical Evangelist for Microsoft in France, David Catuhe, has just provided a less makeshift approach. The 1.2 update to his Kinect Toolbox side project introduces hooks to control the mouse outright, including ‘magnetic’ control to draw the mouse from its original position. To help keep the newly fashioned input (among other gestures) under control, Catuhe has also taken advantage of the SDK 1.5 release to check that the would-be hand-waver is sitting and staring at the Kinect before accepting any input. The open-source Windows software is available to grab for experimentation today, so if you think hands-free belongs as much on the PC desktop as in a car, you now have a ready-made way to make the dream a reality… at least, until you have to type.
Filed under: Peripherals, Software
Kinect Toolbox update turns hand gestures into mouse input, physical contact into distant memory originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 03:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Those goggles you see above aren’t for stylish looks while playing dodgeball — they’re the keys to a potentially important discovery about short-term memory. Duke University‘s Institute for Brain Sciences found that subjects playing catch with goggles simulating strobe lights were noticeably better at memorizing information during tests, even a full day after playtime was over. It’s not hard to see why: with a limited amount of time to see that incoming ball, participants had to more vividly remember brief scenes to stay on top of the game. We don’t yet know if there’s any kind of long-term boost, so don’t get your hopes up that strobe lights are the shortcuts to permanent photographic memory. Still, the findings suggest that frequent nightclubbers might be on to something… or, at least, have a better idea of where they left their keys the morning after.
[Image credit: Les Todd, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences]
Filed under: Wearables, Science
Strobe lighting goggles shown to improve short-term memory, all-night ravers feel validated originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nikon’s D4 is currently the only belle at the XQD ball, and until now, Sony was its only memory suitor. However, Lexar’s just arrived with a new line of cards to compete for the D4′s affections. The Fremont-based company says it collaborated with Nikon to build the PCI Express-based memory, and that they’ll hit the market sometime in the third quarter of 2012 — with no mention of specs or prices so far. Unfortunately, that means we don’t know how Lexar’s offerings will stack up against Sony’s H-series or S-series cards already on the market. That said, while you wait for more details about Lexar’s new cards, feel free to check out the lovely data the D4 will be putting on ‘em when they arrive.
Filed under: Digital Cameras, Storage
Lexar XQD memory cards announced, will duel with Sony for Nikon D4′s attention originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jul 2012 02:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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There’s no question that Micron has shifted its focus away from PCs in favor of producing components, shipping everything from SSDs to CMOS sensors in recent years, but the semiconductor manufacturer just took a $ 2.5 billion step even closer to bridging its gap between other companies in the same market, including Samsung, the chip producer’s top competitor. Under the deal, Elpida Memory, which is headquartered in Tokyo, will fall within the Idaho-based conglomerate’s growing umbrella, netting Micron a 50-percent boost in production capability. That increase did come at great expense, however — the transaction included $ 750 million in cash and $ 1.75 billion in future installments (1,750 easy payments of one million dollars?), which are set to continue through 2019. The acquisition was also paired with a 24-percent stake in Rexchip Electronics for an additional $ 334 million, which will complement Elpida’s investment, yielding a total 89-percent stake for Micron. While the amount does seem quite significant, investors appear to be on board, with Micron’s stock ($ MU) currently up more than 4 percent since this morning. Both deals will reportedly close within the next year.
Micron scoops up Elpida Memory, 50-percent production boost for $ 2.5 billion originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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