Archive for January 28th, 2007

By January 28, 2007 Read More →

Microsoft and AMD ‘Vanishing Point’ Game

To celebrate the upcoming consumer release of the Windows Vista(TM) operating system, AMD
and Microsoft Corp. have launched “Vanishing Point,” the largest puzzle game in the world. Although many clues have been disclosed online, parts of the puzzle are being revealed at real-world events, including a first-ever takeover of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino fountains, cryptic skywriting messages, and projections appearing on iconic structures around the world.

These spectacular sights have driven millions of people to find out more, with hopes of winning the grand prize: a trip to space. Today at 6 p.m. PST, the final real-world event will reveal more clues through an amazing spectacle: an incredible fireworks show at Seattle’s Gas Works Park.

“Vanishing Point” raises the stakes in online games with tougher challenges, bigger rewards and events scheduled around the globe. Players worldwide are competing for nearly a half-million dollars in prizes, and the eventual winner will secure a ride to space courtesy of Rocketplane Limited Inc.

“Vanishing Point” challenges players to work together to solve an international game, drawing clues from spectacular events at various locations to decipher online puzzles. The action hinges on the true identity of the mysterious Microsoft Puzzle Master.

More information, official rules and coverage of the offline events are available at
http://vanishingpointgame.com .

Matt

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Posted in: Gadgets
By January 28, 2007 Read More →

HTC P4350 (HTC Herald) review

The HTC Herald was first announced towards the end of 2006 and the device generated a lot of interest. One thing that seemed to ‘excite’ people about the device was the size. At 59mm x 109mm x 17mm the Herald is a lot slimmer than the Hermes which measures 58mm x 112.5mm x 21.95mm. The Herald is also about 16g lighter than the Hermes.

HTC P4350

HTC’s own commercial arm released the HTC Herald as the HTC P4350 (catchy name!) and the device is now available from a number of UK retailers for around £380. So far the P4350 is not available on contract from any UK operator. Despite this the P4350 is proving to be popular.

There have been several other reviews of the HTC P4350 so I hope mine will serve as a summary.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The first thing I noticed about the P4350 was the clean lines of the device and the neat arrangement of of the main navigation buttons below the screen. However the Email and Internet buttons present above the screen on Hermes devices are missing from the P4350.

P4350 Joypad

The other thing you notice is the new keyboard sliding mechanism. On the P4350 the keyboard mechanism is spring loaded and snaps open or closed smartly. This change to the keyboard mechanism is a welcome one and this is similar to the action of the keypad on the Samsung D900. The other nice thing about the sliding keyboard is that opening it turns the screen on but closing it will not!

P4350 open

The keyboard on the HTC P4350 is opens the other way to all of the previous HTC devices. Being a HTC TyTN user it does take a little time to get used to the device opening this other way but it now suits me better as a left hander.

USAGE
A very welcome addition to the keyboard area are the two indicator LED’s. These LED’s indicate the Fn and Caps lock status. I find this very useful!

I also like the fact that you can access the microSD card externally and that the slot is hidden behind a rubber flap which helps to stop the memory card flying out if you should drop the device.

P4350 Indicator LEDs

P4350 SD Slot

P4350 close

HTC P4350 Back

The HTC P4350 has a full size stylus. This is a welcome change as recently HTC have included telescopic styli with their devices. Being full sized might mean that I stop using my fingers so much!

HTC Stylus

The camera on the back of the P4350 is your usual HTC 2.0 mega pixel unit but the P4350 does not have a ‘flash’. The quality of photos from the camera is pretty average and there is no front facing video conference camera, however as the P4350 does not have 3G this would be impractical anyway.

HTC P4350 Camera

On the bottom of the P4350 you’ll find an Enhanced miniUSB connector. This type of connector has become standard on HTC devices lately. When HTC first added this connector to devices it was really annoying! It meant that you had to use the headphones the shipped with the device rather than your own decent headphones. I even provided a headset modding service for a while. However there are a number of manufacturers are now selling adapters.

P4350 USB Connector

CONCLUSION
I’ve been using the HTC P4350 for a few weeks now and it’s currently my main device. I initially thought that the lack of 3G would be annoying and hold me back. However I have not missed the 3G service at all. I really like the new keyboard mechanism and find that the P4350 is extremely easy to use one-handed. I do miss the jog wheel which has been replaced with a slider on the P4350.

The battery life on the P4350 is great lasting much longer than my TyTN. This is probably due to the lack of 3G which does suck power. I fond myself charging the device a lot less often.

The WiFi on the P4350 is very easy to use and set up and one thing that is great about AKU3 is that you can paste the network key in to the box. This is extremely useful when your network key is 63 digits long! With previous AKU versions you were expected to type this in!

I really like the HTC P4350, it is definitely my favourite device at the moment. I would like the device to the 3G and HSDPA but this isn’t a huge problem for me. Being slimmer than the HTC TyTN is good as it fits in my pocket that much easier.

Thanks to HTC for letting me borrow the device, I really wish I could keep it!

Here are some more photos of the HTC P4350:

HTC P4350 bottom

P4350 bottom

P4350 Buttons

Part Open

Keyboard Open

HTC Side

HTC P4350 Power Button

HTC P4350 (HTC Herald) Specification

  • Quadband GSM with EDGE
  • TI OMAP 850 processor
  • Slide-out QWERTY keypad
  • 2-megapixel CMOS camera
  • Enhanced miniUSB connector for sync / charge / audio
  • 2.8-inch 340×240-pixel LCD with 65K-color support
  • 128MB ROM; 64MB RAM
  • microSD expansion slot
  • Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP and AVRCP
  • WiFi 802.11g, USB and infrared
  • Size: 109 x 59 x 17mm; 168g

    • See the full specification on the HTC product page.

    Matt

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    Posted in: Reviews
    By January 28, 2007 Read More →

    Intel’s Transistor Technology Breakthrough

    In one of the biggest advancements in fundamental transistor design, Intel Corporation today revealed that it is using two dramatically new materials to build the insulating walls and switching gates of its 45 nanometer transistors. Hundreds of millions of these microscopic transistors — or switches — will be inside the next generation Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Core 2 Quad and Xeon families of multi-core processors. The company also said it has five early-version products up and running — the first of fifteen 45nm processor products planned from Intel.

    The transistor feat allows the company to continue delivering record-breaking PC, laptop and server processor speeds, while reducing the amount of electrical leakage from transistors that can hamper chip and PC design, size, power consumption, noise and costs. It also ensures Moore’s Law, a high-tech industry axiom that transistor counts double about every two years, thrives well into the next decade.

    Silicon dioxide has been used to make the transistor gate dielectric for more than 40 years because of its manufacturability and ability to deliver continued transistor performance improvements as it has been made ever thinner. Intel has successfully shrunk the silicon dioxide gate dielectric to as little as 1.2nm thick — equal to five atomic layers — on our previous 65nm process technology, but the continued shrinking has led to increased current leakage through the gate dielectric, resulting in wasted electric current and unnecessary heat.

    Matt

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    Posted in: Science & Technology
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