T-Mo getting the lead out: “More than half of all HSPA+ rollout to by completed by mid-2010, rest by end of year.

T-Mo is getting fast and in more ways than one. Network upgrades are a bittersweet thing for carriers. On one hand, they get to entice more customers to stay on/sign up, offering better coverage and enhanced speeds. But, rolling out a network in the right way takes a considerable chunk of change. Apparently T-Mo is up to the challenge.

Not only will their HSPA+ 21Mbps network be blazing fast as it is rolled out, but the actual rollout itself will be faster than what many would call possible. In total, 2010 will see over 100 HSPA+ markets for T-Mo with over half of those markets getting lit up by mid-2010 — yes, that’s this year. So the rollout is fast and the actual network itself will be fast. How much better can it get?

While not true 4G, HSPA+ should keep many a geek occupied until those next gen networks start cropping up.

Gizmodo

Opera Mini submitted to App Store for approval. Death march to soon follow?

iPhone/iPod Touch users who spend a pretty good minute on the web, today is a day to remember, for it is the day in which Opera submitted their iPhone version of Opera Mini to the App Store. The reason for the whole show is simply because, there’s a fair chance that the ever so intelligent and common sense filled (/sarcasm) App Store approvers will reject the app. The reasoning if Apple does in fact do so isn’t anything new. They’ll simply label it as “duplicating functionality” of an app already present on the iPhone (made by Apple).

Personally I feel a bit of competition in the form of “duplicate apps” is a god send. I guess a little choice is too much. Oh well. If things go south the legitimate route, Opera can always make an even bigger statement by putting Opera Mini up on Cydia for download. That would turn some heads and piss off Apple no less.

How Apple handles this will be pretty big either way. If they accept Opera Mini, it will be a monumental change from previous claims of “duplicate functionality” and the ensuing rejections that followed. If they deny it, well, the App Store will be dead to me. Denying a clearly helpful, useful, and all around great app just because they don’t want any competition with their in-house apps is bullshit.

BGR

Fennec development for Windows Mobile/Phone canceled!

WinMo and Windows Phone users hoping for a little mobile Firefox love thanks to the exceptionally good looking (and performing) “Fennec” will be utterly depressed to the point of no return this morning to learn that the mobile Firefox team has canceled any and all work on the mobile Microsoft build. They chalk it up to Microsoft’s new development rules going into Windows Phone 7, namely the restriction on apps running in native code, instead requiring managed code through the likes of Silverlight and XNA. This small blurb appeared on the WinMo Fennec team’s blog:

While we think Windows Phone 7 looks interesting and has the potential to do well in the market, Microsoft has unfortunately decided to close off development to native applications. Because of this, we won’t be able to provide Firefox for Windows Phone 7 at this time. Given that Microsoft is staking their future in mobile on Windows Mobile 7 (not 6.5) and because we don’t know if or when Microsoft will release a native development kit, we are putting our Windows Mobile development on hold.

So, ya. It pretty much sucks. In theory they could still build for WinMo. But with Windows Phone 7 being light years ahead of WinMo in every way, why bother? It isn’t so much the Fennec team’s fault I guess. I’m not a software developer so I have no idea the ramifications/limitations/benefits of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 requirements. All I know is that the mobile browser scene for WinMo/Windows Phone just became a little less exciting.

How are you feeling?

Unwired

How much does that graphics card of yours really suck down?

I’ve always wondered exactly how much my custom rig pulls down in heavy sessions. With a dual 5850 setup and oc’d Core i7, it certainly has a reputation for a rampant appetite. But is it really as bad as people claim? The general consensus is that a high end dual graphics card set up will pull in at least 400w by themselves, not including the processor, which itself is a power thirsty piece. Then of course you have hard drives, fans, lights, memory, etc., etc. Today you can consider a large chunk of that “is my power supply big enough” unknown hysteria finally answered thanks to the fine folks at XbitLabs. Xbit’s feature article today went on to test 23 of the most popular graphics cards. The power consumption numbers they came away with may surprise you.

For example, a pair of stock clocked ATI 5850′s running Crysis only pull roughly 244w together (so that’s 122w per card) and 163w in a balls-to-the-wall all out GPU stress test. Not bad at all! Give the 5850 some extra juice in the form of 1000/1000MHz core/memory clocks and you end up with a little more aggressive 276w per card. Nvidia doesn’t fair so well if energy consumption is one of your pet peeves, with the ATI 5850′s cousin — the Nvidia GTX 275 — consuming almost 220w during peak Crysis sessions to the 5850′s 122w. And that balls-to-the-wall GPU test? The Nvidia GTX 275 again comes in higher at 218w.

For those curious about the top of the line cards such as the ATI 5970 and Nvidia GTX 295, just know that both cards consumer a lot of power. The 5970 manages to stay well below 400w with a 355.9 showing in the GPU stress test with Nvidia toping the charts with a nice round 400w power draw during the same GPU test. Clearly, if you’re running these top of the line cards, you’ll need a beefy power supply. Going the dual/tri/quad setup? Then a 1k+ PSU should definitely be considered.

For some, energy consumption isn’t anywhere near the forefront of their mind. And that’s ok. But for those who were curious or really wanted to know, XbitLab’s little study is an awesome piece of information for gamers, pc builders, and geeks alike. I know for myself at least, I feel a lot better about my 750w Corsair HX purchase. It is now obviously more than enough for my setup. XbitLabs did all the hard work, now we geeks need to take it, learn it, and spread it. Go ahead and give it a read.

• XbitLab’s “Power Consumption of Contemporary Graphics Cards test/review/study

Overclockers Forums

Word to EA: Game demos are just that — demos.

Alrighty then. We have a new contender for worlds most dumbest idea to turn a quick buck — game demos…with a price attached. EA somehow things taking something that was previously free and adding in a few added things here and there will somehow make gamers interested — interested enough to cough up $10-$15. Mind you, this is a demo they’re trying to charge you for. Demos are free for a reason. They allow us gamers to check a game out before we buy it. Charging for a demo ensures that a lot less people will “take the plunge” without any “preview”. The clever marketing name by EA goes by “Premium Downloadable Content”. Now, being the cynic that I am, every time I see “premium” and other such verbiage, I instantly lose interest. Such boasting of amazingness often results in disappointment and underdeveloped products.

To be fair, if EA actually makes these added premium offerings worthwhile and positions them more as mini-expansion packs, then it has the possibility to do a decent stint. But marketed purely as demos or “early offerings” is a failure from the beginning. No one is going to pay for a demo (that used to be free), especially not $10-$15. In the end, I see people either (1) ignoring the “Premium content” and instead holding out for the real deal or (2) straight up pirating that junk.

You see, EA isn’t giving anyone any reasons why paying an extra $10-$15 for this content is worth it. Sure it’s a solid 3-4 hours of gameplay, but why not wait for the finished product? What about people who do pay for the PDLC? Will there be a discounted “upgrade” where PLDC users can download the rest of the game at reduced cost? Probably not. You’ll pay once for the premium content and again for the same game, with all of that original “premium content” and the rest of the game. The term is double dipping.

EA, here’s a little tip: Don’t charge for a fucking demo! Has all common sense gone out the window…?

Slashdot > Gamasutra

The 5 megapixel camera for super agent man…(or midgets)

Feats of modern science come in many forms. For some, a new, life altering medicine is what constitutes bleeding edge technology. For others, a new display technology showcases the latest and greatest. While other still don’t focus on any one gadget or area, instead looking at the bigger picture — or smaller picture that is. The shrinking of technology is what everyone really wants. Instead of multiple gadgets or one large gadget, those multiple gadgets are being consolidated into one, and that large single gadget downsized thanks in part to the miniaturization of transistors, capacitors, etc., etc. And what better way to highlight miniaturized technology than a super small digital camera?

This super agent man edition camera is downright minuscule, “stretching” the tape at a mere 4.3 x 2.8 x 1.5 cm L x W x D. Not even a few years ago, something this tiny was more-so a gimmick rather than an actual picture taking solution. In 2010, this midget camera is capable of 5 megapixel stills and even 1280 x 960 video recorded at 29fps! As far as saving all of that secretly recorded bounty, storage options are rather robust for what the small size would lead on to — Micro SD/SDHC Card/TF Card.

Even with a higher than expected megapixel count and pretty eye raising video recording capability, I’m still going to have to hold off. I just can’t see this thing taking too decent of pictures. But then again, this isn’t being marketed as a photographers dream, instead aiming more squarely at that “wanna be secret agent”/need a super tiny camera category. So exactly how small is too small now?

Geeky-Gadgets

USB/eSATA combo flash drive a boon to those with a knack for speed…

Transferring large files onto flash drives these days, with multi-GB sized files, can be painfully slow at best, agonizingly tragic at worst. This is all over USB mind you. Extremely portable solutions other than USB are pretty much non-existent. Granted, once USB 3.0 starts going mainstream, USB 3.0 flash drives will of course flood the market and make us consumers happy campers. But what do we do until then? Use the Active Media Products USB/eSATA flash drive combo.

The beauty of this flash drive is of course the dual port design — USB 2.0 for compatibilities sake and blazing fast eSATA for those large transfers. The drive comes in 16GB or 32GB capacities thanks to it’s MLC NAND while remaining small and pockatable.

When all is said and done however, mobile eSATA in a 16-32GB flash drive doesn’t exactly sound cheap. But, in this case it actually is with the 16Gb version coming in at a “I’m ordering two now” $69.95 and the bigger 32GB sibling weighing in a tad heavier on the wallet at $109.95.

Ya, they’re more expensive than your typical flash drive. But your typical flash drive doesn’t yet come in 16/32GB variants, feature eSATA, and provide up to 100/50(MB/s) read/write transfer rates. The only thing that will top this is an eSATA/USB 3.0 combo. Either way, I’m getting one of these. eSATA is quickly becoming more common. Why not add another gadget to the collection?

TechFresh > TweakTown

Active Media Products