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Intel's new Core i7 chip has been showing up in tons of silly-spec'd high-end gaming rigs for about three days now, so it's obviously time to get bored and move on -- and right on cue, TechRadar's got the first benchmarks we've seen of the upcoming dual-processor Nehalem EP platform. The secret test machine featured two 2.8GHz Nehalem EP chips (likely to hit retail in 2009 as the Xeon X5560) and 24GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 RAM controlled by the new Quick Path Interconnect and on-die memory controllers, which together cranked out a SPECfp base rate of 160 -- way above the 90 posted by current 3.4GHz Xeon setups, and higher than the 105 scored by a 2.7GHz dual-processor rig with AMD's new Shanghai chips. Yeah, that's silly fast, and it's bound to get even faster when these bad boys launch with a 3.2GHz part along for the ride. Now if Intel could just siphon some of that speed into these pokey Atoms we can actually afford, we'd be grins-a-plenty.

Filed under: Desktops

Upcoming dual-processer Nehalem EP machine benchmarked -- yeah, it's fast originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Tuttuki Bako "poking box" lets you torment low-res creatures

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Tuttuki Bako "poking box" lets you torment low-res creatures originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Buried glaciers discovered on Mars are closer to the planet's equator than any previously known water ice on the planet. The glaciers could be a source of drinking water for future astronauts.

While our minds know that today's mice, particularly those with lasers, work just fine on virtually any (non-moist) surface, that doesn't stop our hearts from missing the soft, forgiving feel of our home mousing surface while on the road. That's partly why the traveler-friendly Roll-up Mouse Pad caught our eye. Sure, just about any pad can be made into a tube and stuffed into a carry-on, but if you pack this one you'll also get a 4-port USB hub and dual, side-firing speakers out of the deal. Sure, the build quality may be sub-par (check the jagged plastic after the break), but for $22 this could make that hotel suite a little bit more inviting for you and that special peripheral you'll be cradling all night.

Continue reading Roll-up mouse pad encloses a hub, speakers, and our hearts

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Roll-up mouse pad encloses a hub, speakers, and our hearts originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If the auto industry is tanking, the venerable British carmaker either didn't get the memo or doesn't care. With a perfectly straight face, Bentley unveils its $350,000 Azure T at the L.A. Auto Show.

Blue's News pointed out a report about a study sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation which found that online gaming and social networking are beneficial to children, teaching them basic technical skills and how to communicate in the Information Age. The study was conducted over a period of three years, with researchers interviewing hundreds of children and monitoring thousands of hours of online time. The full white paper (PDF) is also available. "For a minority of children, the casual use of social media served as a springboard to them gaining technological expertise — labeled in the study as 'geeking out,' the researchers said. By asking friends or getting help from people met through online groups, some children learned to adjust the software code underpinning some of the video games they played, edit videos and fix computer hardware. Given that the use of social media serves as inspiration to learning, schools should abandon their hostility and support children when they want to learn some skills more sophisticated than simply designing their Facebook page, the study said."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Filed under: Transportation

Mercedes-Benz shows off internet-connected myCOMMAND system originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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pparsons writes "Bell Canada Inc. will not have to suspend its practice of 'shaping' traffic on the Internet after a group of companies that resell access to Bell's network complained their customers were also being negatively affected. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission today released a decision that denied the Canadian Association of Internet Providers' request that Bell be ordered to cease its application of the practice to its wholesale customers."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

If you wouldn't mind looking up from that avatar creation screen for a second -- yes, we're aware of how much that t-shirt selection means about you as a person -- you might notice that your Xbox 360 is dead. At least, a few hapless souls on the Xbox forums seem to think NXE is to blame for such atrocities. Numerous folks are reporting variously bad red ring configurations, random freezing and a huge pile of blockbuster titles that won't just play themselves. The biggest problem is that Microsoft isn't universally treating problems caused by NXE as an "oh, our bad" sort of situation, and at least from anecdotes we're seeing has charged quite a few folks $100 to fix their freshly-out-warranty Xbox 360s -- not to mention separating them for weeks from their precious murder simulators.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Gaming

NXE hitting 360s with red ring, freezing and sorta-sexy-avatar issues? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sleek design, excellent image quality and handy interface make this little Fujifilm snapper stand out from the crowd of point-and-shoots.