High-end HDTVs have featured internal upscalling tech for a while now, generally garnishing higher prices because of it, but now Toshiba is bringing the goods to the masses. The companies latest LCD lineup, called ZF, sports Tosbiba’s homegrown Cell processor and some proprietary picture enhancing tech labeled Resolution+. When the two of them combine forces, they should produce a sharper and clearer image.
Both the 40-inch (40ZF575D) and 45-inch (46ZF575D) models are destined for a European release shortly. They both spec out with 1080p screens, 30,000:1 contrast ratio, 6ms response, and four HDMI inputs. In good ‘ol IFA fashion today, no word on price just yet.
via PR & Engadget
Yesterday we noted a test where a stripped-down Cell processor beat the pants off an Intel Core2 Quadro at an h264 transcoding task. Well, now that doesn’t seem so surprising, as the Roadrunner supercomputer built by IBM primarily with Cell processors is now calculating at the rate of one petaflop. That’s a quadrillion operations per second. I never thought I’d see the number quadrillion attached to anything real at all, but here it is.
It uses 13,000 Cell engines and 7,000 AMD dual-core Opterons, all mounted on IBM Blade servers. The statistics are impressive (for instance, it weighs 500,000 pounds) but I’ll let you check them out for yourself. I think they’re going to using them to “extend the life of our nuclear stockpile.” What a noble endeavor!
Recently, Corel showed off a Cell-optimized version of DVD Movie Factory on a Toshiba’s SpursEngine 1000 (SE1000). The board transcoded 1080p H.264 video to a smaller resolution in about half the time as an Intel Core2 Quad. It’s even more impressive when you read that the li’l Cell is about half as powerful as the big daddy Cell found in the PS3.
If you’re thinking, “Wow, how does that happen?” remember this was a situation where the application was optimized for that specific board. So you wouldn’t get results like this in every situation. Still, it shows that Intel is far from untouchable and while they may rule the desktops right now, these little optimized processors are still excellent choices for more specific systems.
Having just cleared the FCC gauntlet, the Moto RIZR Z3 is set to launch on T-Mobile on March 12. The new version will feature a 2-megapixel camera, music playback, stereo Bluetooth, quad-band, speakerphone, voice recognition and a 220 x 176 resolution display.
It has not yet been announced how much the RIZR Z3 will sell for, but given the proximity to launch, I’m guessing we’ll know soon.
Reaper [via Engadget]
Due to some terrible scheduling oversight, as we stalked around CES, we somehow missed Sanyo. Through our neglect, we managed to miss Sanyo showing off two products that couldn’t be more different from one another: the Sprint Power Vision M1 and the Zero-Gravity Massage Chair.
While I certainly saw my share of phones at CES, I definitely could have used a go on the chair (although I’m probably too misophobic to have sat on it after all the greasy CESers). So what’s the deal with these new products?
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hopefully that’ll change before June.
CellSwapper Solves A Very Annoying Problem [TechCrunch]
