Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Intel has been boasting of DirectX 10 support for its various integrated graphics options for some time now, but it’s only just recently gotten around to actually releasing a Vista driver that brings its GM965 and G35 Express chipsets up to speed. Of course, NVIDIA just couldn’t help itself from getting a few (more) digs in at Intel’s expense, and it’s now kindly provided a few benchmarks to show just how badly Intel’s integrated DirectX 10 solution stacks up against the bleeding-edge DirectX 10-ready games it now ostensibly supports. They couldn’t find a single game that was able to crank out more than 5 fps, even at a lowly 1280 x 1024 resolution and with the usual graphics intensive settings turned off. Then again, 4.4 fps in Crysis is pretty much par for the course.

Read - Crave, “Intel updates graphics with multimedia capabilities”
Read - Hardware Secrets, “Are Intel chipsets really capable of running DirectX 10 games?”

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

At last the moment you’ve been waiting for. Microsoft wants to hit your version of Windows with an update, and this time you don’t have to go rummaging around the internet to find it: just fire up Windows Update and let Microsoft do all the work. After a few false starts XP users get the much-anticipated SP3 update, which promises speed boosts and some of the fancy security features found in Vista. If you’re a Vista user you’re also in luck, since Microsoft has restarted its Vista SP1 distribution after some compatibility problems with Microsoft Dynamics RMS. Sounds like a celebration.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Laptops

You know you’re in for a treat any time your favorite gargantuan Texas-based personal company claims to have captured the “downtown art scene” and “youth culture” on a laptop lid, but we’ve gotta give Dell credit for these new designs courtesy of Mike Ming. Unfortunately, the new “Bunch O Surfers” and “Sea Sky” (pictured) looks have been tacked onto Dell’s boring-as-could-be Inspiron 1525 budget laptop. But hey, not bad at all for $699, especially considering the 3GB of RAM that comes standard. Another shot after the break.

Continue reading Dell boils “hip” down to $699 Mike Ming Inspiron 1525 laptops

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The idea of a tactile touchscreen may be appealing, but the technology hasn’t quite made its way to cell phones. Designer Roman Tubl has other ideas. The “EGG” sports “standard data ports like Bluetooth, USB, and Wi-fi in addition to a 3.2 megapixel camera and a snazzy amount of memory - up to 4 GB.” Click here for first picture in gallery.

Designer Roman Tubl wasn’t concerned with integrating the latest and greatest in his EGG mobile phone concept. He just wanted something functional and easy to use with some eye candy for people who like their phones flashy - literally.

[via YankoDesign]

Via Techeblog

Combining Mentos and Diet Coke may be nothing new, but rarely do we get the chance to see it captured at 1200fps, unless you have the Casio EX-F1 that is. Video after the break.

Woodhead compensated for the 1200fps’ paltry 336×96 frame size by stitching four different Mentos tests together, and the results are awesome. Globs, ribbons and rings of Coke that are impossible to track in real time come to life when seen in slow-motion

[via Gizmodo - MadOverlord]

Via Techeblog

Microsoft’s Zune 2.5 update will introduce new features such as autoplaylists, video downloads, gapless playback, metadata editing, Zune Card sharing, and multi-device syncing. Continue reading for a commercial. Click here for first picture in gallery.

Subscribers will particularly benefit from the new Zune Card sharing, which lets you automatically score copies of your pal’s favorite songs, artists and current plays — non-subscribers can view that Zune Card info, but will have to buy the tracks if they want to have a listen.

[via Engadget - Zunearama]

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Volvo’s V70 has been the best selling car in Sweden for a while, but how does the new all-wheel-drive XC70 stand up to mom nature? Fifth Gear’s Tom Ford performs a series of tests to find out. Continue reading to watch.

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What’s so special about this particular Apple Store, opening in Boston on Might 15th - 17th? Well, it supposedly is the largest in the world, with Apple estimating that “1,500-2000 customers/hour will visit.” The green construction walls were modeled after Fenway Park’s Green Monster. Click here for first picture in gallery.

We’re speaking largest Apple Store in the world, by square footage. The store, in the city’s historic Back Bay district, looks like a four-story glass cube. It’s the first store inside Boston proper and the first with easy subway access

[via Gizmodo]

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This followup to the Grand Theft Auto IV endless dimension glitch, shows what happens when a character gets their hands on an anti-gravity device and starts street swimming. Video after the break.

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Breaking away completely from the standard lamp designs, this gamer decided to put an old NES Zapper and custom-built Duck Hunt cartridge to good use. Continue reading for a brief overview. Click here for first picture in gallery.

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