Thread: Anandtech News

The folks over at iFixit are hard at work dissecting the newly announced/soon-to-be-available iPhone 4S. We've already gone over performance expectations as well as provided a high level hardware analysis, but with a tour inside the smartphone we're able to confirm a few suspicions. First is the Qualcomm MDM6610 baseband, a slightly different part from the MDM6600 that we had theorized earlier.
The second confirmation iFixit's teardown gives us is the size of the A5's on-package memory: 512MB. A quick look at the image above yields the Samsung part number: K3PE4E400B-XGC1. Each highlighted E4 refers to a separate 2Gb LPDDR2 die. The A5 features a dual-channel LPDDR2 memory interface, thus requiring two 32-bit die to fully populate both channels. The final two characters in the part number (C1) refer to the DRAM's clock period, in this case 2.5ns which indicates a 400MHz clock frequency (F=1/T). My assumption here is Samsung's part number is actually referring to clock frequency and not data rate, implying there are a pair of LPDDR2-800 die in the PoP stack. It's not entirely uncommon to run memory at speeds lower than they are rated for, a practice we've seen in graphics memory in particular for as long as I can remember, so I wouldn't take this as proof that Apple is running at full LPDDR2-800 speeds.
At a high level there aren't any surprises here, the A5 on the iPhone 4S is virtually identical to what was used in the iPad 2 - although running at a lower clock speed and likely a lower voltage as well. Many are surprised by the inclusion of only 512MB of RAM on the A5's PoP stack, however given the lack of true multitasking on iOS (vs. task switching with optional backgrounding) more memory doesn't actually buy you a whole lot of performance. I suspect the biggest issue created by not outfitting the iPhone 4S with more DRAM is limiting game developers to smaller levels, fewer unique textures, etc...
My real question is what comes next. Will we see a 28/32nm A5 used in the iPad 3 in 1H 2012 or will Apple continue to push the envelope and embrace a 28/38nm A6 with a pair of Cortex A15s in the second half. The latter is what I'd like to see, although it would effectively move all of the flagship iOS product launches to a fall ordeal.



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Google and Samsung will be hosting their joint Ice Cream Sandwich-New Nexus Phone event in Hong Kong on October 19th at 10:00pm EST. The event, originally planned for October 11, was delayed out of respect for the late Steve Jobs.
Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 4.0 for those of you not familiar with the code name, will unify the disparate smartphone (Android 2.x) and tablet (Android 3.x) versions of its mobile OS into one, with a consistent UI and app framework. This will hopefully enable developers to more easily port their apps to all of the many screen sizes and resolutions that Android devices sport. As is normal with new Android launches, Samsung is expected to reveal a new phone that will show off the new operating system's capabilities and serve as a baseline for other Android partners' devices.
You can expect more from us about the new Android version and the new Samsung phone as details are revealed.
Source: Ars Technica



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In our first run with the Alienware M18x, we sat down and took a look at the notebook itself along with NVIDIA's current top shelf mobile graphics part, the GeForce GTX 580M. We came away from the experience with mixed impressions of the M18x itself, a notebook that is by all means incredibly powerful but also seems to lose a lot of the balance that made the M17x R3 so desirable. On the other hand, the GeForce GTX 580M wound up being the fastest mobile GPU we'd yet tested, made only more formidable through the SLI configuration the M18x enables.

Today, Alienware has graciously provided us with the second half of the current top shelf performance equation in the form of a near-identically configured M18x, this time with two AMD Radeon HD 6990Ms in CrossFire. We'll also take a look at the Intel Core i7-2920XM's stock performance and compare it against the overclocked settings Alienware allows you to configure it with.


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Backify is a new company which offers a series of different online storage services. What makes Backify interesting when compared with other similar companies is the fact that they offer up to 512GB of free storage. Yes, you read it right, that is 512GB of totally free storage. For example Mozy charges $6 a month for 50GB. Backify also provides other deals with unlimited storage and a Dropbox-like briefcase storage - i.e. Backify creates a folder on your computer and the files in that folder are then synced to all linked computers.

	Backup		Backup + Briefcase
Backup Storage	512GB	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Briefcase Storage	N/A	N/A	512GB	1TB	1.5TB	2TB
Number of Computers	1	Up to 5	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Monthly Price	Free	$6	$10	$15	$20	$25
Yearly Price	Free	$36	$60	$80	$100	$120

All plans include automated backup utility, which is available for Windows, Mac OS X and iOS (no word on Android support). Your data can also be accessed through Backify's website, meaning that your files are available anywhere you go. Briefcase plans also include document editing support within the browser.
Backify's speciality is streaming. You can stream music and movies to your iPhone and iPad straight from the cloud, no download is required. Cellular network is supported too so you aren't even stuck with Wi-Fi. Streaming also works through Backify's website, and all you need is a gadget with Internet access.
If Backify can provide all this, it sounds like a killer online storage service. The storage you get is massive, 512GB, and that's without paying anything. For as low as $3 a month, you can get unlimited storage. For example Apple's iCloud offers only 5GB and Dropbox 2GB of free storage. We hope to review Backify in the near future to see if they keep their promises.
Source: Backify



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After thirteen months of an extended“free trial, Square-Enix’s MMO Final Fantasy XIV will begin charging a subscription fee. The subscription-based billing system will go into effect sometime between late November and early December, said Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada.
“In the ten months since the FINAL FANTASY XIV team’s restructuring, we have put forth the utmost effort into not only improving the game’s existing features, but also creating a concrete plan to outline the game’s new direction,” Wada said in a statement.
The game’s new direction includes the reworking of in-game maps, a new client and new servers, and the eventual release of the PlayStation 3 version in late 2012. A second, shorter free trial period will be offered during that process.
Upon launch, Final Fantasy XIV was criticized for a whole host of problems: interface design, the in-game economy, busted quests, and general instability. This prompted Square Enix to rebuild the Final Fantasy XIV development team and keep the game in a perpetual free trial. Wada even said last month that “the Final Fantasy brand has been greatly damaged” by Final Fantasy XIV’s broken launch. How running a subscription MMO in an increasingly free-to-play market will help rebuild the brand remains to be seen.
Current players will be given subscription billing details via email, and those interested can check out various PDFs of the team’s overall plan here.
Source: Lodestone



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As we inch closer to the Nokia World event in London at the end of the month (October 26 to be precise), details are starting to trickle on Nokia’s first Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” device. Pocketnow and GSMArena have supposedly come across ads for the device that carry the Nokia 800 moniker.
It would suffice to say that the device codenamed “Sea Ray” hasn’t exactly been Nokia’s best-kept secret. In fact, back in June, Stephen Elop, Nokia’s CEO publicly showed off the device during a presentation. The device takes after Nokia’s MeeGo-toting N9 with a few (albeit unpleasant) changes.
The full curved glass façade of the N9 has been replaced with three buttons and the slick aluminum enclosure has been replaced with a plastic unibody enclosure, possibly as a cost-cutting measure. As you might recollect, the N9 isn’t exactly going to be a budget phone; with a suggested price of around 475 EUR for the 16GB and 534 EUR for the 64GB variants, it’s sitting comfortably in the premium segment. So if the Nokia 800 has to succeed as Nokia’s first Windows Phone device, the price is definitely going to be an important factor.
While the ads themselves shed little light on what’s inside, folks over at GSMArena seem to believe the device will pack a 3.7” WVGA (800x480) AMOLED screen (down from the N9’s 3.9” screen) and a dual-core processor running at 1.4Ghz (possibly based on a Cortex A9, up from the N9’s Cortex A8). There’s no word yet on what GPU is powering the device.
As promised by Mr. Elop, it looks like the Nokia 800 is all set to launch just in time for the lucrative holiday season.
Source: Pocketnow, GSMArena



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We’re here on the USS Hornet attending NVIDIA’s GeForce LAN 6 event, where NVIDIA has just finished a kick-off keynote and product announcement between rounds of gaming. While NVIDIA has held LAN parties in the past, they don’t traditionally use them to announce new products. But the reality of the GPU product cycle is that with Kepler due in 2012 NVIDIA won’t be launching any major new consumer GPUs this fall, so instead the fall is being dedicated to their ecosystem products and GeForce LAN 6 is being used as the launch event for those products. So while today’s announcement isn’t a new GPU, it is still quite relevant to gaming.
This evening at GeForce LAN 6 NVIDIA has announced a pair of technologies: 3D Vision 2 glasses, and 3D LightBoost. The 3D Vision 2 glasses are the long awaited replacement for NVIDIA’s earlier 3D Vision wireless glasses, and feature a new fit and larger lenses. Meanwhile 3D LightBoost is an interesting monitor adaptation that increases the amount of light that get through NVIDIA's 3D Vision glasses by turning a monitor's backlight off and on to allow the glasses to stay open longer. The two are being introduced tonight as complementary technologies.

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Rage came out a little over a week ago, and in the aftermath we’ve discovered some interesting pieces of information. We thought we’d chime in with some thoughts on the game itself, a look at various image quality settings, and a discussion of benchmarks with the title and why they’re virtually meaningless. We had high hopes earlier this year that Rage would be part of our new benchmark suite, and it’s the first A-list OpenGL title to come out in quite some time. However, unless something changes, it looks like we might have to return to games like Wolfenstein if we want to have an OpenGL benchmark. Read on for our thoughts on the game as well as the technology and performance.

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After months of end user complaints, SandForce has finally duplicated, verified and provided a fix for the infamous BSOD/disconnect issue that affected SF-2200 based SSDs. The root cause is a bug in the firmware, although specifics are pretty slim. The typically sparse release notes just state a rare condition resulting in a blue screen error has now been addressed. OCZ has been testing the fix in-house for the past three weeks and now believes it is fit for public release. SandForce is simultaneously releasing the firmware to its partners, so if you have non-OCZ drives you should contact your drive manufacturer for an availability update.
The new firmware is version 2.15 for OCZ drives and 3.3.2 for drives that use SF's standard numbering system. It's important to note that the fix here is for the bug that SF discovered and may not solve all pending issues. Given the extremely long discovery and fix time for this issue I still believe the best policy towards SandForce drives is one of caution, at least until we start hearing from users as to whether or not this fix worked (and didn't create any new issues).



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