Now, here’s something you don’t see happening to budget phone manufacturers very often, Huawei, a China phone manufacturer, has just released an official Android 4.0 ROM for its Honor phone, making it the first mobile phone manufacturer to release the latest update to Google’s mobile OS, excluding Google Nexus devices of course.
The ROM, named “demo”, is officially available on Huawei’s website, along with instructions that teaches you how to revert back to Gingerbread just in case things aren’t running the way it’s supposed to; it’s a “demo” anyway. Do note that the download is in Chinese so if you can read, proceed at your freewill. If you can’t read or don’t even have the Huawei Honor to begin with, the picture above is an evidence showing the Ice Cream Sandwich running on the Honor, posted by an executive from the phone manufacturer.
It looks like the download is only for China users – fair, judging from the fact that it is a China phone manufacturer anyway, because the worldwide support center for Huawei does not have any software download for the Honor.
An announcement from Nvidia made at the most recent SC11 conference apparently got lost in a wave of supercomputing announcements. However, it’s a pretty significant change in Nvidia’s strategy on how to approach multi-core computing in the future and worth a note.
Together with Cray, PGI and CAPS, Nvidia announced a new parallel programming standard called OpenACC. OpenACC has been published as API that includes a range of compiler directives which describe code additions for C, C++ and Fortran to take advantage of accelerators to speed up code processing in highly data parallel environments. OpenACC is designed to apply to general parallel processors and can be used on GPUs as well as CPUs.
Cray, PGI and CAPS are planning to deliver initial compiler support for OpenACC Q1 2012. There was no information when Nvidia would provide a dedicated OpenACC compiler, but the company said that its CUDA architecture is “fully compatible and interoperable” with OpenACC. Nvidia did not indicate that it would drop CUDA anytime soon, but its participation in this group of companies suggests that Nvidia may be planning for a time beyond CUDA.
While CUDA code also runs on multi-core processors, the underlying architecture is proprietary technology. The advantage of OpenACC is a much broader range of devices support. Initially, there is no indication that OpenACC will have a huge impact in consumer applications as the group of OpenACC supporters is especially hoping for interest from developers in supercomputing applications fields in industry and academia covering topics such as chemistry, biology, physics, data analytics, weather and climate, intelligence, and many other fields.
When renderings of the new Apple campus in Cupertino, California appeared on the scene in June we were stunned by its innovative shape, now we’ve learned that the new circular spaceship building, designed by Foster and Partners, will have one of the largest corporate solar roofs in the country. New building plans released by Apple to the city of Cupertino show the solar canopy will cover the entirety of the main rounded structure as well as the stand-alone parking structure. Estimates put the structure’s square footage at just over 500,000 which would make the array a whopping 5 megawatt system, allaying our fears that Apple will run their new campus on natural gas.
The original presentation that the late Steve Jobs gave to the Cupertino City council in June was impressive simply because of the scale and thoughtful layout of the project. The rounded building allows Apple to leave their campus with mostly green space, reducing the current plot’s asphalt by 90% and planting 60% more trees than are currently growing there. The vertical parking structure is part of what relieves the need for asphalt, and it is to be built partially into the ground and topped with its own solar array to generate energy.
The City of Cupertino is currently reviewing public comment and compiling an Environmental Impact Report which will be assessed this coming spring. Though the eventual environmental plusses of the new Apple campus are great — a 5 MW array is not a small feat — the process of building this gigantic new space could pose many a problem. Apple has to demolish 2.65 million square feet of existing building and office space in order to clear the way for their mega-structure to be built. We’re sure this issue and many others are being hotly debated by the Cupertino City council and we’re hoping that the impact of construction of this gorgeous and very green building will be as small as its eventual weight on the grid.
Recently leaked slides suggest Korean computer outfit Zalman will soon jump into the ever-expanding graphics card market, initially partnering with AMD on its Radeon series. Known best for its quiet computing technologies, the company’s move to infuse GPUs with cooling solutions could enhance the performance of the cards, making overclocking a lesson in simplicity. The slides only show the AMD 6870, 6850, and 6770, but it’s feasible more models will appear when official news is released. Given AMD’s many board partners, differentiation is important to remain competitive and on their payroll — graphics cards and their overheating habits is Zalman’s cup of tea. Hopefully this brings more innovative products in the coming future, perhaps as early as CES. Check past the break to view the specifications breakdown for the aforementioned cards.
The Nissan Leaf became the first 100% electric vehicle to be named the Japan Car of the Year for 2011-2012 on Friday at the Tokyo Motor Show. Nissan’s Leaf, which hit the roads in the US in December of 2010, was sold mostly in the US and Japan – and the award recognized it as the first mass-marketable all-electric vehicle to make it past the production phase and into thousands of homes. Check out the video interview with Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga about the honor after the jump.
It’s not the first time that RIM’s security measures have caused a bit of an inferiority complex, but the Indonesian government now is threatening to ban BIS and BBM services within the nation if it doesn’t get its way.
Partially, it seems that Indonesian officials are upset that Research in Motion will be building its new data centers in Singapore, rather than in the homeland. Additionally, as is, the government is unable to monitor these communications, which it sees as a security risk. As you likely know, all data is currently processed in RIM’s Canadian facilities.
Heru Sutadi, a member of the Indonesian Telecommunication Regulation Body, had the following to say: “With the condition as it is now, we warn that the country’s users to be cautious about using BlackBerry because the data exchanged is not safe or cannot be guaranteed of its safety.” Sounds creepy, right? We always feel safer when knowing the government is monitoring our messages, too. Right…
This is just a sneak peak of a longer fan film that creators Airsoft GI are planning to release soon, spotted on RPS. It’s been a great year for classy fan films, from the Fallout 3 film, Nuka Break, to Beyond Black Mesa and Infectious Designer’s recent Half-Life inspired short, Origins. From the looks of the trailer, this Left 4 Dead film could top them all. Look, Zoey’s even clutching Bill’s discarded beret.
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