Today: We test the AMD RX Vega 64 GPU, Samsung hypes the upcoming Galaxy Note 8, Waymo’s self-driving car goes soft when it senses trouble.
But does it have a V8?
AMD is not resting in their all-out push into both the CPU and GPU markets. Following the rollout of their Ryzen Threadripper CPUs that take aim at Intel, AMD’s next target is Nvidia, and the halo product is the Radeon RX Vega 64 video card, which has Nvidia’s GTX 1080 in its sights.
DT’s Brad Bourque slotted the new Vega 64 in a hotrod PC and turned up the heat. Seems like it’s got the goods to compete with 64 compute units, over 4,000 stream processors and 8gb of new High Bandwidth memory. The card’s architecture has been heavily tweaked and in the end, it’s a worthy competitor to the GTX 1080, even at $500 bucks a card. Check out Brad’s full performance review of the AMD RX Vega 64.
S-Pen and Note paper
Everyone’s counting the days until Apple pulls the wraps off the big new iPhone, so competitor Samsung is doing what they can to steal some of the limelight ahead of the iPhone’s expected September launch, including issuing a little teaser video for the upcoming Galaxy Note 8. The ad essentially uses a silhouette of their S-Pen stylus to skewer words they hope will more define the iPhone than the Note 8.
The video also insinuates the phone will feature the minimal top and bottom bezels of the Galaxy S8 while wrapping the screen around the edges of the phone. We’ ll know more when Samsung reveals the new handset at its “Unpacked” event on August 23rd, with pre-oders likely opening up on September 1st. Price is expected to ring at about a $1,000.
That didn’ t hurt a bit
The smart folks at its Waymo self-driving car project have come up with a novel idea: if a self-driving car is going to hit a pedestrian and for some reason just can’ t avoid it, what about making the car… softer? Sure, you could make a car out of beanbag chairs or rolls of tissue, but Waymo has smartly applied for a patent that would actually change the softness of an impact area ahead of a collision .
The car’s sensor package would be able to detect if the car was about to impact another car, a solid object or a softer object – like a human – and then use what they call “tension members” under the car’s skin – whatever that ends up being – that can stay rigid, or easily give way. It’s a pretty cool idea, and a bit cooler than one of their earlier ideas to make cars “sticky” during an impact. We kid you not.
We’ ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Close to the Metal (computers and such) on Tuesday, Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
