Late 2014 Mac Mini Benchmarks Indicate Decreased Multi-Core Performance

The newly refreshed Mac mini is seeing improved single-core performance over the previous models, but decreased multi-core performance, according to a newly released GeekBench benchmark. John Poole of Primate Labs says that the upper tier Late 2012 Mac minis, which had quad-core Ivy Bridge processors, saw better multi-core performance than the new Late 2014 models, which have dual-core Haswell processors.

Unlike single-core performance multi-core performance has decreased significantly. The "Good" model (which has a dual-core processor in both lineups) is down 7%. The other models (which have a dual-core processor in the "Late 2014" lineup but a quad-core processor in the "Late 2012" lineup) is down from 70% to 80%.

Poole notes that Apple may have switched to dual-core processors in some Late 2014 Mac minis because Haswell dual-core processors use one socket to connect the logic board and processor while Haswell quad-core processors use different sockets. This would mean Apple would have to design and build two separate logic boards specifically for the Mac mini, while other Macs use the same logic boards across their individual line.



This trade-off didn't exist with Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors because both of its dual-core and quad-core processors used the same socket. Another option, according to Poole, is that Apple could have went quad-core across its new Mac mini line, but it would have made it difficult for Apple to hit the $499 price point.



Despite the decreased quad-core performance, the single-core performance of the new Mac mini is in line with other Macs' performance jumps from Ivy Bridge to Haswell.



Base configurations for the Mac mini are currently available for purchase on Apple's online store with pricing starting at $499 and will ship in one to three days. Custom configurations ship within three to five days.

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Posted in 2014 at 06:58PM, October 19

Meet all the ‘Android L’ logos that never stood a chance of becoming real

Google was shameless about teasing us all about what the "L" in "Android L" stood for until this week when the company finally revealed that its latest software build would be called Android 5.0 Lollipop. The Android Developers Conference has written a humorous post that details some of the "rejected" Android L names and logos, although the site notes that none of these were ever under real consideration by Google and that it made all of these concepts up just for fun.

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Posted in 2014 at 02:45PM, October 19

Flickr Launches Updated iOS App with Full iPad Optimization [iOS Blog]

Yahoo-owned photo sharing service Flickr today updated its iOS app to Version 3.2, bringing full optimization for the iPad along with other new features. Flickr for iPad allows users to browse images on their feeds in high resolution and contains a full camera interface and editing suite for shooting and editing photos. In addition to a new interface, Flickr also now comes with its own iOS 8 share extension that allows photos to be shared through social media services like Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter.

This version of the Flickr iOS app is optimized to take full advantage of the larger screen on iPad, while delivering the gorgeous design you expect of Flickr, our powerful camera, and the versatility you need to manage your photos while on the go. On iPad, Flickr can now display images in high resolution by pushing up to 3,000,000 pixels per photo.

Flickr launched a redesigned app for the iPhone earlier this year, which brought new features like live filters and HD video recording. The service was acquired by Yahoo in May 2013, which led to a major overhaul and 1TB of free photo storage space for all users.





Flickr is a free app for the iPhone and iPad and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]

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Posted in 2014 at 01:41AM, October 19

Why a Lenovo BlackBerry buy looks like a nonstarter

BlackBerry's shares got a slight boost on Thursday when rumors circulated for the 12,497th time that Chinese hardware manufacturer Lenovo was interested in buying the firm. But as The Globe and Mail points out, a deal to let Lenovo buy BlackBerry is probably a nonstarter since it's highly unlikely that the Canadian and American governments would be comfortable letting a Chinese firm buy a company that is responsible for so much security infrastructure. The Globe and Mail notes that the Canadian government "has killed several foreign takeovers under the Investment Canada Act," including a recent deal that would have sold a Winnipeg-based telecom company to an Egyptian-led group.



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Posted in 2013 at 03:15PM, October 19

More than a third of Americans now own tablets

As affordable tablets make their way to the market, overall tablet ownership continues to grow. Pew Internet reports that tablet ownership increased to 34% in 2013 among U.S. adults over the age of 16. When adding eReaders into the mix, the ownership number for slates shoots up to 43%. This report shows a 10% jump over last year's numbers, which contained the biggest year-over-year increase in tablet and eReader ownership to date. These numbers should be especially encouraging for Amazon and Samsung, both of which recently released new tablets and e-book readers, as well as Apple, which is planning to unveil a new tablet lineup next week.

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Posted in 2013 at 01:30PM, October 19

Nokia Lumia 1520 specs confirmed in new leak

We now know pretty much all the major details on Nokia's first foray into phablets. @evleaks has posted a list of specifications for the "Nokia Bandit," which is a codename for the upcoming Lumia 1520 smartphone that will be the largest touch-screen device Nokia has ever released. Among other things, the Lumia 1520 will feature a Snapdragon 800 processor, a 6-inch 1080p display, 2GB of RAM, a 20 megapixel PureView camera and storage between 16GB and 32GB. @evleaks also says that the device will come in black, white and yellow, which will make it a perfect device to bring with you to Stryper reunion concerts. Nokia is widely expected to unveil the Lumia 1520 on October 22nd.

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Posted in 2013 at 03:09AM, October 19

The Kardashian iPhone…

I have kind of had this infatuation with gold phones... In fact, after my good friend Pharrell got a solid gold BlackBerry I had to have one (even if it didn't work properly) in 2006. Way back in October of last year, I found out about a company that was anodizing iPhones in practically any color, and I soon as I saw they offered a gold option, well, it was on. I also had a couple friends that I knew would love a gold iPhone so I arranged for two to be sent to Jonathan Cheban and Kim Kardashian. Well, you know what happened then... this was the anodization companies most popular color choice, by an incredibly margin. It actually wasn't even close, and the streets were flooded with gold iPhone 5 devices thanks to Kim and Jonathan's tweets about it, and the phone's appearance on the TV show. It's now being reported that the gold iPhone 5s, the phone Apple has released today, was being jokingly referred to internally as the "Kardashian iPhone" but this isn't a surprise, the publicity of the gold iPhone started in December and gold iPhone 5s parts didn't start leaking until around 5 months later. It's entirely possible that Apple wasn't even planning on making a gold iPhone until the company saw how popular the color was because of the BGR post, the Cheban, and Kardashian, and Wiz Khalifa (yeah I added that one in there, too) tweets.

I love my gold iPhone 5 by http://t.co/x14clif7 -- thanks @boygenius http://t.co/4wxmwb7T — Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) December 7, 2012

Also, I checked and Kim is using a black iPhone 5 now, and Jonathan is using a silver 5s and tells me, "Gold is so tacky now! Been there done that!" I agree.

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Posted in 2013 at 12:49AM, October 19