Qualcomm

Qualcomm’s GameCommand gaming aggregator app was announced back in November, but the company is finally releasing it today. GameCommand puts all of Android Market’s games in one place (that way user don’t have to go searching around) and also offers some exclusive games that aren’t available in the Android Market, including titles that were built using Qualcomm’s GamePack optimizing program.

The company also rolled out a new Snapdragon processor built for smart TVs and set-top boxes. The Snapdragon S4 MPQ8064 is a quad-core processor that clocks in at 1.5GHz and it will available in Lenovo’s upcoming K91 smart TV. The CPU also has Adreno 320 graphics and WiFi connectivity. No word yet on when the CPU or the K91 will hit the market.

Viewsonic

Viewsonic has launched two new tablets, the ViewPad 10pi and ViewPad 10e. They both run Android 2.3, which is kind of a bummer, but the 10pi is able to dual-boot with Windows 7. The 10pi boasts an Intel Oak Trail z670 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD and a 10.1-inch 1280×800 IPS display. There’s also a microSD slot and a couple of USB ports. A 3 megapixel main camera graces the back, while a 1.3 megapixel webcam sits on the front. All of this is stuffed into a form factor that’s 18mm thick and weighing around 29 ounces.

The 10e is a little less powerful with a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB internal storage. Both models will be available in the U.S. and will sell for $399 on Amazon.

Intel

Intel is now officially getting into the smartphone market. The company has announced the Atom Z2460, which is a 32nm processor clocked at 1.6GHz. Lenovo and Motorola will be releasing phones with Intel’s new chip. Lenovo has already come up with theirs — the K800, which is still a mystery as far as details, but it does have a 4.5-inch 720p display and will only be available in China for the time being. As Motorola, they say that they’ll have Intel smartphones out by the second half of this year.

Intel is also working on putting their chips into Windows 8 tablets in the form of 32nm Clover Trail SoC (System on a Chip). Details on that are scarce so far.

Other Fun Stuff

– Razer unveiled a new version of the Naga mouse. It’s called the Naga Hex — only six thumb buttons in the shape of a hexagon.  It’ll cost you $80 and will begin shipping later this month.

– Adobe has given the green light to a free public beta of Lightroom 4.

– Mercedes Benz has announced in-car Facebook integration for those who crave Facebooking and driving.

Stay tuned to Techerator for more CES updates this week!

The post CES 2012: Day 3 Recap – Qualcomm, Viewsonic, and Intel first appeared on Techerator.

Unfortunately for AMD, it would seem that they missed the mark.

The new FX Series processors are being shipped in a few different models. In the 8-core flavor, AMD is offering the 3.6 GHz FX-8150, 3.1 GHz FX-8120, and 2.8 GHz FX-8100. They also have the FX-6100, which is a 6-core CPU running a 3.3 GHz, and three 4-core models, the FX-4170, FX-4150, and FX-4100, running at 4.2 GHz, 3.8 GHz, and 3.6 GHz respectively. Currently, the only available models are the FX-8150, FX-8130, and FX-6100.

All eyes were on the flagship 8150 to see how it would stack up against similarly priced Intel solutions. At about $250 on Amazon.com, the FX-8150 fits in the price between the Intel i5-2500k ($219) and Intel 2600k ($314). Depending on what stats you look at and the intended purpose of your computer, this processor would fare between “OK” to “disappointing”.

While the unprecedented 8 cores offered decent numbers in multithreaded applications, it only occasionally could surpass the power of Intel’s 2600k. In single-threaded applications, it lagged far behind even the cheaper Intel 2500k.

Another selling aspect of the new FX series is the high overclock headroom as a result of the CPUs coming unlocked out of the box. I have watched videos of successful overclocks of up to 4.8 GHz on air cooling which could be a good selling point for the enthusiast group.

I’ve always been an AMD fan, and with each new chip I hope to see them get back to the competitive spot they once enjoyed with the original FX line. It would seem that with the addition of 2 cores and a cheap price tag they could be moving in the right direction (especially with newer software taking better advantage of more cores), but they have still fallen short of being the competitor they once were. While I could see the 8-core FX-8150 being a viable option for a computer primarily used for multithreaded applications, I can’t endorse spending the money on it as a gaming solution when the cheaper Intel i5-2500k will do just as well and in many cases better. We will have to wait and see where this new chip architecture takes AMD.

The post The 8-core AMD Bulldozer has arrived, but is it worth the money? first appeared on Techerator.