Tag Archives: grid

NVIDIA enables full virtualization for graphics: up to eight remote users per GRID GPU

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NVIDIA enables full virtualization for graphics up to four remote users per GRID GPU

You probably won't have noticed the following problem, unless you happen to be the IT manager in an architecture firm or other specialist environment, but it's been an issue nonetheless. For all our ability to virtualize compute and graphical workloads, it hasn't so far been possible to share a single GPU core across multiple users. For example, if you'd wanted 32 people on virtual machines to access 3D plumbing and electrical drawings via AutoCAD, you'd have needed to dedicate eight expensive quad-core K1 graphics cards in your GRID server stack. Now, though, NVIDIA has managed to make virtualization work right the way through to each GPU core for users of Citrix XenDesktop 7, such that you'd only need one K1 to serve that workforce, assuming their tasks were sufficiently lightweight. Does this mean NVIDIA's K1 sales will suddenly drop by seven eighths? We couldn't tell ya -- but probably not.

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Roku’s second gen players can get their grid menu update now

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Second generation Roku players can update to the new grid menus manually

We dug the grid-style menu system that came along with the Roku 3, and now owners of some of the company's older players can experience it as well. The Roku 2 boxes, Roku LT, newer Roku HD and Streaming Stick are all eligible to download the new update, although it's not coming to the company's first generation boxes. It's been rolling out to limited numbers of users all month for testing, but tonight the company announced anyone can get it by prompting their box to manually update. All it takes is checking the update section under settings, otherwise it will be downloaded automatically at some point in the next few weeks.

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Source: Roku blog

NVIDIA’s GRID VCA now available to graphic crunching pros at a cool $24,900

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NVIDIA's GRID VCA now available to graphicscrunching pros at a cool $24,900

While it won't supercharge Crysis or other games like its upcoming Cloud Gaming device may, NVIDIA's GRID Visual Computing Appliance is now up for grabs to designers, animators and visual production types for $24,900 plus a $2,400 yearly software license fee. That sum will merely get you the starter model consisting of 8 GPUs, 16 threads of CPU and 192GB of RAM to service up to 8 users, while the 16 GPU model -- which doubles all that up -- is hitting the dreaded "contact us" price point. For reasonable-sized studios with multiple designers or artists, though, it'd allow humdrum machines to link up via a network and still crunch complex models -- making the price rather beside the point for us individual users. For more info, hit the PR after the jump.

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NVIDIA details the Grid, a card built for powering cloud computing

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NVIDIA's CES 2013 press conference is still ongoing, but the chipmaker is already unveiling something we've only seen teased before: the NVIDIA Grid, a card used for cloud computing across PCs, smart TVs, and smartphones. CEO and founder Jen-Hsun Huang detailed the new card on-stage, which you can see above in a rack of 20 grid servers. Huang says the rack pushes out roughly 240 NVIDIA GPUs worth of power, or about 200 teraflops -- equivalent to approximately 700 Xbox 360s. The Grid was given a tease earlier this year; the card will assist in pushing serious horsepower to the cloud, so that gaming over the air, across multiple devices becomes a less complicated reality.

During an on-stage demonstration, NVIDIA showed Frozenbyte's Trine running on various devices, all powered by the Grid system. Beyond just looking great, it carried over seamlessly between multiple devices. Huang also detailed NVIDIA's first partners for Grid: Agawi, Cloudunion, Cyber Cloud, G-cluster, Playcast, and Ubitus. Apparently biggies like OnLive and Gaikai are already all set? We'll be sure to get a closer look in the coming days as CES rages on.

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IBM announces Smarter Energy Research Institute, aims to improve energy grids (video)

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IBM announces Smarter Energy Research Institute, aims to improve energy grids (video)

IBM is no stranger to energy concerns, and now its founded the Smarter Energy Research Institute in partnership with Canada's Hydro-Québec, the Netherlands' Alliander, and the US' DTE Energy to help build a better grid. The partnership will leverage Big Blue's computing and analytic oomph to help the utility companies predict and detect anomalies within infrastructure, identify areas of the grid that need to be developed, integrate new energy sources and increase efficiency among other improvements. What's this mean for you? For one, power outages should be less frequent and shorter lived when they do occur. Thanks to the distributed nature of the project, research will be spread throughout IBM's worldwide network of research labs. If you'd like to hear more details straight from the folks involved, hit the jump for a video and the full press release.

Continue reading IBM announces Smarter Energy Research Institute, aims to improve energy grids (video)

IBM announces Smarter Energy Research Institute, aims to improve energy grids (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ROCCAT Power-Grid Android version on its way, we go hands-on with the keyboard-augmenting app (video)

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ROCCAT Powergrid Android version in the pipeline, we go handson with the keyboardaugmenting app video

ROCCAT's plans to fight back against Razer's glowing customizable macro-keys and touchscreens are nearing the finish line. Here at Gamescom, the mouse and keyboard maker's Power-Grip app was at a nearly-finished stage on the iPhone. Better still, the Android version was close behind it -- although it was slightly less polished. The idea is to add a wealth of touchscreen widgets and quickly viewable data to your smartphone, sidestepping the need for pricier hardware solutions. That said, there are plans for ROCCAT to create some happy medium between the rogue smartphone interface and its more standard keyboard, with ideas gravitating towards a docking space for your phone built into the keyboard. We took the slightly more temperamental Android version for a spin on ROCCAT CEO Rene Korte's Galaxy S III -- check what the app's likely to offer on its December release in our hands-on after the break.

Gallery: ROCCAT Power-Grid hands-on at Gamescom 2012

Continue reading ROCCAT Power-Grid Android version on its way, we go hands-on with the keyboard-augmenting app (video)

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ROCCAT Power-Grid Android version on its way, we go hands-on with the keyboard-augmenting app (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Aug 2012 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPad Controls LED Wall Art

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Sure, you can put some art on your wall, but how about putting up some LED wall art that’s controlled via your iPad? That’s exactly what Greg Friedland did and I have to say that the results are pretty cool. It’s definitely a nice way of filling up an empty wall in an apartment.

greg friedland aurora led wall art

Greg Friedland’s Aurora LED wall started out as an idea to put some art on a 6′×12′ wall in his living room. He created a grid of 544 LEDs that’s capable of 16 million colors, attached to a 4′×8′ wood board. The LEDs are controlled by a microcontroller, which in turn is controlled by a program running on a laptop. This software on his PC connects to an iPad, which allows interaction with the moving patterns. That seems like a lot of steps but I guess there’s no good way to control it directly from the iPad yet. There are also built-in modes that respond to music.

It’s something that I wouldn’t mind having on my empty living room wall. To find out how to make yours, check out Greg’s instructions here.

greg friedland aurora led wall art couch

[via Make:]


Guy Makes Giant Light-up Mario Kite, Doesn’t Make Any Airplanes Crash

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Mark Rober had a cool idea – he wanted to make a giant illuminated Mario and float him into the night sky. He achieved this using dozens of balloons loaded with LED illumination.

flying mario

While the 250 square foot balloon grid looks most like Mario when lying flat on the ground, you can vaguely make out the floating pixel art in the video below:

I suppose if there were a way to better secure the balloon rig so it doesn’t move around so much, it’d be that much cooler. Still, it’s the first time I’ve seen illuminated balloons used to make pixel art, and that’s cool in my book.

As indicated in the video, you can use the same approach to make just about any floating pixel art you want – assuming you can make the grid light enough. In this case, they made the grid using carbon fiber rods and string, but you could also use bamboo. Check out this other video clip to see exactly how he pulled it off:

I’d love to see what the largest light-up balloon structure you guys can make, and then share the pics with us. Just don’t tell the cops or the FAA you did it.

[Thanks for the tip, Mark!]