PC Hunters

Samsung Galaxy S8 First Look

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 13:45:00 +0000

Yea aah. We are bringing you the First look of the Samsung Galaxy S8 before one month you people can see it. This image is the curtsy of the professional leaker, Evan Blass, who leaks the First look of the new Galaxy S8 before one month of its public launch.

Galaxy Phone is little bit redesigned as clear in the image. It doesn't have physical buttons and still has the wrap-around screen of the Galaxy S7 edge. Power and volume buttons are on sides..

Well we donot have any idea about the software and others updates about the upcoming phone. But no worries, we have to wait just a month for launch of Samsung Galaxy S8. There’s plenty of time for that information to leak, too.

Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul.The largest trade show in the world held yesterday and it was its first day, Mobile World Congress MWC 2017. Samsung usualy announces last three galaxy phones in this conference but this time it only launched two tablets, How ever, A good news is that Samsung will be holding a event for Samsung Galaxy S8 in the end of the march this year.

A thing noted that Samsung could not put a interesting show in MWC 2017.
For more news follow our blog.

U.K. court to Apple: Nix those 'untrue' anti-Samsung claims

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:45:00 +0000

Apple is now on to the fourth generation of its iPad tablet.

(Credit: CNET)

Apple has been ordered by the U.K. Court of Appeal in London to remove an "untrue" and "incorrect" statement about Samsung from its U.K. Web site, in which the iPad maker continued to insist that Samsung did indeed copy Apple's products.
The statement, which can be found on Apple's U.K. Web site at the bottom of the page, riled U.K. appeal judges sufficiently to force Apple to remove the statement within 24 hours, reports Bloomberg.
This new ruling comes less than a month after a lower court ordered Apple to add the statement which stated Samsung did not copy the design of the iPad and therefore did not infringe a key Apple patent. Apple did so, but embellished the text with additional detail that was not sanctioned by the court.

Dueling designs: Apple v. Samsung (pictures)

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The first paragraph of the statement was court-ordered, as laid out by U.K. High Court Judge Colin Birss, in which the text had to include a specific 56-word statement along with a link to the judgment online.
However, the subsequent paragraphs went above and beyond the call of duty in Apple's bid to justify the statement on its Web site.
Apple expanded the court-ordered statement with two comparisons made by the judge in the original case between Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy tablets, noting how the iPad was "a cool design," while noting the Samsung products are "not as cool."
The final paragraph of the expanded statement, however, delivered a scathing attack on Samsung, which noted various similar cases around the world in regards to Apple's design patents for the iPad, including Germany and the United States. The technology giant made it clear that the U.K. ruling in Samsung's favor was a one-off event:

However, in a case tried in Germany regarding the same patent, the court found that Samsung engaged in unfair competition by copying the iPad design. A U.S. jury also found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple's design and utility patents, awarding over one billion U.S. dollars in damages to Apple Inc. So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad.

"I'm at a loss that a company such as Apple would do this," said U.K. appeals judge Robin Jacob, claiming the statement's expansion was a "plain breach of that order."
Apple lawyer Michael Beloff told the court that the iPhone and iPad maker complied with the original order. He said the order was not designed to punish Apple or "make [the company] grovel," adding: "The only purpose is to dispel commercial uncertainty."
The Cupertino, Calif.-based technology giant requested 14 days to make the changes, which was also blasted by the court.
"I would like to see the head of Apple make an affidavit setting out the technical difficulties which means Apple can’t put this on [the U.K. website]," added Jacob.

Mark Zuckerberg's $2 billion day

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 22:13:00 +0000

Facebook's beaten down stock soared today, posting its biggest one-day gain since going public and boosting its CEO Mark Zuckerberg net wealth by a cool $2 billion. Shares closed up $19.13 percent to close at $23.23 after Facebook yesterday posted solid quarterly earnings and showed that it's on its way to making big money from mobile.The rare rally came as Zuckerberg spent much of yesterday's conference call convincing Wall Street analysts that mobile is not a problem but a monstrous opportunity that he is tackling with full force.

It's only a one-day bump, of course, but employees who have watched their holdings sink must be having a good day. As for Zuckerberg, he owns 540 million Class B shares (those are the ones that have extra voting power) and in September said he wouldn't sell any stock for 12 months. Even so, it's got to feel good to watch your holding jump more than $2 billion in a single day.

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(Credit: Yahoo )

Apple: No, really, you'll want to spend $329 for an iPad Mini

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 21:27:00 +0000

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller believes the iPad Mini warrants a higher price over its rivals since it offers higher quality.
In an interview with Reuters, Schiller defended the price of the new 7.9-inch tablet, pointing out that customers have been willing to pay more for the 9.7-inch iPad over competing devices.
"The iPad is far and away the most successful product in its category. The most affordable product we've made so far was $399 and people were choosing that over those devices," Schiller told Reuters. "And now you can get a device that's even more affordable at $329 in this great new form, and I think a lot of customers are going to be very excited about that."
The iPad Mini starts at $329 for the 16GB W-Fi-only version, with higher prices for more storage and 4G LTE support. Rival 7-inch tablets, such as Google's Nexus 7, Amazon's Kindle Fire HD, and Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2.0 start at $199, though the lowest-cost Nexus 7 and Galaxy Tab models come with only 8GB of memory.
Schiller staged his own comparison test at yesterday's iPad event, pitting an iPad Mini against the Nexus 7. The marketing exec naturally declared the iPad the winner, mostly due to its larger size. At 7.9 inches, the iPad Mini offers more screen real estate than the competition.
Schiller also touted the slick finish of the iPad Mini, as well as its thin and light design.
"Others have tried to make tablets smaller than the iPad and they've failed miserably," Schiller proclaimed at the event. "These are not great experiences."
Yes, the iPad Mini is bigger than its rivals. But is that truly an advantage? I like the size of my Nexus 7, both the entire tablet and the screen. The 7-inch display strikes me as ideal for reading e-books, but it also presents widescreen movies and TV shows quite nicely.
As Schiller said, consumers haven't shied away from paying more for Apple products. But Apple's dominant share of the tablet market has gradually declined as more low-cost Android devices have popped up. Price-conscious consumers may think twice about spending $329 on a small tablet with $199 rivals around to tempt them.

Can You Fix a Scratched DVD with a Banana?

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:34:00 +0000

I have two children; they have their favorite DVDs; and sometimes mommy needs them to be watching those DVDs. So when the favorite DVDs get scratched and stop playing, it's a problem!

Whether it's DVDs, CDs, or game disks for your Xbox or Wii, there are ways to fix and buff out scratches. The Internet is full of solutions — claims that handy products you might have around the house will fix those scratches. So here are the unscientific results of my attempts to fix disk scratches with common household substances — from best (#1) to worst (#4).
Methodology: I used two forms of scratched disks, ones that had small scratches resulting in a few skips or pixilation points on the disk, and then seriously scratched disks that wouldn't play at all in my DVD player.
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#1 Car Wax
I took a fingernail file to a Barney disk (boy was that satisfying), and when I placed it in my DVD player, the screen read "invalid disk" (again, wonderfully joyful).
I put Turtle car wax (liquid form) onto a soft cloth and buffed the disk in an in-to-out motion (not wax on wax off /Mr. Miyagi style). I rinsed the disk thoroughly and let it dry.
I placed the disk back into the player and, amazingly, it went straight to the menu and played flawlessly. The purple dinosaur rides again, and car wax did the job!
[Related: Worst Ways to Clean Your TV]
#2 Furniture Polish
I have always used Pledge furniture polish on scratched DVDs, and when I tried it on a minimally scratched disk, Pledge brought it back to life easily. But with a seriously scratched disk that wouldn't play, I had to polish twice with Pledge for it to come back to life. It was a close second to the car wax — and it smelled better. I think any furniture polish would work; I just used what I had under the sink.
#3 Banana
WHAT? A banana? Yep, this was advised by multiple sites online, so I had to try it. First, I rubbed the banana itself all over the disk, then I finished by rubbing the waxy interior of the peel all around the disk's surface. I cleaned it well with water, polished with a soft cloth, and let it dry.
The results were pretty good, especially considering I had such low expectations. The minimally scratched disk was good as new after the banana treatment. It does make some sense: that waxy stuff on the peel is pretty slippery — as I'm sure you know from all those years watching cartoon characters slip on banana peels.
But apparently, it wasn't waxy enough to fix the seriously scratched and unplayable disk. Even after multiple banana cleanings including soft-cloth buff-outs in between, I couldn't get the unplayable disk back from the dead with just the Chiquita treatment.
#4 Toothpaste
Toothpaste, especially the abrasive baking soda kind seems too rough for removing scratches; I was worried it would add scratches of its own to the disk, but I gave it a try. On the minimally scratched disk, I rubbed very gently with Colgate as I tried to clean off scratches and scrapes. When I put the disk in the player, the area where the disk previously skipped was still skipping. So I tried again and this time used baking-soda paste and really rubbed it in hard. When I tried again, the skipping area played straight through — no problems. Turns out there is a fair amount of extra poly-carbonate layered over the data pits on the disk, so buffing can take a top layer off and minimize the scratches.
But when I tried the toothpaste trick on the seriously scratched and unplayable disk, it was completely unsuccessful at resurrecting it. I tried three separate times to buff with toothpaste and then rinse/dry, but it just didn't fix the disk.
Alternate Solutions
SKIP Dr.
If you have a lot of scratched or unplayable disks, it might be worth investing in something like the Skip Dr., which I bought for $30 online. You place your disks into it, crank the handle, and it uniformly takes the top layer of polycarbonate off the disk. It's a more abrasive solution than the toothpaste, and it worked on both my minimally scratched disks and the unplayable disk.
Trade-in your scratched DVDs
Both Walmart and BestBuy have trade-in programs for DVDs. At Walmart, you bring in a DVD, pay $2 per disk, and they give you access to that title via their Internet streaming service Vudu. At BestBuy, you trade in a physical disk and they give you a $5 coupon towards the purchase of a Blu-Ray movie. Neither store says anything about scratched or unplayable disks, but they do have stipulations about original packaging and other limits, so do read the fine print.
Finally, whenever I write a story that mentions a brand-name product, I see in the comments that people think I'm being paid for the promotion. But no, I'm not sponsored by Pledge any more than I'm getting a lifetime supply of Chiquitas for this article; I personally tested each of these products and give you my honest recommendations.
We'd love to hear your crazy solutions for fixing DVDs. Post them on our Facebook page. If your idea is crazier than the banana, I'll be seriously impressed.

Amazon's Whispercast Sneaks Into Schools

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 13:05:00 +0000

The days of lugging books back and forth to school could soon be in the past, as Amazon on Wednesday announced a new initiative for schools and business customers that features a scalable online tool for deploying Kindle devices and Kindle content.

Whispercast for Kindle provides a single access point to easily purchase and distribute Kindle books and documents for educational, marketing and employee incentive programs. In addition to this content being usable on Kindle devices, it could be used with free Kindle reading applications for the Apple iPad and iPhone, as well as Android devices, Windows Phones, PCs and Macs.
"Hundreds of thousands of students around the world are already reading on Kindle," said Amazon Kindle Vice President Dave Limp. "Today, we are announcing Whispercast, a free, scalable solution for school and business administrators to centrally manage thousands of Kindles and wirelessly distribute Kindle books as well as their own documents to their users. Organizations can also design Bring Your Own Device programs at school or work using personally owned Kindles, Kindle Fires, and other tablets using the free Kindle reading applications for receiving content."

In-Flight Entertainment: Almost All the Comforts of Home

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 13:04:00 +0000

The in-flight entertainment sphere has expanded far beyond showing movies on hard-to-see overhead screens. Passengers want constant availability of media, entertainment and connectedness wherever they happen to be, and in-flight systems are simply trying to keep up with that demand.

"Consumers have become increasingly accustomed to having immediate access to all forms of entertainment at nearly any time of day in every place they go," Chris Colgrove, cabin electronics manager for InFlight Entertainment Products, told TechNewsWorld.
"Airplanes pose unique challenges to this model for obvious reasons, but that doesn't mean that passengers don't want the same experience sitting at 35,000 feet that they might get sitting on their sofa at home," Colgrove said. "So, we try to take what people are used to having on the ground and create it for them in the air. It's not an easy task, but each step we take is one step closer to bridging that 35,000-foot gap."
The new in-flight experience is being shaped by high-tech electronics like HD screens and touchscreens, as well as by low-tech advances like seats that accommodate tablets.
"Software and Internet options are being made to give airlines better control over content flow while allowing passengers to make their own selections," Russell Lemieux, executive director of the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), told TechNewsWorld.
"The idea is that a passenger will turn on his or her tablet and be immediately directed to a specific menu of entertainment and news options," he said. "Another approach is to turn a person's personal device into a sort of remote control for the screen ahead."

Always On

One major in-flight trend is to offer passengers Internet and mobile connectivity while in the air.
"The most significant inflight connectivity trend is the rapid growth in the use of smartphones, BlackBerry and other similar devices, which is driving huge growth in inflight data traffic," Pal Bjordal, president and CEO of AeroMobile, told TechNewsWorld.
"As the use of smartphones, BlackBerry and other similar devices to send emails and browse online has increased on the ground," he said, "so the demand has grown for their use in the air. Being continually connected is now an integral part of most people's everyday lives."
In the future, that in-air connectivity will likely get faster and more ubiquitous.
"The future of inflight connectivity lies in increased satellite communication bandwidths to enable passengers to browse online at speeds they're now used to on the ground," explained Bjordal.

Bring Your Own

Another pervasive new trend is to let passengers use their own devices to connect to the plane's entertainment system.
"The most significant current trend is devising innovative ways to leverage passengers' electronic devices for in-flight entertainment purposes. This most commonly involves streaming content from onboard servers wirelessly to personal devices," said InFlight's Colgrove.
"More entertainment options [are being] delivered through new, innovative technologies," noted APEX's Lemieux. "Built-in entertainment systems remain very popular, but now many airlines are adding new systems that stream content directly to a passenger's personal device."

Airlines are combining on-plane equipment with passenger devices to create an overall entertainment experience.
"These two approaches to content delivery can be complementary and are being incorporated in ways that give passengers maximum control over their inflight entertainment," said Lemieux. "In that regard, APEX member companies are exploring options that are incredibly innovative and customizable. They recognize that a single television screen playing a one-size-fits-all movie will no longer meet passenger expectations."

The Sky's the Limit

The name of the contemporary in-flight entertainment game, in other words, is choice.
"More than anything, consumers want options," said Lemieux. "Some want to lean back and watch a movie, some want to conduct business online, and others would rather play a game."
In the future, airlines will likely move even further toward integrating devices consumers already have into the plane's built-in entertainment system.
"When you factor in all built-in options and the exploding trend of personal devices, the possibilities really are endless," explained Lemieux. "APEX members are constantly watching consumer and technology trends, and working with one another to apply those trends to improving the airline passenger experience."

Google's New Chromebook Caters to Cloud Crowd

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 13:03:00 +0000

Google unveiled a new Samsung Chromebook on Thursday, available for pre-order at US$249. The new model is more streamlined and far cheaper than its predecessors.

Samsung Chromebook

It costs $200 less than the Samsung Chrome 550, which was released earlier this year, and $100 less than the Series 5 model, which debuted last year.
The sleek new form factor is compelling, said Craig Stice, senior principal analyst for compute platforms at IHS iSuppli.
"To have a successful product in mobile, it has to be very thin, very light," he told TechNewsWorld. "That is enough to draw attention from other products that are out there."

Cloud Computer

This new machine does appear to be aimed at those wanting a sleek profile as it is just 0.8-inches thick, and weighs in at just 2.5 pounds. It features an 11.6-inch screen that supports a 1366x768 display. While not the highest-resolution screen out there, it reportedly does the job. It includes a webcam and microphone, enabling online video chatting.
It's light on connections with just one USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port, plus an HDMI output and SIM card slot. However, it is primarily a cloud computing device, with Internet access via WiFi. A 3G model is available for preorder from Amazon for $330.
The Chromebook provides 16 GB of local SSD storage, as well as100 GB of cloud-based Google Drive storage, free for two years. The machine is thus clearly designed for life in the cloud.
"It is kind of in its own niche sort of thing," said Stice. "It is really just a Web device. It is an interesting type of product, a light computing device in a nice form factor."
Google did not respond to our request for further details.

Breaking Windows 8

The timing of the announcement is certainly interesting, and it isn't clear if the intent was to steal some thunder from Microsoft in advance of next week's long-anticipated release of Windows 8.
However, "Samsung and Google aren't stealing much thunder here," said Roger Kay, principal analyst of Endpoint Technologies Associates. "The purely Web device is still a thing of the future, and it hasn't made much headway in the marketplace so far. Its day will come when there's something approaching full connectivity."
The new device's reduced price could make that future closer.
"The Chromebooks have tended to lag far behind tablets in consumer interest and uptake [but] that may have been due, at least in part, to the $500-plus pricing of the original Chromebooks," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.
"The lack of touch-enablement is another likely factor. The new Chromebook's $249 entry price -- plus two years/100GB of Google Drive storage -- should shatter the first barrier," he pointed out.
"More importantly, along with the recent addition of the Nexus 7, Google is the only vendor that has two distinct devices capable of leveraging its notable array of Web-centric applications and services," King told TechNewsWorld. "With the Surface, Microsoft seems to be aiming at delivering a best of both worlds -- touch- and keyboard-enabled -- solution that is clearly aimed at Apple's iPad."
The announcement's timing may mean nothing more than the onset of the annual shopping frenzy.
"We're entering the holiday season," said Stice. "So there are a host of platforms and products that are going to be launched. The fact that this was announced in advance of Windows may have been strategic on Google's part, but there are so many weeks in the fall."

Windows 8 Release Candidate to surface by early June?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:37:00 +0000

Could Microsoft unveil the Windows 8 Release Candidate as soon as early June? At least one report says yes.
Blogging site WinUnleaked.tk seems certain of that, spilling the beans over the weekend that "we know the Release Candidate of Windows 8 will be shared with the public between the end of May to the beginning of June." Apparently receiving the intel from an unnamed source, the site notes that the RC will sport at least a few changes from the current beta.
Modifications are in store for the Charms bar, the desktop version of Internet Explorer 10, and the language input menu. The current Customer Experience Improvement Program will also be disabled by default, says WinUnleaked.tk.
A Release Candidate follows a beta and is the last stage before a product's final version. Companies typically incorporate feedback about the beta into the RC, often resulting in a hefty number of changes. But the RC is supposed to be fairly nailed down, meaning few if any major changes before the final edition debuts.
Of course, without more to go on, this latest tidbit should be filed into the rumor drawer for now. But if true, the timing would somewhat mimic that of Windows 7.
The current version of Windows launched as a beta in January of 2009, followed by the Release Candidate in early May. The final version officially rolled out the following October, giving PC vendors just enough time to rev up Windows 7 systems for the holiday season.
The beta, or Consumer Preview, of Windows 8, came out on February 29. A recent report suggests that the final version of Windows 8 will launch this October.
Microsoft will reportedly hold an industry event in April at which it will share its Windows 8 release strategy and other details with industry partners. So we should know the actual timing for the Release Candidate sometime next month.
A spokeswoman for Microsoft told WEBMASTERS that the company has nothing to share at this time

The Denver Zoo's Poo-Powered Rickshaw Turns Animal Waste into Energy

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:17:00 +0000

Teddy Roosevelt famously said “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” The folks at the Denver Zoo must have thought he was talking crap. The zoo happens to have a lot of animal dung on hand where it is, and via its own patent-pending gasification tech it is doing what it can, introducing a poo-powered rickshaw that turns animal waste and human trash into mobility.
The rickshaw was purchased from Thailand and modified to run on gasified pellets created by the zoo’s own technology. Those pellets, composed of animal waste and garbage generated by human visitors and zoo staff, aren’t just powering the rickshaw, but will be used to generate power at the zoo’s upcoming 10-acre elephant exhibit. Eventually, the zoo thinks it will be able to turn 90 percent of its waste into energy, making use not only of the copious amounts of animal poo it has on hand but also eliminating some 1.5 million pounds of annual garbage waste that previously went into landfills.
The gasification technology was designed by three full-time zoo employees working with a little help here and there from the National Renewable Energy Lab in nearby Boulder, as well as a few other companies and agencies. So it’s a home-grown, DIY system that could presumably be exported to other zoos and anywhere else animal waste is in abundance and energy is needed. This particular rickshaw has already been exported, landing at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in Palm Desert, Calif., this week.

Review: Windows 8 a big misstep for Microsoft

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:07:00 +0000

The venerable PC is at a crossroads. Sales growth has slowed to a crawl. And consumers and developers are increasingly turning their time and attention to smartphones and tablets.

Pressured by that trend, Microsoft is updating Windows to make PCs work more like smartphones and to bring Windows to a whole new class of devices: iPad-like touch-screen tablets. Last month, the company launched what it calls a "consumer preview" of Windows 8, the next version of its flagship operating system. The preview is not a final version - that isn't expected until at least this fall - but it's close.
I've been playing around with the Windows 8 preview for several weeks. I loaded it onto a several-year old Dell laptop, in part because that's what I had available and in part to see what users of traditional PCs can expect from the new software. I hope to eventually test out the software on a tablet.
My conclusion: For PC users, Windows 8 is a major misstep.
Perhaps its biggest problem is that it has two separate and largely incompatible parts. It feels like Microsoft took a nice dress and attached it to an equally fine pantsuit and tried to pass it off as one garment. It just doesn't work.
The two pieces are a new interface called "Metro" and the old, traditional desktop inherited from past versions of the software.
The desktop interface looks and works much as it did in Windows 7, except that you won't find a Start button or Start menu, both of which have been core features of the software since Windows 95 debuted about 17 years ago. And you no longer see the desktop when you start up Windows.
Instead, you see the new Metro interface, which Microsoft developed originally for its Windows Phone 7 smartphone operating system. The interface is composed of a series of application squares or "tiles" arrayed on a flat background. The app tiles are more than just static program icons; they can display snippets of updated information, such as your next appointment or the current temperature.

AMD unveils new chip for Web hosting

noreply@blogger.com (The Shahbaba's) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:26:00 +0000

The Opteron 3200 Series processor is said to offer better performance while using less power.

Advanced Micro Devices is hoping to please Web-hosting providers with a new platform for single socket, dedicated hosting.
The idea is to offer growing businesses more scalability with denser and more power-efficient environments. Customers should also have a seamless, "desktop-like" experience and infrastructure with server-class reliability and security.
Specifically, the new AMD Opteron 3200 Series processor is touted to offer a more efficient bang per buck as the enterprise-class platform is said to offer up to 60 percent better performance per dollar and use up to 19 percent less power per core.
The Opteron 3200 Series also falls in line with AMD's cloud strategy as these chips are also supposed to boast twice the core density per rack.
Patrick Patla, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD's Commercial Business unit, promised in prepared remarks that customers will have "all the benefits of a true server-class product at desktop-class price points.
Here's a rundown on some of the key specs:

45W to 65W TDP
2.7 GHz base frequency, up to 3.7 GHz frequency using AMD Turbo CORE technology
2 DDR3 memory channels supporting ECC UDIMM
1333, 1600, 1866 MHz memory speedvi
Supports 1.5V, 2Rank
Up to 32GB memory capacity
Supports up to 2 DIMMs per memory channel
Total Cache: 16MB for 8-core, 8MB for 4-core
L2 Cache: up to 8MB total
L3 Cache: up to 8MB total

Alienware Packs Big Gaming Power Into Little Box

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:41:00 +0000

In the gaming world, it's all about mobile these days, it seems. Yet Alienware is offering a sleek little desktop model that looks like you ought to be able to tote it around but is meant to stay put. The X51 is good for college dorm rooms, suggested MobileTrax analyst J. Gerry Purdy, noting "the gaming market is huge enough ... to accommodate a number of different form factors."
Dell's (Nasdaq: DELL) gaming computer brand, Alienware, has released a new desktop computer that -- while not quite in keeping with the trend toward mobile gaming -- is compact, powerful and sleek.
The X51, which weighs about 12 pounds and measures roughly 13 inches tall by 12.5 inches deep by 4 inches wide, is unobtrusive enough to be placed near a television. It is powered by a range of graphics cards and several Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) Core processors. Pricing starts at US$699 and goes to $1,149, depending on how the device is configured.
Options in the low-end version include a second-generation Intel Core i processor, 8 GB of 1333 Mhz dual-channel memory, a 1-GB GDDR5 Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) GeForce GTX 555 video card with 330W PSU, a slot-loading dual layer Blu-ray reader, and a standard integrated wireless LAN card.
The $1,149 model is equipped with the Intel Core i7 processor, a 1 GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GT 555 graphics card, and 8 GB of RAM.

The Mobile Trend

With the X51's diminutive size, it is easy to miss the fact that it is not designed to be mobile -- a major driving force in the gaming market now.
Gaming captured the largest proportion of a mobile user's time spent with mobile applications -- a whopping 49 percent -- according to Flurry. Social networking came next, but at a distant 30 percent.
A majority of tablet owners who play video games use a console or a handheld gaming device less often as a result of owning their tablet, according to research from GfK MRI's iPanel.

Gaming Laptops

Alienware isn't ignoring that trend -- last year, it released three powerful laptops including the M18x -- which it called the most powerful 18-inch gaming laptop in the universe and "a true desktop replacement." The other laptops are the M14x -- with enhanced performance and a focus on portability -- and an upgraded M11x. They also sport second-generation Intel Core i processors.
That said, there is still a place for the little X51 desktop unit in the current gaming environment, J. Gerry Purdy, principal analyst of mobile and wireless at MobileTrax, told TechNewsWorld.
"There are really two mobile stories unfolding with gaming," he said. One is that more people are using smartphones or tablets, and providers are extending the availability of some games on these platforms. The second one are the wireless initiatives, where you are seeing controllers become de facto smartphones or computers."
College student dorm rooms, for instance, are typical venues for these devices, noted Purdy. "The gaming market is huge enough, especially among the 18-24 age group, to accommodate a number of different form factors."

Motorola Droid Razr Maxx (Verizon Wireless)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:13:00 +0000

The good: Despite a beefed-up battery, the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx has a slim, attractive, and durable design with the same gorgeous display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, and fast Verizon 4G/LTE data speeds as its predecessor. It retains powerful multimedia chops and tight security features.
The bad: For such an advanced smartphone, the vague promise of a future Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is disappointing. Also, while a stronger battery is great, it's still not user-removable. People with small hands will find it hard to wrap around the phone's wide frame, and the 8-megapixel camera is unimpressive.
The bottom line: The Motorola Droid Razr Maxx proves that a powerful Android superphone can remain thin yet still promise marathon-worthy battery life. If you can live without Ice Cream Sandwich and have big hands, the Maxx is extremely compelling.

Design
Motorola made a splash with the first Droid Razr with the bold testament that it was the thinnest Android smartphone the world has ever seen. For the company that started the thin phone craze with the original Razr V3, it was a fitting move, even if the Razr to have the trimmest chassis is always changing.
Interestingly, the company can't make the same boast with the Droid Razr Maxx. Measuring 5.14 inches long by 2.75 inches wide by 0.35 inch thick and weighing 5.1 ounces, the Maxx is slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessor (0.28 inch; 4.5 ounces). Even so, it still feels very svelte and lightweight, despite its larger footprint. I also found that it fit well into my pants pocket, though with an embarrassing bulge. Of course, people with small hands (because of the wide bezel housing the display) will have trouble grasping the big-screened device. Gone, though, is the hump in the back of the phone that held the camera lens and made the first Droid Razr top heavy.
In fact, the way Motorola managed to squeeze in the Razr Maxx's more powerful battery was to fill in that hump. It was a smart design call since without the hump the Maxx feels more balanced even as it sports a thicker profile.

                                           Virtually the same in overall thickness, the
                                           Droid Razr Maxx (left) is just as pocket-friendly
          as the first Droid Razr.

Not to worry, though: other Motorola innovations have remained, such as the chassis built from diamond-cut aluminum, and the thin sheet of glass in front sculpted to fit flush against the phone's edges. Just like the original Razr, Motorola coated the Maxx's back in Kevlar, which, while smooth and soft, means the battery is not removable. Thankfully the Razr Maxx features a souped-up 3,300mAh battery, compared with the Droid Razr's smaller 1,780mAh battery pack.
I do like the Kevlar backing. It won't stop bullets, but it does resist scratches and scuffs admirably. Another durability feature is the Maxx's "nanotechnology coating," also found on the Droid Razr, which shields the handset's innards from light moisture and klutzy spills. Don't get me wrong, it's not water-resistant so don't take it to the beach. Making the Maxx even tougher is a Corning Gorilla Glass display with a chemically treated scratch-resistant surface.
User interface
Like the Droid Razr before it, the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx runs Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread with a more subtle version of Motoblur placed over it. For instance, you don't have to annoyingly create a Motorola account before using the phone like older handsets forced you to do. It's the same implementation already seen on other Motorola handsets like the Atrix 2 and the Droid Bionic. There are five customizable home screens to choose from, with more shortcuts to the phone dialer, messaging, camera, and the main menu running along the bottom. Hitting the Home button in standby mode pulls up a view of all the home screens at once, similar to HTC's Sense UI.
The lock screen displays the typical digital clock, date and battery info. To unlock, just swipe the lock icon from left to right. You can toggle the vibrate/ringer function here, too, and jump straight to the camera app. Those who liked the Droid Razr's virtual keyboard will find the same well-spaced keys, light haptic feedback, and responsiveness here. You also have the choice of using the default keyboard or Swype for fast one-handed writing.

Dedicated Droid Razr owners will appreciate the

same great virtual keyboard on the Maxx. It has

large buttons with lots of spacing, plus the buzz of

light haptic feedback.

Features
Offering a mother lode of Android abilities, the Droid Razr Maxx has all the staples, including a few surprises, such as GPS, Bluetooth 4.0 (which supports a new generation of low-power accessories), Wi-Fi, and a mobile hot-spot capability that lets the phone act as a modem for up to eight Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Keep in mind that the mobile hot-spot feature costs about $20 extra per month on top of your voice and data plans.
The Razr Maxx also offers the usual selection of Google's apps and services, most already loaded: Gmail, Google Talk, Google Search with Voice, Google Maps with Navigation, Google Books, Places, Latitude, and YouTube. Phone and organizer functions include a calendar, alarm clock, calculator, a file manager, task list, voice command support, and speakerphone.
Other apps preinstalled include a healthy helping of free and paid software and services such as Amazon's Kindle app, Blockbuster, Let's Golf 2, Madden NFL 12, Netflix, Slacker Radio, MotoPrint, and VideoSurf. Of course Verizon added some bloatware of its own, like Device Setup, Verizon Instant Messenger, My Verizon Mobile, NFL Mobile, V Cast Tones, Verizon Video, VZ Navigator, and Visual Voicemail, which costs around $2.99 a month. Honestly the most helpful of the lot in my opinion is the My Verizon Data widget, which lives by default on the home screen and estimates your data usage to avoid being throttled or slammed with extra fees.
Corporate and government friendly
Who says you need a BlackBerry for private or public sector mobile security? Motorola doesn't think so. Also folded into the Droid Razr Maxx is support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, not to mention government-grade FIPS 140-2 encryption for e-mail, calendar, and contacts. For even more peace of mind, more-severe methods such as remote wipe, PIN lock, SD card and device encryption, and remote enable/disable of camera and Wi-Fi are possible, too.

This Tiny Cube Might Be Your Next Office PC

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 12:33:00 +0000

Salt Lake City-based Xi3 Technologies has been quietly developing a computer that's roughly four inches by four inches, or about the size of a grapefruit. But what sets this gadget apart from other portable PCs is that the Xi3 splits the core functions of a traditional PC into three separate, easily replaceable components. Think of it as a high-tech equivalent to Ford's model T, which was considered so simple that anyone could repair it.
Each Xi3 device is made up of three separate modules: one for the processor, one for how the unit communicates on a network and a third for power. This means you can upgrade any of these components -- say, to swap out for a faster processor -- with little effort. Just unscrew the back panel, slide out the required part, put the hatch back on and you're done.
Being able to conveniently access individual parts of a computer allows users to upgrade the device as software needs change or when specific parts fail. Entry-level models cost $850 and come with 16 GB of memory built in. Expandable drives are optional and cost extra.

Size and adaptability: The Xi3 can fit anywhere: crowded desktops, sales kiosks or attached to a high-definition display to support interactive advertising. Dedicated and expensive server rooms aren't necessary to house these PCs. They can be stacked densely in small racks in just about any room or closet.
The Xi3 can also be used as a virtual work station. The company sells an outboard processor ($250) that allows four users to work on a single device. Monitors are not included.
And it can save on electricity costs. The Xi3 requires only 20 watts of electricity to operate compared to most other units that drain 100 to 400 watts on average.
Durability: The Xi3 is built from a forged metal case, similar to how Apple's Macs are made. And the electronic components inside the Xi3 are a level or two sturdier than what is usually found in entry-level work computers.
On top of that, the company says the Xi3 can last up to 10 years. That's more than double the lifespan of traditional PCs.
Bottom line: Despite its cache of convenient features, the Xi3 isn't perfect. Possibly the Xi3's biggest downfall is that it isn't easily portable like a notebook or tablet. These units still need full wall power, a monitor, a keyboard and network access.
Also, at $850, it is roughly double the cost of a standard work desktop. But you can potentially save money over time as the PC could live longer than those traditional computers.

Ads by Google

Battalion 101 X7200

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 11:59:00 +0000

Video/Audio
When you’re looking into getting a gaming system of any kind, the first thing to take into account is the graphics card. You are going to want a card that will not only work for the current games out, but one that will be able to handle the increased demands of newly released games for the next few years as well. It is even more important to look at what comes in a gaming laptop because it is very hard to replace parts on your own, so having something that is going to work for a long time is a must. The Battalion 101 X7200 has one of the best mobile NVIDIA graphics cards on the market, which means you are going to be able to run pretty much any game on the highest graphic settings. The NVIDIA Geforce GXT 560M has 3.0GB of memory, which allows the card to display those very detailed images even better.
This laptop uses a 3D premium surround sound onboard sound card. This won’t provide the best gaming audio, but almost all laptops use simple sound cards and will not be able to produce the amazing sound you will find on a desktop computer. The Battalion 101 X7200, and all of the other gaming laptops we reviewed, have this same issue: The sound quality is far below that of standalone speakers. That being said, the Battalion does produce very good sound for a laptop, and that is due to the size of this notebook. With a 17.3-inch screen and base, Battalion was able to fit a lot more into this gaming laptop.

Processor

The processor is basically the brain of your computer; it tells the computer what to do and how to carry out those instructions. The Battalion 101 X7200 gaming laptop has one of the best CPUs (central processing unit) available for laptops. The Intel Core i7-760 processor will keep your computer and all of its programs running at their top capacity. This amazing little device has a clock speed of 3.20GHz, four cores and eight threads. What does all of that mean in terms of processing speed and how your gaming laptop will work? Basically, the clock speed is how fast information can be processed, like a (speed limit; the threads and cores are similar to freeways (four cores) and lanes (eight threads) on the freeway. Essentially, there are four areas that have eight threads in which information can move to and from the processor. A speed of 3.20GHz is very fast for a laptop, particularly when you consider that some of the best desktop processors run around 3.46GHz.

Memory/Storage

If we take a step back and look at the system requirements necessary to run games at top performance 5 years ago and compare it to what they require now, it is easy to see why RAM is becoming even more important. If you are not running at least 4GB of RAM in any gaming laptop or computer, odds are you are not getting the best performance from your system. If you choose this top-ranked gaming laptop, you will have 6GB of DDR3 RAM, which is about perfect for most games. There is an option to upgrade, and if you are planning for the future, adding RAM may be a good choice.
In fact, almost all gaming laptops out right now offer around 6GB, so the Battalion 101 X7200 is right on track. The only place this laptop could improve is in the amount of hard drive space it has. With only 500GB of memory, you will want to be careful about storing too many movies, music or other such extras. However, 500GB is more than enough for most gamers since some of the biggest games out only use about 30GB at most.

Summary
Purchasing a gaming laptop can be a very daunting prospect, but iBuyPower has made it easy. The Battalion 101 X7200 is by far one of the best gaming laptops on the market today. This amazing device allows you to take your gaming experience on the road and still run those graphic-intense games with ease. When it comes to top-of-the-line hardware and a large viewing screen, you will be hard-pressed to find anything better than the Battalion 101 X7200 gaming laptop.

Specifications
Case
Battalion 101 X7200 17.3" Full HD 1920X1080 Widescreen LCD TFT Laptop w/eSATA port, Bluetooth (EDR), Fingerprint Security, Li-ion 6 Cells Battery, Universal AC Power Adapter - Original Metallic Black

Processor
Intel® Core™ i7 960 Processor (4x 3.20GHz/8MB L3 Cache)

Memory
6GB [2GB x 3] 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM [Laptop Memory] - Corsair or Major Brand

Video Card
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5 3D Video [X7200]

Primary Hard Drive
500 GB 5400rpm Serial-ATA Super Slim Laptop Hard Drive

Optical Drive
8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [X7200]

Flash Media Reader / Writer
Built-in 9-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer [Laptop]

Sound Card
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

Network Card
Built-in 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN [Laptop]

Fax Modem
Built-in 56K V.92 Fax Modem [Laptop]

IEEE 1394 FireWire Card
Built-in 1x IEEE 1394 FireWire Port [Laptop]

Internal Wireless Network Adapter
Standard 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi

Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit

USB Ports
Built-in 3x USB 2.0 Ports + 2x USB 3.0 Port [Laptop]

Carrying Case
Free Deluxe Carrying Case

Video Camera
Built-in 2.0 Mega Pixels Digital Web Video Camera

Warranty
Standard Warranty Service - Standard One(1) Year

PRICE : 1989.00 $

Alienware M11x Ultra-portable Gaming Laptop

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:32:00 +0000

Alienware™ M11x: Ultramobile gaming laptop designed to pack a punch

Starting at less than 4.5lbs*, the Alienware M11x is the perfect mobile gaming rig.
Featuring next-generation NVIDIA^® graphics with up to 2GB of DDR3 graphics memory, the M11x is deceptively small, yet diabolically strong.
Power through hard-core games and intense applications with the latest 2nd Gen Intel® Core™ i processors

Mobile Domination

Bedroom, dorm room, coffee shop, friend’s house — stay anywhere in the game². Starting at less than 4.5 lbs³, the ultraportable M11x is designed for gamers who have a mobile life. Drop it in your bag and go.

Out-of-This-World Gaming Experience

Gaming is all about experience — the experience of visiting new worlds, of helping friends and crushing enemies, and of showing off your skills.

Give that experience a boost. Boot up your ultraportable M11x laptop wherever you are and you’ll have the power to pulverize at your fingertips. Engage your senses with the HD display and wake your neighbors with some of the best audio options on an 11.6" laptop.

Then get moving. Head over to the library. While everyone else is studying, you’ll be exploring other dimensions and annihilating every horrid creature you encounter. And now you won’t have to stop in the middle of your game. Switchable graphics will optimize your battery life, letting you cram more carnage into a single charge.

Performance Power — Unleashed!

Your opponents will never see it coming: the punishing power of the latest performance technology, paired with the lightweight design you need for on-the-go annihilation.

Operating System:Genuine Windows^® 7 Professional
Winning Vision: Stay at the top of your game with NVIDIA^® GeForce^® 540M series graphics technology and up to 2GB⁴ of DDR3 graphics memory.

Processing Muscle: Put opponents in their place with lightning fast processing power — 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7 processors.

Memory: With up to 16GB of dual channel DDR3 1333MHz memory, the Alienware™ M11x is a multitasking madness powerhouse.

High Definition Visuals: With the crystal-clear 29.5 cm (11.6) (720p WLED HD — 1366x768) display, your games and multimedia look incredible.

Dell Price ^$899^.00

CyberPower PC Black Pearl

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:59:00 +0000

Overall Rating

Playing computer games requires more than just the cheapest bargain computer with wimpy hardware components. Those kinds of gaming computers may have attention-capturing specs like Intel i7 processors or Windows 7 OS, but it's everything else that defines what the machine can actually do for your gaming. No-name motherboards and generic RAM are inexpensive – but you end up paying a steep price in performance. Playing games on a system with substandard hardware is like entering the Indy 500 with your mom's old station wagon. People who know gaming PCs know that high-end hardware is what makes high-end gaming computers. The CyberPower PC Black Pearl receives our TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award because it's the gaming PC that sets the standard for high-end gaming systems. This machine is full of components with names like Corsair and Gigabyte, both highly rated manufactures in their respective fields. Overall, this machine outdoes the competition without breaking a sweat.

Video/Audio

Recently, NVIDIA unleashed the new and improved GTX 580, which is by far their best graphics card. This card is one of the most powerful on the market, giving the owner of one a nice smooth ride in any game they play. CyberPower's Black Pearl gaming PC comes equipped with two of these amazing cards, which is more than enough graphic processing power to run any game at max graphic settings and maintain a high frame rate. Not only will you be able to play the most graphically intense game, but you’ll also be able to run other software at the same time.
Each card has 1.5GB of GDDR5 video memory, which is more than enough for any game and is only dwarfed by AMD's flagship, the ATI Radeon HD 5970, which has 2GB. The 1.5GB of memory are clocked at 1848 MHz and boast a core speed of 772 MHz, which is the fastest on the market.
Aside from excellent performance, the GTX 400 and 500 series graphics cards both use DirectX 11, which is the newest multimedia and gaming technology used to enhance the graphics and make games even more realistic. For a while, ATI cards were the only contenders in that market, but that is no longer the case. DX 11 focuses on adding more computing support and as well as rendering tessellation, While tessellation is not a new thing, its use has been hampered in high-end gaming by the high processing power necessary to do it well. Since the DX 11 release, though, that is about to change. DX 11 gives game developers and players more fluid graphics that result in more realistic-looking game characters and terrain -- a must when try to compete in the world of processing gaming graphics.
NVIDIA’s FERMI technology, coupled with power of DX 11, make the GTX 580 card – and the Black Pearl – a top system for rendering complex graphics. With this added technology and support, you will experience some seriously intense graphics in every game you play on the CyberPower PC Black Pearl.

Processor

Quad-core processors dominate most of the high-end gaming computer market. However, both Intel and AMD have taken the next step and developed a six-core, 12-thread chip. The CyberPower PC Black Pearl utilizes the Intel Core i7 980 Extreme, which is one of the most powerful CPUs on the market. This processor is clocked at 3.3 GHz but comes over clocked to 4 GHz. Normally you would have to worry about heat, but the Asetek 510LC 120mm Liquid Cooling system keeps the processor at a reasonable temperature.

Memory/Storage

Another very important feature that every gaming PC needs is a good set of RAM. The CyberPower PC Black Pearl has 12GB of Corsair's XMS DDR3, which has a processing speed of 1600MHz. The motherboard allows for adding another four sticks if you wish, and it can handle faster clock speeds as well. That is plenty of RAM power, and this will by no means be a bottleneck on this rig. If there is a potential bottleneck, it would probably be the hard drive, which is a regular 7200 1TB HDD. Thankfully, this is the secondary drive. The primary is an 80GB Intel SSD. As long as you are using this drive and not the secondary, you likely won’t run into any problems with slow speeds.

Additional Features

The motherboard housing all these jaw-dropping pieces of technology is the MSI X58A-GD45 X58, which should handle just about anything you can throw at it. The CyberPower PC Black Pearl has two PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots. There is another x16 slot and three plain PCI Express slots. There is also a PCI slot for anyone still using equipment that requires one. With about every SATA connection you can think of you should have no problems with storage interface options. In addition, there is a FireWire connection and up to 10 USB ports at your disposal.
This gaming computer runs Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, as most other pre-built machines do. There are two optical drives: a Blu-ray drive and a DVD +/- RW drive. With high quality hardware like the i7 processor, 12GB of RAM, NVIDIA graphics cards, optical drives, water cooling and everything else, you can imagine how much power this gaming computer must need. Thankfully, there is a 1,000-watt power supply to do the job, and it does it well. A power supply with this much wattage will have no problem keeping up to speed with advancing technology.

Alienware Aurora R4 Gaming PC Unveiled By Dell

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:20:00 +0000

Dell has this week taken the wraps off its new gaming PC the Alienware Aurora R4. Inside the sleek chassis the system houses the new second generation Intel Core i7-3000 series six-core CPUs. Which have been factory overclocked and combined with high performance CPU Liquid Cooling and Active Venting system. Supported by 4GB Dual Channel 1600MHz up to 32GB Quad Channel 1600MHz DDR3 Memory Options. Providing you with all the power you could ever need for your gaming.

Inside its also equipped with Intel X79 Express Chipset, Quad Channel DDR32 memory and the latest SATA technology and supports AMD CrossFireX technology. Installing 2 x graphic cards will provide even more power especially if you want the most from BattleField 3 or similar. All Alienware Aurora systems graphics cards use powerful GDDR5 graphics memory, and are combined with Microsoft’s DirectX 11 graphics API.
The new Alienware Aurora is available from Dell now, with prices starting from $3,499. Enjoy!

Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 3GB Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 15:24:00 +0000

Asus GeForce GTX 590 3GB Review

Despite a tradition of releasing range topping dual-GPU graphics cards since 2006, it’s been over two years since we’ve seen a new multi-GPU graphics setup from Nvidia. Back then it was the GeForce GTX 295 1,792MB, tearing up the benchmarks with its dual GT200b GPUs and going head-to-head with the Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB.

Since then, though, Nvidia’s fortunes have dipped and risen like the metaphorical rollercoaster. The first generation of Fermi GPUs, based on the GF100 architecture, proved much too hot, power hungry and noisy even on single-GPU cards. This left the dual-GPU Radeon HD 5970 2GB uncontested as the fastest single graphics card for some time.

GeForce GTX 590 3GB Specifications:

The GTX 590 3GB is equipped with two full size GF110 GPUs. As each has the maximum amount of 512 stream processors possible with the Fermi architecture, this means the GTX 590 3GB boasts a whopping count of 1,024 stream processors. With a core frequency of 607MHz, these stream processors run at 1,214MHz. Both these clock speeds are roughly 20 per cent less than those of the GTX 580 1.5GB.

The use of two full-specification GF110 GPUs also means the GTX 590 3GB boasts eight rasterisers, (2 x 4) and 32 tessellation units (2 x 16). It also sports 120 texture units (2 x 60) and 96 ROPs (2 x 48).

Meanwhile, the 3GB of GDDR5 memory is split between the two GPUs, so each GPU can still only address 1.5GB. The memory is clocked at 853MHz (3,414MHz effective), which is roughly 16 per cent lower than that of the GTX 580 1.5GB and 10 per cent lower than the GTX 570 1.3GB's RAM. The card has a combined memory bandwidth of 327.8GB/sec (2x 163.9GB/sec), running via dual 384-bit memory interfaces.

The decision to use such conservative clock speeds might seem odd, but it has allowed Nvidia a good deal of flexibility elsewhere. The most obvious is the card’s cooling system, which shares similarities with both the HD 6990 4GB and Nvidia’s single-PCB version of the GTX 295 1,792MB. The two 520mm² GPUs are arranged symmetrically at either end of the card, with the power delivery circuitry in the middle. Each GPU is topped by its own vapour chamber heatsink assembly, with a single radial fan in the centre of the card blowing air over both. This does mean that half of the card’s heat is exhausted directly into your case, though.

Peeking underneath the cooler, you can see that the card’s power delivery circuitry is suitably meaty. Each GPU is serviced by five power phases, with each GPU’s 1.5GB of GDDR5 memory powered by two phases. This means the card boasts a huge 14+1 power phases, all fed by the pair of 8-pin PCI-E power connectors. Like the HD 6990 4GB, the GTX 590 3GB breaks the PCI-E power spec of 300W combined board power, but it seems as though manufacturers are now attaching less importance to this standard. Nvidia recommends a 700W PSU for systems running a GTX 590 3GB.

Asus Rampage IV Gene X79 Motherboard

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:54:00 +0000

This is the latest X79 motherboard from Asus and by the looks of it this is a pretty amazing little board. It features a Micro-ATX form factor, but it comes with just about all of the bells and whistles that you’d find on a full size ATX board. It’s also in their ROG line of motherboards, so you know it’s meant to perform. So let’s have a look at the features of the chipset first and then we’ll go over the specific features of this motherboard.Intel has made some rather significant improvements over their last generation of enthusiast level chipset. This new X79 chipset is meant to replace the venerable X58 chipset that has been so popular. This new chipset supports Intel’s latest 2011 socket processors that are manufactured using their latest 32nm manufacturing process.

When you look at one of these for the first time, you’ll notice that there is something very different about them. There are now ram slots located on both sides of the CPU socket. This has the effect of enabling the CPU to address memory across four channels instead of either two or three. There is a very good reason why these aren’t located on one side of the socket. If they were, this would increase latency between processor and ram depending on how much further the ram sticks were from the socket. So to solve this problem Intel put the ram slots on either side of the socket.

This chipset also uses Intel’s Express Platform Controller Hub technology. Intel has actually been using this technology for a while and what it does is it removes the need for two separate chips. AMD still uses a North Bridge and a South Bridge for their chipsets and Intel has been able to reduce this to just one. This is beneficial because it reduces temperatures and power consumption. During our testing the heat sink on this chipset never became too hot to touch. This is a dramatic improvement over the incredibly hot running X58 chipset. This should be beneficial to overclocking and overall performance.These new boards also include support for the new PCIe 3.0 architecture. This effectively doubles the bandwidth of PCIe 2.0 and should eventually translate into better gaming and peripheral performance. There are hard drives that currently able to take advantage of the added bandwidth. This really won’t be completely supported until Intel’s next generation of processors becomes available though. Graphics cards aren’t going to be able to take advantage of the added bandwidth yet simply because they never maxed out the bandwidth from the previous generation of expansion slots. Once graphics cards become powerful enough to need the extra bandwidth though, these boards will be capable of providing it.

Well, the first feature is pretty obvious. This is a ROG (Republic Of Gamers) board that comes in a Micro-ATX form factor. That’s pretty amazing. This means that you can have pretty much the same performance and features of the full ATX board in a smaller form factor so that it will fit in more case and system configurations.

This board features SupremeFX III audio support that just sounds incredible. With the right speakers there is no question that this is some of the best integrated audio that you could buy. Everything sounds very realistic and crisp. There is no distortion when volume levels are turned up like you’d experience on most integrated audio solutions. This is due to the shielding that Asus has put over the chip to keep it from experiencing interference from the other components. This was very well thought out and it definitely makes a difference in terms of audio performance.

Now let’s talk about esthetics. This is one beautiful motherboard. It has the typical black and red ROG styling, which looks amazing. It features nicely designed black heat sinks for the MOSFETs and V-Regs. And even though it comes in such a small form factor it still has power and reset buttons located right on the board. There is even a Debug LED located at the top, right corner of the motherboard. You will also still get the usage of up to 4 dimms of memory even though this is a smaller form factor. You really need to see this board to believe it. Asus has crammed this board with just about every feature of their Formula version.

ROG Connect has become a very popular and useful feature of these boards. Essentially you have the ability to tweak your system via a connection between the motherboard and a laptop computer. You’ll be able to adjust your clock speeds and voltages, as well as monitor all of your settings and Post codes in real-time. This is something you just have to see for yourself. It’s a truly amazing way to enhance your performance remotely, much the same way that racecar drivers tune their cars. There really isn’t anything else like it and it works really well. Just remember that you will need a separate system with an available USB port to take advantage of this feature.

This board comes with some really useful software as well. This board is bundled with a free version of DAEMON Tools Pro Standard that allows you to back up and manage all of your storage files. This is a great piece of software because it works with optical drives, hard drives, and virtual drives. There is also a full copy of Kaspersky Anti-Virus software with a one year license. Kaspersky is one of the most trusted names in the industry and another reason they were chosen for this board is because of its extremely low resource usage. For Asus to include such an amazing piece of software, for a year’s worth of service, is really cool. With this list of incredible features, Asus has ensured that this is going to be a very popular board for the enthusiast community.

Asus has also given this board a nicely populated rear I/O as well. It has a single PS2 keyboard and mouse combination port for those that are still using these legacy devices. Next to this is a clear CMOS button that will make it incredibly easy to clear your CMOS, without having to open your case. Situated next to this button is your S/PDIF out for connecting your motherboard to a digital audio device. Next this button is the ROG Connect button for enabling the usage of external ROG support. This button also works as a BIOS Flashback button as well, so that you don’t even need to have the system on to flash your BIOS. Next to this are three USB 2.0 ports and the ROG Connect port. Sitting next to these is your Intel Gigabit Ethernet port for LAN connectivity and two USB 2.0 ports. Next to these are an eSATA port and two USB 3.0 ports for Super Speed USB devices. Lastly, you’ll find your standard 7.1 analog audio connections.

This board was put through our entire list of benchmarks to stress it to its limits. Not only did it endure our litany of tests, but it also produced some amazing scores. It pretty scored just under its big brother, the X79 Rampage IV Formula. To get a better understanding of how amazing that is take a look at the review for that board that’s already been posted on this website.

For a board of this size to produce such amazing scores is just nuts. Asus has really gone all out with the way that this board was designed in terms of both performance and stability. Our scores speak for themselves. There really isn’t anything that can compete with it in this form factor. This board also comes in at a little under 300 dollars. That puts it in the mid-range pricing for this platform. When you take into account how small the board is and the incredible scores that it posted, you get an idea of the amount of time that it must have taken Asus to develop this board.There isn’t any other mATX board that can compete with this one in terms of performance and stability. It gave us no issues at all with regards to installation and setup. This board was a pleasure to work with and to see it chewing through our benchmarks. There is no question that if you’re looking for an mATX form factor in this platform, this is the one to own.

Chinese hackers crack India’s top defence secrets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:01:00 +0000

The computer systems of scores of Indian embassies, military establishments and corporate bodies, as well as the email account of the Dalai Lama, were hacked by a Chinese cyber spy ring as reported by Hindustan Times.

Hundreds of documents, including classified files, were stolen, says a Canadian cyber security team that monitored the ring — the Shadow Network — for eight months.

The Shadow Network focused on India, especially its military. The Canadians, in effect, hacked the hackers and saw many documents themselves.

“We snuck behind the backs of the attackers and picked their pockets,” team member Ronald Deibert told NYT.

The Chinese hackers stole foreign ministry reports on India’s policy in West Africa, Russia and West Asia. They got National Security Council secretariat assessments of security situations in Assam, Nagaland, Tripura and Manipur as well as the Maoist problem.

The penetration of India’s defence establishments was remarkable. Three air force bases, two military colleges and an array of military institutes like the Army Institute of Technology, Pune, were broken into.

The Canadian team saw the hackers access over 300 military documents.

The hackers seemed interested in any defence information they could find: from sensitive issues like live fire exercises and Project Shakti — the army’s artillery command system — to more innocuous material like personnel files.

“This is a very serious, broad spectrum assault,” said strategic technology expert Ajay Lele, whose own agency, the Institute for Defence and Security Analysis (IDSA), was robbed of 180 documents.

The Shadow Network broke into computers of analysts and stole reports on India’s missile systems. It hacked those of academics and journalists for work on Kashmir. Data was also stolen from firms like Tata and DLF. The Canadians informed

Indian intelligence on March 24 and were instructed on how to dispose of the classified data.

The ring is believed to be based in Chengdu, in China’s Sichuan province. The cybersleuths, based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, avoided saying this was government-approved but did say it was “possible”.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said: “We have from time to time heard of this kind of news. I don’t know the purpose to stir up these issues.”

However, the Indian security establishment has little doubt the Shadow Network is cast by Beijing. Says K. Santhanam, former IDSA head: “These rings are normally consortia in which Chinese academia, intelligence and military work together.”

Indian officials said the foreign ministry server was breached last year and a security audit “traced the Internet protocol addresses left in the wake of the hacking back to mainland China”. The air force too reported an officer’s account being hacked last month and the Net trail led back to China.

The hackers had a clear India focus, says the report. Of 130 Net protocol addresses compromised, 62 were from India.

Microsoft Xbox 360 Slim and Kinetic revealed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Microsoft officially reveals Xbox Slim and Kinetic motion control system. Rumors have placed the price of the Kinetic standalone unit at £149.99. You can get the new 4GB 360 Slim bundled with the Kinect for £249.99. 4GB 360 S is due for release on 20th August. But both can be pre-ordered. Another thing is that some dealers are selling the 360 S 250GB for a cut price of £189.99, with Argos offering 3 games alongside the console for a total of £199.99.

The new Xbix 360 Slim contains, a 250 GB hard drive, and built in wi-fi. The power adapter for the console has also cut down its size. Slim 360’s hard drive can be replaced. Data from older hard drives can be transferred to the new unit via a cable (sold separately for $19.99). But the bad part is that the older hard drives themselves, are not compatible with the new 360.