Funky Kit - Tech News and Reviews

ThermalTake Frio Extreme CPU Cooler

winston.ckw@gmail.com (Winston) — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:57:27 +0000

We've just published a review on the ThermalTake Frio Extreme CPU Cooler. It features a dual tower heatsink with two 140mm cooling fans, and offers cooling performance that's more than enough for the most extreme of enthusiasts. Bobnova takes a closer look ...

"When I first saw the Thermaltake Frio Extreme's box I thought "Hey, this could be good!". I have not been disappointed. ... I am quite impressed, this is definitely a good cooler. There aren't many issues with it and there are lots of good things about it."

Read the rest of the review here ... http://www.funkykit.com/component/content/article/54-coolers/9050-review-thermaltake-frio-extreme-cpu-cooler.html

Alibaba will buyback half of Yahoo stake for $7.1bn

news@funkykit.com (Will Smith) — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:26:15 +0000

Let's get some money back ... Yahoo decides to sell some of its stake back to Alibaba Group.

"US internet company Yahoo said it has reached a deal to sell part of its stake in China's biggest internet company Alibaba Group. Alibaba will buy back half the 40% stake owned by Yahoo, following years of negotiations.

The deal will raise about $7.1bn (£4.5bn) for Yahoo, which has been losing ground to rival Google and Facebook in online advertising.The agreement also allows Alibaba to consider an initial public offering.

Both companies revealed in a statement that Alibaba will pay Yahoo $6.3bn in cash and up to $800m in Alibaba preferred stock. For Yahoo, the deal gives it the ability to pay dividends, make acquisitions, or buy back its own shares, something its stockholders have been asking for."

Source: BBC

Google wins Chinese approval for Motorola Mobility bid

news@funkykit.com (Will Smith) — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:16:14 +0000

This acquisition is BIG ... $12.5bn worth of patents, customers, infrastructure, and more ... I wonder what the new company will be called, Motogoog or Googmoto?

"Chinese regulators have approved Google's $12.5bn (£7.9bn) purchase of US phone maker Motorola Mobility, the final hurdle for the deal to go through. Chinese authorities said Google must keep its mobile software, Android, free for other device makers for up to five years.

The acquisition, would be Google's biggest ever. It has already won clearance from US and European regulators. Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility allows it to move into manufacturing of phones and tablet computers for the first time.

It also gives Google access to more than 17,000 of the company's valuable patents, which will help it defend itself and Android phone manufacturers in patent disputes.Google said the Chinese government cleared the deal on Saturday."

Source: BBC

Facebook IPO Met with Some Challenges

nedwardg@yahoo.com (Nick G.) — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:42:44 +0000

The big day has finally come for Mr. Zuckerberg. Unfortunately, it was not without error. The technologoy in charge of maintaining the NASDAQ stock-pile (pun intended) suffered a glitch while tests were being conducted on the integrity of the system. The people in charge, while caught off guard, were very quick to deliver their apologies to Mr. Zuckerberg and his staff, and they have said that the glitch in question has had no impact on share prices. However, just a day after the initial sales began, Facebook stock took a noticeable hit; starting from $42.08 to $38 in a very short time.

"Design problems with Nasdaq's technology interfered with Facebook's IPO, the stock exchange's chief executive acknowledged today.

Tests conducted ahead of Friday's highly anticipated offering failed to detect problems with order cancellation, Robert Greifeld told reporters in an interview reported by The Wall Street Journal. He said Nasdaq was "humbly embarrassed" by the problems.

"This was not our finest hour," he said, adding that Nasdaq's board met Saturday to discuss the matter.

However, he maintained that the glitch was not responsible for the plunge in share price the stock experienced. Not long after the stock began trading Friday at $42.05, shares tumbled to their $38 offering price."

Source: C|NET

Amazon likely to launch 10.1-inch Kindle Fire in 3Q12

proplus@hotmail.com (Wing Lui) — Sun, 20 May 2012 08:12:42 +0000

The bigger, the better ... well, that's what Amazon thinks. They're likely to launch a 10.1-inch Kindle Fire in Q3 of this year, which means they'll stop producing the 8.9-inch version.

"The latest market rumors indicate that Amazon is likely to launch a 10.1-inch Kindle Fire in the third quarter, while tentatively suspending the launch of a speculated 8.9-inch model.

Amazon apparently plans to simplify its product lineup to focus its competition against Apple's iPad, according to industry sources, who also added that the planned 8.9-inch model was originally to take on Samsung's Galaxy Note tablets.

Tablet PC orders from Amazon are expected to start gaining momentum at the end of the second quarter or in early third quarter, said the sources. Including shipments of an entry-level as well as an advanced 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet, Amazon is expected to ship 30-40 million tablet PCs in 2012, the sources estimated."

Source: Digitimes

Memristors in silicon promising for dense, fast memory

news@funkykit.com (Will Smith) — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:08:14 +0000

Memristors ... now that's a new word! A close up of these memristors looks like waffles ... mmmm, very nice ;)

"Researchers have revealed details of a promising way to make a fundamentally different kind of computer memory chip.The device is a "memristor", a long-hypothesised but only recently demonstrated electronic component.

A memristor's electronic properties make it suitable for both for computing and for far faster, denser memory. Researchers at the European Materials Research Society meeting now say it can be made much more cheaply, using current semiconductor techniques.

There has been significant interest in memristors since the first prototype was unveiled in 2008, not least because it took 37 years for the device to make it from theoretical proposition to reality.

The name is a portmanteau of memory and resistor, because its resistance changes depending on how much current has passed through it; it "remembers" that value even after power is turned off."

Source: BBC

Funky Kit Weekend Hardware Round-Up!

nedwardg@yahoo.com (Nick G.) — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:10:47 +0000

Motherboard & CPU:

Intel DZ77GA-70K on Benchmark Reviews.

Video Cards:

Gigabyte GTX680 Windforce on Overclock3D.

MSI GTX 680 Twin Frozr III OC 2GB on techPowerUp.

Storage:

Corsair Accelerator 30GB & 60GB on Neoseeker.

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Home Network Storage System on The SSD Review.

Audio/Visual:

KRK Systems KNS 6400 Headphones on techPowerUp.

Lenovo ThinkVision LT1421 14-inch Portable USB Monitor on ThinkComputers.

China Mobile to expand TD-LTE trial run

news@funkykit.com (Will Smith) — Fri, 18 May 2012 08:00:09 +0000

Looks like China will be getting LTE before Europe ... TD-LTE (time division - long term evolution), it's kind of China's home-grown 4-G mobile-telecommunications technology and standard co-developed, since late 2007, by Datang Telecom, China Mobile, Huawei, ZTE, Nokia Siemens Networks, Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Qualcomm, ST-Ericsson. I wonder who the hell makes up these names?!

"China Mobile will expand trial operation of TD-LTE by setting up trial networks in four more cities in China, tech.sina.com has cited company CEO Li Yue as telling a shareholders meeting.

The China-based mobile telecom carrier has been undertaking trial operation of the locally-developed LTE version in six main cities, the report noted.

China Mobile plans to set up a total of 20,000 TD-LTE base stations in the six cities and in four more by the end of 2012, the report said, adding the carrier aims to expand to 200,000 base stations in 2013. Infrastructure cost for a TD-LTE network is 50-60% less than that for a 3G network, the report indicated."

Source: Digitimes

Mid-Week Hardware Round Up From Around The Net

richard@funkykit.com (Richard A) — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:57:27 +0000

Here is the mid-week hardware round up from around the net...

Motherboards and CPUs:
MSI Z77A-GD65 LGA1155 Motherboard Review by HardOCP
AMD A10-4600M Trinity For Mobile Review: Trying To Cut The Ivy by PC Perspective

Cases and Cooling:
Thermaltake Frio Extreme CPU Cooler Review by Legit Reviews
Deepcool/Logisys Gammaxx 400 CPU Cooler Review by Hardware Secrets

Graphics Cards:
Inno3D iChill GEFORCE GTX 670 2GB OC Video Card Review by TweakTown

PSUs:
Antec 1000W HCP Platinum Power Supply Review by Guru3d

Apple: Macbook Pro Will be Including a Retina Scanner

nedwardg@yahoo.com (Nick G.) — Wed, 16 May 2012 03:24:01 +0000

Security features on computers have been expanded and improved upon with greater frequency, not to mention efficiency, over the the past decade, so it only makes sense that we get closer to the ideas that most of us have seen in action and sci-fi movies. For those of you who remember a few years back, the fingerprint scanner was a new feature added to Dell and HP brand computers and marketed toward students who were paranoid about losing their laptops. It was quite innovative, at the time, to be able to unlock your computer with a touch of your finger; but now we're moving on to the next big thing, retina scanners. If you've recently purchased an iPad, then you're probably already aware of this feature and have no doubt had a good bit of fun with it. Well now you can enjoy it on the latest Macbook Pro. Unfortunately, there is rumor circulating that potential customers might miss out on certain features due to the design. It's a rather thin computer. Nevertheless, it will most likely be a big hit with the traveling entrepreneur who carries vital documents on longbusiness trips but doesn't want a lot of extra weight.

"The new 15-inch MacBook Pro will be a significant departure from the current design, with a retina display and an ultra-thin profile, 9to5Mac claims, citing sources from Apple's supply chain.

It will be so thin, in fact, that it won't have room for an optical drive, just like its lightweight cousin MacBook Air.

Other design changes include a power button on the keyboard itself (replacing the eject button) and, possibly, the lack of an Ethernet port (replaced by an extra Thunderbolt port).

The MacBook Pro's new retina display -- the same technology that's in the new iPad -- is described as "definitely the most important Mac innovation in years" by the sources who've handled a prototype of the device. The specifics are unknown, but users should be able to choose between several Retina resolution modes."

Source: CNN

Buffalo Tech: Breaking the Internet Barrier

nedwardg@yahoo.com (Nick G.) — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:37:40 +0000

If you're like me, you like fast internet. Of course, a lot of us are still limited by the hardware available to us. Granted, it's still fast by our standards, but compared to some countries, we have a lot to be expected. Luckily, the men and women over at Buffalo Tech have come up with a rather ingenious new method of router design that will offer a significant increase in internet speed. This new release will be known as the first 5G device and it's expected to do well in stores and in offices and homes.

"Buffalo Tech on Monday became the first on the market with wireless products touting 802.11ac WiFi, also known as "5G WiFi."

The Buffalo WZR-D1800H

These are its AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router and WLI-H4-D1300 wireless media bridge.

They purportedly offer speeds up to three times faster than 802.11n, and they are fully backward compatible with 802.11a, b, g and n.

With the release, Buffalo Tech has just beaten out NetGear, which had announced a similar next-gen WiFi product in April and planned to release it later this month. Belkin earlier this month announced plans to offer 5G products as well.

"It was a race to the end," Jay Pechek, Buffalo Technology's spokesperson, told TechNewsWorld. "Buffalo was the first to publicly demonstrate 802.11ac technology at CES [the Consumer Electronics Show] this past January, so we felt that we had a small leg up on the competition."

Source: Tech News World

Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Motherboard

winston.ckw@gmail.com (Winston) — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:27:58 +0000

We've just published a review on the Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Motherboard. It utilises Intel's latest Z77 chipset suitable for all Intel Ivy Bridge - LGA 1155 processors. The motherboard absolutely packed with some great features including Gigabyte's infamous Ultra Durable technologies, 3D BIOS, 3D digital engine, and much much more. Here's a snip ...

"If you are looking for a solid Z77 motherboard that does not break the bank this is a great choice .... You get great overclocking across the board and stable voltages. Efficiency is great to boot, overall I cannot help but recommend the Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H."

Read the rest of the review here ... http://www.funkykit.com/component/content/article/51-motherboards/9085-review-gigabyte-z77x-ud3h-motherboard.html

Funky Kit Weekend Hardware Round-Up!

nedwardg@yahoo.com (Nick G.) — Sun, 13 May 2012 22:47:55 +0000

Motherboard & CPU:

Intel Core i7-3720QM - Ivy Bridge For Mobile Review: Monster Kill! on DailyTech.

Video Cards:

Palit GeForce GTX 680 4GB Jetstream on Guru3D.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 on The Tech Report.

Storage:

OCZ Vertex 4 128GB SSD (with 1.4 R6 firmware) on TweakTown.

Akitio MyCloud Duo NAS on TweakTown.

Memory:

Kingston HyperX Genesis DDR3 1866 16GB Quad Kit on Pro-Clockers

Patriot Viper Xtreme Division 4 DDR3-1866 16GB Quad Channel Memory Kit on ThinkComputers.

Facebook Launches Its Own App Center

nedwardg@yahoo.com (Nick G.) — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:06:11 +0000

Much like Apple, Facebook had decided to capitalize on the ever-growing world of the app market. For those of you who are adept at making a profit with software creation, you can now feel free to set up shop in the middle of an already large and rapidly expanding client base.

"Looking to get a tighter grip on mobile and hoping to corral the multitude of apps available for its platform, Facebook on Wednesday launched App Center, a hub for Facebook apps of both desktop and mobile varieties.

"The App Center is built to drive growth for great apps, whether they're built on iOS, Android or [the] mobile Web," Facebook spokesperson Malorie Lucich told TechNewsWorld. "Many of the top iOS and Android apps are integrated with Facebook, and the App Center gives people another way to find them, and gives developers another channel to gain more installs, users and engagement."

Developers will have to submit an app detail page to show users what their wares do, but they won't have to modify their existing apps. "We hope this will encourage developers to create new apps and more categories of apps," Lucich added."

Source: Tech News World

iPad Mini May Be Stripped Down

nedwardg@yahoo.com (Nick G.) — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:07:31 +0000

A rumor has been circulating around the internet that the new iPad Mini might be also be skimping on its storage capacity. According to the rumor, the smaller version, unlike its larger counter-part, would only come with a maximum hard-disk size of only 8 Gb; less than half that of the a standard iPad which ranges from 16 Gb to a full 64 Gb. Luckily, this is only a rumor, so there's no need to get up in arms just yet. However, we will keep you posted as new info arrives.

"A smaller version of the iPad will be less expensive and offer less storage than Apple's full-sized model, but will have the same resolution, according to a new report.

Citing a previously reliable source, iMore today adds to the handful of existing iPad mini rumors, with something a little different.

The outlet says such a device is very much in the works and will come in around the $200 to $250 price range. On the lower end, that's less than half the price of Apple's current entry-level iPad model, and $150 to $200 less than the 16GB second-generation model that Apple still sells. That would also overlap with the pricing of Apple's iPod Touch line, which starts out at $199 and tops out at $399 for the 64GB model."

Source: C|NET

Twitter Holds Ground in Civil Case

nedwardg@yahoo.com (Nick G.) — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:04:03 +0000

If, by now, you've gotten the basic premise of CISPA, then you'll probably be glad that it hasn't been passed yet. But that's another story; this one is about the case of an Occupy-Wallstreet participant whose info is being requested by the federal government. Twitter, however, has refused to simply release the private data on the grounds that the authorities in question must obtain a search-warrant before they can oblige. At the very least, it's nice to know that some social media outlets are willing to stand up for their users.

"Twitter, which has a history of complying with court requests for users' data, appears to be drawing a line in the sand.

The company filed a motion in a New York State court on Monday to quash a court order that would force it to hand over data pertaining to a user involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement, according to a blog post from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Malcom Harris, the user in question, is being prosecuted by the District Attorney's office in Manhattan for disorderly conduct during the Occupy movement's march across the Brooklyn Bridge last year. The prosecution is asking Twitter for Harris's email address and all his tweets over a three-month period.

Twitter, however, countered that the court would need a search warrant to get that information. It pointed to a recent Supreme Court decision which found that attaching a GPS device is considered a search under the Fourth Amendment, which prevents unreasonable searches and seizures."

Source: CNN

Zotac ZBox Nano-XS AD11 Plus

winston.ckw@gmail.com (Winston) — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:42:56 +0000

We've just published a review on the Zotac ZBox Nano-XS AD11 Plus. It's probably one of the smallest, yet complete PC system on the market. It's powered by an AMD E-450 Dual-Core APU running at 1.65 GHz, and comes with 2Gb of DDR3 ram as well as a 64Gb SSD! Here's a snip ...

"The performance of the ZBox impressed me. It can't touch my high end desktop of course, but given the size and the price it is quite impressive. You can do some low end gaming, watch any videos you might want to regardless of their resolution and it snaps windows around and loads programs quite quickly, thanks to the SSD."

Read the rest of the review here ... http://www.funkykit.com/component/content/article/57-chassis-and-systems/9047-review-zotac-zbox-nano-xs-ad11-plus.html

Simialr Product:

Microsoft presents augmented reality Tablet

news@funkykit.com (Will Smith) — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:33:26 +0000

We're one step closer to having people like yourself waving your arms in the air like a crazy old man! ;)

"Microsoft has shown off an augmented reality system that allows users at different locations to work together on tabletop activities, sharing objects which they can both handle.

The MirageTable was demonstrated at a conference in Austin, Texas and is outlined on the firm's research site.Researchers said it could "fool" the eye to suggest both parties were using a "seamless 3D shared task space".

The team admitted more work was needed before the system could be marketed."

Source: BBC

Confirmed: New-generation iPhone coming plus new 10-inch iPad

news@funkykit.com (Will Smith) — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:28:09 +0000

Yes, it's coming the new next-generation iPhone ... oh, and the new 10-inch iPad too! So what screen size will the new iPhone have? Who knows, but one thing's sure .... it's gonna have to be larger than the current 3.5" inch, otherwise they'll lose ground to Samsung's massive range of "lush" looking Galaxy phones.

"Pegatron Technology reportedly has landed orders for a new-generation iPhone to be launched in September and a 10-inch iPad to be launched in the fourth quarter, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers. Pegatron is currently an OEM for the iPhone 4S and new iPad.

Pegatron has already finished expanding its equipment and labor force for Apple's orders.

In addition to Apple's orders, notebook orders from Toshiba, Acer, Lenovo and Fujitsu are all contributing revenues to Pegatron to allow the company to gain profits."

Source: Digitimes

Mid-Week Hardware Round Up From Around The Net

richard@funkykit.com (Richard A) — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:48:11 +0000

Here is the mid-week hardware round up from around the net....

Cases & Cooling:
Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler Review by Legit Reviews
Corsair Obsidian 550D Mid-Tower Chassis Review by TweakTown
Bitfenix Shinobi XL Case Review by Hardware Secrets

Motherboards and CPUs:
Intel Z77 Motherboard Review with Ivy Bridge - ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, and MSI by Anandtech

Graphics Cards:
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 680 AMP! Edition 2GB Review by TechPowerUp

HTML5 takes the internet by storm

news@funkykit.com (Will Smith) — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:36:44 +0000

HTML 5 ... is this answer to all our net problems?

"Google is pushing HTML5 hard, not surprising since the greater impact that web pages and apps have, the more advertising it can sell.

Its search homepage is traditionally sparse but many of the doodles, including the Jules Verne-inspired interactive submarine, are now being designed to take advantage of the newest code.

Jeff Harris, product manager for Google Docs, says HTML5 will change the way its services operate from the ground up.

"A simple example would be taking an attachment from your desktop and dragging it into the compose window in Gmail. That's a basic capability that you couldn't do five years ago because web browsers didn't support it."

HTML5 also represents another step to the "semantic web", a web structure championed by Tim Berners-Lee that cross-references, reacts to and displays multiple information sources from the internet in real time."

Source: BBC

BitFenix Shinobi XL Full Tower Case

winston.ckw@gmail.com (Winston) — Mon, 07 May 2012 15:33:13 +0000

We've just published a review on the BitFenix Shinobi XL Full Tower Case. It's one of our first ever review of a gaming from BitFenix. The Shinobi XL Full Tower Case is extremely spacious and just oozes with quality. It's constructed of high quality steel and comes with more fans than you could on one hand! Here's a snip ...

"All in all the BitFenix Shinobi XL makes me happy, it has the wonderful looks as well as a lot of room inside, a customizable 3.5" drive rack and much more. ... It's certainly very worthy of consideration if you're in the market for a full tower case."

Read the rest of the review here ... http://www.funkykit.com/component/content/article/57-chassis-and-systems/9059-review-bitfenix-shinobi-xl-full-tower-case.html

Apple reportedly to release US$799 MacBook Air in 3Q12

news@funkykit.com (Will Smith) — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:55:27 +0000

Second-generation Macbook Air from Apple coming soon, this fall ... costing only $799, not bad!

"Apple is reportedly considering responding to the upcoming second-generation ultrabooks by launching a US$799 MacBook Air in the third quarter of 2012, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Although Acer has recently reduced its ultrabook shipment target, Intel continues to aggressively push ultrabooks and is aiming to have the devices priced at US$699 in the second half of the year. However, if Intel is unable to bring down ASPs to its goal, the price gap between ultrabooks and the US$799 MacBook Air may further postpone the time ultrabooks become standardized, the sources noted."

Source: Digitimes

Magnetic bacteria may be building future bio-computers

news@funkykit.com (Will Smith) — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:51:55 +0000

Very interesting ... I truely believe that one day, the world will be dominated by automatons or cyborgs!

"Magnet-making bacteria may be building biological computers of the future, researchers have said. A team from the UK's University of Leeds and Japan's Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have used microbes that eat iron.

As they ingest the iron, the microbes create tiny magnets inside themselves, similar to those in PC hard drives. The research may lead to the creation of much faster hard drives, the team of scientists say.

As technology progresses and computer components get smaller and smaller, it becomes harder to produce electronics on a nano-scale. So researchers are now turning to nature - and get microbes involved."

Sourc: BBC

Nvidia: GTX 690

nedwardg@yahoo.com (Nick G.) — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:28:53 +0000

It's not so often that you get to see a video card released; that is to say, you don't often see a card that is a big leap above all the rest so soon. Nvidia has really outdone themselves this time; the new GTX 690 will be offering everything a PC gamer could ever want (at least for the next couple of years). Boasting a full 4 GB of video memory and blazing fast clock speeds, this new behemoth will almost certainly gain a bit of popularity. However, it may be a while before the majority of PC enthusiasts will even be able to afford this monster. The estimated going price for the GTX 690 is $1,000. But in the mean time, it is nice to look at.

"A new video card from Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA) or competitor AMD (NYSE: AMD) isn't usually all that news worthy, but when the latest card arrives with eight Graphics Processing Clusters (GPCs), and a total of 4 GB of GDDR5 video memory that runs at 6.008 GHz over two 256-bit memory, that is enough for hard-core enthusiasts to take pause.

For everyone else, the release of a video card that carries a price point just under US$1,000 will certainly draw attention.

The Nvidia GTX 690, which is powered by dual Kepler-based architecture-based GPUs, also features a chromium-plated aluminum casing that is a departure from the typical chips and fans on a board. Nvidia made it clear this one, which looks impressive on the outside while providing equally impressive graphics performance, wasn't aimed at the casual gamer."

Source: Tech News World