Asus Preps USB 3.0-capable AMD 880G Motherboard for AM3 CPUs
Looks like Asus is readying a new motherboard, designated M4A88TD, that takes advantage of AMD's new 880G chipset. Packed with SATA 3 and onboard Radeon HD graphics, the motherboard has another surprise. The M4A88TD packs AMD's new USB 3.0 chip enabling built-in SuperSpeed USB 3.0 functions. This will put them in direct competition with NEC as the near single USB 3.0 host silicon provider. The AM3 CPU-ready board is ready for performance tweaking out of the box with overclocker favorites like voltage adjustment support and TurboV. There's also support for unlocking processors with locked cores. This could enable the locked 4th core on their budget 3 core CPUs.
The 880G chipset also includes the instant-on Express Gate OS. This Linux variant still hasn't quite taken off like it should as it provides sub second boot times. By the time your monitor comes out of standby, you're already on the internet and ready to go. This really should be better featured on more notebooks or net-tops. The line hasn't been fully announced yet, but sources show that they are only weeks from having the boards on shelves.
Permanent Link
Read More ...
Microsoft Opens up to USB Drive Usage on XBox 360
The next time you update your Xbox 360 you'll have a happy new option available to you, USB drive support. Once this update finishes, you'll be able to store save games, FaceBook pages and movies on any USB drive you have. Any drive can be used as long as they are prepared first. If you buy the MS branded SanDisk thumbdrive, it will come prepared for you. But if you can follow some basic instructions, you could save yourself a few dollars and start moving your precious XBox settings and files wherever you like. There's also a handy chart to let you know exactly what you can store on your USB drive.
The preparation is done on the XBox through the system settings and it formats the drive. 512MB is reserved for internal use, but that shouldn't be a problem given today's thumbdrive capacity. The top limit is 16GB; if you have that much savegame data, you need to move you probably don't have a job to afford that large a drive. There's probably a sweet spot in there somewhere between video game enthusiast and teenage dropout. Life choices aside, you can only plug two USB drives, whether they be a chainsaw or coin-lookalike thumbdrive, in at once. Early reports aren't promising so be careful with your data as corruption could ruin your day. The 8GB stick from Microsoft will cost $35 and a 16GB drive will cost $70 and should be available in a few weeks.
Permanent Link
Read More ...
Microsoft Arc Wireless Keyboard Review
Microsoft's Wireless Arc Keyboard is a strange enigma. As a designer product it obviously places a higher emphasis on form over function, yet even with the large number of features that were sacrificed in the name of style, the keyboard still holds enough utility to prove appealing. So how is it that a keyboard without a numpad, media buttons, proper arrow keys or mouse controls is managing to entice casual users and HTPC enthusiasts alike? Press on to our full review to find out.
Permanent Link
Read More ...
Apple iPad Almost as Power Hungry as Steve Jobs
The wait is over and the mythical iPad has arrived. Half the Internet seems to be writing reviews for the other half about the iPad. Sadly, most of them have found out what most already knew, "it's a big iPhone". Even with this oversimplification making it sound bad, it is actually charming just about everyone who touches it. The screen is just as clear and bright as the iPhone and just as responsive. It is strikingly thin, on the order of eBook/Kindle thin, making it a great MID/eBook replacement device. There are a few drawbacks, most are still around from the iPhone. There's still no media card slot, so you are still limited to the built in RAM available. No multitasking, 75,000 apps available but one app at a time is all you get. Web browsing is still missing Flash, don't worry it's just one of the most common web media types on the internet, you'll be fine without it.
USB charging is a bit of an issue as well; the USB charger included with the iPad is much more powerful than normal USB chargers. People who are trying to charge the iPad from a PC or from other non-Apple charging adapters are having all manner of failures due to insufficient juice. The iPad will either not charge at all or charge so slow that you'd have to leave it plugged in all day just to get a partial charge. Even then, you are confounded with a message that it is "Not Charging". Apple has apparently bumped its own USB ports up to 1 Amp, which is double the standard USB charging current of 500mA. The AC charger that comes with the iPad pumps a full 2 Amps of power. We aren't exactly sure what the point of using a standard plug with a non-standard power level is. This might be something for the heavy-duty USB 3.0 PCIe card, but there's no telling that if the card can supply this much current to the USB 2.0 iPad. The next few months of user exposure will tell us if this is going to be the game changer that Apple hopes it is. Other challengers are quickly lining up in the space and the competition could be fierce if they make it to our hands quickly.
Permanent Link
Read More ...
128GB Blu-ray Standard is Near, but Don't Throw Away your BD Players Yet
While most advances in technology bring us great joy, this is one that brings mixed emotions. The successor to Blu-ray, BDXL, is just around the corner. Only months after the 3D specification was released, this new format is here to shake everything up. The bad news: it's not backwards compatible. That's right, that shiny new Blu-Ray player, burner, 100-disc changer may have an expiration date stamped on it that could be sooner than you thought. The new format can have capacities up to 128GB, more than twice that of current BD discs. The extended storage is made possible through the addition of new layers. Previous players won't be able to read these new layers.
While the new format is definitely an improvement, it's not necessarily a needed one. Blu-ray movies in High definition are able to fit on 25GB. The new 3D standard only adds about 50% more data leaving a hefty 25% of a dual layer disc still free. Without a real need for space even in the face of a possible market changer in 3D, there won't be much call for BDXL. The new format is aimed more at niche markets that desperately need more offline storage. Medical and other records applications are prime targets for the new format and will likely rapidly adopt the new standard even if home users don't. On the upside, if you do purchase one of the new players/recorders, it should be able to read original Blu-Ray discs without problem.
Permanent Link
Read More ...
No comments:
Post a Comment