IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 22/05/2012

Chrome beats IE, is now world's top browser
We reported a while ago about how when the weekend came Chrome became the most popular browser in the world for a day. Chrome has once again taken the top browser spot, but this time it held onto it for more than a week. At the time of writing, Chrome is still on top albeit a bit less ahead than it was last week.

Last week, Chrome led with 32.76% market share according to StatCounter. During this same week of May 14 to May 20, Internet Explorer managed to grab only 31.94% of the market. This week isn't looking quite as promising as Chrome has dropped to just 31.88% while Internet Explorer has dropped to 31.47% market share.

Back in March, when Chrome overtook IE on the weekend, StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen said, "whether Chrome can take the lead in the browser wars in the long term remains to be seen, however the trend towards Chrome usage at weekends is undeniable. At weekends, when people are free to choose what browser to use, many of them are selecting Chrome in preference to Internet Explorer."

Chrome still has some ways to go to catch up to Internet Explorer in certain countries. It's also not clear if Chrome will be able to maintain its lead when Windows 8 comes out with an updated Internet Explorer and the restrictions put on WoA. Only time will tell if Google can keep Chrome in the top spot.

ASUS motherboards get the Thunderbolt treatment
I love me some new hardware. I don't read Chinese the best, if at all, but what I gather from these pictures and a bad Google Translate is that ASUS has released two new motherboards that support Intel's super fast Thunderbolt port. The products in question are the P8Z77-V PREMIUM and P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT and ASUS claims they have been Intel certified.

The boards appear to be ATX standard based and the P8Z77-V PREMIUM features 4 PCIe-x16 slots and 2 PCIe-x1 slots. It also comes with dual Gigabit Ethernet ports. Additionally, it features an mSATA SSD for Smart Response and a front USB 3 expansion module. These boards are both, as the name implies, using the Intel Z77 chipset that was released in conjunction with Ivy Bridge.

The second board, the P8Z77-V PRO/THUNDERBOLT, sports the same 2 PCIe-x1 slots with only 3 PCIe-x16 expansion ports. It features a single Gigabit Ethernet port and DVI, VGA, and HDMI video connectors. It does not come with an mSATA SSD, nor does it feature a DisplayPort output. Prices are unknown at this time. More as it comes.

Parents to get an incredible amount of control over child's phone
A new service offered by Vodafone is set to allow parents almost full control of a child's phone. From reading text messages to preventing contact additions, this new parental control system will give parents a new tool to snoop into the lives of their children. Is this something that parents really should be able to do?

The new parental control system is developed by Bemilo and will allow parents access to read every text message, set timers for the phone to turn on and off at, and review new contact additions before storing them. Unlike an app, this service will work with any cell phone as it is linked to the SIM card. The service is controlled by a website and will cost £2.95 per month.

Bemilo founder Simon Gaff told The Telegraph: "Unlike an app, Bemilo's SIM will work on any mobile device or tablet, and most importantly cannot be bypassed by the child." But, should parents really be doing this? As someone who had a cell phone from grade 8 on and the ability to remember this fact, I can say that it's probably a bad idea. It seems as though the kids with parents who were overly restrictive were the kids who managed to get themselves into the biggest trouble.

Google forcing Docs users to transition to Drive with no opt-out
Google Docs' days are numbered. Google has pitched Google Drive as a replacement to Google Docs since its release in April. What I, along with many users, didn't realize is that Google will be killing off Docs and transitioning all users to Drive. Drive is currently still opt-in, but it looks like soon users will be opted-in automatically as their Docs account is upgraded to a Drive account.

In fact, Google has started to warn users of just this fact. It seems as though this transition is coming sooner rather than later, and Google's transition documentation supports that saying that "we expect to finish the transition from the Google Documents List to Google Drive by late summer (2012)."

This transition will occur in three phases. Currently, users are in phase one, or the "opt-in phase." From there, users will be allowed to opt-out for a little while longer if they would like more time to transition. Once users are moved onto phase three, everyone will have a Google Drive and Google Docs will no longer exist.

This isn't exactly a bad thing. Drive is a good replacement and has the same capabilities as Docs and even comes with more storage. Unlike the controversial Gmail upgrade, one could argue that Drive is the next logical step for the Docs app to make. I doubt many people will complain over the forced upgrade as much as they did over the Gmail one.

Deal of the Day: HP Pavilion HPE H8-1240t High-Performance Desktop PC - $749.99 Shipped Free!
Our Deal of the Day is HP Pavilion HPE H8-1240t High-Performance Desktop PC - $749.99 Shipped Free!

HP has a 25% off coupon on customized HP Desktop or All-in-One Desktop PCs priced at $999+! This coupon gets you the high performance HP Pavilion HPE H8-1240t Desktop PC with the latest Ivy Bridge 3rd Gen Intel Core i7-3770 Quad Core Processor for just $749.99 shipped free! Check out the specs: 3rd Gen Intel Core i7-3770 Quad-Core processor (3.4GHz w/ Turbo to 3.9GHz), 8GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [2 DIMMs], 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive, 1GB DDR3 AMD Radeon HD 7570 [HDMI, DVI, VGA via adapter], 460W Power supply, SuperMulti DVD Burner, Premium Wireless-N LAN card, 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB 2.0 (front), 2 USB 3.0 (top), Beats Audio, Premium HP keyboard and optical mouse, Windows 7 Home Premium [64-bit].

Use coupon code: DTU7745 for the 25% discount. Expires after 500 uses or on 05/23/2012.

HP PAVILION HPE H8-1240T PREMIUM HIGH PERFORMANCE DESKTOP PC W/ 3RD GEN INTEL CORE I7-3770 QUAD DEAL

Comay Venus Pro 3 128GB Solid State Drive Review

Introduction

A few days ago we introduced you to the Data Memory Systems' Celerity 6G Plus SSD. At the time I mentioned that we are in the process of tracking down products from SSD manufactures that are not well known. Our goal is to find the hidden treasures out there, the diamonds in the rough. Today we actually found one!

Comay, the SSD division for Chinese based company CoreRise, is a true SSD manufacturer with a production facility. Comay is the largest SSD manufacturer that you've never heard of, I guarantee it. To put the Comay product line into perspective, they are the only company listed on SandForce's website that even remotely comes close to the number of models released by OCZ Technology. Both companies list 16 different products at the time of writing.

Comay manufactures both consumer and enterprise SSDs, a bit of an oddity these days. Their flagship consumer drive, the Venus Pro 3 though is a mix between consumer pricing and enterprise power features. Today we're looking at the 120GB drive and in two weeks we'll look at the 240GB model.

At the start of the second SandForce Revolution, when the first SATA III SF-2281 drives started to emerge, we previewed the OCZ Vertex 3 Pro. This was a similar SSD, but marketed straight to the enterprise customer. The Vertex 3 Pro never actually made it to market, at least not under with Vertex branding. The difference between the Vertex 3 Pro and the Vertex 3 was a small capacitor dubbed a supercap.

The CapXX Supercap is like a small rechargeable battery or more specifically a capacitor which to everyone other than an engineer would just be considered a battery. The Supercap is fairly small, but it holds enough power to keep the SandForce Flash Processor Unit (FPU or controller) and the NAND flash powered on long enough to write the data stored in the controllers buffers. So, if your computer loses power or the SSD loses power, your buffered data is retained. That's not the only enterprise tech the Comay Venus Pro 3 uses. Let's take a look at the specifications.
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Sniper Elite V2 PC Review

Remember the days where World War 2 games were met with a certain disdain? The days where we felt there was just way too many of them. Whilst war games continue to be a very popular genre, we haven't seen a serious tilt with World War 2 for at least a few years. So in a way it's refreshing to be heading back to one of the world's biggest conflicts. However it's not just the setting that is somewhat refreshing, but the gameplay style. Sniper Elite V2 is best described as a World War 2 Splinter Cell game with snipers and if you expect this game to play like Gears of War, then you will be very surprised indeed.

Sniper Elite V2 is set towards the end of World War 2. The Germans are on the brink of collapse and are throwing out their last ditch efforts to continue the war against the Allied forces. You play as a crack allied sniper behind enemy lines. Sneaking in to take out key targets of the enemy whilst also discovering the German plans and ultimately stopping one of the largest tragedies of the war occurring. That all sounds cliche, but it is the gameplay and its different take on the usual World War 2 style of play that differentiates this game from the rest.

The word sniper isn't in the games title for no reason. Primarily your goal is get to an elevated spot, don't be detected and take out a high level German from distance. How you reach that goal is purely up to you. The game gives you many tools to play around with and on the higher difficulty levels you really do need to plan your attacks. One false move and the enemy is alerted and once that happens, you may as well restart, at least on the higher difficulties. On the lower end the developers have taken some liberties and included a machine gun for you to get out of tough spots with, but in general, stealth is the way to go.

And not just because it's the best way to survive, but because it shows the areas where this game shines. Slowly building up to a point, laying traps for chasing enemies and finally getting that one single shot off is immensely satisfying. Moving through levels without being detected offers more freedom although as the missions continue, this does become harder and harder to achieve.

Also, it's not just the German's who remain your enemy with environmental factors also becoming both your friend and foe. For example, when aiming with the sniper rifles you need to take into account distance and wind to ensure a hit. On the Sniper Elite difficulty level this is incredibly tough to get right, but ultimately incredibly satisfying. But also it can offer opportunities. Sniper rifles are incredibly loud, but you can use environmental sounds to hide your shots such as bombs landing. The depth of the sniping in this game really is second to none.

However the lack of variety in the game is probably its biggest problem. Ultimately each mission leads to same tasks over and over (reach x, shoot y, disable z) and considering the vast levels the developers have built, it could have been utilized a lot more. Also the AI can often leave a lot to be desired. During one mission we were right next to an enemy, and they couldn't see us. Clearly an AI bug.

The game also features a strong multiplayer component and even an exclusive mode for the PC. Competitive multiplayer is only available on the PC and entails team deathmatch. However where the real multiplayer gems are is in the Overwatch and Bombing Run mode. In these two modes you work together (one as a sniper, one as a spotter), to take on the enemy. It is up to the sniper to protect the spotter as he only has a pistol and machine gun to defend himself against enemy weaponry. Bombing run tasks the two players to gather items to put together a vehicle to escape before a bombing run occurs. The co-op was always going to be interesting given the premise of the game.

As mentioned before, the missions are set in rather large areas however the game generally has a very linear feel. It doesn't take too long to figure out where to go next, and whilst you can approach sections in different ways, it's not at a level where you can go anywhere in the environment, prepare your attack and then do so. That would have been truly something special.

The environments are detailed and the graphics do the job well. One interesting feature with the graphics is the kill cam style x-ray vision. As you hit targets an x-ray vision pops up to show exactly the damage you have done to the enemy such as smashed skulls, broken spines or yes, popped testicles. You know you have had a good shot when the x-ray mode pops up. The sound side of things is also quite good with the soundtrack ramping up once you are spotted. It's an easy way to tell if you are currently being hunted or not.

Sniper Elite V2 does a lot right, but there is just a few things missing that keep this from a must buy AAA experience. With just a little more polish, Rebellion could have been on to a mega winner with this game, but instead it falls just short. The gameplay is there, but the missions can seem repetitive and without that much variety.

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Available Tags:Chrome , ASUS , motherboards , Thunderbolt , Google , HP ,

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 22/05/2012

Introduction

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