Battlefield 4 confirmed for next-gen consoles, we will see more in the next two months
If there's a single game I'm excited for in the next couple of years, it has to be Battlefield 4. Battlefield 3 really pushed the boundaries within the first-person shooter in terms of graphics, but the next one should amp that up considerably.
EA labels president Frank Gibeau has said:
We've been investing and innovating on new technology for months. Console partners who have seen our early work agree, EA's next-gen software is nothing short of astonishing. At a GameStop company meeting earlier this week, we gave 500 store managers a sneak peak at Battlefield 4. The game received a huge ovation and thousands of fans reacted to a single enthusiastic Tweet by GameStop's CEO.
At the end of last month, Gibeau told investors that EA would share the first official details of Battlefield 4 in "about 30 days". We're now 30 days into those 90, so we're just two months from hearing this information. The game is coming "next year" and will reach next-gen consoles and PC.
Now that the PS4 has been unveiled and is sporting x86-based hardware, we should see PC games really leap in terms of graphics. Not only that, we should see much better performance as the hardware in the consoles is pretty much identical to that of a PC. Instead of porting the game over from a totally different set of hardware, they'll be just porting it over on the same x86 architecture - this should be a huge step for PC gaming.
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Gaming in 4K tested out on Windows 8 and Max Payne 3
Something we will be getting more into this year is 4K Ultra HD technology, this is the next-gen of PC and it's some seriously hot stuff. The
Windows blog got their hands on a 55-inch 4K-capable Ultra HD TV and ran some DirectX 11 games on it.
They tried Max Payne 3 with an AMD Radeon HD 7970 and saw some great details from the game. The one thing to remember here is the insane amount of pixels being pushed from the 4K Ultra HD TV set. At 1280x720, you're barely scraping 1-megapixel of information at 0.91 megapixels. The standard now, 1920x1080, pushes 2.07 megapixels - but 4K? An insane 8.2 megapixels... a huge, huge jump. That jump requires some serious GPU horsepower.
The TV being used was set to just 30Hz, so the maximum frames per second will be 30. The 4K display wasn't the only one being used, with the GPU driving 3 other displays, too. There's a video on the site which you should check out, too.
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Apple seeking new 'Maps Ground Truth Data Specialist' in Australia
Apple are looking for someone in Australia for a new position, the position open is for a 'Maps Ground Truth Data Specialist'. This position has been up for a couple of days, and comes just months after Apple's Maps app failing to provide correct mapping data in Australia.
The position will check "changes to map data, provide feedback on unique local map requirements, collect ground truth information, and evaluate competing products." But what is 'Ground Truth'? Well, that is information collected on location versus the data being collected remotely, such as data from satellites.
The full job listing is below:
Job Summary
Imagine what you could do here. At Apple, great ideas have a way of becoming great products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job and there's no telling what you could accomplish.
Key Qualifications
- Excellent attention to detail
- QA experience
- Familiarity with evaluating map quality
- Detailed knowledge of the unique features of your local area, including preferred driving routes, landmarks, and road names
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent
- Strong written and spoken English skills
Description
The Maps team is looking for people with knowledge of mapping, great testing skills, and local expertise to help us build better and better maps. In this position, you will be responsible for the quality of map data for your region. You will test changes to map data, provide feedback on unique local map requirements, collect ground truth information, and evaluate competing products.
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Google releases Chrome 25, comes with voice recognition support
Google has released the latest stable version of Chrome. This new version comes with the typical bug fixes, improved security, and performance updates that we have come to expect from updates. Also included in this latest version of Chrome is the ability to add voice recognition via the Web Speech API.
The Web Speech API allows Chrome to send snippets or continuous speech to Google's Voice service. Google's servers then send back the text version of what was said. This is incredibly useful for users who can't type do to physical disabilities or are slow typists.
Google has also disabled silent extension installs as they announced they were going to do back in December. Google says that too many third-parties were taking advantage of the opportunity to install extensions that users didn't want or didn't even accept.
You can
download Google Chrome 25 from Google's website.
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Google wants to get Glass on sale by end of this year for less than $1,500
Google is looking to get a "fully-polished" version of Glass on sale by the end of this year. The search giant has said that the augmented reality headset will cost "less than $1,500" when it eventually goes on sale. The headset has already been available for pre-order for $1,500, though those versions aren't the same as what will be released to the general public.
As with all technology, the early adopters end up paying a premium to remain an early adopter. The Project Glass headset was announced last year and got a demonstration at Google I/O. The headset will be able to record pictures and video, provide directions, and much more, all controlled by your voice.
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Vine Flip turns your Vine videos into a flipbook
If you're one of the many people who made flipbooks in their youth, there is now a much easier way to do it. A new website, called
Vine Flip, will turn your six-seocnd Vine video into a flipbook. The founders got the idea after thinking about how awesome it would be to pass a flipbook of a Vine video they had just taken around the office.
We were goofing around our office shooting our friends being foolish and thought, how funny if we could make this into a flipbook and secretly pass them around the office. And then the ideas of other ways we'd like to flip our Vines came flowing out - from marriage proposals to parties. We knew we had to roll this out if nothing else to entertain ourselves
Turning a Vine video into a flipbook has lots of cool uses, but it really is just an awesome demonstration of the digital world becoming physical once again. For $14, you can turn a Vine video into a pair of flipbooks, though you can order as many as you want. They will take five to ten business days for them to be created and delivered.
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Industry officials expect Microsoft to unveil next-gen Xbox in April
Numerous industry sources, including some Sony employees, expect that Microsoft will unveil the next-generation Xbox at an event in April. A senior Sony official stated he was informed that the PS4 unveiling had "at first caught Microsoft off-guard. We definitely ruffled some feathers."
Another indication that the next-gen Xbox is just around the corner is that a Microsoft media partner, Ustechs, has registered the internet domain XboxEvent.com. Microsoft continues to decline to comment about the next-gen Xbox.
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Google announces I/O registration opens March 13, requires Google+ and Google Wallet accounts
Google has announced that registration for Google I/O will open on March 13 at 7a.m. PST. Last year, the event sold out in just 20 minutes, so you'll need to be on top of registration to make sure you reserve your spot at the event. Last year, Google unveiled the Nexus 7 and other products.
This year's I/O will take place May 15 to May 17 in the Moscone Center, located in beautiful San Francisco, California. To register for the event, you'll be required to have a Google+ account and Google Wallet buyer account. Prices remain the same at $900 for general attendees and $300 for academic attendees.
More information can be found on
Google's I/O page.
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Sony aiming to show PlayStation 4 console at E3...or sooner
As we've previously reported, the actual
PlayStation 4 console was noticeably absent from the unveiling Wednesday night. Sony said that this was due to the console's hardware and design still being finalized. The CEO of Sony has now come out and said that we should see the actual console at E3 or sooner.
"
I would look for E3 as a time when you'll get a good look at it," he told Forbes in an interview. "
Or sooner."
As soon as actual pictures of the PlayStation 4 surface, you can be sure that you'll be able to find them here on TweakTown.
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Google buildings have toxic fumes likely resulting from previous occupants
A couple of Google's office buildings in Mountain View, California are having issues with toxic fumes that are likely the result of the previous owners of the land. Buildings QD6 and QD7 were found to have high levels of trichloroethylene (TCE), a toxic solvent used in the manufacturing of electronic chips.
The previous owners of the land were Fairchild Semiconductor, Intel, Raytheon, and other chip makers. These companies dumped thousands of gallons of THC into the ground, which has contaminated the water. Google installed air filters when they moved in and conducted air quality tests.
Readings as high as 8 micrograms per cubic meter were recorded. Normal exposure is 5 micrograms per cubic meter. The EPA has said that it would take decades of exposure to cause problems, not the few months that Google employees experienced.
Google released a statement, saying "
The health and safety of our employees is Google's number one priority, and we take several proactive measures to ensure the healthiest indoor air environments possible."
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LeakedTT: These images purported to be of cases for the Samsung Galaxy S IV
We're getting a little more insight into what the Samsung Galaxy S IV might look like thanks to some leaked images of cases for the upcoming device. The following images, originally posted by MobileFun, are said to be of cases for the upcoming Galaxy S IV device and should let us dissect some of design elements we can expect.
The Galaxy S IV is widely expected to be announced in a few weeks' time, at which time we shall find out if these cases are the real deal. Judging from the images, it appears that there will be a large camera centered on the back of the device with a speaker or microphone on one side of the lens and a flash on the other.
The headphone jack appears to be at the top right (while looking at the front of the device). Volume buttons are present of the left side and a lock button is on the right. The microUSB connector is at the standard location of the bottom of the device.
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ASUS GeForce Titan offered up for pre-order on Newegg
Earler this week, we were introduced to the NVIDIA GeForce Titan GPU, a consumer graphics card based off of the GK110 chip which is currently used in supercomputers. System integrators, such as iBuyPower, Maingear, and Origin have announced that they will be offering the GPU in some of their systems.
But I'm sure many of our readers are interested in buying just the GPU. Newegg has put the
Titan up for pre-order for a mere $999. The model available on Newegg is from ASUS and is listed to be available for purchase on February 28, so six days from now. EVGA, and possibly other vendors, will be offering up their own boards, likely before February 28.
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Scientists at Cornell University show off 3D printed human ear
If
one daily dose of 3D printing was not enough for you, scientist at Cornell University have successfully printed lifelike human ears that can be used to treat birth defects such as microtia. Other possible uses are for accident victims or those who lost an ear to cancer.
The "product" that is almost perfectly identical to a human ear, was printed using gel made from living cells, a type of collagen that is gathered from rat tails as well as cartilage cells taken from cow ears. The whole process is rather quick too in terms of forming a living organ.
Associate professor Lawrence Bonassar said:
"It takes half a day to design the mold, a day or so to print it, 30 minutes to inject the gel, and we can remove the ear 15 minutes later. We trim the ear and then let it culture for several days in nourishing cell culture media before it is implanted."
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ShockTT: Project Glass will be Apple iPhone compatible, says Google
The only thing that is being hyped as much as the PlayStation 4 this week is Google's Project Glass. Earlier this week we
heard about a new contest being held to let select individuals get in on the pre-order program, and now we are hearing reports that Apple iPhone users will indeed get compatibility with the wearable technology.
This morning The Verge released an extensive hands on with Google's futuristic eye-ware, but what is more interesting is the fact that Verge writer Joshua Topolsky was able to get a definitive answer on whether or not the exciting new project would be compatible with the iPhone, or if Google planned on keeping it exclusive to Android devices.
The device gets data through Wi-Fi on its own, or it can tether via Bluetooth to an Android device or iPhone and use its 3G or 4G data while out and about. There's no cellular radio in Glass, but it does have a GPS chip.
The article also mentions that Project Glass head Steven Lee has said that we should see project glass hitting the shelves before the end of 2013. I have linked to the full article at the Source #2 position below.
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New service Makexyz is like Airbnb for 3D printer owners
It's no secret that 3D printing is one of the hottest trends in recent history, and it should be no surprise that anyone and everyone is coming up with new ways to capitalize on the 3D printing revolution. Makexyz is a new service that has been launched to help connect those who need 3D printed items with 3D printer owners.
Makexzy creator Nathan Tone told VentureBeat
"Instead of being printed at some Orwellian factory, our objects are printed by real people." Tone said the idea for the service came to him when a part he designed, took weeks to be printed and shipped to him through traditional 3D printing services.
"Theres's a big benefit to just printing locally. Objects are half as expensive and you get them twice as fast", he said.
Tone says that services like Shapeways take too much time and cost over double as something printed on a personal machine sourced locally. With most services charging as much as $1.50 per cubic centimeter having something printed is just out of reach for some designers.
"We've been careful to make sure that our prices are lower than working through a big company", Tone said.
The service works like this: A designer signs up, uploads their 3D design, and Makexzy links them to hundreds of listed privately owned 3D printers, who then print the objects and ship them out to the designer. I attempted to use the service and get a quote on a 1cm x 1cm cube, but I never saw any pricing breakdown. I did notice that the service offers object materials ranging from brass to sandstone to plastic. I may list my printer with the service and report back on my experiences in the next few weeks.
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Jimmy Fallon first to demo PlayStation 4's "Killzone: Shadow Fall"
During Wednesday's PS4 event we were given a look at an extended play-through of one of the next-gen console's launch titles, Killzone: Shadow Fall. The graphics were impressive, but the demo was being played by an experienced Sony staffer who could have had weeks of play time ahead of the launch.
Last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, we once again got to see Killzone: Shadow Fall in action. This time however, Fallon himself took to the touch-pad equipped DualShock 4 controller. The graphics were still quite astonishing, and gameplay remained smooth. Unfortunately, Fallon did not fare well in the battle on the screen, and the demo quickly turned into a shouting match.
Interestingly enough, we still did not see any glimpse of the PS4 console itself, which lends further credence to the stories of it still being deep in development. We are a little disappointed that we have yet to see a physical console with all the hype that has been generated over the past week. The least Sony could do is show off some super sleek concept prototype.
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RumorTT: Capcom's Arcade Cabinet may be making its way to the Nintendo 3DS
Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 have had Capcom's Arcade Cabinet for a while now. It appears that the game library may be coming to Nintendo's 3DS if recent ESRB listings are true.
Capcom's Arcade Cabinet is a game pack developed by the veteran gaming company to bring classic games to modern gaming devices. Some featured titles include Avengers, Ghost n Goblins, Gun Smoke, Trojan, Commando, 1942 and several others.
A recent listing with the ESRB for the vertically-scrolling shooter 1943 suggests that the Arcade Cabinet is well on its way to making a debut on the 3DS. We would like to know if any of you are itching to download these classic coin eaters to your 3DS. After this news, I may just pick up a 3DS for myself, for some nostalgic gaming glory!
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Qualcomm unveils world's first global LTE chip, helps to make connecting in multiple countries easier
When traveling overseas, finding an LTE network that is compatible with your device can be a major hassle, and oftentimes, impossible. Qualcomm has just announced that they have solved the global LTE dilemma.
Dubbed the RF360, Qualcomm's new LTE radio chip is the world's first truly global LTE silicon. It sports connectivity for LTE-FDD, LTE-TDD, WCDMA, EV-DO, CDMA 1x, TD-SCDMA and GSM / EDGE. Qualcomm also says the chip has features that allow manufacturers to develop thinner products that have improved antenna performance, battery life and connection reliability.
Also being shown off was the WTR1625L chip, which is the industry's first component that features carrier aggregation alongside international LTE compatibility. We will have to wait several more months before we begin to see any hardware sporting either of the new chips, and no mention was made of partnerships with handset manufacturers that might utilize the new hardware.
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Facebook plans to place your old photos into cold storage facility
Image storage is becoming a major issue for social networking giant Facebook. The service sees over 300 million photos uploaded every single day, which equates to over 109 billion photos uploaded to the social network annually. Naturally, not all of these photos are viewed every single day - some of them go months without being viewed.
Facebook says that 82-percent of all traffic that the service sees is made up of only eight percent of the images stored on the company's servers. This equates to a very large amount of energy inefficient storage for files that are rarely accessed. Facebook has come up with a plan to solve this issue, though.
The company is planning a new "cold storage" facility that will house the old photos and store them for future retrieval. The facility will be located in Prineville, Oregon, and will have three 16,000 square-foot data hubs. The servers will lay in hibernation until data is requested from them. This will increase the amount of time it takes for an old photo to be served to the end-user, but most will never notice it. The delay will be
"a matter of seconds, or milliseconds", said Facebook communication manager, Michael Kirkland.
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Anonymous hack the US State Department, hours after their Twitter account was hacked
It was only hours ago that Anonymous' Twitter account was hacked, and now it seems that the hacking collective have taken down, or at least infiltrated yet another federal government website.
The latest target is the US State Department, and on top of hacking the site itself, they were able to acquire personal data on hundreds of State department employees, posting it all online. The personal data includes private and work e-mails, phone numbers and addresses that Anonymous dumped on the ZeroBin website.
Anonymous have said that the hack on the US State Department is in retaliation for the arresting of members from LulzSec. Anonymous said within their data post to ZeroBin:
Our reasons for this attack are very simple. You've imprisoned or either censored our people. We will not tolerate things as such. You don't see us going around censoring everything that is inappropriate or we do not like. Basically, you tried to put an end to us and you got owned, there's nothing more you can say or do. You took away Topiary, Avunit, Neuron, Pwnsauce, lolspoon, Aaron Swartz shall we go on?
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EA jumps on the layoff bandwagon, gets rid of people in LA, Montreal
We just heard about
IGN's layoffs that will affect many gaming sites, and now in other gaming layoff related news, EA have announced an unknown amount of layoffs in their Los Angeles, Montreal and "smaller locations".
The news is coming directly from EA Labels President Frank Gibeau said:
Thousands of our existing employees have been retrained and redeployed to work on the new platforms and initiatives. But when it is not possible to redeploy a team, we soften the tough decisions with assistance. This week we let some people go in Los Angeles, Montreal as well as in some smaller locations. These are good people and we have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease their transition to a new job.
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IGN see mass layoffs, will see the closure of 1UP, Gamespy and UGO
It looks like IGN have been slammed with mass editorial layoffs today, which will see 1UP, UGO and Gamespy shutting down. A company spokesperson told Joystiq:
We are focusing on our two flagship brands, IGN and AskMen. Unfortunately, as a result, we have made the decision to close sites and restructure our teams accordingly.
What now? There's only a few big gaming sites out there now - what are your thoughts on that?
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PlayStation Vita will not receive a price cut in North America
Players looking to score a deal on the PlayStation Vita will be disappointed to hear that the handheld console will not be receiving a price cut like the one that was recently announced for Japan. According to Shuhei Yoshida, head of Sony Worldwide Studios, the reason for this is the exchange rate.
The exchange rate has been an issue with Nintendo in recent earnings reports, as well. This could ultimately play into the price of the PlayStation 4, when released, if the exchange rates stay at a similar level to what they are currently at.
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Google introduces tiered 24/7 support service for cloud services
If you're a user of Google's cloud services and have ever been stuck, you're probably not alone. To solve these issues, Google has introduced a tiered support service that spans the range of possible needs for support. The starting price is a lowly $0, but this just means you have access to online documentation, forums, and billing support.
Step up one level and you'll be looking at $150 per month. For this, you'll get "direct access to [Google's] support team." Step up again and you're looking at $400 per month. For this, you will get 24x7 phone support and various other support services. Of course, if none of these meet your needs, you can contact Google and get a custom plan that will set you back an undetermined amount.
You can find out more about the different support options on
Google's website.
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Facebook bug prevents users from entering birth year before 1910
And now, a human interest story. Meet Marguerite Joseph. She's 104 years old and quite proud of her age. Not only is she old, she is an avid user of Facebook. Due to her age, she was in the perfect position to discover a bug within the website that prevents her from putting her real birth year.
She's been in a little bit of a battle with Facebook to get the bug ironed out, but she hasn't been able to. Now that she's getting publicity about the problem, Facebook has issued a statement saying they've discovered a bug that prevents users from entering a birth year before 1910:
"
We've recently discovered an issue whereby some Facebook users may be unable to enter a birthday before 1910. We are working on a fix for this and we apologize for the inconvenience."
According to Joseph, the website won't even let her enter 1918 as her birth year. Every time she tries to enter her true birth date, Facebook pitches out an error message and changes the year to 1928.
While most people won't be affected by the bug, it certainly shows how Facebook wasn't designed with users of this age in mind. It also shows how times are changing and Facebook has become a staple in people's lives across the spectrum of age.
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GIGABYTE X79S-UP5-WiFi (Intel C606) Motherboard Review
Introduction
With Intel not doing a lot with the CPU and motherboard market till the middle of the year when Computex hits, we're seeing companies hit us up with some refreshes of popular established chipsets. Recently we have not only received a bunch of Z77 motherboards, but we've also seen a couple of X79 ones show up to continue to keep Intel and its partners in the spotlight.
Outside of these Intel boards recently, though, we've got a couple of AMD boards lined up waiting for the recently looked at
AMD A10-5800K and FX-8350 processors to be installed in to. Today, though, isn't about AMD based chips or boards, instead we're all Intel here. The X79 Express chipset really should need no introductions, it's been the chipset of choice in our video card testbed since launch thanks to the power house of CPU's that fit in it including the beloved Extreme Edition series. We're not exactly dealing with the Intel X79 chipset today, though. Instead we've got the Intel C606 chipset on offer which is actually the server version of the high-end X79 chipset. It brings with it a few extra options which we'll cover as we work our way through the motherboard.
Along with support for some of the fastest CPU's on the planet, the chipset also carries support for massive amounts of RAM and video cards. While it's been almost a year since we looked at an X79 motherboard, we dust off our trusty 3960X that has been sitting around and find out just what this chipset has to offer.
Today we're looking at a board from GIGABYTE with the X79S-UP5-WiFi name attached to it. The UD5 / UP5 name has always been one that has impressed us with a strong feature set and a more aggressive price point than its bigger brothers.
There are a few things we need to do before we get into the performance side of things. We'll check out the box and the package to see what GIGABYTE is doing in this area. Once we've done that we'll move onto a closer look at the board before heading into the BIOS. Finally before we get into the testing side we'll check out our testbed here today and look at how we went with the overclocking side of things.
Package
While we're dealing with quite a large box, we're haven't got one that opens up like we see on some of the high-end GIGABYTE offerings. With that said you can see we've got an absolute wealth of information here. Across the top we've got a large push on the Ultra Durable 5 feature while across the bottom you can see the 3D Power and 3D BIOS is being pushed.
Looking at the back of the box you can see a lot more detail when it comes to the main features that are being pushed on the front of the box. Across the top you can see an expansion of the Ultra Durable 5 side of things and how it offers more power efficiency and better cooling throughout the motherboard. Covered below that is the 2x Copper PCB, Dual UEFI BIOS and look at some of the main features of the motherboard via a picture.
Across the bottom we've got the 3D Power 3-Way Digital Engine, mention of the included Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 card that's included along with a look at the 3D BIOS that GIGABYTE has been using for a while.
Moving inside the package we've got a lot of the usual suspects here. We've got a bunch of paperwork and a couple of CD's including the standard driver one along with another one for the WiFi / Bluetooth card. We've also got six SATA cables included along with a 3-way SLI connector, standard 2-way SLI connector and a CrossFire bridge.
One of the bigger standouts for the bundle is the combo WiFi / Bluetooth card along with its two antennas. It supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n on the wireless front. When it comes to Bluetooth we've got support for 4.0, 3.0+HS, 2.1+EDR making for quite a versatile card.
Finally to round the bundle off we've got a front panel dual port USB adapter included.
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Origin EON17-S Gaming Notebook Review
Introduction
Today we've got Origin's massive EON17-S gaming laptop in the lab. This beast of a machine is one of the most powerful laptops on the market and has blown through our benchmarks with lightning speed.
The EON17-S is styled similarly to the EON11-S that we reviewed last week. Save for a difference in size and performance, the two are very similar. Both have excellent build quality and performance packed into a mobile chassis.
The EON17-S is the big brother of the EON11-S. It features a massive 17-inch screen and features that put my desktop system to shame. Let's take a look at the specifications and how it does in our benchmarks.
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ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP (Intel H77) Motherboard Review
Introduction
Intel's H77 chipset isn't really one that we've followed too closely. So much so that I had to actually bring myself to search TweakTown to see if I had actually reviewed a board that uses the chipset. A quick search discovers that we haven't which makes this review become even more important as we take our first look at the H77 chipset.
For the most part there's not too much that separates the H77 and Z77 chipset. The major difference is the inability to split off the PCIe x16 slot. The other main difference is that "CPU Overclocking" is disabled. We don't know too much about this and we'll cover it more in the overclocking side of things in a couple of pages.
Apart from these two differences, though, the similarities between both boards are very similar with maximum SATA III ports coming in at two off the chipset, up to four USB 3.0 ports of the chipset and Intel RST and SRT technology both being offered.
The first thing we need to do is check out the box and the bundle that ASRock is offering us. Considering the $79.99 price tag associated with the board, we're not expecting anything too major when it comes to extras.
Once we've done that we'll move onto the board itself before checking out the BIOS. Following that we'll look at our testbed setup and cover the overclocking side of things where we'll cover the "No CPU Overclocking" feature that is listed as not available.
Package
Having a look at the front of the box you can see the 555 XFast technology is heavily highlighted. Apart from that there's not a whole lot more being shown on the front of the box apart from a couple of logos across the bottom and the model number across the top.
Turning the box over you can see we go into some detail on the main features of the board including the 555 XFast technology. Below that you can see we've got a rundown on the Lucid Virtu MVP technology that is included along with a bit of information in Intel Smart Response Technology and Intel Rapid Start Technology. Finally across the bottom we go over some of the other features including DIGI Power, PCIe 3.0, UEFI BIOS, On/Off Play technology and Intel HD graphics.
Considering the price point of the board and the target market, it comes as no surprise that the bundle is on the light side. We've got a bunch of paperwork including some that explains XFast 555 and Lucid Virtu MVP in more detail. Along with that we've got a driver CD, I/O back plate and two SATA cables.
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Sentey LTP1000-SM 1000W 80 PLUS Platinum Power Supply Review
Introduction
Today we are taking a look at our second unit from Sentey. Most of our readers aren't going to know who they are since the company is relatively small, and they are making a name for themselves as they go along. Sentey is a company whose headquarters resides in Florida with an operations center in California and manufacturing in China. The company is also expanding distribution centers in Latin America and is poised to make quite a name for itself. Currently the company offers a wide selection of computer cases, coolers, video cards and power supplies.
The unit that we have in question today is the upcoming LTP1000-SM. It is a 1000W single rail unit rated for 80 PLUS Platinum efficiency. Beyond that, it offers one heck of a warranty at seven years. That doesn't mean too much if it can't handle the heat, so let's start looking at how the power supply stacks up on paper, then move into the testing.
Specifications, Availability and Pricing
Most of the power for the Sentey LTP1000-SM is delivered via the single 12V rail, rated for 83A or 996W. Both minor rails are rated for 20A each and have a combined maximum output of 100W. The 5VSB rail is rated for 2.5A or 12.5W which is half a watt lower than what we are used to seeing. Maximum combined output for the power supply is 1000W.
I was really surprised to see that both Over Current Protection and Over Temperature Protection are missing from the LTP1000-SM, especially considering this is a rebranded Super Flower Golden King unit and all of the others we've covered have had at least one of the two the protections present. Aside from the two missing protections, everything else is present. The power supply features both native and modular cabling, all of which is either fully sleeved or of the flat ribbon type. The LTP1000-SM is rated for 80 PLUS Platinum efficiency as well as 100% continuous output at 50C.
The Sentey LTP1000-SM isn't available for purchase in the USA, but we've been told to expect the unit in March. Once it hits the shelves, you can expect it to have an MSRP of $219.99. This puts it comparatively priced against other similar power supplies. Sentey will back it with a seven year warranty should the need ever arise.
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TRIM Check: Overview of an essential SSD TRIM functionality tester
Introduction
Most SSD users are aware that TRIM is an essential Windows command that prolongs SSD life and ensures that their SSDs stay speedy. TRIM kicks-in after a file deletion in Windows and notifies the SSD controller of which data blocks should be wiped clean.
Like many SSD users I have always wondered whether TRIM actually works on my systems or not. We can check if TRIM is enabled simply by running the fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify command within an elevated command prompt. If the result is DisableDeleteNotify = 0 this means that TRIM is enabled. This however only means that the operating system is configured to send TRIM commands to the SSD controller; it doesn't necessarily mean that TRIM is fully functional. There is a method to check for TRIM functionality using a hex editor, but apart from that there hasn't been an easier and surefire way to find out whether TRIM actually works or not.
I came across some forum posts recently that indicated the existence of an easy-to-use freeware program which checks for TRIM functionality in a definite way. This utility is named "TRIM Check" and has been written by Vladimir Panteleev.
Let's take a look at it.
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Google Nexus 4 Smartphone Review 2.0 - Two Months with Google's Superstar Smartphone
The Last Two Months
My
initial review of the Nexus 4 was very positive. But why don't we try something different here? We're going provide you with some thoughts on how it has been, two months after our review of LG and Google's very competitively priced - if you can find one - smartphone.
I was incredibly lucky at the time, even if it didn't feel like it, to score a Nexus 4 at launch. Remember, this isn't a review sample; I had to sit in front of my computer and smash my F5 key like the rest of you, in a very small 15 minute window, to secure one of these bad boys. Even now, I read on various forums and Reddit that people simply can't buy one still. This isn't the case everywhere, but we know that there just isn't enough stock of the Nexus 4 to meet demand. This happens, even to Apple, but it seems people want the Nexus 4, sometimes more than you see the crazy demand for the latest iPhone.
I've been using my Nexus 4 pretty much exclusively for the last two months as I haven't received many samples of other phones over the holiday period. I've taken it everywhere with me and it has become an increasingly important tool in my day to day life. You can say that about any smartphone, but when you have your digital life so intertwined with Google services, owning a device that provides you with the 'pure Android experience' does just that.
I'm a daily user of Gmail, I live on it. Heck, I'm lying in bed right now typing this into an email to myself so I can work on it on my desktop in the morning. The experience of Google services on the Nexus 4 is nothing short of near perfection. Google's apps are pretty solid, but apart from that I'm very efficient in the amount of content and apps I keep on my phone. I use Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare, SwiftKey, Twitter and a few other apps on the daily. No games, no movies and no TV episodes.
Every smartphone user is different, which is why it's incredibly hard to be a reviewer of these devices. Not everyone will agree with review methods, and this can upset some people. So let's get to my thoughts on the Nexus 4 from using it over the last couple of months.
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Sony Xperia Tablet S Review
Introduction and Specifications, Pricing and Availability
To be brutally honest, I haven't touched a single Sony smart device until the Xperia Tablet S. The last Sony phone I even used was an old Sony Ericsson flip phone from many moons ago. In a world completely dominated by the likes of Apple and Samsung, Sony can get lost in the white noise.
Over the few years, Sony has lost their edge in the smartphone market, especially after they had a huge run with Ericsson - but between then and now, not so much. Sony have enjoyed decades as the undisputed Japanese electronics leader, but that shine has slowly been fading over the years.
The Xperia Tablet S actually launched nearly six months ago now, but was pulled from retail shelves after a manufacturing fault was discovered. This didn't fare well for Sony, as the competition fired multiple rounds, launching the Nexus 10, fourth-generation iPad, iPad mini and many more slates.
Can the Xperia Tablet S change things around for the tablet line at least? Let's take a look at the XPERIA Tablet S' specifications.
Luckily the XPERIA Tablet S sports some decent specs, which we're greeted by with NVIDIA's Tegra 3 quad-core processor, cranking along at 1.3GHz, 1GB of RAM and a 9.4-inch display with a 1280x800-pixel screen - this gives us 161 pixels per inch. On the software side of things, we have Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich - not Jelly Bean like most of the other tablet splashing down right now, but it's not terribly disappointing, either.
The Tablet S comes in three sizes, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB but features expandable storage by an SD card slot - and this isn't any normal microSD card slot, but a full-sized SD card slot. A strange addition in this microSD card slot world.
As for pricing, Newegg sell the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB Xperia Tablet S for $399, $499 and $599 respectively. This isn't too bad, but when you consider it against the Nexus 10 and fourth-generation iPad, it's not that great. The fourth-gen iPad is $100 more at every size point, and the iPad mini is $329. If we take a look on the Android side of things, the Nexus 10 is $399 for the 16GB version, and $499 for the 32GB Nexus 10.
So, Sony is sitting in the middle here - offering their tablet with older software than the Nexus 10 features, but with expandable storage. Availability wise, you should be able to get the Tablet S at most electronics stores, with Newegg offering free shipping on the above prices.
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SanDisk Extreme 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review
Back in November our resident storage editor Chris Ramseyer had the chance to take a look at the SanDisk Extreme SSD, a drive that to this day is one of the highest performing on the market. So, it is only right that we at TweakTown would bring you the next evolution of "Extreme" from SanDisk, albeit much smaller, but still
Extreme.
Last spring SanDisk made its grand entrance into the USB 3.0 flash drive market with the drive we are testing today, the SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 flash drive. Sporting capacities from 16GB to 64GB, the Extreme comes out of the box dawning a clean, compact design with sequential read and write speeds of 190MB/s and 170MB/s respectively.
For those of you that wish to have a more secure environment when transferring sacred data to and from PCs, SanDisk has outfitted the Extreme with 128-bit AES encryption via their Secure Access software. Compatibility of this product is Extreme as well with Windows XP/Vista/7 support along with Mac OSX 10.5+, although you will need a quick download for Secure Access on Mac OSX.
First impressions of the SanDisk Extreme are of its sleek yet simple exterior. Furthering this sleek approach SanDisk has opted for a compact design as well, by adding the slide feature that safely tucks away the USB 3.0 connection inside the case.
The back of the drive shows the model of the flash drive along with information such as the serial and model numbers. You will also find the capacity of the drive listed here - ours is the 64GB model.
Sliding out the USB male connection extends the drive to a full three inches, seen above, and the blue coloring of the port indicates its USB 3.0 compatibility.
As I would not like any of you to destroy your flash drives and waste you're hard earned money, please refrain from attempting this yourself. Disassembling the Extreme was rather easy yet meticulous, but alas I did manage to get it apart and have for your enjoyment images of the internals. Seen above we have the foundation of a blue PCB, the USB 3.0 controller mounted to the left and flash controller to the right.
The backside of the PCB houses a single 64GB NAND flash module. Being SanDisk labelled, we know its toggle mode NAND.
Looking closer at the components on this Extreme's PCB, the flash controller is labelled 20-82-00270-1 and may look familiar to some since it was used in the ReadyCache SSD from SanDisk. The USB 3.0 controller sitting to the right is manufactured by Fujitsu and integrates USB3.0 to SATA bridge and PHY's along with a 32-bit RISC processor to respond to requests from USB host.
The NAND flash package is labelled 07097 064G. I was unable to find out any further information on it as of this writing.
Initial setup of the SecureAccess software if you choose to use it is pretty straight forward. Using alphanumeric characters enter a password that fits your needs - something you won't forget would be preferable.
You will then be greeted with a splash screen, giving you options for transferring files. The easiest method, by far, is the drag and drop.
After securely transferring your data to the drive, upon removal, and reinserting the drive, you will be greeted by a password protected login that will give you access to all your files.
One of the lesser known features of running Microsoft's new operating system Windows 8 is the native capability of USB Attached SCSI or UASP. To start my benchmarking procedure I secure erased the SanDisk Extreme, as I will all drives I test in the future.
ATTO is commonly used for marketing performance of hard drives and solid state drives alike, above you can see that the SanDisk Extreme was a very capable drive. We managed to squeeze out 269MB/s read and just over 206MB/s write, a far cry from the 190/170 numbers that are advertised on the package.
CrystalDiskMark's default testing uses a set of random data or incompressible data, there is also an option for 0xfill or compressible data. We will use the standard data set for our purposes. Again we see strong performance with the SanDisk Extreme, sequential reads were consistent at 268MB/s, while sequential writes stayed fast at 212MB/s. 4K numbers were equally impressive - for a flash drive.
Disk Bench is a rather simple program that benchmarks real-world file transfers between drives. For this test I made up three data sets, one consisting of 1000 pictures totalling 1.5GB, the second consisting of four MP4 movies with a total file size of 8.65GB. The last data set consists of Microsoft Windows 7 x64 install w/ SP1.
The SanDisk Extreme is certainly an impressive drive, with the first of our real-world testing showing us it capabilities as a daily driver. At 94.94MB/s I don't think you'll be pulling your hair out waiting for those pictures to transfer - at least not like the days of USB 2.0.
Copying our movies over proved to be even quicker, with the SanDisk pulling it off in just over 44 seconds.
Transferring our set of Windows install files happened to complete even quicker - 21 seconds for the full 4GB install.
To start, there is certainly something to be said about using this drive with particular USB 3.0 controllers. I had a number of issues getting this drive to show up on my P67 based motherboard, where I found myself with a non-functioning device when USB 3.0 turbo mode was enabled in the BIOS. After searching the web for answers, I found that there does appear to be an issue using the Renesas u720200 USB 3.0 host controller with "Turbo". Our Z77 test system, however, had no such issues.
Being that this was my only issue, we can focus on some of the great features that encompass this entry into the USB 3.0 flash drive market for SanDisk - one being the SecureAccess drive encryption that works very well. Quick drag and drops of your important data leave it secured on the flash drive should you misplace it, although I feel there should be some sort of limit to the number of access attempts made on the drive.
Performance of the Extreme was much better than advertised, coming in at 270MB/s and 206MB/s rather than the advertised 190MB/s and 170MB/s with UASP enabled. Again the key here is the UASP - that comes natively on Windows 8.
SanDisk has also priced this drive very well, at $69.99 for the 64GB version you are paying just over $1 per GB. While there are other USB 3.0 enabled flash drives on the market at a lower initial cost, there aren't many manufactures that offer a lifetime warranty, and this alone should give you reason to take a good look at the Extreme from SanDisk.
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NZXT Phantom 630 High Performance Modular Full-Tower Chassis Review
Introduction
It really doesn't seem that long ago when the first generation Phantom chassis arrived from NZXT. Back then, the aesthetics were something never seen in the case market, and it took just a little bit of time, and a lot of potential buyers fell in love with the design. Then along came a mid-tower design, which pretty much put the Phantom in the dryer on high heat, and left us with the Phantom 410. Moving onward, with the huge success of the Switch 810, NZXT thought, why not dress it in the Phantom exterior, and offered us the Phantom 820. Due to a flood in my basement, I lost that chassis and it is the only one of the series I did not have the chance to look at in depth.
In every new release of chassis in the Crafted Series to hold the Phantom name, there were some pretty major changes to the interiors. On the outside much has changed besides the addition of USB 3.0 as it became popular and slight tweaks to the buttons or the type of fan controllers that are used. Inside the original Phantom, NZXT was trying their hands at wire management with grommets, removable hard drive cages, and potential to add water cooling. Inside the 410 things were much closer, but you still got all the offerings of the full sized Phantom, just less a few wiring holes and bays. We did look at the Switch 810 which is the same as the Phantom 820, and there was a whole new go at the interior, and introduced the adjustable fans on the hard drive bays, a new way to remove the bays, and a much better motherboard tray layout. Just when you think they had a lock on the design, NZXT decides to try another version of the Phantom.
This is where the Phantom 630 High Performance Modular Ultra-Tower chassis comes in today. NZXT decided that maybe the 820 wasn't what people were wanting, and went about trying to make things even better this time around. There are some pretty slick additions like an eight fan hub behind the motherboard tray, SSD mounts behind the tray, and even a new shape and layout of the tray itself. There are a few more chances that were made for this latest rendition, but if I tell you about all of it now, what will keep you reading?
On that note, get comfortable, as there is a lot to cover with a chassis such as the new Phantom 630 from NZXT.
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Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD Review
Introduction
The top performance tier of any market is a fascinating place. Performance in just about any task provides a clear point of reference to judge a product. The very best products tend to cost more than those further down the list and because of that, the very best products are not the most consumed.
Determining what products is the fastest is just one way to measure SSDs. Price and performance tend to get most of our attention here at TweakTown, but other factors, such as reliability and availability do factor in when we write a review.
In 2012, three products stood out as delivering the highest performance possible for the SATA III interface. SuperSSpeed's S301 SLC SSD has dropped off that list for today's review because the architecture doesn't support capacity sizes over 128GB. The price would also be an issue if it did as well. OCZ's Vector and Samsung's 840 Pro on the other hand are left and both products scale to 512GB.
We've reviewed the OCZ Vector SSD in all three capacity sizes, the only review site that I know of to do so. Samsung has been a tough nut for us to crack and I'm sure there are a few reasons why. One that comes to mind is our reluctance to recommend Samsung's lower capacity products. We didn't like the 830 128GB nor the 840 Pro 128GB. Samsung's architecture produces strange latency results in the lower capacity sizes in some of our tests, and you can feel the latency under real-world use.
Just because Samsung doesn't seed us with their products, it doesn't mean we're not going to review them. That said, we acquired our own 840 Pro 256GB drive and shall beat it to a pulp today just like any other SSD. 840 Pro is a product most of our readers want to see because our readers tend to purchase higher end SSDs.
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Micron P400m 200GB Enterprise SSD Review
Introduction
The Micron P400m is Micron's latest SSD in their well-rounded enterprise SSD series. The P400m is the new mainstream enterprise SSD, and Micron offers the
P320h as the flagship PCIe solution and the
P400e as the entry level SSD.
The new P400m enterprise SSD features Micron 25nm MLC NAND in conjunction with the Marvell 9187 controller. One of the many compelling features of the P400m is its 10 DWPD (Drive Writes per Day) of write endurance, which is guaranteed by Micron's first enterprise SSD five year warranty.
The P400m brings sequential read/write speeds of 380/310MB/s, and random read and write IOPS of 60,000/26,000. While the random write IOPS may seem low to the casual observer, it is important to note that these fall into Micron's' traditionally conservative specifications. Measurements are taken while the SSD is in steady state with full span random writes. This is the most demanding scenario for any storage solution, and many other SSD manufacturers will only advertise FOB (Fresh out of Box) specifications.
Micron's previous enterprise SSD, the P300m, was an SLC SSD that provided the ultimate in write endurance for users. SLC can withstand 100,000 P/E cycles, making it incredibly resilient in heavy write workloads. The progression of time and technology has allowed Micron to extend the same 10DWPD endurance to the MLC P400m. The transformation of the P400m's MLC into a solution with similar endurance to an SLC SSD is quite the feat.
Micron's' eXtended Performance and Enhanced Reliability Technology (XPERT) is a new feature from Micron that makes its debut with the P400m series of SSDs. This suite of hardware and firmware optimizations provide the exponential increase in the longevity and endurance of the 25nm MLC NAND employed in the P400m. XPERT also includes data redundancy in the form of the RAIN (Redundant Array of Independent NAND) functionality. This data redundancy is an extra layer of protection that will recover user data should the device suffer an uncorrectable data error, or even the loss of a whole page or block of data. We will cover the XPERT suite in more detail on the following page.
Micron uses a custom high quality MLC NAND from their foundry as a key building block for the P400m. Micron manufactures their own components, which allows them to create custom NAND for their products. This custom NAND has its own designation not found on Micron product sheets, and Micron will not be providing resellers with this specific NAND outside of the P400m. Micron also produces their own DRAM and serial NOR which gives them total control of the data media. This inherent knowledge of component design, manufacture, and core characteristics provide Micron with an advantage during the design and integration phases.
Micron utilizes the proven Marvell 9187 controller with the P400m. This popular 8-channel controller delivers its speed via the 6Gb/s SATA port and allows Micron to create their own firmware. This tailor-made firmware is enhanced to work efficiently with the Micron NAND, adjusting the NANDs characteristics as it ages to wring more endurance from the flash.
The P400m is intended for mainstream enterprise use and will perform well in a variety of environments. Financial applications, virtualization appliances, logging, VDI, boot storm, data warehouses and VOD (Video on Demand) applications will all benefit from the Micron P400m. One benefit of the SATA connection is that it allows for a wide variety of applications and deployments. Micron already has a SAS alternative in the works for those who need the functionality provided by SAS.
The SATA space is a good fit for an SSD designed and engineered for mainstream use. With the enterprise SATA SSD market projected to jump from two million units in 2013 to three million units in 2016, the time is ripe for manufacturers with their own foundries to begin churning out mainstream enterprise SSDs en masse.
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Zowie Gear EC1 Evo Black Competitive Gaming Mouse Review
Introduction
Just a couple of weeks ago I got this random email from Zowie Gear, asking if I may want to take a look at some of their products. Not too aware of their new products, I mean I know of Zowie Gear, but haven't been to their website in a long while, I was asked to have a look at a mouse pad and a mouse. After a bit of back and forth, they realized I am not one of those guys who thinks that higher DPI automatically equals a better mouse. Not that I am a huge fan of optical sensors, I just prefer a mouse that works well, feels good, and does what is asked of it without any issues.
It is always good to have change, and from all the mice with astronomical DPI I cannot control, cool lighting all over the mouse, and software that can have you programming things for hours. With the latest submission, we take a refreshing step back to the basics. Here we are going to be dealing with simplicity in the shape and design of the exterior of the mouse, use of an optical sensor to track your movements, and the only lighting offered in this mouse has a distinct reason for being there other than just to add "bling factor" to the product. One other huge benefit from my standpoint, is since this mouse keeps it simple for its users, there is no software to muck about in, potentially screwing up the way the designers meant for you to use the product.
We are in fact going to be looking at the Zowie Gear EC1 eVo with the black coloration, but Zowie Gear also sent along a mouse pad for us to play around with as well. So not only will we be addressing the mouse they have provided, but we will also be looking at a pad with some of the roughest texture on the tracking surface that I have ever seen.
With a mouse built to get the job done at any cost, without a bunch of bells and whistles to confuse you, along with a pad that should offer less friction against the feet, users should have a smooth and accurate gaming or desktop experience.
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Samsung 840 SSD Storage Endurance Testing - TLC to the End
Introduction
Despite what you may have read or heard, Samsung hasn't made any endurance claims regarding their new SSD grade triple-level cell (TLC) flash. A few numbers have been tossed around already, 1,000 and 1,500 program erase (P/E) cycles, but they didn't come from Samsung. The media, including myself guesstimated the numbers, but for all you know they could have been pulled out of a hat.
What makes the Samsung 840 a perfect target for our first endurance test is it's something different. We've had SLC and MLC NAND for years, but the 840 drive is the first consumer SSD in the wild with TLC.
(Image from Xtremesystems.org Forums)
Another interesting angle for this test comes
from another test conducted at Xtremesystems.org. A forum member ran a similar endurance test on a Samsung 830 and, well as you can see in the graph above, it endured for a lot longer than anyone imagined.
So, we are pairing the unknown with the nearly unbelievable in an article series that will update you on the progress of one Samsung 840 - first boot till death!
We made a short video embedded above to document the start of the test.
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Top 10 TweakTown Content from the past week [11 February 2013]
Here are our top 10 articles, reviews and guides from the past week!
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Intel DC S3700 800GB Enterprise SSD Review
Introduction
Intel has introduced the Intel DC S3700 SSD (DC denotes 'data center' and S 'SATA) into the enterprise with the intentions of revolutionizing the way that end-users evaluate storage performance. With a new proprietary controller at the helm and optimized firmware, Intel has promised to deliver an unrivaled level of performance consistency. The focus on the latency of the SSD, and not maximum speed, promises to provide more predictable and reliable performance over the long term.
Performance variability can rob applications of performance. Individual 'hangs' and lags from outlying I/O can significantly affect application performance simply because applications are forced into waiting for the next I/O to complete. High-end enterprise storage solutions have a reputation for delivering predictable performance, and Intel looks to extend this to the world of enterprise SSDs.
Intel has set forth in their specifications that a QD32 4K random write workload will result in 99.9% of write requests requiring less than 10ms. For a QD1 4k random write workload, Intel also claims that 99.9999% percent of commands will be at, or under, 0.5ms. While the QD1 statistic is not relevant in many enterprise applications, it speaks volumes to the emphasis that Intel placed on ensuring the most efficient data delivery. Intel also notes that IOPS will not vary by more than 10-15% during the life of the SSD.
Intel sacrifices some of the overall speed in order to deliver this consistency, yet still manages to double the read speed and deliver a 15x random write performance increase over the previous generation Intel 710. The 710 also featured the same 25nm HET (High-Endurance Technology) NAND as the DC S3700, so the enhancements in speed and consistency are provided by the new controller and firmware. This lack of significant performance variability makes this SSD uniquely well suited for RAID arrays, where the RAID controller is constrained to the speed of the slowest I/O.
HET-MLC is a key component in the architecture, delivering 10 DWPD (Drive Writes per Day) of endurance for five years. This doubling of endurance from the previous generation SSD equates to 14.6 Petabytes of endurance for the 800GB model and 7.3PB at the 400GB capacity point. This endurance is backed up by a five year warranty.
Dynamically adjusting the NAND over the course of its life and enhanced NAND management techniques help to reduce the wear on the SSD. The DC S3700's endurance rating of 10 DWPD is for worst-case scenarios that consist of full span random writes. In applications with only pseudo-random or sequential data writes, this number can be much higher. The increase in endurance is a critical improvement that will help low-cost SSDs gain wider acceptance among the enterprise crowd.
Prohibitive pricing of SSDs in the past has hampered their mass deployment into datacenters. With each successive SSD generation we have experienced cost reductions, and part of Intel's goal with the DC S3700 to bring the price of datacenter SSDs down to an acceptable price point. As a byproduct, SSDs are getting closer to a level playing field with high-performance HDDs.
The winning recipe for price reduction comes in the form of the IMFT (Intel/Micron Flash Technologies) joint venture with Micron. Leveraging the lower price points that come with physically creating the NAND allows Intel to undercut competitors that lack foundries on the price front. Intel took a similar path with the Intel 910, which helped to drastically alter the price structure of PCIe application accelerators. The MSRP of the Intel DC S3700 SSDs is a mere $2.35 per GB. This is going to put a squeeze on margins for competitors and spur wider adoption of SSDs into the enterprise.
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GX Gaming Gila MMO/RTS Professional Gaming Mouse Review
Introduction
Not too long ago I took my first look at a GX Gaming product with the Death Taker MMO/RTS mouse. That mouse offered quite a bit in its feature set like nine buttons, add in weights, 5700 DPI, customizable colors, and a software package that would allow you to set many Macros and customize almost every aspect of the mouse's functionality. I think the idea with the newest release was to improve on this concept and while loosely based off the Death Taker and what it offered, this new mouse has a shape and design all its own.
As I just reread my Death Taker conclusion, there were no issues that I remember from either the device or the software. In reality, the only thing I could complain about was that it was a bit small for my hand. I know all mice aren't made to fit my hand exclusively, so really that issue may not affect some of my readers. This time I plan to be as objective with this new release from GX Gaming as well. If their past is any insight to what I should expect from this latest sample that hit my desktop, I think that there shouldn't be anything major to discuss as faults, but who knows, maybe things have changed since then.
I don't want to give too much away this early in the review of the GX Gaming Gila MMO/RTS Professional Gaming mouse that we are about to delve deeper into on the next page, but things have improved in the feature set. There is an increase in the button count, almost an ambidextrous design, much more aggressive styling, lights to play with and customize, and the list keeps going.
If this short list of improvements doesn't already have you wanting to continue, I strongly urge you do so anyways, as this new mouse may be just what you are looking for.
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The Castle (1997) Blu-ray Review
I think it's fair to say that whilst Australia definitely punches above its weight in regards to television, there are very few Australian made films that genuinely add to the Australian experience, stand the test of time and convey our culture and way of life. For every
Red Dog and
Crocodile Dundee, there's dozens of cheap ass films that served solely to extract a lazy grant from the Australian film council.
It's not much, but Daryl Kerrigan (Michael Caton) is proud of his 'Castle'; the Bonnie Doon property adjacent to an airport he shares with his family. Whilst some might label them as 'bogans', they are quite unaware of their social status and are proud of their lot in life. However, when a property developer approaches Daryl with an offer to purchase his modest property in order to extend the airport, he's prepared to fight them all the way to the high court with his crew of well meaning cohorts.
The Castle is one of the few Australian films so successful that it's had such success that multiple quotes from the script have entered the Australian vernacular, and 15 years on its success continues to provide. The film, made for just $19,000 and lensed in under two weeks, was a massive successful for Working Dog, the production company made up of members of the D-Generation, famous for such shows as
The Late Show, and spin-off programs such as
Frontline and
Funky Squad.
The Castle is also noteworthy due to the first feature film performance from a certain Eric Bana.
Video
The Castle is presented in the film's original aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression.
For years, the only available Australian release of
The Castle was derived from an ancient VHS master which cropped the original aspect ratio to 4x3 which featured slightly more vertical information, at the expense of the horizontal, deviating significantly from the intended aspect ratio. In 2008 Roadshow released a remastered DVD version from a new master which rectified this. This Blu-ray release comes from that same transfer, with naturally better results.
Filmed with such brutal efficiency,
The Castle has never been, nor will it ever be a pretty film, with generally poor lighting, but this Blu-ray accurately reflect the way the film is meant to look. The image is crisp and clear, and with a pleasing amount of film grain.
Noteworthy is that the fact that due to being filmed on 16mm stock, this 1080p transfer is essentially the same resolution as the studio master, with 16mm film equating to around 2K resolution.
The Castle is simply not going to look better than it does here.
Audio
The Castle is presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, at 24 bits.
Roadshow have given the choice to view the film with the original Australian audio track, or in conjunction with the orchestral score by Edmund Choi which was produced for the American market. The film works much better without the score in my opinion.
Let's be clear. This is a film that scarcely benefits from stereo to 5.1, let alone from lossy 5.1 to lossless 5.1. Still, I guess we should be grateful nonetheless. Dialogue is rarely a problem to hear, although some of the rushed recording methods leave a bit to be desired. There's very rarely any hint of surround activity in the dialogue heavy feature, but there is some suitable ambience in outdoor scenes, along with some mildly aggressive airplane noises.
Overall, this is hardly anything to write home about, but as far as an accurate reflection of the original elements goes - this is superb.
Extras
Sadly
The Castle does not feature any extra features. This seems to be a deliberate choice of the filmmakers, coupled with a general lack of original materials from the film's production. That said, it's a shame that we don't even get the original theatrical trailer, which is available on the U.S. release DVD. A short featurette on the cultural impact of the film would have been nice too, but alas.
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Far Cry 3 PC Review
If publishers want a case in point in how to build hype at an E3 reveal, Far Cry 3 is the perfect case. Ever since we first heard Vaas utter those now famous words, "Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?", we have waited with baited breath. The video had action, intense gameplay and also psychological elements that sent the hype levels of the game through the roof. And so now 18 months later it's time to determine if the developers have delivered on the promise from that video and aside from a few quirks here and there and a poor ending to the story, the answer is a resounding yes.
In Far Cry 3 you take control of Jason Brody, a young college kid with rich parents enjoying life to the max on an island paradise when things go awry. Jason and his friends are captured by pirates and the infamous Vaas. Taken for ransom from their wealthy parents, Jason manages to escape with his brother and from there the story becomes that you as Jason must rescue your friends, but also as you build acquaintances on the island, decide how you want the future to be for those people. There is a point where the story just becomes boring and formulaic unfortunately, but until then it's one of the best stories of this generation.
As expected based on the first two games, Far Cry 3 puts you in a massive open world with side missions and main story to complete. One of the key facets of the title is exploration and the game significantly rewards you for exploring. Whilst there are scripted elements to some of the missions, sometimes it's just interesting to wander about the island and see what the enemy and other NPCs are doing. One example was we were closing in on an enemy kill, only to see a crocodile jump out of the water to take him alive. If someone else was to go to that exact spot, it may not happen because those sequences are not scripted.
In fact, Far Cry 3 gives one of the best representations of a living breathing world in a video game to date. You can of course choose to main line the story if you wish, but that is to completely devalue the amount of effort that Ubisoft has not only put into the side missions, but also the world itself. You will miss a lot of the awesome areas of the island and some interesting, story building sequences as well. There is also a meta game within the game where you can hunt animals present throughout the world to improve Jason's overall abilities and weaponry.
For example, if you get some shark skins, you can craft a new pouch which improves your inventory level - something which is a lot more interesting to do than just buy a new pouch. You can pick up leaves and plants to help you concoct medicine to heal Jason. At no real point in the game are you forced to buy things. For example, one area which encourages exploration is the local stores. If you manage to take over the local radio tower, the shops will give you free weapons as a reward whilst that tower is not held by the enemies. It's a really interesting mechanic that rewards exploration in a manner that is tangible rather than just 'let's see this entire island'.
For the most part the missions are also enjoyable to play as well. There are over thirty campaign missions with quite a number more side missions to complete. To complete Far Cry 3 without doing side missions will take you about 10 hours and so it is a fairly meaty game when you compare it to most releases. The game does contain fast travel once you have visited a location although sometimes it is better to just explore and see the world on offer.
What Far Cry 3 manages to achieve is a believable world. This island could be a real world thing (although it's not), and the developers have clearly put a lot of work into building a fantastic world for the game. It has the crazy professor and the tribal warriors to complete the mix. But what takes it to the next level is the various fauna milling about the place. You can be swimming quietly in the rivers or ocean and the next minute a shark or crocodile attacks. The first time this happens you will literally jump in your seat and it's generally over before it even starts. You can imagine this is how it happens in the real world as well with most victims attacked before they even know it's happening.
The design of the island also allows for some open world elements to creep into the campaign missions as well. Whilst you are somewhat restricted as to the zone you can move in during missions (we guess to not break the mission entirely), you are given leeway as to how you approach the mission. Go in guns blazing? Or snipe from the mountain side? Many different ways are available to generally complete each mission and it is this variety that keeps the game fresh to the end.
On the PC at least, Far Cry 3 is a visual tour de force and one of the best games graphically we have ever played. If you have the hardware and video card to push this to the max you will see a visually stunning world with amazing graphics. Tone the graphics done a little and the game still shines even on older hardware, so it is clear Ubisoft has done its job in optimizing this game for fairly run of the mill systems as well. This is something that the original Far Cry game was criticised for not doing.
The game also features a co-operative multiplayer portion for up to four players to take part in. It is set six months before the actual events of the single player campaign and so in many ways is its own story. Introducing co-operative into such an awesome, open world game is something that Ubisoft had to do to take this game to the next level. With a length of about six hours, you certainly get your money's worth even though it's not the main campaign.
Far Cry 3 started out with a great E3 presentation that put the hype levels through the roof. Usually when this happens games significantly let us down, but in this case Ubisoft has delivered. No doubt they felt the pressure of such an awesome opening with Vaas and our main character, but instead of crumbling, they produced what is sure to be one of the best games of 2012.
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Hitman: Absolution Xbox 360 Review
As a series Hitman has been quite successful and this is why it's puzzling that we are now only just getting the return of the game. Hitman Blood Money was one of the better games from the earliest times of this generation, but IO Interactive decided to put that to the side and come up with the new IP.
This game became Kane & Lynch which had middling success in both sales and critical format. So six years later we have the return of Agent 47 and it's not without changes. Absolution completely changes up the series in many ways and we still aren't sure if all the changes and decisions made were the right ones.
Absolution picks up with Agent 47 being tasked to kill his agency handler Diana. She has gone rogue and has been selling secrets to enemies of the agency so his final contract becomes her. The agency has produced another agent from a child, Victoria with Diana on her deathbed asking 47 to protect her at all costs. This is what the story primarily revolves around; the protection of Victoria and escaping from the agency that 47 once called home. From the outset this shows just how much of a departure Absolution is to the regular format with previous games tasking 47 with contracts to fulfil for the agency.
In terms of the gameplay there are a lot of elements that have returned from previous games. On some of the missions you will be tasked with taking down a target and you can either choose to go in all guns blazing or make the death look like an accident with the latter not only scoring you more points, but generally being more satisfying to do as well. Hitman can be seen as a puzzle game - trying to concoct together various environmental elements such as leaking oil and a bullet to take out enemies unseen.
This is only apparent on some of the levels. On many levels within the game there are no targets and instead it is 47's goal to reach another area to continue the story. As well as this there are times where the game takes control from you and performs kills in cut scenes. For a series which has focused so much on clean quiet kills from a gameplay perspective, to have this happen is frustrating. There are some sections in the game where quiet kills just cannot occur.
This is where you will like this game or not. Whilst in the past each mission was one huge environment for 47 to traverse and come up with sneaky ways to take out the target, in this game you are instead tasked with basically getting from point a to point b. Hitman in many ways becomes a third person shooter with the amount of sandbox missions able to be counted on less than two hands. Given that there are 20 missions overall in the game, this is a bit disappointing.
However, on those levels which do give you the freedom to explore and come up with various ways to take out the targets, the game absolutely shines. Previously seen at E3, the King of Chinatown level is one such example where there is many different ways to take out the target such as poisoning fish or blowing up a car. And it is these missions that you will revisit over and over again to try and come up with different ways to end the mission without being seen.
As well as the actual targets each mission contains a number of challenges to complete. Sometimes these challenges are to take out the targets in various different ways whilst other times it can be tasks such as finishing the mission only using 47's suit. Given that you very often traverse areas where you should not be, doing this is harder than it sounds.
Many of the elements we have seen in previous titles have again come back. You can still take the disguises of other characters although this is a bit harder than last time around.
Enemies will spot that you are not one of them quite easily and so it becomes a case of still having to focus on stealth even when blended in. To aid with this, 47 now has an instinct ability which allows you to see enemies through walls and walk near enemies in disguise without being spotted. You gain more instinct by performing quiet kills and tasks.
One of the more frustrating elements of Absolution is the change from limited save games to checkpoints. Instead of being able to save at any point in the game (within a limited number), you now have to track down and find checkpoints in the level. They are generally off the beaten track and this can be very frustrating especially on the tougher levels. The checkpoints also do not get retained if you leave your game which we have no idea why IO Interactive decided that was a good idea.
The enemy AI generally revolves around them being able to determine you are 47 rather than actually being tough. When things go bad you generally can get out of a tight spot with your bullets except towards the end of the game where that type of tactic just gets impossible due to the weaponry they have. Once they spot you the game moves into a very Metal Gear like alarm system. At the highest level they hunt you and shoot on sight whilst if you can manage to hide long enough, they will give up and lower the alarm level. Of course the best way is to not be spotted at all and in general this is possible on every mission.
On the visual and environmental side of things the game is generally impressive. Whilst there is quite a variety to the locations that you will visit during your time with the game, it is not as varied as it was in Blood Money with some locations being visited more than once. Some of the missions are quite large in size whilst others are almost corridors only. It goes without saying the larger missions are the ones where 47's abilities can really shine. One thing that is true is that in general IO Interactive has used the environments to the best of their abilities with 47 being able to perform numerous environmental based kills on his targets.
Multiplayer comes in the form of contracts mode and in an ironic twist this system is much closer to that of the older games. You can either build or download contracts from other users and basically you are dropped into a world and have to kill targets silently to fulfil the contract. As you do so you gain money which can be used to upgrade your weaponry in multiplayer. This is an interesting take on multiplayer and we hope that users really embrace this system because it's entirely possible this could give the game a lot of legs.
Hitman: Absolution is a game that made us think about how we review games in many ways. Should we review a game based on what the name is on the box, or what the content actually is. Of course the latter is the answer, but we can't help but feel that this is not the greatest Hitman game. It's significantly different to other Hitman titles, but it's also not a bad game. If you come into the game expecting Blood Money 2 you will be disappointed, but if you look past this you will find a competent Hitman game that has just enough elements of its predecessors to ensure you should play as 47 again.
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Assassin's Creed III: Liberation PlayStation Vita Review
It's fair to say that whilst the Assassin's Creed II series of games were some of the most well received games this generation, the portable versions of the game haven't really set the gaming world on fire. Appearing only on the PSP (aside from the iOS games that were not 3D), the games focused on Altair, the original protagonist, rather than the very likeable Ezio.
However, with the release of a new platform, the PS Vita, Ubisoft decided to give the portable space another crack with the AC series and have come out with mixed results. Liberation is not necessarily a bad game, but there are some areas which can be quite infuriating to play.
Liberation for the first time introduces a female character as the main lead. You play as Aveline, the black daughter of a rich businessman in the 1700's. A result of infidelity, Aveline lives with her step mother and father in New Orleans as one of the wealthy and famous. However, Aveline wants to rid the world of slavery, especially for her people and sets about trying to bring down the tyranny which existed in the time. Set in the 1700's, the game takes place during the same timeline as that of the main console game, and to get the most out of the story, you need to play both.
There are a few major changes for the franchise aside from the fact you now control a woman. The game introduces for the first time personas. Aveline has three; wealthy lady, slave and assassin. Depending on the persona (clothing) you are currently wearing will limit or improve the abilities Aveline has available to her. For example, in the wealthy dress, Aveline cannot climb buildings or walls whilst in the assassin clothing she will draw suspect looks from the guards right away.
This is probably the most interesting change to the franchise because it means you often have to change your clothing to complete tasks. Having to change clothing to complete a task can be a tad tiresome (especially when it's not clear which clothing you should be wearing), but all the same the addition enhances the franchise.
As well as the main city, you will also visit the bayou of New Orleans which gives you the opportunity to partake in tree climbing and jumping. Ripped directly from the console game with Connor you can at will climb trees and often have to when completing assassination tasks. The game controls well and it's very obvious when you can and cannot climb trees. The Bayou has a very Metal Gear Solid 3 feel to it - a large, lush jungle full of crocodiles and other animals that can hurt Aveline. The main difference being that Aveline does not need to eat animals to survive.
The structure of the game takes on that of its console big brothers. The game includes nine sequences to complete which is a little on the short side and you will have this game down in around six to eight hours depending on how good you are at it. There is no difficulty setting so once you finish it, that's it really.
There are a number of side tasks to complete and there is a meta game where you can control a shipping company to gain money, but really in the grand scheme of things, you can ignore these and easily complete the game. One of the interesting elements is that the story you get if you just play the main missions is not the actual story. To get the real ending you need to take out a particular hidden character in each sequence.
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One of the biggest bugbears we have with the game is the PS Vita controls. The main controls themselves are fine, but when the developer is trying to shoe horn in the touch mechanics of the game, it just starts to break. For example, the game will at times ask you to put the Vita camera near a bright light. It took us a while to find a light that would give the Vita what it wanted, and there was no indication at all whether we were getting closer or not.
There are also other sections of the game which use the back touchpad such as paddling a canoe. There is nothing wrong with trying to include Vita specific controls, but when they work like they do in Liberation (it's a lucky dip as to whether your motions will be picked up), it would have been best to leave them out.
The environments that the game is set in are impressive for a handheld product. The city of New Orleans is beautifully represented by period buildings and the actual city itself is quite large, but nowhere near what you find in the console games of course. The split of the bayou and the city is an interesting feature with both environments having graphical problems as well as also some impressive sections. Voice acting on the system is impressive especially for a handheld and whilst the soundtrack can become repetitive, it suits the game and setting well.
There is no doubt that Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is the most impressive handheld version of the series yet. Ubisoft has used some of Vita's power well, but also included some utterly frustrating mini games based on the touch and camera features. It is on the short side and that means it's not really suitable as something for a long distance trip, but for short spurts on the way to work, it works almost perfectly.
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Innodisk to show full industrial SATA III storage range at Embedded World 2013
February 22, 2013 - Taipei, Taiwan - Innodisk, an industry-leading manufacturer and solution provider of industrial embedded flash and DRAM storage products and technologies, will be showing its new range of products for 2013 at the Embedded World 2013 exhibition and conference from 26-28 February in Nuremberg, Germany.
Innodisk's complete series of industrial SATA III products includes SSD, SATADOM, SATA Slim, mSATA, and CFast, with a wide variety of form factors and interfaces. With SATA III, Innodisk products can offer sequential read and write speeds two times faster than SATA II, to satisfy almost any embedded systems requirement.
Products on display at the Innodisk booth in Nuremberg will also include the Innodisk InnoRobust series of SATA SSDs which are compliant with military standards for ruggedness, durability and reliability in even the most extreme operating environments.
Building on its research and development strengths, with the upgrade to SATA III, Innodisk offers support for temperatures ranging from -45C to ~85C, customized firmware for specific system applications ranging from entertainment to aerospace, power outage data protection and other advanced functions, moving the industrial PC application market forward into the next generation. As well as almost doubling read and write speeds, the upgraded SATA III 2.5-inch SSDs provide a lower power design with enhanced power saving sleep modes. New products are expected to be on the market in March 2013.
Innodisk turns a product into a true solution with the exclusive iSMART disk health monitoring tool to protect customer's investments in SSDs and HDDs. Powerful and easy-to-use, iSMART does not just display passive information and a disk lifespan prediction, but can also save hours of setup and maintenance time by giving users easy one button access to write-protection, ATA Security, quick erase, and power saving features.
Innodisk will also be introducing advanced LR-DIMM memory modules for capacities up to 64GB. With Innodisk 64GB 1333MHz LR-DIMM, servers can break through existing memory capacity constraints for improved performance, greater reliability, and lower operating costs. Finally meeting the demanding requirements of the latest cloud computing applications, these exciting new products are expected to be on the market in the second quarter of 2013.
As well as these new products, Innodisk will be showing other popular products and recent innovations from its existing range. These devices feature iSLC technology that greatly extends the lifetime of NAND flash with similar performance of SLC-based flash, but at a significantly lower cost. There will also be DRAM products with support for the ARM architecture, 32 bit modules, rugged mounting pads, and module height of 17.9mm for small form factor systems.
With a very wide range of popular products and new innovations to offer, Innodisk welcomes your questions, advice and comments, and looks forward to meeting friends from the industry, as well as potential new customers, at Embedded World 2013.
Meet Innodisk at Embedded World 2013
Date 26 to 28 February, 2013
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
You will find Innodisk in Hall 1, at Stand 122
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AMD Aims to Meet Higher Expectations for Tablet and Hybrid PC Performance at Mobile World Congress 2013
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Feb. 20, 2013 - AMD (NYSE: AMD), creator of the performance tablet category, today announced a new innovation for hybrid PCs that delivers uncompromised mobile PC experiences when in tablet mode or when connected to its base keyboard. Hybrid PCs are a new market segment between full notebooks and pure tablets that AMD plans to demonstrate, along with stand-alone performance tablets, at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, Spain next week.
AMD Turbo Dock technology[1] automatically adjusts performance of the AMD accelerated processing unit (APU) higher while a hybrid PC is docked and being used for more complex tasks like content creation. Likewise, AMD Turbo Dock is designed to lower power consumption when in tablet mode, helping to save battery life and extend movie or video watching, as well as web browsing time.
"With our latest APUs, AMD aims to deliver a more complete, full-featured experience on tablet and hybrid PCs than has been available to date," said Steve Belt, vice president of AMD Ultra-low Power Products. "AMD Turbo Dock technology delivers on that promise by dynamically adjusting to what the user is doing to provide the optimal experience and battery life whether they are watching a video, playing a DirectX 11-supported game or building a PowerPoint presentation for work."
AMD Turbo Dock technology is expected to appear this year on equipped hybrid systems built around the system-on-chip (SoC) codenamed "Temash" with AMD Radeonâ„¢ HD graphics. "Temash" is AMD's latest ultra-low power, mobility processor for Windows 8 tablets and hybrids that delivers five times the graphics performance of the competition's x86 tablet solution[2]. Demonstrations at Mobile World Congress will include leading-edge applications and games on both quad-core and dual-core versions of the processor built with 28nm manufacturing technology.
"IDC research shows that two of the top demands tablet owners have are speed and a high resolution display," said Tom Mainelli, research director for tablets at IDC. "Balancing performance on high pixel density screens with user demands around battery life is essential to a great tablet experience. Technologies like AMD's newest generation APU 'Temash' aim to meet those needs."
Other premium features available from AMD-based tablets and hybrids include:
- Access to the AMD AppZone, a one-stop resource for accessing popular applications that can take advantage of the full compute capability of the processor;
- AMD Start Now technology that allows fast boot and resume from sleep times[3];
- AMD Radeon HD graphics on the APU, with support for full HD 1080p resolution, HDMI output for external displays, and impressive gaming performance with Microsoft DirectX 11 capability;
- Windows 8 and Windows 7 support with backward compatibility for all Windows applications.
Supporting Resources
- Keep up with AMD on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn
- Visit AMD in Hall 7 / Booth 7i-44 at Mobile World Congress 2013
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ZOTAC unleashes the TITAN
ZOTAC is pleased to harness the DNA of the world's fastest supercomputer to unleash the GeForce GTX TITAN that takes PC gaming to the next level of detail and clarity.
General details
- New ZOTAC GeForce GTX TITAN graphics card
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN GPU
- Engine clock: 837 MHz (base) 876 MHz (boost)
- 2,688 processor cores
- 6GB GDDR5 memory
- Memory clock: 6008 MHz
- 384-bit memory interface
- PCI Express 3.0 interface
- NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 technology
- NVIDIA Surround capable
- NVIDIA FXAA & TXAA technology
- NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync
- NVIDIA NVENC video transcoding acceleration capable
- DirectX 11.1 (feature level 11_0) technology & Shader Model 5.1
- OpenGL 4.3 compatible
- Blu-ray 3D ready
- Loss-less audio bitstream capable
ZOTAC Boost Premium software bundle
- Nero Kwikmedia
- XBMC
- UNIGINE Heaven DX11 Benchmark
ZOTAC Assassin's Creed 3-Game Pack included
- Assassin's Creed
- Assassin's Creed II
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations
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ADATA Technology to Showcase Latest Industrial Memory and Storage Solutions at Embedded World 2013
Taipei, Taiwan - February 22, 2013 - ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash storage application products, will participate in Embedded World 2013 Exhibition in Nuremburg, Germany. Embedded World is the world's biggest exhibition focusing on system integration and embedded technology. ADATA will display its line of complete memory solutions for industrial use, including industrial standard Flash modules, high-performance DRAM modules, industrial memory cards, full line of eMMC, eMCP, and SATA interface storage media.
Optimistic about the prospects for cloud computing and the industrial computer market, ADATA will also showcase a range of newly developed embedded memory and storage media products, and will highlight its next generation of energy-saving low voltage server memory modules. Also on hand will be industry-leading wide temperature solution DDR3 SO-DIMM modules and solid-state drives, which deliver performance even in extremely hot or cold environments.
Embedded World will run from February 26 to 28th. For more information, visit the ADATA booth in Hall 1.Booth number: 1-145.
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Lian Li Announces the PC-9N Mid Tower Chassis
February 21, 2013, Keelung, Taiwan - Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd, today announces a new brushed aluminum mid tower chassis, the PC-9N. Supporting ATX and micro-ATX motherboards, the PC-9N forgoes the traditional motherboard tray, and instead implements a railing mount design for increased thermal performance and better cable management.
Lian Li's new railing mount technology greatly improves airflow under the motherboard, helping systems run cooler. This innovative Lian Li design replaces the traditional solid motherboard tray used in competing products, which blocks airflow and adds to system weight and cost. The new railing system also provides better routing options for internal wiring and cables, reducing clutter, improving system appearance and further improving airflow.
The Lian Li PC-9N holds up to three 3.5-inch hard drives and one 2.5-inch SSD in its all aluminum, tool-less, modular drive cage at the lower front of the chassis. The drives are secured by quick-access thumbscrews with rubber suspensions to greatly reduce irritating noise and vibrations. The HDD cage itself can be swiftly removed or rotated for easy maintenance access or case modification.
At the top of the chassis are three 5.25-inch drive bays with external access. The tool-less design of the bays, makes it easy for DIY builders to install optical drives.
A 140mm fan at the front pulls cool air into the chassis, and directly onto the hard disk drives. There is space for another optional 140mm fan in the middle of the front panel, where it can push external air directly across the motherboard and expansion cards, for advanced cooling requirements. The front panel can be removed without tools, making it easy to clean and maintain the air filters. The rear 120mm exhaust fan pulls hot air out of the chassis.
The PC-9N accommodates CPU coolers up to 170mm (6.6 inches) in height. The PC-9N has 8 vented expansion slots with thumb screws. There's space for very long VGA cards up to 430mm (16.93 inches) in the chassis.
Power supplies up to 300mm (11.81 inches) in length fit easily at the bottom of the PC-9N. Ventilation slits underneath the PSU, with a removable pull-out air filter, help increase the life and performance of the power supply and system.
The I/O panel on the top of the case has two USB 3.0 and HD audio connections. A door covers the I/O panel to protect it from dust and keep the elegant look when not in use.
The PC-9N is available in two stylish color options: silver (PC-9NA) and black (PC-9NB).
Look out for more PC cases featuring Lian Li's new motherboard mounting system and other technical innovations in the near future.
Check out Lian Li's new facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/LianLiHQ
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Mobeam Launches Music Video at Mobile World Congress to Showcase How Its Technology Will Revolutionize the Way We Shop
SAN FRANCISCO - February 21, 2013 - Mobeam (www.mobeam.com) today launched an innovative new music video to showcase what will happen when the more than 165 million Point of Sale (POS) laser scanners in use today are capable of scanning barcoded content on a smartphone using mobeam's technology. While many companies tout their products as the solution in mobile commerce, no company has been able to crack the code of scanning a barcode at checkout - until now. Mobeam has patented technology that will revolutionize the way we all shop by enabling smartphones to be scanned by POS scanners, unlocking new potential for marketers and providing consumers the ability to seamlessly redeem coupons, gift cards and loyalty cards from their smartphone.
The music video was produced by Portal A (http://portal-a.com/), San Francisco's hottest creative team and experts in web video. The video, "MOBEAM! The Supermarket Musical" will be officially released at a red carpet premiere to the media and attendees at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on Sunday.
"
There's a new phone app scheme that makes shopping a dream - Coming Soon to Screens Everywhere." - MOBEAM!
The Supermarket Musical
Currently, anything that uses a barcode, such as a coupon, loyalty card, gift card, pre-loaded payment card or event ticket still needs to be printed out or carried to be redeemed, the vast majority of the time. Mobeam's technology converts barcodes into a beam of light that can be read by every one of the estimated 165 million laser scanners in use today by retailers around the world. It uses common light sources on a smartphone to send pulses of light directly to the sensor in POS scanners, mimicking the black-and-white sequencing of a standard bar code. Instead of reading the reflection from a printed barcode, laser scanners receive identical information from pulses of light - meaning that existing POS scanner technology and databases that are already installed worldwide won't require any upgrades.
"We created this fun, Glee-styled music video to highlight the life-altering changes our technology will provide when the world's smartphones are finally able to work at the point of sale with the 165 million laser scanners in use today," said Chris Sellers, CEO of mobeam. "Right now, many people think they can go to the grocery store, show a coupon on their phone and have it scanned - which unfortunately is not the case. The vast majority of in-store laser scanners cannot scan barcodes displayed on mobile phone screens. Through this video, we are saying, there IS a way, we've developed it and it's called mobeam."
More than 500 million people around the world are expected to receive mobile coupons this year, a 30% increase from 2012. Additionally, Juniper Research found that for 2013, the number of coupons accessed and redeemed by mobile is forecasted to come in around 10 billion discounts in total, representing a more than 50 percent increase from last year.
"This is definitely the most ambitious video we have done and we are honored that mobeam has chosen to launch it internationally at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona," said Zach Blume, managing director and co-founder of Portal A. "We love working with the most innovative companies around and we think mobeam's technology is going to be a game-changer that revolutionizes the mobile industry, ignites mobile commerce and changes the way we think about our wallet."
In the past year, mobeam has partnered with Procter & Gamble (P&G), Coca-Cola and General Mills - three of the world's largest consumer packaged goods companies, in a joint effort to create the first-ever completely mobile couponing system. This initiative, along with other partnerships mobeam has established with companies like ProLogic, brings consumers one-step closer to phasing out paper coupons entirely.
"We are excited about the potential for this new technology and our partnership with mobeam to make shopping simpler and faster for consumers. Couponing is a great way for shoppers to try new products or save on the trusted brands their families have come to love. If that can be easier, faster and less costly for shoppers and retailers, we want to help bring it to life," said Jeff Weedman, vice president of P&G Global Business Development.
Mobeam will be demonstrating their technology all week at MWC. While the technology has not been released on a handset yet, Mobeam is currently in confidential negotiations with several prominent manufacturers to bring mobeam to mobile devices around the world.
The music video was released in conjunction with a social media campaign and contest on Facebook and Twitter that gives a free mobeam t-shirt to the first 1,000 people that share the video on Facebook. To participate in the contest, visit
http://www.mobeam.com/contest.
For more information on mobeam, visit
http://www.mobeam.com.
For more information on Portal A, visit
http://www.portal-a.com.
For more information on Mobile World Congress, visit:
http://www.mobileworldcongress.com.
To watch a "How It Works" tutorial of Mobeam's technology, visit:
http://www.mobeam.com/how-it-works/
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iBUYPOWER Unleashes Crushing Performance with GeForce GTX Titan
February 20, 2013, City of Industry, CA - Prepare yourself for the highest levels of cutting-edge performance. iBUYPOWER is proud to announce the availability of NVIDIA's latest graphics beast: the GeForce GTX TITAN.
The new GeForce GTX TITAN is a single-GPU solution that's unlike anything else on the market. Coupled with a monstrous 6GB of GDDR5 video memory, GeForce GTX TITAN provides thrill-seeking gamers with unrelenting power.
"We know that gamers continue to demand the most from their systems, and providing our customers with the ability to build their performance systems with NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX Titan is something we believe they will love," said Darren Su, Vice President of iBUYPOWER, "and we're really excited about putting GTX TITAN in some of our most unique systems, like Revolt."
iBUYPOWER recently shook the PC gaming industry with the launch of the Revolt, the company's daring take on PC system design. Despite its highly integrated and slim form factor, Revolt is fully GeForce GTX TITAN ready. But it doesn't stop there. A wide variety of systems is supported, including many of iBUYPOWER's custom gaming desktops. With larger gaming systems, customers will be able to take advantage of blistering performance by harnessing SLI.
Check out how you can configure an iBUYPOWER gaming system with the GeForce GTX TITAN at
http://www.ibuypower.com/info/NVIDA-Titan.aspx
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ENHANCED AND IMPROVED LG OPTIMUS G ARRIVES IN EUROPE
SEOUL, Feb. 22, 2013 - LG Electronics (LG) rolls out its most advanced smartphone, Optimus G, in Europe this month with features that have been enhanced since the device first launched in select markets at the last quarter of 2012. LG's well-received smartphone makes its European debut in Sweden this month followed by other Europe-an markets, including France, Germany and Italy.
"Since the successful initial launch of Optimus G, LG has continued to improve the smartphone to offer better usability and value for our customers," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "We're excited to be bringing to Europe the improved Optimus G, our most powerful Quad-Core device optimized for 4G LTE networks."
The European Optimus G will feature Google's latest Android Operating System, Jelly Bean 4.1.2, to provide the most premium user experience for European customers. LG's superb True HD IPS Plus display together with Zerogap Touch technology will make its debut in Europe in the Optimus G. LG applied its new Zerogap Touch technology to the True HD IPS Plus display to offer not only the sharpest and most vivid display but also the smoothest, most sensitive touch experience on a smartphone today. All this comes to life with stunning clarity and crisp, natural color on the vibrant 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 IPS display protected by scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 2.
LG's original Optimus G UX received positive feedback from customers and the en-hanced UX is expected to be even more popular with its additional user conveniences, such as:
- QSlide: Upgraded for 2013, the QSlide function allows users to operate multiple applications at the same time, as transparent screen layers as opposed to side-by-side frames. The size, position and transparency of the QSlide screen can be ad-justed according to the user's preference. In addition to the included video play-er, QSlide now works seamlessly with the included browser, memo, calendar and calculator apps.
- Safety Care: Safety Care provides real-world assistance by automatically send-ing location information to user-designated persons via text messages in certain situations such as when emergency services is dialed, when the phone goes un-used for a certain length of time and after the user has ended a call with a desig-nated contact.
- Privacy Keeper: Privacy Keeper allows users to hide a caller's information - such as the name, number and photo - in an incoming call. The caller's infor-mation can be viewed by swiping the icon on the screen.
Additional features such as Google Now, Filmstrip View and Expandable Notification will also be available in the enhanced Optimus G. Google Now offers personalized information in real-time whenever it's needed. Filmstrip View simplifies the viewing and deleting of images and Expandable Notification allows users to see more notifications at a glance and preview certain content directly in the notification area.
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GIGABYTE Launches GeForce GTX TITAN Graphics Card, The Most Powerful Gaming GPU Ever!
Taipei, Taiwan, 21st February 2012 - GIGABYTE, the world's leading premium gaming hardware manufacture, is pleased to introduce the latest super gaming graphics card, GV-NTITAN-6GD-B. Built with the highly anticipated GeForce GTX TITAN GPU, GV-NTITAN-6GD-B utilizes the latest 28nm fabrication process, features 6GB GDDR5 memory and adapts 2688 CUDA cores. GIGABYTE GV-NTITAN-6GD-B not only supported Microsoft DirectX 11.1 and PCI-Express 3.0 architecture, but also supporting NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround, 3D Vision, PhysX, and 3-way SLI. Therefore, GV-NTITAN-6GD-B can guarantee gamers an ultimate gaming and Multi-Screen 3D visual experience. GV-NTITAN-6GD-B is equipped with the innovative GPU Boost 2.0 technology, including Over Voltage control, Prioritize GPU Temperature and Display Clocking. With the use of GIGABYTE OC GURU II software, GV-NTITAN-6GD-B can increase the overclocking capacity by unlocking the hardware limitation and brings hardcore gamers an ultimate gaming performance experience. For celebrating the launch of GV-NTITAN-6GD-B, GIGABYTE packed a high-end gaming grade mouse pad and an exquisite gift only for the GTX TITAN owners!
OC GURU II, liberates the overclocking limitation
According to the latest NVIDIA technology "GPU BOOST 2.0", GV-NTITAN-6GD-B provides gamers an unlimited overclocking capability by using GIGABYTE OC GURU II to adjust maximum core voltage and synchronize the GPU temperature and power consumption. These main features not only increase the overclocking ability but also deliver an extremely performance to make gamers enjoy the amazing gaming experience.
6GB GDDR5 High Capacity Memory
Built-in 6GB GDDR5 high capacity memory and 384-bits memory bus bandwidth, GV-NTITAN-6GD-B speeds up the communication between graphics card and the hardware platform and also brings up an amazing performance. With the feature, it can fulfill the multi-screen and high definition application for gamer to satisfy a real gaming spirits.
Fastest and Multi-Function Single GPU Architecture
Except single GPU architecture, supercomputing capacity brings the lower power consumption and higher performance, GV-NTITAN-6GD-B also supports NVIDIA 3D Visionâ„¢ Surround. Users can experience broader, richer gaming environments with the latest technological advancements. Bring games to life with NVIDIA Surround multi-monitor gaming on a single card, supercharged PhysX and 3D Vision, plus the unbeatable power of SLI.
Accessories for Gamers
GIGABYTE is committed to provide the best gaming experience and environment for gamers. The GV-NTITAN-6GD-B goes with not only the cards and adapters, but also with the best gifts for gamers. The extreme accuracy gaming mouse pad is made with high density polyester surface, which can enhances tracking precision. Gamers will never fluff during serious games. Large size and natural rubber base ensures stable grip even on high-speed movement.
For more details of GIGABYTE GV-NTITAN-6GD-B, please visit the GIGABYTE VGA website at:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/main.aspx?s=43
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/GIGABYTE.VGA
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Metaio brings world's first Augmented Reality Accelerated chipset to market, signs agreement with ST-Ericsson to integrate future mobile platforms
SAN FRANCISCO - FEBRUARY 22, 2013: Metaio today announces an agreement with ST-Ericsson, a leader in wireless platforms and semiconductors. Under the terms of the agreement, ST-Ericsson will integrate Metaio's augmented reality hardware IP, the so-called "AREngine," into the next generation of ST-Ericsson mobile platforms resulting in the first application processor accelerating augmented reality performance on mobile devices.
Metaio's cutting-edge technology inserts nearly any 3-D and virtual content into the real world by recognizing images, objects and entire environments. In a mobile future that clearly requires smart devices to be 'always on' and connected, the Metaio AR Engine drastically reduces power consumption making all-day AR experiences possible.
This first-of-its-kind collaboration will improve nearly all aspects of an augmented reality experience, yielding performance increases in speed, precision and power consumption, with up to 60 times faster initialization, more than an AR app running on existing platforms - the highest to date in the mobile industry. Both Metaio and ST-Ericsson strongly believe that working together will accelerate the adoption of Augmented Reality as a consumer technology.
"The AR Engine will do for augmented reality what the GPU did years ago for the gaming industry," said Metaio CTO Peter Meier. "This is a great leap in the AR space, and we strongly believe that the AR Engine working with ST-Ericsson platforms will help realize the Augmented City-the idea of a completely connected environment powered by augmented reality and made possible with next-gen, optimized mobile platforms."
"Working together, this will be the first ever integration of dedicated AR hardware IP on silicon," said Bjorn Ekelund, head of Ecosystem Research and Innovation for ST-Ericsson. "By continuing our relationship with Metaio, this agreement will provide a competitive advantage to both companies and our customers in the smartphone and AR space, where people are looking for differentiating factors when making their purchase decisions. AR will no longer be limited to simple 2-D images - with Metaio's AREngine, the future possibilities are endless."
Visitors to the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will be treated to live demonstrations of Metaio's technology and the benefits of augmented reality hardware integration. For more information, please visit
http://metaio.com/mwc
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AVADirect Now offers NVIDIA GTX TITAN Graphics Processing Unit
First quarter last year, NVIDIA set ground-breaking records provided by the release of the GTX 600 series graphics cards. Now, NVIDIA has created a new era of extreme, benchmark-shattering performance. This anomaly is none other than the NVIDIA GTX TITAN Graphics Processing Unit. Designed with the heart and soul of NVIDIA Kepler GPUs, the GTX TITAN offers a powerful mixture of performance, precision, and prestige noise levels that quickly cause the GTX TITAN to become the PC gamer preference.
NVIDIA GTX TITAN offers a new, efficient interface with exciting features that appeal to all end-users alike. Enthusiasts will note previously existing features have improved functionality. Features such as NVIDIA adaptive vertical sync, and NVIDIA surround will perform like never before. Supporting 3-way SLI, the NVIDIA GTX TITAN promises to be world's fastest gaming supercomputer by pushing the most challenging, demanding games available today. The GTX TITAN also offers new, never-before-seen features including support for 4k resolutions, four-concurrent displays, and DirectX 11.1 API. Even with such defyingly-powerful features, the NVIDIA GTX TITAN refuses to sacrifice refined efficiency, or reduce its ability to drive elegant PC configurations. The GTX TITAN is the life-blood of PC gaming, and a revolutionary, essential tool for providing a mind-blowing gaming experience that enthusiasts will never forget.
AVADirect finds the NVIDIA GTX TITAN graphics processing unit perfect for all desktop, workstation, small form-factor, media, and supercomputer configurations custom-built by the PC builder. Never before has the world seen power, as provided by the NVIDIA GTX TITAN, and AVADirect plans to make efficient, effective use of such technology. While NVIDIA works to create innovative new products, AVADirect strives to implement NVIDIA solutions into affordable, sensible, and high-quality custom builds for AVADirect's current and potential customers to take advantage of.
The NVIDIA GTX TITAN is provided in all respectable and compatible configurations listed on AVADirect.com. AVADirect will continue to update said configurations as NVIDIA releases new products based off of the GTX TITAN series.
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LG AIMING TO INCREASE 4G LTE FOOTPRINT
SEOUL, Feb. 21, 2013 - LG is expanding its solid 4G LTE presence with the introduc-tion of its new Optimus F Series at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. With LG's industry-leading LTE technologies, the Optimus F Series is designed to bring a premium user experience and the speed of 4G LTE to a mass audience. Two devices -- Optimus F5 and Optimus F7 -- will make their global debut at the show.
The Optimus F5 is a 4G LTE smartphone with a 4.3-inch IPS display running on a 1.2GHz Dual-Core processor and largest-in-class 2,150mAh battery while the Optimus F7 offers a 4.7-inch True HD IPS display and a 1.5GHz Dual-Core processor powered by a large capacity 2,540mAh battery for long lasting performance. Both devices will be available with the latest Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 OS and will include advanced UX features such as the upgraded QSlide and Live Zooming, previously only available in LG's premium devices.
The upgraded QSlide allows users to open two apps at the same time, both in full screen mode. Users can change the size, position and transparency of QSlide apps according to their preferences. Functions now compatible with QSlide include video, browser, memo, calendar and calculator. Live Zooming, previously only seen in the Optimus G, is now standard in the Optimus F5 and Optimus F7. Live Zooming allows the user to zoom into a specific area while watching a video. Additional features included in both Optimus F Series devices are QuickMemo, QTranslator, Video Wiz, Safety Care and much more.
"LG continues to lead the industry with 4G LTE innovation and the Optimus F Series, a well-balanced an well-equipped 4G LTE smartphone for the mass market, embodies the best of our broad LTE patent portfolio and innovative UX features," said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. "With adoption of LTE expected to explode in 2013, we are sending a clear message to con-sumers with the Optimus F Series that LTE isn't just for heavy content users and techies anymore. It's for everyone."
The worldwide rollout of the Optimus F5 will begin in the second quarter in Europe, followed soon by the Optimus F7 in selected markets. Exact timing and pricing will be announced at a later date.
Optimus F5 Key Specifications:
- Operating System: Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2
- Processor: 1.2 GHz Dual-Core
- Display: 4.3-inch IPS (256 ppi)
- Size: 126.0 x 64.5 x 9.3mm
- Memory: 8 GB / 1 GB RAM / microSD (up to 32GB)
- Camera: 5.0 MP AF / 1.3 MP
- Battery: 2,150mAh
Optimus F7 Key Specifications:
- Operating System: Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2
- Processor: 1.5 GHz Dual-Core
- Display: 4.7-inch True HD IPS (312 ppi)
- Size: 131.7 x 68.2 x 9.6mm
- Memory: 8 GB / 2 GB RAM / microSD (up to 32GB)
- Camera: 8.0 MP AF / 1.3 MP
- Battery: 2,540mAh
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LG Integrates Analogix SlimPort into Optimus G Pro Smartphone
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and BARCELONA, Spain, February 20, 2013 - Mobile World Congress 2013 - Analogix Semiconductor, the market leader in enabling DisplayPort solutions, announced that along with the Google Nexus 4, the Optimus G Pro smartphone is the next Slimport-enabled device from LG to provide easy connectivity to HDMI TVs, VGA projectors and DisplayPort monitors.
"With SlimPort, LG is able to deliver unprecedented functionality at a lower cost, because of its streamlined design and standard USB connector," said Dr. Ramchan Woo, division leader/smart phone platform division of LG Mobile Communications Company. "SlimPort unleashes content from the Optimus G Pro smartphone, making it a snap to share and enjoy videos, games, photos and more on any screen."
Based on the VESA DisplayPort standard, SlimPort accessories enable smartphones and tablet to output HD audio and video from the micro-USB port to HDMI, VGA, DisplayPort or DVI-enabled TBs, projectors and monitors. As a result, mobile users can enjoy theater-quality HD video and audio from any-sized display, without draining the power of the mobile device.
"The mobile market is innovating at a rapid pace and LG Smartphone is leading this market," said Andre Bouwer, vice president of marketing for Analogix. "LG's Optimus G Pro is a powerful and versatile smartphone, and the inclusion of SlimPort makes it an extraordinary value for consumers and business professionals alike."
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FastForward.IO Accelerates Hard Drives up to 300%
CasaMentis introduces the first generation of its new software FastForward.IO, which speeds up data access on conventional hard drives running Windows up to 300%. This will significantly reduce load times and make PCs run much more smoothly. The software runs on Windows XP and later, does not modify the operating system and requires no additional hardware.
Bad Lauchstaedt, Germany, February 20, 2013: Many users experience long loading times through the continued use of conventional hard drives in the PC sector. This is unlikely to change in the near future because solid state disks (SSDs) with the same capacity are significantly more expensive and retrofitting them requires changes to both hardware and software.
CasaMentis FastForward.IO now offers an affordable and simple alternative software solution that significantly reduces load times in conventional hard drives or in conjunction with a SSD. This will be of primary benefit to heavily-used computers that have become slower over time.
The idea behind the software is not entirely new: Since mostly the same data are retrieved from the hard disk when booting or starting up applications, the corresponding access patterns can be learned. When a process is repeated, the data is pre-fetched and is made available more quickly. Current operating systems like Windows or Linux already use similar methods, but only partially. "Current solutions primary accelerate the time from booting to the start of the desktop, after which the long waiting times begin for many users", says CEO Dr. Dirk Pollmaecher.
Launching applications especially benefit from CasaMentis FastForward.IO because the software analyzes every kind of data access in addition to the boot-up process. It is closely coordinated with the system hardware and is therefore particularly efficient. The software is based on a new algorithm from the field of machine learning which analyzes and learns hundreds of thousands of data requests in fractions of seconds.
For further acceleration, data storage media can also be used for caching. Through the usage of the learned access patterns, even conventional hard drives are appropriate for this. SSDs can also be used without any extra hassle, unlike other solutions on the market which require special chip sets, partitions and other modifications.
Particular emphasis was placed on making the software reliable and worthy of customers´ trust. "In the first version, we have placed special focus on security and stability, and less on maximizing performance," says Dr. Pollmaecher. During testing, the team from CasaMentis explored new paths accordingly. The entire program was tested with the help of specially developed simulators with millions of records. In addition, the finished software has been extensively tested in a beta phase. CasaMentis only decided to launch the product after all the tests were successful. There is nothing standing in the way anymore.
The 30-day trial version of the software can now be downloaded at
http://fastforward.io. Minimum requirements: At least 1 GB of RAM, an internet connection for installation, and Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. A license key for up to three computers can be purchased for $29.95; the license is currently being offered at a 25% introductory discount through March 15.
Additional information, a technical white paper and a press kit with this press release in Word format, high-resolution graphics and images can be found online at
http://fastforward.io/press/
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RAZER RE-RELEASES STARCRAFT II PERIPHERALS IN ADVANCE OF IMPENDING SWARM FOR A LIMITED TIME
CARLSBAD, Calif. - Feb. 20, 2013 - Razer, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware, software and systems, announced the re-release of its peripheral lineup for Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm expansion, the highly anticipated next instalment of the acclaimed StarCraft franchise. The entire suite of StarCraft II peripherals, designed specifically for the prestigious real-time strategy (RTS) game, is once again available in all its glory. The line includes the
Razer Spectre StarCraft II Gaming Mouse, the
Razer Marauder StarCraft II Gaming Keyboard and the
Razer Banshee StarCraft II Gaming Headset.
"The initial response we received on the announcement of the original StarCraft II peripherals was simply amazing and, as a way of giving back to our diehard fans and the StarCraft community, we want to make these products available once more," said Min-Liang Tan - co-founder, CEO and creative director of Razer. "These peripherals speak to the quality of Razer products as a whole and give StarCraft players the edge they crave on the battlefield."
The Razer Spectre, Razer Marauder and Razer Banshee all feature custom-backlighting to match any gaming rig and are able to electrify StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm gameplay through an APM (Actions-Per-Minute) Lighting System. The APM Lighting System offers a fully integrated gaming experience that responds directly to a player's maneuvers and speed, providing vibrant performance feedback that gamers can see. Each peripheral also features a gaming-optimized design with an emphasis on portability for tournament play and is stylized with design elements from the StarCraft universe.
The announcement comes in the wake of StarCraft II's successful 2012 tournament season.
Additionally, fans of the popular RTS title can enter for a chance to win each of the StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm peripherals by going to
http://www.razerzone.com/HOTSsweepstakes.
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Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Introduces PlayStation 4 (PS4)
NEW YORK, Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire -- Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today introduced PlayStation 4 (PS4), its next generation computer entertainment system that redefines rich and immersive gameplay with powerful graphics and speed, intelligent personalization, deeply integrated social capabilities, and innovative second-screen features. Combined with PlayStation Network with cloud technology, PS4 offers an expansive gaming ecosystem that is centered on gamers, enabling them to play when, where and how they want. PS4 will be available this holiday season.
Gamer Focused, Developer Inspired
PS4 was designed from the ground up to ensure that the very best games and the most immersive experiences reach PlayStation gamers. PS4 accomplishes this by enabling the greatest game developers in the world to unlock their creativity and push the boundaries of play through a system that is tuned specifically to their needs.
PS4 also fluidly connects players to the larger world of experiences offered by PlayStation, across the console and mobile spaces, and PlayStation Network (PSN).
The PS4 system architecture is distinguished by its high performance and ease of development. PS4 is centered around a powerful custom chip that contains eight x86-64 cores and a state of the art graphics processor.
The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) has been enhanced in a number of ways, principally to allow for easier use of the GPU for general purpose computing (GPGPU) such as physics simulation. The GPU contains a unified array of 18 compute units, which collectively generate 1.84 Teraflops of processing power that can freely be applied to graphics, simulation tasks, or some mixture of the two.
PS4 is equipped with 8 GB of unified system memory, easing game creation and increasing the richness of content achievable on the platform. GDDR5 is used for this memory, giving the system 176 GB/second of bandwidth and providing a further boost to graphics performance.
The end result for gamers is new games with rich, high-fidelity graphics and deeply immersive experiences that shatter expectations.
Shared Game Experiences
Social interaction is central to PS4 experiences, so new features were built into the actual foundation of the system's hardware architecture. PS4 provides dedicated, "always on" video compression and decompression systems that enables seamless uploading of gameplay. For the first time ever, gamers can share their epic triumphs with the press of a button. Gamers simply hit the "SHARE button" on the controller, scan through the last few minutes of gameplay, tag it and return to the game-the video uploads as the gamer plays. Gamers can share their images and videos to their friends on social networking services such as Facebook.
PS4 also enhances social spectating by enabling gamers to broadcast their gameplay in real-time to friends using live internet streaming services such as Ustream. During live broadcasts, friends can make comments on the streamed gameplay and, if a gamer gets stuck on a challenging level, friends can also join the game in completely new ways. For example, friends can offer health potions or special weapons when a player needs them most during actual gameplay.
Furthermore, users can connect their Facebook account with Sony Entertainment Network account. Through PS4, users are able to deepen their connections through co-op play or "cross-game chat".
PS4 Second Screens
PS4 integrates second screens, including PlayStation Vita (PS Vita), smartphones and tablets, to wrap gamers in their favorite content wherever they are. A key feature enabled by second screens is "Remote Play" and PS4 fully unlocks its potential by making PS Vita the ultimate companion device. With PS Vita, gamers will be able to seamlessly pull PS4 titles from their living room TVs and play them on PS Vita's beautiful 5-inch display and intuitive dual analog sticks over Wi-Fi networks*1. It is SCEI's long-term vision is to make most PS4 titles playable on PS Vita*2.
A new application from SCE called "PlayStation App" will enable iPhone, iPad, and AndroidTM based smartphones and tablets*3 to become second screens. Once installed on these devices, users can, for example, see maps on their second screens when playing an adventure game, purchase PS4 games while away from home and download it directly to the console at home, or remotely watch other gamers playing on their devices.
Immediate Gameplay
PS4 radically reduces the lag time between players and their content. PS4 features "suspend mode" which keeps the system in a low power state while preserving the game session. The time it takes today to boot a console and load a saved game will be a thing of the past. With PS4, gamers just hit the power button again and are promptly back playing the game at the exact point where they left off. Additionally, users can boot a variety of applications including a web browser when playing a game on PS4.
PS4 also enables games to be downloaded or updated in the background, or even in stand-by mode. The system takes it one step further by making digital titles playable as they are being downloaded. When a player purchases a game, PS4 downloads just a fraction of the data so gamers can start playing immediately, and the rest is downloaded in the background during actual gameplay.
Personalized, Curated Content
On the newly designed PS4 menu screen, players can look over game-related information shared by friends, view friends' gameplay with ease, or obtain information of recommended content, including games, TV shows and movies. The long-term goal of PS4 is to reduce download times of digital titles to zero: if the system knows enough about a player to predict the next game they will purchase, then that game can be loaded and ready to go before they even click the "buy" button. PS4 will further enrich users' entertainment experiences, by meeting their potential needs.
Gaming in the Cloud
Launched in November 2006, PlayStation Network, a network service for PlayStation users, now operates in 67 countries and regions*4 around the world with the total number of downloaded content of more than 2.8 billion*5. In addition to a variety of games available in PlayStation Store, PS4 users will be able to enjoy a variety of services offered by PSN, such as Sony Corporation's Music Unlimited, a cloud-based music subscription service and Video Unlimited, a premium video service, as well as various content distribution services.
By combining PlayStation Network with Gaikai Inc's cloud technology, it is SCE's goal to make free exploration possible for various games. In the future, when a gamer sees a title of interest in PlayStation Store, they can immediately start playing a portion of the actual game - not a stripped down version of the game. With Gaikai and PlayStation Store, gamers will be able to experience appealing games and only pay for the games they actually love. PlayStation Network and the cloud will offer additional value to PlayStation gamers. SCE is exploring unique opportunities enabled by cloud technology with the long-term vision of making PlayStation libraries including an incredible catalog of more than 3000 PS3 titles*6 that is unmatched in the industry, mostly ubiquitous on PS4.
SCE will announce new details of PS4 and its robust lineup of games from 3rd party developers and publishers, the independent gaming community and SCE Worldwide Studios, as well as further enhancements to the entire PlayStation ecosystem between now and the holiday 2013 launch.
- *1 Depending on network environment or titles, users may not be able to play games outside comfortably.
- *2 Exept games that require peripherals such as PlayStation 4 Eye ).
- *3 Depending on the version of OS or other conditions, users cannot use the application.
- *4 Number as of December 31st , 2012
- *5 Number as of February 19st , 2013
- *6 Number as of December 31st , 2012, including free trials.
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1A2d8)
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EKWB Officially Releases EK-FC7990 Full-Coverage Water Block
EK Water Blocks, Ljubljana based premium water cooling gear manufacturer, is proud to officially release the EK-FC7990 incl. Backplate, a Full-Cover water block for undisputedly hottest gaming graphics card in the world - Radeon HD 7990 - bundled with aluminum backplate.
EK-FC7990 is a high performance full-cover water block engineered specifically for PowerColor/VTX3D/Club3D Radeon HD 7990 series graphics cards. This water block directly cools both GPUs, RAM as well as both VRMs (voltage regulation module) as water flows directly over these critical areas thus allowing the graphics card and it's VRM to remain stable under high overclocks. EK-FC7990 water block also features a high flow design therefore it can be easily used in liquid cooling systems using weaker water pumps.
EK also encloses the EK-FC7990 Backplate made of high precision CNC milled aluminium with black anodized finish. This backplate directly cools the memory IC on the backside of the circuit board as well as serves as an aesthetic add-on. Two-slot I/O bracket which replaces the original three-slot, in order to make installation of mutliple graphics cards easier, is also enclosed.
Up to four EK-FC7990 water blocks can be interconnected using EK-FC Terminal system or other methods of interconnectivity.
Included in the package:
- EK-FC7990 series water block
- EK-FC7990 Backplate
- EK-FC7990 2-slot I/O bracket
- Mounting mechanism
- Thermal pads
- Installation manual
EK-FC7990 is available only in Nickel Acetal version meaning base is made of nickel plated electrolytic copper while the top is made of quality POM acetal material. EK-FC7990 - Acetal+Nickel incl. Backplate comes with Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of 169.95€ (incl. VAT) and is readily available for purchase through EK Webshop and Partner Reseller Network.
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NVIDIA Reports Financial Results For Annual and Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2013
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) today reported revenue for fiscal 2013 ended Jan. 27, 2013, of a record $4.28 billion, up 7.1 percent from $4.00 billion in fiscal 2012. GAAP earnings per share for the year were $0.90 per diluted share, a decrease of 4.3 percent from $0.94 in fiscal 2012. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $1.17, down 1.7 percent from $1.19 in fiscal 2012.
During the quarter, NVIDIA repurchased $100.0 million of stock and paid a dividend of $0.075 per share, equivalent to $46.9 million. "This year we did the best work in our company's history," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer of NVIDIA. "We achieved record revenues, margins and cash, despite significant market headwinds.
"We grew our GPU and Tegra Processor businesses. We are sampling production silicon of the Tegra 4 platform which includes our 4G LTE modem. And we created new pillars for long term growth with Project SHIELD and NVIDIA GRID -- first-of-their-kind devices that will extend our leadership in visual computing into mobile and the cloud."
Our outlook for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 is as follows:
- Revenue is expected to be $940 million, plus or minus two percent.
- GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be flat relative to the prior quarter, at 52.9 percent and 53.2 percent, respectively.
- GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $430 million; non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $395 million.
- GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates for the first quarter and annual fiscal 2014 are both expected to be 16 percent, plus or minus one percentage point. This estimate excludes any discrete tax events that may occur during a quarter which, if realized, may increase or decrease our actual effective tax rates in such quarter.
We estimate depreciation and amortization for the first quarter to be approximately $59 million to $61 million. Capital expenditures are expected to be in the range of $55 million to $65 million.
Diluted shares for the first quarter are expected to be approximately 619 million.
Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2013 Highlights:
- NVIDIA's customers brought three Windows RT devices to market -- Asus VivoTab RT, IdeaPad Yoga 11 from Lenovo, and Microsoft Surface RT
- NVIDIA announced Project SHIELD, a unique Android gaming device that will ship in the second quarter of fiscal 2014
- NVIDIA launched Tegra 4, the world's fastest mobile SOC and the first quad-core A15 SOC
- NVIDIA continued to drive the streaming of gaming from the cloud by signing deals with six middleware providers that will supply GRID gaming technology to service operators worldwide
- NVIDIA officially launched the Tesla K20 family of GPU accelerators, making the technology behind the world's fastest supercomputer, Titan, available to all
Dividend
NVIDIA will pay its next quarterly cash dividend of $0.075 cents per share on March 21, 2013 to all stockholders of record on February 28, 2013.
Reporting Segments
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013, NVIDIA began reporting two primary financial reporting segments -- GPU and Tegra Processor. This change reflects the way NVIDIA is now managing its businesses internally. More information on this change is in NVIDIA's CFO Commentary.
CFO Commentary and Earnings Presentation
Commentary on the quarter by Karen Burns, NVIDIA interim chief financial officer, and a presentation, are available at
http://www.nvidia.com/ir.
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Asetek's ISAC Eliminates Need for Active Cooling In Harsh Data Center Environments
Asetek today announced that its ISAC (Inside Server Air Conditioning) has been selected by the DoD (Department of Defense) to participate in its TROPEC (Transformative Reductions in Operational Energy Consumption) program. TROPEC is a collaborative Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DOE) program that targets game-changing enhanced energy efficiency for critical applications at military forward ISACoperations, such as data centers and communications.
ISAC is the next generation of Asetek's RackCDU data center liquid-cooling product line. Unlike the traditional RackCDU products, which can eliminate 80% of server cooling load in the data center, ISAC eliminates the need for active cooling altogether by removing 100% of server heat through Asetek's proprietary liquid-cooling solution. As a result, ISAC offers significant energy savings and enhanced system reliability in harsh operating environments.
For commercial data centers, ISAC also significantly reduces the infrastructure costs associated with ultra-efficient data centers, eliminating the capital and operating costs associated with computer-room air-conditioning systems. In addition, ISAC makes data center air-quality requirements irrelevant. For TROPEC, this is particularly valuable as it allows server installation in harsh environments such as military forward operating bases or mobile locations like military Humvees.
This news comes on the heels of recent announcements in the data center arena for Asetek. Most recently, Asetek was selected by the DoD for a major data center retrofit with RackCDU liquid cooling and, prior to that, Cray announced that Asetek's RackCDU would be available in their Xtreme-Cool Supercomputer.
"Cooling is the major barrier for efficiency in the data center industry," said Andre Eriksen, Asetek's CEO. "With RackCDU, we are moving the industry away from their dependence on active cooling. ISAC takes that transition to its logical conclusion by eliminating air-conditioning from the data center completely."
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